Visitors who find themselves in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on a Saturday quickly find it’s not uncommon to hear live music at various venues around town and the entire Shenandoah Valley including the Harrisonburg Farmer’s Market.
Behind all the bands that come through the farmer’s market is Sarah Gorman, a marketing strategist.
“Any local musician is able to apply. We have an application on our website, and when they apply, they include a clip of their music,” she said.
Across the country, music is one of the prime ways communities bond together. Harrisonburg is no different.
“Music is just one of the great connectors,” Gorman said, “It makes people happy and allows them to slow down and connect with what’s around.”
DOGWOOD TALES
This idea of community is a sentiment shared by Ben Ryan of Dogwood Tales, an alt-country band hailing from the Harrisonburg community.
“Being able to get together in person and gather, I think, is really important for building a community. And music inherently does that, live music is a culture of going out in person and seeing someone perform,” Ryan said.
Ryan has been playing instruments since he was 12. Despite being passionate about playing music he only started creating music after meeting his bandmate Kyle Grim.
“We had a synergy, off the bat, pretty quickly. Before that, I never wrote music, really, other than maybe some guitar parts. But meeting him and our friendship was just the beginning of a collaborative journey,” he said.
The music that comes out of Harrisonburg ranges from roots music and rock to house and electronic music and the rolling hills, sweeping fields of grass and picturesque views influence
the Harrisonburg music scene. For years Harrisonburg and the Shenandoah valley have attracted artists who draw upon the landscape for inspiration.
“Unique people are drawn to this area, and they end up making art. A lot of the time it’s strange or like outsider music or something underground or punk or heavy. It’s unique because it’s not a big place,” Ryan said.
The passionate DIY energy that flows throughout Harrisonburg has come to define the city’s music culture. This energy has created a culture driven by passion for music and the uplifting of community.
“There’s an instilled kind of ethos of like, let’s go play music. Let’s play basements and let’s just play music because we love it,” Ryan said.
Ryan and Dogwood Tales are an example of a local band that’s growing but keeps their home dear to them. Dogwood Tales are scheduled to play at the Newport News Folk Festival in Rhode Island coming up but despite their growth it is evident in their music that they keep Harrisonburg close to their heart.
INSTRUMENT SHOP
With all of the Harrisonburg area’s talented musicians and thriving music scene the backbone of its music scene is in its various instrument shops including The Tuning Fork, an instrument repair shop owned by Sean Waddington. Sean is a percussionist for local bands The Amateur Rodeo and LOVEDAWG.
Waddington entered the instrument repair industry after he was unfulfilled in his previous career.
“I’ve always loved music. I feel like it was a move for happiness rather than money,” he said.
Shops like The Tuning Fork also provide areas where the experienced can lend their expertise to younger less experienced musicians. This is one of the many ways the Harrisonburg community is bonded by music.
“There’s a huge community from young to old, old time to new time,” Waddington said, “you have seasoned pros giving lessons to newbies.”
Over the years numerous instruments have passed through the halls of The Tuning Fork. However, the 1906 Gibson harp guitar, a six string acoustic, is Waddington’s favorite instrument that the shop has repaired.
“We came in and it just was in disrepair, [It] had 20 some cracks, and we rebuilt it from the inside out, without disassembling it, repaired other cracks, braced it up, got it playing, I mean it sounds awesome, 110 years old,” Waddington said.
Out of all the instruments that come through The Tuning Fork Waddington’s favorite instrument to repair are vintage wooden guitars.
“Restoration of vintage wooden instruments is probably [my favorite], it’s my specialty, and it’s what I have the most passion for,” he said.
The Tuning Fork also has remained a backbone of the Harrisonburg music community not only due to the repairs they do but also for the events they host and participate in.
“We provide live sound so we’re always doing the events that are downtown,” Waddington said. “We host monthly hangouts where musicians and people in the music industry can come together and just talk and jam. It’s a good networking opportunity for people.”
bella • Jul 9, 2025 at 6:23 pm
very informative!
Julianna • Jul 9, 2025 at 6:10 pm
This story makes me want to move to Harrisonburg!
K Coop • Jul 9, 2025 at 3:31 pm
Love the music scene!