The Charlotte Folk Society is honored to present John Dee Holeman, master bluesman, storyteller, and buck dancer, in concert at our next Gathering on Friday, February 12th. John Dee possesses an expressive blues voice and is a wonderful guitarist, incorporating both Piedmont and Texas guitar styles. The concert begins at 7:30 PM in the Great Aunt Stella Center, 926 Elizabeth Avenue, in the edge of Uptown Charlotte. Doors open at 7 PM.

Full story, video here.

The Great Aunt Stella Center, a beloved downtown landmark located at 926 Elizabeth Avenue (map here) on the edge of downtown Charlotte, was originally designed as a church. The former sanctuary offers a warm and beautiful performance space with seats for 400.

Admission. Please enter through the front doors only, which will open @ 7:00, after the sound check is done.

Parking. Free surface parking is available adjacent to the Stella Center. The arm of the nearby parking deck goes up for the weekend at 8 PM. So, you can grab a ticket on the way into the parking deck but you will not have to pay on the way out if you leave after 8 PM. A GoogleEarth picture showing how to get from the Elizabeth Ave entrance to the parking deck is here.

Folk Society Gatherings are family-friendly, open to the public, and free. Donations, which support the series in part, are greatly appreciated. The hour-long concert will be followed by refreshments, a Song Circle, a Slow Jam and fast jams. Visitors are also invited to the Charlotte Appalachian Dulcimer Club meeting after the concert.

Our Gatherings are made possible, in part, with funding from the Arts & Science Council and the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources, and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

The Charlotte Folk Society is delighted to be able to bring to Charlotte one of the premier Irish traditional music bands -- Dervish -- Wednesday March 3 at 7:30 PM at the Great Aunt Stella Center, 926 Elizabeth Avenue, between McDowell Street and Kings Drive, in downtown Charlotte. Doors open at 7 PM.

Full story and buy tickets online here.

The next Charlotte Folk Society Young Talent Showcase Gathering will take place on Friday, March 12th, 7:30 PM, in the Great Aunt Stella Center. CFS annually hosts this non-threatening opportunity for young musicians to publicly perform in order to encourage them to carry on the musical traditions we cherish. Preservation of the music is part of our mission. The best means of preservation is to have generation after generation to continue playing it!

Customarily, the previous year's Marilyn Meacham Price Youth Scholarship recipient is the featured performer in the showcase. We are looking forward to Tyler Mitchell's return to the Stella Center stage this year.

Any interested acoustic musician through college age is welcome. Participation must be arranged in advance, however. Contact Wanda Hubicki by email or call 704-563-7080, if you would like to take part. Please send a brief biography (age, school, music teacher, musical interests, instrument played). As well, a sharply focused head shot, digital, if possible, would be appreciated.