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Down the Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails

Down the Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina features Laura Boosinger, celebrated musician, folklorist and storyteller, as host. In each segment, she highlights bluegrass and old-time music stories, performers and musical traditions across the 29 mountain and foothills counties included in the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina footprint. Learn more at BlueRidgeMusicNC.com .

Episodes air every other week on at about 8:50 am on Tuesday mornings (at the end of NPR's Morning Edition).

  • Union Grove Fiddlers Convention
    On this week’s Down the Road on the Blueridge Music Trail, Laura Boosinger takes us to the Union Grove Fiddlers Convention. What began as a school fundraiser in Union Grove grew into one of the South’s most influential fiddlers’ conventions. Laura traces the gathering’s early years, its role in preserving old-time music, and the community members who helped build its enduring legacy.
  • Banjo Innovator Tom McKinney
    Laura Boosinger focuses on Tom McKinney, banjo innovator in the Scruggs style, traditional singer, and inventor of the renowned McKinney capo.
  • Music of the Civil War
    Laura Boosinger explores the music of the Civil War. We’ll hear some local history as well as music from Jim Taylor and Wayne Erbsen.
  • Dancers from the Bannerman Family and Friends group on stage at the 88th annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville, North Carolina.
    The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival at 99 Years Old
    Laura highlights the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival as it approaches its 99th year, starting with its founder Bascom Lamar Lunsford. It features music from Lunsford, as well as Madison county ballad singer Dellie Norton, and the Luke Smathers band.
  • America 250 and Her Songs
    As we celebrate America 250, Laura Boosinger looks back at tunes or songs that we associate with that era.
  • "Soldier's Joy"
    Laura Boosinger dives into the history of the fiddle tune classic "Soldier's Joy."
  • The Pioneering Men of the Banjo
    Laura Boosinger continues her dive into the pioneers of banjo in North Carolina. This time focusing on the men who still influence banjo players today.
  • Pioneering Women of the Banjo
    Laura Boosinger highlights pioneering women of the banjo in this episode of Down the Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails podcast.
  • Steep Canyon Rangers Celebrate 25 years
    Laura Boosinger features the Steep Canyon Rangers as they celebrate 25 years.
  • The Birth of the Banjo: Part Two
    For Laura Boosinger's second installment on the birth of the Banjo she continues her conversation with banjoist, producer, and author Bob Carlin.