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John Fowler

John Fowler

This Old Porch Host and Word Stage Producer

John started as a volunteer radio announcer in the spring of 1995, spinning vinyl and a brand new media, the Compact-Disc. He recalls, “In those days we had, reel-to-reel recorded programs, and guests crowding around the one mic to perform live - all bundled up into a 2 hour live old-time radio show." Now This Old Porch is three hours of top notch programming with up-to-date technology.

“On top of that nothing has changed,” he said.

When John is not playing his favorite traditional tunes on Sunday afternoon he is busy presenting old-time storytelling and music programs at schools, festivals, college's and special events throughout the region. He also conducts folklore research and workshops for grant development projects. John play's a number of old-time instruments including; banjo, fiddle, harmonica, spoons and auto-harp. "I love the old authentic music, the way it used to sound, and I enjoy playing this music when I'm on-the-air".

johnf@wncw.org

  • Ray escaped the urban slums of Richmond, VA by joining the United States Army at the age of 17. As an infantryman and paratrooper, he served around the world and was awarded The Bronze Star and Combat Infantryman’s Badge, among many other decorations for his service. After 20 years, he retired and went back to school, earning his BS in Liberal Arts, MA in Public History, and EdS/EdD in Education Leadership, researching the relationship between parental behavior and African American academic success for his dissertation. During his time as an adjunct professor at Appalachian State University, his most popular courses were “The Souls of Black Folks: An Examination of African American Social Culture” and “Storytelling: Life in the Narrative,” which explored historic and contemporary uses of storytelling and oral history in America.
  • This story, “Now Entering Alaska Time” is an excerpt from Waldman's recently released book, Now Entering Alaska Time. "He brings his instruments, a few fellow musicians, and his poems about surviving a plane crash (locals once called him"a walking dead man"), watching grizzlies feed in a garbage dump, and other adventures in the forty-ninth state."-The New Yorker
  • ”My stories are true and promote good values -many about growing up on a farm in the NC Mountains with 5 sisters and one brother. I relive the stories as I tell them!”
  • Minton Sparks is a wildly original poet, performance artist, novelist, teacher, and essayist born in a Tennessee college town and raised among her Southern family in and around Arkansas. She earned degrees from the University of the South and Vanderbilt University. Her appearances range from the prestigious Jonesborough National Storytelling Festival to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and the American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center in New York City.
  • A native of West Virginia, Donna Marie Todd trained in classical vocal performance at the renowned Peabody Conservatory of Music with Metropolitan opera soprano Marilyn Cotlow and now writes and performs a unique combination of original stories woven with artful songs. The combination of storytelling and singing has earned her the description of “The Singer of Stories.”
  • Amy Ammons Garza is a storyteller who tells tales of growing up in the North Carolina Mountains. As a child, she sat at the foot of her grandfather and listened to tales of how her ancestors, seven generations past, were a part of those who traveled to Western NC and settled in the isolated mountains. His stories intrigued her, and so she stored them away until she grew up and began to write about them.
  • Nancy Basket helped form the first modern basketry guild in Seattle in 1980, and moved to South Carolina ten years later. She makes pine needle and kudzu baskets — large and miniature, lamp shades, paper designs, kudzu cloth, and large 8-foot sculptures depicting Cherokee stories. In 2005 she received the prestigious South Carolina Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award. Her work has received raving national reviews. She is a popular feature at powwows and Earthskills events.
  • Sheila Kay Adams is a seventh-generation ballad singer, musician, and storyteller. She was born and raised in Madison County, North Carolina, in a little place named Sodom. It's an area well-known for its a cappella ballad singing, a tradition that dates back to the early Scots/Irish and English settlers of the mid-17th century. Also known as Henry Lee, "Young Hunting" is an 18th-century murder ballad likely of Scottish origin.
  • Actor, salesman, entrepreneur, radio show host, author, minister, workshop facilitator, public speaker, trainer, Peace Corps Volunteer, storyteller, and pet-sitter. Larry has been all of these and found that the thing that ties them all together (yep – even petsitting!) is the importance of stories. Humor is a key ingredient, whether the story is for entertainment or a deeper purpose.
  • Bruce Greene is known worldwide for preserving and playing old-time Kentucky fiddle music. For much of his life, he has lived and worked among the people of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Western North Carolina researching and absorbing the music and folk traditions. This ballad, The Sweet Soldier Boy, was taken from the recording, River of Time: Traditional Songs and Fiddle Tunes from The Toe River Valley