Ralph Stanley Museum Blog

John Cowan, "The Voice of New Grass", To Kick Off Ralph Stanley Museum Mountain Music Festival 2008

2008-09-12T14:39:00.002-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center is pleased to announce that The John Cowan Band will perform as featured guests during the Museum & Center's annual benefit concert at the Jettie Baker Center on Clintwood Main Street. This year's special concert event, sponsored by Alpha Natural Resources, is scheduled for Friday, September 26th at 6:30pm, kicking off the Ralph Stanley Museum Mountain Music Festival 2008, which will offer events to the public all weekend long on September 26th, 27th, and 28th. Reserve your tickets early for a very special evening of regional music.

Bluegrass. Newgrass. Rock N' Rollgrass. True innovators defy easy categorization and John Cowan is the ultimate innovator. His ability to move easily between music styles and blend and bend genres into creative new forms has made him one of the most significant voices in acoustic music over the past thirty years.

After making a name for himself as one of the most in-demand vocalists in the early 1970s' music scene in Louisville, Ky., Cowan rose to fame when he became the lead singer for New Grass Revival. He and bandmates Sam Bush, Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn introduced a new generation of music fans to an explosive, experimental brand of bluegrass.

After inspiring and entertaining fans for nearly two decades, New Grass disbanded in 1990. Cowan immediately gave chase to his creative muse following it all over the musical landscape with a series of critically acclaimed albums. The Evansville, Indiana-native wrapped his expansive voice around tunes that ran the gamut from rock to soul to blues and beyond. As the 21st century began he found himself circling slowly, inexorably back to the acoustic music that he knew so well. He began to surround himself with some of the finest acoustic musicians working.

When the current line-up of his band, Jeff Autry (guitar), Wayne Benson, (mandolin) Shad Cobb (fiddle) and Noam Pikelny (banjo), came together, he knew he was on to something special. The music began to take a natural, organic turn back to Cowan's acoustic roots.

"For me it's coming back to something I know really well," he says. "It's been a coming home of sorts. We've had this line-up of the band for over a year now and the response from the crowds has been overwhelming."

Tickets to the special concert event with The John Cowan Band 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. Early ticket buyers receive reserved seating, so purchase your tickets early!

The Ralph Stanley Museum Mountain Music Festival also offers regional music, storytelling, workshops, kids rides, crafts, vendors, an annual quilt show, and much more all day on Saturday and during the afternoon on Sunday. All outdoor performance events and workshops on Saturday and Sunday are free and open to the public, thanks to the support of festival sponsors Alpha Natural Resources, Equitable Resources, New Peoples Bank, Johnson Chevrolet, Mountain Empire Community College's Home Craft Days and Mountain Music School, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, Thompson & Litton, and Ralph & Jimmie Stanley.

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

Announcing: Passing the Pick and Bow Program This Summer

2008-06-12T14:48:00.002-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center will offer free music lessons to students ages 10 to 18 as part of its annual Passing the Pick and Bow program. Classes this summer begin on Monday, July 7th and will last until Friday, August 8th. Lessons will be available in the towns of Clintwood and Clinchco and include clawhammer-style banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, and singing for beginning and intermediate musicians. Stop by the Museum & Center today for your application!

The Passing the Pick and Bow program is able to offer these music classes free of charge for Dickenson County students thanks to the generous support of the Columbus Phipps Foundation, but adults are also invited to participate. To cover instructor costs, adults will be charged a small fee of $5 per lesson.

The Passing the Pick and Bow program in Dickenson County began in 2006 as a collaborative project between the Ralph Stanley Museum &Traditional Mountain Music Center and Appalshop of Whitesburg, Kentucky. With the support of funds from the Phipps Foundation and the Appalachian Regional Commission, the program is now in its third season.

Be sure to pick up your application form today to enroll in a first-class training program that is taught by talented local musicians and is based on musical styles found right here in southwestern Virginia!

For more information, contact the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center at (276) 926-8550 or aaron@ralphstanleymuseum.com.

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center is a private, nonprofit, 501(c)3 corporation. All proceeds from programs and services help to support general operating costs and special programs.

Presenting: Whitetop Mountain Band and Reel World String Band

2008-04-29T17:56:00.003-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center will present the Roots of Appalachian Music: String Bands on Friday, May 9th at 7pm in Clintwood's Jettie Baker Center. Special guests for this event include the Reel World String Band and Whitetop Mountain Band. Reserve your tickets early for this rare opportunity to explore mountain music with some of the region's best performers!

The Reel World String Band is celebrating its 30th year of performing, and the fiddling and singing of the band has never been better. Their new CD, Live Music, has just been released. Originals of the band fill this CD with new found spirit. Bev Futrell's song about Bill Monroe and the environment “Where Kentucky's Blue Moon Rose” is a defining moment for this band so committed to the region, its music, and its
beauty. The creative edge of this new CD shows off a stylistic diversity. Keyboardist Elise Melrood's instrumental “Karsen's Reel” is highly arranged and ethereal. Sue Massek writes of Mother Jones' daughters in the union song “Cosby,” and Karen Jones swings with her playful lyrics in “Gone Camping”.

