After COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020 Mount Airy Blue Grass and Old-Time Fiddlers Convention, many musicians, music-lovers, and fans throughout the region were overjoyed to learn the event would return this year.
Now those folks can add one more reason for happiness — a full slate of free workshops put on during the convention weekend by the Surry Arts Council.
The convention is traditionally held the first weekend in June and is a family friendly event that brings together musicians and fans for two days of competition, jam sessions, dancing, singing, education, and entertainment, all built around the old-time music made so popular by Surry County musicians of generations past and present. The festival, established in 1972, is dedicated to old-time and bluegrass music as well as dance. The Fiddlers Convention features solo and band competitions and winners are awarded cash prizes.
Once again this year, Veterans Memorial Park Inc. and the Surry Arts Council are offering free workshops and demonstrations on Friday, June 4, at the Indoor Grandstand at Veterans Memorial Park. The workshops offer those attending the opportunity to learn from area award-winning musicians and dancers in an informal, relaxed setting.
Workshops begin at 11 a.m. on Friday with Nancy Sluys and Chester McMillian. Sluys has won numerous clawhammer banjo awards including first place at Galax Fiddlers Convention in 1995, 2002 and 2004. She also won prizes at most of the major fiddlers conventions in the South, including first prize at Elk Creek and Mount Airy. Sluys also plays fiddle and is leader of the Pilot Mountain Bobcats with her husband Bill who plays bass. Kirk Sutphin, another well-known old-time musician, will also be taking part in the workshops.
Chester McMillian will be partnering with Sluys on guitar. McMillian has won many awards and plays with Backstep. He is a recipient of the North Carolina Folklore Society’s Brown-Hudson Award and has played with legends including Tommy Jarrell, Kyle Creed, Whit Sizemore, Benton Flippen and Fred Cockerham.
Other workshops will be held at the same time with award winning dancers, vocalists, and musicians Martha Spencer, Emily Spencer, Wes Clifton, Nick McMillian, Michael Motley, and others.
At 12 p.m., Jim “Vip” Vipperman will facilitate the Surry County Old-Time Music demonstration. Vipperman is a multi-instrumentalist and teacher with a long career in music, including winning more top-ten awards than any other fiddle competitor in the history of the Galax Filler’s Convention and being recognized by the North Carolina Folklore Society with the Brown-Hudson Award for teaching excellence and passing on the tradition.
The demonstration features area old-time musicians and is open to fiddlers convention guests.
At 1 p.m., there is a Flat Footin’ and traditional dance workshop led by Aaron Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe has competed and won at numerous conventions. Dr. Ratcliffe is assistant professor at Appalachian State University.
Numerous additional workshops begin at 2 pm with many of the same musicians. At 3 p.m. the workshops wrap up and musicians, vocalists, and dancers join together for a Surry County Frolic with dancing led by Martha Spencer and Michael Motley and other workshop leaders playing in “the band.”
Veterans Memorial Park Inc. receives partial funding for these workshops and demonstrations, from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Flyers with a complete list of workshops and instructors will be available at the Fiddlers Convention.
For additional information on the workshops, contact tanya@surryarts.org. For information on the fiddlers convention, contact judithmappa@ymail.com.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
Be First to Comment