Download the official Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina brochure map and start planning your adeventure today!
This map includes the orginal 60 sites featured in the Blue Ridge Music Trails Guidebook along with contact and location information.
The Kruger Brothers, featuring 2013 Steve Martin Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass Award Winner Jens Kruger perform at The Blue Ridge Music Center on Saturday, June 14th at 7 PM.
While some call it jazz, some call it classical, and some call it bluegrass. Certainly, the music of The Kruger Brothers is all of that and more. The Kruger Brothers personify the spirit of exploration and innovation that forms the core of the American musical tradition.
Tickets are $20, (children under 12 get in FREE) and can be purchased in advance online at The BRMC website, by calling or visiting the Blue Ridge Music Center or the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation office in Winston-Salem, or at Barr's Fiddle Shop in Galax, VA.
The Blue Ridge Music Center is located at Milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just north of Mount Airy, NC and just south of Galax, VA. Concerts are held in the outdoor amphitheater at the base of Fisher Peak, one of the most gorgeous concert settings in the country.
For Evening Concerts at the Music Center:
* FREE Parking
* Kids 12 and under are FREE
* Patrons are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs and/or blankets
* Patrons are welcome to bring their own picnic basket (NO ALCOHOL please!)
* The Galax Smokehouse will be present on concert nights, serving their BBQ plus incredible sides.
The Blue Ridge Music Center (BRMC) is operated by The National Park Service, and the Music Center's programming is coordinated through a partnership with The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
The Blue Ridge Music Center is a major venue of The Crooked Road: Virginia's Heritage Music Trails and a partner venue of the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.
More on the Krugers Brothers
Born and raised in Europe, brothers Jens and Uwe Kruger started singing and playing instruments at a very young age. Growing up in a family where music was an important part of life, they were exposed to a wide diversity of abiding musical influences. The brothers were performing regularly by the time they were 11 and 12 years old, and they began their professional career in 1979. Joel Landsberg, a native of New York City who also had a very extensive musical upbringing, joined the brothers in the early 90s and together they established the incomparable sound that the trio is known for today.
The Kruger Brothers personify the spirit of exploration and innovation that forms the core of the American musical tradition.
The Kruger Brothers were awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant for Music from the Spring a symphonic suite composed and orchestrated by Jens Kruger, which premiered in 2007. In late 2010, the Kruger Brothers premiered the Appalachian Concerto, a concerto for banjo, bass, guitar, and string quartet. In addition to their regular concert schedule they perform these pieces regularly with select symphony orchestras and string quartets throughout the country.
Hear some of the region’s most popular traditional musicians and enjoy a day at Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock.
On Sunday, May 25, Tweetsie will host David Holt and the Lightning Bolts, featuring David, Laura Boosinger, Josh Goforth, Byron Hedgepeth and Jeff Hersk performing at noon and 3 pm.
This is the first of the 2014 Blue Ridge Music Trail of North Carolina “Traditions Concerts.” The shows are included in regular park admission. Reservations are not required, but seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis. Purchase tickets on the Tweetsie website.
In it's third month of business the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, North Carolina has attracted national attention with an article in the Washington Post. Published on April 3, by Diane Daniel, the piece highlights the attractions of the new destination.
“The two-level museum, with most information downstairs, is easy to maneuver. Friendly volunteer guides elaborate on displays and make sure that your earbuds, free with a ticket purchase, are properly plugged into the many audio kiosks.
I have to think that Scruggs would be proud of this place (his family remains involved in some decision-making). He was still alive when the planning was in full swing and was pleased that it was set in the old Cleveland County courthouse, built in 1907 in the center of what is now historic Shelby’s attractive town square. A guide told me that Scruggs said that when he was young, the courthouse was the finest building he’d ever seen — and it’s still quite magnificent.”
To continue reading the article and to learn more about the center, click here.
Saturday, January 11, 2014 – Family, friends, government officials, and banjo players (LOTS of banjo players) celebrated the opening of the Earl Scruggs Center. The day broke rainy and cool … sort of a Foggy Mountain Breakdown! But it didn't stop folks from traveling to Shelby, NC for the opening of the Earl Scruggs Center. Earl's hometown did it up with style.
There were dignitaries, secretaries, luminaries, and plenty of home folks to celebrate Shelby’s native son, Earl Scruggs, who left his mark worldwide with his groundbreaking three-finger banjo style.
Governor Pat McCrory declared “This is about culture and music being a part of the economy of tourism for the whole state.” With that, the Governor yielded his place at the podium and called for more music, comparing the sanctuary of the Central United Methodist Church to the Grand Ol' Opry!
