The Old-Time Music Heritage Hall is located in the EARLE* Theatre on Main Street in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Self guided tours are enhanced with audio guides that feature the music of Surry County Old-Time Musicians whose portraits are in the Hall.
Admission is $6.00 per person and includes a wrist band for admission to the Andy Griffith Museum, the Mount Airy – Mayberry Exhibit, The Siamese Twins Exhibit, and the Mount Airy Photo Club’s Photo Gallery. For an additional $2.00 you get an easy-to-use audio guide. The Andy Griffith Museum and the additional exhibits are located at 218 Rockford Street, one block away and walking distance from the EARLE. Those visiting the Andy Griffith Museum first will receive a wrist band at that location that permits admission to the Old-Time Music Heritage Hall at the EARLE.
The Old-Time Music Heritage Hall provides an opportunity for visitors and residents to learn more about the musicians whose powerful art brought thousands to Surry County to learn – and set the stage for the lively old-time scene that continues today. The lobby of the Old-Time Music Heritage Hall houses artifacts from Surry County’s old-time music icons. Portraits and storyboards line the walls. Biographies of the old-time musicians featured in the hall were compiled by folklife specialist, Trish Kilby Fore. Folkways: Music of Surry County plays continuously on the movie screen in the Hall. This UNC-TV Folkways documentary reveals why the intense, bluesy, fiddle-driven Surry County sound has become synonymous around the world with American old-time music. “FOLKWAYS: Music of Surry County” was produced by Jim Bramlett, hosted by David Holt, and written by Michael Sheehan. This Surry Arts Council project was funded by the North Carolina Arts Council Folklife Division and the Mount Airy Tourism Development Authority.
