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We are over a month out from Hurricane Helene, and it is apparent that musicians and venues need our help now more than ever. The Blue Ridge Music Trails is holding a benefit concert at the White Horse in Black Mountain on November 14, 2024, at 7 p.m.

Headlining the show will be Unspoken Tradition, a chart-topping quintet hailing from Western and Central North Carolina. Their music is influenced by their lives and roots in traditional and new grass music, as is evident in their quality catalog of unique songs.

Unspoken Tradition has also been busy dedicating time and raising money for their home state the past month. We’re excited to have them play this event, bringing more joy to the region and providing hope and levity as we focus on lifting up this region’s fantastic music scene.

Tickets will be available in advance and at the door. This is a pay-what-you-can event. A portion of the proceeds from this event will support the Blue Ridge Music Trails artists, with the other portion going towards charities of White Horse’s choice. Together, we continue to support our communities.

Unspoken Tradition includes:
Audie McGinnis, Guitar & Vocals
Ty Gilpin, Mandolin & Vocals
Tim Gardner, Fiddle & Vocals
Sav Sankaran, Bass & Vocals
Zane McGinnis, Banjo

If you can’t make it to the event but want to help, please consider donating to the Blue Ridge Music Trails.

The Blue Ridge Music Trails of NC is an initiative of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area.

Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and the Blue Ridge Music Trails were recently invited to participate in this amazing program, which provides instruments and support to artists who suffered losses after Hurricane Helene.

ReString Appalachia is an initiative from American Songcatcher, supported by over 150 musicians, instrument makers, nonprofits, festivals, venues, artists, actors and media outlets to get instruments back in the hands of people throughout Appalachia who were affected by Helene.

Click here to learn more about the ReString Appalachia program: https://americansongcatcher.com/restringappalachia/

*In honor of the late Bobby Hicks, we share this 2023 story from Down the Road that highlights this wonderful and talented man.

Atop a small mountain in a holler, in the depths of rural Madison County, is an unassuming house. A winding dirt driveway leads to the front door. Entering the mud room, there are a handful of Grammy awards glistening on a shelf in the afternoon sunshine.

“One of my Grammys is on the desk of the [Madison County] sheriff,” 89-year-old Bobby Hicks chuckled in his living-room recliner. “He’s always treated me well, and is only a phone call away.”

Aside from the Grammys garnered throughout his incendiary career as a renowned bluegrass and country music fiddler, Hicks’ stairwell is lined with International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and Country Music Association (CMA) honors. There are also gold and platinum record plaques acquired during his tenure with the Bluegrass Album Band, and with Ricky Skaggs.

“If I was a young man, I’d do it all over again,” Hicks said about his whirlwind life and astounding career.

Born in Newtown (Catawba County) in 1933, Hicks was raised in a musical family. His mother played banjo. One brother took on mandolin, while two others played guitar. The four brothers eventually formed a band, with Hicks picking up fiddle to round-out the group.

“When I was nine years old, my dad brought a three-quarter sized fiddle home one night. He’d bought it from somebody for $12.50,” Hicks noted of his first acquired instrument. “So, I started messing with it, trying to learn how to play it. There were a lot of people who wanted to play in town, and I’d join in the jam with them.”

By the early 1950s, Hicks had made a name for himself around the Piedmont area of North Carolina. Then, in 1954, Hicks was hired as the bass player for Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys. Known as the “Father of Bluegrass,” Monroe was in need of a bassist while touring the Greensboro region. Hicks got the gig and became a full-time member, soon switching back to fiddle for Monroe.

“I was 21 when I went to work for [Bill Monroe]. He treated me like a son, and he always looked after me,” Hicks said. “I lived and breathed the fiddle. And I learned a lot after I went to Nashville [with Monroe] — there were so many good fiddle players there.”

Hicks played for Monroe from 1954 to 1956 before entering the military. Two years later, in 1958, Hicks was honorably discharged and joined back up with Monroe until 1960. From there, Hicks worked with country legend Porter Wagoner. After that, there were a handful of stints playing around the Midwest and Montana.

“Then, I left Montana and went to Las Vegas. I walked into the Golden Nugget [casino] looking for a job,” Hicks said. “I had an empty gas tank in my car and $2 in my pocket — that was all the money I had. Walking into the Golden Nugget, [country star] Judy Lynn was in there, and she was looking for me [to play her Vegas residency].”

