Madison County Arts Council
Rachel Hanf
May 21, 2008

Joe Penland to Perform Concert in Marshall

With Roger Howell and Cathy Arrowood

Special appearance by Joyful Noise

Saturday May 31 at 8:00 pm

Madison County Arts Council

90 South Main Street

Marshall, NC

$10

Madison County native Joe Penland returns to the stage of the Madison County Arts Council, Main Street, Marshall, N.C. Saturday, May 31 at 8: 00 pm, with his new show “On Shaky Ground."

Promising as always an eclectic mix of traditional and original songs and stories, this critically acclaimed “Balladeer and Raconteur” will be performing with his trusty allies Roger Howell and Cathy Arrowood.

Also performing with Penland will be the staff and students of Joyful Noise Academy, a not for profit organization that provides high quality musical instruction without regard to economic status to the children of Western North Carolina.

Joe Penland was born and raised in rural Madison County in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.  He is the proud steward of twelve generations and over 350 years of the rich oral tradition of his Scotch and English ancestors.

From his birth he has listened and learned the stories and “love songs” these travelers brought with them across the ocean, then southwest to the narrow coves and high meadows that many consider the richest repository of the folk songs of Great Britain in the world.

He inherited the instruments of his grandfather, who died long before his birth and was taught to play by his Aunts.  He learned the “love songs” from them and the great singers of Sodom Laurel, Lee, Berzilla, Doug and Cas Wallin and Berzilla’s sister and brother Dellie Norton and Lloyd Chandler.

Joe was content to continue this tradition in his front room, the porch or campfires of his secluded farm.  His daughter Laurin along with lifelong friends Sheila Adams, Mary Eagle and David Holt convinced him to share his life and music with a broader audience.  Since then, he has appeared at numerous festivals, twice toured Great Britain, and has been awarded the coveted “Bascom Lunsford Award”, named for his cousin and founder of the longest running folk festival in America, for his “significant contribution to preserving our mountain music.”

Determined that folk music includes the present as well as the past, Joe writes and sings his own “love songs”, that he calls “just more stories of love and life here in the mountains.”  Penland’s shows have traditionally sold out, so get your tickets early.

Tickets are $10 and are available from the Madison County Arts Council 649-1301 or www.madisoncountyarts.com, Zuma Coffee 649-1617, and Penland’s Store 649-2811, all on Main Street in Marshall, N.C.

For more information about Joe, visit joepenlandmusic.com or call Joe Penland Productions at 828-649-9609