Not only has the band been in the studio for this latest release, but Reel World continues to perform throughout the region, collaborating with writers, activists, and other singer songwriters. The band is revered as a Kentucky historical treasure having been featured in Kentucky Women: Two Centuries of Indomitable Spirit and Vision, along with musicians Loretta Lynn and Helen Humes and numerous other Kentucky celebrities, giving credence to the band's longevity and contribution to the rich musical heritage of Kentucky. Since the beginning of the Reel World, the band has spread its southern musical roots to picket lines and folk festivals. In 1978, the band was booked at Englishtown Music Hall in New Jersey, and the New York Times, fascinated by the novelty of this "all-female group" from Kentucky, featured the band in an article "In Jersey, Five Women of Bluegrass". By 1980, the band was back in the NYC area playing at the Lincoln Center. They returned in 1985 to share the stage with David Bromberg after both had appeared at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.

The individual members are as diverse as the musical styles they encompass. Sue Massek learned banjo from old timers in West Virginia and Kentucky after she hitchhiked from the Flint Hills of her native Kansas. The Sears guitar of Bev Futrell hung on the wall after her graduation from a Houston High School, but by 1977, while raising a family, she tuned it up and has been singing her songs ever since. Karen Jones, a Midwest Norwegian, adopted her southern home while attending Berea College, Berea, Kentucky. She was a country dancer and began her own dance troupe in Covington, Kentucky while studying fiddle with Guy Blakeman. Sharon Ruble, college buddy of Karen, studied clarinet as a youngster growing up in Henry County, Kentucky, and in the Reel World moved from wash-tub to acoustic bass. Elise Melrood, the latest member of the Reel World, mixes her Jewish roots with honky-tonk blues piano. She met the other members of the Reel World during a tour in Virginia and now plays full-time with the band since her move to Berea. With the energy of an old-time dance, the tight vocal harmony of Bluegrass singing, the infusion of American jazz and blues styles and lyrics that reflect the politics of a changing South, Reel World is an undeniable force in the folk music scene. All in all, Reel World String Band is the essence of Appalachian grit.

The Whitetop Mountain Band is a family-based band from the highest mountains of Virginia. Whitetop, Virginia is an area rich in the old time music tradition, and this band has deep roots in mountain music. The members have done much to preserve the Whitetop region's style of old time fiddling and banjo picking and are legendary musicians and teachers of the style.

At the same time, Whitetop Mountain Band shows are very versatile and entertaining containing everything from fiddle/banjo instrumentals to powerful solos and harmony vocals on blues, classic country, honky tonk, traditional bluegrass numbers, old timey ballads, originals, and four part mountain gospel songs. Shows also include flat foot dancing. The band is well known for their high energy and charisma on stage.

Whitetop Mountain Band has performed at many venues throughout the United States from festivals to concerts, competitions, and colleges. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Folklife Festival, World Music Institute in NYC, Carter Family Festival, Dock Boggs Festival, World Fair, Virginia Arts Festival, Floydfest, Ola Belle Reed Festival and Merlefest are a few of the many festivals where the band has performed. They recently were featured on the NCTA Crooked Road Music tour of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, and in September 2007, members toured the United Kingdom and Ireland playing the Cornish Bluegrass Festival and Open House Festival in addition to venues throughout England, Wales, and Ireland. In January 2008, members of the band played at the Illawarra Folk Festival and Tamworth Country Music Festival in New South Wales, Australia.

The Whitetop Mountain Band is carried on today by Thornton Spencer on fiddle and Emily Spencer on banjo and vocals. Their daughter, Martha Spencer, is a multi-instrumentalist (guitar, banjo, fiddle, bass, vocals) and dancer with the band as well. Originally from Oregon, Jackson Cunningham plays mandolin, guitar, and vocals in the band. He grew up in a musical family and has performed in several bluegrass and old time groups from the West Coast to the East. Spencer Pennington, from Warrensville, NC, plays guitar and sings in the band. Spencer has been playing for over 60 years and has been in several bluegrass and gospel quartets over the years. Debbie Bramer, originally from Michigan, moved to Fancy Gap, Virginia in the early 90s. Debbie plays bass and dances in the band.

Tickets to this special event are $10 per person for general admission and $5 for student admission. For more information about the May 9th performance, or to reserve your tickets, please visit www.ralphstanleymuseum.com or contact the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center at (276) 926-8550.

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.

Presenting: Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers

2008-03-05T10:17:00.003-05:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center and the Jettie Baker Center will present Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers on Saturday, March 15th at 7:30 p.m. at the Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood. This event is the latest addition to the Music Along the Crooked Road concert series, which brings together the best in regional old-time, bluegrass, and gospel music to create wonderful evenings of culture and entertainment.

At his age, some artists would probably be content to take the triumph of two consecutive years of top industry awards as the equivalent of a gold watch and chain, but that’s not Larry Sparks’ style. Named as the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year in 2004 and 2005—and as winner of both Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year honors in the latter for the star-studded 40—the legendary veteran debuted his latest album, The Last Suit You Wear, on May 1, 2007. Wrapping his warm yet mournful voice around a choice collection of new songs and showcasing his distinctive, muscular guitar picking with the help of a crackerjack core band and a sprinkling of carefully chosen guests like Del McCoury, country piano legend Hargus “Pig” Robbins, and IBMA Hall of Honor member J. D. Crowe, The Last Suit You Wear makes a powerful case that, when it comes to Larry Sparks’ music, the best is yet to come. As one rising young bluegrass artist put it recently, “if the IBMA were to give an award for just being ‘The Man,’ Larry Sparks would win it every time.”