Lynn hired Hicks right on the spot. With another gig in his hands, Hicks and his trusty fiddle took on Las Vegas from 1963 through the early 1970s. By 1981, Skaggs asked Hicks to join his band, an invitation that led to an incredible 22-year run in the band, and all while Skaggs became a country music icon throughout the 1980s and beyond.

It was also during this time with Skaggs where Hicks was invited to be part of the immortal Bluegrass Album Band. Created as a murderers’ row of bluegrass masters, the initial group consisted of Hicks, guitarist Tony Rice, banjoist J.D. Crowe, mandolinist Doyle Lawson, and bassist Todd Phillips.

Nowadays, Hicks doesn’t venture too far from his mountaintop home. But, he will — like clockwork for the better part of the last 15 years — find himself down in nearby Marshall, a small county seat mountain town, to perform during the monthly bluegrass jam at Zuma Coffee.

“We’ve had people come to jam from all over the country,” Hicks said. “There’s even been folks from Japan, England, Italy, all over Europe — it’s a pretty special thing.”

Relaxing back into his recliner, with a slight glance over at all those glistening trophies and recognitions adorning his humble abode, Hicks can’t help but be grateful for the life he’s lived, and continues to wander — fiddle in-hand, always ready at the drop of a hat to bust out his beloved instrument for an impromptu jam.

“All I feel really good about is creating a style [of fiddle playing] that everybody likes,” Hicks said in a modest tone. “I just try to be nice to people and treat them like I would expect them to treat me. And I enjoy teaching the younger people that want to learn to play what I do.”

Enjoy more of our Down the Road – Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Guide here.

Celebrating a decade together with a special anniversary gig recently at the Salvage Station in Asheville, Fireside Collective has become a rapidly rising force in the Americana, bluegrass and jam realms in Southern Appalachia and beyond.

“At our core, we’re a grassroots band,” said Jesse Iaquinto, lead singer/mandolinist. “We thrive on meeting people across the country and learning different interpretations of folk music — it’s the traditions from where we come from and the new directions we can go that keeps inspiring us to learn and create.”

Originally from the foothills of northern Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier region of New York, Iaquinto was a young kid when his mother brought him to a bluegrass festival. During that time, his father would also toy around with a banjo while at home.

“Through my formative years, bluegrass would lay dormant in my mind and not emerge again until my college years,” the 39-year-old said. “Once I got to college, I started listening to a lot of [the] Grateful Dead and bluegrass reemerged in my life.”

At the foundation of Iaquinto’s love for music was (and remains) the psychedelic rock, American roots and improvisation jam aspects of the Grateful Dead. That was dovetailed with his discovery of the “Father of Bluegrass” Bill Monroe, New Grass Revival and Old & In The Way — the latter featuring the Dead’s Jerry Garcia on banjo.

“[Bluegrass] is such a beautiful thing — the harmonies, instrumental proficiency and live experience,” Iaquinto said. “Bill Monroe blended together so many elements from the music of his day and created something progressive and raw.”

Although he started playing piano at age five and dabbled with other instruments (guitar, percussion, saxophone), it wasn’t until Iaquinto was 22 when he experienced a musical epiphany once a mandolin found its way into his hands.

“[The mandolin] blended all of the qualities of the instruments I had played throughout my life,” Iaquinto said. “I love the percussive nature and the harmonic opportunities. Listening to Sam Bush and Chris Thile, I was blown away by how expressive the instrument could be.”

As an artist, Iaquinto looks at Monroe as an ongoing inspiration to always be a musical sponge, to be in constant awe of the world, to soak in every sight, sound and spectacle one may come across — only to wring it all out into something completely your own.

“I used to view life as one linear experience. Now that I’ve grown and traveled, I see it as an endless cycle,” Iaquinto said. “These cycles feed the artistic journey and keep everything fresh and moving forward — art is just a reflection of those cycles told through the eyes and hearts of the artists themselves.”

Following college, Iaquinto landed in Western North Carolina. Formed in 2014, Fireside Collective came to fruition in the vast Asheville music scene. The group had a deep desire to tap into not only the ancient tones of the “high, lonesome sound” that is bluegrass, but to also create a festive atmosphere onstage.

“In particular, Asheville is a microcosm of the creative side of the American story,” Iaquinto said. “There are writers, painters, chefs and musicians who come here to be inspired by the beautiful landscape and vibrant culture.”

