Norman Kennedy, Aoife Clancy, John Roberts, Bobby McMillon - Sale Auditorium, Ferrum College - 6/9
June 9, 2017
7:00 PM
Doors Open: 6:30 PM
Doors Open: 6:30 PM
This concert brings “The Year We Sang” to life through outstanding interpreters of ballad and traditional songs from four countries – England, Ireland, Scotland and America.
Norman Kennedy was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, where he learned songs, stories, and lore from family members and local weaving techniques. He traveled Scotland learning local weaving, Gaelic songs, and cultural practices and performed at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival representing Scotland on the origins of the American ballad tradition. He co-founded Country Roads, an organization in the US supporting traditional crafts, served as the master weaver at Colonial Williamsburg and founded the Marshfield School of Weaving. Kennedy travels the country performing the old songs and ballads, telling stories, and teaching traditional weaving techniques.
Aoife Clancy (pronounced “Eefa”) brings a wide-ranging repertoire to her concerts, including traditional Irish songs, ballads, and contemporary folk. Aoife hails from Ireland and by the age of 14 she was performing with her father, Bobby Clancy of the legendary Clancy Brothers. In 1995 Clancy joined Cherish the Ladies, and was part of the group when it collaborated with the Boston Pops on that orchestra’s Grammy-nominated Celtic album. As a soloist, she has performed with the Cincinnati Pops, the Clancy Brothers, at the Milwaukee Irish Festival and the renowned Paddy Noonan Show. Clancy’s latest album, for Appleseed Records, is Silvery Moon.
Born and raised in England, John Roberts is one of the foremost interpreters of traditional English songs and ballads. Now based in NY, he sings songs and ballads with banjo or concertina accompaniment as well as a cappella. He is best-known for being part of a duo with Tony Barrand who have sung at folk festivals, recorded several classic albums of duets. Roberts has performed with a Morris dance team, English Country Dancing community and has taught folk singing at various camps and schools. As a solo act specializing in sea songs he has performed at various folk festivals.
Robert Lynn "Bobby" McMillon, a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award recipient, learned strands of Appalachian culture from his family including primitive Baptist hymns and traditional stories and ballads, booger tales, haint tales, and legends about the murder of a relative named Charlie Silver. McMillon has appeared as a singer/songwriter across North Carolina, at the Smithsonian Foklife Festival, the A. P. Carter Memorial Festival, and national storytelling conferences. In the film, The Ballad of Frankie Silver, McMillon sings that ballad and tells stories about the murder.
The Crooked Road’s Mountains of Music Homecoming is made possible by the support of the Appalachian Regional Commission, Food City, National Endowment for the Arts, Virginia Department of Housing & Economic Development, Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, Virginia Tourism Corporation, Blue Ridge Beverage, Bluegrass Today, Oxford American, Virginia Commission for the Arts, Davenport & Co, Market Connections, SWVA, Virginia Living, Union Bank & Trust, Virginia State Parks, CGI, David & Judie Reemsnyder, Dominion, New Peoples Bank, The Loafer, Bank of Marion, FocusOne Integrated Financial Planning, Hicok, Fern & Company, Walt & Janet Crickmer, Abingdon Rotary Club, Bolling Wilson Hotel, Chantilly Farm, Electric Hardwoods, Forestland Group LLC, iGo Technology, Mountain Lake Lodge, SWCC Educational Foundation. For the deaf and hard of hearing community, signing interpretation services can be made available if requested at least 21 days in advance of the concert. For requests received less than 21 days prior to the concert, every effort will be made for accommodations, but interpretation services are not guaranteed. To request services or for more information contact The Crooked Road office by email at admin@thecrookedroad.org or by calling 276-492-2409.
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