Graves Mountain Music Festival keeping it 'all Virginia' this year (2024)

Hometown pride starts this year’s Graves Mountain Music Festival off on a high note. After the names of most bluegrass bands on the schedule for this week’s event at Graves Mountain Farm & Lodges in the Madison County village of Syria, fans can learn the city or region the group calls home.

Thursday’s opening-day lineup, starting at 4 p.m. on the Rose River Stage at the resort’s Sycamore Pavilion, boasts Some Assembly Required from Tidewater, Smokin’ Trout from Criglersville and Syria, Rose River Ramblers from Powhatan and Nothin’ Fancy from Buena Vista. Friday’s favorites include Blue Ridge Thunder from the Shenandoah Valley, Josh Grigsby & County Line from Warsaw, Fly Birds from Winchester and Ferrum’s own Junior Sisk.

Saturday brings in Madison’s Dark Hollow, Hammaville from Bedford, Fredericksburg’s California Ramblers, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike from Greene County and the Lonesome River Band, which got its start in Meadows of Dan.

“We’re keeping it all Virginia bands,” organizer Eric Starck told The Daily Progress. “We’re keeping a narrow focus and supporting our local people.”

Rose River Ramblers, one of Thursday’s bands, got its start in Graves Mountain’s own jam session series, which musician Vince May leads six times a year, Starck said.

Longtime Graves Mountain attendees know to bring their instruments so they can join the festival’s fan-favorite jam sessions, which start at 5 p.m. and last well into the night in the jam tent next to the red stable barn. The time-honored tradition of learning tips, tricks and tunes in person from seasoned bluegrass musicians makes room for all different experience levels and brings generations together.

You don’t have to be a beginner to benefit, either. If you’ve been struggling to master a fingering or a rhythm, odds are good that someone will have the technical expertise to help you over your journeyman hurdles.

“That’s the sweet thing about bluegrass: It’s a community,” Starck said. “You can go to any jam and people will help you out.”

Keep an ear out for students from Graves Mountain’s own music education program, who will take the stage at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Serving as emcees this year will be Rusty Cempre, host of WNRN’s “Bluegrass Sunday Morning,” along with Larry Haynes, Vince May and Mason Newton.

The lure of discovery doesn’t stop with music. Graves Mountain is offering a busy slate of activities in its Mountain to Mat program, which gives music fans time to explore the venue’s picturesque slice of the great outdoors.

“It’s a great way to try something new,” Starck said, adding that many visitors try fly fishing, mountain biking or yoga for the first time between musical sets.

Trail riding and pony rides are perennial favorites. While younger children linger to meet the farm animals, their older siblings often go on nature hikes, and visitors of all ages can learn more about the area’s geology and the bustling ecosystems of the streams.

Take a few moments to check out the activities schedule while you’re reserving your tickets, because some events may require signing up in advance.

Graves Mountain offers year-round music education in several genres, offering not only tomorrow’s bluegrass stars but instrumentalists who dream of playing in symphony orchestras room to grow and advance.

For example, the Music and Mindfulness program will be bringing three dozen orchestra students ages 14 to 18 together from June 23 to 30 to dive into symphonic works and concerti, helping them hone the skills they need to audition confidently for college orchestras and scholarships, Starck said.

The rich bluegrass heritage at Graves Mountain also gives these students an edge over many of their peers from other places: an all-American approach to improvisation. May and members of Dark Hollow will be teaching improvisational techniques from the bluegrass world to orchestra students, who tend to get shackled to sheet music at young ages.

“They have a sense of not just reading black dots, but also learning improvisation,” Starck said.

Three-day, two-day and Saturday-only passes include dry camping at no additional cost. Showers and toilets are available at the dorms area, which is about 200 yards from the campground entrance.