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(wind howling)

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(birds chirping)

(intense bluegrass music)

(people tapping) (people cheering)

(intense bluegrass music)

(people tapping) (people cheering)

(intense bluegrass music)

(people chattering)

(people tapping) (people cheering)

(people clapping) (people cheering)

(intense bluegrass music)

(people chattering) (intense bluegrass music)

(girl squealing)

(people cheering)

(traffic humming)

- This is actually my first year at Galax.

So, I'm really excited.

- I was seven years old when I started playing.

- I was four.

- I'm 11 years old,

and I've been playing for about eight years,

since I was three and a half.

- I've been playing the guitar for...

I played rhythm for about four,

and then I've been picking up lead for the past year.

- I think it's fun just to walk around,

and try to scope out different kids

and people that are jamming'.

And I usually go up to 'em and introduce myself.

And then we usually become pretty good friends.

- We honestly do meet total strangers,

and they turn into friends

and we end up playing shows together down the road.

For example, like, a couple of years ago,

me and my dad, we were just walking through here,

and everyone has their camper setup and we didn't have one

'cause we're staying in a hotel.

And we just met a boy and his dad

and we started talking to him,

and me and Ivy actually did a show with him.

We were actually meeting strangers earlier today

to play in the band contest with us.

- Well, I walked down to the registration booth

and there he is.

- Yeah. (guitar strumming)

- My favorite thing is to come to this kind of things,

and play with friends,

and then meet other friends through them.

And just play with everybody.

It's really cool.

- I come here, I bring my wife.

She comes and enjoys music and hangs out

and has a lot of friends at the festivals.

And my band that I play with, The Bing Brothers,

who've been playing way longer than I have been.

They'll be trickling in throughout the week

and we'll play music here in our little campsite.

(intense bluegrass music)

- Was at the big fair

last September? - It ain't mine.

- A time I will remember,

I was walking up and down in foolish pride

when my knees began to flutter,

and I sank down in the gutter.

And a pig came up

and lay down by my side.

As I lay there in the gutter, thinking words

I could not utter,

I thought I heard a passing lady say,

You can tell the man who boozes

by the company that he chooses.

And with that, the pig got up and walked away.

(people chuckle) - [Man] Amen.

- Here it is.

- Ooh, that's fresh, yeah okay.

(intense bluegrass music)

- I mean, if you're not coming here with friends,

then, in my opinion,

there ain't much reason to be here.

- The best music was always around the camping trailers,

because people would walk after their bands perform

to another trailer and perform with a different group.

So you'd hear them all, Let's play this one,

and somebody would just have their guitar

and they just join in.

- Lots of jam sessions. - So you have, yeah.

(intense bluegrass music)

(men whooping)

(men chattering) (man clapping)

(intense bluegrass music)

(men cheer)

- I've gone to Galax every year,

I always look forward to it,

because there's people that come from Tennessee,

from Texas, all over the United States.

Sometimes come people from Japan.

And I won't see these people

all year during my regular life.

But at Galax, I always know I can count on

they're probably gonna be camped in the same spot,

and you're gonna catch up with them,

and it's like nothing has happened.

Whatever has transpired in the year,

during your real job,

or whatever is going on to your life,

it's probably gonna be the same at Galax

when you ran into these people

that you're friends with there.

(banjo music)

- The music scene is smaller where I come from.

We're quite spread out.

It's a small country, of course.

But it's sparse, where I live.

There's not so many musicians around me.

- Galax is now on the map.

We're a wide map.

Not just in Virginia,

but there are people here

from Florida, Japan, Argentina, Australia.

(lively music)

- Really, just being down here has really inspired me.

I would carry my guitar around every year.

And I would stop and people would ask me,

can you play us a tune, or whatever.

I'd be like, I don't know it.

And so they would teach me a chord.

So I learned a chord at every place I stopped at.

So that was pretty cool.

(light music)

- It's a little bit of Bach.

- Galax is now known for music

instead of yard sales and flea markets.

- We play in a band called Shadow Grass.

We just met playing at Fiddlers' Conventions.

And just jamming together.

(lively music)

- [Jon] If you're not from here,

people don't understand that,

you'll sit and watch this jam session of

the best musicians you've ever seen.

And it turns out, one of them is

the guy who fixes cars in town,

or one them works in the supermarket or whatever.

And then when the song's over,

they'll just all trade instruments.

(lively music)

- Just the friendships and the experience you get,

it helps you a lot, build yourself.

It gives you this great experience,

and it builds some wonderful friendships.

Like Kitty Amaral, she's one of my very good friends.

- I started playing in a Suzuki program

when I was four and a half years old.

And then I met my fiddle teacher

who was also my neighbor.

- It was such a pleasure meeting Kitty

and having somebody that gifted.

Everybody in our community is proud of Kitty.

She's the pride of Elk Creek,

that's what everybody calls her now.

I'm just tickled to death for her,

and there's about a 99.5 percent chance,

she's gonna make a living with that fiddle.

- Well, that's what I wanna do, so...

- Yeah.

- She's an exceptionally good player.

Just picks anything that you show her,

she picks it right up.

And, of course, Kitty always comes to that old green creek

at the Fiddler's Convention,

and stands around and jams with us at Galax.

We always have a big time.

(lively music)

(crowd cheers)

- Hey, Kitty? - How you doing?

- [Man] Hey Kitty?

- What are you gonna play?

- Played Sally Ann already?

- Nah, a little Sally Ann.

(lively music)

(people tapping)

(indistinct singing)

(feet tapping)

(rhythmic tapping)

(indistinct singing)

(lively music)

(feet tapping)

(man hollers)

- I first met Wayne Henderson,

I think I was at a Union Grove Fiddler's Convention.

And I got introduced to him and it was just great.

I remember playing, Blackberry Blossom for him.

I saw him, I think, a month later or something

at another place, and he just remembered me,

and I don't know how he does it, so...

(country guitar solo)

- [Presley] Hey, Wayne. - Hey!

- How y'all? - [Presley] Good.

- [Julie] Good, how are you?

- Good.

Come to check on that guitar?

- [Presley] Yeah. (both chuckle)

- [Wayne] Well, I've got it done, just barely.

- [Presley] Okay.

- [Wayne] Just got it strung up a little bit.

Yeah, pretty nice. - That's really nice.

- Pretty wood, all that. - Oh, yeah.

- Wanna try it? - Sure.

- See if it'll work? - Yeah (chuckles).

(guitar plays)

(Presley chuckles)

- [Wayne] Does it play okay?

- Oh, yeah.

(guitar playing)

(clears throat) The neck's just right

and everything, sounds great.

- [Wayne] Makes me proud to have a guitar

in the hands of somebody who can play like you do.

That's pretty amazing.

- Thank you.

- [Wayne] At eleven years old,

no telling what in the world...

- Well, I'm just honored to get to play one of your guitars.

I just love it.

- [Wayne] Sure honored for you to have it.

- I went in to check on Presley before I went to bed.

And in his bedroom, he was asleep on one pillow,

and on the other pillow was

the Henderson guitar, covered up with cover.

Him snuggled up next to it.

I found that every night since he's had it.

He loves it.

He said that it didn't deserve to be on the floor.

He just wants to keep it with him at all times.

So you can say he's really attached to the guitar.

- Play me a little something else on there.

(guitar playing softly)

- I'd keep the guitar in my room.

and sometimes sleep with it.

Sometimes (chuckles).

(lively music)

Yeah, I'm just so happy to own one of Wayne's guitars.

