Down the Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina Podcast
This podcast highlights bluegrass and old-time music stories, performers, and traditions across the mountain and foothills counties of Western North Carolina. These traditions and stories are the soul and spirit of the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.
The podcast is hosted by Laura Boosinger, musician, folklorist, and storyteller; scripted by Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Program Manager Brandon Johnson; and produced by Corrie Askew and Joe Kendrick of WNCW-FM.
Episodes air every other week on WNCW-FM (88.7) at about 8:50 am on Tuesday mornings (at the end of NPR’s Morning Edition). New episodes will be published below as they are completed.
Season 5
- Season 5 Episode 20: The Creative Community of Rare Bird Farm
- Season 5 Episode 19: The Ridgetop Riches of Red Spruce
- Season 5 Episode 18: Claire Armbruster and Planning Stages
- Season 5 Episode 17: Rhonda Gouge and the Joy of Musical Connection
- Season 5 Episode 16: A Reading of Louise Wright Price’s Charlie & His Banjo: The Story of Charlie Poole
- Season 5 Episode 15: William Allsbrook Jr.’s Making Music: The Banjo in a Southern Appalachian County
- Season 5 Episode 14: Remembering Betty Smith
- Season 5 Episode 13: Thomm Jutz and Nothing But Green Willow: The Songs of Mary Sands and Jane Gentry
- Season 5 Episode 12: Terry Roberts Talks Writing, Music, and Storytelling in the Mountains
- Season 5 Episode 11: Fine Tuned: Volume One, The Album
- Season 5 Episode 10: Plott-Tober Fest Celebrates the Plott Hound and German Heritage
- Season 5 Episode 9: The Blowing Rock Fiddlers’ Convention of 1928
- Season 5 Episode 8: Cherokee Language Repertory Choir
- Season 5 Episode 7: Songwriters Showcase at Peacock Performing Arts Center
- Season 5 Episode 6: Kelley Breiding and “The Place Where the Stories Come From”
- Season 5 Episode 5: Roseland Gardens: Black Mountain Juke Joint
- Season 5 Episode 4: Darren Nicholson Remembers a Mentor and Charts a New Path
- Season 5 Episode 3: Blue Ridge Music Trails Stops Along the Blue Ridge Parkway Part 2
- Season 5 Episode 2: Blue Ridge Music Trails Stops Along the Blue Ridge Parkway Part 1
- Season 5 Episode 1: Fine Tuned: Josh Jones and Sav Sankaran
Season 4
- Season 4 Episode 20: Fine Tuned: Bayla Davis and Cary Fridley
- Season 4 Episode 19: Fine Tuned: Benjamin Barker and David LaMotte
- Season 4 Episode 18: Fine Tuned: The Allen Boys with DaShawn Hickman and Kelley Breiding
- Season 4 Episode 17: Fine Tuned: Jarrett Wildcatt & Keaw’e Bone
- Season 4 Episode 16: Introducing the Fine Tuned Project
- Season 4 Episode 15: Is it a Fiddle or a Violin?
- Season 4 Episode 14: Bobby Hicks: A Fiddling Icon
- Season 4 Episode 13: Forevermore Donna Ray Norton Will Sing
- Season 4 Episode 12: A Deep Dive into the Earl Scruggs Music Festival
- Season 4 Episode 11: The 51st Smoky Mountain Folk Festival
- Season 4 Episode 10: Listen to Legendary WNC Instruments
- Season 4 Episode 9: Carl Sandburg and the American Songbag
- Season 4 Episode 8: Western North Carolina Music’s Impact in Popular Culture
- Season 4 Episode 7: The Jagged Path Works to Tell a Fuller Story
- Season 4 Episode 6: Derek Piotr Explores NC Mountain Singing
- Season 4 Episode 5: Billy Edd Wheeler, Songwriter
- Season 4 Episode 4: Asheville Music Walking Tour
- Season 4 Episode 3: The Musical Happy Valley
- Season 4 Episode 2: Train Songs and Marshall’s Historic Depot
- Season 4 Episode 1: Remembering Bobby McMillion
Season 3
- Season 3 Episode 20: Traditional Artist Directory Spotlight: David Holt
- Season 3 Episode 19: Remembering Arvil Freeman
- Season 3 Episode 18: Lots of Great Ways to Learn Music in WNC
- Season 3 Episode 17: The Cuckoo: A chart topper since the 1200’s
- Season 3 Episode 16: The Bascom Lamar Lunsford Mountain Music Festival Carries on a Legacy
- Season 3 Episode 15: The Tom Dula Legends Lives On
- Season 3 Episode 14: Storytelling on the Blue Ridge Music Trails
- Season 3 Episode 13: What is a D.O.G.
