Fireside Friday

Shown playing the bowed tenor psaltery, James Hantula will be the featured musician March 14 at Shoppes of Murphy's Fireside Friday. The psaltery, an instrument played for over 3,000 years, is referred to in the Old Testament and in Chaucer and was popular during the Middle Ages. The scale of C is on one side of the instrument, and the sharps and flats on the other.

Fireside Friday, March 14, from 5 to 7:30, held in the reception area between the Curiosity Book Shop and the Daily Grind in Murphy, will feature performances and readings by musician James Hantula and writers Carole Thompson, Natalie Grant, and Carol Crawford.

Hantula plays instruments including the hammer dulcimer, bowed psaltery, and recorders. A frequent student/participant musician at the John C. Campbell Folk School and its English Country Band, he also participates in Augusta Dulcimer Week, Knoxville Recorder Society, Pittsburg's Mideast Early Music Week, and Western Carolina University's Mountain Collegium.

Carole Thompson retired with her husband to Blairsville, where she says, "the beauty of this area of Georgia and North Carolina seems to enter the creative soul and beg for expression." She credits Nancy Simpson, in a writing class, for giving her the confidence and encouragement to write.

Natalie Grant's family has lived in Nantahala "since the boats came over," and she is influenced by "the really great stories and storytellers" in her family and community. Grant teaches high school English at Nantahala, and teaches part time at Tri County Community College. She won the college version of Academy of American Poets prize and has been published in Appalachian Heritage.

Carol Crawford has taught poetry classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Young Harris College, and the Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Association. Published in a variety of journals and magazines, her credits include the Journal of Kentucky Studies, Southern Humanities Review, Georgia Journal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Grub Street Wit and Sow's Ear. For twelve years she has served as Coordinator for the Blue Ridge Writer's Conference. In 1995 she was awarded the Denny C. Plattner Award for Excellence in Poetry from Appalachian Heritage.

Poet Paul Donovan is the host for this free evening of music and readings.

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