Sunday, August 15, 2010

Blacksburg, VA and Blue Grass

Wow. Where the heck did this come from. I have this overwhelming nostalgia for Blacksburg, VA. I spent some 5 years there and always wanted to go back. There are days when I do want to just leave California and run back to BBurg, get a job on campus and spend the rest of my life in a little cottage near the Blue Ridge mountains. Today is one of those days. To make it worse I've been listening to WVTF streaming audio. Great blue grass music and a familiar accent from the DJ.

Blue Grass. Anyone who has seen a blue grass group play in person would agree it's a sight to see. I remember Andy Hunt, my boyfriend at the time, took me to the Floyd, Virginia general store on a Thursday night to see local musicians play. Unforgettable. The Floyd general store looked like something from the 1850's. Wood floors, wooden barrels of sundry goods, tinted bottles of ointments. Families lined the walls, moms and grandmas in folding chairs near the corners. Kids with no shoes and men in overalls. The band took the far side of the store, exhibiting every kind of physical malady the Appalachian Mountains are famous for. The fiddle player gave the ragged group a chord while the audience got eerily quiet and then... some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard. The banjo player alone seemed to defy physics with his pickin'. Better yet, the crowd started dancing and clapping. Little old men and women on the floor shuffling. It was a sight to see. Thanks, Andy.

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