“[National Council for the Traditional Arts] wanted to share this music with another part of the world,” said Debbie Robinson of the Blue Ridge Music Center, which helps preserve music and is operated by the National Council for the Traditional Arts.

NCTA sponsored and produced the “Crooked Road Goes West Tour.”

The Crooked Road, stretching over 200 miles along U.S. 58 and into 11 different counties, started out a few years ago as a marketing initiative to attract people to the area. However, the popularity of Virginia’s heritage music trail has exploded throughout the nation. Making more people aware of the area, Joe Wilson’s “A Guide to the Crooked Road” sold out at each venue during the tour.

Traveling throughout California and hitting venues in Nevada, Oregon, Montana and Idaho, the musicians and crew were on tour from Oct. 19 through Nov. 10. The tour featured 14 locally-famed bluegrass and old-time masters, including award-winning guitarist Wayne Henderson and bluegrass banjo expert Sammy Shelor, fiddler Eddie Bond, Kirk Sutphin, 19-year-old vocalist Elizabeth LaPrelle and two bands, The Whitetop Mountain Band and No Speed Limit.

“I didn’t hesitate to do this,” said Shelor. “I wanted to show that this is a way of life in this area. And we don’t have to be glamorous. The music sells because it’s real and the people are real.”

Some of the musicians had to take a break from their daily lives. LaPrelle, for example, had to take a semester off at college, where she will return in January, but she said she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to play with these great musicians.

LaPrelle, the opening act, immediately enthralled the audience as she belted out old-time ballads. All of the multi-instrumental musicians rotated off and on stage throughout the concerts, performing in different sets, interacting with one another and captivating the audience with their hot picking talents and spontaneity. And in the grand finale, Shelor and Henderson performed primitive versions of “Amazing Grace.”

Shelor, Robinson said, is not only a brilliant musician, but also a great storyteller. He narrated each concert and led the audience on a journey winding over 200 miles across the mountains, sharing inspiring stories about musical heritage and traditions.

“It was a great opportunity to share our culture with people out west,” said Bond. “People couldn’t believe that so many people in this area play music.”

Shelor, a member of Lonesome River Band, was honored to say that the tour outsold popular blues singer Mavis Staples, who was on tour at the same time. Even where bluegrass and old-time music is rarely heard, the musicians were a hit, selling out at the 1,800-seat Marin Center in San Rafael, Cal.; a venue in Santa Cruz, Cal. and one in Butte, Mont.

“People would tell me ‘I’ve never seen so much talent go across a stage at one time,’” said Shelor. “They were gracious people and easy to entertain.”

Although some concerts started out with a laid back audience, people had a good time and were up and dancing by the end. In California, they weren’t just known as “Hollywood Hillbillies.”

At the concert in Santa Cruz, everybody got up to dance. And the musicians never went to a venue that didn’t demand an encore performance. Robinson said both bands and each singer sold merchandise at each venue. “It was a madhouse. People just wanted everything,” said Robinson.

After the show, each musician greeted the audience. People seemed to enjoy their Southern accents. In fact, Bond said that one journalist writing about the tour said that his accent was “thicker than a piece of Virginia ham.”

“The draw to the show was where we we’re from,” said LaPrelle, saying the audiences wanted to see what Southwest Virginia was about. “I think the people that saw the show had more of culture shock than we did.”

Between nine- to 10-hour bus rides, hotel stays and performing in different cities, the group still found time to visit 12 schools as part of their outreach to get bluegrass into schools.

“Music can open doors for you,” said Shelor. “There are only a few places in the world where you can see three generations in a family playing together, like you see in bluegrass bands. When you go to a city, you don’t see that.”

Shelor said that he ran into several Southwest Virginia natives on the tour. “The music reminded them of being back here,” said Shelor, who is hoping to bring more of those people out this way to see performances.

With little time, the musicians were able to peel themselves away from the music scene to visit Hollywood, and some even got to attend a live taping of television talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” where they saw country music artist Brad Paisley perform.

And Bond said he had always dreamed about seeing a redwood forest, and he finally got his wish.

Still, bus trips seem to take the cake. “Everybody got along with each other. We traded tunes, and we taught each other different stuff, while jamming,” said Bond. “This tour was as good as it gets. We all had a great time.”

Bond said he was very proud to mention his hometown of Fries at every concert.

Now, the group will bring its tour full-circle. All 14 musicians will reunite to perform the Crooked Road West Coast Tour at the Rex Theater in downtown Galax on Feb. 15.

In addition, a tour for the East Coast is also in the mix. Shelor said he hopes that the Crooked Road will be such a success that it can bring more people to Galax to see performances, which in turn will increase tourism and help the economy.

• All 14 musicians from the “Crooked Road Goes West Tour” will reunite for a show at the Rex Theater in downtown Galax on Feb. 15

For more information about the Crooked Road, visit crookedroad.org, and for more information about National Council for the Traditional Arts, visit www.ncta.net. NCTA is also considering a CD featuring all of the artists from the tour.

“The Crooked Road Goes West Tour” was sponsored by The Crooked Road, NCTA, California Presenters, National Endowment for the Arts and Virginia Tourism Corporation.