Whitetop Mountain Band   With fiddler Thornton Spencer and banjoist/vocalist Emily Spencer, the Whitetop Mountain Band is an old-time band crowd favorite in the Twin Counties.  The Whitetop Mountain Band is a family-based band from the highest mountains of Virginia. Whitetop, Virginia is an area rich in the old time music tradition; this band has deep roots in mountain music. The members have done much to preserve the Whitetop region’s style of old time fiddling and banjo picking and are legendary musicians and teachers of the style. At the same time, Whitetop Mountain Band shows are versatile and entertaining, with everything from fiddle/banjo instrumentals to powerful solos and harmony vocals on blues, classic country, honky tonk, traditional bluegrass numbers, old timey ballads, originals, and four part mountain gospel songs. Shows also include flat foot dancing. The band is well known for its high energy and charisma on stage. The Whitetop Mountain Band is one of the most popular dance bands of the Appalachian Mountains. They have a great following at square dances all over Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky at venues like the Carter Family Fold. The band has also performed at all sorts of venues throughout the United States from festivals to concerts, competitions, and colleges. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Folklife Festival, World Music Institute in NYC, Carter Family Festival, Dock Boggs Festival, World Fair, Virginia Arts Festival, Floydfest, Ola Belle Reed Festival and Merlefest are a few of the many festivals the band has performed at. They recently were featured on the NCTA Crooked Road Music tour of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho in October 2007. In September 2007, Members also toured the United Kingdom and Ireland playing the Cornish Bluegrass Festival and Open House Festival along with venues through England, Wales, and Ireland. In January 2008, members of the band also played at the Illawarra Folk Festival and Tamworth Country Music Festival in New South Wales, Australia.

Kentucky Wild Horse   Kentucky Wild Horse takes its name from an old eastern Kentucky fiddle tune played by Wolfe County fiddler Darley Fulks (1895-1990) who possessed a vast repertoire of pre-Civil War tunes. Kentucky music from the 19th century down to the present, especially its fiddle and banjo traditions, has been the band's love and inspiration. Kentucky Wild Horse returns to the roots of bluegrass music. Bluegrass was but one of the many outcomes of the creativity and innovation that abounded during the golden age of rural southern music in the 1920s and ’30s. Unlike most old-time bands today, the members use instrumental solo breaks and fills and occasional harmonies rather than one, two, or three instruments playing the melody straight through. "We believe the best original songs today are coming not from Music Row, but from real people, smart and observant, living in and listening to the heart of the country," the band's members say. "The best songs are an expression of the place we live in, the people who are fighting to survive, and those who are working to keep our culture meaningful and strong for the next generation. They’re going to need it. "

Admission is only $5 at this Half-price Holiday Concert!