My first experience with bluegrass is an amusing and terrifying tale involving an ill-fated camping trip and a girl with one arm.

It was on a camping trip to some tiny town, whose name is unimportant and one which I no longer remember, at age 14.

We were a bunch of teenagers set free in a crazy mountain town, and on a hot, sticky southern summer night, I discovered the music I’d come to love so much.

Accidentally, we stumbled upon a bluegrass band playing in a field to a crowd of about 30 locals.

We danced barefoot in the grass to the sound of the banjo, hair down with the bugs biting. I watched my friend awkwardly try to do-si-do with a girl with one arm.

It was a strange experience, but one I’d quickly come to cherish.

It was the perfect way to meet bluegrass.

Bluegrass and I were introduced that night, but it was years later before we’d fall in love and began a very long, committed relationship.

I was, and remain, a northern city kid through and through, and bluegrass was simply not something we did.

Five years after that day, I moved to Boone and came to embrace all things Appalachia.

The Appalachian Mountains have an incredible musical tradition, one full of history and stringed instruments.

From the storytelling and folklore to the combination of gospel, old-time and bluegrass, these mountains echo with song.

“The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Musical Trail” runs through the mountains of Virginia highlighting stops of musical importance.

There is a two-disk compilation that fits perfectly with the road.

Though I’ve yet to complete the trail, I can safely say there’s something very cool about driving past old churches, general stores and cabins while listening to a scratchy, soulful recording of an old man and his banjo.

Although Led Zeppelin did it ages ago, bands are beginning to introduce elements of folk and bluegrass into their music.

With the onset of the “newgrass” movement and the growing popularity of bands like The Avett Brothers, bluegrass and Americana folk music are finding their way into popular culture.

And I’m all for it.

For some reason unknown to me, a stigma still exists regarding bluegrass to those outside of Appalachia.

It may be all about heartbreak and God. It may be down and dirty and occasionally unclassy.

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