The Crooked Road

Featuring
Blue Ridge Girls
New Ballard's Branch Bogtrotters
Lonesome River Band
Junior Appalachian Musicians: Boys from Bristol
The Handmade School Students: Margo MacSweeney and Hollace Oakes

The Crooked Road spans over 300 miles in Southwest Virginia, connecting 10 major venues, over 50 affiliate venues, and hundreds of traditional old-time and bluegrass artists.

Join dozens of Crooked Road artists in a celebration of song and dance from central Appalachia. Featuring the New Ballard’s Branch Bogtrotters, the Lonesome River Band, and more, this edition celebrates our region’s deep roots of heritage music as well as the music’s origins and evolution through many generations.

Blue Ridge Girls

The Blue Ridge Girls, comprised of Jamie Collins, Martha Spencer, and Brett Morris, is a trio firmly rooted in Appalachian folk music with deep roots in Appalachian music, which they are bringing into the 21st century kicking and clogging. Showcasing skillful musicianship and honey-sweet vocal harmonies, the Blue Ridge Girls performs a mix of traditional standards and Blue-Ridge-breathed originals. Each of these artists has musical roots that run deep, with family backgrounds that connect them to the music of their homeland. Moreover, they have shown a deep commitment to preserving and passing on traditional music ways as music educators and through their involvement with organizations like Junior Appalachian Musicians. Also talented songwriters, the Blue Ridge Girls' original ballads like Home Is Where the Fiddle Rings and Piney feature dreamy vocals, drawing from personal experience to beautifully capture the feeling of growing up in rural Appalachia. Meanwhile, up-tempo tunes such as Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow and We Can’t Get to Memphis feature the kind of hard-driving banjo licks and flatfoot dancing that audiences can’t get enough of.

New Ballard's Branch Bogtrotters

The New Ballard’s Branch Bogtrotters has been playing old-time mountain music in the Galax, Virginia area since 1986.  Dennis Hall is the founder of the band and continues to serve as band leader. The group is named for the small stream in Galax where Hall grew up and still resides, as well as in honor of Uncle Eck Dunford, a member of the original Bogtrotters band from the 1920s. The original Bogtrotters consisted of Uncle Eck Dunford, Wade Ward, Crocket Ward, Fields Ward, and Doctor Davis, and the group won the very first Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax in 1935. Doctor Davis was instrumental in keeping the contest alive throughout the years. The present-day line up consists of Dennis Hall, band leader and guitarist; Eddie Bond, fiddle and vocals; Bonnie Bond, bass and vocals; Josh Ellis, banjo and vocals; and Caroline Noel Beverley, mandolin and vocals. Fiddler Eddie Bond was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2018, the highest award given to a folk artist by the U.S. Government. The “Bogtrotters,” as the band is locally known, enjoys playing for local square dances and festivals and occasionally plays on larger stages. The band has performed for the Smithsonian, Chicago, Great Lakes, and Montana folk festivals; the Kennedy Center; and in Gainesboro, England for the festival there, to name a few. Several of the band members have played internationally in Scotland, England, Ireland, and Australia. Over the years, since 1986, the band has placed first in the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention a total of 10 times.

Lonesome River Band

Since its formation decades ago, Lonesome River Band continues its reputation as one of the most respected names in bluegrass music. Five-time International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Banjo Player of the Year and winner of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, Sammy Shelor leads the group that is constantly breaking new ground in acoustic music. With two stellar lead vocalists — Jesse Smathers, guitar, and Adam Miller, mandolin — and the impressive talents of Mike Hartgrove, fiddle, and Kameron Keller, bass, the band seamlessly comes together, performing the trademark sound that fans continue to embrace.

Boys from Bristol

The Boys from Bristol are a rising young duo bringing old-time Appalachian and bluegrass music to new ears with raw talent and deep roots. Easton (15) and Eamon (14) channel the spirit of the mountains with a sound far beyond their years. Inspired by legends like the Stanley Brothers, Reno and Smiley, and the Johnson Mountain Boys, their music is steeped in tradition, yet alive with youthful energy. The Boys from Bristol honor the past while shaping the future of mountain music. Both are students in the Bristol Junior Appalachian Musicians program. Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) is a nonprofit and the parent organization for 60+ after school programs for children in six states, providing communities with the tools and support they need to teach children to play, dance, and sing traditional old time and bluegrass music. JAM introduces music through small group instruction on instruments common to the Appalachian region such as fiddle, guitar, mandolin, bass, dulcimer, and both styles of banjo playing (three-finger and clawhammer).

This is the first performance at the center for the Blue Ridge Girls, Lonesome River Band, New Ballard's Branch Bogtrotters, the Boys from Bristol, and the Handmade School Students. The center previously hosted Crooked Road events in 2014, 2015, 2022, and 2023.