Take a musical trip on The Crooked Road

Trish Kilby, center, from Lancing, N.C., plays banjo with The Blue Ridge Ramblers in the campground area during the 2002 Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax.

By: BILL LOHMANN TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF | Times-Dispatch
Published: April 05, 2009

SLIDESHOW: Crooked Road
Travel the Crooked Road. Take a musical journey on Southwest Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail.

If you like driving, enjoy pretty scenery and can't get enough of old-time music, The Crooked Road is a path worth considering.

Virginia's Heritage Music Trail, a state-designated route, is 253 miles of twists and turns and musical stops in the mountains of Southwest Virginia.

The Crooked Road is not so much a destination as it is a direction, a way to go to discover and appreciate a region's culture and tradition.

"The Crooked Road sort of connects the dots," said Jonathan Romeo, interim executive director of the project.

The "road" is actually several roads, stretching across 10 counties, from Franklin County in the east to Breaks Interstate Park, on the Kentucky border, in the west. Along the way there are numerous attractions, including venues for live music and museums that trace the history of music in the region. Sites include:

Ferrum: the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum of Ferrum College.

Floyd: Floyd Country Store, site of weekly Friday night jamborees.

Near Galax: Blue Ridge Music Center, which features an outdoor amphitheater as well as an indoor venue and visitors center, on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Galax: home of the Old Fiddlers Convention, every August, and the Rex Theater.

Bristol: Home of the Mountain Music Museum and future home of the Cultural Heritage Center.

Hiltons: Carter Family Fold, home of weekly Saturday night music shows.

Norton: Country Cabin, a national and state historic landmark and the oldest mountain music venue on The Crooked Road where weekly Saturday night shows are held.

Clintwood: Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Music Center, which honors Stanley as a leading light in the world of traditional mountain music.

In addition, there are several dozen other "partners" along the road - places that hold annual festivals or regularly offer live music - from the Dairy Queen in Rocky Mount to Lays Hardware in Coeburn. The route also is dotted with wayside exhibits, kiosks that feature accompanying audio of music and information available through your car radio.

"The other aspect, of course, is the beauty of the region," Romeo said in a phone interview from The Crooked Road office in Abingdon.

The route crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway and passes other scenic spots such as Grayson Highlands State Park. The route then leads to Breaks Interstate Park, which has been called the Grand Canyon of the South.

An economic impact study released at the end of 2008 shows the Crooked Road is succeeding as a tourist attraction. The study estimated direct spending by visitors along The Crooked Road in fiscal year 2008 totaled $12.9 million, and that the road has created the equivalent of 445 full-time jobs since its inception in 2003.

Contact Bill Lohmann at (804) 649-6639 or wlohmann@timesdispatch.com.