A new exhibition entitled “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” will open at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (BRAHM) on March 1, 2025, and will be on view in the Alexander Community Room Gallery through April 26, 2025.
This unique exhibition offers an in-depth look at the rich history of Blue Ridge music, including 36 original, letterpress-style posters dating back to as early as 1939. Each poster has detailed information about the life and legacy of the featured musicians.
Originally, window cards and other announcement posters were created to advertise upcoming entertainment events staged by troupes of traveling performers. By design, they were printed on inexpensive paper or cardboard to last only a few months and were nailed to telephone poles, plastered onto the sides of buildings, and placed in store windows. After the event, most were discarded or left to deteriorate outdoors. These pieces, designed to be ephemeral, document the story of Bluegrass music from infancy to international popularity. All posters on display in the exhibition “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” are from the private poster collection of Tom Murphy. As a collector, Murphy has been preserving window cards, handbills, mailers, broadsides, and other posters of various genres for over 50 years.
Visitors to “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” will enjoy an immersive experience, including a curated playlist of music by artists featured in the posters.
This exhibition is made possible through a grant from America 250 NC, an initiative by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Presenting sponsor for this exhibition is The Mountain Times: The High Country’s Art and Entertainment Source and Watauga Democrat: Watauga County’s independent news source and newspaper of record since 1888.
To deepen visitors’ engagement with the region’s musical history, BRAHM will host two months of special programs and performances, offering a variety of perspectives on Blue Ridge music and culture.
The programming related to “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” begins with a three-day artist residency with Asheville-based musicians Zoe & Cloyd from March 6 through 8. Comprised of fiddler/vocalist Natalya Zoe Weinstein and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist John Cloyd Miller, Zoe & Cloyd combine original bluegrass, klezmer, old-time and folk to create their own unique music. As part of their residency, they will give a talk about songwriting, visit local schools and perform a concert. [Ed. Note: details of Zoe & Cloyd events open to the public are included in the list below.]
Programs associated with “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” include (unless otherwise noted programming takes place at BRAHM):
Thursday, March 6, 6 p.m. – Zoe & Cloyd will present a songwriter’s talk entitled “Songs of our Grandfathers”
Saturday March 8, 7 p.m. – Zoe & Cloyd will perform a concert at the Appalachian Theatre in Boone, N.C.
Thursday, March 13 at 11 a.m. – Jennifer Huff, the director of the Wilkes Heritage Museum, will discuss the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame.
Thursday, March 27 at 6 p.m. – musician and scholar Trevor McKenzie will present “Blue Ridge Ballads Revisited.” This presentation and performance will trace the history and influences of the Appalachian acapella ballad tradition.
Thursday April 3 at 6 p.m. – Appalachian studies scholar and DJ, Krystal B. Carter will present “Mothers of Mountain Music: the Blue Ridge and Beyond.” This talk examines key women in Appalachian music whose voices transcended generations and transformed the music we know today.
Saturday, April 12 at 2 p.m. – Celene Aubry the Director of Hatch Show Printing in Nashville, TN will present “Hatch Show Print: Every Poster Tells a Story.” Aubry will examine the history of the iconic Hatch Show Print letterpress poster and design shop located in Nashville, TN. Many of the posters in “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” were designed by Hatch Show Print.
Thursday, April 17 at 6 p.m. – Jordan Laney Ph.D., will present, “Bluegrass Beyond the Stage: The Impact of Women at Festivals and Beyond.” Laney will expand on the impact women artists have had on the Bluegrass genre, industry, and community—largely without recognition.
The program series culminates on Saturday April 19 at 2 p.m. with author Eddie Huffman, who will speak about his new book, “Doc Watson: A Life in Music.” This program is co-presented with Firelight Book & Candle in Blowing Rock.
All programming is presented free of charge thanks to a grant from American 250 N.C.
For more information or to RSVP or view the full calendar visit blowingrockmuseum.org/calendar.
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