Discover Statesville
Welcome to "Discover Statesville," the show that takes you on a captivating journey through the heart of one of North Carolina's most charming towns. Co-hosted by community advocates, Richard Griggs and Cindy Sutton, this weekly show brings you the pulse of Statesville, recording live at various spots throughout Statesville in partnership with Sow Media studios.
Join Richard and Cindy as they uncover the hidden gems and local treasures that make Statesville truly special. From the top-notch attractions and exciting events to the remarkable individuals who shape the community, "Discover Statesville" promises to leave no stone unturned.
Hungry for a culinary adventure? Tune in for their delightful restaurant reviews, where they'll guide you to the best places to eat in town. Whether you're a resident or a visitor, this podcast is your ultimate guide to all the things that make Statesville great.
You're invited to come along on this immersive journey, as "Discover Statesville" brings you closer to the heart of our vibrant town. Be prepared to be entertained, inspired, and enlightened each week, as Richard and Cindy share their passion for all things Statesville!
Discover Statesville
Fiddler's Grove Reimagined: Harmonizing History at Carolina Hills Fiddle Fest
Celebrate 100 years of music in the Grove this Memorial Day weekend at the Carolina Hills Fiddle Fest. Step into the rhythm with Chase and Bethany Prevette as we look into the evolution of this storied musical landmark. Join us as Bethany tells us how the Blake family is breathing new life into the historic Fiddler's Grove, transforming it into a modern retreat that's still deeply connected to its roots. Discover how this cherished location has evolved into a buzzing hub for community events and a beacon for travelers, nestled between Statesville and Wilkesboro with easy access to wineries and Southern Distilling Company. Get ready to mark your calendars for seasonal celebrations and the inaugural Carolina Hills Fiddle Fest, an event set to echo the traditions of the past with a fresh, dynamic beat.
Unpack your fiddle, tighten your bow, and join us around the campfire for a deeper look at what it takes to pull off a music festival that's as much about heritage as it is about harmony. From the opening night with performances by the Lonesome River Band to the workshops preserving the art of shape note singing, this episode plucks at the heartstrings of musical passion. With our hosts, Chase and Bethany, you'll learn about the meticulous planning, the community spirit, and the sheer joy of hosting a gathering that celebrates the enduring legacy of music. Whether you're an old-time music aficionado or a curious newcomer, this episode is a melodious journey into the soul of Carolina's rich cultural tapestry.
We're excited to be celebrating 100 years of music in the Grove. Tune in now to learn more.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Discover Statesville, the show that takes you on a captivating journey through the heart of one of North Carolina's most charming towns.
Speaker 1:Welcome back everyone. We hope you are ready to discover Statesville, the greater Statesville area, with us. Today we have some fun guests in the studio to talk about the first annual Carolina Hills Fiddle Fest.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, so welcome. Today we're joined by Chase and Bethany Prevett with Blake Farms Family RV Resort Blake Farms Family RV Resort up in Union Grove. So I guess, before we get into talking about the event, tell us a little bit about Blake Farms.
Speaker 4:So Blake Farms is a chicken and plant farm in North Wilkesboro, north Carolina, and they expanded into the campground, which used to be Fiddler's Grove, about three years ago and made a lot of major improvements. They added a lot of campsites there's 64 there now. There's a fishing pond, a swimming pond, a playground with a jumping pillow, a dog park, putt-putt course. They remodeled all the bathhouses and the office and then they just added a country store a couple weeks ago. So they've done a lot of improvements to the campground. And then they also have events. They've hosted really big fireworks displays the last three years, and then Fiddle Fest is one of our newest additions. And then they also have some events around Halloween and Christmas too.
Speaker 3:Oh cool. Well, it's a big piece of property because I've been up there for music events before, yes, which are all kind of centered around the stage there, obviously, but if you walk on back it's a big property.
Speaker 4:It goes pretty far and it joins to a farmer's field in the very back, so there's a lot of quiet, peace and quiet out there, which is nice, very cool.
Speaker 1:Bethany, you say the RV resort. Has it been three years already? Yeah, I guess, coming out of the pandemic, they reopened it to the public, which, from a tourism perspective, we have loved Just this week, right now, statesville's playing host to the Red Knights Dixie Rally and there's close to 400 individuals in town and most of them are staying in our hotels, but some of them had RVs and, you know, pulled their motorcycles and they wanted to camp and they all wanted to be at your new RV resort. So thank you, thank you for being a gracious host to some of our guests in Statesville. We're excited about that.
