Sunday, May 07, 2006
Music alive and well in Floyd
Ralph Berrier
Riffs, the regional music scene as heard by The Roanoke Times reporter Ralph Berrier, will appear weekly on Sundays.
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Trivia question: Where in Southwest Virginia would you expect to find blues guitarists, old-time fiddlers, African drummers, jazz cats and belly dancers all living happily ever after?
Answer: Floyd, of course.
No matter how many times we write about it in the newspaper, or see it written about in other national publications, Floyd's distinction as an outpost of arts, culture and pastoral beauty never ceases to make me happy.
Sometimes, we can sound a bit paternalistic and even downright patronizing when those of us who don't live in the shadow of Buffalo Mountain wax romantic about Floyd's many charms ("Oh, look at cute little Floyd! There's a reggae band at the health food store!") But having been raised just down the road from Floyd, in a place even more rural but not nearly as chic, I really mean it when I say I dig the place.
And the thing I dig most is that people in Floyd love music. All kinds of people and all kinds of music.
On those gloomy days when I fret about the state of music and wonder if anybody even cares very much about it, I look longingly to Floyd and feel better.
Just last week, I received an e-mail from the Sun Music Hall in downtown Floyd that reported an exhaustive schedule of musical events ... just for May.
Tonight, Steve James and Del Rey fingerpick their way through some bluesy tunes. Next week, gypsy swingers Dot Dot Dash provide the soundtrack for a country dance. In coming weeks, the Kusun Ensemble presents a drumming workshop, the Floyd County High School jazz band bangs on the steel drums and a local belly dance troupe, Gyroscopic, wiggles its way through the dinner hour. Only in Floyd.
Those of us who love music have known for years that there is a lot more to Floyd's scene than just the world-renowned Friday Night Jamboree at the Floyd Country Store. But if not for the bluegrassers, banjoists and bulldog bassists who flood the streets every warm Friday evening, would the rest of the musical culture have taken root and blossomed in downtown? Perhaps.
This much is true: Music draws more music, arts draw more arts, crowds attract crowds. Eventually, a critical mass is reached and the scene becomes self-replicating and self-perpetuating. Floyd's scene may be small -- and, at times, struggling instead of thriving -- but it is extremely centralized and can feed itself. Some bigger cities and college towns would do well to follow Floyd's incubator-style arts scene. (Center in the Square provides the same kind of cultural magnet for downtown Roanoke. Other businesses and nightspots feed off its presence.)
The greatest strength of Floyd's cultural milieu is its mix of performers and artists. Blues picker Scott Perry moved to town about seven years ago and now owns a music store, The Pickin' Porch, that sells handcrafted instruments and fosters the growth of the roots-music scene (he brought in tonight's blues show). Oddfellas Cantina draws folks from the hinterlands for its trendy cuisine and earthy music. The jamboree entertains everyone from sixth-generation Floyd Countians to the trustafarians.
And we haven't even mentioned Floydfest, the region's largest music festival that's not a fiddlers convention. Our neighbors in Patrick County politely and rightly point out that Floydfest actually takes place in their jurisdiction, but the event's founders got their start in Floyd and reverently invoke the Floyd name. Tickets are on sale for this year's festival, which will be July 28-30 and is headlined by Los Lobos, Iris Dement, Tim O'Brien and dozens of other acts.
If there is a common thread among these diverse musical hot spots, it is that they were born in the spirit of old-fashioned, can't-get-it-anywhere-else individuality. The individuals, however, form the bones, nerves and muscles of a community. The individuals form symbiotic relationships that nourish one another and keep the artistic environment fresh and alive.
In this artistic democracy, individuals carve their respective niches. Yet each is reliant on others to hold up their end of the bargain for the survival of the group. The result is a wonderful place for citizens and visitors.
I could repeat the aphorism "Only in Floyd." The truth, though, is that such a community can exist anywhere. We just have to hold up our end of the deal and avail ourselves of opportunities, musical or whatever, that exist, whether they be down the street or in a one-stoplight town 45 miles down the road and over the mountain.
