EventJohn Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival
Come join us for our sixth John Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival. This music and cultural heritage festival honors Woodville Virginia native John Jackson, recipient of the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship …
NewsAnnouncing the 2026 Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Awards
The Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities has awarded seven teams of artists Folklife Apprenticeships for 2026–2027.
EventMusic & Foodways Day at the Fiddle & Fork Festival
The inaugural Fiddle & Fork Festival is a weekend-long celebration of 250 years of Blue Ridge music and foodways. The Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities is presenting a luthier’s demonstration with 2026 apprenticeship …
Sights & SoundsThe Harmonious Lives of Brian Grim and Debbie Grim Yates
Music runs deep in the Grim family. Fiddler Brian Grim and banjoist Debbie Grim Yates, founding members of the influential old-time band The Konnarock Critters, learned from family and local music legends before passing those traditions on to the next generation.
NewsMid-Atlantic Arts Announces Two Virginia “Walking Together” Grantees
The US Regional Arts Organizations (USRAO) today announced the grant recipients of Walking Together: Investing in Folklife in Communities of Color. A total of $3.34 million has been awarded to 96 grantees. Fifty-six …
Sights & SoundsFiddlin’ with the Flow: Old Time Music from the Rivers and Streams of SW Virginia
American rivers often serve as major repositories for local music. There may be no better example than America’s oldest river, the New, that from its tiniest gurgle in the mountains of North Carolina to the loud, raging gorge it has dug in West Virginia, has transported home grown, Appalachian music throughout the South.
Sights & SoundsRemembering Jimmy Boyd
If you were lucky enough to spend time with Jimmy Boyd, you’d quickly lose track of it. Jimmy was a storyteller who would spin a yarn about the old timers …
NewsAnnouncing the 2025 Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Awards
The Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities has awarded six teams of artists Folklife Apprenticeships for 2024–2025.
NewsVirginia Musicians to Perform on National Mall in ‘Youth and the Future of Culture’
Three young artists who previously received Virginia Folklife Apprenticeships will be performing on the National Mall on July 4 and 5 as part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. “Youth and …
Sights & SoundsAlice Gerrard & Sophie Moeckel
This past year, through our Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, Sophie has learned directly from Alice — not just melodies and lyrics, but how to listen, how to breathe a story into a song, and how to carry a musical lineage with care and respect.
Sights & SoundsAppalachia to Nova Scotia
Toni Doman-Vandyke received a 2023–2024 Fulbright Award to study the relationship between technology and the Cape Breton traditional music scene.
Sights & SoundsCJ Colston, Josh Outsey & geonovah on With Good Reason
Virginia Folklife is proud to have two past collaborators featured on “32 Blocks of Music,” this week’s episode of With Good Reason produced by Jamal Millner!