Speaker 4:Well, it's kind of in the perfect spot. So the Speedway opened up back in Wilkesboro now and it's kind of the perfect spot in between Statesville and Wilkesboro so you can go to all of them and visit everything that there is in the area. Plus there's a bunch of wineries and all that fun stuff. A centralized location, yeah, and I've had a lot of people come down and visit Southern Distilling too from the campground.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I've had a lot of people come down and visit Southern Distilling too, from the campground. Yeah, and it's not just about visitors and camping. You guys have really embraced opening it up to the community. I know we're going to dive in and talk about your fiddle fest that you've been your amazing idea here that you've been planning, but there's been lots of other events Like, tell us about. I mean you guys are an event venue open up to the public? Yes, I mean you guys are an event venue open up to the public.
Speaker 4:I mean you guys have been doing some great things. Well, they've done spring in the Grove. I know they've done fall in the Grove at least once there was. It wasn't like a show on Halloween, but there was a lot of skeletons decorated on the campground for Halloween. And then around Christmas they did a big Christmas event and they had a lot of lights that you could drive through. And then Santa Claus was there, and they had a lot of lights that you could drive through, and then Santa Claus was there and they had a bunch of vendors and the vendors are one of the biggest part of all of the events, because we try to get everybody that makes things locally to come out and before we started the show, josh, you were saying how many lights did they put out there?
Speaker 1:did you, or you were, you were a few million.
Speaker 4:I'd have to look up the post.
Speaker 1:Well, I missed it. I missed it this past year, but I'm not going to miss it this year.
Speaker 3:And then in addition to hosting other organizations, you know, I know like we had a Boy Scout camperee up there a year ago. I think it rained all weekend.
Speaker 4:Just had one another couple weeks ago.
Speaker 3:There.
Speaker 4:The Boy Scouts take over the campground.
Speaker 5:It didn't rain, but I think it was the same weekend that tornado hit Wilkesboro, so a few tents went flying.
Speaker 3:It was very windy we watched Boy Scouts chase tents from the window.
Speaker 1:You guys have done a really cool thing just in the past 30 days. Right, you've opened up a country store out there. Yes, tell us about that.
Speaker 4:So the old barn that used to host a lot of the Fiddler's Conventions and a lot of the jamming at the Fiddler's Conventions. It used to be lined with all of the awards from years prior. We had to make a little room for shelves, so most of those are down now. But it was completely remodeled. They basically built a shell around the outside of it and kept as much wood original as possible, added a really nice metal roof and some really nice porches for people to sit on. But it's also a coffee shop. So the Country Store has a coffee shop in the corner, as well as a lot of, again, local vendors. I know Sharp's Catering is in there. There's local honey, molasses, gray Haven Farms, beef, freeze-dried candy there's like the bulk candy bins that you can get by the pound, true country store yeah, it's got about everything you could want yeah.
Speaker 1:and so bethany texted this morning and was so gracious to say hey, can I bring y'all a coffee? And I thought she meant like she was just gonna stop at a local coffee shop and I was like no, no, thank you. That's so sweet of you. But then I thought wait a minute, maybe they have coffee. So I texted her back and told her to surprise us, and she brought the perfect selections. This is a berry.
Speaker 4:That is the berry harvest tea and that is actually made by Full Moon Herbarium, which is another Statesville vendor, and it's just like a really good sweet iced tea and it's actually caffeine-free.
Speaker 1:Full Bloom Herbarium. Full Moon.
Speaker 4:Full Moon, I thought she said Full.
Speaker 1:Bloom and I thought whoa Well, kudos to you guys. This is delicious. Thank you very much. I have a smoothie.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, Peach strawberry banana. Yep, it's delicious.
Speaker 4:And then mine is a latte, but it is. We use black powder coffee which is fairly local it's from Moore's Soul.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we partner with black coffee a lot yeah.
Speaker 4:They've got good coffee.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we really believe in it. You know it takes a village and we all need to work together so we try not to draw boundaries and to us the greater Statesville area is ireland county and beyond.
Speaker 4:If it needs to be just cool stuff when people visit statesville that we want them to know about, so locals too and it's nice to just be able to know well, I got my coffee from here, I got my beef from here and to just be able to support local industries and now is the country store maintaining pretty regular hours yes, seven to five through the week and 9 to 5 on Saturday. We've talked about trying to open up a little bit earlier, but I don't know if we will.
Speaker 1:Every day of the week. No, not Sundays. Okay, sorry, all right, no, but that's amazing. That's awesome, some solid hours.
