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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Archival processing of the Bobby Patterson Collection audiovisual materials was made possible through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 2.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 500 items) |
| Abstract | Bobby Patterson (1 April 1942–24 September 2017) of Galax, Va., a white guitar, banjo, and mandolin player, was a central figure in the Galax and Blue Ridge Mountain communities. He played with bluegrass, gospel, and old-time ensembles; helped found the magazine The Old Time Herald; created the record labels Mountain Records and Heritage Records; and organized festivals and concerts to promote traditional music in the area, including the annual Galax Old Fiddlers' Convention. The Bobby Patterson Collection consists largely of studio masters for Heritage Records and Mountain Records recordings of the Old Fiddlers' Convention. Other materials of note are files with photographs, artwork, and liner notes relating to record releases; correspondence chiefly relating to Heritage Records; catalogs; printed programs and flyers for local fiddling conventions; and photographs of Bobby Patterson with the Highlanders at the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tenn., and other old time musicians. There are also video tapes and 8mm films of fiddler conventions, live performances, and other events. |
| Creator | Patterson, Bobby. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Related Collections
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Biographical Information
Bobby Frank Patterson (1 April 1942–24 September 2017) of Galax, Va., was a central figure in the Galax and Blue Ridge Mountain communities. A white multi-instrumentalist (guitar, banjo and mandolin), Bobby played with Kyle Creed and the Camp Creek Boys, The Highlanders, The Heritage IV and many other bluegrass, gospel, and old-time ensembles. Patterson and his long-time musical partner Willard Gayheart were the original Blue Ridge Music Center mid-day mountain musicians. In 1987, he helped found the magazine The Old Time Herald. In 1972, with help from his father and Kyle Creed, he built his first recording studio and created a record label, Mountain Records. Two years later Patterson sold his interest in Mountain Records to Creed and formed his own record label, Heritage Records, recording Tommy Jarrell, influential fiddler and banjo player, as well as other local musicians. In 1985, he purchased Kyle Creed's Mountain Records and resumed producing recordings for the label. As President of the Blue Ridge Music Makers Guild, Patterson organized festivals and concerts to promote traditional music in the area. From 2006 to 2007, as Governor of the Galax Moose Lodge, he helped organize the annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, one of the oldest and largest fiddler's conventions in the world. Patterson was inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 2015 for his contributions to the recording industry.
Adapted from "Bobby Patterson Remembered" at Bluegrass Today (https://bluegrasstoday.com/bobby-patterson-remembered/).
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Scope and Content
The Bobby Patterson Collection consists largely of studio masters for Heritage Records and Mountain Records recordings of the Galax Fiddlers Convention. Audio formats include 1 inch and ¼ inch open reel, DAT, audio-and cassette, LP test pressings. Other materials of note are files with photographs, artwork, and liner notes relating to record releases; correspondence chiefly relating to Heritage Records; catalogs; printed programs and flyers for local fiddling conventions; and photographs of Bobby Patterson with the Highlanders at the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tenn., and other old time musicians. There are also video tapes and 8mm films of fiddler conventions, live performances, and other events.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Papers, 1960s-2010s.
Arrangement: as received.
Materials include files with photographs, artwork, and liner notes relating to record releases; correspondence chiefly relating to Heritage Records; catalogs; printed programs and event flyers for local fiddling conventions; and photographs of Bobby Patterson with the Highlanders at the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tenn., and other old time musicians.
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Series 2. Audiovisual Materials, 1950-1977 and undated.
Acquisitions information: Accession 103736.
This series contains additional audiovisual materials that are not processed and are currently not available to researchers. For information about access to these materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff. Please be advised that preparing unprocessed materials for access can be a lengthy process.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by title, artist, or event.
Audio recordings of bluegrass, old-time string band, and early country music from Virginia and North Carolina, particularly folk music in the Galax and Round Peak traditions. Includes live recordings from fiddlers conventions in Galax and other Blue Ridge Mountain communities, such as Old Fiddlers Convention (Galax, Va.), Independence Fiddlers Convention (Independence, Va.), Grayson County Old-time and Bluegrass Fiddlers Convention, and Union Grove Old Time Fiddlers Convention (Union Grove, N.C.), as well as masters, outtakes, demos, and radio dubs of various bluegrass, old-time, and early country musicians and ensembles, including many acts affiliated with the record labels Mountain Records and Heritage Records. Musicians featured on the recordings include Fred Cockerham, a white old-time banjo and fiddle player from Surry County, N.C., who played with the The Camp Creek Boys; Kyle Creed, a white old-time musician and instrument builder from Surry County, N.C., who played with the with the Camp Creek Boys; B. C. Goad, a white musician and autoharpist, who was a member of Feed Room Five, an old-time string band that formed in Carroll County, Va.; Albert Hash, a white fiddler and instrument maker from Whitetop, Va., who played fiddle with the Spice Bottom Boys, Carolina Troubadours, and the Whitetop Mountain Band; Charlie Higgins, a white old-time player from Galax, Va; James Lindsey, a white musician from Hillsville Va., and the founder, leader, and manager of the bluegrass band, Mountain Ramblers; Enoch Rutherford, a white old-time musician from Grayson County, Va.; Emily and Thornton Spencer, old-time musicians from Wilson, Va. who played with the Whitetop Mountain Band; and Art Wooten, a bluegrass fiddler from Alleghany County, N.C., among others.
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Items Separated
Processed by: Nancy Kaiser, October 2019
Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, October 2019
Updated by: Anne Wells, Meredith Kite, and Andrew Crook, January 2021
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
Archival processing of the Bobby Patterson Collection audiovisual materials was made possible through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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