High on Whitetop Mountain in Southwest Virginia, long before modern music festivals became what they are today, thousands of people were climbing a remote Virginia mountaintop to hear fiddles, banjos, ballads and traditional Appalachian mountain music.

Beginning in 1931, the White Top Folk Festival grew from a local fiddlers’ contest into a gathering that attracted musicians, folklorists and visitors from across the country.

Then came 1933.

That year, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt made the journey to Whitetop Mountain and her reason for coming had a surprising connection to her father, Elliott Roosevelt, and the time he had spent in Southwest Virginia decades earlier.

This week on Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia Podcast, we travel into the mountains where Smyth, Washington and Grayson counties come together to tell the story of the White Top Folk Festival: how it began, the Appalachian musicians who played there, Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous visit, how organizers struggled with the meaning of “authentic” mountain music, and why the festival eventually disappeared.

Along the way, we’ll meet some of the people who helped make White Top possible, including Annabel Morris Buchanan, who spent years collecting and preserving hundreds of traditional songs and ballads from Southwest Virginia and the surrounding Appalachian region.

We’ll also look at what it was actually like on Whitetop in those early years the rough mountain roads, thousands of people gathering around fiddlers and banjo players, traditional dancing, ballad singing and the old-time music that had been passed from one generation to the next.

And this isn’t just a story from the history books. Whitetop remains a unique mountain community today, known for its music, Christmas trees, maple syrup and ramps and for generations of people who have called this high country home.

But the music of Whitetop didn’t disappear with the festival ending.

Generations of musicians have continued carrying the musical traditions of Whitetop and the surrounding communities forward. One of those musicians is Martha Spencer, a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and flatfoot dancer whose family has deep roots in the old-time music of Whitetop.

And this week, you won’t just hear us talk about that tradition.

Stay through the end of the episode to hear Martha Spencer perform “Wind and Rain,” from her album Wonderland.

Music featured in this episode:
“Wind and Rain” — Martha Spencer
From the album Wonderland
Performed by Martha Spencer
Used with permission.

Special thanks to Martha Spencer’s team for granting permission to feature her music in this episode.

Find Martha Spencer’s music on all major streaming platforms and learn more about her music and performances at MarthaSpencerMusic.com.

Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia podcast explores the true crime, history, folklore, people and forgotten stories of Appalachia.