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Canadian Fiddle Champion Graces the High Country

July 5, 2012. April Verch, the two-time National Canadian Fiddle Champion, step-dancer and singer will be on Mountain Home Music’s presentation of Celtic Fiddle and Dance. The concert will be Sunday, July 8 at the Blowing Rock School Auditorium in downtown Blowing Rock. Starting time is 8 p.m. 

“This will be April’s second appearance on Mountain Home Music,” said Joe Shannon, founder and host of Mountain Home Music. “And we’re proud to have her here. She’s a busy woman.”

Recent international tours include the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and China.

April Verch was born to traditional music, in Canada’s hard working, hard-dancing Ottawa Valley. She was a local star at four, step dancing with her sister and winning awards at contests. She became the first woman in history to win both of Canada’s most prestigious fiddle championships, the Grand Masters and Canadian Open, and when Canada hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, April Verch was asked to represent her country’s music at the opening ceremonies.

April Verch tours with her band, Cody Walters and Hayes Griffin. Cody Walters grew up in northeastern Kansas and attended college at the University of Kansas. An eclectic musician, he plays bluegrass, jazz and Latin music. Most recently, he has taken up old-time banjo, playing traditional Appalachian music. Hayes Griffin, from central Ohio, starting playing bluegrass at an early age and has played most of his young life. In 2010, he graduated from the New England Conservatory with a degree in Contemporary Improvisation. Soon after graduation, he began touring with The April Verch Band.

Tickets for “Celtic Fiddle and Dance” 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 (formerly Rydell’s) 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.

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.