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Keith Barnacastle • Publisher
Our Staff
Richelle Putnam • Executive Editor/Writer
Richelle Putnam holds a BS in Marketing Management and an MA in Creative Writing. She is a Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) Teaching Artist, two-time MAC Literary Arts Fellow, and Mississippi Humanities Speaker. Her fiction, poetry, essays, and articles have been published in many print and online literary journals and magazines. Among her six published books are a 2014 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards Silver Medalist and a 2017 Foreword Indies Book Awards Bronze Medal winner. Visit her website at www.richelleputnam.com.
Rebekah Speer • Creative Director
Rebekah Speer has nearly twenty years in the music industry in Nashville, TN. She creates a unique “look” for every issue of The Bluegrass Standard, and enjoys learning about each artist. In addition to her creative work with The Bluegrass Standard, Rebekah also provides graphic design and technical support to a variety of clients. www.rebekahspeer.com
Susan Woelkers • Marketing
Susan traveled with a mixed ensemble at Trevecca Nazarene college as PR for the college. From there she moved on to working at Sony Music Nashville for 17 years in several compacities then transitioning on to the Nashville Songwritrers Association International (NSAI) where she was Sponsorship Director. The next step of her musical journey was to open her own business where she secured sponsorships for various events or companies in which the IBMA/World of Bluegrass was one of her clients.
Susan Marquez • Journalist
Susan Marquez is a freelance writer based in Madison, Mississippi and a Mississippi Arts Commission Roster Artist. After a 20+ year career in advertising and marketing, she began a professional writing career in 2001. Since that time she has written over 2000 articles which have been published in magazines, newspapers, business journals, trade publications.
Mississippi Chris Sharp • Reviewer
Singer/Songwriter/Blogger and SilverWolf recording artist, Mississippi Chris Sharp hails from remote Kemper County, near his hometown of Meridian. An original/founding cast member of the award-winning, long running radio show, The Sucarnochee Revue, as featured on Alabama and Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Chris performs with his daughter, Piper. Chris’s songs have been covered by The Del McCoury Band, The Henhouse Prowlers, and others. https://mississippichrissharp.blog
Brent Davis • Contributor
Brent Davis produced documentaries, interview shows, and many other projects during a 40 year career in public media. He’s also the author of the bluegrass novel Raising Kane. Davis lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Kara Martinez Bachman • Journalist
Kara Martinez Bachman is a nonfiction author, book and magazine editor, and freelance writer. A former staff entertainment reporter, columnist and community news editor for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, her music and culture reporting has also appeared on a freelance basis in dozens of regional, national and international publications.
Candace Nelson • Journalist
Candace Nelson is a marketing professional living in Charleston, West Virginia. She is the author of the book “The West Virginia Pepperoni Roll.” In her free time, Nelson travels and blogs about Appalachian food culture at CandaceLately.com. Find her on Twitter at @Candace07 or email CandaceRNelson@gmail.com.
Jason Young • Journalist
A Philadelphia native and seasoned musician, has dedicated over forty years to music. Starting as a guitar prodigy at eight, he expanded his talents to audio engineering and mastering various instruments, including drums, piano, mandolin, banjo, dobro, and bass. Alongside his brother, he formed The Young Brothers band, and his career highlights include co-writing a song with Kid Rock for Rebel Soul.
KPAC
by Kara Martinez Bachman
A commitment to the performing arts is evident in Kirkwood, Missouri. Not far from St. Louis, a new performing arts center has enhanced the cultural scene in this city known as a railroad town. It has always welcomed different people and ideas, and this reputation still thrives today as the city’s beautiful facility— the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center (KPAC)—attracts musicians and other performing artists from far and wide.
The property opened in 2020 and, according to General Manager Elizabeth Crabtree, quickly became a vital part of the local scene.
“The venue is part of the Parks and Recreation Department of the City,” Crabtree explained. She said Kirkwood embraces it and that it is good for the city since it is “creating revenue instead of expense.”
KPAC has been a huge enhancement for a community Crabtree described as “artsy.”
“Kirkwood didn’t have a firm history of a performing arts center that brought worldclass talent,” Crabtree said. That’s all changed over the past few years.
“We’ve got comedy, opera, dance, theater, all genres of music,” she said. “We’re cityrun, so it really changes a lot of what we are able to do to help artists and give a real VIP experience…we really go out of our way to give hospitality.”
Crabtree said a vital aspect of KPAC is that it “brought the patron-artist interaction together.” Not only does it attract talent
from other places, but for local talent, it makes gigging more feasible. A part of the mission is keeping local talent working as much as possible. In that way, benefits for the community go beyond the walls of the building.
“We split the house with them on ticket revenues,” Crabtree said.
A new addition came to the space not long ago: a black box theater.
“It’s a cabaret-style setup, with tables and general admission,” Crabtree explained. “It’s such an intimate space. We’ve been told it’s reminiscent of a New York City jazz club.”
A peek at the range of acts shows how the venue caters to various tastes.
“We’re doing a tribute to David Bowie with a string quartet,” Crabtree said. Other offerings might include a show by wellknown St. Louis musician Erin Bode, a jazz interpretation of the music of Billy Joel, or a Neil Diamond tribute performance. They’ve hosted three Latin music shows and host a “coffee concert series” on Thursday mornings. In December, there will be multiple performances of “Let It Be Christmas,” a retelling of the Christmas story through the music of The Beatles.
There’s something for everyone and space for a wide variety of live performances. The stats say it all: The Ross Family Theatre features a 530-seat auditorium with a proscenium stage; the Strauss Black Box Theatre offers a 375-person capacity with connected event space; the Event Space
is 2,000 square feet and has a capacity of 275 people; two lobbies have 3,800 sq. ft. and 1,900 sq. ft. of space; and there’s also a 3,500 sq. ft. Event Lawn. Those come with dressing rooms, a green room, a wardrobe room, a concessions stand, a catering kitchen, and ADA-accessible restrooms. All combined, these resources offer a lot of possibilities for events held in Kirkwood.
Crabtree’s reasons for choosing to lead KPAC as a career are easily understood. It’s all about bringing happiness to Kirkwood.
“I believe in the power of live entertainment, of live music,” Crabtree said. “I want to make people come together and clap…I want to see the standing ovations.”
