Tyler Hughes
Emcee
2026 Festival Performers:
Main Stage
Performers
Emcee: Tyler Hughes
Tyler Hughes serves as the Executive Director of The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail. An old time musician and square dance caller, Hughes has been steeped in Appalachia’s musical traditions since his childhood. He has performed at home and abroad on stages across the world. He has appeared on NPR, PBS, and WSM’s Grand Ole Opry. When he isn’t picking a banjo tune, he can be found spending time around Big Stone Gap where he serves as a Town Councilman.
Carolina Detour
The Tennessee Bluegrass Band is rapidly making a name for themselves as an exciting new group with great passion for the music they play. The band was formed from top-notch musicians that gained expertise through performing with some of the industry’s leading bands, and they have a passion for making music that combines the ideas of the past with modern-day creativity. The Tennessee Bluegrass Band has earned numerous accolades including IBMA for New Artist of the Year Nominee, SPBGMA Entertainer of the Year Nominee, #1 Traditional Album on RMR’s Top 50, #1 Gospel song on Cashbox Magazine and #1 Music Video on the Bluegrass Standard.
Lonesome River Band
Since its formation decades ago, Lonesome River Band continues its reputation as one of the most respected names in Bluegrass music. Five-time International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Banjo Player of the Year, and winner of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, Sammy Shelor leads the group that is constantly breaking new ground in acoustic music. With stellar lead vocalists and impressive instrumental talents, the band seamlessly comes together, performing the trademark sound that fans continue to embrace.
Dave and Dave ft Erin Shields and Sasha Lazard
Multi-instrumentalist virtuosi and Grammy Nominees Dave Eggar and David Shenton join forces in a nonstop musical adventure featuring some of your favorite classical rock bluegrass and jazz tunes. This high energy set features the return of Opera diva Sasha Lazard and jazz vocalist Erin shields in an unforgettable evening that will keep your toes tapping!!!!!
Sister Sadie
Sister Sadie didn’t begin with a plan or a pitch, but with a spontaneous jam among seasoned women musicians at Nashville’s Station Inn that ignited a chemistry powerful enough to change the bluegrass landscape. What started by accident became a GRAMMY-nominated, IBMA-sweeping, Grand Ole Opry-starring force—often mislabeled as simply an all-female bluegrass band, though their mission has always been bigger than any label. With All Will Be Well, Sister Sadie fully steps beyond boundaries, blending bluegrass roots with country, Americana, gospel, and fearless emotional storytelling to create their most honest, unfiltered work yet. Built on lived experience—growth, hurt, healing, and defiance—the album showcases raw performances, bold songwriting, and a collective voice that refuses to shrink for tradition or industry expectations. This is not a band trying to prove anything; it’s six formidable musicians claiming exactly who they are, staying rooted while growing wild, and making music that tells the truth loudly, confidently, and without asking permission.
For information on Gathering Place performers go to the Gathering Place page
Acoustic Arbor sponsored by the Crooked Road
Acoustic Arbor
Stage Schedule
WiseJAMS
Based in Bristol, V.A. , Momma Molasses has toured throughout the Southeast, as a breakout D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) musician. Her music interlaces influences from Classic Country, Appalachian Folk, Western-Swing, Swamp-pop, Bluegrass, and Old-Time music into a uniquely timeless sound. Her rolling contralto voice scales over homespun finger-picked guitar, in haunting lamentations. Warm, rich, and passionate her songs embrace, and captivate listeners, soothing well warn hearts with vulnerable lyricism.
Jim Lloyd & Now Playing
Based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia, Ashlee Watkins & Andrew Small have captivated audiences around the globe with their stirring harmonies and hard-hitting old-time sound. Their songs range from heartbreaking country duets to foot stomping breakdowns as the duo moves effortlessly between fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and guitars. Ashlee and Andrew have won many awards from fiddlers conventions throughout the region including first place with The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee at the 85th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention.
As songwriters, Ashlee and Andrew were featured in the 2022 IBMA Songwriter Showcase and won first prize in the 29th Annual MerleFest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. The duo has been featured on the PBS television show Song Of The Mountains, played on the Cabin Stage at MerleFest, and performed for the inauguration of the 74th Governor of Virginia. In 2021-22, they hosted the 10th season of The Floyd Radio Show and their music is also featured on the soundtracks of The Green Tunnel podcast and the PBS documentary Rock Castle Home.
Roan Street Ramblers
The Roan Street Ramblers are a family bluegrass band from Unicoi, Tennessee, made up of Leslie Smith and her children Lucy (15), River (14), and Sawyer (11). With deep roots in Appalachian music, the band blends seasoned musicianship with youthful energy—Leslie on vocals and guitar, Lucy leading on fiddle and vocals, River on banjo, guitar, and vocals, and Sawyer on mandolin, fiddle, and vocals. All three children have trained from an early age through the Academy of Strings and the JAM Program. The Ramblers have earned awards at major fiddle conventions and festivals across the region, including top finishes at the 2024 Galax Old Time Fiddlers Convention, and have appeared at prominent events such as MerleFest and World of Bluegrass. In 2025, they look ahead to performing at Bristol’s Rhythm & Roots Festival.
The Lovely Mountaineers
Gina and Jason Dilg are based in Radford, near Lovely Mount in Southwest Virginia, where they perform foot-stomping dance tunes and old country ballads from the American string band tradition, music that permeates their lives through performance, dance, art, and teaching. Gina, raised in a family of musicians, has played Southern Appalachian music since childhood and is now an award-winning musician, dancer, and graphic artist who teaches at programs such as the Swannanoa Gathering and Junior Appalachian Musicians. Jason is a highly respected interpreter of Appalachian dance tunes and ballads, a versatile multi-instrumentalist with numerous competition honors, former adjunct banjo instructor at Naropa University, and current instructor and director of the Junior Appalachian Musicians program in Montgomery County, Virginia. Together, they were recently featured in the PBS docuseries Life in Virginia’s Appalachia: Flatfooting.