Cherokee County NC Blog

Sam Rizzetta, a nationally known performer and builder of hammered dulcimers, will perform at 7:30 PM on Friday, January 11, 2008, at John C. Campbell Folk School.

Admission is free.

For more information, visit www.folkschool.org or call 828-837-2775 or 1-800-FOLK-SCH.

Nashville concert pianist Russell Davis will team up with local performer Autumn Johnson on Thursday, January 10, 2008, from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM at The Daily Grind and Wine.

The duo will be performing a variety of jazz, classical, and cabaret style music.

A $5 per person donation is suggested for the performance.

For more information, call 828-835-7322.

The Brasstown Community Civic Center will host one of the hottest bluegrass talents around, when The Raven Welch Band comes to Brasstown, North Carolina, on Saturday, June 23, 2007.

Only 15 years old, Raven Welch is the real deal. She had her first solo in a vacation Bible school program at age 5. By the time she was 12, Welch was performing in community theater. Now, she has her own band that includes some serious bluegrass musicians.

Rhett Davis, who sings bass and plays bass and guitar, is a former member of The Blue Valley Boys and Abigail Moore and Highway 129.

Joe Coffey sings baritone and plays banjo. He started playing banjo at age 12 and has played with many bands over the years, including The Bluegrass Travelers and Abigail Moore and Highway 129.

Terry Collis plays guitar and rounds out the vocals by singing low tenor. He also is one of the original members of The Bluegrass Travelers.

Raven Welch plays mandolin and sings the high lead.

The band will be performing bluegrass and bluegrass gospel.

Traditional music concerts are held at the Brasstown Community Civic Center on the second and fourth Saturdays of warm weather months.

Admission is $4 for adults, with children ages 12 and under free.

Audiences can enjoy the air-conditioned comfort and have a hot dog, soft drink, or dessert.

Show time is 7:00 pm, with the box office opening around 6:30 pm.

Clay Logan and the folks in Brasstown do their best to provide good family entertainment at a reasonable price.

The Brasstown Community Civic Center is located at 255 Settawig Road in
Brasstown, North Carolina, just south of Cherokee County.

Steve Hickman & John Devine - June 22, 2007 - 7:30 pm

Admission: Free, donations welcome

Location: Festival Barn

Steve Hickman and John Devine are well-known performers from King George, Virginia and Berkely Springs, West Virginia respectively who have served as staff musicians for a number of Folk School music and dance programs over the years.

Steve Hickman has toured with numerous bands singing and playing fiddle and harmonica for more than twenty years. He is especially well-known for his mastery of the art of “hambone” or body percussion.

John Devine specializes in contemporary folk songs as well as standards from the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Together, Hickman and Devine play a wide variety of country, folk, bluegrass, Irish, swing and traditional old time music.

The concert will be in the festival barn. Those attending are urged to park near Keith House or the dining hall and to walk to the barn where there will be only a limited number of handicapped parking spaces available.

In the barn, there is hay bale seating, so audience members may wish to bring a lawn chair for comfort.

For more information about the John C. Campbell Folk School, its classes, crafts, and events, call 828-837-2775 or 1-800-FOLK-SCH (800-365-5724) or visit www.folkschool.org.

Their website has more information about the school, the Craft Shop, and their Concerts, Dances, and Events.

JuBELLation, a youth handbell choir from Portland, Oregon, will perform in a free concert Thursday, June 21, 2007, at St. William Catholic Church in Murphy, North Carolina.

Karin McDonough, musical director, said, “With its sound and energy, JuBELLation is prepared to take its audience on a remarkable musical journey.”

The group will perform music written specifically for handbell choirs as well as arrangements of familiar tunes.

JuBELLation formed at First United Methodist Church in Portland in 1998, and, nine years later, many of the ringers in the group will graduate this year from high school. In celebration of this passage, the handbell choir is touring in North Carolina and Tennessee on their way to a handbell festival in Chattanooga.

Brasstown Ringers and Mountain Area Performing Arts Association are local sponsors of the event.

The concert will begin at 7:30 pm Thursday, June 21, 2007, at St. William Catholic Church on Andrews Road in Murphy.

Admission is free and no reservations are required.

A free-will offering will be taken to defray the costs of the tour.

For more information, call Pat Meinecke at 828-837-8822.

David Anderson & Hunt Smith - June 15, 2007 - 7:30 pm

Admission: Free, donations welcome

Location: Festival Barn

David Anderson, a native of Brasstown, plays guitar and sings a wide variety of folk and country songs. He was featured in the Folk School’s award winning Mountain Valley Music collection both as a solo artist and with The Three Shades of Bluegrass.

Hunt Smith settled in Brasstown a few years ago and has sung and played guitar and mandolin for years in clubs and coffee houses and at the Folk School’s Fall Festival.

David and Hunt have been playing together informally for several years, but this will be a rare public concert by these two talented musicians.

For more information about the John C. Campbell Folk School, its classes, crafts, and events, call 828-837-2775 or 1-800-FOLK-SCH (800-365-5724) or visit www.folkschool.org.

Their website has more information about the school, the Craft Shop, and their Concerts, Dances, and Events.

The Valley River Trio will perform bluegrass and gospel music Saturday, June 9, 2007, in the Brasstown Community Civic Center as part of its summer concert series.

Sonny Reighard will perform with Margaret Reighard and Jeannean Wilson.

Traditional music concerts are held in the Brasstown Community Civic Center on most second and fourth Saturdays of the warm weather months.

Admission is $4 per adult, with children ages 12 and under admitted free.

The box office opens about 6:30 pm, with concerts starting at 7:00 pm.

Since air conditioning was added last year, the venue is more attractive to audiences and performers.

Refreshments will be available before the concert and during intermission.

The center is on Settawig Road.

Quality traditional entertainment in a family-friendly, affordable venue is the hallmark of this summer concert series.

One Leg Up - June 8, 2007 - 7:30 pm

Admission: Free, donations welcome

Location: Festival Barn

One Leg Up, from Asheville, NC, has been performing since 2003.

This Parisian style of jazz is upbeat acoustic swing with a repertoire of 1920s, 30s, and 40s jazz standards, originals, modern jazz tunes, and of course, music from the book of the virtuoso guitarist Django Reinhardt.

This style of jazz is popular in clubs and festivals throughout Europe, yet it is underrepresented in America. One Leg Up is one of the few bands that plays this music in the southeast.

The musicians are John Stineman (guitar & vocal), Jim Tanner (guitar), Daniel Coolik (mandolin), Mike Guzalak (clarinet and vocals), Cary Fridley (bass & vocals), and guest violinist Steve Trismen.

For more information about the John C. Campbell Folk School, its classes, crafts, and events, call 828-837-2775 or 1-800-FOLK-SCH (800-365-5724) or visit www.folkschool.org.

Their website has more information about the school, the Craft Shop, and their Concerts, Dances, and Events.

The Hogsed Trio and Looking Up will play from 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm on Sunday, June 10, 2007, at Bear Ridge Mall off US 19/74 in Andrews, North Carolina.

For more information, call Bear Ridge Mall at 828-321-2386.

The Wilson Family and Hitch and the Hitch Hikers will play from noon until 2:00 pm on Saturday, June 9, 2007 at Bear Ridge Mall, off US 19/74 at the site of the former Hillbilly Mall in Andrews, North Carolina.

For more information, call Bear Ridge Mall at 828-321-2386.