Janet Feld
by Kara Martinez Bachman
She focuses on music—and encourages everyone else to do so as well—and the reason is encapsulated in her straightforward comment: “Everyone I know who plays music is happier.”
She explains the benefits for all. It delivers early brain-building oomph to tiny tots and lifelong neurological health to older folks.
“There is nothing better for brain development and nurturing brain plasticity than playing music,” Feld explained. “Whether playing an instrument or participating in a general music class in school, it triggers a rockin’, neuron-firing dance party in our brains… stimulates traffic between the two hemispheres…and nurtures cell regeneration.”
“One of the ways I like to think of playing music is as an Alzheimer’s prevention program,” she added.
Music has benefits that are increasingly more difficult to find elsewhere in today’s world, where seniors often live isolated lives.
“For the social aspect, taking classes can be great because then you’re hanging out with like-minded souls,” she said. “Lots of people in my classes at The Passim School of Music over the years have made friends with each other and, from time to time, get together to practice and/or jam.” In addition to these in-person lessons in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she offers online classes at her website, Janetsplanetmusic.com.
“My oldest student at the moment is 74, and she just started playing the guitar last year,” Feld explained. “She’s also started writing songs and is having a blast.”
While there are clear benefits for seniors, there’s even stronger data supporting immersing kids in music as soon
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as possible. But…how young is TOO young for music lessons?
“I’ve taught guitar and piano to kids as young as three years old,” she said. “Their parents weren’t sure if they were old enough, but I agreed to teach them because the kids had been begging their parents.” For less-interested kids whose parents want to expose them to music nonetheless, Feld suggests waiting until age five or six.
“It’s a good idea for parents to hire teachers for one lesson to make sure the teacher’s style is a good fit before committing to a series of lessons,” she continued. “It’s best for the child if the experience is fun and engaging. You want a teacher who assumes that if their students don’t understand something, it’s because they haven’t demonstrated or explained it in a way that’s best for the student.”
Even before formal lessons begin, parents can do a lot to prepare their children for a lifetime love of music.
“Starting when their kids are babies, it’s great to attend programs like Kindermusik or Music Together because these classes nurture children’s natural sense of rhythm and melody,” Feld advised. “These classes are not only fun, but they also prepare children really well to begin lessons down the line.”
What about instrument choice? Should they learn to play Feld’s primary instrument –guitar– or is there something else more appropriate for young kids?
“Any instrument is great for a beginner, as long as it’s one the person is interested in,” Feld assured. “I teach guitar and piano and get my students playing a song at their first lesson. It’s slow and awkward, but they come away from the experience knowing it’s possible for them to learn.”
Feld has been playing music herself throughout her entire life. It wasn’t until she had her first experience teaching kids—at a summer camp—that she decided it had to be her life’s vocation.
“The first time I met with a group of kids to sing, I felt like I’d come home,” she reminisced.
“Having taught private lessons and general music to people of all ages since the 1980s, I know that the only thing that has to be true in order to learn is that you WANT to,” she explained. Even if a person believes they do not have talent – or have other “limiting
beliefs” – they can still become adept. “My main mission is to help people over those negative belief hurdles so they can get to the fun zone as soon as possible,” Feld said.
One of Feld’s “fun zones” is onstage, where she has performed for decades.
“I’ve been a performing solo artist since the mid-1980s, and at various times over the decades been in groups,” she said. “Being an artist is the foundation of who I am as a person, and teaching music completes the creative circle for me. I perform in clubs, coffeehouses and festivals, nationally and internationally.” Currently, she’s part of a trio called The Secret Sauce, featuring bandmates Esther Friedman and Jackie Damsky.
She teaches private lessons four nights a week, which leaves “plenty of space” for her “artist work.” That work even includes authoring a music education book (“Practicing Safe Music”) and mentoring other teaching artists. She said both give her “music teacher tribe” a “chance to steal from my toolbox and learn from my epic fails.”
She continued, “This past year has been the most creative of my life, and that’s saying a lot because I’ve had a very creative life.”
And that is EXACTLY what music is about.
Arkansauce
by Amannda G. Maphies
Several months ago, the band Arkansauce debuted in Springfield, Missouri, at the popular Regency music venue downtown. Bluesy with a touch of country and a shining glare for bluegrass, the band was the perfect combination. Think Cross Canadian Ragweed meets Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with a topping of Billy Joel. Each band member’s contribution was necessary, and while each was an individual treat, the harmony, both instrumentally and vocally, was stunning. And while seating was available at The Regency, most chose to throw all caution to the wind, letting their bodies move to the catchy beat of the bass, guitar, mandolin, and banjo onstage.
The band hails from northwest Arkansas, the Fayetteville area, where Arkansauce has been making waves in their homeland for over ten years. Band members include Tom Anderson, who plays bass; Zac Archuleta on guitar; Ethan Bush, on mandolin; and Adams Collins, who rocks the banjo.
Bush and Archuleta grew up together and reconnected in Fayetteville, Arkansas, briefly sharing a living space and playing music locally. They always knew their love and evident talent for bluegrass music would become something more. Anderson moved to Arkansas in 2005. He formerly worked at the Iowa Bluegrass Music Store, where he sold Bush a mandolin and Collins a banjo. Anderson later met with the band’s three members at the famous Oklahoma Riverstomp. The band’s regular bass player did not show up for the performance, so with no rehearsals or prior stage presence with the band, they invited Anderson onstage….and never looked back. He was inducted as the fourth member into what would become a bluegrass sensation.
Wanting something catchy to tie in the band’s roots and their love for Arkansas, Arkansauce was born. The name has opened many doors for the band. Not only have they received University of Arkansas-inspired hog calls at concerts, but they have been known to see local Arkansas guests at their performances to support artists from their home state. That support and encouragement propelled the band to their current success. Their roots are never far away, whether on the road touring, playing in their local backyard, or ‘across the pond,’ sharing their talent with the many European fans following the four rising stars in the bluegrass world.
“We all have distinctive sounds, and each comes from different backgrounds musically
and genre-wise. While we currently boast a bluegrass sound, it is ingrained in the DNA of classic rock, metal, jazz, and even classical music to create the unique sound we have arrived at today,” says Adams Collins.
