Life & Arts Happenings

Hwy 76 coming to Brasstown Community Center

There will be a Bluegrass concert at the Brasstown Community Civic Center on Saturday July 23. The door opens at 6:00 PM; music begins at 7:00 PM. HWY 76 will play bluegrass and gospel music in their mountain heritage style that is always an audience pleaser.

Hot dog plates, homemade cobbler and refreshments available. Admission is $5.00. The community center is located in Brasstown, NC at 255 Settawig Road across from the Brasstown Post Office. Proceeds from the concert are for maintenance and improvements to the community center. For more information call Clay Logan 828-837-3797.

Bluegrass on the Square in Hiawassee

“Bluegrass with drive” ! This is the self description of BlueBilly Grit, a four man, one woman band from Maysville, Georgia. Like many bands before them, BBG had a humble beginning…starting off as family and friends “pickin” in the living room for fun. From there, the band moved to the front porch, and hasn’t looked back since! BlueBilly Grit plays a wide variety of Bluegrass music, from traditional to progressive, with original songs mixed in. Matt Garrison plays guitar and sings vocals. Tony “Santa” Lanuaris plays mandolin. Mark Garrison excels at banjo, fiddle and guitar. Adam Garrison plays doghouse bass and does vocals, and Amber Garrison sings and plays guitar. This family has talent GALORE!

Come join the music and fun. Bring your lawn chair or blanket and your family and friends. Enchanted Music on the Square is presented by the OTM Committee a group founded eleven years ago by the late Eugene Jakel and his dear friend, JoAnne Leone, and a few dedicated volunteers. Their purpose was to bring music to the people of Towns County. See you on the Hiawassee Square this Saturday, July 25, from 6-8 p.m. Call 706-897-3429 after 5 p.m. on Saturday to see if weather has cancelled the show.

Sparky and Rhonda Rucker In Concert, Friday, July 22

Sparky and Rhonda Rucker will be featured in concert at The John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, N.C. at 7:00 pm on Friday, July 22.  The concert will be held in the Festival Barn, but those attending are urged to park near Keith House or the Dining Hall and walk to the Festival Barn where there will be only a limited number of handicapped parking spaces available. In the barn there is hay bale seating, so audience members may wish to bring a lawn chair or blanket for comfort. Admission is free.  Donations are gratefully accepted.Sparky and Rhonda Rucker perform throughout the U.S. as well as overseas, singing songs and telling stories from the American folk tradition. Sparky Rucker has been performing over forty years and is internationally recognized as a leading folklorist, musician, historian, storyteller, and author. He accompanies himself with finger-style and bottleneck blues guitar, banjo, and spoons. Rhonda Rucker is an accomplished harmonica, piano, banjo, and bones player, and also adds vocal harmonies to their songs.Sparky and Rhonda have performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as well as Pubic Radio’s Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, and Morning Edition. Their recording, Treasures & Tears, was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award, and their music is also included on the Grammy-nominated anthology, Singing Through the Hard Times. They have also been featured at the International Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN.Upcoming Folk School concerts include A Dulcimer Celebration (June 12) and Les Gustafson-Zook (August 12) . The Folk School concert schedule is available on the world wide web at http://www.folkschool.org.

For further information call the Folk School at 828-837-2775 or 1-800-FOLK-SCH.

HWY 76, includes Larry Nichols on Rhythm Guitar, Lead & Harmony Vocals. Larry’s experience in bluegrass includes eighteen years with Johnny & Gerald and the Georgia Mountain Boys. He later helped form a country music group called Southern Comfort. Larry was inducted into the Atlanta Music Hall of Fame in 2006 individually, and then again in 2007 along with the rest of Johnny & Gerald & The Georgia Mountain Boys.

Dwain Brackett on Bass, High Tenor & Lead Vocals. Dwain is another great addition to the group. He was one of the founding members of the Low Gap Quartet and also an original member of Southern Comfort.

Delin Brown on Mandolin, Lead & Harmony Vocals. Delin has been around music all his life. He was a founding member of the Nottely River Boys and grew up playing in Jim Southern and the Southern Sounds which was his family’s bluegrass-gospel group.

Gerald Heaton on Banjo, Baritone & Harmony Vocals. Gerald brings a long history of music with him. He was one of the founding members of Johnny & Gerald and The Georgia Mountain Boys and remained with the group throughout their twenty-seven years in music. Gerald was inducted into the Atlanta Music Hall of Fame in 2007 as part of the group Johnny & Gerald & The Georgia Mountain Boys.

Tommy Murphy on Lead Guitar & Lead Vocals. Tommy’s cross-picking style is something any music lover will want to see and hear. Tommy started out in The Patterson’s and he later joined up with the Low Gap Quartet.

Steve Pruitt on Fiddle & Harmony Vocals. Steve began his music career at the age of twelve playing the guitar and mandolin. He played with the Ebb & Zeb Collins group for about fifteen years, and then later played for the Clay Creek Ramblers and the Lee Family.