Riddlefest

Traditional Voices Group is pleased to announce that RiddleFest 2025 will feature ETSU faculty members Roy Andrade and Kalia Yeagle.

They will explore “Music of the Appalachian Highlands, Setting the Stage for the Birth of Country Music.” Andrade and Yeagle teach in the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Roots Music program in the Department of Appalachian Studies at ETSU. Together they have been investigating the musicians and music of the southern Appalachian Mountains with reference to the musical development of Lesley Riddle and AP Carter and the birth of country music in the early twentieth century.

RiddleFest is produced annually by Traditional Voices Group as a tribute to Lesley Riddle, an African-American musician from Yancey County NC, who had a great influence on the development of early country music through his association with A.P. Carter and the Carter Family.

Riddlefest is sponsored by North Carolina Humanities, the Yancey County Tourism Development Authority, and the Town of Burnsville. For more information, explore  www.traditionalvoicesgroup.org or contact the Burnsville Town Center at 828-682-7209.