(guitars playing)

- Presley's mom and dad don't play a lot of music,

or maybe not at all.

- Well, I guess he was about two years old,

he started asking for instruments.

(guitars playing)

He first started out wanting a little horn.

Then he wanted a banjo.

Then guitar, just anything that'll make any kinda music.

Then he got a first little, small guitar.

It was a little blue Lauren guitar.

And he wanted to learn how to play it.

(guitars playing)

We looked into getting him some lessons,

and he did start with a few lessons.

And he just picked it up

and started playing it right away.

And he's been playing ever since.

(guitars playing)

- I remember talking to Presley's mom one time

and she said they didn't even think nothing about music

when they named him Presley.

It was just a name, you know?

- It didn't have anything to do with anything musical.

We just want a different kind of name.

(guitars playing)

- [Wayne] He's only been playing a little over three years.

And I don't think I've ever seen...

I mean, I pay attention

to these kids playing all the time.

And I've never seen one,

I don't think, get that good that quick.

- [Julie] If there's any day out of school that he has,

he always asks if we can drive up

to Rugby to see Wayne.

Just to hang out at the shop.

Play a tune with him.

Wayne's so good to Presley.

- [Wayne] His disposition is very unusual

and absolutely great.

That's almost as spectacular as his playing.

- [Julie] He's always willing to teach him

a new tune just about every time we come up here.

(guitars playing)

(both chuckle)

Just the friendship he's made means more

than anything to Presley.

- Thank you, appreciate it.

(both chuckling)

If you are that determined and have that natural gift,

I think that all that together is what makes him special.

(tranquil music)

(crowd cheering)

- [Announcer] Number 34, doing The Sandy River Bells.

(lively music)

(rhythmic tapping)

(lively music)

(people hollering)

(lively music)

- It was around...

We got about 1400 registrations this year.

(lively music)

(rhythmic tapping)

(lively music)

(crowd cheering)

- I like playing here, 'cause the audience,

they love the music.

The crowd out there, they just love it.

- Yeah, I think we're kinda known

for the hard-driving end of it too, you know.

Play it hard as you can,

and next time, play it even harder.

- All the guys I play music with,

and love to play music with the most are all

at least 30 years older than me, most of the time.

- We've been at it for a bunch of years,

and since Jake Krack joined us,

we've added his name to the band.

But it's The Bing Brothers.

- It's been a good run, a lot of fun.

(lively music)

(crowd clapping along)

(crowd hollering)

- We play Franklin kinda music and we wear bib overalls.

- Yeah, we're a just bunch of good ol' country folks.

(all laugh)

- You know, Old-time music is...

It was music that was created for dancing.

I mean, that's how this music started.

Basically, it was, you know, folks were out here,

and they did it for themselves.

For their own enjoyment, for their entertainment.

And it was really a dance music.

(Old-time music)

(feet tapping)

- One of my earliest memories was going out to...

Just out the road here,

to a wagon train, they called it back then.

You know, it was a bunch of horse riders

that all gather up at night and they'd make a camp.

And they'd always have music at night.

I think I might've been about three years old.

I could dance, already.

Granny had taught me how to flat-foot.

And they had a little old stage

about that high off the ground, and...

I was just a little bitty fella,

but Aunt Louise sent me up on that stage

where they was playing, and

I was cutting' rug a little bit.

And people would throw quarters at me.

And now I tell everybody, back then everybody was amazed

that a little bitty fella like that could dance.

And now, when I dance they're amazed

that somebody this big can dance.

(laughs)

(lively music)

- [Man] Wooh, get it, Eddie.

Get in there!

(man hollers)

- I've been learning flat-footing

'cause I love flat-footing, yeah.

Martha Spencer just gave us

a little flat-footing demonstration.

(lively music) (feet tapping)

- [Martha] I never really took formal lessons or anything.

Like I said, my parents played

dances almost every weekend, or festivals,

or we would go out at Fiddlers' Conventions.

And there's so many great dancers in the area.

(lively music) (audience cheering)

- I could flat-foot.

I used to could.

- We could flat-foot, we thought.

The longer the night went on

the better we thought we could flat-foot.

- Yeah, the better we danced.

(woman laughs)

♪ Well, the boss man said you better get up cold, ♪

♪ Way down in the belly and the earth below ♪

♪ Get it up quick and get it up strong ♪

♪ 'Cause the walls of the mine don't hold that long ♪

♪ I said I work all night I work all day ♪

♪ Well, I work all night I work all day ♪

♪ I said I work all night I work all day ♪

♪ 'Cause ain't nobody gonna pave my way ♪

♪ Well, a young little mama she stands at home ♪

♪ With a big fat baby on her ol' hip bone ♪

♪ Four little youngins just a running' around ♪

♪ And their daddy's laying six feet underground ♪

♪ I said I work all night I work all day ♪

♪ Well, I work all night I work all day ♪

♪ I said I work all night I work all day ♪

♪ 'Cause ain't nobody gonna pave my way ♪

♪ Well, the warden said you better pick up speed ♪

♪ You better break those rocks till your knuckles bleed ♪

♪ Swing that pick bend your knees ♪

♪ You got 29 years till your chains are free ♪

♪ I said I work all night I work all day ♪

♪ Well, I work all night I work all day ♪

♪ I said I work all night I work all day ♪

♪ 'Cause ain't nobody gonna pave my way ♪

- Well, I worked at Hanes, which is right down there.

Hanes was a place that if you went to work at Hanes,

you could go to the First National Bank,

and you could buy a car, and you could finance a house.

Because it was a good work, it had good wages.

And, yes, they worked you hard,

but they paid you well, and you had your benefits.

And we fussed and we whined

and we didn't know we had anything to whine about.

I mean, you know?

And now it's gone.

- I've started working' at the furniture factory down here,

so I could learn a little bit about it.

A lot of them guys that was management down there,

and the owners, they knew I played music,

'cause they'd heard me playing and stuff.

And they wouldn't let me get on none of them saws

'cause they was afraid I'd cut my fingers.

Well, what do you want me to do?

And they said, well, you can do quality work.

So I kinda felt guilty

because I'd only worked there six months

and they done had me traveling' and all around the plants.

(water lapping) (somber music)

- [Dallas] The (indistinct) round here is not

nearly like it used to be.

When we were kids, this area was booming'.

You had Burlington here, of course, you had Hanes,

five furniture factories, you had the wonder net.

- When we was growing up, the joke was that,

if you lost your job, well

you could always go to the furniture factory.

I mean, they'd hire anybody, (chuckles).

- If you wanted to work, you could get a job.

- You could get a job, no problem.

But it wasn't easy work. (laughs)

But you could get a job, back then.

Not so much anymore (sighs).

(calm music) (birds chirping)

- This has always been a very strong place

for building instruments.

Originally when people...

This whole region was sort of, kind of,

the first frontier of the United States.

And people would come here,

it was very difficult for them, initially,

to often get a guitar, a mandolin...

I mean, these were European instruments, very expensive.

So like in all the other things they did,

they were very resourceful

and they started making their own.

- When Africans came from slavery

from the West Coast of Africa,

they didn't have nothing,

so, if they want to think about home,

or if they want to think about good times,

they always played music.

So they would make their music.

So, one of the first instruments

that they made was the banjo.

And it was a handcrafted...

First of all, it was done by knives, picks.

But then once everybody started clapping their hands,

and when the train came along,

old-timer said, hit me a line, I'll play a instrument.

