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Michael Reno Harrell and David Childers November 11th

Volume 15, Issue 11 November 2011 Celebrating Piedmont Carolinas Music Since 1982

The Charlotte Folk Society’s next second-Friday Gathering on No-vember 11th brings together two of North Carolina’s finest and most treasured songwriters, David Childers and Michael Reno Harrell. Join us in the Great Aunt Stella Center, 926 Elizabeth Avenue, at 7:30 PM when the mu-sic gets underway. This will be an evening to remember as David and Michael share their views of 21st cen-tury life in the South. Charlotte Folk Society Gatherings are family-friendly and free. Donations are appreciated and essential to pre-senting the concert se-ries in the Stella Cen-ter. Free parking is available in the surface parking lot adjacent to the Stella Center. A nearby deck admits cars freely after 7 PM; those exiting after 8 PM are not charged. Refreshments follow the hour-long concert. Afterwards, visitors are welcome to join a song circle, a slow old-time jam, and fast jams. The Charlotte Appa-lachian Dulcimer Club invites folks

to try out a “loaner” dulcimer and join their session. Michael Reno Harrell is an award-

winning songwriter, as well as a seasoned storyteller, play-wright, and enter-tainer. Michael's re-cordings top the Americana Music As-sociation charts year after year. His origi-nal songs and stories have been described as “Appalachian grit and wit,” but his writ-ing reflects an aware-ness broader than the bounds of his boy-

hood home or even the southern experience. Having toured

throughout the British Isles and much of Europe, as well as most of the United States, the songs and stories he creates offer insights into people’s experiences that catch the ear like an old friend's voice. Mi-chael has been hon-ored to be Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival and to be Teller In Residence at the Inter-

national Storytelling Center, as well as performing at major music (Continued on page 3.)

CFS Annual Holiday Potluck:

Sunday, December 11th

Mark your calendar, enter the date in your iPhone or Android, or leave a note on your refrigera-tor, but, please, plan to attend our Annual CFS Holiday Potluck and Jams on Sunday, December 11th! Please note the day of the week and the location. Our year-end celebration will take place in Langford Hall at Dilworth United Methodist Church, 605 East Boulevard, in the Dilworth Com-munity of Charlotte. The Potluck Dinner will begin at 5 PM. Please bring a dish to share or contribute $5 per person towards our ex-penses. Come at 4 PM for pre-dinner jamming or to join Salem Macknee in a holiday song circle. The Potluck is open to the public and you’re invited to bring friends and family. We’ll need some volunteers to come at 2:30 PM to assist Rita and Gar Hartmann with decorating Broach Hall. Please let Wanda Hubicki know if you can give some time before the Potluck to help with setting up, staffing the CFS table, keeping foods warmed or chilled, or helping afterwards to clear the hall of our decorations – call 704-563-7080 or email phu-bicki@carolina.rr.com. (Continued on page 5.)

David Childers

Michael Reno Harrell

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CFS Folk Calendar Folk Calendar is a publication of the Charlotte Folk Society. No articles may be reproduced without the permission of the Society. Deadline for all submissions is generally the 20th of the month preced-ing publication. Contact Wanda Hu-bicki at 704-563-7080. Submit articles by email at phubicki@carolina.rr.com, or by U. S. mail at 3610 Country Club Drive, Char-lotte, NC 28205. All rights reserved.

2009 Board of Directors President: Dennis Frost

704-532-8846 Vice President: Tom Hanchett 704-377-5257 Secretary: Bethli Miescher-Clemens 704-892-4914 Treasurer: John Goldsbury 704-953-1718 Members at Large Mark Clemens 704-892-4914 Elene Clemens Tom Kelleher 704-892-4914 704-366-9441 Ramona Moore Big Eagle Karen Singleton 704-568-6940 704-364-5433 Cathey Franklin Sara Spencer 704-525-3256 704-375-3042 J. C. Honeycutt Harry Taylor 704-618-8144 704-579-9480 Junior Board Members Davy Fee Isabelle Young 704-236-3285 704-243-3871 Avery McGuirt 704-948-1122 Newsletter Editor & Publicist Wanda Hubicki 704-563-7080 Webmaster Ed Gebauer 704-886-5371 Founder and Board Member Emeritus Marilyn Meacham Price 803-548-5671 Charlotte Folk Society Events Information 704-372-FOLK (704-372-3655) Charlotte Folk Society website: www.folksociety.org

The Charlotte Folk Society has ex-tensive resources to help you with your special event or conference – anything from just a taste of this re-gion’s Appalachian musical heri-tage to a full evening of music and dance with audience participation. Call Karen Singleton at 704-364-5433 to arrange for entertainment and/or instruction at reasonable rates.

Hire Musicians For Your

Next Event

Charlotte Folk Society Mission

The purpose of the Charlotte Folk Society, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit or-ganization and an Arts & Science Council grant recipient, is to pro-mote the ongoing enjoyment and preservation of traditional and con-temporary folk music, dance, crafts, and lore.

Please support these merchants who offer Charlotte Folk Society mem-bers a 10% discount on their pur-chases. Present your membership card at the time of purchase: AC Accounting (Allen Cooke) CD Warehouse Smiling Moon Guitars The Violin Shoppe Wax Museum Rob Webster, Santa Cruz Guitars Woody’s (Rock Hill and York)

CFS Member Discounts

The musician’s friend, Visit http://hetzler.

homestead.com.

Aldersgate Allen Tate Agent Becky Herring Arts & Science Council Photographer Daniel Coston Foskoskies Neighborhood Café Historic Rosedale Plantation Si Kahn Levine Museum of the New South Maxx Music Myers Park Baptist Church The Neighborhood Theatre The Swannanoa Gathering The Scottish Bank Photographer Glen Simmons Storytellers Guild of Charlotte The Violin Shoppe Tosco Music Party WGWG-FM WTVI-TV

CFS Partners

Charlotte Folk Society Annual Membership Fees

Individual $25 Student $15 Family $35

Senior Individual (62+) $20 Senior Family (62+) $30

Sustaining $50 Sponsor $100

Benefactor $250 Patron $500

Lifetime $1000 Affiliate Organization $35

Folk Calendar Contributors

Thanks to David Childers, Michael Reno Harrell, Daniel Coston, the Snyder Family Band, and Red June for photos provided this month. Thanks to Bill Cooke for putting to-gether the dance calendar. We ap-preciate Hat and Dan Thompson for labeling and stamping the newslet-ter to get it in the mail each and every month. Call Wanda at 704-563-7080 to help.

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(Childers & Harrell, continued from page 1.) events such as MerleFest and the Walnut Valley Festival. Michael has twelve CDs to his credit. Eight are recordings of original songs; four include both his stories and songs. The most re-cent, Humor and Heart, is a two-disc 2011 release, recorded live at a house concert in Caldwell County. Michael’s fans can also enjoy a DVD recording of a live perform-ance at Cleveland Community Col-lege entitled Hey, Y’All. Michael has written and performs a highly entertaining one-man play, My Roots Are Showing . . . A Southern Boy’s Bumpy Road to Manhood. The play spans his sixty-plus-years’ journey from be-ing raised in a small East Tennessee hill town to his travels as a musi-cian and storyteller carrying the Southern experience across the South and beyond. His perform-ance is filled with original stories and songs and runs the gamut of happenstance from family holiday gatherings to finally getting a first bicycle to fledgling folk perform-ances and it all takes place in Mi-chael’s memorabilia-filled attic. “Michael Reno Harrell is a classic storyteller with a voice that's part Marty Robbins, part John Prine. There's an organic timelessness to his songs, whether he's rushing through a classic on-the-run tale or quietly mourning a long-dead friend.” – The Charlotte Observer Visit Michael’s website at www.michaelreno.com. David Childers, an attorney by trade, is described by Eric Hage (All Music Guide) as “an acclaimed Americana artist who writes tough, literary tunes informed by heart-land rock, country music, folk mu-sic, small towns, and lonesome highways. He also draws passion-

ate inspiration and imagery from the Bible.” David, born in 1951, grew up in Mt. Holly, North Carolina. Music and a love of language took root in his life early on. As a teen, he began writ-ing poetry and playing banjo. Later, he picked up the harmonica and pi-ano. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he added the guitar to his repertoire. Writing in a pared down, bare bones style, David won the American Academy of Poets Award for North Carolina in 1973. Songs are simply poetry set to music and David has a large body of origi-nal material. He has performed and recorded solo and with the Mount Holly Hellcats, the Modern Don Juans, and, most recently, the Over-mountain Men. All told, he has a discography of some eleven titles, including Hard Time County (Rank, 1999), Room 23 (Ramseur/Silver Meteor, 2005), and Burning In Hell (Single Wing, 2007). David Childers and the Modern Don Juans garnered a well-deserved reputation as a roots-rock band that gave its all to their audi-ences. In David’s own words: [The] Modern Don Juans was a high energy, rock and roll outfit. It was like driving a car as fast as you can on a straight-away. The material was fast, intense, loud. We had the ability to drive people into a frenzy. It had lots of punk rock, rockabilly, Howling Wolf type blues, old country, and bluegrass influences. The shows were exhilarating and exhaust-ing . . . All that was fun, but we were looking for an opening in a glass ceiling, and it was not there . . . Plain and sim-ple, it ruined my physical and mental health for a while; it took the joy of play-ing away . . . I wanted to be quiet. I wanted to sleep in my own bed, to be close to my wife, to share days and nights with her that I had missed out on because I was speeding down I-85 to Atlanta, or up to New York, Cleveland,

Baltimore, or all over the Netherlands. When I was home I would look at the beautiful place we live in and see how it needed some cleaning up, some trim-ming up; much like me. After five years on the road, David called it quits and the band played its last gig at the end of 2007. David began painting pictures, something he had long wanted to do and which he enjoys. He de-scribes it as “. . . a life changer in the best way. I also started writing new songs; quieter songs. I've worked for over 40 years learning how to use language and I felt like a lot of it was getting lost under the noise of what I had done.” David and his friend Bob Craw-ford, bassist for The Avett Broth-ers, began to co-write songs. Then, Bob asked David to record Angola, the title track to a documentary, Six Seconds of Freedom, about the annual Angola Prison Rodeo, held within the walls of the Louisiana State Penitentiary. What started as a group of studio musicians soon acquired band status - the Overmountain Men, named for the patriots who fought the British at Kings Mountain dur-ing the Revolutionary War. The full band is comprised of David Childers, Bob Crawford, Robert Childers (David’s son), Randy Saxon, Geoff White, Dale Shoe-maker, and Scott Dailey. Angola became the first song on Glorious Day, the band’s 2010 debut CD on the Ramseur label. After record-ing, they decided they should go out and present the music live. “While Childers’ band The Mod-ern Don Juans was more of a rock ‘n’ roll bar band, Overmountain Men is closer to the Avett Brothers in its vein of American music. It gives Childers the chance to show-case his poetic lyrics. He also en-joys getting to perform on a less (Continued on page 4.)

