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Mountain Home Music’s Annual Presentation of ‘A Celtic Christmas’ is Nov. 24 in Downtown Boone

Nov. 15, 2012. “A Celtic Christmas” is jigs and reels, waltzes and airs, stories and songs, carols and a unique season of celebration. Anne Lough, from Asheville, will perform on the mountain and hammer dulcimer and will sing traditional Celtic songs. Cecil Gurganus, from Todd, will fiddle Celtic and traditional Appalachian fiddle tunes; and Mark Freed, from Boone, will join Gurganus on the old-time banjo.

Joe Shannon, Mountain Home Music founder and host, will share stories from Ireland.

Anne Lough has been around music all her life; she began playing and singing as a teen. As she grew older, her passion for music grew; she played more music on more instruments. She played folk music, classical music, and Celtic music; she played guitar, autoharp, and the mountain and hammer dulcimer. She also learned traditional dances and stories.

Over time, her musical passions became her career. To date, Anne Lough has written five, instrumental instruction books, she’s recorded six CDs, she founded a “Road Scholar” program, where she teaches Appalachian traditions to seniors, she teaches at the John C. Campbell Folk School, in Brasstown, NC, and she maintains and active touring and performing schedule. For the Celtic Christmas concert, Rob Lough, Anne’s husband, will provide vocal and instrumental accompaniment.

About Anne Lough, Roger Reichmuth, from Murry State University, said, “Anne Lough is a stunning, accomplished musician with an impressive range of musical achievements.”

Cecil Gurganus is a well-known and highly esteemed old-time fiddler. For more than 30 years, he has played for, and produced, innumerable square dances and celebrations of Appalachian culture. Mark Freed has helped produce the popular Concerts on the Lawn at the Jones House for the past three years.

Anne Lough, Cecil Gurganus and Mark Freed have all toured Ireland with Mountain Home Music’s family of friends and supporters.

Also performing will be Bill, Jewel and Caroline Magee from Blowing Rock. They will perform special, traditional Christmas Carol.

The starting time for “A Celtic Christmas” is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Student tickets are $10 and a child’s ticket is $5. 

Tickets may be purchased at the Mast Store (Boone and Valle Crucis), Fred’s Mercantile on Beech Mountain, Kudzu Music in Boone, and at Pandora’s Mailbox and the Dulcimer Shop, both in the Martin House on Main Street, downtown Blowing Rock.

Tickets may also be purchased online though the Mountain Home Music website: www.mountainhomemusic.com. For more information, go to the website or call 828-964-3392.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is located at 170 Councill St., Boone, NC 28607, which is behind the Earth Fare downtown Boone.

The purpose of Mountain Home Music is to honor the music and the musicians of the Appalachian region.

Mountain Home Music is affiliated with the Blue Ridge Music Trails, a project of the North Carolina Arts Council.