SURRY COUNTY MUSIC EVENTS

  • The Surry Arts Council remains involved in preserving and promoting Surry County old-time music. Weekly jam sessions and the WPAQ Merry-Go-Round, old-time dances, concerts, the annual Tommy Jarrell Festival, old-time youth competitions, and weekly free lessons for youth are a few of the Surry Arts Council's ongoing programs that are keeping our Surry County music heritage alive.

  • DAILY

    Old-Time Music Heritage Hall
    Historic Earle Theatre
    142 N. Main Street ~ Mount Airy

    Open year-round

    Exhibit Hours:
      Monday - Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
      Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with additional times varying (please ask when purchasing)
      Sunday times vary

    Self-guided tours of the Old-Time Music Heritage Hall are included in your admission to the Andy Griffith Museum. Please purchase tickets at the Museum and inquire about available Saturday and Sunday times.

         

  • WEEKLY

    WPAQ Merry-Go-Round at the Historic Earle Theatre
    Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

    Admission $8 or an WPAQ Merry-Go-Round Annual Pass
    Attend the Merry-Go-Round free with your admission to the Andy Griffith Museum purchased on the day of the show
    Please call 336.786.7998 for more details

    The WPAQ Merry-Go-Round can be heard live on WPAQ 740 AM or streaming online. The live show features two bands each week. Bands are listed on the Historic Earle Theatre website.

    The WPAQ Merry-Go-Round is the second longest continuously running live radio broadcast in the nation (The Grand Ole Opry is the longest running). Radio station WPAQ, 740 AM, produces this weekly live broadcast of local, regional and national performers from inside the Historic Earle Theatre. The Merry-Go-Round has run weekly since February 2, 1948. Among the regional and national names who played on it are Tommy Jarrell, Benton Flippen, the Carter Family, Bill and Charlie Monroe, Grandpa Jones, Ralph Stanley, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and Mac Wiseman. On April 5, 2007, WPAQ began streaming over the internet. In 1997, WPAQ’s Merry-Go-Round moved to the Earle Theatre where the live broadcast, getting ready to celebrate its 50th birthday, returned to its origin in Downtown Mount Airy. The Merry-Go-Round begins at 11:00 a.m. and ends at 1:30 p.m. every Saturday.


  • Free Youth Old-Time Dance Lessons
    Thursdays
    4:30 p.m.

    Free Youth Fiddle and Guitar Lessons
    Thursdays
    5:30 p.m. Fiddle
    6:15 p.m. Guitar

    Surry Arts Council staff instructs dance and award-winning musician and teacher Jim Vipperman is the instrument instructor. Drop by for a hands-on experience if you are visiting or bring your child weekly for lessons. Instruments are provided. Parents are welcome to stay and participate. This project is sponsored in part by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

    TAPS, Traditional Arts Programs for Students, is a North Carolina Arts Council funded program that seeks to preserve North Carolina’s musical heritage and traditions. TAPS unites elementary and middle school students with local traditional musicians for instruction. The Surry Arts Council program at the EARLE is taught by award winning local musician, Jim Vipperman. Jim has won 1st place in Bluegrass Fiddle at the Galax Fiddlers Convention, and he has won the Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention Bluegrass Fiddle division 9 times. He no longer enters and is in charge of judging. He won the coveted Brown-Hudson Award for his many years of teaching hundreds of students and his efforts to keep our musical heritage alive.

    Students from the fourth grade and up are invited to learn how to play. Parents, siblings, and guardians are invited to stay and participate. Visitors’ families are welcome to participate in this “hands on” cultural experience. Instruments are available for students and visitors.

    The sessions are free. No registration is required. For more information, call the Surry Arts Council at 336.786.7998.

  • ANNUALLY

    Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention

    Veterans Memorial Park in Mount Airy
    Always the First Weekend in June

    www.mountairyfiddlersconvention.com

    Veterans Memorial Park, Inc. works with the Surry Arts Council to provide annual dance and old-time workshops during the Fiddlers Convention. These workshops are sponsored in part by a Grassroots grant from the Grassroots program of the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

  • Tommy Jarrell Celebration

    Weekend in Late February/Early March

    Tommy Jarrell, who played the old-time fiddle, was raised in the Round Peak community of Surry County. To celebrate his life and music, the Tommy Jarrell Celebration was created in 2002 to commemorate this accomplished musician. A youth competition, dance, and concert are held.

    Visit the Tommy Jarrell Celebration page for details.

  • Mount Airy Old-Time Retreat

    Late February/Early March

    Join us for classes, workshops, and unique opportunities with locally and nationally recognized old-time musicians at our Mount Airy Old-Time Retreat. The retreat is scheduled with the Tommy Jarrell Celebration and is open to musicans of all ages and abilities.

    Visit the Mount Airy Old-Time Retreat website for more details.

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