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Rick Ward, banjo maker, player, and ballad singer, of the Beech Mountain community in western North Carolina. Here he’s holding a traditional mountain banjo he and his father made from parts found in Rick’s grandfather’s shop. Rick is among the performers on this week’s Across the Blue Ridge episode, recorded at the Jones House Community Center in Boone, NC for our Blue Ridge Music Trails series.

Paul Brown

This week we hear from singer, banjo player and luthier Rick Ward; old-time musician and songwriter Trevor McKenzie with Terri McMurray and Paul Brown; The Sheets Family Band, and Strictly Strings, a youthful band that’s emerged through the Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program. JAM is offered in sixteen North Carolina counties as well as in other states. Our recordings come from a May 19, 2018 concert at Jones House Community Center in Boone, NC. The event is part of ATBR’s Blue Ridge Music Trails series, spotlighting venues and resources along this North Carolina musical, cultural, education and tourism resource.

Rick Ward is descended from banjo and dulcimer makers, and he continues making the old time mountain banjos well known in western North Carolina. Continuing the ballad tradition, and passing along songs from his family and his own authorship are also very important to him, and his performance communicates his passion and authenticity.

Trevor McKenzie grew up on a cattle farm near Rural Retreat, Virginia. Interested in history and looking for opportunities off the farm, he went to college, pursued music, and has become both a performer on multiple instruments and a songwriter. He is also an archivist at Appalachian State University.

The Sheets Family Band presents a range of old time music with significant influence from the Carter Family and from banjoist, singer and songwriter Ola Belle Reed, who was a relative. Making one’s own entertainment is important to both Randy and Deborah Jean (DJ) Sheets and their daughter, Kelly Sheets Snider.

We hear a tune from Strictly Strings ahead of a more in-depth examination of the JAM program. Three members of this five-person band put across a powerful fiddle tune that reaches to the past as it also gives us an idea of the future of old-time music.

ATBR’s Blue Ridge Music Trails series is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, and Blue Ridge Music Trails.

Playlist

1. Rickett's Hornpipe

Buddy Pendleton & band

Larry Richardson & the Blue Ridge Boys

Old Blue 2. Katie Cline

Paul Brown, Trevor McKenzie, Terri McMurray

ATBR field recording 3. Shoals Mills

Trevor McKenzie

ATBR field recording 4. World Traveler

Trevor McKenzie

ATBR field recording 5. Break 1 - Ward's Bugle Calls

Trevor McKenzie

Generational Things

Trevor McKenzie 6. John Hardy

Sheets Family Band

ATBR field recording 7. Tear Down The Fences

Sheets Family Band

ATBR field recording 8. Batchin' On The Farm

Rick Ward

ATBR field recording 9. Cousin Sally Brown

Rick Ward

ATBR field recording 10. Break 2 - Gaither Carlton Medley

Mac Benford & The Woodshed All-Stars

Willow

Rounder 11. Muskrat

Rick Ward

ATBR field recording 12. Jubal Hunter

Rick Ward

ATBR field recording 13. Georgia Horseshoe

Strictly Strings

ATBR field recording 14. Cluck Old Hen

Frank Proffitt

Frank Proffitt of Reese, NC

Folk-Legacy

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atbr #blue ridge music trails #rick ward #jones house community center #junior appalachian musicians (jam) program #trevor mckenzie #the sheets family band #strictly strings #terri mcmurray #paul brown

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We profile the Jones House Community Center in Boone, NC this week in the latest episode of ATBR’s Blue Ridge Music Trails series. Hear about the history of the house, and how it has become a vibrant center for traditional music, attracting students, performers, and audiences. Across the Blue Ridge will host a concert there on May 19, 2018, to be recorded for broadcast.

Jones House Community Center

The Jones House Community Center in Boone, NC is the latest stop on our Blue Ridge Music Trails series. We hear from director Mark Freed about the early days of the house; its evolution from a family home to a center for art and music; and Freed’s hopes for its future role as a place for preserving and continuing the region’s music traditions. Across the Blue Ridge will host and record a concert there on May 19, 2018 featuring local traditional musician Rick Ward, whose family goes back generations in Watauga County. Also featured will be a band born of the Junior Appalachian Musicians program, or JAM: Strictly Strings. And Trevor McKenzie, a highly talented fiddler, guitarist, banjoist and singer will be on the bill as well. We’ll hear from each of these artists on this week’s show. Train songs feature in the first segment of the program, and a heartwarming selection of love songs wrap up the show, a soothing balm in unpredictable times.

