Sparky & Rhonda Rucker close Cradle of Forestry’s 2016 Songcatchers series July 31

Press release:

Sparky and Rhonda Rucker to Close the Songcatchers Music Series

Pisgah Forest, NC, July 22, 2016 – The Cradle of Forestry in America’s annual Songcatchers Music Series closes Sunday, July 31, with Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, This year’s series is sponsored by Morrow Insurance Agency, Inc.

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. His musical talent combines with a scholarly interest in his material that he shares in a captivating way. He accompanies himself with fingerstyle picking and bottleneck blues guitar, banjo and spoons. Rhonda Rucker is an accomplished harmonica, piano, banjo, and bones player and adds vocal harmonies.

Sparky and Rhonda are sure to deliver a unique and uplifting presentation of toe-tapping music spiced with humor, history and tall tales. Their music includes a variety of old-time blues, slave songs, Appalachian music, spirituals, ballads, work songs and a few of their own original compositions. For more information visit www.sparkyandrhonda.com.    

Now in its 14th year, the series is held each Sunday afternoon in July, beginning at 4 p.m. It honors traditional mountain music and the talented performers who preserve it, share it and make it their own. The Songcatchers Music Series is an official event of the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.

Concerts take place in the Cradle’s shaded outdoor amphitheater and move indoors if the weather is stormy. The stage show opens at 4 with a Transylvania County quartet, the East Fork Gals.  Sparky and Rhonda play from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Local old-time musicians are on-site to jam informally at 3 p.m. before the concert.

Concert-goers are welcome to arrive early and enjoy indoor and outdoor exhibits, two interpretive trails and the Giving Tree gift shop. Some bring cushions for the concrete seating in the amphitheater. The café is open for lunch. The site, including the amphitheater, is wheelchair accessible.

Admission for all shows is $6 for ages 16 and older; $3 for youth 15 and under and America the Beautiful and Golden Age pass holders. Friends of the Cradle annual passes are honored.  The Cradle of Forestry is located on Hwy. 276 in the Pisgah National Forest, six miles north of Looking Glass Falls and four miles south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. For more information call 828-877-3130 or go to www.cradleofforestry.com.

Visitors enjoy mountain music at the Cradle as it fits into the late 1800s – early 1900s feel of the historic site. On this land, part of the Biltmore Estate during that time, modern forestry was first practiced and America’s first forestry school prepared students for conservation careers. Now the Cradle of Forestry in America is part of Pisgah National Forest, celebrating its Centennial this year.