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2121 Shamrock Drive Suite A Charlotte, North Carolina

704-535-2225 www.foskoskies.com

FOLK CALENDAR

(Childers & Harrell, continued from page 3.) stressful basis, knowing there are people who enjoy it.” – Jeff Hahne, Creative Loafing Overmountain Men now has a sec-ond project in the works that’s slated for release next year. For David, Bob, and their band-mates, the future is less important than the present and the fun of writings songs and playing to-gether. David: “From my youth, I just wanted to write songs that other people would record, or at least perform. I started making rec-ords so the songs could be heard, and since nobody else would do it, I had to do it myself. It sure is a lot of fun.” Realizing a life-long dream and having fun – does life get any better? Multi-instrumentalist and musical “gun for hire” Randy Saxon will accompany David on November 11th. As well as being a veteran of both the Modern Don Juans and the Overmountain Men, he has played banjo in bluegrass bands and toured with a Christian rock musician. Randy provides tasteful accompaniment for live perform-ances of many styles of music and has played with well-known per-formers such as Doc Watson, Jim Lauderdale, and The Gourds. He performs with several local bands in Shelby and Charlotte and works as a luthier, repairing classical, acoustic, and electric instruments. In 2008, Randy was named Char-lotte Magazine Best of Charlotte “Best Guitarist.” To read David Childers’ poetry, view his paintings, and learn more about his recordings, visit his web-site at www.davidchilders.com. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear David Childers and Michael Reno Harrell on the same night, on the same stage. See you there!

Charlotte Appalachian

Dulcimer Club November 11th

The Charlotte Appalachian Dulci-mer Club meets after every CFS Gathering with a beginner-friendly jam. Loaner instruments are avail-able if you want to try your hand. The Club also has a weekly Friday morning Dulcimer Jam in the Arbo-retum area if you’re interested. So, start the year off right. Bring your dulcimer to the November 11th Gathering and stop by the Dulcimer Jam room. We’ll get you tuned up and playing your dulcimer in no time. For more information, contact Mark Willingham at 980-254-8059.

Charlotte Folk Society Gatherings are made possible, in part, with funding from the Arts & Science Council and the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources, and the National Endow-ment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

Monthly Charlotte Folk Society Old-Time Acoustic Jams take place on second Sundays, 2 PM to 4 PM, in the Asbury Care Center Living Room at Aldersgate, 3800 Sham-rock Drive (between Eastway Drive and Sharon Amity Road) in east Charlotte. This month’s jam will take place on November 13th. Jams are free and open to all musi-cians and listeners. If you have questions, please contact Jam Coor-dinator Tom Kelleher at 704-366-9441.

Directions: Traveling from East-way Drive, make a right turn from Shamrock Drive into Aldersgate at the traffic light at Tipperary Place. Stop at the Guard Gate and say that you’re going to the Asbury Care Center to the Folk Society jam ses-sion. The guard will direct you to the correct building and the recep-tionist in the Asbury Care Center

CFS Sunday Old-Time

Acoustic Jam November 13th

Bill Williams invites all to join in and come on out on the first Satur-day of every month from 2-4 PM in the Activities Room at the Wil-low Grove Retirement Center, lo-cated at 10043 Idlewild Road, Mat-thews, NC 28105. The next jam will take place on Saturday, De-cember 3rd. For information, call Bill Williams at 704-573-6154 or 704-517-2822 (cell).

Willow Grove Old-Time Jam December 3rd

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(Holiday Potluck, continued from page 1.) Our custom at the Potluck is to draw names of new and renewed members for door prizes. Be sure to renew your membership so you’ll be eligible! If you have a CD or some other item you’d like to donate as a door prize, please contact Wanda Hubicki. We will also draw the winning name in the raffle of the mandolin donated by The Violin Shoppe. After dinner, we’ll enjoy a short concert of seasonal selections by the Community Singers, an intergenerational folk choir whose purpose is to promote peace and build community through music. CFS member Carol Raedy is the founder and leader of the choir. Following the Community Sing-ers’ program, folks will then be welcome to sing and jam for the remainder of the evening until the Potluck ends at 9:45 PM. Charlotte Folk Society Gatherings are made possible, in part, with funding from the Arts & Science Council and the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources, and the National Endow-ment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

ary 1, 2012. This step was taken partially to compensate for a rent increase at the Great Aunt Stella Center this year and because of in-creased production and mailing costs for the newsletter. The Char-lotte Folk Society has weathered this recession well. We are now in sound shape financially and this measure was taken to assure that we will continue to be, going for-ward. We sincerely hope that this small increase does not create a hardship for any of our good mem-bers because we cherish your in-volvement with CFS. We encourage you to renew your membership by December 31st to do so at the cur-rent rates. Thank you in advance for your support.

By Dennis Frost After many years with no increase in Folk Society membership fees, the Board voted unanimously in September to raise each member-ship category by $5, effective Janu-

Folk Society Membership Fees Increase

January 1, 2012

Daniel Coston’s Avett Brothers

Photo In Light Factory

Auction

Calling all Avett Brothers fans! You have an opportunity to own the above photo of the brothers taken by Daniel Coston, photogra-pher extraordinaire. His black and white print entitled Avett Brothers Writing “Talk On Indo-lence” In Their Kitchen, Septem-ber 2004 will be available at the Light Factory’s 30th Annual Art Auction on November 19th. The event takes place at Extravaganza Depot, 1610 North Tryon Street, in downtown Charlotte. A silent auction begins at 7 PM; the live auction takes place at 9 PM. En-tertainment follows the auctions. Tickets are $75 and include food. Learn more and purchase tickets at www.lightfactory.org. Visit Daniel’s website at www.danielcostonphotography.com. Read his interviews, essays, and reflections on his blog site at www.danielcoston.blogspot.com. Four of Daniel’s photos are among those in the newly published book House of Cash, written by John Carter Cash about his famous par-ents, Johnny and June Carter Cash.

Each fall we offer new and renew-ing members good value for their dollars! Join any time after Septem-ber 1st, and your membership will be good through December 31, 2012. It’s easy – just visit www.folksociety.org and and join online, using a credit card, or use the mem-bership form in this newsletter and mail it in with your check. Of course, you can also pick up a form at any monthly Gathering. You’ll receive a newsletter every month to keep you up to date on CFS events, as well as a calendar that covers the music we value all over North Carolina and beyond. Join or renew now – don’t miss out! If you have a question about your membership status, contact Bethli Miescher Clemens at emie-scher@bellsouth.net or 704-892-4914.

Join CFS Now- Membership

Expires 12/31/2012

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Sara Grey and her son, Kieron Means, return again to Charlotte on Saturday, November 12. In 2009, they performed at a monthly Charlotte Folk Society Gathering. The 7:30 PM concert will be at the home of Harry Taylor in the Myers Park neighborhood of Charlotte. Admission is $15. Harry's house is not large so space is limited. Please reserve a place early by sending an email to hataylor@ccim.net or by calling 704-579-9480. Sara Grey is a fine American singer, banjo player, and song collector, immersed in traditional folk music from both sides of the Atlantic. She has performed throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, and Australia. One of the best things about Sara’s singing is that it reflects her great knowledge of and feeling for tradi-tional music. She just seems to know what is right in the interpre-tation of a traditional song. A bal-lad singer of great strength, she possesses a fine understanding of the importance of understatement in the art of ballad singing. Her singing is richly emotional and she is equally at home with a gentle lyric or a harsh account of life on the frontier. Kieron Means, is a singer and guitar player of great merit. He was born in the United States but grew up in Britain with the music of both traditions. A fine

performer of traditional and contemporary songs, he has toured throughout the United States and UK, often performing with his mother. Sara and Kieron will present material from a wide range of American traditions, including old-

time songs and ballads sung in harmony, blues, and gospel music. Of particular interest to them is the passage to America of songs from Great Britain and Ireland. I was in awe of this truly remarkable singer of the old bal-

lads; not only for her incredible breadth of knowledge and her obvious love of her material, but in her combination of both singing and prefacing the songs with fascinating background stories, since Sara is also a master story teller. A memorable performance. – Merrick Jarrett, Old Chestnuts Song Circle (Kitchener, Ontario) You can visit Sara Grey's website here: http://www.saragrey.net

Sara Grey & Kieron Means House Concert November 12th

Sara Grey and Kieron Means

CFS Gathering Old-Time Slow Jam

By Ed Gebauer Join us every month after the Gathering concert to play some old-time fiddle tunes at the CFS Slow Jam. Led by fiddler Ed Ge-bauer, this group meets up on the third floor in the Stella Center Conference Room. Here, beginner players are introduced to old-time tunes at a gentle pace. This is the place to start learning to jam with other players after learning those first few chords on your guitar or banjo, or your first tune on your lead instrument. Please check out the Slow Jam web page at www.folksociety.org/slowjam.shtml to see the tunes we'll be playing. At the next Gathering on Friday, No-vember 11th, we’ll be playing the tunes in the key of G! Hope to see you there!

