North Carolina storyteller
Connie Regan-Blake (above) will perform with Roanoke College’s
resident chamber music group the Kandinsky Trio (below)
at the Lyric Theatre. Their show “Tales of Appalachia”
combines chamber music and traditional Appalachian storytelling
to create a new genre of live performance.
The Roanoke Times
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Music becomes part of the story
By Tonia Moxley
tonia.moxley@roanoke.com
BLACKSBURG - A good storyteller leads you to a window
you've never noticed before in a dusty corner of your
mind. Then she opens that window and shows you a world
you didn't know existed or had forgotten was there.
For the past 33 years, Connie Regan-Blake has carried
on that tradition.
She learned from one of the best, a man named Ray Hicks
who was born and lived his whole life in a log cabin on
a mountain in Banner Elk, N.C. The two met in the fall
of 1973 and together they resurrected a forgotten art
form, the well-told story.
Since then, Regan-Blake has toured the world telling
stories ranging from traditional Appalachian folktales
to Halloween hair-raisers. On March 23, she will perform
"Tales of Appalachia" with the Kandinsky Trio
at the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg.
Regan-Blake and the trio performed "Tales of Appalachia"
- a unique blend of stories and chamber music - for the
first time in 1995. Since then, they have played the show
to nearly 400 audiences across the country.
The show begins with the story of Wicked John, the Cantankerous
Blacksmith, who unknowingly invites the devil to dinner.
"It's a story about heaven and hell, the big universal
questions," Regan-Blake said.
And it's old. Really old. Regan-Blake once found evidence
that traced the story back to 12th-century Ireland.
As Regan-Blake tells the story, pianist Elizabeth Bachelder,
cellist Alan Weinstein and violinist Benedict Goodfriend
weave the sounds of rocking chairs, hoedowns and ghosts
into the narrative.
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This is not simply a story told over a little background
music. It's a seamless performance, with musicians responding
to the storytelling and vice versa. Sometimes Regan-Blake
will tell the story with words, and sometimes she is silent
while the music tells the story.
"We really form a quartet," she said.
And the show is unique for another reason: It was composed
by NFL star-turned-songwriter-turned-classical composer
Mike Reid. With his classical music background (he majored
in classical piano at Penn State) and his experience writing
country music songs for Barbara Mandrell, Bonnie Raitt,
Ronnie Milsap and a dozen other mega-stars, he was the
right choice for the job.
“The Kandinsky Trio's members love collaboration,”
Weinstein said, “and they loved Reid's unconventional
work and background. Audiences, which have included classical
music devotees as well as football players and country
music fans, love it, too.”
The trio chose Regan-Blake for the piece over dozens
of other storytellers because her work "was so honest
and so deep," Weinstein said.
Before "Tales of Appalachia," Regan-Blake
had never attended a live chamber music concert and didn't
read music. The trio, all transplants to the region, didn't
know much about Appalachian storytelling.
“The best part of touring with a storyteller is
that she tries out all her new material in the car and
over dinner,” Weinstein said.
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In other performances, Regan-Blake doesn't limit herself
to Appalachian folktales. She tells stories from her own
experiences. She creates stories out of articles in the
morning newspaper and from things she sees on television.
She can tell a pretty good fairy tale, too.
Hearing a story "reminds all of us that we're doing
something our ancestors did hundreds and hundreds of years
ago. It's almost genetic," she said. It's a special
craft because, unlike most performing arts, anyone can
learn to tell a decent story over the dinner table. In
fact, Regan-Blake teaches workshops to people at all levels,
from lawyers who want to improve their courtroom performances
to budding professional storytellers.
"There are a few absolute naturals, but most people
have to work at it. There are techniques you can learn
to improve," she said.
“Storytelling is important, not just as entertainment,
but as a way to bring people together. You can't hate
someone after you've heard their story, she said, so storytelling
is like a salve to heal the world.”
If you miss the Blacksburg show, or just can't get enough
of good stories, Regan-Blake will perform at the "Sounds
of the Mountains" folk music and storytelling festival
in Fincastle April 30-May 1. Plans are underway for her
to perform "Tales of Appalachia" with the Kandinsky
Trio at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough,
Tenn.
Hearing a story "reminds all of us that we're doing
something our ancestors did hundreds and hundreds of years
ago. It's almost genetic." Connie Regan-Blake Storyteller
|
“TALES OF APPALACHIA”
Be there: March 23, 8 p.m., The
Lyric Theatre, College Avenue, Blacksburg. Bring:
$15, general, students and children. More
info: 951-4771 or www.thelyric.com. |
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