Schedule of Events:

Thursday September 19, 2024

FSU Appalachian Festival Film Festival: I've Endured

On Thursday the 19th kick off the weekend with our Film Festival at the Palace Theatre on Main Street. The featured film is "I've Endured" the music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed.

With a voice born in the mountains and shaped by the hard times she lived and saw, Ola Belle Reed established herself as an influential musician, singer, and songwriter of old-time mountain music. The new documentary, “I’ve Endured:” The music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed”, explores the life of this remarkable musician, singer and songwriter whose contributions have left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape. Ola Belle’s powerful voice and lyrics spoke authentically of her rural roots, and her passionate songs found a home in the folk-revival movement of the 1960s and beyond. She left an enduring legacy.

In 1986 Ola Belle received a NEA National Heritage Fellowship. The Library of Congress added her 1973 album Ola Belle Reed to the National Recording Registry in 2019. Her recordings are also preserved by the National Council for the Traditional Arts. Her songs have become anthems of Appalachian life, and she is widely recognized as one of the most influential bluegrass, folk and old-time musicians of all time.
The story told in “I’ve Endured” is one that resonates with themes of resilience, creativity, diversity and cultural significance. The film was produced over the last four years, weaving together archival photos, recordings and newly restored film footage of interviews and performances to present a portrait of Ola Belle, shedding light on her significance and that of the mountain culture she embodied. New interviews with those who knew her, worked with her and were influenced by her, are combined in the film to bring the past, present and future together in conversation. Production was based at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and was funded by Maryland Traditions, a part of the Maryland State Arts Council.

Ola Belle’s story mirrors that of more than 20 million southerners, who migrated to the north and west in search of work between 1900 and 1980. This great migration, which James N. Gregory has termed the Southern Diaspora (2007), transformed American popular culture, particularly in the area of music. It was instrumental in the development of Blues, Jazz, Gospel and R&B, as well as Country and Hillbilly music. Migrating from one rural setting to another on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border in the early 1930s, Ola Belle and her family brought with them the music and traditions of the New River region of Ash County, North Carolina. Her grandfather Alexander Campbell had been a Baptist preacher and a fiddle player. Her father, a school teacher and shopkeeper, formed a family string band. As a child Ola Belle learned to sing Appalachian ballads rooted in the traditions of England and Scotland from her grandmother and mother. When her brother Alex returned home from World War II he joined Ola Belle in the North Carolina Ridge Runners and other bands in recording and performing until the 1960s.

For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/1550080842552060/

Friday September 20, 2024

FSU Appalachian Festival Symposium: Home in Appalachia

On Friday the 20th don't miss the Symposium which features a variety of speakers discussing "Home in Appalachia."

FSU’s Upper Quad, Behind Old Main
Free On-Campus Parking in Upper Lots

Schedule:

1 PM: Creating Home in Appalachia, showcasing Native culture, history and art

The Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area (AFNHA) is currently hosting a series of Indigenous Voices in Appalachia as programming for its 2024 exhibit Creating Home: Indigenous Roots and Connections in the Appalachian Forest. This program seeks to engage with citizens of Native Nations whose homelands and connections include the regions where AFNHA now operates including the Haudenosaunee, the Shawnee, the Lenape, the Cherokee, the Monacans, and the Wyandot. The Indigenous Voices in Appalachia programming offers opportunities to the public and our partner organizations to better understand and share stories that acknowledge and honor the Indigenous people with ties to our region, and to share their culture and experiences today. These events coincide with a museum exhibit, "Creating Home in Appalachia, Indigenous Voices," housed at our Appalachian Forest Discovery Museum. The events have featured different artisans and presenters every month from various tribal backgrounds; and will continue through October. In November, we will host a roundtable discussion of "Ways of Knowing," at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, WV.
Larry Jent is the Associate Director of the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area, covering 18 counties in the highlands of West Virginia and Maryland. He has worked as a community organizer, teacher, musician, storyteller, pastor, and Native American advocate. His work has taken him from the banks of the Mississippi to the Bay of Alaska, Carolina's red clay tobacco fields, and deep into the Appalachian Highlands. Along the way he has collected a wealth of stories and anecdotes--Appalachian, Native American, and more.