A musician by the time he started high school, Larry Sparks stepped into the history books and into the heart of the music when he began making appearances as the legendary Stanley Brothers lead guitarist before graduation. With the death of Carter Stanley in 1966, he became Ralph Stanley’s right-hand man, moving into the Clinch Mountain Boys’ all-important guitarist and lead singer role and carrying on the Stanley sound even as he began to make his own contributions. Three years later, he formed his own band, the Lonesome Ramblers, and quickly became favorite of the growing audience in the “Bluegrass Belt” that stretches from the Mississippi River through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and on across to the powerhouse bluegrass area around Baltimore and Washington, DC. Developing his bluesy, signature guitar licks and resonant, soulful voice into the building blocks of a traditional, yet immediately identifiable personal sound, he produced a steady stream of gripping albums, culminating in a pair of late 70s masterpieces: John Deere Tractor, which made instant classics of, among others the title track, Allen Mills’ “Love Of The Mountains,” “The Girl At The Crossroads Bar” and Keith Whitley’s “Great High Mountain” (personally handed to Sparks by its writer), and Larry Sparks Sings Hank Williams, which revealed Sparks’ profound affinity not just for The Drifting Cowboy’s legacy, but for the enduring simplicity of classic country sounds.

While “progressive” sounds dominated the bluegrass scene in the 1980s, Sparks remained true to his singular artistic vision, training younger musicians in the discipline of the Lonesome Ramblers sound. His perseverance was rewarded early the following decade, when he released another gem for the ages in Silver Reflections (1991). The album created another set of instant classics, including “Tennessee 1949,” “Blue Virginia Blues” and “Don’t Neglect The Rose,” and as traditional bluegrass began to make a comeback, Sparks’ lonesome sound and sternly personal approach to music and career drew new and renewed admiration. By the end of the decade, he could look back on such highlights as appearances on Ralph Stanley’s star-packed Saturday Night, Sunday Morning; on Austin City Limits’ 1995 “Bluegrass Special,” where he was teamed with Stanley and fellow Clinch Mountain alumnus Ricky Skaggs; and at the 1997 Bill Monroe memorial show that resulted in the CD/DVD release The Legend Lives On: A Tribute To Bill Monroe—and by the middle of the next, the homage paid by generations of bluegrass and country stars on 40 had finally helped to carry him to the prominence he’d long deserved.

Don't miss your opportunity to see the one and only Larry Sparks live at the Jettie Baker Center on March 15th. Admission to this event will be $15.00 per person.

For more information about upcoming events in the “Music Along the Crooked Road” series, or to purchase tickets, please visit our website at www.ralphstanleymuseum.com, call the Museum & Center at 926-8550, or call the Jettie Baker Center at 926-8694.

Dr. Ralph Stanley To Serve on Birthplace of Country Music Alliance's Artistic Council

2008-03-03T13:36:00.004-05:00

Dr. Ralph Stanley is one of several members of a newly established artistic council for the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance’s cultural heritage center.

For more information, visit TriCities.com.

Congratulations, Dr. Ralph!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Ralph!

2008-02-25T14:53:00.002-05:00

From all your friends at the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center, we'd like to wish you a very happy birthday!

Virginia Legislature Honors Dr. Ralph Stanley

2008-02-15T10:12:00.004-05:00

Congratulations, Dr. Ralph, on your commendation from the Virginia legislature! For a brief article highlighting this honor, visit TriCities.com.

Roadside Theater Partners With Museum & Center To Present “Christmas in Appalachia”

2007-12-10T11:43:00.000-05:00

Roadside Theater, the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center, and the Jettie Baker Center will present Christmas in Appalachia on Saturday, December 22nd at 7:00p.m. at the Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood, Virginia. Admission is free, so bring the whole family for a wonderful community celebration this holiday season!

If your Christmas experience this year has been lost in a whirlwind of shopping and frantically searching for the world's best pecan pie recipe, then you're probably ready for a break from the holiday rush. Let Christmas in Appalachia take you back to a time when Christmas was about the things that really matter.

Christmas in Appalachia features Roadside Theater performer Ron Short, local artists, children, parents, grandmas and grandpas, and aunts and uncles in a performance of holiday music, stories, sing-a-longs, and remembrances. It’s a meaningful community celebration of the holidays that recalls Christmas as a time of sharing and being with loved ones. Guests this year include the Ridgewood Boys, Jim Scott Mullins, Maggie Stanley, Mike & Marsheli Mullins, and more.

Christmas in Appalachia is a part of what Roadside Theater does year ‘round—celebrate our mountain culture,” says Roadside’s Ron Short. “It’s a bit like getting together with your extended family—something you enjoy and look forward to all year long!”

Donations of non-perishable food items for the Dickenson County Food Bank will be accepted at the door. No reservations are necessary. For more information, contact the Ralph Stanley Museum at 276.926.8550, Roadside Theater at 276.679.3116, the Jettie Baker Center at 276.926.8694, or visit us on the web at www.ralphstanleymuseum.com.

