Short Summary
The Historic 1925 Fiddler’s Convention in Mountain City, Tennessee was the first of the big conventions. All the best Southern country musicians of the time, including John Carson, Uncle Am Stuart, GB Grayson, the Fiddlin’ Powers Family, Charlie Bowman and the Hill Billies, Clarence Ashley, Dudley Vance, and more appeared. It was a stunning assemblage and one that modern music lovers still marvel at.
John McCutcheon, whose career path in folk music was deeply influenced by some of these early country musicians, is putting together a recording with a Who's Who of modern recording artists to honor the centenary of this amazing event. Participants include Old Crow Medicine Show, Molly Tuttle, Stuart Duncan, Tim O’Brien, Bruce Molsky, Cathy & Marcie’s Old Time Coalition, the Kody Norris Show, and more. These musicians are donating their time and talent, but we need your help to get the project off the ground.
To be released in conjunction with the 2025 Long Journey Home Festival, this recording will not only provide funds for Johnson County Center for the Arts for years to come, but it will promote Mountain City’s name as an integral part of the development of American country music.
What We Need & What You Get
Why do these grammy winning musicians need you? Because they are all donating their time and talent to create an album that will benefit Johnson County Center for the Arts and tell this community's unique story for years to come!
Here's a breakdown of what we need:
- Studio fees for the several musicians and groups involved: $16,000
- Mixing and Mastering: $4,500
- Printing and distributing of the first 1,000 CDs: $2,750
- Shipping, Merch cost, Indiegogo fees and transactions, etc. (5%): $1,250
For your support, you'll get to hear the music before anyone else, and you can choose from some exciting perks, including a copy of the CD, John McCutcheon concert tickets, Old Crow Concert Tickets, album artwork by Cristy Dunn (to come) and even a John McCutcheon House Concert!
Some exciting perks will be unveiled later in the campaign, so stay tuned!
If we don't reach our entire goal, funds will go toward studio fees, then pay for mixing and mastering, and we will keep working through other avenues to bring this dream to life!
The Impact
The influence of the 1925 Fiddler’s Convention on modern country music cannot be overstated. Jerry Garcia and Bob Dylan are among the many who credit Clarence Tom Ashley as a major influence on their careers, and that's just one example! For this album, John McCutcheon is bringing together some of the best in the business to pay tribute to the 1925 Fiddler’s Convention for its 100-year anniversary!
- John McCutcheon has created several other successful tribute albums
- Johnson County Center for the Arts has been working to tell the story of this community's contribution to the history of country music for over a decade through the Long Journey Home festival, downtown murals, and other community projects.
- The Center for the Arts partnered with Appalachian Memory Keepers to create Short Life of Trouble: The Legend of G.B. Grayson, a documentary that won numerous awards in film festivals.
- We can't wait to hear John McCutcheon sing the CooCoo, and these other amazing musicians bring these old songs back to life!
Risks & Challenges
Raising the funds to create this album does pose a significant challenge. Just after Johnson County Center for the Arts moved to our new location on Main Street, we and so many other mountain communities were hit hard by Hurricane Helene. We will be rebuilding for years to come. John McCutcheon and many other musicians involved have helped with recovery in so many ways, including Restring Appalachia, a program to put instruments back in the hands of those who lost them, several benefit concerts, personal donations, and so much more. Ketch Secor even drove a U-Haul full of supplies up to Poga!
Challenges are nothing new to our community, and we feel that this project needs to happen now. After all, this is the 100-year anniversary of the 1925 Fiddler’s Convention! We hope you agree, and we appreciate your support.
Other Ways You Can Help
If you are not in a place to contribute financially, you can still help by telling people about this project. Tell your friends about the campaign and share it to your social media to help get the word out!
