Ralph Stanley Museum Mountain Music Festival To Be Held in Clintwood on September 28th, 29th, and 30th

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center will host its 3rd annual Mountain Music Festival on Main Street in Clintwood, VA on Friday, Sept 28th through Sunday, September 30th. Bring the whole family to Clintwood to enjoy bluegrass, old-time, and gospel music, area crafts and demonstrations, vendors, "taste of the mountains" cuisine, an annual quilt show, and much more.

This year's Ralph Stanley Museum Mountain Music Festival opens with a concert by Blue Highway and local favorites to benefit the Museum & Center. Tickets to the special concert event with Blue Highway are $20 and may be purchased from the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center by calling (276) 926-8550 or by visiting the website at www.ralphstanleymuseum.com. The Museum & Center expects a sell-out crowd, so reserve your tickets early!

The Ralph Stanley Museum Mountain Music Festival will offer regional music, storytelling, workshops, crafts, vendors, an annual quilt show, and much more all day on Saturday from 10am to 10pm on Main St. All outdoor performance events and workshops on Saturday are free and open to the public, thanks to the support of festival sponsors The Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail, Alpha Natural Resources, BB&T Bank, the Dickenson County Board of Supervisors, Mountain Empire Community College's Home Craft Days and Mountain Music School, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, Childress Furniture, Thompson & Litton, Davis Service Center & Towing, the Town of Clintwood, and the Heart of Appalachia Tourism Authority.

On Sunday, September 30th, enjoy a very special set of performances at the Jettie Baker Center from 1pm to 4pm to celebrate the release of the new CD entitled Laboring Soldier: A Tribute to Billy Gene Mullins. This event will include several performances by contributors to the project. The release concert is also free of charge and seating is open to the public, so join us for a wonderful end to a wonderful weekend of regional music and crafts.
For more information, please contact the Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Music Center at (276) 926-8550 or visit us on the web at www.ralphstanleymuseum.com.

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. All proceeds from the benefit concert help to support future programming and events and ensure that the collection is properly maintained.

Museum & Center Adds Cheick Hamala Diabate to African Roots of Appalachian Music Concert

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center is pleased to announce the addition of Cheick Hamala Diabate to the African Roots of Appalachian Music concert on Saturday, September 8th at 7pm in Clintwood's Jettie Baker Center. Mike Seeger and Carpetbag Theatre will also perform Saturday evening in this opening event of the new Roots of Appalachian Music series presented by the Museum & Center and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Reserve your tickets early for this rare opportunity to explore the history of mountain music with some of the region's best performers and scholars!

Cheick Hamala Diabaté is recognized as one of the world's masters of the ngoni, a Malian traditional instrument, and a West African historian in the Griot tradition. A sought after performer, lecturer, storyteller, and choreographer throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, and Canada, Cheick Hamala began touring in the U.S. in 1995. His performances have been featured at such notable venues as The Smithsonian Institute and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

A steward of the 800 year-old tradition of the Griot, the storytellers of West Africa, Cheick Hamala shares the oral history, music, and song of his culture as it was passed on to him from birth by parent to child. At an early age, Cheick Hamala easily mastered the ngoni, a stringed lute and ancestor to the banjo. He learned to play the guitar from his uncle and now plays banjo and several other instruments; but his renown remains with the historical ngoni.

Each month from September to December 2007, the Roots of Appalachian Music Concert Series will explore a different side of Appalachian music's history and development, including events highlighting Africa, the British Isles, Eastern Europe, and the string band tradition in the mountains. This important series also seeks to extend special programming to area schools to promote educational outreach and provide area school systems with opportunities to work with regional scholars and musicians.

For more information about the September 8th performance, or to reserve your tickets, please contact the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center at (276) 926-8550. If you would like to know more about the event's performers, please visit Mike Seeger's website at http://mikeseeger.info, Carpetbag Theatre's website at http://www.carpetbag.org, and Cheick Hamala Diabate's website at http://www.malimusic.net.

The Roots of Appalachian Music Concert Series is made possible by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities was established in 1974 to develop and support public programs, education, and research in the humanities and to relate the humanities to public issues. The VFH promotes understanding and use of the humanities through public debate, group discussion, and individual inquiry. Principal activities of the Virginia Foundation include an internationally recognized Fellowship Program, the Virginia Folklife Program, the Virginia Center for Media and Culture, a statewide network of Regional Councils, and the Grant Program. The VFH is non-profit and non-partisan and receives support from private gifts, grants and contributions, and from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. For more information, write or call the Foundation's office at 145 Ednam Drive, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-4629, (434) 924-3296, or visit the VFH online at www.virginiafoundation.org.

The program is presented as a public service. The principal aim of the program is to discuss in an objective and nonpartisan context issues of concern and interest to citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Virginia Foundation, its contributors, or its supporting agencies.

Upcoming Event: Pickin' Porch Jam Session

Bring your instrument and chair to enjoy an afternoon with local performers at the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center on Sunday, September 9th from 1pm to 4pm. The Pickin' Porch jam session is free and open to the public and is held on the second Sunday afternoon of every month on the Center's front porch.

Jams are open to all levels of musicians who are interested in traditional mountain music so come, participate, and even learn a thing or two from our very talented local and regional musicians. The public is invited to listen in.

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center is a community of people of different ages, backgrounds, and interests, from around the world, with one common goal: preserving, investigating, and celebrating traditional mountain music. We welcome you to our community!