Southwest Virginia Blogs

I shoot a lot of high school sports and try to look for images that tell the story of a team's season. This one, from last week's loss by the Floyd County High School boys varsity basketball team to Christiansburg, showcases the frustration that the winless team (in white) has faced so far this year. While the girls' varsity team continues on its unbeaten road and a probable return to the state finals, the boys' team continues to search for that first win. For a while last Friday, it looked like they might pull it off against the favored Blue Demons of Christiansburg but they fell behind in the fourth quarter and never caught up.

I shoot a lot of high school sports and try to look for images that tell the story of a team's season. This one, from last week's loss by the Floyd County High School boys varsity basketball team to Christiansburg, showcases the frustration that the winless team (in white) has faced so far this year. While the girls' varsity team continues on its unbeaten road and a probable return to the state finals, the boys' team continues to search for that first win. For a while last Friday, it looked like they might pull it off against the favored Blue Demons of Christiansburg but they fell behind in the fourth quarter and never caught up.

They packed Mama Lazardos in Floyd Saturday night: Musicians, restaurant owners and friends of Liz (above), the "mama" of Mama Lazardos. Liz is retiring after a long battle with illness and the retirement party/benefit at her Locust Street eatery brought out the best of Floyd's musical scene to perform for the packed house. Tom Ryan brought his crew from Over the Moon to cook up a special menu while musical artists Scott Perry, Sally Walker, John Winnike, Bernie Coveney, Mike Mitchell, Rob Neukirch (who also owns Oddfellas) and Chris Luster played well into the night for the guest of honor. In many ways, the evening displayed what Floyd does best: come together to help one of its own. People put differences aside, competitors remember that they are friends first and even those who met Liz for the first time Saturday night heeded the call. Liz says she will be heading for Florida after Christmas to spend a few weeks with family and friends but told the audience that "contrary to rumor, I'm not going anywhere...I will be back." Evenings like this make Floyd a special place to live. As I sat and listened to Sally Walker (above) sing or Mike Mitchell (right) showcase his mastery of the fiddle or Rob Neukirch (below) belt out a Hank Williams tune, I thought about the many times that friends from other places ask: "Why do you live there?" This is why. Floyd County is a collection of really good people: locals and newcomers. Most will do anything in the world for you. They will help their neighbors in time of need. And they will come together for nights like this: Good music, good food and a lot of love for a friend to the many people in the room. I watched while the love spread through the room Saturday night but thought also of the outpouring of support for Bernie Coveney, the popular guitarist whose house was ransacked by a relative last month. Bernie played for Liz Saturday night, coming out to help her much as people have come together to help him. This is Floyd...the real Floyd. Our people make this town what it is. Hopefully, that is something special that will never change.

When shooting people, I often look for faces in the crowd that help tell a story.

These two photos from this year's FloydFest provide good example. The shirtless young man in the top photo is both a picture of concentration and a contrast to the lady sitting next to him as they listen to the music.

Likewise, the man with his child (or perhaps grandchild) provide a contrast of young and old, along with a portrait of someone who appears lost in the 70s. Or maybe he is just living the way he wants, which is the way it should be.

They're people I see every time I go to Floyd's Friday Nite Jamboree -- regulars on the dance floor week after week. Yet I'm embarrassed to say I don't know their names. I should. They are part of the fabric of our community, part of a weekly event that -- who residents and visitors alike -- defines the music culture of the Southwestern Virginia mountains. The lady dancing with her husband (right) is one of the many volunteers who make the Jamboree work. She takes tickets at the door and helps Country Store manage Alzora Wood with other tasks. Her husband greets me like a long lost friend every time I visit the Jamboree but I still don't know his name. I should...and I will the next time I'm at the Jamboree. In some ways that's part of the culture of Floyd County. We know a lot of people by sight, greet them warmly every time we see them, talk to them about family, friends and the like, and still don't have the foggiest idea who they are or what they do. Floyd Countians aren't big on standing out in a crowd. They're friendly without being pushy and, for the most part, humble to a fault. But they see no need to try and impress you or brag about their exploits. That's not the Floyd County way and when someone in the county starts rattling off their resume or regales you with tales of their past, your first question is usually "where's your home?" You can bet it ain't Floyd.

Time was, you could gather all the Democrats in Floyd County together for a meeting and hold it in a phone booth. Of course, that was also back when Floyd had a phone booth on Main Street in front of the Court House.

Times change and so do political makeups of counties like Floyd. Democrat Eric Ferguson came close to carrying Floyd County in the delegate's race last year and former Democratic Gov. Mark Warner is hoping his star power will give Senate candidte Jim Webb an edge in next Tuesday's election.

Warner brought his road show to Floyd last week for a political gathering at the Country Store. Although he tried to bill it as a "non-political" event, it was pure politics for recently declared non-Presidential candidate Warner and actual candidate Webb.

The crowd turned out to be standing room only -- about as big as a year ago when Warner held a town meeting in the Country Store.

Guess we don't need that phone booth any more.

Heavy rains overnight bagged the sandlot soccer game I was supposed to photograph at Check Elementary School Saturday so the trip back gave me a chance to make an overdue visit to the Houston family's Sweet Providence Farm Market.

