Matthew Weaver Music...and more!

Appalachian Life...

ASU


Appalachian State University (ASU) offers several undergraduate and graduate degrees in Appalachian Studies and Appalachian/Bluegrass Music. Music of the mountains flows consistently with numerous festivals such as Merle Fest, local jams and dancing. The Jones House on King Street serves as the Watauga Arts Council, and  offers Thursday night jams, and weekly summer concerts, and provide musical instructions on various bluegrass and old-time acoustic instruments.

This link will provide you with information of all the studies of the Appalachians that ASU offers. The top floor of the ASU library is The Appalachian Collection Center which contains thousands of periodicals, classic music footage,the largest collection of NASCAR, and thousands of books, records, CD's and manuscripts.

Photograph by John Lakey

       Matthew Weaver was born on July 12, 1972 in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, and in 1984 moved to Salisbury, North Carolina. A talented musician that play 19 different instruments. He has traveled all over the United States performing in hundreds of Bluegrass Shows, Appalachian Mountain Music shows, and 15 off-Broadway musical shows. He comes from a musical family, the "Tommy Schaffer & The Blue Mountain Ramblers," that performed mountain, hillbilly, and country music, for over 80 years, hosted the longest running live radio show in Pennsylvania, and made several guest appearances on The Grand Ole Opry.

       From 1994-1999 he traveled and performed with the bluegrass off-Broadway show, "Smoke on the Mountain." In 2000, he performed in the reunion show, Sander's Family Christmas, which became the sequel to Smoke on the Mountain. In 2001, he performed and danced in Pump Boys and Dinettes.

       November of 2006 was the original cast reunion for the new world-premier at the Merony Theater, Salisbury, N.C. of "Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming" or "Smoke III" is what the show is referred too.

       Matthew has performed at Tweetsie Railroad, in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and appeared on PBS's Across The Blue Ridge. He has also been featured in Country Weekly Magazine, amongst several other publications.

       Matthew started playing the piano at the age of three, and developed a "Floyd Cramer style" that is in demand for studio productions all over the South. He has personally recorded eight CDs, which are available here.

        He is actively involved in the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Nature Conservancy, North Carolina Wildlife Association, and the Appalachian-Bluegrass Music Preservation Association, and is an active conservationist.

       Matthew has performed and recorded with the legendary Mike Craver, who is a former member of The Original Red Clay Ramblers, and has appeared numerous times on public radio's, A Prairie Home Companion.

       Matthew is attending Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, where his major is in Appalachian Studies with a concentration in bluegrass, country and Traditional Music.

       When Matthew is not traveling, you will find him deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains hiking, fishing, camping, and taking thousands of pictures of land and animal conservation.
 

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Matthew enjoys hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway trails with friends.
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Past Performances - Performers & Publications:

  • “An Evening with Matthew Weaver, Mike Craver & The Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming Cast Reunion” - October 2007
  • Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming -World Premier 2006
  • You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown –Schroeder 2002
  • Pump Boys and Dinettes 2001
  • Sanders Family Christmas 2000
  • Smoke on the Mountain 1994-2000

Also:

  • Dollywood
  • Tweetsie Railroad
  • PBS Across the Blue Ridge
  • Memphis Tennessee Music Jam and Blues
  • Legendary Mike Craver -Original Member of the Red Clay Ramblers
  • Country Weekly -The Official Publication of Country Music News
  • Numerous interviews in Newspapers throughout the North and South
  • North Carolina State Republican and Democrat Political Conventions
  • Salisbury Post

Some of my Musical Influences:

Dolly Parton
Hank Williams, Sr.
John Denver
Dr. Ralph Stanley
Jim Ed Brown
Alison Krauss
The Carter Family
The Lewis Family

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

© 2011, Matthew Weaver Music

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