Whitetop Mountaineers (USA)

“From the first note of their show, I was left in no doubt that Martha Spencer and Jackson Cunningham are the real McCoy when it comes to Old Timey music…” Stephen Loss, Woodford. With special guests: CAT & CLINT

The Whitetop Mountaineers is made up of the young duo, Martha Spencer and Jackson Cunningham. They both live in Whitetop, VA, at the highest mountains in Virginia. Their shows feature old time country duet singing, up-tempo old time fiddle, clawhammer banjo, bluegrass mandolin and guitar instrumentals as well as high energy Appalachian dancing.

Jackson and Martha have played concerts, festivals, workshops, and dances throughout the United States, UK, Ireland and Australia including such venues as: Merlefest, Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC, National Folk Festival in Richmond, GrahamfestUSA, San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival, Folklore Society of Greater Washington, Cornish Bluegrass Festival in England, Tamworth Country Music Festival in NSW, Australia, Open House Festival in Belfast Ireland, and Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland, Australia, The National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia, The National Folk Festival in Butte Montana, The Port Fairy Folk Festival in Port Fairy, Australia, The Apollo Bay Music Festival in Apollo Bay, Australia, along with many other festivals and venues.

In Fall of 2007, they were also included on the NCTA: Crooked Road Mountain Music Tour of the West Coast, and again in 2010, The Crooked Road East Coast Tour.

Along with performing as a duet act, they also are members of the Whitetop Mountain Band, which is made up mostly of the Spencer family and is one of the most popular old time bands in Southwest Virginia. The band has won many competitions and awards in band, vocals, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, duet singing, and dance throughout the years in Fiddler’s Conventions throughout the Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and other southern states. The Spencer family and Whitetop Mountain Band has also been featured in a number of magazine articles, books, and television and radio programs including “A Hotbed of Musicians”, “Strings of Life”, “In Good Keeping”, “Guide to the Crooked Road”, PBS, and CMT.

They have recorded two CDs as a duo: 2008 release on Heritage Records of “Home on the Mountain” as well as the 2010 release of the self-produced “Go Away with Me: Songs from Virginia’s Hills and Hollers”, and with the band on many recordings throughout the years such as Arhoolie, Heritage and Virginia Foundation for the Humanities “Crooked Road Series” label. The WTMB’s newest release “Loafer’s Dream” on Mountain Roads Recordings has been getting airplay worldwide and was #14 on the Roots Music Report National Bluegrass Chart for February 2009 (#7 RMR Virginia State Charts Feb/March 2009).