A Crooked Road to America's Music

When driving this 250-mile stretch of road across southern Virginia you’ll see some of the most beautiful country in America. But the Crooked Road offers more than breathtaking ridges, mountains, creeks, and rivers.

This stretch of one and two lane highway is historically significant. If you like music---especially bluegrass, country, and old time music----you’ll find this piece of road is extremely significant. The very beginning of American music is traced to the towns along the Crooked Road. It all started here.

From the Fairystone Cabin

There are eight major heritage music venues along the Crooked Road. I first learned about them in Joe Wilson’s book, A Guide to the Crooked Road:Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail. There is a wealth of information available regarding the Crooked Road. A good place to start is: http://www.thecrookedroad.org/

Of the eight venues, four of them are close to our cabin, located next to Fairystone State Park. They include:

1. Blue Ridge Institute and Museum
2. Floyd Country Store
3. Blue Ridge Music Center
4. Rex Theatre & Old Fiddlers Convention

Blue Ridge Institute & Museum

The “BRI” is located at Ferrum College in the small town of Ferrum. It’s open all year and it’s a terrific place to learn about the Crooked Road, its music, and people. The displays here are excellent and the Museum puts forth great effort to rotate the exhibits and keep things interesting. You can see and hear the music thanks to audio and video displays. The big annual event at the BRI is its Blue Ridge Folklife Festival held on the fourth Saturday in October. The website link is at the right of this page.

Floyd Country Store

There aren’t many places like the Floyd Country Store. You realize just how many people, from all walks of life, enjoy the music when you visit this unique place. On the far back wall, for instance, is a photo of then Virginia Gov. Mark Warner jamming on stage with then Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine. The live music here on weekends gets people get up and dancing. You haven’t lived until you’ve experience the Friday Night Jamboree there. See the website link on the right column of this page.

Blue Ridge Music Center

As if the Blue Ridge Parkway isn’t already incredible, add the Blue Ridge Music Center at mile 213 to the experience. Established by Congress, it’s open from May through October. This outdoor venue also hosts an exhibit hall that tells the story of the music. The music here is great and scenery is awesome. For a schedule, check out: http://www.blueridgemusiccenter.org/.

Rex Theatre & Old Fiddlers Convention

Live audience, live music, and live radio combine to make a great experience at Blue Ridge Backroads at the Rex. Since 1999, the concert has been broadcast live on Blue Ridge Country 98.1 FM. The Rex is home to many other events, too, throughout the year. It’s located in Galax.

The Old Fiddlers convention has been around for almost three-quarters of a century. In the second week of August each year, people flock to Galax to hear incredible music.

Try It You’ll Like It

If you haven’t experienced the Crooked Road, I highly recommend you do. Whether just visiting one of the major stops, or driving from one end of the Road to the other, you’ll see beautiful scenery, listen to great music, and learn how it all started in southern Virginia.