Contact: Althea Brooksalthea@virginia.edu
www.virginiafoundation.org
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
145 Ednam Drive Charlottesville, VA
22903-4629
PH: 434-243-5520
FAX: 434-296-4714
For Immediate Release
Contact: Althea Brooks
althea@virginia.edu
www.virginiafoundation.org
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
145 Ednam Drive
Charlottesville, VA
22903-4629
PH: 434-243-5520
FAX: 434-296-4714
For Immediate Release
The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) announces the release of the first three CDs in the Virginia Folklife Program’s Crooked Road CD Series. Bluegrass Lullaby, the debut release from No Speed Limit, one of the most promising bluegrass bands to come out of Southwest Virginia, Let Your Light Shine Out, a 60 year anthology of the gospel singing Mullins Familyfrom the coalfields of Dickinson County, and Fiddling Up a Storm, the debut of 12-year old fiddle prodigy Montana Young, all showcase the region that produced the first “country music” recordings and is still blessed with a wealth of musical talent. The Crooked Road CDs are now available online through the VFH Online Store: http://uvabookstoreonline.com/vfh.asp
The Virginia Folklife Program has been closely involved in the development of "The Crooked Road," Virginia's Music Heritage Trail, from its inception. The Crooked Road runs from the Eastern Slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the coalfields of deep Southwest Virginia, passing through many important historic sites for the creation and perpetuation of old-time, bluegrass, and mountain gospel music. It was this region that produced the first "country music" recordings in Bristol, Virginia, in 1929, and there remains a remarkable wealth of musical talent in the region today. Thanks to a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Virginia Folklife Program introduces much of this talent to new audiences through the Crooked Road CD Series.
The first CD in the Crooked Road series features No Speed Limit. Virginia Folklife Program director Jon Lohman describes the band as “a hot, young bluegrass band that has quickly become the focus of much attention throughout Southwest Virginia.” From Galax, Virginia the band is an example of how banjo music lives on in this region. A hotbed of musical activity, Galax was home to the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention as well as important performance venues and gathering spaces such as the legendary Rex Theater and Barr’s Fiddle Shop. Lohman describes Steve Barr, the leader of the band and son of the owner of Barr’s Fiddle Shop, as a “stunning banjoist” though it is not just his banjo skills that are highlighted on No Speed Limit’s first CD, Bluegrass Lullaby. Barr proves himself a strong songwriter on the album, penning several numbers that, according to Lohman, have already practically become standards in the region, including the fast-paced “Grayson County Blues,” “Down by the River” and the CD’s title track, “Bluegrass Lullaby.”
The second CD in the series, The Mullins Family Anthology: Let Your Light Shine Out, chronicles over three generations of gospel music from the coalfields of Southwest Virginia. The Mullins Family, an a cappella gospel singing group from Clintwood, Virginia, has been singing since the 1940s and now in their third generation the family continues to sing in the style associated with the Church of Brethren (a singing style akin to that of the Primitive Baptists).
For over 60 years, the Mullins Family has sung at local pie suppers, tent revivals, funerals, memorial services, and countless other kinds of community gatherings in Dickenson County (home of the Labor Day Tri-State Gospel Sing). According to Lohman, “despite their prolific presence in the region the Mullins Family and the entire singing style of the Church of Brethren have gone almost completely unheard outside the coalfields.” For this ambitious project the Folklife Program worked closely with the Mullins Family and Chris King of County Records to digitally remaster over 60 years of material from a variety of formats, which include homemade 78 rpm recordings and 45 rpm recordings that were produced by private record companies or pressed quickly during an appearance on gospel radio station WNVA in Norton, Virginia in the 1940s. Combining these older recordings with new ones produced by the Virginia Folklife Program, the audience will get a sampling of how their sound has evolved through the generations. The album features the vocals of 23 family members, but according to a recent review on countysales.com the “best cuts feature the strong bass voice of Reverend Hie Mullins… as well as the equally powerful voices of Hie’s wife Frances and Annabel Mullins Puckett.” The reviewer goes on to describe the Mullins Family Anthology as “an unexpected and very welcome release—a gem for those who appreciate the homespun, inspired and heartfelt singing of another place and time.”
While the Mullins Family brings decades of recording experience to their project, young fiddler Montana Young, of Bassett, Virginia, makes her recording debut on the Crooked Road series with Fiddling Up a Storm. Montana was first introduced to the Virginia Foundation of the Humanities through her apprenticeship with bluegrass fiddle legend and Patrick County native Buddy Pendleton in the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. At ten years old, Young was the youngest apprentice ever to participate in the program. Now, at twelve years old, Lohman describes her as having “developed a level of maturity and intonation that belies her age, making her not just a great ‘kid fiddler’ but a great fiddler.” Pendleton remarks that “you are not going to find a fiddler any better than Montana at her age.” Young’s standing in the music community is most evident in the list of accomplished musicians with whom she has recorded, including National Heritage guitarist Wayne C. Henderson, National Guitar Flatpicking Champion Scott Fore, the Whitetop Mountain Band, and mentor Buddy Pendleton.
The Folklife Program plans to produce 10-12 CDs in the Crooked Road series. “There are many other exciting projects on the horizon for the Crooked Road CD Series,” says Lohman. These projects include plans to record the beloved Spencer Family of Whitetop Mountain, Gerald Anderson and Spencer Strickland of Grayson County, Bluegrass banjo legend Sammy Shelor of Patrick County with critically acclaimed vocalist Linda Lay of Bristol, and Flatpicking master Scott Fore of Washington County.
The Crooked Road CD Series is a project of the Virginia Folklife Program. The Virginia Folklife Program documents, presents, and supports Virginia’s living cultures, traditions, and folkways. The Virginia Folklife Program is a program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, a statewide organization created in 1974 to develop the civic, cultural, and intellectual life of the Commonwealth by creating learning opportunities for all Virginians.
The purpose of the VFH is to bring the humanities fully into Virginia's public life, assisting individuals and communities in their efforts to understand the past, confront important issues in the present, and shape a promising future. The Foundation brings together people from across the Commonwealth with differing backgrounds and viewpoints--interested citizens, scholars, community leaders, and experts from many fields--creating an environment in which new ideas are encouraged and new ways of thinking are possible. For more on the Foundation visit www.virginiafoundation.org
For more information, please call the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities at 434-924-3296 or visit www.virginiafolklife.org
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