"Taking the Festival by Storm"
Meghan Purdy
Meghan Purdy
A beautiful sunny day graced visitors of the Appalachian Festival this Saturday. Visitors meandered around enjoying the many vendors and entertainment. The festival boasted chicken barbeque sandwiches as well as wagon selling many varieties of old-fashioned soda. Another booth sold apple butter while the Lay family sold herbal supplements and tea.
Many performers graced the stage but at one-thirty I wandered upon a very different type of performing group that hit the stage offering a myriad of entertainment. The Barnstormers were a jovial group offering folk style music and clog dancing. The Barnstormers group was a four group including two musicians and two dancers who also played instruments, including the banjo, fiddle, violin, xylphone, and cello. Each member of the group had their own stage presence but did not hog the spotlight; they made sure their unique personalities would leave a lasting impression on any audience member's memory.
Maggie Sansone and Rock Howdell, a flat-footing duo, started out the performance and said despite they're age they still love to dance. In fact, Howdell is seventy-three years old but continues to dance because as he joked, "I dance fast because I know I don't have much time left." Howdell claims to have taken up clogging when his doctor told him running, an old hobby, was bad for his legs. While Howdell wowed the audience with his dancing skills he was also musically talented, boasting talent on the fiddle in many of the bands other numbers.
Howdell's dancing partner Sansone was also equally personable and comedic. As well as being an exceptional clogger Sansone also exhibited musical talent on the cello. Other band members included Slim Harrison, sporting a cowboy hat and playing the banjo. Slim joked around with his musical talents, playing "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" by slapping out the beat on his cheeks. "Hey, am I in tune?" he joked when he started the song. Tom Jolin, our last member, was multi-talented exhibiting skills on both the xylphone and the banjo; Jolin was a more subdued member of the group but was an amazing musical talent.
Something that really stood out about the group was their unusual attire. As mentioned earlier Harrison sported a cowboy hat and a western style shirt while Howdell donned a plaid shirt and clogging shoes; while Jolin wore a plaid shirt and cowboy hat. Sansone had her own unique style with a Western style denim skirt and flowered top while also wearing clogging shoes. Sansone laughs about the groups attire, "I feel a little funny hanging out with you guys off stage, in these outfits. We look kind of like a cult."
The group was charismatic and entertaining while they joked with many of the veteran audience members and happily bantered with each other, audience members enjoyed the outgoing and easy attitude the group had with everybody, "This is a different experience. The jokes really keep your attention in between the songs." said audience member Michael Smith. The group has really built up a strong following because of their wonderful stage presence. Before the performance Howdell joked with returning audience members, "I see some of our old friends out their so I know I don't need to give any introductions."
Many performers graced the stage but at one-thirty I wandered upon a very different type of performing group that hit the stage offering a myriad of entertainment. The Barnstormers were a jovial group offering folk style music and clog dancing. The Barnstormers group was a four group including two musicians and two dancers who also played instruments, including the banjo, fiddle, violin, xylphone, and cello. Each member of the group had their own stage presence but did not hog the spotlight; they made sure their unique personalities would leave a lasting impression on any audience member's memory.
Maggie Sansone and Rock Howdell, a flat-footing duo, started out the performance and said despite they're age they still love to dance. In fact, Howdell is seventy-three years old but continues to dance because as he joked, "I dance fast because I know I don't have much time left." Howdell claims to have taken up clogging when his doctor told him running, an old hobby, was bad for his legs. While Howdell wowed the audience with his dancing skills he was also musically talented, boasting talent on the fiddle in many of the bands other numbers.
Howdell's dancing partner Sansone was also equally personable and comedic. As well as being an exceptional clogger Sansone also exhibited musical talent on the cello. Other band members included Slim Harrison, sporting a cowboy hat and playing the banjo. Slim joked around with his musical talents, playing "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" by slapping out the beat on his cheeks. "Hey, am I in tune?" he joked when he started the song. Tom Jolin, our last member, was multi-talented exhibiting skills on both the xylphone and the banjo; Jolin was a more subdued member of the group but was an amazing musical talent.
Something that really stood out about the group was their unusual attire. As mentioned earlier Harrison sported a cowboy hat and a western style shirt while Howdell donned a plaid shirt and clogging shoes; while Jolin wore a plaid shirt and cowboy hat. Sansone had her own unique style with a Western style denim skirt and flowered top while also wearing clogging shoes. Sansone laughs about the groups attire, "I feel a little funny hanging out with you guys off stage, in these outfits. We look kind of like a cult."
The group was charismatic and entertaining while they joked with many of the veteran audience members and happily bantered with each other, audience members enjoyed the outgoing and easy attitude the group had with everybody, "This is a different experience. The jokes really keep your attention in between the songs." said audience member Michael Smith. The group has really built up a strong following because of their wonderful stage presence. Before the performance Howdell joked with returning audience members, "I see some of our old friends out their so I know I don't need to give any introductions."
0 comments:
Post a Comment