Upcoming Events
Monday, July 13, 2020 - Thursday, July 16, 2020
Raising our Voices: Songs of Resistance in the Appalachian Coal Fields, Frack Fields and Beyond
We offer this class, teaching students to sing these songs by heart and with gusto, Mon. through Thursday evening through the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, WV. We have teaching techniques that make the songs really stick! No solo singing required. Perfect for any age or level.
To sign up, scroll down here to “Evening Mini-Classes” and follow the process! You may also register in person at the Augusta office through noon on July 13.
Here’s a course description:
Song is a powerful organizing tool in the throats of such change agents as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Hazel Dickens, Jean Ritchie, Billy Edd Wheeler and others. Incredible labor struggles fought over months and years on dangerous picket lines have been inspired and sustained through songs whose images and messages were derived from the experience and aspirations of grassroots workers. This mini-class will present and teach students to sing formative songs which jump-started labor struggles, forging courage and union solidarity among militant workers, and helped bolster the unemployed. We will also introduce contemporary music of resistance to gas pipelines, and teach songs of hope that span national and global themes. Michael and Carrie Kline have sung and shared these songs on picket lines, marches, classrooms and in trainings across Appalachian coalfields and beyond. In four evening class sessions we will review and teach as many songs as time permits, along with their historical context.
Thursday, July 16, 2020
From Heres and Come Heres: An Evening of Oral History Interviews and Local Music
Taking place at the 1863 Appalachian Bistro at 830 Harrison Ave. in Elkins, we offer this new Third Thursday monthly event in three parts.
Come at 6:00 p.m. if you’d like to order a meal.
7:00 p.m. Enjoy a double-header interview, with a West Virginia native and with someone who has come to the Mountain State to live.
8:00 p.m. Settle in for music related to the evening’s stories.
Sunday, July 19, 2020 - Friday, July 24, 2020
Old-Time Ballads of West Virginia’s Allegheny Highlands
This class is part of a new West Virginia Folklife & Old-Time Music Week at the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, WV. Click here to register. You save $40 on tuition by signing up before June!
In this week of eye-to-eye and knee-to-knee sharing of West Virginia ballads, we will teach the vocal techniques and styles learned firsthand from such legendary singers as Currence Hammonds, Maggie Hammons Parker, Phyllis Marks, Hazel Stover, Wavey Chappel and others. These ancient ballads, one of which dates to the time of Beowulf in the Ninth Century and passed down through the oral tradition over sixty generations, are vivid windows into life and love in earlier times. Interspersed between the songs we will recount stories of the singers themselves and tales from folkloric fieldwork. We will use traditional teaching methods through cultivated listening and absorption, rather than printed notes and texts. Students will be encouraged to use small recorders to document the songs and class discussions of contexts and meanings for further reference following the class.
No previous singing experience necessary; no solo singing will be required. These are full-throated, compelling songs of the heart and soul which will overtake you and change the way you feel and view the past.
Thursday, August 20, 2020
From Heres and Come Heres: And Evening of Oral Histories and Local Music
Taking place at the 1863 Appalachian Bistro at 830 Harrison Ave. in Elkins, we offer this Third Thursday monthly event in three parts.
Come at 6:00 p.m. if you’d like to order a meal.
7:00 p.m. Enjoy a double-header interview, with a West Virginia native and with someone who has come to the Mountain State to live.
8:00 p.m. Settle in for an hour of music related to the evening’s stories.
Saturday, September 05, 2020 - Sunday, September 06, 2020
Jackson’s Mill Jubilee
Join in the festivities of this event that runs from Friday- Sunday Sept 4-6 with art, crafts, food, music and local history exhibits. We perform in the barn Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. This is a fantastic event featuring more talented bluegrass musicians that you can imagine, almost all from northcentral West Virginia.
Thursday, September 17, 2020
From Heres and Come Heres: An Evening of Oral History Interviews and Local Music
Taking place at the 1863 Appalachian Bistro at 830 Harrison Ave. in Elkins, we offer this Third Thursday monthly event in three parts.
Come at 6:00 p.m. if you’d like to order a meal.
7:00 p.m. Enjoy a double-header interview, with a West Virginia native and with someone who has come to the Mountain State to live.
8:00 p.m. Settle in for an hour of music related to the evening’s stories.
Thursday, September 17, 2020 - Saturday, September 19, 2020
Frostburg State University Appalachian Festival
We perform and present on Saturday in the Quad at Frostburg State University. Thursday evening the festival opens with a film in town. Friday offers a fascinating afternoon Symposium and music in the Quad. Saturday find artisans, historians, archeologists, organizers and musicians filling the Quad.
Saturday, December 12, 2020
The People’s Voice Cafe
This is the place for songs of conscience. It’ll be our fourth appearance. It’s always a good time. Doors open at 7:30 for an 8 o’clock show taking place at the Community Church of New York U.U., 40 East 35th St. (between Madison & Park), New York, NY, 10016. Want to know more? Click here.