They'd listen to the train coming, and listen to it going.

(somber music)

- [Wayne] The Henderson name is Scottish.

Probably goes as far back

as when the people came here from Scotland and Ireland,

and places like Gatton.

They brought their music with them, of course.

And brought their fiddles.

And I've always heard old-time music got started,

the slaves from Africa brought banjos.

or things like banjos.

And, of course, they mixed up with the Scots

and Irish people here that brought their fiddles.

And I think that's where

the fiddle-banjo business come from.

It's always been in these mountains here forever.

(somber music) (birds chirping)

- [Eddie] So this tune here is called

Who Broke the Lock on the Henhouse Door?

And it's a tune that the original Bog Trotters played

when they won the first Galax Fiddlers' Convention in 1935.

(fiddle plays)

♪ I rode up to the farmer's gate, ♪

♪ And blowed my horn both soon and late. ♪

♪ The farmer's dog he wouldn't bark or bite, ♪

♪ The son of a gun he could read and write. ♪

♪ Now, who broke the lock? ♪

♪ I don't know. ♪

♪ Who broke the lock on the henhouse door? ♪

♪ I'll find out before I go, ♪

♪ Who broke the lock on the henhouse door. ♪

(wings flapping) (cock crows)

(cow moos)

(fiddle playing)

♪ Hen and a rooster lived way out West, ♪

♪ Hen said to rooster, I love you the best. ♪

♪ Rooster said to hen, that's doggone lie, ♪

♪ Caught you making love to the big Shanghai. ♪

♪ Now who broke the lock? ♪

♪ I don't know. ♪

♪ Who broke the lock on the henhouse door? ♪

♪ I'll find out before I go, ♪

♪ Who broke the lock on the henhouse door. ♪

(instruments playing)

(indistinct chatter)

- When I'd first come, it was just one night

out here in an old grandstand, next to where the Y is at.

But when I got involved in it, there was two nights,

and there was one band category, one banjo, one fiddle,

and folk song, and I think they had a story telling.

- I enjoyed the bluegrass and old-time music.

You know, it's just a heritage for this area around here,

and it's just something new.

We're trying to continue to keep it going.

(instruments playing)

- [Kilby] One of the things that people like

about old-time music is you can trace the lineage,

you can trace, you can go back generation by generation.

And Galax has the strongest concentration

of that sort of music.

That as you can see,

the direct descendants playing this music.

And a lot of people can play old-time and bluegrass.

It's not necessarily because you play one,

you don't play the other.

- I've tried to help keep

the heritage of old time

and bluegrass music going all this time.

I helped do it, but it's not a one man show.

- Contests are huge, right?

You all know that.

I mean, Wayne said that what motivated him

to become a great guitar player was when

he just wanna win blue ribbons.

- I'll be playing fiddle and guitar in the band contest.

- And then, I think I'm gonna play fiddle and guitar too.

- We're gonna switch up. - We're gonna switch.

- So for a lot of these kids,

they wanna win these contests.

- To the hardcore ones, it's like the Super Bowl.

We've competed for nine years.

And we have tried for nine years to get that first place.

And for nine years,

we have sweated the Fiddlers' Convention.

After the one Fiddlers' Convention is over,

we start talking about, what did we do wrong?

What did we do right?

How can we fix this?

Can we come back next year?

What's the magic song?

But getting an ulcer for a fiddle contest

might be a little crazy.

- Like, if I played Bach here, I don't think I'd win.

- That level of competition motivates them as well.

Particularly, the kids.

- [Boy] I get nervous in the competitions

and on The Opry.

And then, other smaller venues, not really.

But still, the nerves get you sometimes, so...

- I get nervous before shows,

and then while we're playing

- I just get into it and my head's in the game.

It's good to take a break every now and then,

and just try to have some fun with it and not worry,

'cause the competition can take it over for you

if you let it.

- I don't like losing either.

My emotions are about the same either way.

If I win, that's awesome,

but still gonna have a good time

and not let it get in my head or affect

my relationship with anybody else or get cocky.

'Cause there's a thousand people here better than

I am, any day.

- [Announcer] Here is contestant number nine, Jake Krack.

From Marlinton, West Virginia, born in Cabbagetown.

(instruments playing) (crowd cheering)

- Last year, I got third place

in the guitar competition.

And I was so honored last year to even get in the top five.

This year, there's so many great pickers.

Every one of them was fantastic.

(instruments playing)

(crowd cheering)

(instruments playing)

(crowd applauds)

- Well, people are coming to Galax

because they've heard about The Crooked Road,

and they've heard about music.

- Joe Wilson was one of

the best friends that old-time music ever had.

He was around music all of his life

and he had a great appreciation for mountain music

and really music of all kinds

but I think this music was dear to his heart.

- He was very instrumental

in starting and naming The Crooked Road.

And that goes throughout 58,

it goes across Southern Virginia.

And it's Virginia's music heritage trail.

- But what it does, it brings people to the area.

And that way, the service industry can make money.

'Cause really that's all we got now, is tourism.

And everything that has to do with it.

And it's hard to believe when you see somebody

from Europe or Asia show up.

Gosh, looks like it's really working.

- Coming to us from Heathfield, England

(indistinct) Russell Hawkes.

Here's Russell's tune, Jenny Get Around.

(instrument plays) (crowd cheering)

- We take it for granted,

but there's people that drive thousands of miles

to come to that park in rain or sunshine,

they're sitting under the canopies,

they're playing their hearts out.

And music's special.

It's a medication that you can't buy in a drugstore.

- I love old-time music.

And I've sort of found my way here via

the various bluegrass festivals

and old-time festivals in England.

And just sort of got into the scene that way.

- To me, there's something

that feels really connected on the inside,

to living in the mountains

and being surrounded by this

and coming from this part of the country and...

I mean, that as a whole, is why

I like living in Galax so much.

It's just the area itself

and how rich and traditional it is.

(playing fiddle)

(crowd cheering)

- Thank you.

- As my mom would say,

you put your soul behind it,

you put your heart into it.

Somewhat you can tell when somebody's putting everything

they got into a fiddle tune or

when they're just playing music.

(instruments playing)

♪ And I'm going on the next train, ♪

♪ Don't think I'm coming back. ♪

♪ But I'm going on the next train ♪

♪ Baby, it's a one-way trip ♪

♪ You wish me best in everything and I thank you for all, ♪

♪ So I'm gone, I'm gone, ♪

♪ I'm gone, I'm gone. ♪

- There's people in this competition

from all over different regions, from different states.

There's no guarantee who's gonna win anything at any time

because everybody's playing the best they got.

(playing guitar)

(crowd cheering)

(playing guitar)

(crowd cheering)

- (Jake) The Galax Fiddlers' Convention,

it's after 80 years of pros, it's seamless.

Every competition is seamless.

The operation is seamless.

There's nothing like it.

(lively music)

♪ In the mirror of my memory, ♪

♪ Many years ago, ♪

♪ I recall a mountain valley, ♪

♪ Where peaceful weathers flow. ♪

♪ That people carve The simple life, ♪

♪ A living off the land. ♪

♪ When a neighbor was in need, ♪

♪ He'd get a helping hand. ♪

(clears throat)

♪ Oh, why is sister running, ♪

♪ She's breathless as can be. ♪

- I grew up in Grayson county.

Real sand worker right here.

Little farm, we had cows, chickens,

and horses to work.

We grew a tobacco crop,

and we raised most everything we had to eat.

And we had to work, seemed to me, like all the time.