Presenting: German & Italian Roots of Appalachian Music

2007-12-04T14:32:00.000-05:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center will present the German & Italian Roots of Appalachian Music, a performance and lecture event which explores the diverse roots of the region's music, on Tuesday, December 18th at 7pm in Clintwood's Jettie Baker Center. Special guests for this event include Gerry Milnes of the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia and Rafe Stefanini of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. 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!

Each month from September to December 2007, the Roots of Appalachian Music Concert Series explores a different side of Appalachian music's history and development, including events highlighting Africa, the British Isles, Germany and Italy, 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.

The first guest in this event, Gerry Milnes, will offer special presentations to highlight the German influence on fiddle music and the role of the dulcimer in Appalachian tradition. These presentations will include slide shows of players and makers as well as live music to demonstrate these important connections.

Named “WV Filmmaker of the Year” in 2007, Gerry currently serves as the Folk Arts Coordinator for the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia. His newest book is entitled Signs, Cures and Witchery: German Appalachian Folklore and is available from the University of Tennessee Press. He has also published Play of a Fiddle: Traditional Music, Dance and Folklore in West Virginia, University Press of Kentucky, and Granny Will Your Dog Bite: and Other Mt. Rhymes, on August House. As a musician, he plays in the group “Gandydancer,” an old-time string band.

Rafe Stefanini will also appear during this next performance event to bridge the gap between Italy and Appalachia with a special musical performance. With roots in Italy and a love of the fiddle and banjo music of Appalachia, Rafe truly demonstrates and lives the connections between our two regions.

Stefanini formed his first band with his brothers Bruno and Gianni when he still lived in Italy. After his move to the United States, Rafe formed a new band with Stefan Senders and Carol Elizabeth Jones called the Wildcats. Between 1985 and 1990, the group released two recordings, and in 1989 were selected by the United States Information Agency to tour Southeast Asia, appearing in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei.

In 1990, Rafe teamed up with Bruce Molsky and Dirk Powell to form the L-7s, a power trio featuring twin and sometimes triple fiddling. Upon Dirk's departure from the band in 1993, Beverly Smith joined on guitar. The band changed its name to Big Hoedown, and they released a CD on Rounder Records by the same name, featuring Rafe on fiddle and banjo. They toured extensively, reaching Germany and Finland, and they became a staple at dances and dance camps. In 1998, they appeared on Garrison Keillor's “A Prairie Home Companion.”

Tickets to this special event are $5 per person for general admission and $3 for student admission. For more information about the December 18th performance, or to reserve your tickets, please contact the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center at (276) 926-8550.

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.

Presenting: The Dixie Bee-Liners

2007-10-27T17:14:00.000-04:00

The Museum & Center is proud to welcome the Dixie Bee-Liners to the Jettie Baker Center stage in Clintwood on Saturday, November 3rd at 7pm. Tickets cost $10 per person for general admission and $5 per person for students. Give the Museum & Center a call at (276) 926-8550 to purchase your tickets today!

With a cult following reaching far beyond their south-western Virginia stomping grounds, and a debut album voted one of the Reviewer's Top Five Picks by Bluegrass Now, PINECASTLE recording artists THE DIXIE BEE-LINERS are creating quite a buzz. Known for their high-octane harmonies and stunningly beautiful original songs, the band has appeared live on BBC Radio Scotland, NPR, the Food Network, and radio playlists across the country and world-wide, including regular rotation on Sirius and XM satellite radio. Their self-titled CD debuted on the Roots Music Report bluegrass chart at no. 14, going on to spend 56 weeks on the chart, with 9 of those weeks in the Top 10. In 2007, the band's music was featured on the soundtrack of the Civil War film FREEDOM.

THE DIXIE BEE-LINERS have completed sessions for their sophomore CD, "Ripe," with legendary Grammy-winning producer Bil VornDick (Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss, Bob Dylan, Jim Lauderdale, James Taylor), to be released on PINECASTLE RECORDS in March 2008.

Presenting: British Isles Roots of Appalachian Music

2007-10-18T17:06:00.000-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center will present the British Isles Roots of Appalachian Music, a performance and lecture event which explores the diverse roots of the region's music, on Saturday, October 20th at 7pm in Clintwood's Jettie Baker Center. Special guests for this event include Katie Doman, Ted Olson, and Fire in the Kitchen. 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!

Each month from September to December 2007, the Roots of Appalachian Music Concert Series explores 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.

The first guest in the latest event, Katie Hoffman Doman, is a Virginian by birth and a singer/songwriter who now lives in Greene County, Tennessee. Her repertoire includes traditional tunes ranging from Appalachian mountain ballads and songs to bluegrass, old-time, and early country standards. Her debut CD, Beautiful Day, was produced by Raymond McLain and features the incredible musicianship of the East Tennessee State University Bluegrass Band. The CD features nine of Katie's original songs.

