The Blue Ridge Music Trails Spring Concert Series brings a fresh perspective on traditional music to the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center in Asheville. In partnership with the Blue Ridge Music Center, and with funding from South Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council, we are working to update our Traditional Artist Directory with some fresh new members. We have scheduled four events to present them to audiences free of charge, at the Parkway’s flagship visitor center located at Milepost 384 on the Blue Ridge Parkway (195 Hemphill Knob Rd, Asheville, NC 28803).
Saturday, March 23, 2 PM – 4 PM – Ballad Swap with Sheila Kay Adams, Donna Ray Norton, Melanie Rice, and William Ritter
- Four of the premier ballad singers from WNC will take the stage to share songs and stories. Telling stories through song has been woven into the culture of the Appalachian Mountains for hundreds of years. You won’t want to miss this truly authentic experience with Sheila Kay Adams, Donna Ray Norton, Melanie Rice, and William Ritter performing in-the-round.
Saturday, April 13, 2 PM – 4 PM
- 2 PM – 3 PM – Sam McKinney has been playing guitar since he was 6 years old and gave his first public performance at the age of 10. Born and raised in Altapass, NC, his musical roots grow deep in the culture and heritage of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Having developed an appreciation for all kinds of music at a young age, Sam takes many different styles of music and does them in his own way. Bluegrass, country, blues, ballads, traditional old time, gospel and more can all be heard in one performance. Sam does something for everyone.
- 3 PM – 4 PM – Jarrett Wildcatt works as a cultural specialist at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, NC. He is a multi-instrumentalist, performing with traditional Cherokee instruments and several guitar styles. Jarrett carries on traditions learned from his family and community, and he is also a craft artist working in multiple traditional Cherokee craft forms.
Saturday, May 18, 2 PM – 4 PM
- 2 PM – 4 PM – Ann Woodford, Liberty Baptist Church Choir, and Reverend William Hamilton. Ann Woodford is an author and visual artist who works primarily in oils, Ann Miller Woodford, dedicates her work to capturing the spirit she admires around her. Skilled in pencil, charcoal, and ink drawing, her subject matter includes people, animals, landscapes, inspirational, and still lifes. Her new portrait series, Black in Black on Black: Making the Invisible Visible, displays the emergence from darkness through the amalgamation of all colors – Black! After completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Ohio University and building a business in Columbus, OH and an art career in Los Angeles, Ann returned home to Andrews, NC, where she creates artwork in Ann’s Tree Studio, has written a book, When All God’s Children Get Together: A Celebration of the Lives and Music of African American People in Far Western North Carolina, and speaks to organizations about the history of the region. Ann has curated this performances to showcase outstanding examples of Black Gospel traditions in WNC.
Friday, June 7, 2 PM – 4 PM
- 2 PM – 3 PM – White Rock Revival is a modern-traditional bluegrass band from Western North Carolina. White Rock Revival band members live in Madison and northern Buncombe County. With all members contributing to vocals the band consists of Sam Adams on bass, Sammy Adams on banjo, Jackson Adams on mandolin, McClellan Patterson on dobro, and Jamie Roberts on guitar. Playing a variety of styles within the context of the bluegrass genre, White Rock Revival has a heavy rotation of gospel, traditional country from the 60’s through the 90’s, and hard-driving bluegrass. With strong family harmony and an instrumental foundation, White Rock Revival is an authentic representation of bluegrass music from members who were born and raised in the mountains where the music originated.
- 3 PM to 4 PM – The Wilder Flower flexes between folk, Americana, bluegrass, and Old-time tunes. They thrice vocally on three-part harmonies, whether a two-chord old-time ballad, or a modern, minor-filled melody. Instrumentally, they feature bluegrass banjo tunes, fiddle and clawhammer string-band songs, flatpicking guitar tunes, and everything in between. Their unique sound is centered around original songs and tunes that are thoughtfully arranged and adapted to showcase their tasteful instrumental sensibilities. They flex between genres and writers in each song, but there’s something to their collective taste that speaks the same language, though switching dialects.