Anderson’s influences were bands with a traditional bluegrass flare, such as Yonder Mountain and Old Crow. Collins graduated from university with a jazz degree. Archuleta and Anderson shared that they both played in heavy metal bands back in the day. The Beatles were an all-around inspiration. When asked about the cover of Bill Joel’s classic hit, “You May Be Right,” which they played as an encore at The Regency, the members agreed this is a favorite go-to cover song, which they jokingly refer to as Hillbilly Joel. They rotate several covers and crowd-pleasers to draw in new fans unfamiliar with their music. They ingeniously produced their version as a single in their unique rockin’ bluegrass style.
The band tours in their faithful Sprinter van but cut back on touring in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2024, they mainly tackle weekend performances, typically leaving on a Wednesday or Thursday and returning on Sunday or Monday. This summer, however, Arkansauce planned a longer-than-typical tour that whisked them to NW Bellingham, Washington. They invested more travel time in the breathtaking Western landscape.
Collins said, “We want this genre of music to reach record heights, be the last man standing, so to say. We want to go the distance as a band with the same product and energy as we continue to tour, produce, and perform. We are here for the long haul.”
Archuleta added, “It is helpful with a booking agency because we know our schedule months in advance. It takes the pressure off, and we can concentrate on our true love of writing music and the thrill of performing.”
This high-flying band combining many genres into one musically packed punch has produced five albums and a handful of singles. Albums are All Day Long, made in 2015; Hambone, 2016; If I Were You, 2017; Maybe Someday, 2019; Okay to Wonder, 2023. The single “Time, Tears and Money,” from the fourth Album, Maybe Someday, was made into a music video. The members spent all day shooting at various venues around Fayetteville, Arkansas and recruited children to reenact mischievous (and unlawful) displays such as toilet-papering a house, shoplifting a knife, and other outlandish exploits that mimicked the lyrics of this fast-paced, catchy, toe-tapping song. The members collectively joked that when the video commenced, they wondered if they had turned these innocent young children into career criminals.
A band highlight was in late August 2023 when Luna Del Ray (American singersongwriter) was scheduled to play at the Walmart Amphitheater in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Two days before her legendary live performance, the concert star requested a local bluegrass band to open the show. Arkansauce was touring in Colorado then, but they “hauled ass” from the rugged Rockies to the Ozark hills to play at the largest show in the history of the band. On the way, their typically faithful Sprinter van malfunctioned, leaving them stranded for six hours, but they made it to perform before 11,000 fans in Arkansas.
Collins said tenacity and conviction are the two successful elements the emerging generation of aspiring artists will need. “Continue to work hard and improve every day. Always strive for sincerity and be true to yourself, including your thoughts and beliefs.”
Archuleta added: “Write original music, invest in quality recording, and have something solid out there for producers to listen to. Good quality music goes a long way.”
Bruce Molsky
by Jason Young
“It all just came down to - take a deep breath and play any damn thing,” says the multi-instrumentalist and recording artist with sixteen albums, including various collaborations. “A lot of us traditional musicians put ourselves in a box; we want to be respectful of the style and not mess it up,” explains Molsky, a two-time Grammy nominee who has teamed up with one of the most influential fiddlers alive, Darol Anger to record their first album together Lockdown Breakdown.
“It’s a really important milestone for me. I have so much respect for what he does,” shares the Bronx-born musician, whose teaming with David Grisman Quintet founding member Anger has forged a deep camaraderie.
“He’s become a very close friend. He is like the brother I never had.” He described his experience playing together: “There is nothing like playing music with someone you communicate well with. This is not just a
professional collaboration, it’s pretty personal. I think this is what gives [it] a lot of the energy it has.”
Molsky, who has dedicated his decades-long career to preserving the music styles of Appalachia, ragtime, and blues, says that working with Darol has taught him so much.
“I made the same mistake a lot of people do when they are first learning to play something, [which] is that I did it to the exclusion of everything else. Darol is not afraid to do anything, and that is an inspiration to me.”
Molsky says this is not the first time Anger talked him into
experimenting. During the sessions for Anger’s 1999 Diary of a Fiddler, Anger caught wind of something he was playing.
“He knows that I love Jimi Hendrix, and I still do. I think we were just playing one day, and I just played a couple of notes of ‘Voodoo Chile,’ and he said, ‘Okay, we’re playing that.’ That is earlier on before I allowed myself the luxury of playing anything I want to. I was thinking of myself way more as just an old-time fiddler.”
Describing Lockdown Breakdown as a mix of old-time, old school, new tunes, R&B, and Scandinavian, “We’ve accumulated so much material together over the years performing with Fiddlers 4, The Old Time Koszmic Trio and occasionally sitting in with each other at festivals,” says Molsky who lends his vocal to the 1960’s folk song, “Abraham Martin and John.” “I guess we realized we could make a statement with our respective fiddle styles that could work in different settings.”
The album’s title track, “Lockdown Breakdown,” written by Molsky during the pandemic, showcases Anger on the octave violin. “It goes all the way down to low C, which is on a cello, so he plays all the bass lines. We can play freely at the same time and not be in each other’s way.
“For instruments to really sound good they need to ring into each other,” explains Molsky describing the recording process adding, “We worked with Dave Sinko who is a phenomenal engineer.”
Other highlights include Swedish composers Magnus Stinnerbom and Ale Moller’s “Kvartetten”/“The Fox Hallin.” “We had just recorded it,” remembers Molsky, “and out of the blue, Magnus invited us to come to Sweden. That was exciting!”
Rounding out the album with a surprising rendition of “Can I Change my Mind,” Molsky shares, “The new recording has some 60s R&B, which is kind of a big thing with me.”
Bruce Molsky is one of the premier old-time guitar, banjo, and fiddle masters. When not performing, he teaches at the Berkley School of Music, where he is a Visiting Scholar for the American Roots Music Program.
“Part of the thing is to make this early 20th century music available and on the radar for students.” Expressing happiness for his ongoing work, “[Some] end up taking lessons from me for years. I couldn’t ask for a better teaching situation.”
He continues, “Teaching other people teaches me. It helps me to focus on my own playing.”
Like Darol Anger, who retired from teaching at Berkley, Molsky spent years guiding young musicians. “You have to take one little thing at a time and not be overwhelmed by the totality of all music,” he said, adding that he teaches his students the same way.
“I encourage my students to study one small thing at a time. The greatest musicians are paying attention to everything. Every note counts.”
Molsky says he and Anger are not planning to record in the near future.
