It is hard, if not impossible, to find Galax, Virginia, on most paper maps of the United States. But you know you’ve reached it when you see a sign that proudly declares, “Welcome to Galax: World’s Capital of Old-Time Mountain Music”.
In 1994, my aunt and uncle packed up their house in Somerset West, and moved to Galax with my three cousins. A decade later, I moved to New York for work and started visiting them for the holidays. We would celebrate the American tradition of Thanksgiving by cooking and eating way too much.
Each time I visited, I would make sure to pop into Barr’s Fiddle Shop on Main Street, a converted barbershop crammed with handmade mandolins, banjos, guitars, drums and, of course, fiddles. The walls are lined with…
