Women! Mount Airy Old-Time Retreat
Event
This new event will focus on women in old-time music and their contributions to the genre with female-led classes, jams, dances, concerts, workshops and lectures.
The retreat coincides with the annual Tommy Jarrell Festival, which honors the musical legacy of the old-time fiddle virtuoso and native of Surry County’s Round Peak community.
Alice Gerrard will give the keynote address at noon on Saturday, March 3. Gerrard, who lives in Durham, has played old-time and bluegrass music for more than 50 years. She founded the “Old-Time Herald,” a magazine devoted to old-time music, and this past fall was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame.
Before Gerrard’s Saturday address, 18 to 20 instructors and students will perform on WPAQ’s live radio show, “Merry-Go-Round,” at the Historic Earle Theatre in Mount Airy.
The retreat begins with lunch on Thursday, March 1. Classes follow that day, concluding with a dinner and jam. Friday’s slate of classes is capped by the Tommy Jarrell Dance at 7 p.m., while Saturday’s classes are followed by a concert by The Becky Buller Band at 7:30 p.m.
Classes — including fiddle, banjo, guitar, bass, mandolin, flat foot dance/square dance calling and harmony singing — take place at the Andy Griffith Playhouse and Earle Theatre.
Tuition is $350, which includes classes, meals, event tickets and a T-shirt. Youth scholarships are available. The retreat is funded in part by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Although the conference is geared toward women, it is open to both genders.
To register, click here or call (336) 786-7998.
