The Crooked Road Ramblers + The New Ballard’s Branch Bogtrotters

Hailing from Southwest Virginia, The Crooked Road Ramblers are steeped in the traditional music of the Blue Ridge. They have played at the Carter Family Fold, Wayne Henderson Festival, HoustonFest, and many venues across Virginia and North Carolina. They claimed first place in the old-time band category at the Ashe County, Alleghany County, Fries & Union Grove fiddler’s conventions in addition to second place at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention.

The New Ballard’s Branch Bogtrotters came together informally at the 1985 Fries fiddlers Convention and have since become well known and appreciated in traditional music circles. The name, The New Ballard’s Branch Bogtrotters, is a tribute to the original Ballard’s Branch Bogtrotters, a famous Galax-area band of the 1930s. The group has won the prestigious first place old-time band prize at the Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax eight different years. Eddie Bond, the band’s fiddler, is also a fine vocalist, and he knows many of the old mountain ballads that date back to previous generations.