Right out of the gate, Fireside Collective was a hardcore bluegrass entity, so much so it won the band competition at MerleFest in 2016. That nationwide notoriety eventually parlayed itself into a nomination from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) for “Momentum Band of the Year.” In 2022, the band received an IBMA nod for “New Artist of the Year.”

“Since [we began], we went heavy into the bluegrass and are now returning back to the hybrid roots ensemble that was originally envisioned,” Iaquinto said.

That circling back to a hybrid roots model included the addition of drummer Michael Tillis, a move that sonically complements the finely-tuned skillset and unrelenting drive of Iaquinto, Joe Cicero (guitar), Tommy Maher (dobro) and Carson White (bass).

“I’ve never really been in too much of hurry — I’d rather build something that lasts than have quick, but fleeting success,” Iaquinto said. “That’s why I’ve always loved blending many different influences into a unique, yet familiar sound.”

Together, this latest chapter of Fireside Collective is a quintet reinterpreting a slew of original melodies and covers — an intricate acoustic unit with a rhythm section of sound and fury.

“It’s exciting to think about bringing our bluegrass knowledge into the current incarnation of Fireside Collective,” Iaquinto said. “Knowing we have something unique, and everyone is enthusiastic about the new opportunities is definitely keeping the flame alive and burning brighter than ever before.”

With 10 years now behind them, Fireside Collective is quickly bubbling out of Southern Appalachia and onto the national scene — a juncture of time and place that only could have been reached by persistence and passion from the depths of the creative self in constant motion.

“We’ve always been the type of band that let our roots run deep and didn’t force anything,” Iaquinto said. “At the same time, we’ve always strived to grow and evolve — never [staying] in the same place for too long.”

When Agnes Joines looks back on the origins of the Alleghany Jubilee, she can’t help but chuckle when talking at length about her late husband, Ernest.

“To tell you the truth, that’s all that my husband ever talked about — he wanted to have a venue,” Agnes said.

Located in the historic Spartan Theater on Main Street in Sparta, the Alleghany Jubilee has become a haven for bluegrass, old-time and mountain music. Founded in 1993 by the couple, the gathering is a beacon of culture and camaraderie for the community and greater Alleghany County.

“And you meet so many wonderful people — they come from all over, everywhere,” Agnes said. “The music just brings back such good memories. I don’t know, it just gets in your blood.”

Alleghany Jubilee

At age 90, Agnes has recently shifted the duties of the venue over to family and friends. But, that doesn’t stop her from regularly attending the weekly events, whether it be line dancing lessons on Monday nights or live music on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

“People love it because it’s really authentic music,” Agnes said. “On Saturday nights, we have old-time, which is claw hammer banjo — the original kind of music they had back in the olden days.”

A well-known musician in the area, Ernest was a multi-instrumentalist, one who not only played guitar and mandolin but also was a bassist in several bands, usually performing at local square dances and community gatherings.

Ernest even played on a Galax, Virginia, radio station for a period in the late 1940s. To note, he also appeared on the CBS television program “I’ve Got a Secret,” a popular panel game show in the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on the program on May 17, 1961, with the clip still available for viewing on YouTube.

Sadly, Ernest passed away in 2016. He was 84. The couple had been married for 65 years at that point. First meeting as young kids in Sparta, they played music together in high school. Immediately, there was a chemistry between them.

Following graduation, Ernest thought they should start a duo and tour. Soon, they got married and hit the road. Ernest on guitar, Agnes also on guitar and standup bass. They sang harmoniously together, something heard on their 1958 melody “Falling in Love Again.”

“That was just his life — playing music,” Agnes said. “So, we just went and started playing. We’ve been all the way to California and back playing — everywhere. We had a wonderful life.”

Eventually, the Joines circled back to Sparta and built a life together. While Agnes traveled for work, Ernest found employment at the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Upon Ernest’s retirement in 1990, the idea for the Allegheny Jubilee took shape.

Alleghany Jubilee Dancing

Beyond the innumerable local and regional musicians and groups that have taken the stage at the Alleghany Jubilee, notable legends who have also played the theater — Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, Reno & Smiley, Uncle Dave Macon, and many more.

“It’s family-oriented. People come to talk and meet their friends,” Agnes said. “And if a new person comes in, they’re welcomed and everybody tries to make them feel at home — like a family.”