Beginners’ Bluegrass

Jam

The Queen City Bluegrass Jam meets every other Saturday, 2-4 PM, at the Asbury Care Center at Aldersgate, 3800 Shamrock Drive, (between Eastway Drive and Sharon Amity Road) in east Char-lotte. For the exact meeting dates each month, contact Jerry Leonard at jerryleonard999@yahoo.com. Or, join the group at www.meetup.com in order to keep current. Search on that site for “Charlotte Beginner Bluegrass Jam.”

Calling Musicians

Randy Walker, host of WEGE 91.7 FM The Roundtable Sunday Edition is seeking bands or musicians who would like to be featured guests on his weekly radio program. If inter-ested, contact Randy at lowwil-lie@aol.com for more information. Visit http://www.wsge.org/program/publicaff.php

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By Ed Gebauer The Slow Celtic Session at the Charlotte Folk Society is an off-shoot of the Celtic Session. This in-formal gathering of local musicians will focus on Celtic tunes played in the session style. The goal of the Slow Celtic Session is to allow folks to ease into the Celtic tunes with two key constraints: (i) we'll play slower than at the regular Session; and (ii) we'll have a shorter list of tunes so that you can know what will be

Slow Celtic Session

November 12th

Snyder Family Band House Concert November 12th

out. Our home is five minutes from the I-77 Carowinds Exit. Directions will be given with reservations. Seating is limited to 45, so RSVP today. (Sorry; no kids.) To reserve a seat, either email Musiclo-vers@Comporium.net or call Randy at 704-877-9282 (cell). We will con-

firm in email, with a mailing address. You will mail a check to us, made out to The Snyder Family Band – a minimum dona-tion of $20 per seat. Randy will send you an email to let you know we got your check.

Your seat is now reserved. We will send directions to the show in email about a week before the show.

played. "Should I attend?" Yep, if . . . - you're a beginner who wants to learn to play Celtic tunes (though we assume you know how to play your instrument), - you're not a beginner, but you're new to Celtic tunes and want to ease in, - you're not a beginner, but you want a slow pace to work on some techniques, - you're conversant in one instru-ment, but want to dabble in an-other. Check out the Celtic Slow Session webpage at: www.folksociety.org/slowcelticsession.shtml for more information The next Slow Session will be held in the after-noon on Saturday, November 12th, in east Charlotte. Write John Goldsbury at flat-pick_guitar@yahoo.com for direc-tions and any questions so that you can know what will be played.

By Barbara and Randy Ivey The Snyder Family Band will be performing at our next MusicLo-vers House Concert on Saturday, November 12th. Some of you may already be familiar with the Snyder Family Band. You may have seen them at Merlefest 2011. Or headlin-ing a Charlotte Folk Society Gathering. Or sitting in with Wayne Henderson or the Kruger Brothers at the Cook Shack. Or per-forming with Blue Highway at the IBMAs. Or one of their TV visits to Mountain Stage or Song of the Moun-tains. This group is everywhere! If you aren’t familiar with them, sixteen-year-old Zeb Snyder won the Adult Guitar championship at the famous Galax Fiddler’s Con-vention this year. Zeb had to beat Wayne Henderson to do it. Twelve-year-old Samantha won the Adult Fiddle competition. She had to beat her fiddle teacher, Glen Alexander, to do it. The Snyder Family Band has just released their third CD, Stages, and will have some available at the show. You can learn more about them on their website http://snyderfamilyband.com/about.html We will have a potluck dinner at 7 PM, followed by the concert at 8 PM. A minimum donation is $20 per person; all proceeds go to the band. We expect this one to sell

The Snyder Family Band

Final Notes

We extend our deepest sympathy to Fiona McAlister on the loss of her father, Graham Frank Clifford, who passed away on October 14th at the Sherrill’s Ford Hospice House after a twenty-year battle with cancer. Old-time musician, singer, and songwriter Clint Howard died at his home in Mountain City, Tenne-see, on October 16th at the age of 80. He performed at venues from Carnegie Hall to the Smithsonian Folk Festival to the Newport Folk Festival to the World‘s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. Each year at MerleFest, his set with Doc Watson in the Traditional Tent was a high-light of the festival.

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Those who attended the April 2011 CFS Gathering are quite familiar with the guitar virtuosity of Robin Bullock. That evening, he filled the Great Aunt Stella Center with rich tones of his special arrange-ments of Celtic and Appalachian favorites demon-strating why the Baltimore City Paper referred to him as the “Celtic guitar god.” Now Robin is returning to the Charlotte area to present a Christmas concert on Saturday, De-cember 3rd, in the even more inti-mate setting of a house concert. Robin is well known for his Winter Solstice concerts, an annual tradi-tion in Baltimore for over 30 years, and for the past several years with Asheville’s Swannanoa Solstice concert. The music of Christmas, perfectly suited to the ageless tones of the acoustic guitar, comes to life in Robin Bullock's concert of carols and hymns spanning over 600 years, drawn from his best sell-ing holiday recordings A Guitar for Christmas and Christmas Eve is Here. Sample both recordings on Robin’s website at www.robinbullock.com. Internationally recognized as a master Celtic instrumentalist, Robin celebrates the many moods of the Yuletide season in gorgeous guitar interpretations, augmenting his six-string virtuosity with selec-tions on cittern and mandolin. Combining familiar favorites such as What Child is This, The First Noel, O Little Town of Bethle-hem, and his show-stopping solo

Robin Bullock Christmas House Concert December 3rd

guitar arrangement of Carol of the Bells with lesser-known pieces such as the traditional Scottish carol Rorate, the Irish Wexford Carol, and the Shetland Islands fid-dle tune Christmas Day in the Morning, Robin weaves a spell

from centu-ries of tradi-tion and the joy of the season, creat-ing an unfor-gettable eve-ning of acoustic Christmas cheer. The concert

is at the home of Bethli and Mark Clemens in Cornelius. There will be a potluck dinner at 6 PM and the concert will start at 7:30 PM. Tick-ets are $16 and advanced reserva-tions and payment are required. Please contact Bethli Miescher Clemens at emiescher@bellsouth.net, or 704-892-4914. A wonderful way to ease into holiday spirits!

We extend a warm welcome to our new member and thank her and those renewing for choosing to sup-port the Charlotte Folk Society. The names of new members appear in bold below. The Charlotte Folk Society is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organi-zation and your donations are de-

Thanks To New And Renewing CFS Members

November CFS Celtic

Music Sessions

By Ed Gebauer Once or twice a month, the CFS Celtic Music Session meets in mem-bers' homes to play music from the various Celtic traditions. All acous-tic instruments are welcome, though this session does tend towards the intermediate level. To learn where and when the next session will be, join our mailing list by emailing John Goldsbury at flat-pick_guitar@yahoo.com. Our ses-sions for this month will be a slow session on Saturday, November 12th, in east Charlotte and a regular session on Sunday, November 20th, in Cornelius.

Robin Bullock

ductible as charitable contributions under applicable tax law. We deeply appreciate donations above your basic membership and employer matches, as they enable us to continue to meet our mission and offer annual scholarships to the Swannanoa Gathering Folk Arts Workshops. Monthly Gather-ings in the Great Aunt Stella Cen-ter are supported by memberships, grant funds, and donations. All three are essential. Individuals Vickie Clark Laura Farina Patricia Isley Ryan Navey Yvonne Sherman Families Barney and Jan Valder Offerman J. D. and Christa Winfrey Sponsor Kevin Coons and Linda Peak

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your CFS member card when shop-ping. For detailed information about instruments, accessories, and services offered, visit www.theviolinshoppe.net. Check out their new line of acoustic and elec-tric instruments by Yamaha, as well as their fine Eastman guitars and mandolins. The Violin Shoppe of-fers traditional and bluegrass fiddle lessons, as well as classical violin

lessons, including the Suzuki Method. In-struction for guitar, banjo, mandolin, Do-bro, bass, and bodhran is also available. Award-winning musi-cians/instructors, Glen Alexander and Jon Sin-gleton, make The Violin Shoppe a destination for traditional and blue-grass students. Tickets cost $2 each or $10 for six. The man-dolin will be on dis-play and raffle tickets will be available to purchase at Festival in the Park and upcoming Gatherings. For your convenience,buy tick-ets online at www.folksociety.org.

Drawing of the winning ticket will take place during the Folk Society’s Annual Holiday Potluck, on Sun-day, December 11th, at Dilworth United Methodist Church, 605 East Boulevard, in Charlotte. Ticket holders need not be present to win. For tax compliance reasons, the raf-fle winner must fill out a W-9 form before receiving the instrument. The winner is responsible for all resulting income taxes, if any.

Eastman Mandolin Raffle Drawing December 11th – Buy Tickets Now

Thanks to the generosity of Glen Alexander and David McGuirt, proprietors of The Violin Shoppe, Inc., Charlotte Folk Society will raise funds through an instrument raffle again this year. We are very appreciative of Glen and David’s donation of an Eastman MD-305 A-Style Mandolin (F hole). The mandolin comes complete with an Eastman deluxe gig bag and re-tails for $500. This instrument is from Eastman’s new-est series of mando-lins. They feature all-wood construction with a beautiful, clas-sic satin lacquer finish that gives them a vin-tage look and a full body sound. Incredi-ble sound and great playability make the 300 series hard to beat. The Eastman MD-305 features a hand-carved solid spruce top and hand-carved solid maple back and sides. The top is sup-ported with parallel bracing and is ac-cented with ivoroid binding. A 12” radiused rosewood fretboard inlaid with white mother-of-pearl, an adjustable fitted ebony bridge, chrome hardware and tuning ma-chines, a 1-3/32“ bone nut, and D’Addario 174 strings make this a very desirable instrument. The Violin Shoppe is located at 2112 East Seventh Street. Folk So-ciety members receive a ten per-cent discount. Be sure to take

Eastman MD-305 A-Style

Folk icon Joan Baez will perform in the Austin Auditorium of the Batte Center on the Wingate College cam-pus in Wingate, North Carolina, at 7:30 PM on Saturday, November 19th. We've been offered a generous $10 discount on tickets to the concert. Tickets are priced $42-52. This will be the only North Carolina concert in her fall tour. Dis-counted tickets are available through the Batte Center box office only. Call 704-233-8300 and use the Promotion Code: Folk Society. This is a limited time offer. Legendary singer, songwriter and activist Joan Baez merges her dis-tinctive vocal style with ballads, rock, gospel, and country on such classic hits as The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, We Shall Overcome, and Diamonds and Rust. She’s the voice of a genera-tion and her performances are still mesmerizing. Visit Joan Baez’ website at www.joanbaez.com.

