Virginia Folklife Demonstrations

Appalachian Traditions

Meet the artists and cultural organizations that make Bristol one of the most distinct cities in Virginia! Most of the participating artists and organizations in “Appalachian Traditions” were nominated by their peers in April 2023 to receive funding in recognition of their contributions to regional culture in and around Bristol.

Located in Southwest Virginia and closer to the capitals of six other states than to Richmond, Bristol straddles the VA and TN border. Designated by the US Congress as the “birthplace of country music” in recognition of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, during which The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and others were recorded for the first time, artists and communities in and around Bristol are transforming regional Appalachian traditions for 2023 and beyond.

This April, in collaboration with local partners on the Greater Bristol Folk Arts & Culture Team, the Virginia Folklife Program awarded $52,000 in fellowships and grants to artists and organizations working to sustain traditional culture in and around Bristol (made possible by Central Appalachia Living Traditions, Mid Atlantic Arts). Meet them in “Appalachian Traditions” or see them on stage Sunday during the “New Sounds of Bristol Showcase.”

Focused Demonstration Schedule

Saturday

1:00     John Alexander: Appalachian Toys
2:00     KT Vandyke: Repairing a Cracked Guitar
3:00     Birthplace of Country Music: Women in Old Time Music
4:00     Katie Hoffman & Brett Tiller: Maintain Your Cast Iron
5:00     Jesse Halverson: Wool, From Fleece to Loom

Sunday

2:00     KT Vandyke & Jackson Cunningham: Installing Frets
3:00     Roxanne McDaniel: How to Build a Cardboard Dulcimer
4:00     Amanda Sprinkle: Curly Basket Overlays
5:00     Erin Simons: Making Hand Brooms

Featured
Amanda Sprinkle
Amanda Sprinkle

Basket making
Abingdon, VA

Amanda Sprinkle fell in love with basket making when she took a class with her future mother-in-law over 24 years ago, and has been weaving ever since. “I loved the way basketry incorporated both function and artistic expression,” she explained. She also views baskets as a way to connect to Appalachian culture, where basket makers were born out of necessity. 

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Anna Mullins
Anna Mullins

Documentary Photography
Coeburn, VA

When Anna Mullins was growing up, her dad carried his camera everywhere, teaching her to “make a camera my companion as well.” After raising her family, Anna began to devote more time to photography. She found a mentor in eastern Kentucky-based photographer Malcom J. Wilson, whose Humans of Central Appalachia project implores viewers who want an honest story about Appalachia to “ask an Appalachian,” and pairs portraits with quotes from residents of central Appalachia. Anna’s work follows in this vein, focusing on what she calls “real Appalachia.” Her work in the region, documenting its culture and peoples, connects on a raw, intimate and heartfelt level.

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Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Birthplace of Country Music Museum

Bristol, VA

The Birthplace of Country Music Museum explores the story of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, the ways that evolving sound technology shaped their success, and how this rich musical heritage still thrives in the Appalachian region and beyond. Through multiple theater experiences, interactive and stationary displays—along with a variety of educational programs, music performances, and community events—the exciting story of these recording sessions and their far-reaching influence comes alive. 

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Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail
Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail

Southwest Virginia

The Crooked Road is a 330-mile driving trail through the mountains of Southwest Virginia that connects nine Major Venues and over 60 Affiliated Venues and Festivals that visitors can enjoy every day of the year.

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Erin Simons
Erin Simons

Broom Making
Wytheville, VA

Erin Simons is an artist and educator from a family of Appalachian makers—her father a woodworker, her grandmother a watercolorist. She discovered broom making while attending the Arrowmont School’s Legacy Program, a program for educators to build skills in Appalachian crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and instantly knew she needed to try.

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The Fleenor Family
The Fleenor Family

Drag Racing
Bristol, VA

The Fleenor Family are regular as bracket racing at the Bristol Dragway, aka Thunder Valley. Bracket racing is a form of drag racing in which the drivers make a series of time runs down an eighth-mile tarmac strip and then mark their expected time. During the head-to-head races drivers attempt to be as consistent as possible without going faster than their posted time. Bristol-area mechanic Larry Snead said it breeds more camaraderie with the drivers because they are racing against themselves, not against each other. It also rewards consistency and reliability over straight-line speed.

