Earlier this year Old Wilkes, Inc. and The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame (BRMHoF) committee announced the initial induction of several prominent musicians from the Blue Ridge region.

The charter inductees to be honored at the first annual Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony, to be held at the Walker Center on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro on Friday, June 13, 2008, are: Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, The Carter Family, Tommy Jarrell, Dolly Parton, David Johnson, Ralph Rinzler, Ralph Epperson, Wayne Henderson and Sam Love Queen, Sr.

Each of these individuals is well noted for their considerable contributions to the special cultural and musical heritage of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with many having world-wide influence.

The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame, created in 2006, will be housed on the second floor of the Wilkes Heritage Museum (in the restored, famous old Wilkes Courthouse) located at 100 East Main Street, Wilkesboro, NC. Wilkesboro is located less than twenty miles from milepost 235, or the halfway point on the Blue Ridge Parkway, easily allowing a visit the Hall of Fame or Museum.

Tickets for the June 13 concert and induction ceremony, to be emceed by Mike Cross, are on sale now and may be purchased from the Walker Center box office (336-838-6260). A limited number of dinner tickets are available with a cost of $75 that includes seats for the ceremony. Tickets for the Concert and Induction Ceremony are $25.

Music of Coal: Mining Songs from the Appalachian Coalfields is a new two-CD box set released by the Lonesome Pine Office on Youth here in Virginia.

The set contains 48 songs covering topics from coal mining history to union organization. The set was produced by Jack Wright who also wrote the extensive liner notes, which are contained in nicely printed book accompanied by historical photographs of the coal industry.

Songs were contributed to the project by such artists as Ralph Stanley, Dwight Yoakam, Natalie Merchant, Tom T. Hall, Blue Highway and the Carter Family.

The set can be purchased for $35 directly from the Lonesome Pine Office on Youth. Supplies are limited to 5000 units so they won’t be available forever.

Here’s a description of the Lonesome Pine Office on Youth and their mission.

The Lonesome Pine Office on Youth advocates for the needs of youth and families with the objectives of positive youth development, empowerment of families to solve their own problems effectively, identification and coordination of local resources, and through these efforts, the creation of safe and healthy communities which prevent delinquency.

Students of the history of commercial country music in the United States have a special fondness for Bristol, TN and the story of the Bristol Sessions in 1927. It was in July of that year that Ralph Peer journeyed there from New Jersey to make recordings of southern Appalachian music for release by the Victor Talking Machine Company, then the most prominent record company in the world.

These Bristol Sessions marked the first recordings of The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, and introduced a business model that paid artists not for the sessions, but as a percentage based on sales. The folks at The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance (BCMA) in Bristol, formed to preserve and promote this important musical milestone, like to refer to the Bristol Sessions as “the big bang of country music,” the single event that lit the big fire.

To commemorate 2007 as the 80th anniversary of the Bristol Sessions, the BCMA has planned a year long awareness drive to help educate people all over the world who love Appalachian and traditional country music about their region’s important contribution to the music’s roots. They are also trying to raise funds for a new museum and cultural center to be built in downtown Bristol. The site will house their administrative offices as well, and be the center for their educational activities and live music programming.

As an inducement to music lovers who might be willing to offer a donation, they have some special offerings in place.

To celebrate the 80th Anniversary of this historic event, the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance will give away monthly prizes to individuals who make a donation of $19.27 or greater to the organization. In addition to the monthly drawings, each donor will receive one entry for a grand prize of 2 tickets to the Food City 250 and Sharpie 500 and lodging. February’s monthly drawing for 2 tickets to a 2007 Masters Practice Round. Through contributions the organization is able to carry out its mission to “To tell the story of the musical and cultural heritage of the region, its role in the birth and development of country music, and its influence on music around the world” through the preservation, education, and continuation of our region’s musical heritage and those cultural traditions which sustain that living legacy.

You can find more details about the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, and how you can assist their efforts, on the BCMA web site.

Born on July 2, 1923 Janette Carter was only 4 years old when a talent scout “discovered” her parents in Bristol in 1927. A.P. and Sara Carter performed with Janette’s Aunt, “Mother” Maybelle Carter. Raised in that environment, Janette grew up around traditional music. And she had a true love for it.

She, and her brother Joe, built a barn in 1976 with room for about 1000 people. They called it The Carter Fold and started holding Saturday night shows featuring only acousitc music, to preserve the legacy of The Carter Family.

When her brother Joe passed away last March, at the age of 78, Janette became the last surviving child of members of the original Carter Family. She continued to perform in that same barn and honor her parents music. On Sunday, January 22nd 2006, Janette left this world. But her influence, and that of her family, still remains. Her daughter Rita Forrester will continue the tradition of the Carter Family Fold.

Scott County Funeral Home in Weber City, Virginia is handling the final arrangements, which have not yet been announced.

For more information about Janette and The Carter Family Fold, visit their website at CarterFamilyFold.org.

Also, be sure to read Murphy Henry’s post The Carter Family Fold.

This post is a contribution from Murphy Henry. Murphy is well know for her instructional method that uses no tab. Be sure to visit her site murphymethod.com to learn more about, and purchase, her teaching and instructional materials.

I’m just back from a visit–my first visit, I’m embarrassed to say–to the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, Virginia. I traveled some 300 miles from Winchester, Virginia (home of Lynn Morris and Patsy Cline) to hear the McLain Family Band perform this past Saturday. Although the group has not played together regularly since the mid-80s they try to get together once a year for a reunion concert. Brother Raymond powered the instrumental portion of the show with his banjo (and fiddle), ably assisted by his brother-in-law Al White on guitar (and fiddle), with sisters Alice, Ruth, or Nancy Ann taking turns on bass and rhythm mandolin. Everybody helped with the singing. (Brother Michael was not there and he was missed!)

Janette Carter started the show off by playing the autoharp and singing the old Carter Family favorite Jimmy Brown the Newsboy. It was so good to hear her. She remained seated on stage behind the band throughout the evening, enjoying the show. Occasionally she would remind the musicians to bring out the fiddle for a hoedown. And as soon as the bow touched the strings, here came the cloggers! Being an old buckdancer myself, I scurried down the long row of steps to join in. (The Fold was packed and my friends and I were sitting in the nosebleed section.)

Jack Tottle made a guest appearance, singing and playing mandolin. Twenty-three years ago, Jack established the bluegrass program at East Tennessee State University, and since then he has served as the director. At the end of this month, he is retiring. (And moving to Hawaii!) Raymond McLain, now the assistant director, will step into Jack’s shoes, and as Raymond knows, those are big shoes to fill. But Raymond can do it! A big WELL DONE, THANK YOU, and HAPPY TRAILS to Jack for his pioneering efforts in moving bluegrass into academia. Have fun working on your tan!

Promptly at 10:00 the band played their last number and were, of course, called back for an encore. I hung around long enough to shake and howdy and get three McLain Family Band record albums to add to my collection of women in bluegrass on vinyl. As I left the Fold and stepped out into the cold night air, I could see the constellation Orion, clear as a bell, high above my head. A.P., Sara, and Maybelle–those giants in the music world–had once stood right here and looked at these same stars. I shivered and put my hands in my pockets and walked to the car.