The Surry Arts Council - Mount Airy, NC

Bluegrass and Old-Time Music take center stage at the Historic EARLE Theatre on the 3rd Saturday of every month as the Surry Arts Council presents "The Voice of the Blue Ridge." Local and regional bands present our local music heritage. Group tours are welcome.

$7 Admission
or SAC 2012-13 Season Pass
(12 and under are free)

Purchase a 2012-13 Season Pass for only $100 and attend all Voice of the Blue Ridge shows and over 100 other Surry Arts Council performances.
Availableonline, by calling SAC at 336.786.7998 or purchased at the EARLE Box Office

Musical Hosts
Travis Frye and Blue Mountain

Featured Bands of the 2013 Season:

Date	Featured Bands
May 18, 2013	Round Peak Ramblers
June 15, 2013	The Marshall Brothers
July 20, 2013	The Carson Peters Band
August 17, 2013	Buck Mountain Band
September 21, 2013	None of the Above
October 19, 2013	Zephyr Lightning Bolts

Tickets sold at the Historic EARLE Cinema Box Office on the evening of the show. Group orders or Bus Tours can make arrangements by calling SAC at 336.786.7998 during regular business hours.

Historic EARLE Theatre
142 Main Street
Mount Airy, NC

Come to Mount Airy every third weekend for a family getaway with great music and more! Each third weekend of each month you are invited to spend the weekend and enjoy some fun for the whole family and end the evening with the Voice of the Blue Ridge.

Clogging Workshop
5:30-6:30 p.m.
Free with ticket to the concert

Come early and learn more about this traditional dance and then enjoy dancing to the music

A Tribute to Ralph Epperson
WPAQ 740 AM

On Groundhog Day, 1948, the people of Mount Airy tuned their radios to 740 on the AM dial and heard the first radio station they could call their own. WPAQ was the brainchild of Ralph Epperson, an Ararat, Virginia native who had been fascinated by radio since his early teens. In his application to the Federal Communications Commission, Ralph pledged to reflect the cultural and musical values of the people in his station’s listening area. He promised he would provide a showcase for local talent at his station. That promise has never been broken. The weekly Merry-Go-Round, the third longest running live radio broadcast in the nation, was created as a spotlight to promote area musicians. Many of those have become traditional music icons—Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and Mac Wiseman to name a few.

Today the Merry-Go-Round continues to host the stars of tomorrow drawn from right here in the Blue Ridge. The Merry-Go-Round returned to its roots in Downtown, Mount Airy in 1998 on its 50th Anniversary. It is broadcast from the Earle Theatre (142 Main Street) from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each Saturday. Join them for the live broadcast and experience the Merry-Go-Round in person ($5 admission at the door or $20 Annual Pass) or tune your Radio to WPAQ AM 740 or online at www.wpaq740.com.

What's the difference between Old Time and Bluegrass Music?

OLD TIME

Fiddle Leads
Dancing Beat
Happy, Upbeat
Open back banjo
Banjo style is clawhammer
Old Time is mainly upbeat instrumental dance music where the fiddle is the boss
Tommy Jarrell

BLUEGRASS

No lead instrument; instruments play solo “breaks” between verses
Vocal style
“Celebration of Pain”
Banjo with resonator
Banjo played with finger picks in a three-finger style developed by Earl Scruggs
Bluegrass is a vocal style where the instruments freely improvise and the singer takes the lead
Bill Monroe

VOICE OF THE BLUE RIDGEfeaturing musical hosts Travis Frye and Blue Mountain

VOICE OF THE BLUE RIDGE
featuring musical hosts Travis Frye and Blue Mountain