They all come together at the store’s Friday Night Jamboree, known locally as “Friday Night.” Three bands take turns on the small stage inside, and it’s standing room only as dancers of all ages stomp and twirl to old-time music. In warm weather, clusters of musicians gather out front or down the street while visitors crowd around to listen and children play freeze tag in a grassy field nearby.
On this particular Friday, a seasoned guitar picker offers a crisp rendition of “Good Ol’ Mountain Dew” on the sidewalk out front. Across the street, I join a group singing “take a load off Fanny”—or is it “Annie”? Either way, the harmonies from The Band’s well-known tune “The Weight” sound spot on.
The jamboree has boosted other businesses by attracting visitors to town. At Dogtown Roadhouse, a wood-fired pizza restaurant where organic chocolate chip cookies and craft brews are sold alongside Pabst Blue Ribbon, indie and bluegrass bands perform. And Oddfella’s restaurant features locally grown food and folk music. A bonanza of recorded traditional music can be found at the County Sales store, a smaller Crooked Road venue in Floyd. There are art galleries and craft shops, as well as noteBooks bookstore and the Black Water Loft above it for coffee. During my frequent visits to the area, I usually grab a bag of organic Red Rooster coffee from the roaster behind the bookstore and coffee shop; it’s run by the bookstore owner’s daughter and son-in-law.
Back at the country store, the Friday Night Jamboree has been so popular that management has scheduled music for Saturday and Sunday, as well. The small diner there is a homey spot for a quick bite (it’s open Thursday through Monday), or you can take advantage of the “store” part of the Country Store and shop there for everything from recorded music to locally made apple butter, and from books on raising pigs to overalls just like the ones you saw on that farmer getting out of his pickup truck down the street.
After a Friday Night in Floyd, I head the next day to the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum at the college in Ferrum, a great place to learn the difference between bluegrass and old-time string bands, and to discover where the banjo originated and when country music got its start. The answers unfold in photographs and informational displays, in artifacts, old instruments and vintage film. Rotating exhibits introduce visitors to the “Crooked Road Royalty”—including the Stanley Brothers and the Carter Family, who grew up in this region—and “Crooked Road Music Styles,” which locals can distinguish as being from one holler or ridge rather than another.