When we get through the farm work,

we would gather in the house.

My dad was an old-time fiddler.

And we've had music, was just part of our life.

And that was just our way of life,

and I had no clue there was any other way.

My dad loved to play that fiddle.

And I discovered that,

you know, after I got so I could play some guitar chords,

and back him up a little.

A hot day like today, working in a tobacco field

or a hay field or whatever you was having to do,

if you could get to talking about, man, it'd be cool

to go play some tunes (chuckles).

You could just about get out of some work.

♪ I don't advocate living, ♪

♪ On a rocky hill. ♪

♪ But I miss the genuine friendship ♪

♪ Of a simple mountain land. ♪

♪ Where folks care For the neighbors ♪

♪ And will lend a helping hand. ♪

And then I had neighbors in the neighborhood.

A fellow named E.C Ball was

a huge influence on guitar playing.

He was a thumb style guitar player.

And he influenced me to use a thumb pick

and he had a little country store.

He was always in there

and he always had that old guitar.

And he would set a nail keg, that's

a round, looks like a barrel.

Great thing to sit on.

On all the loafers sat have them all the time.

And he would set it down on my knee real carefully

and I'd hit it.

(playing guitar)

Hit a chord like that,

and I just could not believe how good that thing sounded.

And I said I got to have one of these things somehow.

- [Announcer] Here's old-time band number eight,

coming out from Galax, Virginia,

The Crooked Road Ramblers, old-time band number eight.

A little number for ya called Sally Ann.

(playing lively music) (crowd cheering)

(crowd clapping along)

(feet tapping)

- What we call old time music today,

it started out as Irish music and German music

and African music.

It all met here in the sort of

the melting pot in these mountains.

And they started playing together

and then it developed into a new sound.

- We do a lot of traditional Irish stuff,

and then it's been Americanized over the years.

But it's a whole lot to sing their stuff and our stuff.

- You know, this is community-based music.

This is music of a place.

- The Scottish is kinda very precise

and you almost feel like you gotta stick your pinky out

when you're dancing to it.

And the Irish is filled with angst.

And it's like when it came over here,

we took the angst away, maybe threw in

a little bit of anger and aggravation and drive.

(instruments playing) (crowd cheering)

- Well, most people from outside of here, first of all,

they'll talk about bluegrass and old-time,

for example, as they're the same thing.

It's all bluegrass basically.

They don't know that there's actually real differences

between those two music.

- To me, old-time kind of feels more like you're hanging out

in the living room, jamming, sort of music.

(playing lively music)

- I love bluegrass, I play bluegrass banjo.

But the old-times, it just got a feeling

that it is close to your heart.

♪ This way. ♪

♪ But after all It's said and done, ♪

♪ I'm sure God has his. ♪

(lively music)

- I've come to appreciate old-time music quite a bit,

that I don't think I had

when I just knew it from recordings.

I think to be there, to see it,

to see the context of it.

(playing lively music)

♪ Look on down this (indistinct), ♪

♪ Hang down your head And cry ♪

- The old-time music has

a lot better whisky than bluegrass.

So there's the best definition.

(all laughing)

- But old-time music was around before bluegrass.

Bluegrass came in around...

(indistinct)

- Fifties came from old-time music.

- I like old-time without this (indistinct).

- [Peco] Most old-time claw hammer banjo pickers

don't use any picks at all.

But I have to 'cause I don't have those good fingernails.

I have to have something to replace the fingernails.

- Yeah if God had meant people to play bluegrass,

he'd have put your fingernails

on the other side of their finger.

(men chuckling)

- Bluegrass grew out of the old-time tradition.

Bill Monroe, in 1946, the Bluegrass Boys.

That's when they started taking breaks

on individual instruments.

(banjo playing)

(guitar playing)

- Sometimes I compare them like a jazz band.

In bluegrass, everybody steps up and takes a break

and tries to improv on top of what the last person did.

(instruments playing)

- And bluegrass has a little bit flashier,

and they like to play

a little bit more jazzy stuff, or some...

- You hear some blues type licks more

in bluegrass than you do in old-time.

(instruments playing)

- But the bluegrass hits a three fingers style

and it's got a drive to it.

And it just more of a fancy type music.

(instruments playing)

- I'm more of a bluegrass player,

but I also play old-time, some, and swing

and a little bit of country.

- We have to throw Bill Monroe in there somewhere.

- [Kyle] Yeah (indistinct)

- Bill separated from his brother

and added this, that way, with picks.

Kind of took off from there and it made a record.

- [Announcer] Here's Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys!

(lively music)

- [Bill] I play guitar some.

But mandolin is my favorite instrument.

One I can play the best.

(mandolin playing)

It's been like a school of music, bluegrass has.

Except a lot of people get started

to where they could learn good music,

and make some money out of it.

I think bluegrass has done more

for the fiddle player and the banjo player

than any music in the world.

But as far as ever been rich,

I've never cared nothing about that.

I just, like to make enough money

to live good on and enjoy life.

That's all I've ever cared about.

That makes me feel good.

To know that I originated a music

and they call me the father of bluegrass music.

That makes me feel wonderful.

And I'd like to do an old-timer

that I wrote back in '46, and recorded it,

and this was Elvis Presley's first song

that went out on record.

This number's entitled Blue Moon of Kentucky.

(crowd cheering)

(instruments playing)

♪ Blue moon of Kentucky keep on shining. ♪

- [Boy] That was done about 60 years ago.

And that was ruled the birth of rock and roll.

♪ Blue moon, blue moon, blue moon ♪

♪ Keep shining bright, ♪

♪ Blue moon, keep on shining bright, ♪

♪ You're gonna bring me back my baby tonight ♪

♪ Blue moon, you keep on shining bright. ♪

- [Bill] I don't it'll ever die,

I think it's here to stay.

And I think that there'll be people coming along

with it every year and they'll play it.

And I think there'll be people that'd wanna play just

as pure as they can play it.

And I just hope it's here to stay.

(lively music) (crowd cheering)

(lively music)

- [Kilby] My parents are Thornton and Emily Spencer.

They play old-time music.

My dad was born in 1935 in Whitetop.

And he learned from Albert Hash.

Albert was a fiddle maker,

and a great fiddle player from Whitetop.

He married my dad's sister,

so my dad grew up around him

and picked up playing the guitar and the fiddle.

- [Martha] Albert Hash is my uncle.

He started making instruments

when he was really young.

I think around ten or something.

He influenced a lot of people.

He taught my dad how to play,

and he started The Whitetop Mountain Band.

He had kind of a version in the forties,

and then him and my mom

and dad revived that in the '70s.

And then they've kept it going ever since then.

I play in The Whitetop Mountain Band now.

(lively music) (crown cheering)

♪ If you say so I'll never come over ♪

♪ I'll lay down your chili ♪

♪ On the top, top, top. ♪

♪ I'll lay down your chili on the top. ♪

- [Emily] I mean music is just everything to me.

That's been my whole life, following music.

- She's taught so many people play music.

And to them, music is just something everybody does.

(upbeat music)

♪ You be... ♪

(upbeat music) (woman babbling)

♪ Rain on me, then let me play ♪

- You know you do it to carry it on,

and because you like to do it.

Not necessarily because there's lot of money in it.

Although, obviously, that's one of the reasons

that we also do it is to make money.

- I wish I could play music for a living.

But, I got a pretty girlfriend and I like fast cars,

so I need cash.

- Every one of us is a 9 to 5 worker.

Every one of us has a day job.