Not only is Katie a practitioner of local tradition, she's also a scholar. She is currently writing her dissertation on Appalachian literature for a Ph.D. in English from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She served as the Music Task Force Co-Chair for the 2003 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. She travels the region performing and lecturing on traditional Appalachian music in Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. Katie's recent projects include a performance on the Song of the Mountains Concert Series, televised on Blue Ridge Public Television. She also currently serves as traditional music consultant on an environmental history of Appalachia, a four-part series produced by the James Agee Film Project to be aired on National Public Television in 2008.

For more than 25 years, Ted Olson has performed folk ballads, songs, and tunes from the U.S.A.(particularly from Appalachia and the South), as well as Ireland, Scotland, and England. He has appeared at a wide variety of educational and entertainment venues, accompanying his singing on guitar, banjo, and dulcimer, with spoken introductions to each ballad/song/tune to establish the historical context.

Olson holds the Ph.D. in English from the University of Mississippi, the M.A. in English from the University of Kentucky, and the B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota. Presently Associate Professor of Appalachian Studies and English at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, he has served as Director of that school's Appalachian, Scottish, and Irish Studies program and as Interim Director of that school's Center for Appalachian Studies and Services.

Olson is the author of several books, including Blue Ridge Folklife and Breathing in Darkness: Poems. He has also edited numerous books, including an award-winning poetry collection by the late Kentucky author James Still entitled From the Mountain, From the Valley: New and Collected Poems, CrossRoads: A Southern Culture Annual, and Sarah Orne Jewett's The Country of the Pointed Firs and Selected Short Fiction. Additionally, he was the music section editor and associate editor for The Encyclopedia of Appalachia as well as the co-editor of the award-winning book The Bristol Sessions: Writings About the Big Bang of Country Music.

Playing together for nearly five years, the quartet of Fire In The Kitchen specializes in presenting lively Appalachian and Celtic music to its audiences. Instrumentation of the ensemble includes: Teddy Helton on guitar and bass, Tammy Martin on hammered dulcimer, Irish bodhran and vocals, Debbie Shrewsbury on classical and Irish flutes, Irish low whistles and pennywhistle, and Linda Waltner on fiddle and viola. Representing both Virginia and Tennessee, members hail from Bristol, Abingdon, and Emory, VA and Kingsport, TN.

Fire In The Kitchen has performed at venues such as: The Virginia Highlands' Festival, The Bristol Paramount Theatre, The Barter Theatre, The Carter Family Fold, The Capital Theater, Sycamore Shoals Celtic Festival, Blue Ridge Celtic Festival, Wake Forest Celtic festival among many others. The group has been featured on Public radio programming "Live in Studio 1A" and performed at the BCMA's (Birthplace of Country Music Alliance) 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Bristol Sessions. Most recently the group performed on the Blue Ridge Public Television series "Song of the Mountains" which is being broadcast by local and national PBS stations across the United States.

This fine group of musicians has released two CDs of their renditions of traditional Celtic and Appalachian music. Their first CD, An Appalachian Celtic Journey, was released in 2002 and was archived at the Smithsonian Institute's Folklife Museum in Washington, D.C. in celebration of the Year of Appalachia. The second compact disc, The Journey Continues, was recently released in December 2006. This CD features a refreshing variety of styles. Tunes were gathered from diverse sources: Ireland, Scotland, France, West Virginia, Texas, and Southwest Virginia. They range from the haunting strains of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing", to the driving acceleration of the polkas, "Riding on a Load of Hay" and "Cobbler's Polka", to the loving affirmation of the Carter family vocal "Storms Are on the Ocean."

Tickets to this event are $10 per person for general admission and $5 for student admission. For more information about the October 20th performance, or to reserve your tickets, please contact the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center at (276) 926-8550.

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.

Presenting: Rich and the Poor Folks

2007-10-04T15:54:00.000-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center and the Jettie Baker Center will present Rich and the Poor Folks on Saturday, October 6th at 7:00 p.m. at the Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood. This event is the latest addition to the Music Along the Crooked Road concert series, which brings together the best in regional old-time, bluegrass, and gospel music to create wonderful evenings of culture and entertainment.

Rich and the Poor Folks, Letcher County Kentucky's premier old-time string band, offers a lively blend of fiddle tunes seasoned with ballads, Carter Family songs, and contemporary mountain songs. Most of the band's repertoire comes from the members' home territories of eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia, hot spots for one of America's great musical traditions.

The band brings a wealth of experience to the stage. Fiddler Rich Kirby, originally from Kentucky, has lived in Scott County, Virginia for thirty years and has performed across the region and nationally with John McCutcheon, Tommy Bledsoe, Wry Straw, and other well-known musicians. Guitarist Roy Tackett and bassist Nate Polly, natives of Letcher County, Kentucky, are veterans of many bands, including Uncle Dave Dougherty and the Trough Sloppers, Appalshop's Roadside Theater, and Alan Amburgey and Kentucky Mountain Grass. The group's newest member, banjoist Shane Hall, plays a hard-driving style learned from banjo greats Jimmy McCown and George Gibdon.

