The Floyd Radio Show February Edition with Larry Sigmon & Martha Spencer and Vivian Leva
Venue: Floyd Country Store, Floyd
Organizations: Unique Sound of the Mountains with Larry Sigmon, Vivian Leva
Date: Saturday, February 5, 2022
Time: 7:30 - 10:00 PM
Event Types: Music, Arts & Theatre
Cost:

Description:
The Floyd Country Store continues their Season 10 of The Floyd Radio Show with their February edition with special guests Larry Sigmon & Martha Spencer and Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno and hosts Andrew Small & Ashlee Watkins on Saturday, February 5, 2022.

Live from The Floyd Country Store in the heart of downtown Floyd, Virginia! The Floyd Country Store brings together a new variety show every month celebrating American roots music. A series of guest hosts will perform original radio plays, comedy bits, ads, jingles, music and more. Each show features the finest old-timey musical acts, from storytelling banjo players to flatpicking guitarists to hard-driving string bands.

Larry Sigmon was born in Callaway, Virginia. His father, Lewis Eldridge Sigmon, was a locally beloved banjo and fiddle player. Larry taught himself harmonica as a child, and then moved to guitar, learning to play by backing up his father. When he took up the banjo at fifteen, it became his main instrument, and he developed a signature hard-driving, rhythmic style. Larry’s first band was the Sugar Hill Ramblers, a six-piece group that performed old time tunes and old country numbers for six years. He went on to play stints with Carl Scott and Richard Bowman until the late 1980s, when he met bassist Barbara Poole at a local fiddlers’ convention.

Larry and Barbara began performing together, winning countless ribbons in banjo, bass, and folk song competitions and playing at festivals, dances, and other concert venues. Their sound was so distinctive with just the banjo, bass, and Larry’s distinct singing, they became known as the “Unique Sound,” and gained a dedicated local following, particularly among flatfoot dancers. Larry and Barbara drew upon a repertoire of old time and bluegrass songs from Charlie Poole to Jimmy Martin and Bill Monroe, making songs their own through Larry’s strong vocals and Barbara’s double-slap bass. Throughout their eighteen-year career, the duo performed at the Carter Family Fold, the Grand Ole Opry, and mountain music festivals throughout the South, becoming one of the most popular bands in the Blue Ridge Mountains until Barbara passed away in 2008 after a long struggle with cancer.

Larry had quit performing until old-time musician and advocate Martha Spencer arrived to interview him for her online documentary project, Mountain Music Magazine. During their interview, Martha encouraged Larry to play some tunes and the “Unique Sound” was reborn.

The Unique Sound of the Mountains now features Heather Krantz on guitar and vocals, Susan Blankenship on bass and Ashlee Watkins on mandolin, guitar and vocals.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/uniquesoundofthemountains/

Vivian Leva is singer, guitar player, and songwriter of both traditional and new Appalachian and country music and is currently based in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Vivian Leva’s voice is the sound of living tradition. Raised by parents who absorbed ancient tunes and ballads during visits to legendary old-time musicians, Leva grew up steeped in the Appalachian and country music of her Lexington, VA home. On "Time Is Everything", her label debut, Leva earns a spot in the lineage of great neo-traditional songwriters like Gillian Welch and Sarah Jarosz.

Though still in college, Leva’s musical roots run deep. She grew up going to fiddle festivals with her parents, both acclaimed roots musicians themselves who perform as the duo Jones and Leva. Her father, James, is a respected multi-instrumentalist who learned knee-to-knee from old-time legends like Tommy Jarrell and Doug Wallin, while her mother, Carol Elizabeth, picked up bygone songs from a now lost generation of singers and recorded with the pioneering bluegrass duo Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. Leva soaked up this influence at a young age, and, at age 9, began penning songs and performing with her father at venues like the prestigious Carter Family Fold.

Traditional American music was an early influence on her songwriting. Her time at music festivals regularly landed her in jams with roots music heavyweights like Dirk Powell, Caleb Klauder, and Pharis & Jason Romero. “The biggest part of traditional music has always been the community,” she says. “It’s really special that you can travel almost anywhere and share tunes with a group of people that you’ve never met.” In this spirit, she joined The Onlies, a young stringband that won the coveted traditional band competition at the 2017 Clifftop festival in West Virginia. Add to this performance resumé teaching stints at The Swannanoa Gathering, The Big Sur Fiddle Camp, and Centrum’s “Voice Works” and her roots music bonafides are obvious, but it’s Leva’s songwriting that’ll bowl you over.

Links:

• https://vivianleva.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/vivianleva
• https://www.youtube.com/user/vivianleva
• https://www.instagram.com/vivianleva/

Each show is streamed live during the show and is available as a podcast. Many of the past show are re-broadcasted by partnering radio stations.

Tickets are $15.00 in advance and $18.00 the day of the show. To purchase tickets online, visit: https://www.floydcountrystore.com/event/floyd-radio-show-2022-01-01.

The Floyd Country Store occurs on the first Saturday of the month from September through May.

Per federal and state guidance, fully vaccinated individuals are not required to wear a face-covering at this establishment. Those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 must continue to wear a face-covering to protect themselves and others.

To view the event flyer, visit: https://postimg.cc/V5wwBSw9.

For more information, visit: https://www.floydcountrystore.com/event/floyd-radio-show-2022-02-05 or https://www.facebook.com/floydcountrystore or call 540-745-4563.