- Season 3 Episode 12: Step it Up and Go is David Menconi’s Love Letter to North Carolina Music
- Season 3 Episode 11: The Green Grass Cloggers
- Season 3 Episode 10: Wayne Erbsen: Musician, Teacher, Author, and Radio Host
- Season 3 Episode 9: Unto These Hills
- Season 3 Episode 8: Traditional Artist Directory Spotlight: Susan Pepper
- Season3 Episode 7: Blue Ridge Craft Trails Spotlight: Richard Beard
- Season 3 Episode 6: Traditional Artist Directory Spotlight: Michael Reno Harrell
- Season 3 Episode 5: Traditional Artist Directory Spotlight: The Burnett Sisters Band
- Season 3 Episode 4: NC Musician Murals Project
- Season 3 Episode 3: Banjo Builders in WNC
- Season 3 Episode 2: Music’s Functions in the Farmers Federation
- Season 3, Episode 1: Byard Ray’s Old Fiddle Makes New Music
Season 2
- Season 2, Episode 33: Matthew Tooni Carries on Traditions of Cherokee Stories and Music
- Season 2, Episode 32: Jack Guy Compiled a Treasure Trove of Mountain Music
- Season 2, Episode 31: Byard Ray and Obray Ramsey Make Long, Strange Trip into Pop Culture
- Season 2, Episode 30: Young Presley Barker Dazzles on the Flatpicked Guitar
- Season 2, Episode 29: Don Reno Finds Success as a Bluegrass Banjo Innovator and Bandleader
- Season 2, Episode 28: Mary Jane Queen Preserved a Family Tradition of Songs and Stories
- Season 2, Episode 27: David Holt Shares Blue Ridge Mountain Music with the World
- Season 2, Episode 26: Lillian Chase Fiddles a Smooth Mountain Blend of Bluegrass and Old-Time Music
- Season 2, Episode 25: Smoky Mountain Folk Festival Celebrates Fifty Years of Music and Dance
- Season 2, Episode 24: Fiddler Carley Arrowood Lends Her Voice to Mountain Music
- Season 2, Episode 23: Rhiannon Ramsey Exemplifies the Next Generation of Fiddlers
- Season 2, Episode 22: Zoe and Cloyd Bring Varied Family Traditions to Mountain Music
- Season 2, Episode 21: Raymond Fairchild Creates His Own Style of Playing the Banjo
- Season 2, Episode 20: Railroad Tunnel to Asheville Ends in Triumph and Tragedy
- Season 2, Episode 19: Mountain Music Has Deep Roots in British Isles
- Season 2, Episode 18: Appalachian Dulcimer Makes Sweet Mountain Music
- Season 2, Episode 17: Cane Mill Road Carries on Deep Gap Legacy
- Season 2, Episode 16: Primitive Quartet Grew Out of a Fishing Trip
- Season 2, Episode 15: Brown Mountain Lights Captured in Popular Song
- Season 2, Episode 14: George Shuffler Pioneered Cross-Picking Style
- Season 2, Episode 13: Arvil Freeman Plays His Distinctive Fiddle Style
- Season 2, Episode 12: Nina Simone Got Her Start in North Carolina
- Season 2, Episode 11: Glenn and Lula Bolick Carry on Music, Craft Tradition
- Season 2, Episode 10: Marsha Todd Makes Her Mark in Mountain Music
- Season 2, Episode 9: Chester McMillian Is Guitar Legend in Mount Airy
- Season 2, Episode 8: Ola Belle Reed Brought Bluegrass to Baltimore
- Season 2, Episode 7: How Doc Watson Found Success in the Sixties
- Season 2, Episode 6: Doc Watson Recalls Mountain Childhood
- Season 2, Episode 5: Clarence Ashley Rediscovered in Folk Revival
- Season 2, Episode 4: Ray Hicks Made Folktales Come Alive
- Season 2, Episode 3: Frank Proffitt Sang the Murder Ballad “Tom Dooley”
- Season 2, Episode 2: Charlie Poole Pioneered Piedmont Banjo Style
- Season 2, Episode 1: Round Peak Artists Shaped Old-Time Style
Season 1
- Season 1, Episode 30: What Are the Blue Ridge Music Trails?