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Jackson Cunningham
Jackson Cunningham

Luthier
Mouth of Wilson, VA

In hindsight, Jackson Cunningham’s career as a luthier was meant to be. He began piano lessons with his grandmother at age seven, picked up guitar soon after, and learned to play banjo and fiddle in his teenage years. Around the same time, Jackson’s stepfather introduced him to woodworking. The confluence of these interests brought Jackson Cunningham to the threshold of instrument craft, which he eagerly pursued after moving to Grayson County, Virginia, from his home in southern Oregon. There he found a community in the musicians, luthiers, and craftspeople that stewarded traditional Appalachian music.

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Jesse Halverson 
Jesse Halverson 

Weaving
Bristol, VA

Jesse Halverson’s mother taught her how to crochet when she was a young child, and since then, she has “derived great pleasure and satisfaction from creating with my hands.” Jesse soon learned how to cross stitch and knit, frequently finding herself either working on a project or planning her next one. After encountering spinning as an adult, she tried to teach the craft to her daughter—who instead wanted to learn how to weave, after seeing a demonstration at a local festival. Jesse and her husband bought their daughter a small table loom for Christmas, which prompted Jesse to take a weaving class from the Overmountain Weavers Guild. “Joining this guild and helping my daughter with her loom ignited another passion in my textile journey,” she said. 

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John Alexander
John Alexander

Broom & Toy Making
Independence, VA

John Alexander is a broom maker, poplar basket craftsman, and educator living in Grayson County, Virginia. Growing up on their small farm, John’s father taught him how to make the things they needed with the raw materials found on their land. Small scraps of wood became simple toys, and poplar tree bark was woven together to become baskets. To John, this self-sufficiency is what defines Appalachian art and culture. 

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Katie Hoffman & Brett Tiller
Katie Hoffman & Brett Tiller

Cast Iron Restoration 
Jonesborough, TN

In 2016, Katie Hoffman did her father-in-law a favor: Hoping to help his sales, she shared a photo of his vast collection of cast iron skillets, pans, and kettles on her Facebook page. The tremendous response from friends led Katie and her husband, Brett, to realize that they might accidentally have started a business restoring and reselling vintage cast iron. 

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KT Vandyke
KT Vandyke

Instrument Repair
Bristol, VA

After working on the road as a sound engineer for the bluegrass fiddler Michael Cleveland, KT Vandyke found himself back in Southwest Virginia, doing instrument repair and setup at Front Row Music in Abingdon. There he met Walter “Skip” Herman of the nearby Frog Level Guitar Shop. Herman had learned the luthier trade from “Uncle” Dave Sturgill in Piney Creek, North Carolina, and decided to pursue repair full-time once he saw the reliable demand for, and importance of, the work. As Herman explains, “You can make the very best instrument in the world and if there is no one out there to repair it, it’s like having a Ferrari where there’s no mechanic in the world who can fix it.”

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Ron Carson
Ron Carson

Appalachian African American Cultural Center
Pennington Gap, VA

Ron Carson, together with his late wife Jill Carson, founded the Appalachian African American Cultural Center (AAACC) in his hometown of Pennington Gap, VA, in 1987. The mission of the AAACC is to collect narratives, artifacts, and ephemera of African American life in Appalachia, and in doing so, preserve the history, heritage, and culture of Black people in far Southwest Virginia and the broader Appalachian region.

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Stephen Curd 
Stephen Curd 

Fashion Design
Glade Spring, VA

Stephen Curd’s Lavelle Boutique takes its namesake from Stephen’s grandmother, Eva Lavelle, a skilled seamstress whom Stephen recalls accompanying to fabric stores to pick out patterns and designs for his school clothes. When he was in school for nursing, Eva Lavelle would send Stephen letters encouraging him to take classes in art to give him opportunities to express himself. Through her support and encouragement, Stephen decided to study men’s fashion instead of nursing. For Stephen, Eva Lavelle is the very reason why Lavelle Boutique exists.  

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The Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities works to document, sustain, present, and support cultural traditions across the Commonwealth. We connect communities while honoring Virginia’s cultural heritage through the Apprenticeship Program, educational events, and media production. The Richmond Folk Festival Virginia Folklife Area is co-presented by the Virginia Folklife Program and the Center for Cultural Vibrancy.