Old-time ballad singer and storyteller Joe Penland performs “Ridin’ in the Laundry Truck or Southern Comfort Between the Sheets,” a concert of mountain stories, songs and ballads at the Madison County Arts Center on Saturday, April 11.
Press release from the arts center:
Joe Penland in concert
“Ridin’ in the Laundry Truck or Southern Comfort Between the Sheets”
Mountain Stories, Songs and Ballads
Featuring: Joe Penland with Cathy Arrowood, Emma McDowell Best and special guest Rhiannon RamseySaturday Evening, April 11th, 2015 at 7:30 PM
The Madison County Arts Center, 90 S. Main St.
Marshall, N.C. 28753
Tickets $15
www.madisoncountyarts.com
(828)649-1301Old-time ballad singer and storyteller, Joe Penland returns to the Madison County Arts Center, 90 S. Main Street, Marshall, N.C. on April 11, 2015 at 7:30 PM for an evening of truth and fiction, hope and despair, love and hate, and enough laughter last long after the event has passed. Penland presents a well-crafted concert filled with songs and stories from the Southern Appalachian Mountains. This year’s show – titled “Ridin’ In The Laundry Truck or Southern Comfort Between The Sheets” continues the tales of growing up along the French Broad River and the wilds of Madison County, N. C. His adventures with his Great Uncle Hubert and encounters with famed Sherriff E. Y Ponder will carry you to a special place and time, one you will want to revisit again and again.
Penland’s running commentary of life in a small town has made him one of the South’s most loved storytellers and songwriters. “Joe’s stories make you thirsty for more local history,” remarked Laura Boosinger, executive director of The Madison County Arts Council. “Walking four miles while pregnant to sing for an Englishman conjures enough images to last the whole evening…. And then there’s the one about the rooster riding the chicken coop down the French Broad.”
Born and raised in the Western North Carolina Mountains, Penland learned the “Love Songs” at the knees of the masters deep in the Sodom Laurel Valleys. He sat with the renown Lee and Berzilla Wallin and their sons Doug and Jack, Berzilla’s sister Dellie Norton and Lee’s brother Cas. From them, Joe learned the songs, stories and life lessons in the last days of this living oral tradition.
Penland’s award winning Appalachian ballad singing and story telling have made his a favorite at festivals and folk venues on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2005 Penland won the prestigious Bascom Lamar Lunsford Award, named for his cousin and founder of the longest continually running folk festival in America.
Tickets are $15 in advance and are available by calling the Arts Center at 828-649-1301 or online at www.madisoncountyarts.com.
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