Curley Maple to get feet dancing for Saturday event
As a fiddler since the age of 9, David Blackmon has spent his fair share of time at old-fashioned barn dances.
Continue reading the rest of "Curley Maple to get feet dancing for Saturday event" by Athens Banner-Herald
The co-founder (with his wife, Noel) of the traditional music outfit Curley Maple, the Wilkes County native is well-versed in providing the soundtrack for spirited dance events.
"Oh yeah, I sure have played some barn dances," said Blackmon, who in his long musical career has played with the Normaltown Flyers, Blueground Undergrass, Widespread Panic, Derek Trucks and the late Jerry Reed, to name but a few. "I can remember going to them as a child and playing at them as a teenager. And we've played some contra dances for the Athens Folk Music and Dance Society recently."
A "different incarnation" of Curley Maple - featuring the Blackmons, as well as multi-instrumentalist Antoon Speters - will travel the few miles from its Winterville base to Colbert on Saturday to provide the music for an old-time barn dance at the Old Colbert Gym on Colbert-Danielsville Road.
The dance is the third and final event in a series sponsored by Madison County Habitat for Humanity, thanks in no small part to a matching grant received from the Georgia Council for the Arts' Grassroots Arts Program.
Beth Kelley Zorbanos, who is coordinating the dance for the Madison County Habitat chapter, said she's grateful to the Blackmons for answering her distress call when the evening's original entertainment, the Hogslop String Band, had to cancel because of a scheduling conflict.
"When Beth called Noel, we were interested," said Blackmon, whose group released its first album, "Shawneetown," in 2009. "She told us about the situation, and we told her we were happy to pinch-hit."
Previous barn dances this year featured the Garnet River Gang (an offshoot of Zorbanos' group the Garnet River Gals) with Janet Shepherd calling the dances in January, and the Madison County-based Georgia Mudcats, with Scott Russell calling. The dance in March will feature Beverly Smith as th
© 2009 http://onlineathens.com - Athens Banner-Herald - All rights reserved.
Comment on "Curley Maple to get feet dancing for Saturday event"