- I have a shop and I do welding.

And I work for some people

I have to do whatever I can to make ends meet.

- I'm a paramedic.

And people open up to you in the back of

the ambulance like you'd never know.

Most of it is rewarding.

- I would much rather have Hanes back over there

and us making underwear.

And then getting together on the weekend and making music.

But things change.

- I have a friend that says you make tens

of Dollars playing old-time music,

and that's about right.

(men laughing)

- [Stevie] Here we go. - [Tom] All right.

- [Stevie] Try it again, one...

(banjo playing)

How's that?

- [Tom] I was born and raised in Galax, Virginia.

Down the road, about a mile and a half.

My grandparents came here in 1904.

We kinda got here before the town did.

And I'm still here. - Right.

- And in 1972,

I started building musical instruments, fiddles.

Mainly, Albert Hash taught me to make a fiddle.

Took me a year to make my first fiddle.

- Albert, how did you first get interested

into making the instruments?

I mean, do you just do it?

Did it start out as repair or...

No, I had to do it in order to help (indistinct).

It's always about helping one.

Because it's back very hard, in the depression.

And you couldn't get money for nothing here.

I'd be skipping up about, nine years old, nine

and half or something or another

and just one of these things

that you just want to do,

what you wanted to have.

And to get that, I had to make it.

I never thought nothing

about ever making them or anything.

It was just our way of getting something.

- When I needed a good guitar, of course,

I couldn't afford a Martin or a Gibson.

My parents couldn't either, and so

I just got into making one.

I always had a good pocket knife,

a whittling knife.

I still use it, I shape these necks with it.

And I love to sit around and carve.

- Yeah, I do all the carving I do with a knife.

A bunch of knives, I've got a dozen (indistinct).

- [Wayne] Knowing that old fella right there

was Albert Hash.

He was a mentor, and somebody I looked up to,

and showed me some of my first stuff.

The only help I actually had.

- You know if you're tired or worried about stuff,

or anything I would sit down and start whittling.

It's almost always on a piece of mahogany

that's going to be a part of the guitar.

There was one man in the community

who had nice guitar.

And he would let me draw a pattern

around the outside edge of it.

- I took a piece like this, Ronnie,

and just pulled out the inside of it.

All out around the edge inside.

- In those days, there was not books or videos,

or internet or nothing like that,

to help people learn how to do everything.

I had to do it by trial and error.

- And then took two long pieces, put one

on the top, one on the back.

And this is practically flat.

And then tack them all around there with glue tacks.

And that thing would play.

- And I got one that would work, sorta.

And then I've been trying to make them better ever since.

I got a guitar made

that I've stamped the serial number one

in at about 1964.

And that guitar,

my mom wouldn't let me do anything with it.

And fortunately, I still have it.

There's all kinds of stories about stuff

I did, like I slipped my mom's dresser drawer out

when she wasn't looking

and used it for the back of my guitar.

And my mom would've been just fine with that probably

'cause she was one of my biggest fans

and I inherited lot of my craftwork from her

'cause she was a great seamstress

and could make anything that needed to be around the house.

- [Stevie] And now I'm interested in building instruments.

So I wanna make instruments like dad

'cause he learnt from a lot of these old timers

and now he's an old timer.

And before I become an old timer,

I think I want to be able to do

what them other old timers do.

- Ten years ago, I retired,

I had my work tripled.

Now, I don't even have time to eat lunch.

(man chuckles)

- (rain pattering) - (thunder rumbling)

(guitar playing)

- I have my hair short, obviously,

so everybody thinks that I'm a guy.

There's a lot of glares, a lot of stares.

I've always been, tell me your beliefs

and I'll tell you mine, we'll meet in the middle,

or we'll leave with the same beliefs.

So, me and Emily, if we walk around,

we can hold hands in the back alley

but we can't hold hands in front of anybody.

You just have to be confident, and that's what I lack.

I can't just be confident,

and what people says really hurts me.

Just let love, love.

(playing guitar)

♪ Well, I was born down in the Southland, ♪

(guitar playing)

♪ Twenty some odd years ago ♪

(guitar playing) (crowd cheering)

♪ Ran away for the first time ♪

(guitar playing)

♪ When I was only four years old I'm a free-born man. ♪

- I'd seen a picture of a Martin D-45

that was a famous person's guitar.

And they had a song book out.

And I would take a magnifying glass

and look at the pearl work on it

and try to figure out how that abalone shell

was in-layed in there.

The little staff is rounded

and I got it pretty close.

Played good and sounded good,

almost as good as Mr. Bill's old Martin.

And I was so proud of that thing.

When my grandfather passed away,

I would take it down to my Granny's.

Every night, I'd go stay with her for

a while till she got used to being by herself.

I'd take my guitar, I played

and the local moonshiner guy came in.

But he was a pretty famous fella in the neighborhood.

Everybody knew him, he was somehow kin to us.

So you know we then weren't afraid of him or anything.

But he had a stranger with him that we were afraid of

'cause I didn't know him.

And I figured anybody that was hanging with him

has got to be some kind of a crook.

But that guy wanted to see my guitar.

And so I got it out and showed it to him.

He sat down, played, and he could sing good.

And wanted to buy my guitar.

And I told him, I don't wanna sell my guitar.

This is the only one I have.

And he just kept on, what would you take for it?

I was like, nah, that's all I got with my granny.

I said I'm gonna price this guitar

so astronomically high that it'll get rid of him.

And I said, well, I'd sell the guitar,

but I'd have to have $500 for it.

He played it a little bit and then packed up and left

with the moonshiner guy.

And I told my granny well, that worked,

that got rid of him.

And the very next afternoon,

when I went down here, that fella came back by himself.

And we were really scared of him then.

He just said he wanted to play that guitar some more.

So, he got it, and he strummed and played,

and picked on it another good while.

And after a while, he acted like he got ready to leave

and he said, well, I think I'll just take the guitar.

And he had five $100 bills in his shirt pocket

and he gave them to me.

And I didn't know what in the world to do.

I mean, that is more money than I'd ever seen.

I told my granny,

I said, Lord, if I could make money like this,

this is what I'm going to do.

So that's sort of how I got started

but it's a long time

before I got another $500 for a guitar.

- I had been a problem child.

And that's what they called you back then,

they called you a problem child.

But it was like my head was full of noise.

I ended up being the...

It was a very nice insane asylum

but it was an insane asylum.

(instruments playing)

Being manic depressive or bipolar,

the highs are fun, but they leave behind

the debris feel of death and heartache

that sane people can not imagine.

And when you come off the highs,

the depression is so deep,

that I have actually thanked God

for not having to take this breath that I just took.

I can go on to the next breath.

And when I started messing with that doggone guitar

it pretty much healed me

from dozens of pills a day to nothing.

Being able to appear reasonably sane

out in public, that's a pretty big deal.

Some people, they may be reaching for alcohol

or drugs, in order to forget their problems,

maybe if they had just picked up a guitar,

or a bass fiddle or a banjo, and just start.

(light music)

- My wife and I are expecting a child.

The thought of music to me

is becoming a little bit more important.

I don't expect my kid to play the fiddle.

I don't expect my kid to play old-time music necessarily.

But that's what I'm gonna be doing as they grow up

so, I think the culture and the experiences

of old-time music are very important.

So I hope that my kid gets influenced by that.

And I hope that they choose to do whatever they want.

And I hope it involves music to some degree.