“Darol has a lot of projects going on. We are looking forward to playing out as much as we can. Not just in support of Lockdown Breakdown but because we love playing together!”
Marty Stuart: The Man, His Music, and His Mission
by Richelle Putnam
Mission
Marty Stuart personifies American music, from his modest Mississippi beginnings to his present star-studded life as a successful, award-winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His songs echo the remnants of Lester Flatt, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, and Johnny Cash. Yet, he somehow managed to remain wholly authentic …to himself.
He first picked up a guitar in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where Southern sceneries, cultures, and traditions helped mold him as an individual and budding musician. “I cannot remember a time in my life when music wasn’t present,” Marty said. “The first memory I had on this earth was being in my mama’s arms, and she was holding me and crying. I remember what the fabric on her dress felt like.”
He described how the sun was dipping below the horizon, and the breeze carried the chime of church bells over East Philadelphia. His mama told him it was music, and the sound enfolded him like her embrace. In that treasured moment, he discovered music and what it could do. That connection forever shaped his life.
“Right after that, she took me to a parade where some little backwoods circus troop came through Philadelphia,” said Marty. The high school band was first in the long parade line, announcing the circus to the town. “I
was standing on the corner, and the band came by with the power of the music again. I just started crying. So, I think that’s who I am.”
At age nine, Marty started his first band with neighborhood buddies Butch and Ricky Hodgins. “At that time (1968 or 1969), young bands in that part of the country all played pretty much covers of British invasion music, The Beatles, The Stones, and The Who,” said Marty. He explained how he could find nobody young playing country songs. “I loved country music more than any other kind, so we played songs by Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and the Carter family. We just considered ourselves correspondents for all those stars in the backwoods of Mississippi, and that got me started.”
Marty went on the road with the Sullivan family only three years later, a road as long and winding as the Pearl River near his Philadelphia hometown, running endless miles through ever-changing landscapes. Imagine this young boy of 12 spending long hours on a bus, nights in unfamiliar towns, and the pressure of performing night after night. The freedom of the road also meant the absence of home comforts, family, and the weight of responsibility far beyond his years. But Marty Stuart eagerly adapted to the rigors of this life and learned how to navigate the daunting realities of the complex adult world around him because of his love for music.
“I didn’t see any challenges,” he said. “I always saw joy and beauty in it.”
His music grew organically from the pulsating sounds of bluegrass and country. Still, he pushed those genre boundaries by infusing rock and rockabilly to create his distinct mark on the music world, and he never approached his songwriting with a genre in mind. More than loving music, Marty lived it …and never looked back.
“When you cross the state line into Mississippi, the sign says, Welcome to Mississippi, the Birthplace of America’s Music.” That encompasses many genres: gospel, blues, rock’n’roll, and country. “All those things are a part of our home, our musical heritage as Mississippians. It all kind of bubbles up, and I think that’s what follows me to the pen, paper, and guitar. I can’t quite help it. This is what comes out, and a long time ago, I made peace with that. I stand on it and use it as a license to make any music I want to be authentic.”
He’s been called a child prodigy and a star, but as a historian who honors and preserves the roots of country music, he’s earned the title “keeper of its flame.” Reminiscing about when country bands played at the Neshoba County and the Choctaw Fairs, and gospel quartets and bluegrass singers came into Philadelphia to perform, he said, “I’m a fan. They represented a world I wanted to be a part of so badly as a kid.” To Marty, it was the Wizard
of Oz land, a fairy tale land. “I wanted to have any remnant or any souvenir of that world to take home with me, whether it was a signed record, the guitar player’s guitar pick, an autograph, whatever. I took it home after somebody would play in our town, and it was like having Smithsonian treasures in my bedroom. That followed me to Nashville.”
PRESERVING THE COUNTRY MUSIC LEGACY:
Marty’s mementos varied from crumpled-up set lists to retrieving the makeup-stained tie from the garbage belonging to Lester Flatt, who Marty had joined in 1972. “In the early 1980s, all these older stars were kind of shuffled off to the pasture because times had changed, and Urban Cowboy had come in and kind of replaced all of the great stars.” That didn’t work for Marty because he felt those old stars had raised him. “They were like family.” Still, as a much younger musician, Marty was also part of this new world.
“I was in Nashville one day, and I bought Patsy Kline’s train case or makeup case for 75 bucks in the junk shop because nobody cared,” he said. “That’s what it looked like to me: nobody cared, and nobody was paying attention.” And this became his mission, “to take care of and pick up those kinds of things, costumes, guitars, instruments, and manuscripts, personal effects of people that matter to me.”
He filled warehouses with around 15,000 artifacts but had no idea what to do with them. In the early 2000s, Marty returned to Mississippi.
“I fell back in love with my state and its musical and creative legacy. I wanted to jump in and start doing my part and help tell the story to the world.”
During that time, B.B. King called Marty to ask if he and his band could put on a show in Indianola to help raise money for the B.B. King Museum. While there, B.B. pointed out everything going on in Mississippi, saying, “You know rock’n’roll is over there at Elvis’s place, I’ve got the Blues covered, and there’s the Jimmie Rodgers Museum that puddles along down in Meridian.” At that time, there was only talk of a Grammy Museum coming to the Delta. On his way out of Indianola, Marty figured out what to do with his massive collection thanks to B.B.’s coaxing.
“Country music needed a home in Mississippi and the land of Jimmie Rodgers, the Old Testament world of country music. When I left Indianola that night, I remember looking up at God and thinking but don’t make me do this. It was gonna be like setting a spaceship down in the middle of nowhere and getting people to believe in it.”
THE CONGRESS OF COUNTRY MUSIC:
The Congress of Country Music planned for Marty’s Philadelphia hometown culminated from his perpetual love for country music, his determination to preserve its legacy, and “spending the day with B.B. King,” he said.
Every project starts somewhere. The Ellis Theater was the hometown theater where locals once gathered to watch the latest Elvis movies or classics like The Sound of Music and Doctor Zhivago.
“It was the silver screen in our town, but it had tired like most little theaters in little hometowns that had fallen into disrepair.”
The Arts Council of Philadelphia owned the theater and was trying to do productions there. Marty decided to do one of his out-of-town broadcasts from The Ellis. He took his Marty Stuart Show from Nashville to Philadelphia. He described it as “spit and glue, walking over broken glass and busted commodes in the alley and praying it didn’t rain because of holes in the roof.”
