July 12, 2003-January 11, 2004
Price-Strongwell Galleries
Image: Henry Whitter, circa 1920s
About the Exhibition
Singers and musicians from Southwest Virginia made some of the first country, blues, and gospel records in America, and their artistry helped shape the Golden Age of 78 r.p.m. records. While most of these musicians never achieved any great degree of fame (with notable exceptions, such as The Carter Family), by the early 1940s they had cut over 1,200 love songs, sentimental songs, ballads, hymns, blues numbers, novelty songs, and string band tunes. Few other parts of the country rivaled such a volume of commercially recorded folk-based music in the pre-World War II era. The exhibition showcases the careers of these recording pioneers, through photographs, posters, sheet music, musical instruments and other memorabilia. Early phonographs and radios are also featured. Organized by the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum of Ferrum College. On view through January 11, 2004 at William King Regional Arts Center.
Related Events
Film Festival
Tuesdays, July 29 & August 5
5:30 p.m. The Ralph Stanley Story
7 p.m. Sunny Side of Life
8 p.m. Tour of Hometown Stars exhibition
Sundays, August 3 & 10
2 p.m. Hazel Dickens: It’s Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song
3 p.m. Sunny Side of Life
4 p.m. Tour of Hometown Stars exhibition
Hometown Stars Under the Stars Concert
Sunday, August 10, 7 to 9:30 p.m.
Pickin’ Porch Concert Series
7 p.m. each Thursday at the BCMA Pickin’ Porch
sponsored by Birthplace of Country Music Alliance (BCMA)
November 6
Mike Seeger in Concert
November 13
Lecture by Bill Hartley
“Where Technology and Tradition Met: The Early Days of Radio and Recording in the Mountain Empire”
November 20
A BBC Film Production
“Lost Highway Episode I: Down From the Mountain”