When I teach a tune that I've learned

from Melvin Wine or Lester McCumbers,

I always make a point to tell my students

what I value the most about their music

is that they were learning to play these songs

before radio and television were influencing

the music of their time period.

So, to me it has a unique approach to it.

And needs to be saved and passed on

in the way that they had played it exactly.

And so, I see that you're carrying

an actual piece of history,

instead of interpreting a piece of history through time.

And that's what I try to convey to my students.

(violin playing)

I learned all by ear, and played by ear, teach by ear.

I mean, I know what music is,

and can tell you all the parts of written music,

but I can't make music from it.

Let's try to duet. - Am I doing something wrong?

- You're just...

I think you're skipping ahead a little bit.

- Yeah.

- Let's play it together with this fiddle softly.

- Started out as a classical violinist musician,

but now, I changed to fiddle

because classical, it really just wasn't my style.

And when I did it,

I didn't feel as alive as now I do with old.

(soft music)

♪ Oh, the cuckoo ♪

♪ Oh, the cuckoo ♪

♪ She's a pretty bird ♪

♪ She's a pretty bird ♪

♪ And she warbles ♪

- ♪ And she flies ♪

I got started on my banjo when I was seven.

We had to wait for my arms to grow

because to reach over...

So I bend the strings sometimes.

I think it sounds cool.

It's kind of an old-time way of doing a slide.

♪ She's a pretty bird ♪

♪ She's a pretty bird ♪

♪ And she warbles ♪

♪ And she flies ♪

I also do these things called drop thumbs

on my right hand.

And it's where you go down to a different string

and pluck it with your thumb

so like if there's extra notes

I like the banjo 'cause of the sound,

the feel, and the drive, and the groove.

And it's really fun to play.

When Kitty was about six, I guess,

I ran into her and her mother.

Kitty's curious about this fiddling, too.

What's all this fiddling all about?

You know anything about fiddling?

I said, sure.

Just have her come over anytime.

I'll show her what I know.

And, and I guess, a couple years later,

when Kitty was about eight, she started coming over.

You can do this.

(both playing fiddle)

Don't do it every time, do it

any other third time, adjust yourself.

(fiddle playing)

Well, you got it.

- I've had a chance recently

to even give lessons and stuff like that,

and actually make money off of that.

So, that's something I wanna continue to do,

'cause if I can make a living doing what I love,

that would be awesome.

- All these great musicians here, they're very generous,

they're taking time with the young people.

- I teach a lot of kids.

And they pick it, just like that.

But they do learn from a lot of different people.

And not just people,

but they learn things off YouTube.

- I learned how to play by ear,

once you can pick up that,

you can just kinda do your own thing so.

- I learnt from YouTube, also (chuckles.)

- [Jon] You know, if you've seen, like

Presley Barker play, for example,

I mean, he's like, it's insane.

He's like one of

the hottest flatpickers period, forget his age.

They're using the technology that they have,

not to go away from the music,

but to actually strengthen it for them.

- I can record on my iPhone,

and I can slow it down, and I can change the key.

And technology is a huge help,

in the way that I play, and the way that I learn.

(lively fiddle music)

- I do not read music, I just play by ear.

- Timing means everything in music.

And it's just, as she says, in us.

- Me and the guys had gotten started,

but this music has been handed down, okay?

And they have, especially, Slake and Kyle Dean.

- That's right.

- Hands down through your family.

- Yup. - Yeah.

- It was in me, but I didn't know how to get it out.

I didn't have anybody to teach me,

as far as teaching me anything, I just had to pick it up.

So, that's why I'm bad as I am.

(men laughing) - [Man] Hear, hear.

- If you read music, I guess you say, off a sheet,

and you're just kinda playing what you're seeing,

it's not the same as if I'm

up there just playing what I'm feeling.

And this is what basically letting

the mandolin talk for me, almost.

- Everybody.

(guitars playing)

- [Kitty] I feel like I still got a lot to learn.

There's been so many people that have helped me

and have been mentors and have been so kind to me.

They didn't have to do that.

They didn't have to sit down with me and jam with me.

And I feel like, to keep the music going,

and to keep it alive,

you have to help the next generation,

and teach them the old tunes,

and show them the beauty of this music.

(instruments playing)

- I didn't have a phone in my hand.

I know it wasn't really that big of a deal back then,

but I always had an instrument in my hand.

I feel like that has helped me a lot along the way.

(banjo playing)

Sharing my music through teaching.

I have a student now, she's...

I think my youngest one is 3.

And she absolutely loves music.

So it just makes me so happy getting to teach,

and share my love to others.

(banjo playing)

- Yeah, I just hope to pass on the tradition,

to other young and upcoming pickers when I get older.

(lively music)

(cow moos)

(lively music)

- I have a 30 year old daughter,

who had never paid too much attention to the shop,

or music too much, or anything.

- [Jayne] Well, I got into guitar building just

out of pure chance, I had no intentions of doing it.

It didn't interest me, to do that.

I wanted to feel special in my own right.

I went to law school, I went to Vermont Law,

and got a master's degree in environmental law and policy.

Which ended up costing a lot of money.

And so, I thought,

I was like well, my dad's guitars sell

on eBay for $20,000.

Wonder if, he'll just make me one.

- My guitars, nowadays, bring astronomical prices

on eBay, second handed.

I never get prices like that for 'em.

- [Jayne] And I asked him, and he said sure,

I'll do that, but you have to do it.

You have to make the instrument.

And I was like ugh all right, I guess, I mean sure.

- (chuckles) I said well of course,

I would build you the guitar,

but I think, what needs to happen,

you need to make it yourself.

And so, she come in here and started working.

- He would give me...

He would sand braces and say, here, glue this on.

Or you wanna try to do inlay, here.

And I worked all day long,

to make a little, tiny snowflake.

And was so proud when I did it.

Because, look, here's the evidence

of what I've done that day.

It turned out to be so much more rewarding.

And I got to have my time with my dad.

And I got to feel like, I was important to him,

and it turns out, I was pretty good at it.

It came naturally.

- [Wayne] And that guitar, when she got it finished,

it turned out to be just a beautiful instrument.

And somebody gave her 25,000 bucks for it.

And so that was a spark to work on it, too.

And it wasn't no time, she's wanting

to make another one (chuckles).

- But it's difficult being in a field of men

who, a lot of them are older,

and have specific ideas in their mind.

While women, their place is somewhere else.

- You take like a flyer for music festivals,

and you take off all the bands that are all male,

or all the musicians that are male.

And you're left with...

I mean, it's a ridiculously small number

of performers that are female.

I think they're really underrepresented.

And not because they're fewer,

but just because it's a male dominated industry.

- I know when my mom says

she first started coming to the Fiddlers' Convention,

there weren't all that many women pickers there.

But but at least now there's a lot of girl players,

And I think there's gonna keep being more of us.

- It's always been men that have done bluegrass.

And there's a lot of really good women

that don't get the recognition.

Just because of that stereotype

that bluegrass has always been kind of a man's thing to do.

- More girls are writing their own music,

and getting their stories out there.

And they're getting more involved in the music.

- All right, time to get back with the music here,

and we're gonna bring in a little group here

from Hillcrest, Virginia, Shade of Gray.

(lively music) (crowd cheering)

(spoon clanking rhythmically)

(boots tapping)

- I'm Helen White,

and I met Wayne about 33 years ago.

- That's about right, I remember meeting Helen

at a Fiddler's Convention in Mountain City, Tennessee.

And like most acquaintances I have,

I noticed their guitar first.