But there was something about the place,” he said, with praise and gratitude. “It sounded great, and one of the things we had not accomplished at the time was finding a permanent location for the Congress of Country Music.”
The concept had been floating around in the air, and Marty was searching all over Philadelphia to find the right spot. And it just so happened that his longtime friend Butch, that kid in his first band, was on the Philadelphia Arts Council. He called Marty one day and asked how Marty would feel about the Arts Council donating the Ellis Theater to the project and the Council being a partner. Marty thought it was a great idea because it could be the cornerstone to start the whole campus.
“So, the first phase was to get the Ellis up and running and beautiful, get people to come there, and turn it into a legitimate stop along the way for touring bands. We’ve done every bit of that.”
Marty affirmed that a project starts with the vision, but it also depends on the quality of your partners and how
much of your vision can feasibly be accomplished and sustained.
“It was a slow sale from the start, and most people thought this ain’t gonna ever happen; we don’t need this around here, you know the deal. But one by one, they started coming around.” And those people finally coming around were from all around—Boston, Washington, California, Nevada, Florida, Texas—and then fans began pouring from five dollars to one million into the project, “seeing the worth in this thing not just for the cultural significance of what we’re doing but also to see the rebirth, the second coming of a town that has had hard times in its past.” Marty admits that has been his favorite part—witnessing his Philadelphia hometown return to life.
During the shows at The Ellis, people show up, businesses stay open late, and streets are blocked off because of the crowd. “Those are good problems to have as you move forward. These things help develop the hope we all need, especially when our past has been so dark in many places,” said Marty. “It really gives the world a sense of hope because it’s somewhere in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and so this can happen anywhere. Everyone can come together, you know, across all lines, social, racial, ethnic, religious.”
Marty hopes Philadelphia will become an inspirational template for other small towns. One of Philadelphia’s different dynamics is its triracial communities: Black, White and Native American. “One of the things that has been very important to me at any gathering is that a White prayer, a Native American prayer, and a Black prayer will be lifted into the air.”
When The Ellis opened, that’s precisely what happened: the beautiful pageantry of the Choctaws and a prayer by Philadelphia Mayor James Young, a Black gentleman and “an amazing and incredible guy. Then there were all of us White kids,” said Marty. Everybody in the community felt welcomed and embraced, and that’s what this is at the foundational level. This matters more than everything else put together.”
Marty elaborated on the project’s educational component and why it is critical to the Congress’s mission. “When I was so on fire as a young musician and my heart was just coming into focus and my passions and my dreams were starting to surface inside of my head and my heart, what I had access to in Philadelphia was a magazine rack at Hamill drugstore that carried the Country Song Roundup and a few paperbacks that pertained to music and the record rack at Morgan Lindsey Dime Store.” His only musical classrooms growing up were the Lakeside Auditorium with its gospel singings and the Choctaw and the Neshoba County Fairs when musical acts came through.
“If, as a kid, I could have had Dolly Parton or Wynton Marsalis, Dale McCrory, John Anderson, or Connie Smith, all the people we’ve had at the Ellis in the last year and a half; if Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill had come to my town, it would have blown my head off. It would have been like watching the Old Testament characters of the Bible come to life.”
With funding in hand and architectural plans to start by the end of this year, Marty said the continuing challenge will be the location in the middle of a rural state.
“Promoting and sustaining the place becomes the issue after getting beyond opening day and cutting ribbons, and the confetti dies down.” Other challenges will be keeping programming current and interesting and keeping great events happening there, “where everybody looks at the place as a beacon of hope and light down in Mississippi.”
Marty hopes the Congress of Country Music will be a place where young musicians can develop who they really are before making their decisions in today’s homogenized country music industry.
“It used to be that if you were coming out of your hometown, you had to bring your culture with you to get a seat at the table. Now, you have to check your culture at the county line, blend in and be like everybody else. That leaves a lot of people’s true selves behind.”
From Marty to young musicians and performers
First and foremost, follow your heart and be who you are. We don’t need any more of what everybody else did. We need original sounds and original songs, original concepts from fresh hearts. Everybody has a perspective.
I still say that bluegrass festivals are one of the greatest classrooms because all your heroes are accessible. Usually, some of them can be found standing and picking in a parking lot. It’s a great place to put your eyes on your heroes, but I promise you that if Ricky Skaggs is standing there, he will take five minutes or more with any young musician to talk, encourage, and inspire.
I love the moment bluegrass music is having out there right now. It will always be a great source of inspiration, so jump in and have fun.
by Susan Marquez
As a child growing up in rural Kentucky, Lisa Kahlden loved to check out records from her local library. The records she was drawn to were part of a collection from a label that began with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. The label, founded in 1975, was called New World Music, and its mission was to produce a one-hundredalbum anthology of the history of America through its music in celebration of the Nation’s bicentennial. “Each explored a unique genre or style of music,” explains Lisa.
The albums were given to 7000 libraries and public institutions to create an educational foundation. “The albums had very extensive liner notes,” Lisa recalls, “and you could learn a great deal by reading about each track on an album.” At the time, she was listening to the albums and reading those interesting liner notes, but Lisa had no idea how they came to be. She just knew she liked listening to the music. “I grew up in a musical area where folks would pull out instruments and play when our family got together. I always loved music, and kind of thought that someday I may want to find work in the music business.”
The folks at New World Records had a big surprise when they realized there was an unexpected commercial market for the records. “With the continued support of the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as the support of Frances Goelete, a philanthropist who was interested in investing in American composers, more records were recorded.” The company was founded by Herman Krawitz, who met Goelete when he was in the Metropolitan Opera. Goelete commissioned more symphonic and operatic works in his lifetime than any American citizen, financing the staging of many productions at the Metropolitan Opera.
“None of the music produced by New World Records since the original 100 albums has ever been recorded before,” says Lisa. Over 400 albums have been released by artists with diverse musical backgrounds over the years. In addition to jazz, the recordings represent classical music, traditional music, including bluegrass, popular songs, and even experimental music. Much of the music is largely ignored by big-label record companies.
New World Records began doing interesting cover art and continued their practice of including extensive liner notes. “The records took off,” Lisa says. “They had real commercial appeal.”
