A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music

March 1, 2025 - April 26, 2025 | Alexander Community Gallery

This unique exhibit offers an in-depth look at the rich history of Blue Ridge music. The exhibition showcases 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 as they 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 shown here 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 will enjoy an immersive experience, including a curated playlist of music by artists in the exhibit.

Cardboard History Gallery Playlist:

When you come to visit the Museum over the next two months, expect to encounter folks tapping their toes to the flatpickin' sounds of A Cardboard History of Blue Ridge Music. As a way to put you in the time and place of the posters on view, we have curated a soundtrack of old bluegrass standards to play in the gallery. Listed below are all the songs from the playlist so that you can listen along at home after they get stuck in your head.

• Flowers in the Wildwood - Women in Early Country Music - “Wish I Was A Single Girl Again” - Lulu Belle & Scotty

• The Osborne Brothers 1956-1968 - “Hard Times” - The Osborne Brothers

• The Osborne Brothers 1956-1968 - “Rocky Top” - The Osborne Brothers

• Flowers in the Wildwood - Women in Early Country Music - “Just Another Broken Heart” - The Carter Family

• Times Ain’t Like They Used To Be Vol. 7: Early American Rural Music - “Good Gal Remember Me” - The Three Tobacco Tags

• Mountain Blues, Vol. D - “Jesey Bull Blues” - The Three Tobacco Tags

• Will The Circle Be Unbroken - “Tennessee Stud” - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

• Will The Circle Be Unbroken - “The Precious Jewel” - The Nitty Gritty Band

• Ballads From Deep Gap - “Travellin’ Man” - Doc & Merle Watson

• Ballads From Deep Gap - “Lawson Family Murder” - Doc & Merle Watson

• I Sang The Song (Life Of The Voice With A Heart) - “I Sang The Song” - John Prine & Mac Wiseman

• I Sang The Song (Life Of The Voice With A Heart) - “Tis Sweet to Be Remembered” - Mac Wiseman Feat. Alison Krauss

• The Winding Stream - The Carters, The Cashes, And The Course Of Country Music - “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” - Johnny Cash

• Early Years 1951-1956 Collectors Box Set Vol. 3 - “Cumberland Gap” - Reno & Smiley

• ‘Tis Sweet To Be Remembered - “Little White Church” - Mac Wiseman

• ‘Tis Sweet To Be Remembered - “‘Tis Sweet To Be Remembered” - Mac Wiseman

• The Complete Mercury Recordings - “My Cabin In Caroline” - Flatt & Scruggs

• Lester’n’Mac - “Now That You Have Me” - Lester Flatt & Mac Wiseman

• Lester’n’Mac - “The Bluebirds Singing For Me” - Lester Flatt & Mac Wiseman

• Lester Flatt Live! Guest Bill Monroe - “Wabash Cannon Ball” -Lester Flatt

• [Single] Raining, Raining Here This Morning / Remember Me - “Raining Here This Morning” - Ola Belle Reed

• Lester Flatt Live! Guest Bill Monroe - “Lost All My Money” -Lester Flatt

• The Three Pickers - “Who Will Sing For Me?” - Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, & Ricky Skaggs

• Standard Songs For Average People - “Pistol Packin’ Mama” - John Prine & Mac Wiseman

• Home Sweet Home - “Russian Grass” - Doc Watson, Merle Watson, Sam Bush, Mary Stuart, T. Michael Coleman, Alan O’Bryant

• Home Sweet Home - “Train That Carried My Girl From Town” - Doc Watson, Merle Watson, Sam Bush, Mary Stuart, T. Michael Coleman, Alan O’Bryant

• Bill Monroe CD D: 1957-1958 - “I Saw The Light” - Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys

• Bill Monroe CD D: 1957-1958 - “Blue Moon of Kentucky” - Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys

• Bill Monroe CD D: 1957-1958 - “Blue Ridge Cabin Home” - Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys

• Best of the Krueger Brothers - “Long Black Veil” - The Krueger Brothers

• Best of the Krueger Brothers - “Black Mountain Rag” - The Krueger Brothers

• Best of the Krueger Brothers - “Carolina in the Fall” - The Krueger Brothers

• The Three Pickers - “Down To The Valley To Pray” - Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, & Ricky Skaggs

• Flatt & Scruggs 1964-1969, plus, Vol. 3 - “Like A Rolling Stone” - Flatt & Scruggs

• The King Of Country Music 1937 - “The Great Speckled Bird” - Roy Acuff & His Smokey Mountain Boys

• The Very Best of Ralph Stanley - “Man Of Constant Sorrow” - Ralph Stanley

• The Very Best of Ralph Stanley - “Pretty Polly” - Ralph Stanley

• Genuine Negro Jig - “Cornbread and Butterbeans” - Carolina Chocolate Drops

• Genuine Negro Jig - “Snowden’s Jig (Genuine Negro Jig)” - Carolina Chocolate Drops

• Genuine Negro Jig - “Kissin’ and Cussin’” - Carolina Chocolate Drops

Cardboard History in the news:

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

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.