And she had a nice old Martin guitar,

and of course, it needed

a little bit of repair work done on it,

and so that's how I got to know Helen.

And we've played music together a lot.

And sort of, a couple,

but she has her house, and I have mine,

and I think that's how it kind of worked good for 30 years.

And so (chuckles).

(playing lively music)

She started that jam program

which I feel like, is a very cool project.

- By getting this music in after-school programs,

and reaching a lot of kids, it really,

I think, has stirred things up a little bit.

- I've never seen so many kids playing music,

and I didn't see it before.

(calm music)

You know, one of the best things

is for kids to learn how to play music,

and I've always been impressed with her ability

to do stuff like that.

- Yeah, I got all the degrees,

but he's the one who got invited to the White House.

What's wrong, you know?

And I think the native gifts

in these communities are phenomenal, and music so rich.

- JAM stands for Junior Appalachian Musicians.

And it's an after-school program

where we teach kids traditional music, taught

in the traditional way.

From me to you.

(calm music)

I've seen absolutely life-savin' situations,

where some kids that have a hard time at school,

the other kids make fun of them because they talk funny,

or look funny, or do something like that,

but they get up there and start playing

their instrument, they become sort of heroes.

- So I remember when I was a little boy,

who never even seen a banjo or a guitar.

Had a little washtub.

Flipped the washtub over, had a little stick,

and that was the first incidence of me even hearing

a guitar, or a string instrument.

(lively music)

(crowd cheering)

(soft music)

♪ When I fell for you ♪

♪ I was just a child ♪

♪ I was longin' for lovin' ♪

♪ Tender and mild ♪

♪ I was a fool to think that ♪

♪ You'd take my hand ♪

♪ But I was blinded, into you to understand ♪

♪ How am I supposed to go on lovin' ♪

- [Announcer] All right my friends, let's see,

this group is group number five.

It's Glitz n' Grass.

(crowd cheering)

- [Ivy] One, two, three.

(playing lively music)

- [Wayne] I heard somebody say

how in the world do get to Carnegie Hall?

And I say, practice, practice, practice.

And it's the same thing here

at the Galax Fiddler's Convention

- I can play anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours.

It really depends on what's coming up in the weekend.

- Gigging and camps, basically.

And lots of practice.

Because the only way you can get better is by practicing.

- I practice about two, three hours

a day, on the weekdays.

I practice more on the weekends though, yeah.

- His mother told me that

he'll practice sometimes, for hours, eight hours.

And his other teacher Steve Lewis said sometimes

he comes in, and these fingers are just raw

it got superglue on 'em.

- Most kids, you gotta put work into something

or you gotta practice at it, you don't always want to do it.

- I mean, I play lots of places,

in front of thousands of people all the time,

but it makes me a little nervous but not bad,

but it's nowhere, nothing to compare it.

It's nervous and scared to try

to play for those three judges up there.

(plays lively music) (crowd cheers)

- Thank you. - Thank you.

(crowd cheering)

- [Wayne] Nowadays there's kids coming up everywhere,

I've never in my life, ever seen

the amount of young people that are playing music,

and are so good.

(plays violin) (crowd cheering)

I've even started a festival.

I have my own little music festival every summer.

Rain or shine.

And it's just the one day, but every bit of the proceeds

for that festival goes into scholarship funds for kids

to learn how to play music.

- You're continuing something that is really important

and is also very rare in this day and age

to be able to carry along something

that goes back so many generations,

and is not necessarily, the most commercial thing.

(crowd cheers)

- Thank you.

- You become one with the music, then

if you're one with the music, you're one with the world.

(plays slow music)

♪ Run around, little doggy ♪

♪ Run around real slow ♪

♪ (indistinct) ♪

♪ All raring to go ♪

♪ Run around, little doggy ♪

♪ Run around real slow ♪

♪ (indistinct) ♪

♪ All raring to go ♪

It's my life.

That's just plain and simple.

There's music every day in my life.

- And we also have a real respect for the old timers,

and keeping' the traditions alive.

- How I start off, we're going that way.

(hums)

See, I'm doing a little with the spoons.

(hums) (spoons clanking)

(wind whooshes) (bird squawking)

(calm music)

- And this had to go all the way back to the kitchen,

I don't know what kinda...

Guess I shut the drawers instead.

And there's a really cool picture

of me and my daughter, I think, yeah.

(door creaks)

Back in here, pretty cool thing in here, now.

I've collected instruments all my life,

and got them back years ago,

when you could afford them, and I couldn't now.

That's the first one I ever made that I put

a serial number in, it's got, number one, in it.

These old bridge pins, they're made out...

We had an old family cow that we milked,

and she finally died of old age,

and when the buzzards got through with her,

and the bones are all left,

I carried those bones to the house,

and took a file and a hacksaw and made this bridge pin.

This old guitar has been through a lot of hard times.

And somebody left-handed just played it for a long time.

That's pretty cool.

It's been shot, it's got a bullet hole through it.

I finally got the story not too long back,

from the fella's brother that had it.

And he claimed he was cleaning his pistol.

But I don't believe that story for a second,

I think what he was doing, I think he was aiming,

practicing like a practicing cowboy.

You'd be certainly aiming at something

that looked like a target.

The sound hole, so it went right through the sound hole.

And out the back.

And this guitar right here, I told you about the one

that the old fella had

in the community here, E.C. Ball.

That's his guitar, that's the one right here.

That's the one that inspired me to build guitars, and...

(strums guitar)

One of my favorite ones in here

'cause it's a guitar that I grew up, you really wanting

to have one like it, and everything in it.

It was my first exposure to a good instrument.

(tranquil music)

- From my area, Doc Watson was a huge influence on me.

I mean, we would listen to him on the radio.

And when I was tiny, tiny.

But, well, I'm still tiny,

but can't say much about that (chuckles).

- And Presley, he's heard Doc records,

and I noticed, I'm always real proud of that.

Presley can get it down almost closer than anybody.

young mind like that can hear where those notes are.

(plays guitar)

He was a good friend and hung out in my shop a lot.

He'd love to play music,

but he always told me, if he had been able to see,

he said I might not have ever played the guitar.

He said, I'd love to be an electrician or a carpenter.

- I would call Doc up,

and I'd say, Doc, what have you got playing today?

And he'd say, I really don't have anything playing.

Then I'd say, let's ride over to Wayne's.

And he'd say, I'll be on the porch waiting for ya.

He'd be in his swing, waiting for me to drive up.

- Toward the end of his life, that was

his favorite loafing place.

'Cause he was in my shop a lot.

- Pick it soft.

- [Charles] And he's always been fascinated,

and he still is, about the early days in New York.

As Doc called it, The folk scare.

- He knew Bob Dylan, he knew all of them.

And at one time or another, most of those entertainers

have tried to cop a Doc Watson lick.

- I'll tell you something that happened one night

I had finished up that new utility building,

this old boy came in and he said,

what are you doing out here in the dark?

I said, now, what do I need to light a light?

(all laughing) (indistinct chatter)

- [Wayne] She made it for Doc Watson.

And he really liked Jayne.

And Doc asked her to build him a guitar.

And I told her, well, you know,

when Doc asks, you need to make that guitar."

'Cause that's a big deal

if somebody like Doc Watson asked you for a guitar.

And he honestly and truly wanted one.

Unfortunately, Doc passed away

about two weeks before she got this done.

We need to keep that in the museum,

that's the guitar you made for Doc,

and even though he didn't get to play it.

- [Jayne] We let him feel it and checked it out,

and he seemed really happy about it, which was great.