Speaker 3:So tell us about we were talking a little bit before we started the podcast about sort of the the storied history of bluegrass and fiddle music in that area. So I guess tell us about this first annual Carolina Hills Fiddle Fest event coming up and then maybe then we can talk a little bit about some of the history of that.
Speaker 4:So the Carolina Hills Fiddle Fest is kind of halfway between a fiddlers convention and a bluegrass festival. There is some performed music for people to enjoy on Thursday and Sunday and then competition is on Friday and Saturday. So Fiddler's Conventions, like I said, have started in Union Grove since 1924, and there was one in Statesville just a little bit before that. I want to say theirs was in 1921, but Statesville doesn't have one that I'm aware of anymore. But Fiddler's Conventions have long been a way for people to come and compete and share music and it really helps music move.
Speaker 4:You know people traveling and tourism, that's a more visible movement. But if you hear a song on the other side of the country you don't really get to see how that is moved all the way across the country. But Fiddler's Conventions play a big part of that and people get to compete for prize money and bragging rights and there's what is it? $3,500, a little over that in prize money up in all the competitions. And then there's two awards that are named Memorial Awards that are bigger than most conventions have. They're $250 each, and one of those is a youth award and one is an adult award. So we are equal opportunity for everybody to win a little money.
Speaker 1:Go ahead. This is your baby, right? You've been planning this. It is, yeah, countless hours.
Speaker 4:Long nights Chase right there by your side.
Speaker 5:The whole, yeah, yeah, countless hours, long nights.
Speaker 3:Yeah and Chase is right there by your side the whole time.
Speaker 5:Absolutely 90% of the time, yeah, chase had to make a few coffee runs, sometimes when.
Speaker 4:Chase has the time he has been helping me on it. I've been lucky enough to be able to be open in the store and have a little extra time for this since I started working for the Blakes, but it's been really good. The response has been great. I've gotten I had a call from a lady in Tennessee about a camp spot last night, so response has been good.
Speaker 3:That's professional, so it kicks off on. So this is next weekend. It starts on the 23rd.
Speaker 4:Next weekend.
Speaker 3:Kicks off on Thursday night.
Speaker 4:Thursday night with Lonesome River Band and their Grammy award winning artists. They're fantastic, and we'll actually be on the stage for about 30 minutes with the Carolina Hills Band and then Carolina Detour, which is another local band, and they're a bunch of young kids.
Speaker 3:I just saw them at Merlefest.
Speaker 4:They're fantastic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you said you would be on the stage, are you guys?
Speaker 4:playing in the band? Yeah, we'll be playing, oh well.
Speaker 5:We formed a house band just because we knew that we were going to have some breaks during Saturday. Judges need a lunch break and dinner break and we're like, well you know, we don't want to just have nothing. So we figured let's just put a band together. It's me, it's bethany, myself, my dad, um, and then a few other family members close family members. What does your dad play? Uh, man, well, he plays about everything, but mainly mandolin, really.
Speaker 1:Yeah when he's not hidden for our listeners who are locals. Um, his dad is joe prevette, uh, who used to be the bicycle policeman in downtown stateful, for many years. Uh, well known and well loved before he retired, um, but I knew he was a musician. Musician, um, but didn't know much outside of that. But forming a house band to be a filler, that's cool.
Speaker 4:Well, we didn't want to pick favorites out of the competing bands to play. So yeah, having a house band just keeps it neutral. Can you all win? No, no, we are not competing. I don't have the time and Chase is hosting several workshops too.
Speaker 5:We might get constructive criticism or a few tomatoes thrown at us.
Speaker 1:I doubt it. I bet it's going to be amazing, Chase. Talk a little bit about the workshops, Bethany.
Speaker 5:We have several, several workshops planned. We've got anywhere from your major instrument categories fiddle, banjo, mandolin from your major instrument categories fiddle, banjo, mandolin. It's primarily to teach the younger generation. If somebody doesn't know how to play the guitar, we have a guy that will come in and just show you the basics. It's just to kind of go over the basics, set a baseline for everybody. I know I can speak personally. I'm going to be helping with a workshop on check note singing and another workshop on vocal and just showing people. You know like, hey, if you're struggling with this, you know, try this.
Speaker 5:I've led a choir at Mount Pisgah up in Northwood, right there at the county line. But I've led the choir there for years now with me and um steve suther. We kind of go back and forth, um, but I, I use that and I've used, uh, the things I learned in college to kind of help people with that vocally and the shape note singing. That's something my family's done for my great grandfather done it, grandfather done it. You know it's, it's a family tradition. But, um, I can only speak on the shape note singing, singing and the vocal side of things. But we have workshops designated for the youth. But anybody, if you're 60 years old and say I want to learn how to play guitar, we have a workshop.