The smell of burning wood greeted me as I opened the Jeep door after a drive up the steep hill to the market on the hill overlooking U.S. 221. Apple butter production was underway in the cool, damp morning air: Apple butter made the old fashioned way -- slowly stirred in a huge pot over an open wood fire.

Inside the market, the Houston family sells local produce, jams, jellies and some kick-ass barbeque sauce: All fresh, all good.

Many people in Floyd County remember John Paul Houston from his days at the Farm Bureau. Amy and I feel a special connection to the family because they owned the house we now call home for more than 10 years, purchasing the rambling Cape Cod from original owner Eric Quesenberry. They sold the home in 2001 to purchase what is now Sweet Providence Farm. We bought their former home from the new owners three years later.

While selling me a jar of apple butter, one of John Paul's daughters told me they remember their old homestead fondly and still drive by the place from time to time to see what we've done with it.

If you're looking for some good apple butter, fresh local produce, free-range chickens and more, check out Sweet Providence at 3263 Floyd Hwy North about seven miles out of Floyd. On weekends, you might also find the family playing traditional mountain music on the market porch. It's worth the visit.

It never fails. I do a photo layout of faces from the crowd at The Friday Night Jamboree and some doofus posts a whine about "where are pictures of the musicians?"

As if I've never posted photos of musicians. Good grief. No photographer in Floyd (and there are many) has taken or posted more photos of musicans.

You want musicians? OK, you got musicians. The highlight, as noted in a previous post, of last Friday night's jamboree was the return of fiddler Clyde Williams (above) and his old time country band, a longtime crowd favorite. The Jamboree is long on tradition and two groups that play there most often are Clyde's and "Barbershop Grass" (left).

But the music at the Jamboree is more than just the musicians on stage. Some of the best bluegrass around can be found from those who jam on the streets outside (below) and some come each Friday to hear the street musicians and never make it inside.

It's all part of the fun of Friday night music in Floyd.

The music may be what attracts the crowds to the Friday Night Jamboree but, for a photographer, the people are the show. Young and old, short and tall, skinny and not-so-skinny -- the mixture of bluegrass music fans and those curious enough to see what the fuss is all about make each visit to the Jamboree interesting.

Friday's mixture included a collection of Radford University students checking out the show along with visitors from as far away as Turkey and Japan.

Friday also marked the return of crowd favorite Clyde Williams to the Jamboree following surgery on his hand and a fourth group kept the music hopping until close to midnight.

Floyd County Store owner Woody Crenshaw is expanding the facilityj with additions to the building, a new stage and sound system and a larger dance floor. Other plans for for an ice cream and soda fountain and lunch counter,

But the Jamboree is, and always will be, the music and the people. It's Friday night in Floyd, the music is humming and everyone is having a good time.

The skies threatened Saturday but only a brief shower fell as FloydFest 5 enjoyed a day of pleasant weather and growing crowds to see fan favorites like Donna and the Buffalo (above) on the main Dreaming Creek Stage while area bluegrass talents like The Whitetop Mountain Band (right) packed in a crowd at the Blue Cow Folklife Center.

The problem at FloydFest is not finding something to do but rather deciding which thing to do. With music on multiple stages, crafts, workshops and the like sacattered throughout the sprawling festival site, visitors have to pace themselves for what can turn into a long, grueling day and evening. I've battled leg cramps during most of this year's events even with constant hydration and frequent rest stops. FloydFest is an event that both envelops you and wears you out.

But for most the music is still the thing and the crowds get into it big time (below).

The Festival concludes tonight on the site just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Franklin County. It's worth a day of your time.

FloydFest 5 kicked off a day early this year, starting at 5 p.m. on Thursday rather than noon on Friday and it did not open with fog or rain as in many previous years.

Still, the crowd really started coming in on Friday afternoon and, as usual, the festival drew a collection of young (left) and old.

When FloydFest started five years ago, some gave the event, staged just off the Blue Ridge Parkway just across the Floyd-Patrick County line, little chance for success. Festival organizers Erika Johnson and Kris Hodges have have hit a few speed bumps fut the festival turned the corner last year and they hope to draw a record crowd of about 10,000 this year to the music, arts, crafts and folklife event that features more than just music, although many admit they come for the weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains to see festival favorites like Donna the Buffalo. This year's event also features Los Lobos in a Saturday night concert.

The sun came out on Friday as Tim O'Brien (above) brought out a crowd of traditional music lovers on Friday afternoon. As always at FloydFest, people are the show (below).

FloydFest continues through Sunday night. Bring sunscreen, comfortable clothes and a hearty appetite. The food alone is worth the visit. I'll be there most of the weekend shooting stills and video and will try to feature a bit of both here.

A couple of shots from outside the Floyd County Store during the Friday Night Jamboree.

Anyone who frequents Floyd's famous Friday Night Jamboree at the County Store knows the people and the faces are a big part of the show. From the musicians playing out in the street (above) or the eclectic collection of young and old found inside (left), the Jamboree is as much a people show as a musical event.

