Carroll County has been richly productive of traditional musicians for generations. Legendary musical families have lived in Carroll since the late colonial period, including the Stonemans, Meyers, Meltons, and Edmonds families. The small Coal Creek area has provided an amazing array of talented musicians, and continues to this day. Ernest V. “Pop” Stoneman was the first musician from Carroll County to make commercial recordings in New York in 1924. His song, “The Sinking of the Titanic” became very popular and is still recorded by contemporary bands. Tony Alderman of Carroll County was a founding member of “The Hill Billies”, the fabled 1920s radio and vaudeville band that gave “hillbilly” music its name. The band was the subject of the first country music film in 1928 and was marketed with Al Jolson’s film, “The Singing Fool”. Dorothy Quesenberry Rorick of Dugspur, fiddler, banjoist, and singer, was a delightful fixture at area fiddlers conventions for a generation.

There are many weekly jam sessions and other performances of live music in Carroll County. It is the home of the Blue Ridge Music Center, a museum and performance venue located at milepost 213 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The only good that came from a murderous March 1912 shootout at the Carroll County Courthouse are two lovely ballads concerned with the fate of Floyd and Claude Allen. Details of this event – which resulted in five deaths – can be seen at the Carroll County Historical Museum at the historic courthouse in Hillsville. One of the region’s largest gatherings is the Hillsville Flea Market held annually on Labor Day weekend.