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Musical trail-making in Southern Appalachia

ABSTRACT This article examines the making of, and issues of cultural representation and engagement surrounding, two music heritage tourism trails in the Southern Appalachian region – the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina and Virginia’s The Crooked Road. Drawing upon ethnographic work, I explore how organisers create and map narratives of musical heritage across the trails’ respective terrains, navigating in the process several challenges pertaining to geography, economics, politics, and ethics. Through this analysis, I offer insight into the broader mechanisms of and tensions that suffuse cultural heritage work aimed at public audiences. More generally, I call for deeper critical engagement with the music trail phenomenon – a multi-sited tourism format within which music, heritage, and place intersect in compelling ways.