CFS Member Discount On

November 19th Joan Baez

Concert Tickets

Joan Baez

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NOV 11, Brandi Carlile Solo Acoustic Tour With Secret Sisters, Knight Theater, 8 PM, $22.50-27.50.

NOV 11, Graham Colton & Matthew Mayfield, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $12-15.

NOV 11, Gaston County Museum Music at the Depot Fall Concert Series Gigi Dover & the Big Love, The Depot, 205 W. Main St., Dallas, NC. 6:30-8:30 PM, $10-15. Tickets: Call Jeff Pruett at 704-922-7681, X105 or buy online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/198406

NOV 11, House Concert featuring Tradi-tional Bluegrass Band Town Mountain, The Ervin Home, 517 Lenoir St., Morganton, NC 28655. 7:30 PM; $15 suggested donation to benefit artists. Space limited; advanced reser-vations & pre-payment required; contact Mary Ervin at 828-433-0163 or mary-ervin9@gmail.com Mail checks to Mary Er-vin at address above. BYOB; light snacks served. 90 minute concert with no intermis-sion; guests invited to bring instruments to join Jamie in a front porch jam following the concert.

NOV 11-12, The North Carolina Banjo Clinic will happen Friday and Saturday, No-vember 11 and 12, 2011 in Asheville. Multi-levels of Bluegrass and Clawhammer banjo will be taught. Website: www.vpmusic.org. 828-682-2402. êêNOV 12, CFS Slow Celtic Session in East Charlotte. Contact John Goldsbury at flatpick_guitar@yahoo.com for time & direc-tions. NOV 12, House Concert with Sara Grey & Kieron Means, Home of Harry Taylor, Myers Park Neighborhood of Charlotte. 7:30 PM, $15. Reservations required; contact Harry Taylor at 704-579-9480 or hataylor@ccim.net

NOV 12, MusicLovers House Concert with The Snyder Family Band, Home of Barbara & Randy Ivey, 5 mins. from I-77 Carolwinds Exit, South Carolina. Potluck 7 PM, Concert 8 PM. Minimum donation $20/person; all pro-ceeds benefit the band. Advance reservations & payment. RSVP to MusicLo-vers@Comporium.net; call Randy at 704-877-9282.

NOV 12, James King Band, Fairview Ruritan Club, 7 PM, $15.

NOV 12, Seth Glier w/Deep River, The Eve-ning Muse, 8 PM, $8-10.

NOV 12, Home for the Holidays with Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Joy Performance Center, 202 S. Railroad Ave., Kings Mountain, NC. $16. Reserve tickets by calling Darin Al-dridge at 704-445-3437 or emailing james-darin@yahoo.com; http://darinandbrookealdridge.com

All calendar listings are subject to change and should be verified.

VENUE INFORMATION

The ArtsCenter, 300-G E. Main St., Carrboro, NC. 919-929-2787; www.artscenterlive.org

Belk Theater, Blumenthal Performing Arts Ctr., 130 N. Tryon St., Charlotte. 704-372-1000; www.blumenthalcenter.org

Blue Ridge Music Center, milepost 213, Blue Ridge Parkway, 700 Foothills Rd., Galax, VA. Call 276-236-5309, ext. 112; visit www.blueridgemusiccenter.org.

The Comet Grill, 2224 Park Rd., Charlotte. 704-371-4300.

Cook Shack Concert Series, The Cook Shack, Union Grove, NC. Exit 65 off I-77 North; turn west; travel 2 miles; sits on left of road. Reser-vations required; email cookshack-shows@roadrunner.com or call 704-539-4353. http://uniongrovemusic.voila.net/index.html

Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place, 2 Pack Place Square, Asheville, NC. 828-257-4530; www.dwtheatre.com

Don Gibson Theatre, Theatre, 318 S. Washing-ton St., Shelby, NC. 704-487-8114; www.DGshelby.com

The Double Door Inn, 218 E. Independence Blvd. Charlotte, NC. 704-376-1446; www.doubledoorinn.com

The Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St., Char-lotte. 704-376-3737; www.theeveningmuse.com

Fairview Ruritan Club Concerts, Fairview Rd., SR821, Galax, VA. 276-238-0376; www.fairviewruritan.com

Fiddle & Bow Society Series, Community Arts Café, 411 W. 4th St., Winston-Salem, NC. 336-724-9393; www.fiddleandbow.org

Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall, 185 Cling-man Ave., Asheville, NC. 828-232-5800; www.thegreyeagle.com

Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC. 704-372-1000; www.blumenthalcenter.org

McGlohon Theatre, Spirit Square, 345 N. Col-lege St., Charlotte, NC. 704-372-1000; www.blumenthalcenter.org

The Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St., Charlotte, NC. 704-358-9298; www.neighborhoodtheatre.com

Old Rock School, 400 Main St. West, Valdese, NC. Call 828-879-2129; visit www.bluegrassattherock.com

Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave., Asheville, NC. 828-225-5851; www.theorangepeel.net

Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd., Charlotte. 704-335-3100; www.

Calendar FOLK CALENDAR

ovensauditorium.com/default.asp?ovens=11

Puckett’s Farm Equipment, 2740 W. Sugar Creek Rd., Derita, NC. 704-597-8230; www.puckettsfarm.com

Purple Onion, Hwy. 176, Saluda, NC. 828-749-1179; www.purpleonionsaluda.com

Ri~Ra Irish Pub, 200 N. Tryon St., Charlotte. 704-333-5554; www.rira.com

Rodi, 245 W. Garrison Blvd., Gastonia, NC. 704-864-7634; www.rodiworld.com

Summit Coffee, 128 S. Main St., Davidson, NC. 704-895-9090; www.summitcoffee.com

The Sylvia Theater, 27 N. Congress St., York, SC. 803-684-5590; www.sylviatheater.com

The Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth Ave., Charlotte. 704-358-9200; www.visulite.com CALENDAR LISTINGS SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS THRU NOV 20, 18th Annual Carolina Renaissance Festival & Artisan Marketplace, 16445 Poplar Tent Rd., Huntersville, NC. 10 AM-5:30 PM. Admission charged. 877-896-5544; renfestinfo.com

NOV 7, Open Bluegrass Jam, hosted by An-thony Scruggs, Belmont Soda Shop, 31 N. Main St., Belmont, NC, 7-9 PM, free; beginners to advanced and listeners welcomed. Contact Anthony Scruggs at scruggsopryhouse@yahoo.com

NOV 7, Rock Hill Nashville Songwriters As-sociation International Meeting, Thursdays Too Restaurant Private Room, 147 Herlong Ave., Rock Hill, SC. 7 PM. 803-366-6117; http://thursdaystoo.com

NOV 7, Find Your Muse Open Mic (Mondays), The Evening Muse, 7 PM, $3.

NOV 8, Red Rocking Chair (Michael Reno Harrell, Jack Lawrence, Tom Kuhn & Dale Meyer) (Tuesdays), Comet Grill, 8:30-11:30 PM.

NOV 9, Joy Kills Sorrow, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $10.

NOV 10, Don Dixon and Marti Jones, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $15-17.

êêNOV 11, Charlotte Folk Society Gathering Concert & Jams featuring North Carolina Songwriters David Childers and Michael Reno Harrell, Great Aunt Stella Center, 926 Elizabeth Ave., Charlotte, 7:30 PM. Free; dona-tions appreciated. Refreshments, song circle, Appalachian dulcimers, slow & fast jams follow concert. Doors open 7 PM. Free parking. 704-563-7080; www.folksociety.org

NOV 11, Charlotte Appalachian Dulcimer Club, Great Aunt Stella Center, 926 Elizabeth Ave., Charlotte, following the CFS concert, ap-prox. 8:30 PM, free. Call Mark Willingham for information: 980-254-8059.

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NOV 12-13, Hand-Dyed Textiles Sale by Carol Raedy, 7107 Valley Haven Dr., Char-lotte, NC 28211, Noon – 6 PM. Visit www.carolraedy.com for details and photos of items for sale. êêNOV 13, CFS Old-Time Acoustic Jam, Asbury Care Center Living Room, Al-dersgate, 3800 Shamrock Dr., Charlotte, 2-4 PM, Free. Call Tom Kelleher at 704-366-9441. NOV 13, Chris Thile (solo), The Carolina Theatre, 309 W. Morgan St., Durham, NC, 8 PM, $30-38, plus fees. Tickets go on sale June 10. 919-560-3030; www.carolinatheatre.org NOV 13, Roger Creager w/Bleu Edmond-son, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $18-20. NOV 13, Slaid Cleaves, Forty Acres House Concert, Five Oaks Clubhouse, between Durham & Chapel Hill, NC. Doors open 7:30 PM; concert 8 PM, $18 advance; $20 DOS; BYOB. Make reservations by emailing tickets@fortyacres.org. www.fortyacres.org NOV 13, House to Home Benefit Concert featuring Dove-Award Winning Kyle Mat-thews and Larry McCullough & Chosen Generation, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 3400 Beatties Ford Rd., Charlotte, NC 28216. 6 PM; Free admission. Love offering will benefit the Hyaets Commu-nity’s House to Home Project. Visit www.hyaets.org for information. NOV 13, Sara Grey & Kieron Means, Da-niels Auditorium, NC Museum of History, 5 E. Edenton St., Raleigh, NC. 3-4 PM; Free. 919-664-8302; www.folksociety.org NOV 13, Jamie Laval in Concert: Instru-mental Celtic Music & History, Tyler-Tallman Hall, Sloan Music Center, Davidson College, Davidson, NC. 3 PM, $8-12. Inter-nationally acclaimed Celtic fiddler Jamie Laval (www.JamieLaval.com) presents a fun-filled musical afternoon tracing the im-migration of the Scots-Irish to Appalachia, complete with amusing stories and toe-tapping melodies which highlight the his-torical and cultural ties throughout the Celtic Diaspora. For the entire family and those interested in ethnic, jazz, and classical music. 704-894-2135; www.Davidson.edu/tickets NOV 15, Matt Walsh & Family, Cook Shack Concert Series, 7:30 PM, $13; advance reser-vations required; write CookShack-Shows@roadrunner.com

