Heartwood Youth Music Festival, May 12, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Festival highlights include music performances and workshops, luthier exhibits, and foods from the Crooked Road region. Performances and workshops are presented by Southwest Virginia artists, including Dale Jett & Hello Stranger, The New Ballard’s Branch Bogtrotters, The Wolfe Brothers String Band, Loose Strings, Tina Liza Jones, Fifthstring, Banjo Joe Bevins, and others. Youth performers from Southwest Virginia will be highlighted in performances throughout the day on three stages.
The Crooked Road Youth Music Series Performance, June 14, 6 p.m.
Wise and Carroll County Performers, Fifthstring, and Jared Boyd & The Willowshade Drifters The Crooked Road Youth Music Series Performance, July 12, 6 p.m. Franklin County Performers, Travis Starkey, and more TBA Heartwoodvirginia.org
Blue Ridge Music Center, Youth Tradfest, May 26
Instrument Petting Zoo, Noon to 5 p.m. Try out a variety of stringed instruments. Free. Youth Jam, Noon to 2:30 p.m. “Musical Families: Growing Up in Music,” 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Performance and talk, reserve in advance. Free. Next Generation Concert, 3 p.m. Carson Peters, Adam McPeak and Mountain Thunder, Iron Mountain Ridge Runners, Junior Appalachian Musicians, and others.blueridgemusiccenter.org
Mountain Music School, July 23-27
Youth ages ten and over and adults can learn Appalachian music and culture at the Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap. Classes feature “ear training” in beginning old-time fiddle, claw-hammer banjo, folk guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, and autoharp. Afternoon concerts by the master musician instructors are free and open to the public. http://www.mountainmusicschool.org