In the meantime, Lisa had grown up and was working in the dot.com industry. Her work took her on the road a good bit, and she ended up in Ashville, North Carolina, where she visited a used record store. “They had some of the original 100 records. I had never really thought about who produced them – I guess I kind of assumed it was the Smithsonian or some other entity who did field recordings to preserve America’s music history. I read the name New World Records and started looking into the company.”
Surprisingly, she knew someone who worked at New World Records in New York. Her friend told her there was an opening at the company, and in 2000, the company hired her to digitize everything in its collection. Lisa now serves as president and CEO of New World Records, and it is apparent she is proud of the work the company does.
Much like a university press, New World works to preserve the “neglected treasures of the past” while nurturing the creative future of American Music. The
400 recordings they have produced represent 700 American composers. “In an industry obsessed with million-unit sales and immediate profits, New World chooses artistic merit as its indicator of success.” The company currently releases eight to ten new albums each year and accepts proposals from any source.
“I have been involved with the company’s online streaming services, which are now available to libraries and public academic institutions.” A subscription service provides four shipments annually with the company’s new releases at a discounted rate. All New World subscribers may purchase recordings in the company’s catalog for a deeply discounted rate of $10 per disc.
Lisa says Goelette’s legacy lives on with the recordings made at New World Records. “When he died, he left money to his estate for sponsorships and other projects with New World.”
The New World Records website is like a master class in musical composers and American music history—a fascinating collection of essays, articles, and interviews on various people and topics available to read. And, of course, the album covers and liner notes of the first 100 album anthology are available for download.
by Susan Marquez
Anyone who has ever been to an Old Crow Medicine Show concert knows that the high-energy band is as much fun to watch as they are to listen to. There is a kind of choreography on stage as members of the band switch from one instrument to another seamlessly between songs. Band leader Sketch Secor has an old soul and a penchant for old-time, jug band, and string band music.
“I grew up without smartphones and technology. I’d see a poster in a record shop and think about it for weeks.” Ketch saw the Grateful Dead when he was 15, and that made a big impression on the budding musician. “I was fortunate to see many musical legends in the flesh. I suppose I’ve always felt like an old soul. I’ve pieced together my own experiences, and now I’m a first-hand account of my life’s pivotal moments.”
The band had its beginnings in the fall of 1998 when a “monkey wrench gang of old-time string musicians” left their hometown of Ithaca, New York with banjos, washboards, fiddles, and guitars bought in area pawnshops. “We were mostly still in our teens, and we played our way across the Canadian border to play on the street corners of downtown Ontario,” says Ketch. “It was a big adventure for all of us. We kept traveling and playing, from farmers markets in Manitoba to Indian reservations in South Dakota.”
In time, the band developed its own special style—a little bit of country, a splash of bluegrass, punk rock showmanship, and an old sound made new and innovative.
The band crossed the country from New York to Washington State and back again before deciding to move to the mountains of North Carolina in 1999. “We wanted to explore this musical heritage we had grown to love,” says Ketch. “That meant living where the music came from.” They live in Avery County, about 30 miles from Boone, where they played on the street corners. “We had a boot camp mentality,” Ketch laughs. “We worked farm labor jobs, and we planted the best garden. People from around the area came to learn how we grew such beautiful produce. We had no idea what we were doing, but we followed the Foxfire books to the letter, and it worked. We also made some mighty fine corn liquor.”
Ketch says they wanted to be as authentic as possible, including getting the accents right. Their big break came one day when they were playing on the sidewalk outside Boone Drug, which is where Doc Watson got his start playing in the 1950s. Doc’s daughter happened by and liked what she heard. She brought her father over to listen, and he joined in with them. Afterward, he told them it was the most authentic music he had heard in a long time, and he invited them to play at Merlefest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Their performance at Merlefest caught the attention of Nashville, and a gig at the
Grand Ole Opry followed. The band moved to Nashville and continued busking to pay the rent.
Over the years, many have inspired and even mentored the band John Prine, Gillian Welch, and Marty Stuart, to name a few. “Marty Stuart has been a guiding light all these years and a beacon for me,” says Ketch. “I learned a lot about choreography by watching Del McCoury. He has a fluidity and expressiveness that is unmatched. I also prioritize multi-instrumentalism.”
Garrison Keillor and Conan O’Brian were early adopters of the band’s music. Folks who had seen them in clubs as they played their way across the country and back sat up and took notice. The band opened for artists from Ricky Skaggs and Loretta Lynn to Dave Matthew Band and Willie Nelson.
One of the band’s first big hits was a song co-written by Ketch and Bob Dylan. Dylan recorded the chorus of “Rock Me Mama” 25 years later; after hearing a bootleg sketch of the song, Ketch added verses. “Dylan and I entered a co-writing agreement and sent work back and forth via email. I never met him or even talked to him. But he did give me cowriting credit.”
Old Crow Medicine Show became a Grammy-award-winning band in 2011 and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2013.
The band produced a trio of inspiring songs during the pandemic: “Pray for America,” “Nashville Rising,” and “Medicine Man,” featuring Keb’ Mo.’ Over 100,000 viewers tuned in for their Saturday night quarantine livestreams called Hartland Hootenanny, which featured artists including Billy Strings, Amythyst Kiah, Jim Lauderdale, and dozens more.
Old Crow released Paint this Town in April 2022 – their first album with all original
material in five years. The album was recorded in their own Hartland Studios in Nashville and co-produced by Matt Ross-Spang, a veteran hitmaker. The album and title track were in the top five spot of Americana Radio’s 2022 Album and Single airplay charts.
Their newest album, Jubilee, was recorded in late 2021 and early 2022 and also coproduced by Matt Ross-Spang. The album features collaborations with Mavis Staples and Sierra Farrell and the band’s first recording in twelve years with OCMS’s co-founder Willie Watson.
The band plays an annual New Year’s Eve show at the Ryman Theatre. For the past couple of years, Mollie Tuttle has joined them onstage, with whom Ketch has written several songs. “I look at her work as a beautiful extension of my own.”
Ketch says he enjoys working with young people and ensuring the musical torch gets passed on.
World Records
by Susan Marquez
Scott Schwebel and Pat Evans, friends since the fourth grade, went out one day searching for a particular album. Driving around their hometown of Bakersfield, California, they hit up five record stores with no luck. Not only did the stores not have the album, but Pat also says no one even cared. By the time they returned to Scott’s house, they had decided to open a record store despite having no idea where to begin.