Rich and the Poor Folks got together in spring 2006 after playing together informally at jam sessions and festivals. Their performances include pieces they've learned in person from Art Stamper, Uncle Charlie Osborne, Thornton Spencer, George Gibson, ballad singer Addie Graham (Rich's grandmother), Hazel Dickens, and many more. Past performances include the Ralph Stanley Museum, the Breaks Interstate Park Old Time Music Festival, Hillbilly Days, the Morehead Old Time Fiddlers Convention, and the Dock Boggs Festival. They also appear regularly at Appalshop, a not-for-profit media and arts center in Whitesburg, Kentucky, where Rich and Roy DJ oldtime music shows on the community public radio station WMMT-FM.

For more information about Rich and the Poor Folks, visit their home on the web at www.myspace.com/richandthepoorfolks .

Admission to this event will be $5.00 per person, and one child (ages 12 and under) per paying adult will be admitted free, so bring the whole family for a wonderful evening of regional music!

The "Music Along the Crooked Road" series of concerts will be held on the first Saturday evening of every month at the Jettie Baker Center with a scheduled performance time of 7 p.m. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Museum & Center and the Jettie Baker Center during the work week leading up to each performance.

For more information about upcoming events in the "Music Along the Crooked Road" series, or to purchase tickets, please visit our website at www.ralphstanleymuseum.com , call the Museum & Center at 926-8550, or call the Jettie Baker Center at 926-8694.

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

2007-09-24T20:18:00.000-04:00

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

2007-09-05T10:56:00.001-04:00

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

2007-09-05T10:10:00.000-04:00

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!

Presenting: The Midnight Ramblers

2007-08-21T10:29:00.000-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center and the Jettie Baker Center will present the Midnight Ramblers on Saturday, September 1st at 7:00pm at the Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood. This event is the latest addition to the Music Along the Crooked Road concert series, which brings together the best in regional old-time, bluegrass, and gospel music to create wonderful evenings of culture and entertainment.

The Midnight Ramblers, southwestern Virginia's up-and-coming bluegrass band, will make their second appearance in the Music Along the Crooked Road concert series to celebrate one year of performances sponsored by the Museum/Center and the Jettie Baker Center. Be sure to experience the Ramblers' lively blend of standard bluegrass tunes and originals, all performed by one of the region's best young bluegrass bands.

Admission to this event will be $5.00 per person, and one child (ages 12 and under) per paying adult will be admitted free, so bring the whole family for a wonderful evening of regional music!

The "Music Along the Crooked Road" series of concerts will be held on the first Saturday evening of every month at the Jettie Baker Center with a scheduled performance time of 7pm. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Museum & Center during the work week leading up to each performance.

For more information about upcoming events in the "Music Along the Crooked Road" series, or to purchase tickets, please visit our website at www.ralphstanleymuseum.com, call the Museum & Center at 926-8550, or call the Jettie Baker Center at 926-8694.

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center is a private, nonprofit, 501(c)3 corporation.

RSM&TMMC Announces Roots of Appalachian Music Concert Series with Mike Seeger & Carpetbag Theatre

2007-08-14T11:17:00.000-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center is pleased to announce the Roots of Appalachian Music Concert Series, a performance and lecture series which explores the diverse roots of the region's music. The first event in this series examines the African roots of Appalachian music with special guests Mike Seeger and Carpetbag Theatre on Saturday, September 8th at 7pm in Clintwood's Jettie Baker Center. 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!

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.

The first guest in the series, Mike Seeger, has devoted his life to singing and playing "Music from True Vine" -- the home music made by American southerners before the media age. "Music from True Vine" grows out of hundreds of years of British traditions that blended in our country with equally ancient African traditions to produce songs and sounds that are unique to the United States. For the peoples of the rural South, their great variety of music, song and story provided their Shakespeare, their dance music, their news, and the fabric of their daily lives. This music in time became the roots of today's country, bluegrass and popular music, and remains as ever, enduring and refreshing listening.

Fidelity to traditional sounds has set Mike Seeger apart from other performers since he began touring the United States and abroad in 1960. Mike's music conveys all the depth of feeling, the sheer energy and the infinite variety and texture of true rural music. Like earlier musicians, Mike seeks out his own vision of the music by creating within its traditions, making his music uniquely his own. As he sings the old songs, he plays in a wide variety of old-time styles, accompanying himself on an array of instruments, including banjo, fiddle, guitar, trump (jaw harp), mouth harp (harmonica), quills, lap dulcimer, mandolin and autoharp. Jon Pankake of Rolling Stone magazine writes that Mike Seeger's music is "Clean and crisp as any acoustic music now being played . . . Here is an American artist standing forth, voice 'well trained', in narratives, in fun, in irony, himself branch and root of the entwined true vine."

As a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers, Make played an integral role in helping to revive interest in a variety of traditional musics, now played by thousands of young musicians across the country. Since his first recordings with the Ramblers in the late nineteen fifties, Mike has gone on to record almost forty albums, both solo and with others.

Mike Seeger has been honored with three Grammy nominations, most recently in 1991 for Solo: OldTime Country Music and in 1994 for Third Annual Farewell Reunion. In 1995 Mike received the Rex Foundation's Ralph J. Gleason Lifetime Achievement Award, established by the Grateful Dead to recognize "those who exemplify the qualities of talent, vision, innovation that Ralph so tirelessly supported." In the word of the award citation, Mike Seeger "...remains one of our great musical and cultural resources. To see him perform is to experience the richness of our traditions."