2 PM: Romani in Appalachia, Glenda Bailey-Mershon

Glenda Bailey-Mershon’s work has been described as transcendent. Her latest book, Weaver’s Knot: Poems, includes poems that explore the world of textile workers, the poet’s mixed ancestry community in Appalachia, and even string theory as grounds for connections of kinship, motherhood, romance, and land. A former bobbin threader, bartender, bookseller, small press owner, and university administrator, she grew up at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains, among a family of mixed Romani, Cherokee, Catawba, Scottish, Welsh, and English heritage.
Bailey-Mershon edits the literary e-newsletter, The Inspiration Shelf, and a popular blog, Weaver’s Knot. Her events are often multimedia. She is known for singing and dancing to exemplify poetic meter and rhyme, and audience members are welcome to join in––They frequently do!
3 PM The House on Jonathan Street
Join producers, creators and community researchers who contributed to the The House on Jonathan Street documentary as they show clips and discuss the significance of this project for western Maryland. The House on Jonathan Street is a one-hour documentary that uses the accidental discovery of the significant history of a modest dwelling on a traditionally African-American street in Hagerstown, Maryland to trace the roots of middle America’s racial, economic and social interactions. Through the lens of this house, the rise and fall of the African-American community in small rust belt towns and cities across America is told.

4 PM: Leveraging the Outdoor Economy

In Maryland, Allegany and Garrett counties are embracing their outdoor adventure assets to attract entrepreneurs, manufacturers and investment through the Make it! In the Mountains program. Join Ashli Workman, Director of Tourism for Allegany County to learn more about how the area’s mountainous terrain provides outdoor adventure opportunities that can assist in reviving the region’s economy.

5 PM: Wherever Rivers Flow Revisited

Eleven years ago, the duo Magpie joined forces with filmmaker Mike Snyder of Independent Pictures (interdependentpictures.org/) to create a video for the original song, "Wherever Rivers Flow." The song-writing project was part of a larger regional project, “One Vision/Many Voices,” which encouraged area residents to consider the question, "What do we most value in the region and how can we retain those values while moving toward a more sustainable future?" Outcomes of the project included two large quilts, and the song and video featuring young voices from the region. This reunion session invites those students- now grown, to share their experiences of Appalachia.
6PM FREE Dinner on the Grounds with Magpie Performance
With a career that has spanned more than forty years, Magpie has traveled the globe, bringing its unique sound and breathtaking versatility to audiences everywhere. From traditional songs to vintage blues, swing and country to folk classics to contemporary and stirring original compositions, they cover a lot of musical ground. With their powerful voices and harmonies and their excellent instrumental arrangements on guitars, mandolin, harmonica, dulcimer, and concertina, their sound is much bigger than just two people. Award-winning recording artists, songwriters, musical historians, and social activists, Terry and Greg always promise a presentation that is highly entertaining as well as provocative and deeply moving.

For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/8746264635402945/

Saturday September 21, 2024

CES presents Appalatin: Appalachian Festival Capstone Concert

On Saturday September 21st, you can enjoy free music and activities on campus including Regional Music, Bluegrass, Old-time String band, Community Brass Bands, Appalachian Traditional Dance, Traditional Arts and Crafts, Cultural Programs, Appalachian Food, Children's Activities, Scales and Tales, Local Artisans, Environmental Education & More!

Saturday evening there is a capstone concert with Appalatin at the Frostburg Palace Theatre! Tickets go on sale August 1st through FSU Cultural Events Series! ces.frostburg.edu

Appalachian Roots Music Meets Latin Folk Traditions

Appalatin’s foot-stomping, hip-swinging sound unites Appalachian folk and high-energy Latin music. The name, Appalatin, reflects the unexpected meeting of Kentucky-raised musicians and masterful Central American and Andean émigrés from Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Their all-acoustic performances feature traditional guitar, mandolin and upright bass merged with charango, indigenous Andean flutes, hand percussion, harmonica and vocal harmonies, bringing pure joy to listeners of all ages.

Immediately after the performance, Chuck Dicken, station director of FSU’s National Public Radio affiliate station WFWM-FM, joins the artists for a lively conversation with audience members. Learn more about Appalatin’s distinctive fusion of Appalachian, Central American and Andean folk genres.

Tickets:
Adult $15
FSU Employee/Military/Youth $13.50
FSU Student Free

Tickets: https://frostburgtix.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=2098

This performance is presented in partnership with the Frostburg State University Appalachian Festival.
CES is supported in part by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, and receives financial support from the Allegany Arts Council and the City of Frostburg.

For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/1234036727769592/

Date: September 19 - 21, 2024

Location:
Frostburg State University,
101 Braddock Road,
Frostburg, MD 21532.

Frostburg Palace Theatre,
31 E Main Street,
Frostburg, MD 21532

Click Here for more information....