News

Storyteller kicks off new mountain preservation season

By Bill Moss, Published: August 27, 2015

Renowned mountain music performer and storyteller Betty Smith will kick off the second season of the mountain culture preservation series on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 1 p.m. at Patton Building Room 150 on the campus of Blue Ridge Community College.
The Center for Cultural Preservation sponsors the “Keep the Home Fires Burning” series, which features musicians, authors and heritage preservation leaders who are working to keep mountain culture alive.
Betty Smith, a crucial savior of ballad music in the Southern Appalachians, has extensively researched traditional music through oral histories of the N.C. mountains and turned them into written history. Smith was a ballad singer first, a musician and a teacher and then a playwright and author. She plays fiddle, psaltery, guitar, autoharp and dulcimer.
“Betty Smith is a priceless champion of mountain culture who not only performs the old-time music but has worked tirelessly to keep the old traditions alive,” said David Weintraub, executive director and founder of the center. “Her excellent work was in part the basis of a powerful film, ‘Songcatcher’.”
In order to whet people’s appetite for what Betty Smith has to offer, the Center is working with the Hendersonville Public Library to screen “Songcatcher” at 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10. “Songcatcher” tells the story of a musicologist who discovers the rich tradition of ballad music in the mountains and seeks to collect and preserve the old songs.
For more information about the Center for Cultural Preservation call (828) 692-8062 or visit www.saveculture.org.