Georgia Reynard, an old friend from college (hers) dropped by Friday for a visit to the gallery and a tour of Floyd's music row. Georgia works at one of those politically-connected law firms in Richmond that surround the state capital like crabgrass.

After the standard tour of the Jacksonville Center, we hit Sally Walker's Café del Sol for some coffee and John Winnike's brand of easy listening jazz, then wandered up Locust Street and into the crowd outside the Country Store for the Friday Night Jamboree. The setting sun provided great light and I quickly ran through a 2 gigabyte compact flash card on my Canon EOS-1Ds.

Further up the street, Rob Neukirch hosted Irish Night to a full house of diners at his Oddfellas Cantina.

"This is incredible," Georgia said.

It was. It always is. A unseasonably cool, but still pleasant, July night with great music and an ambiance you just won't find anywhere else.

When we wandered into Cafe del Sol Friday night I thought for a second we had been transported back to San Francisco in the 1960s and 70s. Easy-listening jazz floated out the door, courtesy of John Winnike's group (above) and the ambiance was about as laid back as you can get.

Just up the street, the fenzy of the Friday Night Jamboree spilled out of Country Store. A hard downpour right when the show started didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd or the numbers that packed into the store.

Friday night is music night in Floyd and the the town's music row now runs from Winter Sun on the South End of town all the way to Over the Moon at the extreme north end where guitarist Bernie Coveney (right) played before another full house. In between you find music at Cafe del Sol, the Country Store, Whiskers, the Loft and Oddfellas Cantina. We toured music row with friends from Northern Virginia (who are currently restoring a house in Wythe County and will move here full time later this year) and noted during the evening that we go out more since moving to Floyd County than we ever did in Washington.

An entertaining night at Frank and Sally Walker's Cafe del Sol in Floyd, listening to the traditional and folk interpretations of Brother Wind, a trio that's now a quartet and a popular act for local music buffs.

Brother Wind offers a lot of oldtime feelgood tunes mixed with some contemporary. Bassist Rusty May recently joined Dave Fason and Michael & Kari Thomas Kovick to round out the group and Kari recently released a CD of her works, recorded at Dave's Undertoad Studios.

David St. Lawence, who's becoming a master at upstaging, blogged live from Cafe del Sol Friday night, posting his impressions and photos during the evening's entertainment by using the cafe's wi-fi network..

I hope David knows this means war. I used wi-fi extensively while living and working out of Washington. I could shoot an assignment and then duck into a Starbucks or other establishment offering wi-fi to send my photos to the client immediately. If a wi-fi network wasn't immediately available, I'd use Verizon's EVDO high speed wireless network to send material through a cell modem running at 768k. On my last pro shoot before leaving Washington, I shot using a wi-fi adapter on my Nikon D2H. It sent the imges directly to a trailer where editors selected the photos, cropped them for use and sent them directly to Chicago to make an early evening deadline.

The EVDO modem went into a drawer when we moved to Floyd County but Citizens Telephone is developing a high-speed over the air network in the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford area that will allow 3mb service through a laptop modem. Technology marches on and follows us into the mountains.

Also ran into Todd Christenson, the Virginia official who is ramrodding the $1 million Community Development Block that Floyd may or may not get, depending on whether or not the town can get its act together and put its traditional bickering on a back burner. Todd was taking his brother, who lives in California, on a tour of The Crooked Road, the Virginia music trail that includes Floyd's music venues.

More often than not, an evening of music at one of Floyd's growing list of venues turns into a special night as impromptu guests show up on stage. Wednesday night at Oddfellas Cantina was such a night when Sally Walker joined owner Rob Neukirch, bass player Chris Luster and guitarist Bernie Coveney on stage for fun and music.

Sally, owner of Cafe del Sol at the other end of Floyd's music row, joined the Oddfealls regulars on stage and belted out "Summertime" and even a John Prine song.

It was something special. You shoulda been there.

More often than not, an evening of music at one of Floyd's growing list of venues turns into a special night as impromptu guests show up on stage. Wednesday night at Oddfellas Cantina was such a night when Cafe del Sol owner Sally Walker joined Oddfellas proprietor Rob Neukirch, bass player Chris Luster and guitarist Bernie Coveney on stage for fun and music.

Sally, owner of Cafe del Sol at the other end of Floyd's music row, joined the Oddfealls regulars on stage and belted out "Summertime" and even borrowed a guitar to sing a John Prine selection.

What makes the evening more interesting is realizing that Sally and Rob own establishments at the two extreme ends of Floyd's music row. Rob features entertainment four nights a week and at Sunday brunch and Sally's Friday night music series has joined the nearby Jamboree as a crowd favorite. This kind of crossover is part of Floyd's culture. I've filmed Rob singing at Sally's coffee shop on a Friday night and musicians joining each other on stage for impromtu sessions is more common than not.

They also run the two most challenging venues for photography. Lighting in both Oddfellas and Cafe del Sol is tricky and shooting with available light means an iso setting of 3200 with associated noise. Still, somehow, I always managed to get something out of shooting at both locations. Of course I also had to contend with the new guy in town, David St. Lawrence, who keeps showing up at these events and horning in on my action.

Good music, good food and good companionship with friends. It was something special.

You shoulda been there.