I like to think of it as, he gave me an incredible gift.

- And so, that's pretty cool.

She in-layed, Doc.

This wasn't too much use for him,

'cause he couldn't see it,

but he appreciated stuff like that.

- I would just kinda get back out of the way,

and just let the Doc and Wayne socialize

and play a little music,

and then just have a good time.

And Wayne always had a good joke for Doc.

And, (laughs).

♪ Where did you stay Last night ♪

- And then she just lies, and said...

♪ I stayed in the vine Where the sun never shine ♪

- People, they come in

and see Doc there, say it's Doc Watson.

And that's almost like seeing Elvis to people like us.

- And this is how it sounds.

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

- I was always amazed at what he could do.

He's sitting over in my house one day.

(indistinct) he got to rubbing the chair.

He always wanted an old straight back chair.

He said, Wayne, I need to fix this thing for you.

And I think he detected some doubt in my voice that,

a blind person could do that.

That's my favorite piece of furniture I have in my house.

I always feel like I'd pick a little better

if I'm sitting in that chair (chuckles).

- [Narrator] And we'll bring out our next contestant

at this time, number 103.

That's one hundred three, Ivy Philips.

(plays lively music) (crowd cheering)

Well, this is the most youth talent

we've ever had here at the Fiddler's Convention.

Second place, from Elkridge, Virginia, Kitty Amaral.

My neighbor over that way, great job, Kitty.

(plays lively music)

At ladies first place,

from Chapmansboro, Tennessee, Ivy Philips.

Great job. (crowd cheering)

Played the "Lee Highway Blues".

(plays lively music)

(crowd cheering)

Whoo, that's getting it done, Ivy.

(crowd cheering) - [Host] Whoo.

She'll be doing Ragtime Annie.

(plays lively music)

(crowd cheering) - Thank you.

- [Announcer] That was contestant number 32,

Annabelle Watts.

(crowd cheers)

From Floyd, Virginia, Eli Wildman.

(crowd cheering)

First place, New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters Boys.

(crowd cheering) (lively music)

- During the Galax Fiddler's Convention,

you sacrifice sleep (laughs).

Because you wanna be there every minute you can.

So, you wind up sleeping about three or four hours a day.

So by the end of the week, you're just dead.

- And the best all-around performer

this year, played old-time fiddle,

is Jake Krack from Marlinton, West Virginia.

- Yeah, you find out, in middle of the night when you win.

So, about the only option is to go play music till daylight.

and hang out with your friends.

(playing lively music)

Have a good time, and just go till you can't go no more,

and sleep for a little bit, and get up and drive home.

- I'm just so honored to even get

to be on the same stage with Wayne.

- [Wayne] Of course you never know,

what the judges will say,

and they know we can't play like we used to (laughs).

- [Announcer] Third place goes to

West Jefferson, Virginia's very own Eric Hardin.

(crowd cheering)

I told you I was gonna make you wait, right?

(crowd cheering)

All right, that's enough.

Second place goes to Wayne Henderson,

Mounthill Wilson, Virginia.

(crowd cheers)

And first place...

Presley Barker, Traphill, North Carolina.

(crowd cheers) (lively music)

- Galax Fiddler's Convention,

that's one of the oldest ones there is.

And I'm sure, I bet Presley's

the youngest player to ever win,

I'm sure, the guitar thing.

Congratulations on winning Galax.

That's always a big deal for me.

That kept me practicing when I was your age,

I tried to win a ribbon, that was a big deal.

And something that I would work

on all year long to try to do.

And I still do.

I don't work on it too much

I've gotten too lazy to work on it much anymore.

I always figured, by my age now,

the geezer award probably helped me a little bit.

And Presley gets in on pure talent.

- I'm so honored to be even in

the category with Wayne Henderson.

He's my role model.

And he's my hero, and I looked up to him.

- I could never be more honored than anything

to have a young man like this,

that's so, not only his guitar playing ability,

but he's a gentleman.

I really appreciate, just being able to know him.

Let alone, get to hang out with him, and pick with him.

And he's pretty amazing.

(calm music)

- [Martha] See, I think music takes you,

sometimes, back to a memory or a place.

- It kinda takes you out of yourself,

but putting yourself out there, too,

and making other people feel good,

and just getting caught up in the rhythm.

- And I think old-time music, just to me, is home.

That's what I always think of.

- It is a proud heritage, I think,

and I'm proud to be carrying it on.

It's something that you can look back on

when you get older, you think about

all them folks that ain't here no more.

There's been a lot of good ones around

in these hills and hollers over the years.

- What was country back when I was a kid,

was mostly music for people that moved away

up north for a job and they missed home.

♪ Home is where the fiddle reigns ♪

♪ Home is where my mama sings ♪

♪ Home is where the mountains are high ♪

♪ Home is where my heart is ♪

♪ When people ask me where I come from ♪

♪ There's only one place I think of ♪

♪ It's where I hear in my old-timey songs ♪

♪ It's where I know I'll always belong ♪

- I think I'll probably play music for the rest of my life.

Unless something happens.

- Till we kick over, I reckon'.

- You know, there's gonna be a time we all recognize,

it'll come when we just physically can't.

- This music has saved my life.

And I am not given to drama anymore.

That is a fact.

- Until I can't even do it anymore.

And then, by golly, you're gonna get to hear me sing.

♪ Home is where the fiddle reigns ♪

♪ Home is where my mama sings ♪

- Well, I wanna play music as long as I live,

as long as I can play the guitar.

- For as long as I'm able.

- Me too, I'd love to play forever.

I hope I can play it until my fingers don't work.

- And when I get a new guitar done,

and hit that first chord on it,

and listen to the sound and the tone,

it's exciting to me to hear that first chord.

Seemed like now as it ever was.

♪ Whenever I hear my mama sing ♪

♪ Whenever... ♪

- If you show up at somebody's house,

and they're having supper, usually

you're gonna have supper with them.

And so that's what I like about Galax.

Everybody just makes you feel at home.

And so I just want to tell everybody, maybe

if they come to Galax a little while,

they might wanna live here too.

♪ Home is where my mama sings ♪

♪ Home is where the mountains are high ♪

♪ Home is where my heart is ♪

(crowd cheering)

(playing banjo)

(bell dings)

(spoons clanking)

(cymbals rattling)

♪ I know ♪

♪ I know I've been changed, ♪

♪ I know I done changed ♪

♪ Oh, and I know ♪

♪ I know I done changed ♪

♪ Little angels in heaven done signed my name ♪

♪ And I know ♪

♪ I know I done changed ♪

♪ I know I done changed ♪

♪ Lord, I know ♪

♪ I know I done changed ♪

♪ Little angels in heaven done signed my name ♪

♪ Little angels in heaven done signed my name ♪

♪ One day, one day I was walking alone ♪

♪ Little angels in heaven done signed my name ♪

♪ I heard a voice I didn't see no one ♪

♪ Little angels in heaven done signed my name ♪

♪ That voice to me you know, it sounded so sweet ♪

♪ Little angels in heaven done signed my name ♪

♪ It sounded like Jesus Was talking to me ♪

♪ Little angels in heaven done signed my name ♪

♪ And I know ♪

♪ I know I done changed ♪

♪ I know ♪

♪ I know I done changed ♪

♪ Lord, I know ♪

♪ I know I done changed ♪

♪ Little angels in heaven done signed my name ♪

♪ Little angels in heaven done signed my name ♪

(lively music)