The Carpetbag Theatre, Inc. (CBT) is a community based, non-profit, professional theatre company dedicated to the production of new works. CBT's Ensemble Company develops new scripts primarily through collaboration and improvisation. Founded in 1970, CBT is a corporation of writers, artists, dancers and musicians. It has had a notably good record of performances, workshops, and other activities, and is one of the few tenured African-American professional theatre companies in the South.

The Carpetbag Theatre has long been a part of a movement in this country that seeks to redefine the way we view culture and the arts originating from culturally-specific communities. As they go about the work of turning people's stories into art, it is vitally important to them not only to tell the stories that make us stronger, but to tell those stories well. As they speak for those who are unheard and unseen by the larger society, they strive to tell those stories with honesty and dignity and concern for the aesthetic of that particular community. It is therefore part of their mission to produce the highest quality work based not only on the standards of the traditional artistic community, but also on the traditional standards of the communities reflected in their work.

The Carpetbag Theatre has been part of an important theater movement for thirty years. Founded in 1969 and chartered in 1970, CBT was a local response to a national movement towards community based professional theater. Carpetbag is a theater rooted in the aesthetic of the particular community, which it served. In the past ten years, they have addressed such issues as the death penalty and its impact on the African American community; economic development and the barriers encountered by people of color in the market place; domestic violence and black feminism; and environmental racism.

Historically, CBT has focused its program initiatives on the professional development of young artists and the participation of all segments of the community in the creative process. In the early years of operation, the organizational focus was the instruction and training of student and community artists. As they began to expand their focus, they developed the professional ensemble company and a series of drama based activities for specific populations.CBT became a resource for the many communities who had taken the initiative to document their own history.

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 and Carpetbag Theatre's website at http://www.carpetbag.org.

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.

Now Hiring Visitor Services Coordinator

2007-08-06T14:43:00.000-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center needs an energetic, people-oriented employee for the position of Visitor Services Coordinator.

This position will work up to 20 hours per week, including weekends and special events. Responsibilities include working with the public on a daily basis, answering phones, scheduling group tours, interpreting to school groups, admission and gift store sales and inventory, general cleaning, and other duties as assigned by Director or Assistant Director. Computer skills required. Sales experience helpful.

For more information, please contact 276-926-8550. Applications are available at the Museum & Center front desk. Completed application and current resume must be received no later than Friday, August 17th at 5pm.

Upcoming Event: Pickin' Porch Jam Session

2007-08-06T11:27:00.000-04:00

Bring your instrument and chair to enjoy an afternoon with local performers at the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center on Sunday, August 12 from 1pm to 4pm. The Pickin' Porch jam session is 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!

Presenting: Town Branch Bluegrass and Ken Childress & Jim Mullins

2007-07-31T10:52:00.000-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center and the Jettie Baker Center will present Town Branch Bluegrass and Ken Childress & Jim Mullins on Saturday, August 4th at 7:00 p.m. at the Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood. This event is the latest addition to the Music Along the Crooked Road concert series, which brings together the best in regional old-time, bluegrass, and gospel music to create wonderful evenings of culture and entertainment.

Town Branch Bluegrass is an eight-member band from southwestern Virginia that continues to perform the traditional songs of yesterday along with the driving sound of a modern style. In less than three years, these individuals have grown from back porch picking to performing for local events. With a new CD entitled "Branching Out" on the way, don't miss this group's debut in the Music Along the Crooked Road concert series! Joining them will be regional favorites Ken Childress & Jim Mullins, veterans of the Jettie Baker Center stage and the Music Along the Crooked Road concert series. Join Ken & Jim during the first half of the evening for their signature blend of great singing, picking, and stories.

Admission to this event will be $5.00 per person, and one child (ages 12 and under) per paying adult will be admitted free, so bring the whole family for a wonderful evening of regional music!

The "Music Along the Crooked Road" series of concerts will be held on the first Saturday evening of every month at the Jettie Baker Center with a scheduled performance time of 7 p.m. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Museum & Center and the Jettie Baker Center during the work week leading up to each performance.

Presenting: Ron Short & Special Musical Guests

2007-05-21T11:33:00.000-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center and the Jettie Baker Center will present Ron Short and Special Musical Guests on Saturday, June 2nd at 7:00 p.m. at the Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood. This event is the latest addition to the Music Along the Crooked Road concert series, which brings together the best in regional old-time, bluegrass, and gospel music to create wonderful evenings of culture and entertainment.

Short’s music features powerful vocal renditions of original songs—sometimes sung a cappella; sometimes accompanied by banjo, guitar, fiddle, mandolin, flute, or accordion; but always inspired by the Appalachian Mountain traditions in which the author/composer was born and raised. Dirty Linen Magazine said of the songs on the album Wings To Fly, “It’s the stuff of earthy life, and the skill of Short’s work in the tradition suggests that some of his songs may well become part of that tradition in another couple decades.” Ron’s energetic performances, versatile musicianship, and soaring voice combine with compelling, plain-spoken narrative and biting commentary about the everyday matters of life and love to produce an entrancing live performance that is musically fresh, thoroughly entertaining, and, finally, moving.

