(Click here to listen to song samples)

Few Instruments are as rooted in the Virginia tradition as the fiddle and banjo.  Veteran musicians John Robison and Sonny Mead will explore this tradition and share their favorite tunes and stories - punctuated with a song or two, as they reminisce about their years of experience in Folk, Country, Bluegrass and Old Time music.

John Robison took up the banjo at age fourteen and has been honing his skills for over five decades.  He was part of the "folk boom" during the 1960's, performing at coffeehouses and venues around Washington DC.  A founding member of the group Southern Horizon, which specializes in authentic period music from 1816 - 1865, he is well versed in the history of the banjo and an exponent of several different styles, including bluegrass, minstrel, Irish and clawhammer.   At one time or another he has played with most of the bluegrass groups in the Central Virginia area, and is a regular at several jam sessions.  Currently, in addition to his solo programs and his work with Southern Horizon, he plays Irish music as part of the duo Turf Fire.

Fiddler Sonny Mead is admired and welcomed by musicians and fans alike.  As a free-lance fiddler he has played with such country and bluegrass royalty as Patsy Cline, Jimmy Martin, and Hank Thompson. In the late 70's he was a member of the successful blugrass band "The Heights of Grass" and he has graced the stage of the Grand Old Opry on more than one occasion.  Sonny's fiddling is featured on numerous albums and recordings, among them "The World's Hottest Fiddlers".  He was instrumental in the founding of the Virginia Bluegrass & Country Music Foundation, and is a four time Virginia State Champion fiddler.  Sonny continues to be a mover and shaker in the local music scene.  He also restores and repairs fiddles, and is much sought after as a fiddle teacher.