Martha Spencer: Daughter of the Blue Ridge Mountains
From Whitetop, Virginia — a multi-instrumentalist, flatfoot dancer, and ambassador for old-time mountain music carrying the Appalachian tradition to stages around the world.
Hometown
Whitetop, Virginia
Instruments
Guitar, Banjo, Fiddle, Bass, Mandolin, Dulcimer
Dance
Traditional Flatfoot Dancing
Reach
International Performer
Daughter of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Martha Spencer is an accomplished Appalachian musician, traditional flatfoot dancer, and ambassador for old-time mountain music from Whitetop, Virginia. Whitetop is a small mountain community in Grayson County, tucked into the far southwest corner of Virginia near Mount Rogers — the state’s highest peak — and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
She grew up inside a living musical tradition rather than discovering it from the outside. In the Whitetop community, tunes, songs, and dance steps are passed directly from one generation to the next, often within families and at community gatherings. That direct, place-rooted transmission is the foundation of everything Martha Spencer plays and sings.
She is a multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, banjo, fiddle, bass, mandolin, and dulcimer — a breadth that reflects the old-time tradition, where musicians commonly learn several instruments from the people around them. Alongside her instrumental work, she is a respected traditional flatfoot dancer, keeping alive a solo dance form that is inseparable from the fiddle and banjo music it answers.
Musical Style and Performances
Martha Spencer’s music is rooted in the old-time string-band tradition of the southern Appalachians — fiddle and banjo tunes, ballads, early country songs, and original writing that grows naturally out of those older forms. Her singing carries the unforced, mountain-born phrasing that distinguishes the Whitetop style from more polished commercial country.
As a performer she moves easily between instruments within a single set, a hallmark of musicians raised in the tradition rather than trained for the stage. Her performances are equally at home at community jams, festival main stages, and concert halls, and she is known for bringing audiences into the music through dance as well as song.
She has performed internationally, carrying the sound of Grayson County and the surrounding mountains to listeners far beyond Virginia. That reach, combined with her deep local roots, is what makes her a genuine ambassador for the tradition rather than a performer who merely borrows from it.
Albums & Recordings
Martha Spencer’s solo recordings span old-time tradition, country, and original songwriting.
Her self-titled debut solo album, introducing her voice, multi-instrumental skill, and deep grounding in the Whitetop mountain tradition.
A full-length collection that broadened her reach, drawing attention from national roots-music press.
Her most recent full-length album, continuing her exploration of old-time, country, and original songwriting.
A home-recorded set capturing the informal, porch-style sound at the heart of her music.
A shorter release named for the Grassy Creek community, rooted in the same Southwest Virginia landscape.
Listen to Martha Spencer
Stream her albums and singles on Spotify and Apple Music, or visit her official site for more releases and tour news.
Appalachian Flatfoot Dancing
Martha Spencer is not only a musician but an accomplished traditional flatfoot dancer. Flatfoot dancing is a solo Appalachian dance form performed to old-time fiddle and banjo music. Dancers keep their feet low to the floor, weaving rhythmic steps in an improvisational, conversational response to the tune.
Unlike stage clogging, flatfoot dancing is a community and home tradition — the kind of dancing that happens on porches, at jams, and in the corner of a dance hall while the music plays. It is one of the oldest living dance traditions in North America, and it cannot be separated from the music it answers.
Spencer frequently dances while performing, and her dancing is a direct link to the generations of mountain dancers who came before her. For visitors, watching — or joining — a flatfoot dance at a venue like the Floyd Country Store or the Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention is one of the most authentic ways to experience Appalachian culture.
Musical Collaborations
Martha Spencer performs and records with several groups central to the Whitetop and wider Appalachian old-time tradition.
The flagship old-time band of the Whitetop community in Grayson County, where Martha grew up and remains a core member.
An all-women old-time and country project carrying forward the female voice in Appalachian string-band music.
A traditional old-time ensemble sharing the Whitetop sound with festival and concert audiences.
An International Ambassador for Mountain Music
Martha Spencer has performed internationally, taking the old-time tradition of Whitetop and the southern Appalachians to audiences well beyond the United States. That global reach matters: old-time music is a regional tradition, and musicians who carry it abroad without diluting it serve a real role in keeping the form alive and understood.
Her work as an ambassador is rooted in authenticity. She does not present a smoothed-over version of Appalachian music for outside audiences; she presents the tradition as it actually exists in the mountains — multi-instrumental, dance-driven, community-born, and still evolving through new songs and recordings.
This is the same tradition that runs through The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, which connects the venues and communities where this music is still played live. Spencer is one of the contemporary musicians who gives visitors a living encounter with that heritage.
