Crooked Road Festival

For generations, our Appalachian communities have produced an abundance of extraordinary traditional musicians. They are the keepers of an historic musical legacy from colonial times and have created and passed on old-time, bluegrass, and mountain gospel sounds that have influenced the development of American music.

The Crooked Road Festival—Wednesday, March 19 through Sunday, March 23—is presented by the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, the Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, and Montgomery County Regional Tourism Office. Funding is provided by Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Virginia Heritage Music Instrument Exhibit

Student Art Exhibition: Music of the Crooked Road

Wednesday, March 19 (additional dates March 1-April 30)
11 AM-3 PM
Montgomery Museum & Lewis Miller Art Center
300 Pepper St., Christiansburg
Free

John Hollandsworth
Instrument-Making Demonstration

Wednesday, March 19
11 AM-3 PM
Montgomery Museum & Lewis Miller Art Center
300 Pepper St., Christiansburg
Free

Open House with Old Time Music and Square Dance
featuring Katie and the Bubbatones
with fiddler Kathleen O'Connell
and caller Liam Kelley

Wednesday, March 19
6 PM open house begins
6:30 PM presentation
7 PM music begins
Prices Fork Elementary School Cafetorium
4021 Prices Fork Rd., Blacksburg
Additional band members will be John Hollandsworth, Russ Boyd, Eddie Ogle, and Sam Linkous.
Free
 

Olen Gardner, John Hollandsworth, and Mac Traynham: Instrument-Making Demonstration
The Virginia Luthiers: Instrument Display

Thursday, March 20
6:30-7:45 p.m.
Moss Arts Center
190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Free
 

Mountain Fling
Mac and Jenny Traynham
Wayne Henderson and the Virginia Luthiers
Thursday, March 20
8-10 PM
Moss Arts Center, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Live music performance
Ticket required; included in one festival admission price: $34-$45 general admission, $10 students with ID and children 18 and under
 

Crooked Road After Hours Music Social
Thursday, March 20
11 p.m.-2 a.m.
Holiday Inn University Blacksburg, 900 Prices Fork Road

Just when you thought there was no way to pack any more fun into The Crooked Road Festival in Montgomery County, The Crooked Road is hosting an after-hours music social from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Thursday, March 20, and Friday, March 21, at the Holiday Inn University Blacksburg at 900 Prices Fork Rd. Relax, connect with friends, order food or drink from the menu, and enjoy non-stop music and dance into the wee hours with artists from the evening concerts and the surrounding area. This event is a fundraiser to support the work of The Crooked Road, with a suggested donation at the door of $10.
 

The New Town Connection Exhibit

Thursday, March 20-Friday, March 21
Noon-5 PM
Saturday, March 22
Noon-4 PM
St. Luke and Odd Fellows Hall
203 Gilbert St., Blacksburg 
The New Town Connection exhibit tells the story of African-American Appalachian music through the stories, images, video, and music of New Town at St. Luke and Odd Fellows Hall.
Free

Olen Gardner
Instrument-Making Demonstration

Friday, March 21
11 AM-3 PM
Montgomery Museum & Lewis Miller Art Center
300 Pepper St., Christiansburg
Free
 

Pete Reiniger, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Presentation on producing Long Time...Seldom Scene, the group’s newest recording

Friday, March 21
6:45-7:30 PM 
Moss Arts Center
190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Pete Reiniger will give a two-part presentation on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and on the production of Long Time...Seldom Scene, including the story of the Smithsonian’s acquisition of the Folkways Record label, the growth of its catalog through the acquisition of other labels and newly generated releases since 1988, and the particulars of producing Long Time...Seldom Scene for Smithsonian Folkways. Reiniger is sound production supervisor for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the non-profit record label of the national museum.  He has spent more than 35 years working with traditional musics of the world on recordings and in live sound for concerts and festivals. The recordings he has engineered, mixed, and/or mastered include  old-time, bluegrass, blues, gospel, Cajun, polka, Tex-Mex, American Indian, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cape Breton, Caribbean, Asian, African, and various Latin musics. He has also worked on jazz recordings and children’s recordings.  He is honored to have been awarded three GRAMMYS, one as engineer/mixer for Quetzal’s “Imaginaries,” Best Latin Urban, Rock, or Alternative 2012; one as engineer/mixer for Los Texmaniacs’ “Borders y Bailes,” Best Tejano 2009; and one as a compilation producer for the “The Anthology of American Folk Music,” Best Historical 1997. 
Free
 

