“A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” to Open at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum March 1

Blowing Rock, N.C. (Feb. 10, 2025)— A new exhibition entitled “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” will open at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (BRAHM) on March 1, 2025, and will be on view in the Alexander Community Room Gallery through April 26, 2025.

This unique exhibition offers an in-depth look at the rich history of Blue Ridge music, including 36 original, letterpress-style posters dating back to as early as 1939. Each poster has detailed information about the life and legacy of the featured musicians.

Originally, window cards and other announcement posters were created to advertise upcoming entertainment events staged by troupes of traveling performers. By design, they were printed on inexpensive paper or cardboard to last only a few months and were nailed to telephone poles, plastered onto the sides of buildings, and placed in store windows. After the event, most were discarded or left to deteriorate outdoors. These pieces, designed to be ephemeral, document the story of Bluegrass music from infancy to international popularity. All posters on display in the exhibition “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” are from the private poster collection of Tom Murphy. As a collector, Murphy has been preserving window cards, handbills, mailers, broadsides, and other posters of various genres for over 50 years.

Visitors to “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” will enjoy an immersive experience, including a curated playlist of music by artists featured in the posters.

This exhibition is made possible through a grant from America 250 NC, an initiative by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Presenting sponsor for this exhibition is The Mountain Times: The High Country’s Art and Entertainment Source and Watauga Democrat: Watauga County’s independent news source and newspaper of record since 1888.

To deepen visitors’ engagement with the region’s musical history, BRAHM will host two months of special programs and performances, offering a variety of perspectives on Blue Ridge music and culture.

The programming related to “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” begins with a three-day artist residency with Asheville-based musicians Zoe & Cloyd from March 6 through 8. Comprised of fiddler/vocalist Natalya Zoe Weinstein and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist John Cloyd Miller, Zoe & Cloyd combine original bluegrass, klezmer, old-time, and folk to create their own unique music. As part of their residency, they will give a talk about songwriting, visit local schools, and perform a concert. [Ed. Note: details of Zoe & Cloyd events open to the public are included in the list below.] Programs associated with “A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music” include (unless otherwise noted programming takes place at BRAHM).