Skyline National Bank Celebrates Local Music

Skyline National Bank in Independence, Virginia, is striking the right chord with a local competition that promotes both local musicians and the community bank.

The bank launched its Sounds of Skyline singer-songwriter contest last year and is already busy planning “Volume 2” for this year. Although a music competition sounds a little outside the box for a bank, it’s a natural fit given Skyline’s geographic footprint. 

“Music is a big part of our regional heritage,” says Blake Edwards, Skyline’s president and CEO.

The $1.3 billion-asset bank serves communities within the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia, northwest North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. The region has deep roots in music that spans genres such as old-time string bands, gospel, blues, bluegrass and country. 

That heritage is celebrated along the Crooked Road, a 330-mile driving trail through the mountains of southwest Virginia that connects dozens of music venues and festivals. One renowned festival is the Old Fiddler’s Convention in Galax, Virginia, an annual celebration of old-time and bluegrass music that is the largest and oldest event of its kind in the U.S. 

As part of its community focus, Skyline National Bank is a long-time supporter of various community groups and events, including music festivals such as FloydFest in Floyd, Virginia; the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion in Bristol, Tennessee; and MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

“There are so many talented artists around us in our local community that people aren’t even aware of. The competition is a way to help some of our local artists have one more venue to potentially get their music out there and get noticed.”

—Blake Edwards, Skyline National Bank

Celebrating local artists

Sounds of Skyline is open to amateur singer-songwriters who live within 50 miles of one of the community bank’s 28 branches. Last year’s competition attracted 57 participants who submitted recordings of their original songs. The public could access the contest through the bank’s social media channels and vote for their favorite artist via a ShortStack platform.

Both the winner and runner-up received a two-day trip to Nashville that included a full day in a professional recording studio, where they got to record their winning song. The winner could also perform live at the annual FloydFest in July and at Bristol Rhythm & Roots in September. 

“There are so many talented artists around us in our local community that people aren’t even aware of,” says Edwards. “The competition is a way to help some of our local artists have one more venue to potentially get their music out there and get noticed.” 

One of those artists is Floyd resident Chris Link, who was named the 2025 Sounds of Skyline winner for his original song “Family Name.” “This has really been a great experience,” he says.

Music and songwriting have been on-and-off-again hobbies for Link for nearly two decades. Sounds of Skyline happened to be during an “on” period. Although his day job is working in HVAC, the 37-year-old also performs with the Deer Run Drifters, a local old-time country and folk music group.

Courtesy of the bank, Link and runner-up Alice Hobbs of Woodlawn, Virginia, both recorded their songs in Nashville at the same studio that once hosted Elvis and Dolly Parton. 

“It was really something special to be a part of,” says Link.

Social media success

The idea behind Sounds of Skyline came from a marketing brainstorming session aimed at creating social media content and strengthening Skyline’s name recognition. Although Skyline National Bank has a history that spans 125 years, the current brand is the result of a 2016 merger between Grayson National Bank and the Bank of Floyd in 2016. 

The contest is proving to be a huge marketing hit. 

“Even in year one, the visibility and click-throughs to the website were amazing,” says Edwards. “The competition became our second-largest generator of clicks behind people clicking for their online banking.”

During the month of June, the Sounds of Skyline landing page on the community bank’s website generated nearly 16,000 views. Throughout the competition, the ShortStack contest platform received more than 26,000 views and 17,500 unique visitors.

Skyline National Bank is planning to do an even bigger marketing campaign to promote the 2026 contest. Advertising for its Volume 2 Sounds of Skyline competition began in January. Artists will submit their songs this month, with voting in March, and the winner and runner-up will be announced in early April.

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