Blue Ridge Music Trails

We visited this great museum and performing arts center on our last day in the Blue Ridge. The Midday Mountain Music at the Blue Ridge Music Center is a daily feature of the Crooked Road, Virginia’s Musical Heritage Trail located in Galax (milepost 213). We heard some great bluegrass music by the duo of Willard Gayheart and Bobby Patterson, pictured below.
Gayheart is a Galax native and the pencil artist from Hazard, KY (who’s been in VA since 1962 and says he’s “took root now – be hard to get rid of me”) has been playing music with Patterson for 40 years in various bands. Gayheart specializes in guitar and Patterson plays banjo, guitar, and sometimes mandolin.

The next day, we saw another twosome, Maggie and Bill Anderson. I’ve attached a sample of Maggie’s playing “Silver Bell” on the Dobro.

Additional Reading
History of music in the Blue Ridge: Blue Ridge Music Center
The Blue Ridge Music Center celebrates the music and musicians of the Blue Ridge. Established by the U.S. Congress in 1997, with support from The National Council for the Traditional Arts.