- Season 1, Episode 29: Breaking up Christmas
- Season 1, Episode 28: Cherokee Hymnbook Keeps Language Alive
- Season 1, Episode 27: Junior Appalachian Musicians
- Season 1, Episode 26: African-American Gospel Music in Appalachia
- Season 1, Episode 25: Team Dancing Tradition Thrives in the Mountains
- Season 1, Episode 24: Rising Stars of Mountain Music
- Season 1, Episode 23: Hear Surry County’s Style at the Earle
- Season 1, Episode 22: Doc Watson Defined Mountain Music
- Season 1, Episode 21: Settlers Brought Ancient Ballads to the Mountains
- Season 1, Episode 20: Brasstown Is a Hotbed for Mountain Music
- Season 1, Episode 19: Cherokee Play a Part in Bluegrass
- Season 1, Episode 18: Shaped-Note Singing Thrives
- Season 1, Episode 17: The Kruger Brothers Followed Music from Switzerland
- Season 1, Episode 16: African Roots of the Banjo
- Season 1, Episode 15: Where to Find Your Favorite Fiddlers’ Convention
- Season 1, Episode 14: Cherokee Adapt New Musical Traditions to Ancient Heritage
- Season 1, Episode 13: Country Music’s First Female Stars
- Season 1, Episode 12: What Is Bluegrass?
- Season 1, Episode 11: Blues Guitarist Lesley Riddle Shaped Country Music
- Season 1, Episode 10: Picking the Blue Ridge Blues
- Season 1, Episode 9: How to Join a Music Jam
- Season 1, Episode 8: What Is Old-Time Music?
- Season 1, Episode 7: Earl Scruggs Brought Banjo Style to World
- Season 1, Episode 6: Before Mayberry, Griffith’s Mount Airy Made Music
- Season 1, Episode 5: Bascom Lamar Lunsford Championed Mountain Music and Dance
- Season 1, Episode 4: Etta Baker Played the Piedmont Blues for 90 Years
- Season 1, Episode 3: Sheila Kay Adams Sings the Old Ballads of the North Carolina Mountains
- Season 1, Episode 2: MerleFest Celebrates America’s Finest “Traditional Plus” Music
- Season 1, Episode 1: Jimmie Rodgers Lands in Asheville
Our Podcast Partners
The “Down the Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina” podcast is a joint effort of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, the North Carolina Arts Council, and WNCW-FM.
The Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina is a joint initiative of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership and the North Carolina Arts Council to showcase the vibrant musical traditions of Western North Carolina.
The North Carolina Arts Council launched its work in 1967 as part of a national movement inspired by the concept of “arts for all citizens.” For 50 years, the Arts Council has supported the arts as a catalyst for job creation, downtown revitalization, arts-based tourism and student success both within and outside of the classroom.
WNCW-FM, a public radio station, is a service of Isothermal Community College in Spindale, NC.
