Across the Blue Ridge #139 - Galax Fiddlers’ Convention

This week we hear music from the past at the Galax, VA Old Fiddlers' Convention.  The event was founded in 1935 by the local Moose Lodge, and is now billed as the world's oldest and largest fiddlers' convention.  Musicians and fans from around the world globe gather every August for the convention which local men of the Moose first put together “to raise a little money”, according to one of the founders.  What started as a small event in a schoolhouse now encompasses all of the downtown city park and is a major attraction for old-time and bluegrass musicians.

As this year's convention concludes in Galax, we hear music from earlier days – the 1960s and 1970s – providing a sense of the evolution of the festival and its soundscape.  Hear some of the old mountaineer fiddlers and banjo pickers, plus singers and the emerging bluegrass sound which was taking hold in the region.  Most of the music on this show is drawn from recordings of onstage contest performances the Galax Moose Lodge #733 has released over the years.

Playlist

1. June Apple
   Camp Creek Boys
   Old Time String Band
   County
    
2. Sally Ann
   George Stoneman
   Old Fiddlers' Convention
   Folkways
    
3. Honeysuckle Rag
   Mountain Ramblers with Otis Burris
   Old Fiddlers' Convention
   Folkways
    
4. Same Old Man Living At The Mill
   Clint Howard
   Old Fiddlers' Convention
   Folkways
    
5. Walking In My Sleep
   Virginia Playboys
   Old Fiddlers' Convention
   Folkways
    
6. Cumberland Gap
   Lost John Ray
   Old Fiddlers' Convention
   Folkways
    
7. Walkin' In The Parlor
   Norman Edmonds & The Old Timers
   Old Fiddlers' Convention
   Folkways
    
8. Kingdom's Come
   Norman Edmonds & The Old Timers
   Old Fiddlers' Convention
   Folkways
    
9. Break 1 - Grass Fire
   Carolina Travelers
   Grass Fire
   Eastwood
    
10. Chilly Winds
    Wade Ward
    33rd Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
11. John Hardy
    Buck Mountain Band
    33rd Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
12. Raw Hide
    Twin County Partners
    33rd Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
13. Handsome Molly
    Roger Sprung
    33rd Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
14. Black Mountain Rag
    Harry Hall
    33rd Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
15. East Tennessee Blues
    Carolina Playboys
    33rd Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
16. Durham's Bull
    Dixie Travelers
    33rd Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
17. Break 2 - Pretty Betty Martin & Cora Lee
    Paul Brown & Company
    Red Dog
    Ryland Records
     
18. Knoxville Girl
    Betty Smith
    37th Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
19. Ida Red
    Calvin Cole
    37th Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
20. Mocking Bird
    Jimmy Edmonds
    37th Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
21. Sweet Sunny South
    Larry McPeak
    37th Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
22. Rachel
    Joe Edd King
    38th Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
23. Many A Mile
    New Grass Express
    38th Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733
     
24. Sail Away Ladies
    Steve Burcham
    44th Annual Old Fiddlers' Convention
    Galax Moose Lodge #733