Today on Tuning in the U.S.A., we’re on the road with Richard Stewart and Andreas Pappas. Andreas is a visitor from Greece, and he is a cousin of one of the Stewarts’ friends, Alexandra Pappas. Richard and Andreas are traveling to Nashville, Tennessee. They are becoming good friends. And they are learning more about America. Soon they find themselves near a country festival, and they decide to make a stop.
Wait a minute! Let’s listen to that station. Andreas! Do you know that kind of music?
Yes, I heard something like it once before.
That’s fiddle music. It’s a real American kind of music. Country music, from the mountains.
Why do they call it “fiddle”?
Because in country music, a violin is called a fiddle. F-I-D-D-L-E. Hey, listen to that fiddle player! He’s quick!
Richard, I heard more than just violins. I mean fiddles. Isn’t there a guitar, too?
You have a good ear. You’re right. There is a guitar. Hey, Andreas, what town are we near right now?
I don’t know. I’ll take a lock at the map.
You’re listening to music coming to you live from the fifty-third annual Richwood. West Virginia, country fair.
Hey, listen to her?
Who? The woman is speaking on the radio? What did you hear?
She said nothing unusual, but her accent is unusual. Her way of speaking.
Yes. To people from my part of the country, she does have a strong accent.
What kind of accent do you call that?
That’s a southern accent. Hey, you do have a good ear.
Thank you. Now, we’d like to play for you a favorite song of our family. I know it’s a favorite of your family, too. Here we go! One, two, three…
[The fiddle music on the radio starts again.]
Richard, look at that sign, there, that one.
Which one? Oh, I see it. “Welcome to Richwood, West Virginia.”
Yes, we just heard it on the radio. It’s the home of the country fair.
Hey, we have to make a stop anyway. We’re low on gas. Let’s find a gas station in Richwood and hit the county fair!
“Hit” the county fair?
To hit the fair, Andreas, means to visit the fair, to take in the fair, to enjoy the fair. It means let’s go to the county fair!
What will we find at a county fair?
Oh, music, crafts, animals, and food.
Food! Let’s hit the fair!