Jam at the Floyd Country Store

It was our first weekend along The Crooked Road. Stretching 333 miles and following U.S. Route 58 through the scenic mountains of southwestern Virginia, the road known as "Virginia's Heritage Music Trail connects major heritage music venues and a thriving network of jams, festivals, and concerts in communities along the way" (The Crooked Road).

Some of the venues featuring authentic music preserved by generations of the region's musicians are identified as Major Venues. One such venue is the Floyd Country Store.

Perfor-mances are held on a stage in the back of the store on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons and feature talented performers from the area. And on Sunday afternoons there is a jam at which area performers join for three hours of playing old-time music with friends and neighbors for the sheer enjoyment of playing, and keeping alive, the music of Appalachia.

When we sat down, we were close enough to the musicians that I thought about photo-graphing their hands as they were playing, but then I became more interested in the emotions shown on their faces.

It was Mother's Day, but the attendance seemed to be typical for a Sunday afternoon. That is, the circle of performers filled the space available with a good variety of instruments represented: a banjo, fiddles, guitars, mandolins, and a string bass. And almost all of the chairs available for the audience were filled.

The show must go on.