Speaker 3:Never too late, never too late, do you? Have to register in advance to attend one of those workshops or just buy a ticket. Come in, bring your instrument and look at the schedule you show up.
Speaker 4:They will be at the old cabin on the property. So the old cabin has a lot of the old records from the Fiddler's Convention and it's got the old stoves and old tables. It's just a vintage cabin but there's a porch on it and it'll just be. You walk up to it and they'll be on the porch teaching. I know Clay Lunsford is doing a flat-picking guitar workshop and Bob Kogut is doing a beginner fiddle workshop and there's some more of the vocal and the shape notes. Shape notes is a big one, though A lot of places, even if they do have workshops, they notes. Shape notes is a big one, though A lot of places, even if they do have workshops, they don't have shape note workshops.
Speaker 3:Shape notes has been around since the 18th century.
Speaker 5:Let's explain what that is really quickly, really quickly, I'll try. Shape notes have been. You can do a demo if you want to.
Speaker 5:I'd have to draw it. I'll tell people it's like painting by number, but it's singing by. I'll tell people it's like painting by number, but it's singing by shape. So you've heard the the do re mi fa. So they take that and the solfege yeah, they, they take the solfege and they assign a shape to it to and try to make it easier and more accessible for people to sing. Now, a lot of your big, big wigs and music, call it uncouth, they think it's kind of unized, but you get, because I've been to several singings out towards Asheville and you just get a group of people together and the only thing they want to do is sing. They've got a potluck dinner there, but the only thing they want to do is sing and they sing it loud and proud and it's a magical experience. If you're ever anywhere and there's a shape note singing, go.
Speaker 3:So it's a way of reading, it's a way of writing music in a certain way, to where you're reading it. Yeah, okay, the way.
Speaker 4:I explain. It is that there, way back when, when not everybody had a hymn book and not everybody could read, you could still see what the shapes were. But it was a way for everybody to be able to sing and not feel left out. And again, with the spread in music that spread shape notes all over the South and made singing accessible for all the churches, oh, very cool. Thanks for asking that question.
Speaker 3:I was just going to sit here and think maybe it's going to come out and that way I won't have to ask. But then I was like I just need to ask Did you know?
Speaker 5:No, oh, okay, the book I use there's Sacred Heart and Christian Harmony, but the one I use Christian Harmony. The author, william Walker. He traveled the country and collected 15,000 hymns from preachers, traveling preachers, choirs, and he just wrote them down and it's a way to just make music more accessible for people.
Speaker 1:Richard, I think we need shape note workshops at the Art Arts Council.
Speaker 3:I was guessing that it was going to be like a way of bending notes or something to make them sound like. I really had no idea, so this was very educational.
Speaker 1:I can't even read a note, so I'm learning all kinds of things today.
Speaker 3:Well, shape notes, you don't have to know All right, there you go, there you go, and now do you need to buy tickets in advance or are you able to buy tickets at the gate?
Speaker 4:You can buy tickets at the gate, too, with cash.
Speaker 3:But if you want to camp, get that in advance any camping left.
Speaker 4:There's not any full hookup campsites. There are dry hookup campsites in the field, um in the sun, yeah, yeah, but we do have bathhouses and dump stations, so it's not completely um dry, I guess, but yeah, anything in the field, and you can also bring a generator to the field too, so you don't have to be completely um no hook. But yeah, there are plenty of those left. I think we've got 300.
Speaker 5:That's just a start.
Speaker 4:300 tents and 59 camper spots left in the field.
Speaker 1:You're a tent camping kind of guy, aren't you Richard?
Speaker 3:I do a lot of tent camping, but I have a pop-up camper as well.
Speaker 1:That'd be cool yeah.
Speaker 3:That was a COVID purchase.
Speaker 4:There were a lot of those yeah, you can still get camping tickets the day of too, um, but we would prefer that you purchase them in advance so we can plan out your spots and mark them out in the field for you.
Speaker 1:Logistical stuff so good ticket prices right the whole weekend's. 40 bucks for the whole weekend is $40 or $15 a day.
