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Speaker Session: Malcolm Smith on the Clawhammer Banjo Masters of Southwest Virginia

March 10 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Southwest Virginia has been and continues to be a hotbed of clawhammer banjo playing and old time music. Over the past year, a group of researchers and musicians have put together a new website featuring more than 50 Masters of the folk art, that includes biographies, tunes and anecdotes about the development of the style in the Blue Ridge and beyond. Hear these Masters come to life as Dr. Malcolm Smith, who spearheaded the project along with banjoist Mac Traynham and fiddler and web designer, Jason Phillips, shares stories, music and highlights from this new resource.

REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON HERE

Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Location: In-person at the Birthplace of Country Music, Performance Theater and streamed on Radio Bristol’s YouTube Channel

Cost: Free and open to the public

Malcolm Smith is a writer, storyteller, musician and folklorist who has been studying the music of the mountains for years. His biography of famed fiddler Albert Hash is in its third printing with McFarland Press and his latest project “Clawhammer Masters of SW Virginia” was just released on the web. His latest book “It’s Always Been About the Party:” Appalachian Music in the Blue Ridge” is scheduled to be released later this year. Malcolm is an avid clawhammer player and a recovering college professor. He makes his home in the mountains of Carroll County, VA.

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