Storytelling festival to include workshops

Storytelling and Banjo workshops will be an added feature at the 2011 Uwharrie Storytelling Festival to be held on Saturday, October 1. The main site for the Uwharrie Storytelling Festival will be the Fellowship Center of Central United Methodist Church located at 172 North Second Street in downtown Albemarle.

Both workshops, storytelling and banjo, will be taught by well-known storyteller and banjo player, Shelia Kay Adams.  After seventeen years in the North Carolina Public School System, Shelia Kay made the decision to pursue a career sharing the music, stories, and heritage of her culture.

In 1998 Sheila Kay Adams was selected to receive the prestigious North Carolina Folklore Society’s Brown-Hudson Award in recognition of her valuable contributions to the study of North Carolina folklore.

She is also well-known for her award winning accomplishments on the 5-string banjo, the guitar and as a songwriter and ballad singer.  Sheila Kay plays a clean, drop-thumb style, called "clawhammer" and has taught at numerous music camps throughout the country. She has recorded several instrumental tapes which feature traditional fiddle tunes from the Civil War era.

Anyone interested in taking advantage of this unique opportunity to learn from one of the best should contact suze_stem@yahoo.com for more information.  Those who wish to participate in one or both of the workshops should pre-register early as enrollment will be limited.

The Storytelling workshop will be offered from 10:00 a.m. until noon on Saturday, October 1. The cost for the Storytelling workshop is $20.00 to be paid at the time of pre-registration. 

The banjo workshop will be a combination of demonstration and hands-on experience. This workshop will begin at 1 p.m. and continue until 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 1.  The cost for this experience will be $15.00 to be paid at the time of pre-registration.

For more information about the Uwharrie Storytelling Festival see the website www.uwharriestorytelling.com   

Uwharrie Storytelling is also on Facebook.

STANLY NEWS AND PRESS - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - p.8C