Published: July 14, 2007 07:46 pm      

Musicians fiddle around with tradition in Tazewell

TAZEWELL, Va. — When they were kids, Leroy and Dewey Long had to wait until one of the grown ups laid their guitar, banjo or mandolin down before it was there turn to play.

“People didn’t have many instruments,” Dewey Long, 55, of Rural Retreat, Va., said. “When the grown ups would come back into the room to start playing again, we had to give up our instruments.”

Levi Long, 78, of Bastian, Va., taught his sons how to provide the music for the soundtrack of Smyth and Grayson county Virginia, and continues that tradition of teaching the old-time tunes, style and songs that grew from the central Appalachian Mountains region.

“He’s played old-time music up and down the East Coast and he did some recording,” Leroy Long, 51, of Tazewell said. “After he came off the road, he started teaching the young ones how to make the music that came from our Smyth and Grayson county roots. He taught fiddle playing to many of the young ones who cared to learn.”

For his commitment to the preservation of old-time music, Levi Long was among the group of individuals to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award Saturday night at the fifth annual Tazewell County Old Time & Bluegrass Fiddlers’ Convention.

“The Lifetime Achievement Awards presentation is a highlight of the convention,” Charlotte Whitted said. Whitted is director of Historic Crab Orchard Museum and has been coordinator and one of the driving forces behind the fiddlers’ convention. “I think the part I like the most is after we have announced the recipients and all of them get up on stage together to perform ‘Will The Circle Be Unbroken.’ It’s always a very touching moment.”

In addition to Long, other performers honored included Henry Reed (posthumously), the Giles County musician who preserved his region’s unique musical tradition; Eric & Charlotte Whitesell who continue the Wright family’s musical tradition; and Ebby Jewell, Shelby Jewell’s younger brother and a member of the Bluegrass Kinsmen.

“We continue to grow,” Whitted said. “We’ve found our date and we like our date. We shifted some things this year and we don’t have major entertainment, but the people seem to enjoy it. I love the youth competition. It’s good to see so many talented young people.”

Tiffany Buchanan, 25, of Nashville, Tenn., took the stage with her washtub bass, an instrument she has been working with for about two years. Matt Kinman accompanied Buchanan on the banjo. “My husband was in a band, and I got interested in the washtub bass. I couldn’t really hear it on stage, but people in the audience said they liked it.” Buchanan competed in the bass category.

Tiffany and her husband, Brian Buchanan, are working hard to preserve old time music in the Nashville area. They operate a club — the Five Spot — in East Nashville, and they host a Wednesday night old time music jam session. She said there is a group of 40-50 people in Nashville who are devoted to preserving old-time music.

“Brian is from here in the Tazewell area and I’m from Central Tennessee,” Tiffany Buchanan said. “All of our good friends are old- time music fans.”

John Hayward who bills himself as “The Renegade Hillbilly Painter, Printmaker, Banjo Player and Tattoo Artist,” brought several of his artistic creations from his Louisville, Ky., studio to sell at the Music Lovers Flea Market set up in the Fuller-Peery Exhibition Hall. Hayward’s work ranges from engravings (etchings) to paintings on fabric — all created with old-time music and coal mining themes. Some of his work features a likeness of Jessco White, the Dancing Outlaw.

“My wife encouraged me to attend more shows like this,” Hayward, 29, said. “This is pretty much my full-time job now.” He and his wife, Kelli, have one child, a daughter, Deladis, 2. In addition to painting, Hayward loves playing banjo and guitar. He was born at Alum Lick, near Martin, Ky., and studied graphic design at Morehead State University for a while.

The convention will conclude this morning with an informal gospel jam. Proceeds from the event benefit the museum.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com