NOV 15, Aunt Martha, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $10-12. NOV 17, Sarah Siskind, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $10-12. NOV 17, Light Factory’s 30th Annual Art Auc-tion including Daniel Coston’s Avett Brothers Writing “Talk on Indolence” In Their Kitchen, September 2004, Extravaganza Depot, 1610 N. Tryon St., Charlotte. Silent Auction 7 PM; Live Auction 9 PM. $75/person; includes food & entertainment. www.lightfactory.org NOV 18, Jorma Kaukonen, Grey Eagle, 9 PM, $25-28. Fully seated show. NOV 18, Scott Miller, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $12-14. NOV 18, Fiddle & Bow Society Presents Jim Malcolm, Community Arts Café, 8 PM, $12. NOV 19, Joan Baez, Austin Auditorium, 230 Cedar St., Wingate, NC, 7:30 PM, $42-52. Tick-ets: 704-233-8316; www.battecenter.org $10 TICKET DISCOUNT TO CFS MEMBERS; CALL BOX OFFICE & USE PROMO CODE “Folk Society. NOV 19, Josh Ritter Solo Acoustic Tour, McGlohon Theatre, 8 PM, $20-25. NOV 19, Selugadu V: A Native American Celebration, Historic Hagood Mill Site & Folk-life Center, 138 Hagood Mill Rd., Pickens, SC, 10 AM-4 PM. Tours, concerts, demonstrations & living history presentations. Contact Ed Bolt at 864-898-2936; www.co.pickens.sc.us/CulturalCommission/HagoodMill/default.aspx NOV 19, David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $12-14. êêNOV 20, CFS Celtic Session in Cornelius. Contact John Goldsbury at flat-pick_guitar@yahoo.com for time and direc-tions. NOV 20, Charlotte Jazz Orchestra Rehearsal, The Excelsior Club, 921 Beatties Ford Rd., Charlotte. 4 –5:30 PM; Free. 704-334-5709; http://excelsiorclub.net NOV 20, Traditional Irish Music Session w/Jason Dulin, Monty Monaghan, Jon Singleton & John Trexler, RiRa Irish Pub, 7-9 PM. NOV 20, Willy Porter, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $12. NOV 25, 1st International Gathering of the Taco Army: A Benefit for Rodney Lanier, The

FOLK CALENDAR

Calendar, continued Evening Muse, 8 PM, $10. NOV 25-26, A Carolina Christmas Concert fea-turing Laurelyn Dossett, Rhiannon Giddens, Mike Compton & Joe Newberry with the North Carolina Symphony, Meymandi Concert Hall, Progress Energy Center, 2 E. South St., Raleigh, NC. Friday 8 PM; Saturday 3 PM & 8 PM. Fea-tures the premier of The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs, a work by Laurelyn Dossett. Tickets: http://ncsymphony.org/events/index.cfm?view=details&viewref=calendar&detailid=878&eid=1471&sdate=11/1/2011 NOV 26, Little King Records Showcase of Americana, Bluegrass & Jamgrass Bands, Neighborhood Theatre, 8 PM, $10; dance floor open. NOV 26, Jim Brock & Reinaldo Brahn, The Eve-ning Muse, 8 PM, $10. NOV 27, Celtic Session featuring Clanndar-ragh, The Dandelion Market, 118 W. 5th St., Char-lotte. 5-7 PM. NOV 27, Traditional Irish Music Session w/The Merrows, RiRa Irish Pub, 7-9 PM. NOV 29, Catawba River Bluegrass Association Jam, First Presbyterian Church Activity Bldg.,, 512 Old Mount Holly Rd., Stanley, NC, 7 PM. Open jam; all welcome. Contact Robert “Rye” Billings at Charlottefloods@yahoo.com or 704-249-5538. NOV 29, The Honey Dewdrops, Cook Shack Concert Series, 7:30 PM, $16; advance reserva-tions required; write CookShack-Shows@roadrunner.com NOV 29, Boom Chick, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $7. NOV 30, John Gorka, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $22. DEC 1, Ruth Moody Band, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $15-17. DEC 1, Free Music Night to Celebrate the 14-Year Anniversary of the Neighborhood Theatre, Neighborhood Theatre, 8:30 PM; Doors open 8 PM. DEC 2, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver: A Holi-day Concert, McGee Theatre, George A. Batte Jr. Fine Arts Ctr., Wingate Univ., 403 N. Camden St., Wingate, NC, 7:30 PM, $25. Tickets: 704-233-8316; www.battecenter.org DEC 2, Fiddle & Bow Society Presents John Gorka, Community Arts Café, 8 PM, $20. DEC 2-3, Annual Pottery Central Holiday Sale, 4843 Monroe Rd., Charlotte. Friday 6:30-10:30 PM; Raku Demo & Gas Kiln Opening of Andrew

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Linton’s Latest Work. Saturday 10 AM-5 PM, Student Sale. Free. 704-307-7557; 704-564-1923; www.potterycentral.com DEC 3, Christmas House Concert with Robin Bullock, Home of Bethli & Mark Clemens, Cornelius, NC. Potluck 6 PM, Con-cert 7:30 PM, $16. Advance reservations & payment. RSVP to emiescher@bellsouth.net or 704-892-4914.

DEC 3, Carolina Chocolate Drops w/Special Guest Leyla McCalla and Grazey Ford opening, The Neighborhood Theater, 8 PM, $20-23; dance floor open.

DEC 3, Willow Grove Old-Time Jam Ses-sion, Willow Grove Retirement Ctr., 10043 Idlewild Rd., Matthews, NC. 2-4 PM. Call Bill Williams at 704-573-6154 or 704-417-2822 (cell). DEC 5, Open Bluegrass Jam, hosted by An-thony Scruggs, Belmont Soda Shop, 31 N. Main St., Belmont, NC, 7-9 PM, free; begin-ners to advanced and listeners welcomed. Contact Anthony Scruggs at scruggsopry-house@yahoo.com DEC 6, Rosanne Cash, McGlohon Theatre, 7:30 PM, $39.50-47.50. DEC 6, A Winter Concert with Laurelyn Dossett, Rhiannon Giddens, Mike Compton, Joe Newberry & Jason Sypher featuring the music of The Gathering and Beautiful Star: An Appalachian Nativity, Triad Stage, 232 S. Elm St., Greensboro, NC. 8 PM, $20-30. Tickets: 336-272-0160; http://triadstage.org/index.php?mo=12&yr=2011 DEC 7, Tosco House Party, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $2.www.liveatleatherwoods.com DEC 7, Leahy Family Christmas, The Caro-lina Theatre, 309 W. Morgan St., Durham, NC, 8 PM, $42-52. 919-560-3030; www.carolinatheatre.org DEC 8, The Snyder Family, Cook Shack Concert Series, 7:30 PM, $16; advance reser-vations required; write CookShack-Shows@roadrunner.com DEC 10-11, Sarah Howe Pottery Sale, Home of Nancy Howe, 2107 Mandarin Blvd., East Charlotte. 10 AM-5 PM; Free admission. Call 704-536-9594 for information or direc-tions. êêDEC 11, CFS Annual Holiday Potluck & Jams featuring a Concert of Holiday Music by the Community Singers, Langford Hall, Dilworth United Methodist Church, 605 East Blvd., Charlotte. 4-9:45 PM. Bring a dish to

Ehrhard w/AnneMarie Walter.

Fiddle & Bow Country Dancers, Vintage Theatre, Vintage St. & S. Main St., Winston-Salem, NC. Every Tuesday; Dance 8-10 PM, $6; $4 students. See con-tact info above. NOV 8: Boom Chuck w/Dean Snipes. NOV 15: Pilot Mountain Bobcats w/Connie Carringer calling. NOV 22: Yellow Goats Beard w/Valerie Helbert calling. NOV 29: Government Contra Act w/George Segebade calling.

Harvest Moon Folk Society, River Falls Lodge, near Marietta, SC, Set up 5 PM, Potluck 6:30 PM, lessons 7:30 PM, dance 8-11 PM, $8, Children free. Call Terry Piz-zuto at 864-639-6113 or email tpzzt@clemson.edu; www.harvestmoonfolk.org. NOV 12: The Contrarians w/Darlene Underwood calling. NOV 13: The Contrarians w/Darlene Underwood calling. Waltzing 1:30-2 PM; Dance 2-5 PM. NOV 19: Skeeziks w/Charley Harvey.

Harvest Moon Folk Society CityDance, Landmark Hall, 156 Landmark Dr., Tay-lors, SC. Lessons 7:30 PM, dance 8-11 PM, $8, Children free. Call Terry Pizzuto at 864-639-6113 or email tpzzt@clemson.edu; www.harvestmoonfolk.org. NOV 15: Good Ol’ Mountain Dewds w/Laurie Fisher calling.

Old Farmer’s Ball, Bryson Gym, Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC, Thurs-days, Lessons 7:30 PM, Dance 8 PM, $6. Beginning & intermediate music jam Thursdays, 7:30 PM. Information: 828-299-8823/828-298-7821 or visit www.oldfarmersball.com. NOV 10: Inexplicabiles w/Brian Ham-shar calling. NOV 17: Land of Sky w/Ridge Kennedy. NOV 24: Cranberry Rock w/Beth Mo-laro. DEC 1: Kendall Roger Duo w/Anne Marie Walter calling.

