The first Breakin' Up Winter retreat was just that - an informal gathering of friends who shared an interest in and love for old-time string band music.
Charlie Acuff was the first in a long line of widely respected "heritage artists" - icons of old-time music - to headline Breakin' Up Winter.
Each year, the event begins with scholarly presentations by researchers and authors and demonstrations by musicians with deep roots in the music.
In addition to Charlie Acuff and Charles Wolfe, presenters and performers have included: Some call it "mountain music" or "old-timey" or "fiddle tunes."
There remain many players whose introduction to the music came (and still comes) not from radio or recordings, but through family and friends who themselves who were passing it down directly through the generations.