National tour stops

If you still envision Appalachian music as not much more than pickin' on the porch, think again. Though such gatherings from yesteryear are still abundant, the addition of state-of-the-art venues has meant bigger acts and more elaborate productions.

The newest large venue is the 1,500-seat Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin, which opened in July 2009. Construction of the center was funded by wealthy local entrepreneur Phil Drake, and is the realization of his lifelong dream of bringing world-class entertainment to the rural mountain region.

The auditorium features an incredible 60-foot wide, two-story stage complete with an orchestra pit and a state of the art sound system. The performing arts center lined up nearly 30 acts in its first six months, opening with the Charlie Daniels Band and following with Sawyer Brown, The Isaacs, and Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.

One of the first world-class venues to come online in the region was the Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University, a 122,000-square-foot facility designed by an award-winning architectural firm to invoke the curving hillsides and flowing rivers of the mountains, complete with Native American features that pay tribute to the Eastern Band of Cherokee.

The 1,000-seat concert hall has welcomed world-class music, theater and dance acts. Among the lineup for this season is a holiday performance by the North Carolina Symphony and an appearance by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, a nationally touring act that plays music to accompany the silent films broadcast behind them.

At the family-friendly Eaglesnest Entertainment in Maggie Valley, you'll find national country, gospel, bluegrass and classic rock acts, including many one-time chart-toppers. This season, the venue welcomes the platinum and gold-winning Bellamy Brothers country duo as well as Grand Ole Opry star John Conlee. The 900-seat venue, built in 2003, also boasts an outdoor stage that seats 3,500. Guests can bring a blanket or lawn chair, kick back, and enjoy the temperate mountain nights.

Hidden gems

A couple venues of note in Western North Carolina lie just off the beaten path, lacking the size and name recognition of the larger ones. Their musical lineup, however, is no less impressive.

One of these gems is the Balsam Mountain Inn in Jackson County, home to the Songwriters in the Round series. About a dozen times a year, this 1905 lodge welcomes a group of three or four Nashville-based songwriters. The lineups easily rival those found in any big city: a recent performance featured writers who have had their songs recorded by George Strait, Kenny Rogers, Reba McEntire, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

In Maggie Valley on Soco Road is a sign announcing the location of the Maggie Valley Opry House. Throw open the doors, and you'll see rows of folding chairs and two gold records tacked to the wall. This is the home of Raymond Fairchild, the only banjo picker ever to sell a million records with an instrumental track.

Fairchild, a Maggie Valley native, has played with Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and countless other recognizable names. He built the Opry 22 years ago in an effort to preserve the bluegrass genre with which he's made his name. You'll find him there seven nights a week, May through October.

Authentic Appalachia

Bluegrass remains the best-known musical form to come out of Western North Carolina, and there's plenty of local talent to be found.

For an authentic Appalachian music experience, look no further than the community music jams held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. the first and third Thursday of each month at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Fingers fly over banjos, fiddles, and even the dulcimer and mandolin. Everyone's invited to play or watch.

'Pickin' on the porch' gets underway Friday afternoons during the summer months on the porch of the T.M. Rickman General Store in Macon County. The building, long a community gathering spot, has been preserved thanks to the hard-fought efforts of the surrounding community.

Warmer months in the mountains also bring a bevy of bluegrass festivals. One of the most popular is the Fines Creek Bluegrass Jam, held in late August in the rural Haywood Community of Fines Creek. Headquartered in an old schoolhouse, the festival is a showcase of all regional music and dancing, as well as authentic Appalachian food. Bluegrass festivals were also held this past year at the remote Fontana Village lodge, located at the headwaters of rural Fontana Lake in Graham County, at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds, and numerous other small venues in the region.

Bluegrass jams remain a staple in Appalachia, but today, there's so much more to be found here. So whether you prefer clogging along to the banjo in an old schoolhouse or the glitz of watching a national act in a 1,500-seat theater, Western North Carolina's live music scene offers something for everyone.