With a tremendous amount of sweat equity and help from friends and family, World Records opened on June 12, 1982. Scott and Pat were just 22 and 23 years old.
They kept their day jobs, not positive the store could support them. Three months later, Scott went to dinner with his fiancé and died in a wreck on the way home. Pat was devastated and not sure how he would move forward. He even went to law school, but in the end, he decided that he owed it to Scott to make their dream a success, and he quit his job as a financial analyst to focus on the store.
“We both had a love of music and became aware of artists and music we had not previously listened to, including bluegrass,” says Pat. “We carry popular music, but we also carry harder-to-find selections. People enjoy discovering an artist for the first time in our store.”
As record sales morphed into CD sales, then streaming became a thing, Pat began to wonder how he could keep the business afloat. The store moved to its second location, closer to CSU Bakersfield. In a 2022 article in SFGate.com, Pat told reporter Andrew Pridgen that he mapped out the new store with great intention. “I designed a store where we have every artist available to listen to. You walk in and there are four or five main rooms with each playing different music. And not just rock or country, but world beat, bluegrass, folk, and jazz – music that young people may not consider otherwise.”
The new store became a popular stop for both locals and music lovers traveling between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Eventually, the store’s reputation grew, and touring musicians, agents, promoters, and A&R talent scouts began to stop at the store.
Pat realized the local music scene was lacking. “Established artists would come to town and play in the Civic Auditorium, but the smaller acts who play at mid-sized clubs and outdoor venues were passing us by.”
It bothered Pat, especially since Bakersfield was once a thriving town for music. In the 1970s, there were nearly fifty music publishing companies in Bakersfield, and the
musicians’ union had 326 members. The town also supported several small-to-mediumsized music venues. With country music royalty Merle Haggard and Buck Owens as fulltime residents, Bakersfield’s Chamber of Commerce promoted the town as the Musical Capital of the West.
Determined to bring back that reputation, Pat decided to host a concert. It was 1997, and Fiona Apple, a relatively unknown teenage piano prodigy, was touring to promote her debut album, Tidal. It was a good bet for Pat, as the album produced six singles and sold more than 3.5 million copies. Apple won a GRAMMY the following year for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
“Our next show in 1997 was Allison Kraus and Union Station,” recalls Pat. “We had to drag people to that show. People around here just weren’t familiar with her. When we brought her back in 2003, the show sold out.”
Not all the shows are big-name artists. Pat says when a performer gets on the stage and half or more of the audience doesn’t know them, they have to give it everything they’ve got. “It never gets old watching an artist win over an audience.”
The next step was to build a concert venue. Pat purchased a defunct furniture store that opened in 1966. He put his record store in the front of the 8,500-square-foot building, and he built a venue in the back. “The acoustics in the building were surprising. It’s like it was meant to be.” He calls it the best concert hall no one outside of Bakersfield knows about… yet. In addition to music performances, the venue is used for reunions, receptions, and other special events.
The venue’s first show was on May 6, 2017, with blues legend Elvin Bishop. Soon, bands, including Spyro Gyra, Los Lobos, and artists Petula Clark, Tommy Castro, Herb Albert, and Petula Clark, came to play in the record store/music venue.
Pat promotes his old-school shows with a mailing list and posters hanging in his record store. He sells paper tickets custom-made for each show. There is no ticket in your Apple wallet. You will not find a QR code, a text reminder, or a link on social media. Best of all, you will not see a service charge. Pat says that as a music fan, he hated to pay $30 for a $20 ticket. He sells concert tickets in the store and by phone, and if you don’t have your paper ticket, you can pick it up from the will-call window, most likely from Pat himself.
“I work to bring in highly acclaimed artists in order to enhance the culture in my community. Building a venue was the step we needed to take to bring artists to this town. I love what I do, and I think every record store doing their own thing is fantastic.”
ZOE And Cloyd
by Brent Davis
Sometimes, unusual combinations end up making a lot of sense.
Take Zoe & Cloyd’s Klezgrass music. Natalya Zoe Weinstein is a classically trained violinist from Amherst, Mass., descended from jazz and klezmer musicians. (Klezmer is a traditional folk music originating among Eastern European Jewish communities.) John Cloyd Miller is a twelfth-generation North Carolinian who comes from bluegrass royalty: his fiddling grandfather, Jim Shumate, introduced Earl Scruggs to Bill Monroe, and he played with both.
While bluegrass makes up much of their set list and album material, the Klezgrass music they’ve developed that honors their ancestors sets them apart.
“We just did the Gray Fox festival a couple of weeks ago,” Miller says. “Even though we only did probably a couple of klezmer songs in each set, people just were so excited to hear that kind of music. And even down south, for people that are not as familiar with klezmer, they really are drawn to it. They’re like, ‘I’ve never heard that before!’ Not every band has that stuff in their repertoire. So, if somebody wants something a little bit different on their bill, we can provide that.”
Weinstein was exposed to bluegrass music by college friends in Amherst. She attended an anthropology conference in Tacoma, Wash., where she was given a ticket to the nearby Wintergrass Festival.
“It was so incredible to me. Somebody handed me a fiddle, and I played ‘Angelina Baker’ with people I’d never met before. And that was kind of the turning point for me. So, I moved to Asheville after I graduated from college just to kind of learn more about bluegrass and old-time music, to sort of be in the heart of it.”
She said she met John, and they played some gigs and started hanging out. “And then I found out that his grandfather was a bluegrass fiddle player. And he just was super welcoming and always up for playing. Every time we’d go down, he’d say, ‘Did you bring your fiddles and your banjos?’ He was a huge influence on me for sure.”
She explained how Jim was basically self-taught and a super bluesy fiddle player who just slid into everything. “His timing was real syncopated and it was completely the
opposite way of playing the instrument than I was used to. So, it really helped me to kind of loosen up and learn bluegrass from that side.”
Miller plays banjo, guitar, and mandolin and sings and writes the duo’s original compositions.
“I didn’t grow up as a kid playing bluegrass instruments,” he says. “That’s something I came to a little bit later in life, and I’m still working on. But singing comes a little bit more naturally to me. That’s my main form of expression.”
One of Miller’s recently recorded songs, “Chestnut Mountain,” is a wistful account of a place his grandfather knew. However, his subjects include timely topics such as polarization, tolerance, and the environment.
