Halton Theater will fill with the sounds of harps, banjos, mandolins, rub boards and triangles -- and you can sing along -- when the Charlotte Folk Society celebrates its 25th anniversary this weekend with a Tosco Music Party-style concert featuring more than two dozen of the area's traditional music acts. A sampling of the variety in store: Joe Thompson, the 88-year-old Mebane fiddler who a national fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts last month. The Circuit Riders, a "bluegrass supergroup" of musicians from across the Carolinas.
Cajun music from Carolina Gator Gumbo. Not to mention Irish dancers, storytellers and family choirs. "Even though it's the Folk Society, they've got variety -- old-time, contemporary folk, Celtic, blues, bluegrass, gospel.
.." says John Tosco, who co-sponsors Saturday's concert.
He sees the anniversary attracting not only Charlotteans, but also fans from rural areas where this music is still a big part of people's daily lives. "Charlotte is pretty metropolitan, but we're still in the Deep South," he says, "You don't have to go far to meet plenty of people that aren't plugged into what's on radio." Folk Society founder Marilyn Meacham Price wasn't raised with old-time acoustic music, but the 76-year-old has made it her life's work to preserve the Carolinas' rich acoustic music history.
"I was not raised with this heritage," says Price, a classically trained pianist-turned-folk musician who founded CFS in 1982 after falling for string band music at square dances. "It was Motown, jazz, and classical, but no folk music," echoes Jean Prewitt of Carolina Gator Gumbo. "I grew up without any old time or bluegrass.
Nor had I grown up being in the presence of people who were playing informally. I was completely astounded when I went (to the Charlotte Folk Society gatherings) and saw these interactive, casual little jams." Prewitt met many of her fellow band mates through CFS.
"After hanging around the Folk Society, I started playing (ukulele) at the gatherings. They were so patient," she recalls of the other members. "That's the neatest thing.
There are highly skilled musicians to people who are just starting out." Saturday evening's concert will culminate with the traditional Tosco Sing-a-long Choir with Maddie Howard, Salem Macknee, Karen Singleton and Carold Raedy. The Folk society begins its celebrations tonight with a potluck dinner and reunion.
Saturday, members will provide workshops and demonstrations at the Levine Museum of the New South. CHARLOTTE FOLK SOCIETY CELEBRATES 25 YEARS Tonight, potluck dinner and reunion: 5:30-10 p.m.
, Broach Hall, St. John's Baptist Church, 300 Hawthorne Lane. Bring a dish to share or $5.
Details: Wanda Hubicki at 704-563-7080 or www.folksociety.org Saturday workshops and demonstrations: 10 a.
m.-4 p.m.
, Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St. Free with museum admission ($6 adult, $5 seniors and youths 6-18, $17 family, free for children under 6).
Details: Levine Museum: 704-333-1887 Saturday 25th Anniversary Concert: More than 25 acts, including 2007 NEA Heritage Award Winner Joe Thompson, Wayne Erbsen, The Circuit Riders and Carolina Gator Gumbo. 7 p.m.
Halton Theater, Central Piedmont Community College, 1206 Elizabeth Ave. $12, $10 for seniors, $6 for children ages 15 and under. Details: Halton box office at 704-330-6534.
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