Musical Heritage of the Swannanoa Valley

Introduction

Black Mountain is rapidly expanding it's reputation as a destination of choice for great live music. The area has a long history of great live music dating back to the early settlers who brought their fiddles, banjos, and ballads with them to the Swannanoa valley. In the early times, music was played in informal settings around hearths and fireplaces or on the porches of early homes and cabins. Music was also a lively part of barn raisings, corn shuckings, and fairs and festivals of various sorts.

In the first half of the 20th century, public music performances became even more common at places like Roseland Gardens, The Old Farmers Ball, Peek's Place, Roy's Inn, and the Lake Tomahawk community center. Local musicians like fiddler Marcus Martin were revered by other fiddlers but also by folklorists who recorded Mr Martins tunes on old 78 rpm records on behalf of the Library of Congress. Marcus Martin and Bill McElreath were featured performers on Bascom Lamar Lunsford's Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville for over 3 decades. Black Mountain residents Wiley and Zeke Morris were making commercial recordings as early as the 1930's and Bluegrass scholars mention the Morris Brothers as influencing the course of traditional mountain music in the seminal days of Bluegrass.

While traditional music flourished in the Swannanoa Valley, Black Mountain College provided the ideal environment for noted experimental and classical composers like John Cage and Stefan Wolpe. It was at Black Mountain College (on the current site of the Lake Eden Arts Festival) that Cage presented his Theater Piece No. 1, in a 1952 performance that music historians point to as the first "Happening", a multi-disciplinary art event encompassing music, dance, the spoken word, visual art and other means of expression. "Happenings" and "performance art" would later be a central element in the beat movement in New York City, San Francisco, and beyond.

Music and dancing have always gone hand-in-hand. While John Cage and Merce Cunningham were pushing the boundaries of musical and dance expression at Black Mountain College, traditional dance continued to be popular among residents of the Swannanoa Valley. Public dances were held at the Lake Tomahawk community center, The Old Farmers Ball, and also on the streets of town. Street dances were common on Sutton Avenue for many years in the 1950's and 60's.

Small music gatherings took place in settings like Ray Greene's garage on McCoy Cove Road. Green Acres, as it was referred to by locals, invited pickers and listeners to Mr. Greene's garage each and every Monday night for traditional mountain music, bluegrass, and gospel for over 20 years. Greene Acres and it's participants were the subject of a Masters Thesis by Tim Duffy some 20 years ago.

In the 1980's Black Mountain became well known for live music venues including McDibbs, the (original) Grey Eagle, the Town Pump Tavern. Well-known singer-songwriters such as David Wilcox and David LaMotte made their home in the area and began their careers in clubs like McDibbs and The Town Pump Tavern. Nationally known country songwriter Billy Edd Wheeler also calls the Swannanoa Valley home after a successful career writing hits for Nashville superstars like Kenny Rogers and Johnny Cash. Grammy Award-winning, Pop singer, Roberta Flack, was born in the Brookside section of Black Mountain but moved away at a young age.

New festivals such as the Black Mountain Folk Festival and the Lake Eden Arts festival were birthed during the 1980's and helped bring music lovers from across the nation to the Swannanoa Valley. The Swannanoa Gathering is known the world over for it's summer folk music camps and students and teachers from across the globe travel to learn, share, and enjoy music on the attractive campus of Warren Wilson College.

The musical heritage of Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley custs a broad swath. From the Morris Brothers work on the cusp of the emerging bluegrass genre to the creation of "performance art" by John Cage at Black Mountain College, to the world of music presented each year at the Lake Eden Arts Festival, the music of Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley is drawing national and global attention.

The tradition of great live music is alive and well in the Swannanoa Valley and expanding each and every year.

New venues such as White Horse Black Mountain, Pisgah Brewing, The Watershed, Ja Vin and the Beacon Pub are drawing music lovers to the area every night of the week. In addition music festivals and events such as the Lake Eden Arts Festival, the Great American Roots Revival, Park Rhythms, and Groovin on Grovemont continue to provide great outdoor music listening opportunities.

Folks from all parts of Western North Carolina and beyond are coming to experience the rich variety of music we have to offer.