The presenter on World Routes: An Appalachian Road Trip (Radio 3, Saturday) was blessed with a name as evocative as the musical journey he took us on. Banning Eyre had a wonderfully lived-in presenting style and the ability to fit in to the quirkiest corners of the Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention he visited. Eyre mentioned that some old-time fiddle music is struggling to find new audiences. An elderly gentleman, who sounded as if he didn't have his teeth in, bellowed a correction: "It ain't dyin' out in Surry County!"
The music was extraordinary. Heartrending, plaintive ballads, seemingly sung from somewhere beyond the back of the throat, relayed the pain of life to the still night. But the characters Eyre encountered were the stars. One religious fellow set up the Mount Airy radio station, WPAQ 740AM, dedicated to local bluegrass, and his son recalled the telling of how he once got carried away with spreading the gospel: "I preached and I preached and I preached until my suspenders broke and my breeches fell down."
Eyre put in long days and longer nights at the convention, where the diet appeared to consist of moonshine and deep-fried Oreo cookies. Eyre sampled the latter. "It's become cake-like," he reported. "Yeah, I could definitely eat a couple of these."