Triangle Country Dancers, Carrboro Cen-tury Ctr., Greensboro St., between Weaver & Main, Carrboro, NC. Lessons 7:30 PM, Dance 8-11 PM, $8. Dance hotline: 919-286-6624; questions 919-220-8411. www.TCDancers.org NOV 11: Steam Shovel w/Robert Cro-martie calling.

Triangle Country Dancers, Reality Center. 916 LamondAve., Durham, NC. Lessons 7:30 PM, Dance 8-11 PM, $8. Dance hot-line: 919-286-6624; questions 919-220-8411. www.TCDancers.org NOV 25: The McKenzies w/Eileen Thor-sos calling.

share or donate $5/person. 4 PM Jamming, Song Circle; 5 PM Dinner, 6-6:30 PM Community Sing-ers, 7-9:45 PM Song circle, Jamming. Raffle draw-ing for Eastman MD-305 A-Style Mandolin do-nated by The Violin Shoppe. CONTRA DANCES Charlotte Dance Gypsies, Chantilly Community Bldg., 2101 Shenandoah Ave., Charlotte. Potluck 6:30 PM, lessons 7:30 PM, dance 8-11 PM, $8, stu-dents $5. Gretchen at 704-537-1377 or Dean at 704-361-6387; www.charlottedancegypsies.org NOV 16: Free Wednesday Waltz Series w/Lesly Bowers & Dennis Spring calling; dance to re-corded music. NOV 26: FootLoose w/Keith Cornett Eustis.

Charlotte Country Dancers, Chantilly Commu-nity Bldg., 2101 Shenandoah Ave., Charlotte. Every Monday evening. Lesson 7:30 PM. Dance 8-10 PM, $7. Call Nancy Howe at 704-536-9594. www.charlottedancegypsies.org. NOV 7: Tonal Recall w/Dean Snipes. NOV 14: Global Warning w/Gretchen Caldwell calling. NOV 21: MoJo Beaucoup w/Matt Lindsay. NOV 28: Band TBA w/Lesly Bowers. DEC 10: Sons of the Full Moon w/Caller TBA.

The Grey Eagle, Haywood Rd. & Clingman Ave., Asheville, Mondays, 8 PM, $5. Call 828-232-5800 for details; visit www.oldfarmersball.com NOV 7: Dancing Bears w/Barbara Groh. NOV 14: Renewable Energy w/Doug Singleton calling. NOV 21: Land of Sky w/Margaret Mathews calling. DEC 5: Brad Battey & Kendal Rogers w/Charley Harvey calling.

Boone Country Dancers, Apple Barn, Valle Crucis Conference Ctr., Valle Crucis, NC. Lessons 7:30, dance 8 PM, $7. Bob Oelberg at 828-265-2627; www.boonecountrydancers.org. NOV 12: Sons of the Full Moon w/Dean Snipes calling.

Carolina Song & Dance Assn., Carrboro Century Ctr., Greensboro St., between Weaver & Main, Carrboro, NC. Lessons 7:30 PM, Dance 8-11 PM, $8. Call 919-967-9948 for directions. Visit http://csda-dance.org/index.htm NOV 18: Band and Caller TBA.

Columbia Traditional Music and Dance, Arsenal Hill Park Bldg., Laurel & Lincoln Sts., Columbia, SC. Lessons 7 PM, Dance 7:30-10:30 PM, $8. Call 803-796-8935 or visit www.contracola.org. NOV 19: BonneTerre w/Gretchen Caldwell.

Fiddle & Bow Country Dancers, The Grange, Guilford School Rd., off I-40 E, Greensboro. Les-sons 7:30 PM, Dance 8-11 PM. Call Carol Thomp-son at 336-272-3245 or email George Segebade at gsegebade_80@msn.com. Visit website at http://feetretreat.com. NOV 19: David Digiuseppe, Roger Gold & Ted

FOLK CALENDAR

Calendar, continued

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Charlotte, 7 PM, no cover. 704-350-1331. Bluegrass, Puckett’s Farm Equipment, 2740 W. Sugar Ck. Rd., Derita, NC. 9-11 PM. No cover. 704-597-8230; www.puckettsfarm.com. Bluegrass, Old-Time Country, Folk & Gos-pel Jam Session, Cabarrus Co. Senior Ctr., 331 Corban Ave., SE, Concord, NC. 6-9 PM. Open to the public and free. Call 704-920-3484. High Lonesome Strings Bluegrass Jam Ses-sion, The Cultural Arts Ctr., Room 100, 200 N. Davie St., Greensboro, 7-10 PM. 336-420-0238. 1st WEDNESDAYS Tosco House Party (open mic), The Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson, Charlotte, 8 PM, $2. Host John Tosco. www.toscomusicparty.org.

THURSDAYS Open Mic, Puckett’s Farm Equipment, 2740 W. Sugar Ck. Rd., Derita, NC. 8 PM. 1st & 3rd THURSDAYS Bluegrass Thursday Night, Allison Creek Presbyterian Church, 5780 Allison Creek Rd., York, SC, 6:30-9:00, free; concessions avail-able. 803-684-5875. www.allisoncreekbluegrass.com 2nd THURSDAYS Storytellers Guild of Charlotte, Arboretum Barnes and Noble, 3327 Pineville-Matthews Rd., Charlotte, 7:30 PM, free. Storytelling first hour of meeting; public welcomed. Call Ramona Moore-Big Eagle at 704-568-6940. 3rd THURSDAYS Songwriters Round, hosted by Rob McHale, Summit Coffee, 128 S. Main St., Davidson, NC. 704-895-9090; www.summitcoffee.com

FRIDAYS Bluegrass Jam, E. H. Montgomery General Store, 750 Saint Stephens Church Rd., Historic Gold Hill, NC. 7-9 PM. Call Vivian Hopkins: 704-279-5674. www.historicgoldhill.com/eh_montgomery_general_stor.htm Charlotte Appalachian Dulcimer Club, home of Carol Rousey, 9 AM-Noon. Call Carol at 704-321-2020 for directions. English Country Dance, Matthews Orthodox Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 2701 Rice Rd. (off Idlewild Rd.), Matthews, NC, 7-9 PM. Free. 704-309-7649 or Jason-Mauney@gmail.com. 2nd FRIDAYS **Charlotte Folk Society Gathering (August-June), Great Aunt Stella Center, 926 Elizabeth Ave., Charlotte. Concert, song circle & jams. Free & open to the public; donations appreciated. 7:30 PM. 704-563-7080; www.folksociety.org. Charlotte Appalachian Dulcimer Club, Great Aunt Stella Center, 926 Elizabeth Ave., Char-lotte. After Folk Society concert, app. 8:30 PM. Mark Willingham at 980-254-8059. 2nd & 4th FRIDAYS Boots-N-Slippers Square Dance, Steele Creek Presbyterian Church, 7407 Steele Ck. Rd., Charlotte. 8-10 PM. Call 704-525-1940.

DANCE WEEKENDS NOV 11-13: Atlanta Dance Weekend, Deca-tur Recreation Center, Atlanda, GA. Crow-foot, Red Mountain White Trash, T&F, Wing and a Prayer w/Rick Mohr, Seth Tepfer & Doug Singleton calling. www.contradance.org NOV 25-27: Turkey Twirl Dance Weekend, Historic Cranberry High Scholl, 5215 Elk Park Highway, Elk Park, NC. Great Bear w/Hank Morris calling. ONGOING EVENTS

MONDAYS Find Your Muse Open Mic, The Evening Muse, 8 PM, $3. 1st MONDAYS Open Bluegrass Jam, Belmont Soda Shop, 31 N. Main St., Belmont, NC, 7-9 PM, free; begin-ners to advanced and listeners welcomed. Contact host Anthony Scruggs at scruggsopry-house@yahoo.com. Nashville Songwriters Association Interna-tional Meeting, Thursdays Too Restaurant Private Room, 147 Herlong Ave., Rock Hill, SC. 7 PM. 803-366-6117; http://thursdaystoo.com 4th MONDAYS Wilkes Acoustic Folk Society, Watson Stage, Wilkes Community College, Wilkesboro, NC, 7 PM; www.wilkesfolks.com.

TUESDAYS Charlotte Scottish Country Dance Society, Selwyn Ave. Presbyterian Church, 2929 Sel-wyn Ave., Charlotte, 7:30-9:30 PM, donation. Call 704-366-9260 or 704-333-6917. Community Singers, Friends School of Char-lotte, 7001 Wallace Rd., Charlotte, 7-8:30 PM, free. Contact Carol Raedy at 704-367-2536 or carol1@carolraedy.com. Mineral Springs Music Barn Open Mic Jam Sessions, 5920 Eubanks St., Mineral Springs, NC (4 mi. east of Waxhaw, on Hwy. 75, by RR tracks), 7-10 PM. Black Hat Auctions: 704-668-1689. 2nd TUESDAYS Nashville Songwriters Assoc. International, Workshop Meeting, The Well, 220 Main St., Pineville, NC, 7 PM. Call Fiona MacAllister at 704-483-1671; www.NSAICharlotte.com. LAST TUESDAYS Catawba River Bluegrass Association Jam, First Presbyterian Church Activity Bldg.,, 512 Old Mount Holly Rd., Stanley, NC, 7 PM. Open jam; all welcome. Contact Robert “Rye” Billings at Charlottefloods@yahoo.com or 704-249-5538.

