As more venues open up again and start to fill their calendars with concerts and music events, strains of our beloved bluegrass and other popular music can be heard floating through the Smoky Mountains. We’ve pulled together five of our favorite places to hear live music near Maggie Valley. Read on to find your next spot for a toe-tapping good time!

Meadowlark Motel – Maggie Valley, NC

Stop by our very own BackPorch Pavilion that hearkens back to old-fashioned mountain dance halls. On most Saturday nights you can find artist-in-residence – and former Simple Minds band member – Mike Ogletree performing with local musicians. They play bluegrass as well as the Scots-Irish live music that is deeply rooted in the mountains from when immigrants brought their fiddles and storytelling ballads with them when they came over from Scotland many years ago. Join in as Mike (also known as The Blaxcotsman, a nod to both his black and Scottish culture), leads the musicians in a toe-tapping evening of fun!

If you want to take it one step further and hone your own songwriting skills, join us at the Meadowlark Motel for our Songwriters Camp the weekend of August 12 – 13, 2022. It’s an incredible opportunity to learn songwriting skills from legends like Jim Lauderdale, Charles Humphrey, and Darren Nicholson. Enjoy a full day of interactive songwriting instruction with world class musicians, plus a demo tape done for each participant! Finish off the day with a BBQ dinner and concert on Saturday night.

Elevated Mountain Distilling Company  – Maggie Valley, NC (now closed)

At first glance, a distillery may sound like an odd place to listen to live music in Maggie Valley, but blending these two historic mountain traditions together actually makes perfect sense. Moonshine plus bluegrass equals true Smoky Mountain living. For decades, moonshiners have taken advantage of the high-altitude pristine mountain springs to produce some of the purest moonshine in the Smoky Mountains. With a node to Haywood County’s median elevation of 3,600 feet (the highest of any county in the eastern US), Elevated Mountain Distilling Company uses a custom pot and towering 23-foot column still to take the process to the next level. Come in for a tour or tasting, then take the stage for karaoke on Thursday evenings or enjoy live music on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Stompin’ Ground – Maggie Valley, NC

Don’t miss the opportunity to kick up your heels doing the renowned Two-Step or Mountain Flatfoot dances at The Stompin’ Ground in Maggie Valley. Even if you’re not much of a dancer, you’ll enjoy listening to the live band and watching professional dance teams who perform throughout the night, with dance styles from clogging to line dancing and square dancing. Music styles presented by this amazing live music in Maggie Valley range from old-time fiddling to traditional and contemporary Bluegrass and Country. Usually open only on Saturdays, The Stompin’ Ground offers a unique opportunity to experience authentic Bluegrass and Country music, great food, Appalachian and American group dance at an affordable price. It’s a perfect night out for the whole family.

Housed in a barn-style structure, the huge dance floor offers plenty of room to dance if the mood strikes you. Most seating has good views of the dance floor as the building offers stadium-style seating that accommodates nearly 1,000 guests. Billed as “the cloggin’ capital of the world,” The Stompin’ Ground is located at 3116 Soco Road, just a short drive from our Maggie Valley motel.

Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina – Various areas around Western North Carolina

The Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina hold a tradition of bluegrass music that has evolved over two centuries and influenced various styles of music across the country. In an effort to showcase this rich heritage, the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina have put together a list of events and venues where you can hear live music in Maggie Valley all year round. Thanks to a partnership with the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and North Carolina Arts Council, you can experience the best of bluegrass and Appalachian mountain music with its diverse array of instruments, styles, and sounds. Visit their website to find the latest events…and don’t forget your dancing shoes!

Balsam Range and the Art of Music Festival – Lake Junaluska, NC

Balsam Range, an award-winning bluegrass and acoustic band founded in Haywood County, NC, hosts an annual music festival every winter. The band’s five members are: on fiddle and lead tenor, Buddy Melton; on mandolin and vocals, Darren Nicholson; on stand-up bass, dobro and vocals, Tim Surrett; on guitar and vocals, Caleb Smith; and on banjo, Dr. Marc Pruett.

Balsam Range has headlined major festivals from coast to coast, appeared at the Grand Ole Opry multiple times, collaborated with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra Ensemble, won 13 International Bluegrass Music Association awards – including 2018 IBMA Entertainer of the Year, and put out 8 critically acclaimed albums. Their talent and renown draw in festival crowds from across the country and even internationally. You can enjoy concerts by some of the top bluegrass musicians in America as well as workshops for attendees.