No Strings Attached
The Seldom Scene
Friday, March 21
8-10 PM
Moss Arts Center, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Live music performance
Ticket required; included in one festival admission price: $34-$45 general admission, $10 students with ID and children 18 and under
 

Crooked Road After Hours Music Social
Friday, March 21
11 p.m.-2 a.m.
Holiday Inn University Blacksburg, 900 Prices Fork Road

Just when you thought there was no way to pack any more fun into The Crooked Road Festival in Montgomery County, The Crooked Road is hosting an after-hours music social from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Thursday, March 20, and Friday, March 21, at the Holiday Inn University Blacksburg at 900 Prices Fork Rd. Relax, connect with friends, order food or drink from the menu, and enjoy non-stop music and dance into the wee hours with artists from the evening concerts and the surrounding area. This event is a fundraiser to support the work of The Crooked Road, with a suggested donation at the door of $10.
 

Eastern Montgomery County Gospel Music Program
with Nancy Smith and Friends
and the Eastern Montgomery County Community Choir 

Saturday, March 22
1-3 PM
Shawsville Middle School
4179 Old Town Road, Shawsville
Free

An Evening of Beans and Banjos

Saturday, March 22
6-8 PM
Meadowbrook Center
267 Alleghany Spring Road, Shawsville
The Shawsville Ruritan Club is hosting an evening of Beans and Banjos. That's beans, cornbread, and dessert with a side order of entertainment by Fort Vause, featuring banjoist George Smith. Beans and Banjos raises money for the Shawsville Ruritan Club and the club's scholarship fund for graduates of Eastern Montgomery High School. Admission is free, but the club suggests a donation of $5 per person.  
Free (donations welcome)

Oral History of St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Church by Jacquelyn Eaves
St. Paul’s Choir
Alexis Johnson
Michael Herndon and Lynette Wilcox
Enlightened Gospel Choir
Ada Sherman

Saturday, March 22
2-3 PM
St. Paul’s African Methodist Episcopal Church
102 Penn Street, Blacksburg
Free

Clogging Workshop with Phil Louer and Jen Barton
Square Dance with Giles Mountain String Band
Callers, Ginger Wagner and Phil Louer

Saturday, March 22
2-5 PM
Moss Arts Center
190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
No experience is necessary! All dances will be taught first.
Free

Crankies Performance by Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle

Saturday, March 22
7-7:30 PM 
Moss Arts Center
190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Old time balladeers Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle perform original “crankies”—scrolling illustrations, made out of cloth or paper, that depict a story that is sung or spoken—that were collaboratively designed and built with students from Prices Fork and Harding Avenue Elementary Schools.
Free

Traditional Music Concert
Olen Gardner and Friends
The Blackberries
The Gravel Road
Mike Mitchell

Saturday, March 22
6-8 PM
Main Street Baptist Church
100 W. Main St., Christiansburg
Free
 

Indian Run String Band
Hoorah Cloggers
The Rickie Simpkins Quartet
Saturday, March 22
8-10 PM
Moss Arts Center, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg
Live music performance
Ticket required; included in one festival admission price: $34-$45 general admission, $10 students with ID and children 18 and under

Square Dance
with the Indian Run String Band
Caller, Phil Louer

Sunday, March 23
4-7 PM
Homestead Farm, Riner
Free


 

The Oaks Victorian Inn  and the Clay Corner Inn are running special package promotions for the Crooked Road Festival:
 

The Oaks Victorian Inn:  Two for the Crooked Road Festival
Stay three nights March 20th - March 22nd, and for an additional $35, receive a pair of festival tickets. Stay any two nights of the festival, and for an additional $50, receive your pair of tickets. *Discounted tickets are available for a limited time so be sure to book early. (Tickets face value $70 per pair.)

The Clay Corner Inn
Clay Corner Inn guests will receive 10% off their three-day ticket price and $30 off your nightly room rate during the Crooked Road Festival (a minimum stay of two nights required). Offer valid until March 5, 2014. Contact Nicky at (540) 552-4030 or email stay@claycorner.com.