This week we hear great music as always, as we examine the evolution of Virginia and North Carolina traditions in song, instrumental music, foodways, farm culture and more, all presented at the annual Blue Ridge Folklife Festival. We talk with Roddy Moore, director of the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum at Ferrum College, which sponsors the festival on the fourth Saturday of October each year. He tells us about the genesis of the Blue Ridge Institute and the festival.  In our conversation we also consider the changes in society which affect the evolution – and in some cases the viability – of certain traditions.   We'll delve into fascinating recordings to get a sense of times past and of the sheer power of regional music.  

Playlist

  1. Blue Ridge Cabin Home
    Flatt & Scruggs
    Foggy Mountain Jamboree
    Columbia
     
  2. I'm Living Down Here On Borrowed Land
    Silvertone Gospel Harmonizers
    WPAQ The Voice of the Blue Ridge Mountains
    Rounder
     
  3. Light At The River
    Buckstankle Boys
    Round Peak Home
    Buckstankle Boys
     
  4. Cumberland Gap
    Albert Hash & The Whitetop Mountain Band
    Cacklin' Hen
    Heritage
     
  5. Interview 1 - Roddy Moore
    Roddy Moore
    ATBR recording
     
  6. Salt River
    The Smokey Valley Boys
    Benton Flippen: Old Time, New Times
    Rounder
     
  7. Break 1 - John Lover's Gone
    Wade Ward
    Clawhammer Banjo V. 1
    County
     
  8. Sandy River Belle
    Dad Blackard's Moonshiners
    The Bristol Sessions V.1
    Country Music Foundation
     
  9. Interview 2 - Roddy Moore
    Roddy Moore
    ATBR recording
     
  10. The House Carpenter
    Dorothy Rorick
    Virginia Traditions: Ballads from British Tradition
    Blue Ridge Institute
     
  11. The Three Babes
    Spence Moore
    Virginia Traditions: Ballads from British Tradition
    Blue Ridge Institute
     
  12. Queen Sally
    Kate Peters Sturgill
    Virginia Traditions: Ballads from British Tradition
    Blue Ridge Institute
     
  13. Home Sweet Home
    Rick Ward
    Keeping The Tradition
    Rick Ward
     
  14. Break 2 - Big Eyed Rabbit
    Matokie Slaughter
    Clawhammer Banjo V.2
    County
     
  15. The Ballad of Caty Sage
    J.C. Pierce
    Virginia Traditions: Native Virginia Ballads & Songs
    Blue Ridge Institute
     
  16. Reno Factory
    Marvin Foddrell
    Virginia Traditions: Non-Blues Secular Black Music
    Blue Ridge Institute
     
  17. Early Morning Blues
    James Lowry
    Virginia Traditions: Western Piedmont Blues
    Blue Ridge Institute
     
  18. Interview 3 - Roddy Moore
    Roddy Moore
    ATBR recording
     
  19. Hallelujah It Is Done
    Libba Cotten
    Shake Sugaree
    Smithsonian Folkways
     
  20. Coal Creek March
    Dock Boggs
    Folkways Years 1963-68 V.1
    Smithsonian Folkways

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