Museum carries the tune of the Valley's musical heritage
‘Striking A Chord: Music and Community in the Swannanoa Valley’ returns for final season
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
May 9, 2024
“Striking a Chord: Music and Community in the Swannanoa Valley” returns to the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center for its second year. The exhibit, which includes a display dedicated to McDibb’s, highlights more than a century of music in the region. Photo by Fred McCormick
Forty years ago, a night on the town in Black Mountain was much different than today. While the sights along Cherry Street vaguely resembled their modern day counterparts, it was the sound emanating from McDibb’s that invited locals and visitors alike to stop in for an evening of live music and fellowship in the otherwise quiet center of downtown.
The venue, which hosted performances by names ranging from seven-time Grammy Award winner Doc Watson to banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and renowned blues star Taj Mahal, established itself as a cultural icon before closing its doors in 1992.
The story of the once beloved local hangout, is one of many presented in “Striking a Chord: Music and Community in the Swannanoa Valley,” which returns for its second year to the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center. The interactive exhibit, which highlights the diverse and rich musical heritage of the area, features artifacts and accounts associated with influential musicians from Buckeye Cove to Flat Creek Road.
The exhibition can be viewed from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, while the nonprofit museum suggests a $5 donation at the door.
“Striking a Chord” debuted in 2023, following in-depth research by SVM Executive Director LeAnne Johnson, Assistant Director Jess Wash, volunteers and board members.
“We decided to keep this exhibit up for two years, because we put a good amount of resources into it,” Johnson said. “It’s also a little more interactive than most of our past exhibits, with buttons that play audio of oral histories and recordings of music played by some of the people.”
One such story comes from McDibb’s founder David Peele, as he recounts how the listening room, which operated in the building now home to the Town Pump from 1978 through 1980, before finding its long-term home in the space now occupied by the Veranda, came to exist.
Peele, who purchased the former Wonk’s Dymaxion Bar, created an intimate non-smoking concert venue that many local residents still remember fondly to this day, according to Johnson.
“One of the best oral histories associated with McDibb’s involves the night they moved from what its now Town Pump to the current Veranda up the street,” she said. “They had a show that night, and close to the end of that performance patrons picked up furniture and everything else and moved it up the hill. One detail that stands out is that they pushed a ‘still-smoking stove’ up there, while the band was still playing. It was almost like a little parade.”
Memories of McDibb’s, which pioneered an environment now ubiquitous throughout Western N.C., are preserved through longtime Black Mountain residents like SVM Board Secretary Sally Withers, according to Johnson.
“I was actually unfamiliar with McDibb’s when we started working on this exhibit,” the director said. “Sally, and her husband David actually went on their first date there.”
While the venue has been closed for more than three decades, one tangible piece of its history—the McDibb’s Rat—is included in the museum display. The artifact was designed and created by puppeteer Hobey Ford.
“Hobey Ford started doing his puppet shows at McDibb’s, and the rat, which taps the tambourine it’s connected to, was passed around to collect tips for the band,” Johnson said. “We’ve had quite a few people who have been really excited to the see the McDibb’s Rat when they come in.”
The Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center brings back “Striking a Chord: Music and Community in the Swannanoa Valley,” a temporary exhibit that highlights the area’s diverse musical heritage. Photo by Fred McCormick
McDibb’s marked a snapshot in the timeline of musical history in the Swannanoa Valley, but fiddler Marcus Martin, known for his ability to “play a possum out of a tree,” honed his skills in his native Macon County before moving east and finding work at the Beacon Blanket Mill. He soon became known among his Swannanoa neighbors for performing live in the village around the massive plant.
By the mid-1940s, recordings of Martin’s songs were transferred to acetate discs and added to the collection at the Library of Congress.
Long before Walt Davis and Ray Greene began hosting regular picking parties in a small Swannanoa kitchen known as “Greene Acres,” Davis was mastering his two-finger picking style on the banjo. The Tennessee native, who dubbed his style “Fist and Skull,” formed The Mount Mitchell Ramblers in the late 1930s. The group, which played festivals throughout the region throughout the next decade, won second prize in the World Champion Fiddle Contest in Morganton.
By 1980, the aging performer, “itchy for some music,” approached Greene about organizing regular family-friendly get-togethers in the Swannanoa Valley. What began as a small gathering of fellow musicians became a Monday night tradition, eventually moving from Greene’s kitchen to a nearby cinderblock workshop, often called “the picking parlor.”
“Basically, they converted a chicken coop and work shed into a place where people could come learn ‘knee to knee,’ which was how they learned from each other how to play the old songs and music,” Johnson said. “Many of those musicians were regulars down in Old Fort, at the old feed and seed store.”
While “Striking a Chord” tells the individual stories of many of the Swannanoa Valley’s most influential musicians and venues, it tells the collective story of the community’s musical history.
Black Mountain native Roberta Flack is one of several area musicians featured in “Striking a Chord: Music and Community in the Swannanoa Valley.” The exhibit, which will remain on display through April of 2025, returns to the Swannnanoa Valley Museum & History Center for its second year. Photo by Fred McCormick
“I knew Black Mountain had long been known for its dulcimers and bluegrass, but until I worked on this project I don’t think I realized just how musical the community has been for so long,” Johnson said. “The whole Valley is filled with musical people, and there are so many stories of notable musicians, so it was impossible to tell them all in this exhibit.”
SVM will continue its celebration of music in the Valley at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 23, when the organization hosts The Swannanoa Valley Museum’s Musical Heritage Concert at St. James Episcopal Church. Tickets, which can be purchased at swannanoavalleymusuem.org, are $20 for museum members and $25 for general admission.
“We’re excited to bring this exhibit back for another year,” Johnson said. “This community has always had a passion for music, and I think the people and places featured here help people understand why it has always been such an important piece of the Swannanoa Valley.”