The Crooked Road is a

heritage trail Heritage trails are walking trails and driving routes in urban and rural settings that are identified by signage and guidebooks as relating to cultural heritage. The heritage might be architectural, or it can be associated with a person or histor ...

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all V ...

, that explores the musical history of the region along southwestern Virginia's Blue Ridge and

Cumberland Mountains The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in western Virginia, southwestern West Virginia, the eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the ...

. The Crooked Road winds through almost 300 miles of scenic terrain in southwestern Virginia, including 19 counties, four cities, and 54 towns.

Musical heritage

The Crooked Road celebrates the musical heritage of

Western Virginia Western Virginia is a geographic region in Virginia comprising the Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia. Generally, areas in Virginia located west of, or (in many cases) within, the piedmont region are considered part of western Virginia. T ...

and

with

Appalachian music Appalachian music is the music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. Traditional Appalachian music is derived from various influences, including the ballads, hymns and fiddle music of the British Isles (particularly Scotland), ...

including

Old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dance, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering ...

Folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

, and

Bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

. It also celebrates traditional dance such as

clogging Clogging, buck dancing, or flatfoot dancing is a type of folk dance practiced in the United States, in which the dancer's footwear is used percussively by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible rhythm ...

, buck dancing,

Square dance A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances are part of a broad spectrum of dances known by various names: country dan ...

and other traditional dances, singing and music. There are major venues to showcase The Crooked Road, including the

Heartwood – The Southwest Virginia Artisan Gateway The Southwest Virginia Cultural Center and Marketplace (formerly Heartwood) is a visitor center, music venue, artisan marketplace, and community space located in Southwest Virginia in Abingdon, Virginia and is the gateway to regional craft, music, ...

Abingdon, Virginia Abingdon is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Virginia, United States, southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. The town encompasses several historically significant sites and features a fine arts a ...

, the Ralph Stanley Museum in

Clintwood, Virginia Clintwood is a town in Dickenson County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,377 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dickenson County. Although originally called "Holly Creek" after a small stream that runs through the town, ...

, the Carter Family Fold in

Scott County, Virginia Scott County is a county located in the far southwestern part of the U.S. state of Virginia, on the border with Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,576. Its county seat is Gate City. Scott County was formed by an act of ...

, the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the Twin cities (geographical proxi ...

, the Blue Ridge Music Center off the

Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and National Scenic Byway, All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is the longest linear park in the U.S., runs for through 29 counties in Virginia and ...

, County Sales and the Floyd Country Store in

Floyd, Virginia Floyd is a town in Floyd County, Virginia, United States. The population was 448 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Floyd County. The Town of Floyd was originally named Jacksonville as the surrounding county w ...

, and the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum at

Ferrum College Ferrum College is a private college in Ferrum, Virginia. The college was established in 1913 as the "Ferrum Training School" (also referred to as the "Ferrum Institute" by its board of trustees) for primary and secondary education to serve the ...

Origins

The idea for Virginia's "Crooked Road" began to germinate in the minds of Virginians in January 2003. A number of public officials, musicians, and others were interested in an economic development strategy for the

Appalachian region Appalachian may refer to: * Appalachian Mountains, a major mountain range in eastern United States and Canada * Appalachian Trail, a hiking trail in the eastern United States * The people of Appalachia and their culture ** Appalachian Americans, e ...

, and they wanted to draw on the region's rich musical heritage. Over time, the project grew, and today The Crooked Road and its affiliated venues span 19 counties.

Route

The Crooked Road starts in and goes through Southwest Virginia from

Rocky Mount, Virginia Rocky Mount is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Virginia, United States. The town is part of the Roanoke metropolitan area, and had a population of 4,903 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the Roanoke Region of Virginia. H ...

Breaks Interstate Park Breaks Interstate Park, also known as "the Breaks," is a bi-state state park located partly in southeastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia in the Jefferson National Forest, at the northeastern terminus of Pine Mountain. The land is manage ...

on the Virginia border. The marked route passes through

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

, Floyd,

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

, Carroll, Grayson,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

, Wise and Dickinson counties.Crooked Road Map
/ref> Major venues along the route are located in Ferrum, Floyd, Galax, Abingdon, Bristol, Hiltons, Norton, and Clintwood. Affiliated venues are also located in nine neighboring counties and several independent cities.

References

Bibliography

* Abraham, Michael
Harmonic Highways: Motorcycling Virginia's Crooked Road
Blacksburg, Va: Pocahontas Press, 2011. 303 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits. * Chaney, Ryan. 2013.
Straightening the Crooked Road
. Ethnography. 14, no. 4: 387-411.
The Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail
The Crooked Road, n.d.
Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail
The Crooked Road: A Treasury of American Music. Abingdon, Va: The Crooked Road, 2011. Summary: The 50 songs and tunes collected here were selected from CD recordings currently being sold by artists who live along The Crooked Road in Southwest Virginia's Blue Ridge and Cumberland Mountains. * Going Down the Crooked Road. Roanoke, Va: Roanoke Times, 2005. * McNeill, Kylene Barker, et al
Christmas Along the Crooked Road
2007. Summary: "Features stellar musicians from Southwest Virginia and Northwest North Carolina performing some of their favorite holiday songs, new and old in bluegrass, oldtime and mountain style." Notes by Kylene Barker McNeill and Debbie Robinson, biographical information about the musicians, credits and durations on container insert. * National Council for the Traditional Arts
Music from the Crooked Road: Mountain Music of Virginia: a National Tour Celebrating the Living Musical Culture of Southwest Virginia
Silver Spring, MD: NCTA, 2006. Notes: Presented with major support from: the Crooked Road Virginia's heritage music trail, the Virginia Tourism Corporation, the National Endowment for the Arts. "A national tour of old-time, bluegrass, mountain gospel and flatfoot dance featuring: Sammy Shelor, Wayne Henderson, the Whitetop Mountain Band, Elizabeth Laprelle, Kirk Sutphin & Eddie bond, No speed limit". * Saffle, Michael. 2014.
Perpetuating the Culture of Musical Memories: Virginia's Crooked Road"
Musik Und Erinnern. 309-322. * Skeens, Betty, and Libby Bondurant
Grazing Along the Crooked Road: Recipes and Stories--Past and Present
Pounding Mill, Va: Henderson Publishing, 2009. Notes: "First edition October 2008. Second edition April 2009." Map of "The Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail" on lining papers. "In Memory of Betty Skeens." * Thornton, Tim. 2010. "Blazing New Trails: The Crooked Road Offers a Model for Promoting a Scenic Region". Virginia Business. 25, no. 8: 80-83. * Virginia's Heritage Music Trail
The Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail
Abingdon, Va: Virginia's Heritage Music Trail, 2011. Notes: Cover title. "Visitor guide."—Cover. "A place of beauty- a place of song. This is the Crooked Road ... an authentic music that has been preserved by the region's musicians for generations."

External links

The Crooked Road

The Crooked Road
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608210643/https://www.myswva.org/tcr/ , date=2017-06-08 Appalachian culture Performing arts in Virginia Dance in Virginia Heritage trails Cultural tourism Southwest Virginia