Speaker 4:You just want to come hear Lonesome River Band. We also have a gospel band, gaining Ground, on Sunday. They are from Kulamie and they're just really good musicians. John Powell in that band. He's one of the band leaders. He is normally backup for—he teaches and so he is normally at the Fiddler's Conventions being everybody's backup for the day. So he goes across the stage a couple hundred times normally. I gave him the luxury job this year and he's going to be one of our judges Okay, but he definitely has the experience and knowledge to judge fairly, yeah.
Speaker 3:So Thursday is, you know, come watch the performance. Yep Lone Storm River Band Yep Carolina Detour. Yep Lone Storm River Band Yep Carolina Detour.
Speaker 4:Yep.
Speaker 3:And what's the oh and?
Speaker 2:the.
Speaker 3:Carolina.
Speaker 4:Hills Band the house band, House band.
Speaker 3:And then Friday and Saturday are primarily come and participate in workshops or just watch the competitions.
Speaker 4:Yep, so Friday is youth competitions and it is in the evening, so there's still plenty of time for kids to get out of school and come, unless they just want to skip school for the day. But I don't condone that. Um, this is educational experience, courage, yeah, yeah, um. But yeah, the competition for youth is on friday evening, um, and we don't cut you off until eight o'clock, so you got plenty of time to get there, um, and then their awards will also be friday evening, so that they can focus on workshops and playing with their friends on saturday. Saturday, during the day is adult individual competitions, so your banjo, mandolin, all fiddle, all that good stuff, and then there's also going to be craft and food vendors too, so there's plenty of stuff to look at while you're there, and then in the evening we'll kick off the band competition and then, after the bands finish up, we'll do the adult awards.
Speaker 3:Very cool, and so the competition. How does that work? Does everybody get like you get to play a song?
Speaker 4:Yep, you get to play one song. The bands get to play a couple songs, but yeah, you get one song. And the way that I've had a judge explain it to me he said it's not necessarily always about who's the best fiddle player, it's about who's the best fiddle player that day. So you know, even if you don't think you're the best fiddle player, you should still come compete, because you never know.
Speaker 3:I know that I'm not the best fiddle player.
Speaker 1:You should still come compete because you never know, I know that I'm not the best. Well, even if you don't win, you still have an amazing day with other fiddlers there's levels to the prizes are there not, even if you come in?
Speaker 4:third, or second place. Yeah, almost all of the categories. Well, I won't say pay, but almost all of the categories have ribbons for up to fifth place and pay up to third place. Very cool. So there are ribbons to be had. You just got to come compete for them.
Speaker 5:So you might not be the best mandolin player in the world, but you might be the only one there that day, so you win first and fifth, that's true.
Speaker 4:There are also auto harp and dulcimer. I think Very cool Dulcimer and dobro and those categories don't always have a ton of people competing. So even if you just want to be a throwaway- contestant Just off the old Dobro. And you can compete in two individual categories and a band. So you can compete in multiple things and it's only $10 to compete and once you go across the stage you get half that back anyway.
Speaker 1:It's worth it. It's worth it. So tell us, bethany, how do we, how do our listeners? If they want to go online and learn more, tell us the website.
Speaker 4:We're on Facebook. You can also Google it. It's Google-able. And then carolinahillsfiddlefestcom is the best place and that's the only place to buy tickets. Yeah, that's the only place to buy tickets.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very easy to navigate. That's how I found you, and you have answered the phone on the first ring every time I've called.
Speaker 4:Even if you just type in Fiddle Fest, you should be able to find it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, that's great. Thank you so much for the efforts you guys are putting in to bring this.
Speaker 3:It's really exciting.
Speaker 1:To bring this for the greater Statesville area and we're excited about I'll say new because we haven't talked about it yet the RV resort, the country store. You guys keep doing good things and let us know how we can lift it up. Absolutely, carolina Hills Fiddle Fest guys, you aren't going to want to miss it. We do, yeah. So we want to make sure and give special thanks. This podcast is made possible by the Statesville Convention and Visitors Bureau and we love doing it. We hope that you have been tuning in. If you're a new listener, please go to statesvilleNCcom. Click on podcast. We are gosh, isaiah. How many episodes are we in? Thirty-three episodes in and counting. I'm not going to speak for Richard, but I love it so much meeting new people, I love it so much and learn something.
Speaker 1:Learn something new every time, so Discover Statesville people, statesvillenccom. Until next time, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you for joining Discover Statesville. You can email us at discover at statesvillenccom. Check us out on Facebook at Discover Statesville, nc hashtag Discover Statesville and our website, statesvillenccom. Catch us next week as we continue on our journey to uncover the hidden gems, culinary adventures, entertainment, and to be inspired and enlightened as we Discover Statesville.
