All Roads Lead Home
Carolina Music Ways releases compilation album of Yadkin Valley musicians

By Jeff Eason

One of the more interesting aspects of North Carolina music is how one region differs from another. From the coast to the mountains you’ll find dozens of regional differences in gospel, country, blues and fiddle music.

A new album All Roads Lead Home explores North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley, the region of the Piedmont that stretches from Winston-Salem to the east side of Wilkes County. The album, the project of Carolina Music Ways’ Music Heritage Preservation and Education for the Yadkin Valley Region, was unveiled during a joint celebration with the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in Wilkesboro last Saturday.

All Roads Lead Home: A Heritage Sampler from North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley Region features the music traditions of the area in the genres of bluegrass, old-time string band, blues, gospel, jazz and Moravian music.
The album features musical contributions from the Twin City Choristers, Rex McGee, Kirk Sutphin, Giannini Brass, Matt Kendrick, Mel Jones & Danny Wicker, the Moravian Church Choir, Bishop John Heath, Big Ron Hunter, Joe Robinson, R.G. Absher, and the Dan River Boys. The roster features a mix of local, regional and nationally known acts.

All of the tracks on the album are studio recordings from the artists’ previous recordings, most of which were released in the past 20 years.

“The primary goal of the CD is to entertain listeners,” said a spokesperson for Carolina Music Ways. “The cuts show off the depth and breadth of musical talent in the region and provide a varied, authentic, and upbeat listening experience. The CD also helps to increase awareness that our area is one of the richest places in the United States in terms of diverse heritage music and talented heritage musicians.”

Indeed all of the tracks on the new CD present a style of music that can be pinpointed to the region. The big sound of the Moravian Choir is contrasted with R.G. Absher’s simple rendition of the regional ballad “Tom Dooley,” while Joe Robinson’s jazzy “Theme for Alfreda” shows off a more modern sound for the middle of North Carolina.

Potential buyers of the album should be warned, however, that every track features a narrator who introduces the song with tidbits of information. While this is handy the first time you spin the CD, it could get annoying upon future listening. The makers should have put the introductions on separate tracks, or better yet left them as liner notes in the CD case.

All Roads Lead Home is available in Winston-Salem at Borders Books, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Associated Artists, Jackson’s Music and the Winston-Salem Visitors Center, as well as in Wilkesboro at the Wilkes Heritage Museum. It is available online at www.carolinamusicways.org. More retail outlets are planned for the near future.

All proceeds from the sales go to Carolina Music Ways projects currently under development, as well as to future projects. Projects under development include an Arts-in-Education program for elementary schools. This program will focus on music heritage greats of the Yadkin Valley region such as Doc Watson, Tommy Jarrell, the Five Royales, Guitar Gabriel, Blind Boy Fuller, John Coltrane and others.

For more information, visit www.carolinamusicways.org.