This unique and collaborative event will feature old-time gospel duo, Mac and Jenny Traynham, fiddle player Shay Garriock, vocalist and autoharp player Janet Turner, vocalist and fiddle player Keith Hiatt, bluegrass gospel family the Mannons, young bluegrass gospel group Statement, shape-note singing group the Patton Singers and gospel pianist and vocalist Mrs. Ernestine Sherman. All of the performers are from the Blue Ridge area and participate in traditional gospel music of this region through the Floyd Country Store Jamboree, family gatherings, churches and other special events. All are lifelong musicians who posses the right qualities and humility that allow them to carry on this special tradition. Through this event the Floyd Country Store hopes to honor and explore the influence of religious music in Appalachian Virginia. WVTF, Back to the Blue Ridge, radio host Kinney Rorrer will introduce each performer and discuss the style of gospel music they will perform. Kinney is a retired college professor and author who has been in love with old-time and bluegrass music since childhood. His father, a native of Franklin County, played old-time fiddle on occasion and his younger brother played guitar. His father's uncles were professional old-time musicians who made commercial recordings in the 1920's. Kinney recalls, "We had some of their old 78's that I would play on the Victrola and I was absolutely captivated by the sound. I learned to play old-time banjo as a teenager and I have been involved with the music one way or another ever since." This event is made possible in part by a grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. This organization brings the humanities fully into Virginia’s public life, assisting individuals and communities in their efforts to understand the past, confront important issues in the present, and shape a promising future.