Word is spreading about the free summer series Blue Ridge Traditions at the Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center in Old Fort. On Saturday, July 19, at 7 p.m., hear the old-time music of Paul Brown and the Toast String Stretchers and the bluegrass gospel music of The Griggs. Come early at 4 p.m. to kick up your heels during a mountain dance workshop with Phil Jamison and Loretta and Lynsey Freeman. Jamison has been calling square dances for more than 30 years.
To complete your authentic mountain experience, see craft demonstrations and enjoy hands-on activities from 2 to 6 p.m. Stitch along with the Mountain Glory Quilters Guild, and see Alton Blankenship and Gina Wheeler make traditional brooms.
A weekly schedule of Blue Ridge Traditions is posted on ncarts.org/freeconcerts, or call Mountain Gateway Museum at 828-668-9259 for details.
Overview of July 19 Performers and Craftspeople
Paul Brown – One of today’s most sought-after old-time musicians, Brown has played banjo and fiddle and sung with a long list of outstanding old-time groups, including the Bent Mountain Band, and Benton Flippen and the Smokey Valley Boys. He currently performs with the well-loved Toast String Stretchers and is a newscaster for National Public Radio in Washington, D.C.
Brown’s repertoire consists primarily of traditional tunes from northwestern North Carolina and central and southwestern Virginia. He first picked up the banjo at age 10 and was a student of the late Tommy Jarrell. Brown has been performing at music camps and festivals since the 1970s.
Pete Grigg – The 82-year-old began playing the guitar and mandolin in 1943, while serving in the navy. In 1945 he returned to North Carolina and put his first band together. Inspired by country music stars such as Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, and Reno and Smiley, Grigg and his wife, Carol, formed the Blades of Bluegrass. The group appeared on Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry many times and recorded several singles. In 1972 the couple decided to focus on gospel music.
Since his wife’s death in 1995, Grigg has continued the bluegrass gospel tradition with The Griggs, a band featuring his son, Terry, and longtime friends Zola and Arnold Clayton.
Phil Jamison – A renowned square-dance caller, old-time musician, and flatfoot dancer, Jamison has been calling dances, teaching and performing at music festivals and dance events locally and internationally for more than 30 years. He has performed with legendary musicians, such as Luke Smathers and Tommy Jarrell, and was mentored by North Carolina square-dance callers and dancers that include Wallace Johnson, Wayne Jarrell and Robert Dotson.
For nearly three decades, Jamison has toured with the Green Grass Cloggers, and he played with Ralph Blizard and the New Southern Ramblers for 23 years. He has coordinated Old-Time Music and Dance Week at the Swannanoa Gathering since its inception in 1992, and he served as the event’s assistant director for 10 years. In addition, Jamison coordinates the dance stage at MerleFest.
Mountain Glory Quilters Guild – This group of enthusiastic quilters celebrates and promotes the quilting traditions of western North Carolina. All quilters are welcome to join, regardless of experience.
The guild members are active community members who donate quilts to children’s charities and programs. They view their craft demonstrations during Blue Ridge Traditions as a way to support and promote the rich heritage of hand quilting.
Alton Blankenship – Born in Rutherford County, the broom maker first came to his craft out of necessity. “My father was a broom maker,” Blankenship recalls, “and he didn’t do it for any reason other than he needed something to barter with and something to sweep floors with. I became interested in making brooms out of necessity, and because my father did it.”
Blankenship returned to making brooms after his retirement, when he became inspired by the work of broom maker Ralph Gates. “I mentioned to Ralph that I could make brooms if I had the right supplies,” said Blankenship. “He had one stalk of broomcorn left, and he gave it to me and said, ‘Here’s enough to make a lot of brooms.’ That was more than 20 years ago.”
Asked about the most important aspects of his own brooms — which include whisk brooms, turkey wings, hearth brooms and kitchen brooms — Blankenship explains, “I want a broom to be sturdy and appealing to the eye.”
Gina Wheeler – The Barnardsville resident has always been surrounded by traditional crafts. Her mother is a gifted oil painter, and her husband, Michael, hails from a long line of chair makers.
It was during a chair-making demonstration at the Mountain State Fair in Asheville seven years ago that she met traditional broom maker Alton Blankenship. Says Wheeler’s husband, “After she met Alton, I didn’t see her for about a week. She got to watching him and fell in love with what he was making.” Wheeler assists Blankenship during his broom-making demonstrations, and the Wheelers grow their own broomcorn.
Blue Ridge Traditions is sponsored by Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Department of Cultural Resources and the North Carolina Folklife Institute. Additional support is provided by McDowell County Tourism Authority. The media sponsor is WNCW-FM 88.7.
The summer series is presented as part of “Telling Our Stories,” a yearlong celebration showcasing North Carolina’s arts, heritage and cultural life. “Telling Our Stories” is an initiative by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.
To reach Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center at 102 Water Street (the corner of Catawba and Water streets), take exit 73 off I-40, and go north four blocks. The museum is 23 miles east of Asheville and 50 miles west of Hickory.
Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center is part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, an agency of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. The department’s Web site is www.ncculture.com.