87th Old Time Fiddlers Convention, Galax, VA

Last week was the 87th annual Old Time Fiddlers Convention in Galax, VA. I joined 80,000 folks from around the world to experience my first Galax, the nick name for the festival for long time convention goers.

Players from around the world compete on the historic Felts Park stage for different prizes. I arrived Thursday for the inaugural ‘Stories and Strings’ event in downtown Galax.

Featured in this mini episode are The Jack Tale Players from  Ferrum, VA.  I spoke with Emily and Rachel Blankenship-Tucker, long time members of the troupe.

The main events begin Friday night, the first evening for full band competitions in the Old Time and Bluegrass categories. The Loose Strings Band opened the evening with The National Anthem; I walked around until I happened upon Trish Fore, the bluegrass banjo librarian for the Twin Counties. She was practicing with her band, Trish and the Wildcats, for their particular event.

If you’d like to learn more about the festival, head over to oldtimefiddlersconvention.com!

I can’t wait until next years Galax, come say hi if y’all see me there:)

Appalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW is listener nominated, you can nominate an artist by emailing Amanda at [email protected].

Appalachian Vibes Radio Show is created and produced by Amanda Bocchi, a neo soul singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist and journalist hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.