Playlist

1. Cannonball Blues

Jeff Little Trio

Made In The Blue Ridge 2. Rubin

Tommy Jarrell

June Apple 3. John Henry

Leslie Riddle

Close To Home 4. The Wreck of the Virginian

Blind Alfred Karns

The Bristol Sessions 5. New River Train

The Buckstankle Boys

Round Peak Home 6. Break 1 - Billy In The Lowground

Spencer & Rains

The Skeleton Keys 7. Tough Luck Man

Doc Watson

Portrait 8. Batchin' On The Farm

Rick Ward

Keeping The Tradition 9. Come On Out Tonight

Strictly Strings

High On A Mountain 10. To The Ground

Trevor McKenzie

Generational Things 11. Briarpicker Brown

Mark Freed, Cecil Gurganus, Craig DuBose

Get Along Home 12. Break 2 - Sleeping Lulu

Mark Freed, Cecil Gurganus, Craig DuBose

Get Along Home 13. Katy Kline

Kyle Creed & Emily Spencer

Liberty 14. Sit At Home

Carol Elizabeth Jones & Laurel Bliss

Ridin' Along 15. She Talks To Me

John Lilly

Thinking About The Weather 16. Hold Whatcha Got

Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys

You Don't Know My Mind 17. Storms On The Ocean

The New Ballard Branch Bogtrotters

Bogtrotter Blues 18. How Mountain Girls Can Love

Ralph Stanley & Hal Ketchum

Clinch Mountain Country

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atbr #jones house community center #mark freed #rick ward #strictly strings #trevor mckenzie

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Elizabeth LaPrelle (left) and Anna Roberts-Gevalt appear at the Blue Ridge Music Center on Saturday, October 7, 2017. They’re two of the artists spotlighted on this week’s Across the Blue Ridge.

Blue Ridge Music Center

This week’s show brings us a fun listening opportunity in southern mountain fiddling. We hear a couple of great old time fiddlers – Bobby Taylor and Ralph Blizard – and their mentors, Clark Kessinger and Arthur Smith. Hear all four fiddlers on tunes fast and slow, with a couple of fiddle songs thrown in. Plus, a wonderful collection of old time and classic-sounding bluegrass songs in the second part of the show. Then there’s a wrap-up in the third part with fiddler, banjo picker and tunesmith Jane Rothfield, a great song about who’s really the fool from Trevor McKenzie of western North Carolina, and a reach back to early bluegrass with Red Allen. Can’t miss with this show filled with engaging music and conversation.

Playlist

1. Leather Britches

Ralph Blizard & The New Southern Ramblers

Southern Ramble 2. Smith's Rag

Arthur Smith And His Dixieliners

Fiddlin' Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners 3. Adieu False Heart

Arthur Smith And His Dixieliners

Fiddlin' Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners 4. What Does The Deep Sea Say

Ralph Blizard & The New Southern Ramblers

Southern Ramble 5. Durang's Hornpipe

Bobby Taylor

Pickin' In The Parlor 6. Redbird

Clark Kessinger

The Legend of Clark Kessinger 7. Break 1 - Cherry River Line

The Ale Raisers

Ale Broke Loose In Georgia 8. Liza Up A 'Simmon Tree

Elizabeth LaPrelle

Lizard In The Spring 9. Soldier And the Lady

Elizabeth LaPrelle & Anna Roberts Gevalt

Anna & Elizabeth 10. My Georgia Mountain Home

Hawk Proof Rooster

Got A Little Home 11. Precious Jewel

Frank Bode

Been Riding With Old Mosby 12. I'm Gonna Sing, Sing, Sing

Charlie Monroe & His Kentucky Pardners

His Recordings 1938-56 13. I'm Nowhere Bound

Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers 14. Mountain Sally Ann

George Pegram

George Pegram 15. The Herd

Jane Rothfield

Out Of Thin Air 16. Chinquapin Hunting

Hen's Teeth

Off The Cuff And On The Fly 17. Way Down The River

Jane Rothfield

Out Of Thin Air 18. Fools And Babies

Trevor McKenzie

Generational Things 19. Summertime Is Past And Gone

Red Allen

Lonesome And Blue

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atbr #bobby taylor #ralph blizard #clark kessinger #arthur smith #jane rothfield #trevor mckenzie #red allen

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