Sharpâ€[TM]s Appalachian Harvest (Special Event)

July 13, 2015, 7:00 to 9:00pm

Mumford Room, 6th Floor, James Madison Building

No Tickets Required

Homegrown Concerts from the Library of Congress, Co-sponsored by the American Folklife Center and FSGW

Sharp's Appalachian Harvest is a special multimedia folk music presentation performed and researched by English folk musician Brian Peters and American old-time musician Jeff Davis. Their presentation is devoted to the astounding collection of songs and music made by English collectors Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles in the Southern Appalachians over three summers in 1916, 1917 and 1918, one of the most extensive folk song collections ever made.

Brian Peters is a leading solo performer of English traditional songs and music who frequently tours in the United States. He has taught at song schools including The Swannanoa Gathering and The Augusta Heritage Center, both in the Appalachians, and played many festivals and concerts. He's also gaining a reputation as a researcher of song history. Jeff Davis was once a protégé of both Mike Seeger and Frank Warner, both collectors as well as musicians. He is a banjo player, fiddler, and singer with a rare authenticity gained from personal contact with old time musicians. In their presentation, they perform some of the brightest gems from Sharp's harvest, including old ballads, dance tunes, children's songs and gospel. They give readings from Sharp's diaries describing vividly the hardships and triumphs of song collecting, and show his evocative photographs of the singers and of mountain life.

For further details, see http://www.loc.gov/concerts/folklife/appalachianharvest.html