Featured In
Martha Spencer’s work has drawn national and international attention from leading music and culture publications, and she appears in the documentary film Fiddlin’.
She is also featured in the documentary Fiddlin’, which follows the old-time music tradition around Galax and the Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention — the same world of fiddles, banjos, and flatfoot dancing that surrounds her home in Whitetop.
Connection to the New River Trail
Whitetop, where Martha Spencer is from, lies in the same Grayson County region as the New River Trail. The 57-mile rail trail begins in Fries and winds through the New River Valley, passing within easy reach of the mountain communities where old-time music is still a daily practice.
The landscape and the music are inseparable. The same ridgelines visible from the trail frame the hollows and coves where tunes like the ones Martha Spencer plays were shaped. Visitors who combine a day of cycling or hiking along the New River with an evening of live old-time music at a nearby venue experience the region the way it has always been lived — outdoors by day, music by night.
The tradition Spencer represents connects directly to the region’s recorded-music history. Henry Whitter, who worked in the Fries mill and helped launch commercial country recording, and his duo partner G.B. Grayson are part of the same continuum — read more on the Old-Time Music in Southwest Virginia page. The Carter Family, whose recordings shaped country music, came from the same corner of Southwest Virginia.
Explore Further
Martha Spencer Official Website
marthaspencermusic.com
The Crooked Road
Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail
The Carter Family
The First Family of Country Music
Old-Time Music in Southwest Virginia
Henry Whitter, G.B. Grayson & more
Fries, Virginia
Where the trail begins
Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention
oldfiddlersconvention.com
Blue Ridge Music Center
blueridgemusiccenter.org
Floyd Country Store
floydcountrystore.com
Rex Theater
rextheatergalax.com
Did You Know?
- Martha Spencer plays six instruments: guitar, banjo, fiddle, bass, mandolin, and dulcimer.
- She is from Whitetop, Virginia, a mountain community in Grayson County near Mount Rogers, the highest point in Virginia.
- She is a traditional flatfoot dancer as well as a musician — a solo Appalachian dance form performed to old-time fiddle and banjo.
- Her albums include Martha Spencer (2018), Wonderland (2022), Out In La La Land (2024), Home Sessions, and the Grassy Creek Sessions EP.
- She performs with the Whitetop Mountain Band, The Blue Ridge Girls, and the Whitetop Mountaineers.
- Her work has been featured in Rolling Stone Country, No Depression, Billboard, and The New York Times.
- She appears in the documentary film Fiddlin’, which documents the old-time tradition around Galax.
- Whitetop sits within the same region as the New River Trail and The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail.
Places to Visit Nearby
A 57-mile rail trail beginning in Fries and winding through the New River Valley, the same landscape that shaped the Whitetop music tradition.
Learn moreVirginia’s Heritage Music Trail connecting venues, festivals, and communities where old-time music is still played live.
Learn moreThe oldest and largest old-time music gathering in the world, held each August near Whitetop.
Visit websiteA National Park Service site celebrating the music of the Blue Ridge, with free summer concerts.
Visit websiteHome of the Friday Night Jamboree and a regular stop for old-time musicians and flatfoot dancers.
Visit websiteA restored 1940s theater hosting live old-time and bluegrass every weekend in downtown Galax.
Visit websiteFrequently Asked Questions
Continue Your Appalachian Music Journey
Martha Spencer is one voice in a living tradition that runs through all of Southwest Virginia. Follow The Crooked Road to discover the venues, festivals, and communities where this music is still played. Learn about The Carter Family, Ralph Stanley, Doc Watson, Jimmie Rodgers, and the Bristol Sessions that first carried this region’s music to the world. Meet Eddie Bond, the National Heritage Fellow fiddler from Fries, and Pop Stoneman, a pioneer of early country recording.
And when you visit Fries, ride the trail first. Cycle or walk along the New River, feel the landscape that shaped this music, and then find your way to wherever the fiddles and banjos are playing that evening.
Plan Your Day Trip to Fries
Fries sits directly beside the New River, where the trail begins downtown and forested ridges rise beyond the water. It is close enough for a day trip from Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point and Mount Airy, and rewarding enough to feel like a genuine mountain getaway from Charlotte and the wider North Carolina Piedmont. Combine your activity with time beside the river, a walk through town and a look at the mill and railroad history that shaped the community. Check current trail conditions, weather and park notices before you travel.
Follow the Music to the Mountains
Combine a day on the New River Trail with the living old-time music tradition that Martha Spencer and her community carry forward.