The Southern Highlanders will be featured in a special matinee performance staged by the Joe Shannon’s Mountain Home Music Concert Series. The show title “From the Highlands to the High Country,” describes both the connections that the early settlers from Scotland and the High Country shared in the geography from where they came from and where they ended up settling and the shared traditional music from these regions as well. The matinee will be presented at the Blowing Rock American Legion Hall, beginning at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 3.
The Southern Highlanders perform a music tapestry of Scotland, Ireland and the Southern Appalachians, as well as more recent compositions in the traditional mode. This quartet
are all singers and instrumentalists, including the guitar, mountain dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, fiddle, piano, pennywhistle, concertina, jaw harp and various percussive instruments.
Doug and Darcy Orr have been performing music for over 30 years through their previous Celtic/Appalachian band Maggie’s Fancy in Charlotte, as they recorded and toured through several states, and during subsequent years at Warren Wilson College where Doug served a president from 1991 to 2006 and founded the Swannanoa Gathering summer music camp. Doug co-authored the New York Times best-selling book, Wayfaring Strangers with Fiona Ritchie, host of NPR’s The Thistle & Shamrock, about the musical connections between Scotland, Ireland and the Southern Appalachians. Darcy, an oil and watercolor painter, is the book’s art editor.
Joe and Karen Holbert began performing together in the mid-1980s as multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters. They have their own recording Appalachian Saga, and can be heard on recordings of several others. Joe and Karen performed at the Asheville Mountain Dance and Folk Festival for 21 consecutive years, winning awards for their performances, and return there each year with the Southern Highlanders. They have appeared on a number of other stages including the Philadelphia Folk Song Society, the Asheville Folk Art Center and the former Montreat Kilt ‘n Fiddle Festival. Joe retired after 30 plus years as a public and private school music teacher, and has taught hammered dulcimer at music camps. Karen retired after a 30 year career as a special educator and licensed social worker, and clogged semi-professionally.
Rodney Sutton , director of JSMHM said, “We are excited to present The Southern Highlanders for this “Pay as You Exit” matinee. They will be an excellent fit for the variety of music that JSMHM is known for. Please remember that though we say this is a ‘Free’ event, the important thing for JSMHM is the ‘Pay as You Exit’ part of these shows. If you enjoy the performance we suggest you support our matinees with a $10 donation so that JSMHM may continue to offer these matinees next year.” Please note – the JSMHM matinees run straight through for an hour and 15 minutes without an intermission. The doors open at 1:30 p.m.
The Blowing Rock American Legion Hall is located at 333 Wallingford Rd, Downtown Blowing Rock.
Directions and more info can be found at the JSMHM website – mountainhomemusic.org.
You must be logged in to post a comment.