WEDNESDAYS Too Wet to Plow (Chris Sekerak, Pam Engle-bert, Josh Campbell & Michael Plumley), Phi-losopher’s Stone Tavern, 7th & Caswell Sts.,

FOLK CALENDAR

Calendar, continued SATURDAYS Morning Jam Session, Cook Shack, Union Grove, NC. Exit 65 off I-77 North; turn west; travel 2 miles; sits on left of road. Call Pal Ireland at 704-539-4353 for direc-tions. Bluegrass Jam Session, Pat’s Gourmet Cof-fee Shop, 166 North Main St., Mooresville, 9 AM-1 PM. Call 704-662-6299. Old-Time & Bluegrass Jam Session, Dixie’s Coffee Roasters, 102 S. Main St., China Grove, NC. 9 AM- Noon. Contact The Rev. Greg Yeager at 704-754-6288. Alleghany Jubilee, Spartan Theater, N. Main St., Sparta, NC. Live old-time & blue-grass bands; dancing. 8-11 PM; $4. 336-372-4591; http://alleghanyjubilee.com 1st SATURDAYS Willow Grove Old-Time Jam, Willow Grove Retirement Center Activities Room, 10043 Idlewild Rd., Matthews, NC, 2-4 PM. Call Bill Williams at 704-573-6154 or 704-517-2822 (cell). 3rd SATURDAYS Old Time Square Dance (Traditional Ap-palachian style), Denton Civic Ctr., W. Salisbury St., Denton, NC. Bluegrass & old-time bands, 7-10:30 PM, $5 adults. 336-472-2802; www.dentondance.net/dentondance Folklife Demonstrations and Traditional Artists & Musicians, Historic Hagood Mill, 3 miles N of Pickens, SC, off Hwy. 178, on Hagood Mill Rd. www.co.pickens.sc.us. EVERY OTHER SATURDAY Queen City Beginners Bluegrass Jam, Asbury Care Center Living Room, Al-dersgate, 3800 Shamrock Dr., east Char-lotte, 2-4 PM, free. Email jerryleo-nard@yahoo.com for meeting dates/search “Charlotte Beginner Bluegrass Jam” at www.meetup.com.

SUNDAYS Live Celtic Music at Ri-Ra, The Irish Pub, 208 N. Tryon, 7-9 PM, food available, no cover. 704-333-5554. 1st SUNDAYS Charlotte Blues Society, Double Door Inn, 218 E. Independence Blvd., Charlotte, 8 PM, $5. Concert & open mic blues jam. 704-455-5875. 2nd SUNDAYS **CFS Monthly Old Time Jam Session, Asbury Care Center Living Room at Al-dersgate, 3800 Shamrock Drive (between Eastway Drive and Sharon Amity Road) in east Charlotte, 2-4 PM, free. Call Tom Kel-leher at 704-366-9441. 3rd SUNDAYS Dixieland Jam Sessions, Fraternal Order of Police Hall, 1201 Hawthorne Lane, Char-lotte, 6-9 PM, free. Dinner & bar service available. Charlotte Jazz Orchestra Rehearsal, The Excelsior Club, 921 Beatties Ford Rd., Char-lotte. 4 –5:30 PM; Free. 704-334-5709; http://excelsiorclub.net

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My Swannanoa Experience

CFS fans of the Carolina Chocolate Drops will be happy to know that the stringband returns to Charlotte on Saturday, December 3rd, for an 8 PM show at The Neighborhood Theatre, 511 East 36th Street, in NODA. Opening for the Chocolate Drops is Frazey Ford of The Be Good Tanyas. Tickets are $20 in advance; $23 on the show date. Doors open at 7 PM. There are no reserved seats and the dance floor will be open. Be sure to visit Cathey Franklin at the CFS table in the lobby. Since Dom Flem-mons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson met at the 2005 Black Banjo Gathering in Boone and formed the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the band has enjoyed a meteoric rise. Carrying forward and build-ing on the African-American stringband tradition taught them by Mebane fiddler Joe Thompson, they have become wildly popular on the festival circuit and devel-oped a well-deserved fan base on both sides of the Atlantic. Known for playing traditional instruments, including fiddle, banjo, guitar, bones, jugs, snare drum, and ham-bone, in a repertoire that ranges from stringband classics to Rhian-non’s electrifying interpretation of Blu Cantrell’s Hit ‘Em Up Style, the Chocolate Drops have awak-ened new interest in an old tradi-tion among young audiences. The trio’s first recording on the None-such label, Genuine Negro Jig, cap-

Carolina Chocolate Drops Concert December 3rd

tured a GRAMMY in February this year for Best Traditional Folk Album. Just days prior to this triumph, Justin Robinson announced his departure from the band to pursue a different direction. Since then, New York City musician Hubby Jenkins has joined the lineup. Jenkins is a multi-

instrumentalist known for his authentic and soulful interpretations of traditional American music, specializing in early blues, old-time, ballads, and ragtime. Joining the trio on De-cember 3rd will be New Orleans cellist Leyla McCalla, who also plays Creole banjo and blues guitar. She com-poses music and giving her voice to the poetry of Langston Hughes. She recently began working with the Mu-sic Maker Relief Foun-

dation in their Next Generation pro-gram at the urging of her enthusias-tic admirers, Taj Mahal and the Caro-lina Chocolate Drops. If you’re wondering what the new Chocolate Drops sound like, check them out online. To listen to their set at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival, visit http://www.npr.org/2011/07/31/137184049/newport-folk-2011-carolina-chocolate-drops-live-in-concert. Catch them at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh performing Hit ‘Em Up Style (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_edFcPlPnPM). The tradition continues!

Winning a scholarship to the Swannanoa Gathering was by far the highlight of my summer. I never would have thought in that short week of time I could meet the friendliest people. I took half Con-temporary Folk Week classes and half Guitar Week classes. Learning how to accompany a song in a whole new way with Scott Ainslie was one of my favorites. Also, writing a song with ten or twelve differ-ent, in-telligent people in David Roth’s class was very inspirational to me. Although my classes were so much fun, I think that staying out and playing the classics or even originals with some of the most talented musi-cians was my favorite part of the whole trip. The trip wasn’t all about the music though. The connections I made with people were unbreakable. I made the best friends at camp. We have been hanging out and playing gigs together ever since we met at camp. Anybody who goes to the Swannanoa Gathering will love it. You just have to; you can’t help it. I want to thank everybody in the Charlotte Folk Society for giving me this life-changing opportunity. Your friend, Jake Bartholomew

Jake Bartholomew

Rhiannon Giddens and Dom Flemmons

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The annual Pottery Central Holi-day Sale will take place on Fri-day, December 2, and Saturday, December 3. Hours on Friday are 6:30-10:30 PM and will feature a raku demonstration and gas kiln opening of Andrew Linton’s latest work. Saturday will feature a Stu-dent Sale; hours are 10 AM to 5 PM. Admission is free both days. The Pottery Central Studio is lo-cated at 4843 Monroe Road in Charlotte. For directions, visit www.potterycentral.com or call 704-307-7557 or 704-564-1923. Sarah Howe will be selling her functional stoneware pottery Sat-urday, December 10, and Sunday, December 11, at the log cabin home of Nancy Howe, located at 2107 Mandarin Boulevard in east central Charlotte. Hours are 10 AM-5 PM both days. Call 704-536-9594 for more information or di-rections.

Our second-Friday Gatherings at the Great Aunt Stella Center (GASC), 926 Elizabeth Avenue, are family-friendly and open to the public. The front doors of the GASC open at 7 PM; concerts begin at 7:30 PM and last one hour. Re-freshments, jams, song circle, and the Charlotte Appalachian Dulcimer Club follow. Gatherings are free; donations are appreciated and es-sential to present-ing this series. Parking adjacent to GASC is free. Accessible entry and an elevator are available through the ground floor door on the parking lot side of GASC. December 11: Holiday Jam & Pot-luck features a short performance of seasonal songs by the Community Singers. Dilworth United Method-ist Church, 605 East Blvd., Char-lotte. 4:00-9:45 PM. Bring a dish to share or donate $5/person towards expenses. www.communitysongleaders.org January 13: The annual CFS Young Talent Showcase highlights the im-pressive talents of our young musi-cians. Featured performers will be 2011 Marilyn Meacham Price Schol-arship recipients Jake Bartholomew and Davy Fee. February 10: The Flat Possum Hoppers, an old-time and early country music stringband, not only capture the joy of early American music, they’ll tell you all about its history! Band members are Tom Hanchett (fiddle), Tom Estes (banjo), Ruth Kee Wherry (bass), Mark Helms (mandolin), and John

2011-2012 Charlotte Folk Society Gatherings

Cone (guitar). www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpsOG7ekqoM March 9: Abigail Lennox and Earl’s Chair (Michael Albert and Henry Lebedinsky) will help us celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with an evening of new and traditional Celtic songs and tunes. www.americanbach.org/Artists/HaynesAbigail.htm; www.cdbaby.com/cd/albertlebedinsky

April 13: Red June is a young progressive blue-grass/Americana band based in Asheville. The trio includes champion fiddler Natalya Weinstein (Polecat Creek), steel guitarist and

vocalist Will Straughn (Emma Gibbs), and John Cloyd Miller, grandson of pioneering bluegrass fiddler Jim Shumate, on guitar, man-dolin and vocals. www.redjunemusic.com May 11: Back by demand, the popu-lar Charlotte Folk Society Members’ Showcase shines the spotlight on our many talented member musicians! June 8: A concert by Viva Klezmer! honors the long history and many contributions of Charlotte’s Jewish settlers and citizens. Klezmer is of-ten described as “Jewish jazz.“ We challenge you to keep your feet still when Gene Kavadlo (clarinet), Ali Kavadlo (violin/percussion), Mike Mosely (guitar), and Ron Brendle (bass) take the stage! www.vivaklezmer.com CFS Gatherings are made possible, in part, with funding from the Arts & Sci-ence Council and the North Carolina

Shop For Unique Holiday

Gifts By Local Artisans

Red June

Arts Council, an agency of the Depart-ment of Cultural Resources, and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation de-serves great art.

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called, appropriately, The Deep Dark Woods. Well, folks, their set at The Basement simply turned me onto a sound I don’t think I’ve heard before. The nearest I can de-scribe it is a fusion of Canadian folk music with Gram Parsons infused deep Americana with pedal steel, fiddles, and banjos. The musical interplay of this group is breathtak-ing, the harmony vocals are rich, and the lyrics are as gothic as old Celtic and Appalachian ballads.

