Old-time Music and Dance Focus of 'Appalachia in the Bluegrass' Concerts

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Rich Kirby, who will play UK Nov. 7, performs "Rocky Island" at Portland Oldtime Music Gathering in Portland, Oregon. A trascription of this video can be seen here.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 30, 2014) — From a mother-daughter duo boasting both music and dancing skills to a traditional music virtuoso, "Appalachia in the Bluegrass" concert series is sure to present a rollicking good time at Niles Gallery. On Friday, Oct. 31, old-time musicians Julia Weatherford and Pearl Angeline Shirley will perform. The next week, on Friday, Nov. 7, virtuosic fiddler, banjo player and mandolinist Rich Kirby is in the spotlight. Both free public concerts will take place at noon at the Niles Gallery, located in the University of Kentucky Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Growing up in Berea, Kentucky, Julia Weatherford’s magical youth was filled with traditional old-time music, handcrafts, folk dancing, baroque ensembles and church choirs. She studied cello from the age of 10, sang in harmony vocal groups, performed and sang in summer theater and puppetry theater, and folk danced her way through high school and college. 

In 1980, Weatherford settled at the family home place near Black Mountain, North Carolina, and has lived in a cabin built by her grandfather ever since. For 13 seasons, she has played cello with the Asheville Symphony, meanwhile moonlighting as a traditional dance fiddler. In addition, she previously was the artistic director of the legendary Black Mountain Festival from 1986 to 1995. Weatherford has performed and taught at such venues as the LEAF, the Black Mountain Festival, Berea Country Dance School, Pinewoods, Moondance, The Gypsy Meltdown and Folkmoot International. 

Weatherford has been a longtime member the Akira Satake Band, Far Horizons, Fly by Night and The Free Range Ensemble. Currently, she is the logistics director at the Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College and the coordinator of Fiddle Week for that same event. A visual artist as well, Weatherford is a member of the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild and is the mother of Pearl.

Pearl Angeline Shirley grew up in Black Mountain soaking up traditional Appalachian music and dance almost without noticing. She picked up a tiny violin at age 5, and since then has fiddled her way through hundreds of footstomping contra and square dances and concerts.

Shirley has toured with the popular contra dance band Mock Turtle Soup from Alnwick, England, to Santa Barbara, and currently performs with the acclaimed old-time band, Blue Eyed Girl. She is a step dancer and the director of Asheville’s “Twisty Cuffs” Cape Breton performance dance troupe. Shirley is a first grade teacher and the mother of two.

Traditional Music Virtuoso Rich Kirby Returns

Rich Kirby is a virtuosic fiddler, banjo player and mandolinist, who has served as news director for WMMT, Appalshop’s radio station. He has played and recorded with a number of bands including Wry Straw and Rich and the Po' Folks, and has produced many albums for the June Appal label including a recent release of his grandmother’s music, "Addie Graham: Been a Long Time Traveling."

Kirby is a founding member of the celebrated East Kentucky old-time string band, Rich and the Po’ Folks, the best (and only) old-time string band in Letcher County, Kentucky. The band explores the full range of traditional mountain music — fiddle tunes, ballads, coal mining songs, Carter Family pieces and contemporary mountain songs. Rich and the Po' Folks' repertoire comes from the members' home territory of eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia, hot spots for one of America's great musical traditions. They recorded the album "When the Whistle Blew" on the June Appal label in 2010. 

The “Appalachia in the Bluegrass” concert series celebrates the old-time roots of American folk music by featuring a diverse range of traditional musical expression. The concert series will showcase 13 different artists, duos and groups from southern Appalachia ranging from artists straight off their front porch to those who have earned international acclaim. The concert series is generously presented by the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music, a collaborative research and performance center maintained by the UK College of Fine Arts, UK School of Music and UK Libraries.

For more information on the “Appalachia in the Bluegrass” concert series or the concerts featuring Julia Weatherford and Pearl Angeline Shirley or Rich Kirby, contact Ron Pen, director of the Niles Center, by email to Ron.Pen@uky.edu or visit the website at http://finearts.uky.edu/music/niles.

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu