Where The Hills Are Blue
launched in March of 2011 as a way of celebrating the music played and loved in the Blue Ridge Mountains and surrounding regions. White Horse Black Mountain was chosen because of it's location and it's reputation as a fine listening room where audience and musicians celebrate each other and connect in an intimate setting.
Bob Hinkle of White Horse Black Mountain, Steve Johnson of Mountain Music Entertainment and Don Talley of the Black Mountain Music Scene crafted the series and oversee it's programming, publicity and promotion.
The Music
Our ancestors crossed the Atlantic with fiddles in hand eventually settling in the remote coves and hollows of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The fiddle tunes and ballads were played as a way to hold fast to the old country and to entertain one's family in the isolated backcountry.
The banjo arrived soon thereafter and for years the fiddle and the banjo were staples of mountain music. While the fiddle is primarily a European instrument, the banjo has it's roots in West Africa and slaves arriving in the new land crafted handmade instruments as a way to hold fast to their motherland. These banjos developed overtime and were soon manufactured and available for sale via catalogs from Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Ward.
Guitars, Mandolins, Basses, and Dobros were added as time passed and mountain musicians eventually were able to supplement their incomes by playing music for dances, picnics, and in shows in school houses. The radio introduced new musical options to the mountaineers of the Blue Ridge and many were quick to adapt to the 'new' sounds of Hawaiian, Western, and Swing music.
Bluegrass is a true American musical genre created in the 1930s and early 40's by Bill Monroe and popularized by others such as Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, and others.
WHERE THE HILLS ARE BLUE
celebrates traditional mountain music (sometimes called Old-Time), traditional bluegrass music and also some of the newer bluegrass music played and enjoyed in the Blue Ridge.
Our series is a family-friendly event and all ages are welcomed. We hope you enjoy what you hear. Feel free to suggest bands which you think would be a good fit for the series and by all means help us spread the word and invite your friends to visit often.
Thanks
Bob Hinkle
Steve Johnson
Don Talley
If your band is interested in performing at future
WHERE THE HILLS ARE BLUE concerts,
please email dontalley@gmail.com