(Meaning that if you listen long enough, someone is going get killed.) I think the secret is now out of the bag with their first U. S. release on Sugar Hill Rec-ords called The Place I Left Behind. This band has al-ready won Best Roots Group of 2009 at the West-ern Canada Music Awards and Ensemble of the Year at the 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards. So, I think the time has come for Can-ada to share the young tal-ent of the DDWs with the rest of us, don’t you think? êêêê Speaking of Canadian art-ists, what an amazing solo

show Bruce Cockburn put on a month or so ago at McGlohon Thea-tre! I’ve been a fan of his for over twenty years, but had never seen him live – what a thrill! Quite a few tunes were performed from his new Small Source of Comfort project that night, so this might be a great place to start if you are unfamiliar with this legendary artist. Unlike many great songwriters, Bruce Cockburn is also a world class in-strumentalist who fuses elements of jazz and world beat nuances into his music, which translates into a satis-fying musical journey.êêêê If you haven’t experienced a live Infamous Stringdusters show, here is you chance without leaving the

to turn you folks onto! OK, OK, since you are dying to know, I can at least tell you about my favorite panel discussion and favorite show-case! Although not for the casual music fan, I really love the great panels at the AMA Conference as they allow one to absorb oneself into both the essence of the music and its historical roots. This year my favorite was called “Land of 1000 Dances: The Groundbreaking Sounds of Muscle Shoals.” Many of those groundbreak-ing artists, produc-ers and songwriters were part of the discussion group. Rick Hall, Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn, Jimmie Johnson, and oth-ers were there tell-ing stories of how this important part of American musi-cal history came to be. I got a kick out of the fact all of these cats were ba-sically making it up as they went along due to the fact they really did-n’t know what they were doing in the early days, What this commu-nity did share was an uncomprom-ised love of music and that’s what came shining through in all of those great recordings – I think there is a lesson there somewhere! I could spend the rest of the article telling you about all the great new artists I saw over the four-day festival, but I’ll behave myself! It’s important at the festival to keep your ears open for buzzing sounds about new art-ists. This year there was a buzz about a band from Saskatoon, Canada,

Cuz’s Corner By Dennis Frost Well, folks, it looks like the leaves are already falling off the trees, so it must be time for the Thanksgiv-ing edition of Cuz’s Corner. I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful to be living in a state that is acknowledged as one of the true hotbeds of traditional and roots music – we are all extremely lucky. As predicted, my journey through the Great Smoky Mountains, over the Cumberland Plateau, and into Music City was absolutely gor-geous with the changing of the sea-sons and fall foliage. Each year I delve a bit deeper into all the city has to offer a music addict such as myself. Being that this year I was staying at a friend’s house in East Nashville, in a real neighborhood, on a lark I decided to throw my old trusty bike in the back of the truck. In spending a couple hours several afternoons on the old two wheeler, I found Nashville to be an extremely livable city with many beautiful old neighborhoods, tree lined streets, lots of history (one day I stumbled on the site of the Battle of Nashville), lots of great restaurants and pubs, and rela-tively little traffic. I think the moral of this story is that it’s healthy to get away from any conference site from time to time as you just might get the wrong impression of a town. I came to the conclusion that Nashville is basically four cities in one. You have one community comprised of the Americana crowd; there is a huge university community (Vanderbilt University, Belmont College, and others); then you have Music Row (Big Hats) and Skid Row (Lower Broadway). By the way, the Americana Festival was outstanding with way too many highlights to get into, consid-ering how many great CDs I have

Mr. & Mrs. Cuz

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certainly don’t hurt the proceedings as April continues to grow by leaps and bounds as an artist. êêêê For you fans of Texas music, Robert Earl Keen’s new Ready for Confetti might just hit the spot. At his best, I’ve been a fan of his writing for years and equate his best songs with the likes of Guy Clark and Townes [Van Zandt], although I generally shy away from his Charlotte shows due to the rowdy drinking crowd. The new one is filled with great songs, instrumentals, and is just plain fun – road trip, anyone? êêêê I was introduced to the music of Bassekou Kouyate of Mali at the Shakori Hills Festival and more re-cently at this year’s LEAF. His band, Ngoni Ba, all play various sized ngonis, which are four-stringed predecessors to the banjo, made from gourds. The music is infectious, fast and furious, and ex-tremely moving. For a taste of something different, check out Bassekou’s I Speak Fula disc, but honestly, you need to see this live for full effect! êêê1/2 That’s it for this month, folks! I hope to see all of you at the Michael Reno Harrell/ David Childers show at our next Gathering as it will be a unique opportunity to see these leg-ends of the Charlotte area together in one evening. Happy Thanksgiv-ing to all and I’ll be back next month with more tales and CD reviews, in-cluding a fantastic new seasonal al-bum called The Gathering from Laurelyn Dossett, Rhiannon Gid-dens, Mike Compton, Joe Newberry, and Jason Sypher, plus the Chris Isaak tribute to Sun Records. Cuz If you want to chat with Cuz about your favorite music, phone him at 704-532-8846 or write to him at dcmfrost@mindspring.com

old Lazy Boy! We’ll Do It Live shows off the incredible vocal and instrumental prowess of this blue-grass band in a thirteen song musi-cal blitz. If there is a better touring bluegrass band around these days, I want to hear them! Experiencing this band live is like eavesdropping on a musical conversation when the jamming begins. Bring on the stars! êêêêê What a great day of music took place on the CFS Stage/McGlohon Theatre at the Wells Fargo Commu-nity Celebration! Well, two of the day’s alumni have brand new proj-ects I need to tell you about. In ad-dition to John Doyle’s legendary Celtic guitar and singing, he is now bringing an element of great his-torical songwriting into the mix, as evidenced by his newly hatched Shadow and Light disc. Special guests on this one include Alison Brown, Kenny Malone, Stuart Duncan, Todd Phillips, John Wil-liams, and others. Being that this disc was recorded at Compass stu-dios, you just know it has a great sound and is worthy of your collec-tion. êêêê I’m just blown away every time I hear the Snyder Family Band and ask myself how in the world Samantha and Zeb can possibly get any better- they just blew me away at McGlohon. If you missed their set on October 29th, I’m sure you will love the brand spanking new Stages project. What Zeb (16) and Samantha (12) do instrumentally will floor you and leave you scratching you head, especially if you are a player yourself. êêêê Also a keeper is CFS favorite April Verch’s brand new That’s How we Run disc. She has continued her journey into bluegrass vocals, but most of the amazing instrumentals tend to be on the old timey side. Special guests Rayna Gellert, Riley Baugus, Dirk Powell, and others

Catawba River Bluegrass

Association Jam

The Catawba River Bluegrass As-sociation sponsors a jam at 7 PM the last Tuesday of each month in the First Presbyterian Church Ac-tivity Building, 512 Old Mount Holly Road, in Stanley, North Carolina. The next jam takes place November 29th. Contact organizer Robert “Rye” Billings at Charlottefloods@yahoo.com or 704-249-5538 with ques-tions. The association has pages on both Facebook and Meetup.com. From the group’s Meetup.com page: Our group is searching for the perfect jam. We are bluegrass enthusiasts and practicing musicians. We shall follow the Jam Commandments and we will treat everyone with respect from the beginner to the young, gun slinging, guitar hero with attitude. The pur-pose for setting up this group is to be-gin a regular jam session – no strings attached. Come when you can; have a good time.

Briarhopper News

The North Carolina Society of His-torians presented the WBT Briar-hoppers with two Paul Green Mul-timedia Awards on October 22, 2011. One was for their website and the second was for “preserving the old time radio ex-perience for today’s audiences.” Congratulations to Tom Warlick and all the Briarhoppers!

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DAVID CHILDERS & MICHAEL RENO HARRELL Two of North Carolina’s Finest Songwriters

Friday, November 11, 2011, 7:30 PM Great Aunt Stella Center

926 Elizabeth Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204

Next Month . . .

Charlotte Folk Society PO Box 36864

Charlotte, NC 28236-6864 www.folksociety.org

FOLK CALENDAR

December 11th: Annual Folk Society Holiday Potluck & Jams

Member Ads

Two Acoustic Guitar Amps For Sale: SWR California Blonde ($450) & a vintage Trace Acoustic TA35CR in very good condition ($200). Contact Rick Spreitzer: 704-497-3924 or Rspreit-zer@bellsouth.net.

CONTACT MARK PONISCHIL FOR RENTAL INQUIRIES

704-944-6014 Info@greatauntstellacenter.

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2112 EAST 7TH STREET CHARLOTTE, NC 28204

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Tuesdays-Fridays 10 AM – 6 PM Saturdays 10 AM – 4 PM

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If your heat is on, you need to humidify your guitar, fiddle or mandolin. Stop in & pick up

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November Deals On 40+ Fiddles!

Strings, Stands, Tuners, Capos

Bluegrass & Old-Time Instruction By Glen Alexander & Jon Singleton

Group Guitar Classes By David McGuirt

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For Sale: Carvin MX-842 PA Sys-tem. 8 channel, 200 watt powered mixer; two 15” two-way loud-speakers. Plus 3 mic stands, 2 booms, extra fuses & manual. $500. Contact Homer Dunlap at 704-540-1861 or homerldun@aol.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wanted: Stand-up bass; 3/4 or 1/2 size. Call Phil Lesser at 704-975-1014.

For Sale: Three Dulcimers Built by Master Builder Harold Miller. Beautiful wood. Medium size. No Cases. $200, $225, $250. For infor-mation, call Marilyn Price at 704-548-5671.

If you’ve lost an item while attend-ing a concert at the Great Aunt Stella Center, please call Mark Ponischil, the Facility Manager, at 704-944-6014 and leave a message. His earliest opportunity to look into your inquiry will be the Tuesday following our Gathering. Please do not simply come to the Stella Cen-ter to ask about lost objects, as there is no one else in the building who would be aware of what has been found and Mark is not on site daily. He will arrange with you a time to come and pick up your found items.

Great Aunt Stella Center Lost & Found