The Crooked Road The aptly named Crooked Road snakes it way through 250 miles of southwestern Virginia. Along the way it traces the lively history and current strumming of the mountain music made in those parts. This richly-imbued site from The Roanoke Times follows a music writer, a photographer, and a videojournalist as they bump down that rural thoroughfare "like an old-time medicine show." Each stop serves up video of back-lots or county stages and profiles of guitar makers, clawhammer banjo pickers, and country music royalty. A multimedia inset includes a breakdown of instruments (complete with video of performers plunking away), the anatomy of a bluegrass tune, and audio tours. Pack your bags and get ready to roll -- the long path of the Crooked Road, and the sounds of American roots music, await you. (in Music)
