Old Time & Bluegrass Concert Brings People Together
Solie Lawson | April 28, 2026
On April 22, there was an Old Time & Bluegrass Bands concert at the Warren Wilson College (WWC) pavilion featuring on-campus bands Who is Bob Dollar, Hole in the Bucket, Spidergrass and Big Timber Line. Students were able to see local bands and listen to or dance to traditional Appalachian music.
Curran Hartzler is a sophomore on the Garden Crew and is the banjo player in the WWC band Spidergrass. They have found that one of their favorite things about playing live shows on campus has been adjusting to the discomfort of performing.
“I come from a theater background, so being present on stage and trying to find a state of becoming something else and fully embodying a presentation of sorts [is] something that I've strived for a lot this semester,” Hartzler said. “I feel like I've achieved this [in] this concert, especially. I felt super comfortable. I think one of my favorite parts of the process is learning that you make mistakes and [that is] okay and necessary. No matter where you are or how experienced you are, you are going to make mistakes.”
They are excited to start playing the jaw harp next year, an instrument that was a part of 1800s Appalachian history, according to The Jaw Harp (jew’s harp or mouth harp) - Archaic Roots. They talked about how important Bluegrass music is to Appalachian history and how live shows like the one he played that night are a tribute to the music history of the area.
“This land is very much so connected historically through this music, and it is very significant, and is one of the things that is romanticized about this place,” Hartzler said. “It is also very true to the culture of Appalachia, especially of the Swannanoa Valley and the larger actual area, but the Appalachian Mountains [bring music that is] so complex and multi-layered.”
Dakota Ward, a senior also on the Garden Crew, has enjoyed her final semester playing in an on-campus band. She plays banjo and does vocals for the band Hole in the Bucket, and the band's last show was on April 25 in the Fiber Arts cabin. She plans to keep doing music in the area, as she is also learning to play the fiddle and the drums. She particularly enjoys and will miss the dance culture at WWC.
“Contra and the jam music just brings people together, and that’s the nature of it,” Ward said. “I feel like old time music [is] meant to bring people together.”
Many of the music duties and tasks are taken over by junior Josephine Bate, band leader for the Swannanoa Sweethearts and crew leader for the Music Crew. She plays banjo for the band Big Timber Line and has enjoyed the way music has brought the WWC campus together. Bate urges people to join on-campus or off-campus bands in the future, as they find the music scene in the area to be important. Bate also speaks on her favoritism of dancing on campus.
“Every show I've played on campus, no matter who I'm playing with, there's always people dancing and waltzing,” Bate said. “As the years have gone on, and I've become a more curious dancer, more people around me have become dancers because I make them dance. Every time there's a dance concert, there are more and more people dancing in the back. It's always so lovely to see. Old time music was created to be dance music, so it's great to have it be that and not just sitting formally and watching someone play.”
Hartzler, Ward and Bate have all enjoyed playing in their campus bands and look forward to what the future holds for campus music. They all believe that music culture is highly important for the surrounding community and forces people to open up to either dance, singing or learning instruments.
