It is hard to nail down a title for Tyler Hughes. He is a town council member, park ranger, professor, but his most beloved title might be musician. It may be that position that brings all the others together.
“I thought I was going to be Johnny Cash, but I didn’t know that my voice was never going to get that deep.”
He may not have the deep voice of Johnny Cash, but he is one of the leading voices in Appalachian music, its history, and culture.
“Here in southwest Virginia, we may have a lot of differences between individuals, but we have this overarching culture that’s so beautiful that binds us all together," Hughes told News 5.
Hughes serves on the Big Stone Gap town council, and even his leadership story there can be traced back to the banjo.
“I really got interested in my community because I had a love for the history and the culture here. I had volunteered with a lot of organizations around town and around Wise County," Hughes said. "Of course, the more music I played and the more I traveled, the more involved I got with organizations like the Crooked Road, the more I saw the possibilities for how cultural tourism can help improve many of the communities in the Central Appalachian region.”
In the rigid terrain of the mountains, that is where we might just find the neutral ground needed to move communities forward.
“That was perhaps one of the best tools I had when I wanted to start stepping up and getting involved in the community," Hughes said. "When you’re young, whether people mean to or not, sometimes they question your experience level and what can you bring to the table, but through music, I’ve been able to make friends of all different walks of life and all different political persuasions. It really is the bridge that connects us all.”
While Hughes has a number of live performances this year, there is one that will likely always stick out in his mind. He made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry stage with Bluegrass band Dailey & Vincent.
“That was absolutely the greatest honor of my life," Hughes said. “It was a really overwhelming experience, but really inspiring at the same time.”
When you sit down and speak with Hughes about his place in music, it does not ever appear that fame is what he is seeking. It seems his goals are educating others to keep the tradition going.
“Our music is a really good well to reflect on our history, and it tells a really wonderful story of the people of southwest Virginia," Hughes said.
The Mountain Music School that Hughes helps run is coming up next month from July 25 through the 29 at the Mountain Empire Community College.