Mountain Roads Recordings of Bristol, Tennessee continues its recruitment drive with the addition to the label’s roster of The Whitetop Mountain Band from Whitetop, Virginia.

The Whitetop Mountain Band is a family-based band from an area featuring the highest mountains of Virginia. The region is also very rich in the old time music tradition and this band has deep roots in mountain music. The members have done much to preserve the Whitetop region’s style of old time fiddling and banjo picking and are legendary musicians and teachers of the style.

The Whitetop Mountain Band is one of the most popular dance bands of the Appalachian mountains. They have a great following at square dances all over Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky at venues like the Carter Family Fold. In addition to local venues, the band has performed at the Smithsonian Folk life Festival, National Folk life Festival, World Music Institute in New York City, the Dock Boggs Festival, World Fair, Virginia Arts Festival, Floydfest, Ola Belle Reed Festival and Merlefest. They recently were featured on the 2007 NCTA Crooked Road Music tour of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho.

The band was founded in the 1940s by the well-known and beloved fiddler and luthier Albert Hash. When he was a teenager, Hash played fiddle with Henry Whitter, of the famous Grayson & Whitter duo that recorded during the 1920s, and he has had a tremendous impact on the old time and bluegrass scene. His recording of the tune Hangman’s Reel is copied by so many old time musicians today. He also taught such luthiers such as Wayne Henderson and Audrey Ham.

In the 1970s, Hash’s brother-in-law, Thornton Spencer (twin fiddle), and his wife, Emily Spencer (banjo and vocals), joined him in the Whitetop Mountain Band. The threesome also started an old time music program at Mt. Rogers School, a small K-12 public school, in Whitetop. The students there learn fiddle, banjo, guitar, bass and dancing. Emily Spencer carries on the programme today and it has much regional and national attention for its uniqueness, including features on CMT, numerous articles, radio shows and a Grammy Award nomination.

The current Whitetop Mountain Band line-up is led by Thornton and Emily Spencer. (more…)