By Travis Miller
July 8, 2014. This summer’s Vintage Valle Music continues Sunday, July 20 with musical performances by Damascus, Carolina Crossing and Rev. Bryan McFarland as well as traditional Jack Tales told by Rev. Tommy Brown. The event lasts from 4 to 6 p.m. at Baird’s Creek Presbyterian Church and is free and open to all of the public.
Performances will be held indoors at Baird’s Creek, which is located at 2147 N.C. Hwy 194 S. in Vilas. Event organizers encourage attendees to bring non-perishable food items to donate to Watauga County’s Hunger Coalition.
Jinx Miller, a member of Baird’s Creek, has organized Vintage Valle Music since its inception. She emphasizes that the event is not tied to a religious service and is open to anyone who wants to attend.
“Our church family is reaching out to our community so that we can know them better and they can know us better,” she said.
“The intent is being neighborly. It’s based on the old tradition of Sunday afternoons when neighbors got together. Someone would start playing music and someone else would join in and before long, someone else would start telling tales. This all fits that old time image of neighbors getting together.”
This month’s event truly fulfills the entirety of that old time image with both music and traditional tales performed by close neighbors and well-known community favorites.
Damascus is an acoustic band comprised of members of the Barry family, who are neighbors of Baird’s Creek. The group is a large, fluctuating ensemble of brothers, sisters and cousins who have been playing together since childhood. Their primary emphasis is on bluegrass music and they perform with a variety of string instruments, including guitar, fiddle and mandolin.
Carolina Crossing is appearing at Vintage Valle Music for the first time. They are a local band comprised of five well-known musicians who are committed to keeping bluegrass alive by performing a mix of original music and traditional standards. They have released two CDs, Carolina Crossing and Volume Two. Both albums will be available for purchase at the event. The band is comprised on Gary Trivette on upright acoustic bass, Curtis Main on banjo, Tyler Thompson on lead and rhythm guitar, Dennis Isaacs on lead and rhythm guitar and Robby Norris on mandolin.
Bryan McFarland is folk singer-songwriter who performs original material. He works as a preacher and has committed himself to alleviating hunger throughout the community and the greater world, an issue he often writes about in his music. He has written two albums, All Around Me and Way, and his song, “Until All Are Fed,” has garnered international acclaim.
Tommy Brown adds variety to the event with renditions of Jack Tales, famed traditional mountain tales that surround the adventures and misadventures of Jack, a care-free, sly antihero. They originate from medieval England and have become known world-wide since the popularity of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Tommy Brown grew up a child of camp directors and has been telling tales his entire life. His renditions of the tales, like any folk art form, are done in a style that is his own with borrowings from generations of previous storytellers.
This is the second of three events offered by Vintage Valle Music this summer. The third and final event will be held on Aug. 17 with performaces by The Pineola Bell Ringers, Turkey Tracks Trio and Kraut Creek Ramblers.
Vintage Valle Music offers the community a chance to relive the magic of relaxed, old time porch gatherings, so come take advantage of this unique experience and help support the local Hunger Coalition.
For more information, contact Baird’s Creek Presbyterian Church at 828-297-4089.
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