The 54rd Home Craft Days kicks off with the annual Opening Night Concert featuring Jeff Little Trio, The Alum Ridge Boys and Ashlee, and Tommy Bledsoe, Rich Kirby, Todd Meade, and Tyler Hughes!

 

Rooted in music from the Blue Ridge mountains, the Jeff Little Trio combines Appalachian tradition with an innovative edge. Jeff’s virtuosic piano drives the band's powerful sound, with intricate and expressive guitar and banjo from Steve Lewis, and rich melodies from Luke Little on the mandolin. Performances include The Smithsonian Institution, The National Folk Festival, American Piano Masters, and The Barns at Wolf Trap. Jeff has been featured on National Public Radio, and PBS and has taken his music around the world for the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Jeff was inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 2014.

 

Mining the fertile common ground between bluegrass, early country music, and traditional mountain music, The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee are Virginia’s torchbearers of the old time sound. Their powerful harmony singing and energetic instrumentals have captivated audiences around the globe. They took first prize in the old time band contest at the 85th Annual Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax, Virginia, and first prize in the bluegrass band contest at the 51st Mount Airy Fiddlers’ Convention in North Carolina. The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee cut no corners when it comes to real, hard-hitting, old time country music—an approach that is gaining them loyal followers far beyond the reaches of their Virginia mountain home.

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Tommy Bledsoe, Rich Kirby, Todd Meade, and Tyler Hughes will open Friday night’s concert. Tommy Bledsoe and Rich Kirby have extensive roots in Southwest Virginia’s old time music. The two have been instrumental in organizing music for Home Craft Days for over 40 years. Combined, the four represent over fifty years’ experience with the region’s music and its tradition bearers like Janette Carter, Uncle Charlie Osborne, and Ralph Stanley. 

 

The 2025 Home Craft Days celebration will be held October 17-19 on the campus of Mountain Empire Community College. Saturday and Sunday will feature performances every hour on two stages. The Crafts Festival will begin on Saturday, October 18 from 10-6 and Sunday, October 19 from 10-5. Enjoy the food, fun, and friendship of Southwest Virginia and come home to the Home Craft Days festival. Find more information and the schedule of events at homecraftdays.org.

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We're proud to be a co-sponsor of the festival and, alongside our partners at Mountain Empire Community

Community College, participate in the local arts traditions of our region.

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Pro-Art partners with a variety of venues, for accessibility inquiries or general questions, call (276) 376-4520 or email contact@proartva.org. For weather related updates, patrons are encouraged to check proartva.org for real-time information.

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Pro-Art is supported in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the C. Bascom Slemp Foundation, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, and Mountain Empire Community College.

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