Carolina Music Ways: About The Organization

Carolina Music Ways Music Heritage Resource Group (CMW) is a grassroots group of area citizens from the Yadkin Valley region of northwest North Carolina—one of the most musically rich areas of the United States. CMW serves as the region's primary source of information on the area's musical heritage and on current-day musicians and events that keep area music traditions alive. We focus on bluegrass, jazz, blues, gospel, old-time stringband, and Moravian music.

CMW was established in 2003 as a North Carolina nonprofit organization. Our work is made possible thanks to technical support provided by the Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments, as well as funding from The Winston-Salem Foundation, the North Carolina Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County

Carolina Music Ways inventories the music traditions of the Yadkin Valley region of North Carolina, specifically Davie, Davidson, Forsyth, Stokes, Surry, and Yadkin counties We plan to add one more final county soon - Wilkes. CMW presents this web site to give you information on events, musicians, and organizations that keep area music traditions alive. The site includes information on regional music history, as well as on the over 1000 events you can attend year-round in the region that include heritage music. We are currently creating the first compilation CD of heritage musicians from the Yakin Valley region. Future plans include a performance program for area schools.

Over the years, CMW has also compiled a 170-page area music inventory and organized three heritage music concerts highlighting our region's diverse, interconnected musical heritage.

We live in the Yadkin Valley region of northwest North Carolina, a scenic and historic area of rolling foothills near the Blue Ridge Mountains. A mild climate and good soil conditions have recently made the Yadkin Valley region one of the fastest growing wine-producing area's in the United States. Winston-Salem, known as the “City of the Arts”, is the region's largest city and lies approximately 100 miles west of Raleigh, NC, 80 miles north of Charlotte, NC, and 30 miles south of the Virginia border. Most of the region consists primarily of small towns, farmland, vineyards, and beautiful natural areas, which include the Yadkin River, the Sauartown Mountains, and Pilot Mountain. Major roads crossing the Yadkin Valley region are Interstates 40, 77, and 74, as well as US Highways 421 and 52.

Please contact us with any questions, comments, or feedback at carolinamusicways@juno.com. You can also reach us at Carolina Music Ways, c/o NWPCOG, 400 W. 4th St., Suite 400, Winston-Salem, NC, 27101, or at (336) 761-2111, ex. 153.

If you would like to receive our E-MAIL NEWSLETTER, please contact us by clicking here. We provide information and updates about six times a year and we do not share our mail list with anyone.

For contact information about lodgings and non-music attractions, please go to the "Counties" section of this web site.

Carolina Music Ways has worked diligently to provide accurate information and give proper credit on this web site. In the event, however, that we have inadvertently erred, we apologize and request to be contacted so we can make any necessary corrections.