Learn more about Live music in Western North Carolina on this episode of the Gateway to the Smokies Podcast. Host (and owner of the Meadowlark Motel), Joseph McElroy, talks with Darren Nicholson, a member of the legendary contemporary bluegrass group, Balsam Range. 

Owner of the Meadowlark Motel, Joseph McElroy, recently interviewed Tim Surrett of the bluegrass band, Balsam Range, on his Gateway to the Smokies podcast. (Listen to the full episode here.) Tim sings his praises of the Great Smoky Mountains as he talks about growing up in the Balsam Range of the Blue Ridge Mountains and his journey into bluegrass music.

Bluegrass has Deep Roots in the Smokies

Tim grew up in Canton – right down the road from Maggie Valley, NC and the Meadowlark Motel. Deep in the Balsam Range, he developed a great love for the outdoors.

“Growing up in the mountains, the outdoors was really the only recreation we had,” says Tim. “I remember going for Sunday drives on the Parkway, riding my Dad’s Tennessee Walkers up to Clingmans Dome, or going camping and trout fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”

His favorite fishing spots? “Anywhere on the Pigeon River above Canton! East Fork, West Fork, Middle Prong, Sunburst, you name it.”

But a love of nature wasn’t the only aspect of the North Carolina Smokies that was instilled in Tim at a young age. His father was a musician, who sang country music locally. Tim also admired his cousin’s band, and when they needed a bass player, he stepped in and his musical journey began in full force.

“I went out, bought a bass, and learned how to play a few one-fingered songs with my cousin’s band. Then when my dad stepped aside, I already knew the songs, so I came in and took his place with all the people he had been playing with.”

Gospel Influences on Bluegrass in the North Carolina Smoky Mountains

At just seventeen years old, Tim had the opportunity to tour with a gospel quartet called The Happy Travelers. (He even missed his prom to play gigs!) During that time gospel music became a passion, and he stayed with the genre for many years, going on to sing with the popular gospel group, the Kingsmen. In fact, his first time at the Grand Ole Opry was with the Kingsmen.

Over the years, gospel, country, and bluegrass blended together in Tim’s musical journey, but it all came down to two main things – the truth of the message and good music. One particular influence that left a significant mark on Tim was Cherokee Gospel.

“I’m no lettered scholar on this,” he admits, “but some of the first things that the Cherokee translated were hymns from old gospel hymnals. And to this day, you can still hear Cherokee family gospel groups that will sing a song in English, like Amazing Grace, and then sing it in the Cherokee language. It’s beautiful.”

Bluegrass and Balsam Range (the band)

Of all the music he plays, bluegrass feels the most authentic to Tim. When he and the other band members of Balsam Range began playing together in Canton, they hadn’t known each other very long.

“We had so much fun on the two records that we worked on, that we decided to meet up and play together.”

Buddy Melton asked if they wanted to join him for a show, and they were such a hit that they decided to keep playing together as Balsam Range. At the time, they thought they would only be a local group, so they named themselves after their hometown mountain range. Little did they know how their popularity would grow.

They went on to headline major festivals from coast to coast, appear at the Grand Ole Opry multiple times, collaborate with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra Ensemble, win 13 International Bluegrass Music Association awards – including 2018 IBMA Entertainer of the Year, and put out 8 critically acclaimed albums.

You can find their most recent album, Aeonic, on the Balsam Range website, but you may not be hearing them live and in person any time soon. “Unfortunately, there will not be many live shows and things will probably be similar to 2020 for a while,” Tim predicts.

Since March of 2020 he has only played three shows, and the band is currently focused on their music. Every December they host their own festival, the Balsam Range Art of Music Festival, in the Stuart Auditorium, which draws in crowds from across the country and even internationally. There’s a Save the Date for this December, but like so much else these days, plans are up in the air.

In the meantime, you can find Tim on WPTL Radio hosting the show Papertown Roots Radio. It airs every Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm EST and can be found on Facebook as well. And you can enjoy socially distanced live music at the Meadowlark Motel. Our artist in residence, Mike Ogletree, along with other local musicians, performs every Saturday night. Book a room for the weekend, or just swing by for the music!