20 years ago, community leaders in Southwest Virginia were looking for a way to attract visitors to the region while celebrating its unique and inviting culture. In 2004, the Crooked Road was born and the Virginia Assembly officially designated it as Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, an innovation that would both boost tourism and cultural heritage.
This 333-mile-long driving trail links over 60 music venues across Southwest Virginia.
Executive Director Tyler Hughes said the Crooked Road is a source of pride for community members in the region.
“Crooked Road is not an over commercialized, over commodified viewpoint of music in Southwest Virginia,” Hughes said. “It has allowed our communities to latch onto something that we can be proud of and put on display in an authentic way.”
The Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission has long supported Crooked Road with over $4 million in grants over the years. These grants have funded everything from community signage to economic impact studies, helping the Crooked Road to increase revenue, tourism and community engagement.
Most recently, the commission awarded $50,000 towards revitalizing the Rex Theatre in Galax, VA. The Rex Theatre is one of the major venues on the Crooked Road, and the money will help develop an architectural report and business plan for the theatre. Mike Burnette, city manager of Galax, said the plan will ensure long term sustainability for the theatre.
“Once a very active venue on the Crooked Road, with two or more events per week, the number of shows has dropped dramatically post-COVID to one or two shows per month,” Burnette said. “The City of Galax believes the Tobacco Commission planning grant will lead to transformational change which will enable the venue to double the pre-COVID activity.”
The impact extends beyond tourism to workforce development. Hughes said it has helped create numerous jobs, particularly in towns hosting venues like Floyd and Bristol, which have become economic anchors in Southwest Virginia.
“We’ve always been super proud of this partnership with the Tobacco Commission because our missions align with one another so much,” Hughes said. “The Crooked Road was created not just to showcase the arts, but also to fill in some of the gaps and to help communities overcome some of the financial hurdles that they faced as our economy changed.”