Tickets will go on sale Tuesday, May 29th at the Ralph Stanley Museum and the Jettie Baker Center. Admission will be $5.00 per person for general admission, and one child per paying adult (ages 12 and under) will be admitted free, so bring the whole family for a wonderful evening of regional music!

The "Music Along the Crooked Road" series of concerts will be held on the first Saturday evening of every month at the Jettie Baker Center with a scheduled performance time of 7 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the Ralph Stanley Museum and the Jettie Baker Center during the work week leading up to each performance.

For more information about upcoming events in the “Music Along the Crooked Road” series, or to purchase tickets, please visit our website at http://www.ralphstanleymuseum.com/, call the Ralph Stanley Museum at 926-8550, or call the Jettie Baker Center at 926-8694.

RSM&TMMC Extends Invitation to Local Artisans

2007-05-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center invites local artisans to submit their work for sales consideration in the Museum's gift shop. The RSM&TMMC Gift Shop Committee will evaluate all work submitted and provide a response within two weeks based on available space in the sales area as well as specific needs of the shop.

In accordance with the RSM&TMMC's mission, we extend this invitation to better support community arts and crafts while creating a one-of-a-kind gift shop that highlights the best that our area has to offer. If you are interested in submitting your work for Committee review, please contact Aaron Davis or Pam Morris at 276-926-8550.

Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center Hosts Pickin' Porch Jam Session

2007-05-08T10:27:00.000-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center will host its first Pickin' Porch jam session of the year on Sunday, May 13 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Bring your chair and instrument and enjoy an afternoon of pickin' and grinnin' at the museum.

These informal jam sessions will take place at the RSM&TMMC on the second Sunday afternoon of each month from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., so mark your calendars early in the season! 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 mission of the Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center is to honor the talent and legacy of Dr. Ralph Stanley and to preserve and promote traditional mountain music through exhibits, services, and resource information to people in southwest Virginia, the nation, and the world. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation and greatly appreciate your support.

Presenting: Lonesome Will Mullins & the Virginia Playboys

2007-05-01T11:25:00.000-04:00

The Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center and the Jettie Baker Center will present Lonesome Will Mullins & The Virginia Playboys on Saturday, May 5th at 7:30 p.m. at the Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood. This event is the latest addition to the Music Along the Crooked Road series of concerts, which brings together the best in regional old-time, bluegrass, and gospel music to create wonderful evenings of culture and entertainment.

Lonesome Will Mullins is THE wildman of bluegrass music, influenced by Ralph Stanley, Jimmy Martin and Jerry Lee Lewis, he mixes traditional bluegrass music with a breathtakingly energetic stage show. Backed by his tremendous band the Virginia Playboys he presents a show jam-packed with hard driving bluegrass, old time clawhammer banjer and gospel music. Be sure to catch Lonesome Will Mullins and the Virginia Playboys live and in person.

Tickets will go on sale Monday, April 30th at the Ralph Stanley Museum and the Jettie Baker Center. Admission will be $10.00 per person for general admission, and one child per paying adult (ages 12 and under) will be admitted free, so bring the whole family for a wonderful evening of regional music!

The "Music Along the Crooked Road" series of concerts will be held on the first Saturday evening of every month at the Jettie Baker Center with a scheduled performance time of 7 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the Ralph Stanley Museum and the Jettie Baker Center during the work week leading up to each performance.

For more information about upcoming events in the "Music Along the Crooked Road" series, or to purchase tickets, please visit our website at www.ralphstanleymuseum.com, call the Ralph Stanley Museum at 926-8550, or call the Jettie Baker Center at 926-8694.

Music Along The Crooked Road To Feature Cultural Exchange Through Music

2007-04-13T10:51:00.001-04:00

At 7:00 PM, April 14, the public is invited to the Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood Virginia for the riveting performances of Ethel Caffie-Austin and Quandro Hornbuckle outstanding performers of African American praise singing from the mountains of West Virginia. Caffie Austin is not only an outstanding performer, raising the roof on piano and voice in her gospel numbers, but she is also a gifted teacher, inspiring the best from her students of gospel music as she creates community choirs and musical exchanges.

Some of the same can be said of Scott Mullins of the musical Mullins Family in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. The Mullins Family has served their community as musicians for at least three generations. There is no way of knowing how many church services this group has enriched, how many lives they have transformed and how they have uplifted folks in times of hardship. Scott currently works with a group of young musicians, Mountain Tyme, who will spend some time under the mentorship of Ms Caffie-Austin.

Additionally, Ron Short, traditional musician and performer with Roadside Theater of Appalshop, Whitesburg, Kentucky will share the stage with Ms. Austin and Scott Mullins.

Prior the evening event, at 1:00 PM at the Jettie Baker Center the West Virginia and Virginia musicians will hold a public singing workshop for anyone who would like to attend.

This event, presented by the Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Music Center and the Baker Center is the latest addition to the Music Along the Crooked Road series of concerts. The series brings together the best in regional old-time, bluegrass, gospel music to create wonderful evenings of culture and entertainment.

This is a free event, but it is requested that you bring a can of food, or a non-perishable food item for the Dickenson County Food Bank. This rare event is being made possible by The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the Mid-Atlantic Arts, The Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Music Center, the Jettie Baker Center and the Dickenson County Extension Office.