“I like story songs. I like songs about relationships. I just kind of write what I feel like writing. I write about the things that I’m interested in and the things that I’m passionate about and move me. And I’m an outdoors person. The environment’s always been an interest of mine, as it should be to everyone.”
Miller had never heard of klezmer music until Weinstein played it for him. Klezmer tunes are typically instrumentals and often feature elaborate and dizzying violin and clarinet passages.
“The music really mirrors in a very overt way human emotion,” Miller explains. “It can be happy, it can be joyful and spontaneous, and all of a sudden, it can be really sad. It sort of dovetails with bluegrass pretty well because most of these songs are in a minor key.
They’re not unlike ‘Lonesome Midnight Waltz’ or ‘Lonesome Blues’ or something like that.”
Weinstein and Miller are more than musical collaborators--they married 14 years ago. That’s a lot of time together at home and on the job.
“You have to be able to find that balance between not letting the band take over your entire life,” Miller says. “We’re definitely aware of trying to keep a balance between our private life with our daughter and fun stuff, and not just talking about the band all the time. That can be challenging. I think a lot of small business owners, no matter what they’re doing, struggle with that.”
Zoe & Cloyd perform both as a duo and with a band that features Bennett Sullivan, an inventive and mesmerizing musician who has incorporated bluegrass banjo into klezmer. Bassist Kevin Kerhberg rounds out the quartet.
In the summer, Zoe and Cloyd can perform farther away from Ashville than usual. They’ve toured in Ireland for the last two years and were heartened by the warm response they received this year for their unique music.
“We did everything from a fiddle workshop to a set at a kind of historic pub,” Weinstein remembers. “And we hosted a gospel hour in this beautiful centuries-old Protestant church. The Catholic priest was there as well. So, it was neat to kind of bring all these people together in this sacred space, no matter what their religious backgrounds were. And we did a Klezmer song there. That was pretty cool.”
Your Appalachian Restaurant Bucket List
By Candace Nelson
Appalachia is home to myriad restaurants that span cuisines and styles. From Indian and Italian to French and Mexican, there is no shortage of diversity in Mountain State meals. Here are ten must-visit restaurants to get a full taste of Appalachia.
1. Holly Hill Inn – Midway, Kentucky
Holly Hill Inn is a standout Appalachian restaurant in Kentucky. This charming establishment, housed in a historic building dating back to the 19th century, is renowned for its elegant and innovative approach to Appalachian cuisine.
2. Biscuit Head – Asheville, North Carolina
3.
Street Grille –
Asheville is a hub for food enthusiasts, and Biscuit Head stands out among breakfast lovers. Famous for its fluffy, oversized biscuits and inventive toppings, Biscuit Head offers a variety of sweet and savory options. Don’t miss their signature dish, the “Biscuit Donut” or the “Southern Benedict,” a delightful twist on a classic. The laid-back atmosphere and friendly service make it a must-visit.
Rock, North Carolina
Located in the picturesque town of Blowing Rock, Storie Street Grille offers a menu that combines Southern comfort food with contemporary flair. Known for its shrimp and grits and mouthwatering fried green tomatoes, the restaurant provides a warm and inviting setting perfect for a leisurely meal. Their extensive wine list and handcrafted cocktails are an added bonus.
4. Blackberry Farm – Walland, Tennessee
Blackberry Farm is not just a restaurant; it’s a luxurious culinary destination. This renowned hotel offers an exquisite farm-to-table dining experience in the scenic Great Smoky Mountains. With a focus on Appalachian ingredients, dishes like the wood-grilled trout and farmstead cheeses are not to be missed. The impeccable service and
Storie
Blowing
breathtaking views make it a truly unforgettable experience.
5. Hillbilly Hot Dogs – Lesage, West Virginia
For a quirky and fun dining experience, Hillbilly Hot Dogs is a must. Known for their outrageous hot dog creations, this roadside eatery offers a variety of toppings that cater to all tastes. The “Homewrecker,” a 15-inch hot dog with an array of toppings, is a challenge for even the heartiest of appetites. The eclectic decor and friendly atmosphere add to the unique charm.
6. Delauder’s BBQ – Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Gatlinburg is home to Delauder’s BBQ, a family-owned restaurant that serves up some of the best barbecues in the region. From tender pulled pork to smoky ribs, every bite is a testament to their passion for great barbecue. The casual, no-frills setting lets the food speak for itself, and the friendly service makes you feel right at home.
7. St. John’s Restaurant – Chattanooga, Tennessee
Located in a historic building, St. John’s offers a fine dining experience with a focus on seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. The menu features a blend of Southern and contemporary cuisine, with dishes like seared scallops, duck breast and expertly crafted desserts. The elegant atmosphere and top-notch service make it a standout choice for a memorable meal in Chattanooga.
8. Vortex Doughnuts – Asheville, North Carolina
Stylish and funky, Vortex Doughnuts is a must-visit for those with a sweet tooth. This Asheville favorite offers an array of artisanal doughnuts made from scratch using high-quality ingredients. Flavors range from classic glazed to unique options like maple bacon and vegan matcha. The hip, modern ambiance and delicious coffee make it a great spot to start your day.
9. The Early Girl Eatery – Asheville, North Carolina
Another Asheville favorite, The Early Girl Eatery, focuses on farm-to-table
Southern comfort food. Known for their all-day breakfast menu and vegetarianfriendly options, dishes like the sweet potato black bean cakes and the pulled pork breakfast bowl are crowd-pleasers. The cozy, eclectic decor and warm service make it a beloved spot for locals and tourists alike.
10. Pies & Pints – Fayetteville, West Virginia
Pies & Pints is a beloved spot for pizza and beer enthusiasts. Located in the heart of Fayetteville, this restaurant is known for its creative pizza toppings and extensive craft beer selection. Signature pies like the Grape and Gorgonzola or the Sriracha Shrimp offer a delightful twist on traditional pizza, while the laidback atmosphere makes it a great place to unwind.
Exploring Appalachia’s culinary offerings goes beyond food—it encompasses the region’s rich history, culture, and hospitality. Each of these 10 restaurants offers a unique taste of Appalachia, making them essential stops on any food lover’s journey through this beautiful and diverse region. From upscale dining experiences to quirky roadside eateries, the Appalachian food scene is an epicurean’s delight.
