Raymond Fairchild and his wife Shirley have been operating the Maggie Valley Opry, in Maggie Valley, NC since
1988, featuring Bluegrass and Mountain Music.
In 2000, The National Endowments for the Arts and The North Carolina Arts
Council, in conjunction with the Blue Ridge Parkway and other multi-state partnerships and organizations, placed the Opry
House on the “Blue Ridge Music Trail” a project that grew out of the Blue Ridge Heritage Initiative to help preserve
and promote the music of the Appalachian Mountains.
Raymond Fairchild is the featured performer at the Opry House when
not traveling to the many other festivals he performs at.
The legendary Banjoist has traveled for the past fifty years
performing at festivals in every state in the union and abroad, thrilling his audiences with renditions such as “Whoa
Mule” his famous signature song, which has garnered him many standing ovations at the Grand Old Opry and at the many
festivals he plays through-out the country.
Raymond has performed on the world famous “Grand Ole Opry” since
1977 and has appeared on numerous television specials for the Nashville Network, PBS and other network stations.
His
music has taken him many places including Alaska where he played many times at the Military Bases there, including Fort Wainwright
Army Base and Eielson Air Force Base.
He recently completed a two-hour documentary special for Japan Broadcasting, focusing
on the evolution of music from Ireland to the United States.
John Rice Irwin, noted author and owner of the Museum of
Appalachian in Norris, TN., included a large chapter on Raymond in his book, “A People and Their Music” “The
Story Behind the Story of Country Music”, about the lives of Country Music Legends.
Raymond has recorded over
twenty albums and videos. He has two Gold Records for having sold over two million copies of his banjo instrumentals.
He is also a lifetime member of the “Bluegrass Hall of Greats” and a five-time recipient of the Bluegrass Banjo
of the Year Award, an honor bestowed upon him by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America.
In 1982
“The Appalachian Journey”, a documentary produced by renown author and folklorist Alan Lomax in conjunction with
Columbia University was filmed so Raymond’s music would be preserved for generations to come and is stored in the archives
of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, and will be further protected with a grant from The Grammy’s for this
specific project as outlined herein. (Association for Cultural Equity – New York, NY)
” To preserve and make
widely accessible recordings of American roots music recorded in the field on audio and videotape by Alan Lomax and fellow
collectors, legendary in their own right, who contributed to the Lomax Archive. “The footage to be preserved includes
bluegrass master Raymond Fairchild.”
In 2015 Raymond was inducted into the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame at
Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Music Park in Bean Blossom, IN, in honor of his contribution to the Bluegrass Music world.
Famed storyteller and songwriter, Tom T. Hall wrote and recorded a song about Raymond on his “Soldier of Fortune”
Album titled “The World According to Raymond”.
Maggie Valley, NC, Raymond’s hometown, honored him by
placing a sign at each end of the valley which simply reads “Welcome to Maggie Valley Home of Raymond Fairchild”.
“Welcome to Maggie Valley Home
of Raymond Fairchild”
