Virginia Tech has acquired a collection of sheet music, memoirs and other memorabilia related to The Carter Family, Johnny Cash and other musicians of the Carter and Cash families.

When Gerald James “Buddy” Swoap was 8 or 9, his brother handed him a guitar to show him how to play a chord. He kept his brother’s guitar. The Farmville native learned to play by ear, the same way he later learned to play the stand-up bass. “He could learn to play any song in about five minutes,“ said his son, Dennis W. Swoap of Powhatan County. “He liked old-style country music from the Carter Family era. He liked to sing Ernest Tubbs songs, and my uncle said he sounded just like him.“

Recession? What recession? Despite the sour economy, radio has been remarkably free of songs about tough times. The top songs from this week’s Billboard’s Hot 100 are heavy with dance tracks by the Black Eyed Peas, Lady GaGa and Flo Rida. “I think people are partying on,“ said Silvio Pietroluongo, director of charts for Billboard magazine, who couldn’t think of a single song about the nation’s economic woes in pop, rock or R&B.

LAS VEGAS (AP)—Jamey Johnson took home song of the year honors and Rascal Flatts won their seventh in a row for top vocal group at the Academy of Country Music Awards, but Sunday’s ceremony was highlighted by performances that ranged from extravagant to poignant, perhaps none more so than John Rich’s angry anthem “Shuttin’ Detroit Down.“

A study released yesterday suggests Virginia is succeeding in its five-year effort to turn mountain music into moolah and bluegrass into greenbacks. The Crooked Road, a state-marketed string of 28 musical venues and attractions in Southwest Virginia, has a total economic impact on the mountainous region of about $23 million per year, the analysis found.

A study released yesterday suggests Virginia is succeeding in its five-year effort to turn mountain music into moolah and bluegrass into greenbacks. The Crooked Road, a state-marketed string of 28 musical venues and attractions in Southwest Virginia, has a total economic impact on the mountainous region of about $23 million per year, the analysis found.