Festival 2008 Featured Artists

 

Barbara McBride-Smith wears many hats — simultaneously! For over 30 years, she has been a teacher, a school librarian, a theological seminary instructor, a traveling storyteller, and a writer. In each of these professions, she has experienced storytelling as an integral educational tool and a compelling art form.

A popular performer and keynoter at hundreds of festivals and conferences across the U.S., the diverse McBride-Smith has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee seven times, as well as the National Festival of Homiletics and the International Storytelling Festival in Washington D.C. Her international travels include performances in Greece and Turkey.

Born & raised in Texas, Barbara McBride-Smith learned the craft of storytelling from her two deaf sisters, who "communicated with their entire beings," & her parents, known by all as  "natural born keepers of the family lore."
 

Andy Offutt Irwin is an American storyteller, arts educator  and singer-songwriter. Irwin began his career in 1984 in an improvisational comedy troupe but after five years he shifted to performing as a singer-songwriter, touring the Southeast for about six years. In the mid-1990s, he branched into performances for children and since then has appeared in hundreds of schools (from preschools to colleges ) and countless public libraries.

Irwin continues to perform (for adults) as a singer-songwriter and added storytelling to these performances, usually telling one story (about ten to twenty-five minutes in length) during a show. In the fall of 2004 he decided to pursue storytelling as a career. He quickly achieved national prominence and now appears regularly in storytelling festivals across the United States.

Irwin has released four albums; the first features ten songs and one story, the other three are exclusively storytelling albums. His second album was named the best storytelling album of 2006 by an industry group. Currently, Irwin divides his time between storytelling festivals and children’s performances. Irwin is also featured on a weekly public radio music program as storyteller and host. His site.


Boulder Acoustic Society Band -
Each member of BAS comes from a different musical world, and the resulting mix is what makes their music so special. Shredding guitar licks, soaring gypsy violin, a little ukulele and the thump of an old time bass bounce around with a jazz accordion and creative percussion to create a new sound. It is American Roots music with the edge of punk rock and the grace of chamber music.

This joyful chaos has defined BAS for the last four years of relentless touring, recording and rehearsing. They have crisscrossed the country countless times building a following the old fashioned way, by making connections with fans one at a time. From festivals to rock clubs, dive bars to house concerts, BAS has spread the word. And who is listening? Hipsters and hippies, punks and grandmas, kids and pickers, folkies and yuppies all "get it" where it matters deep down in that place that deifies description.  The words were take from the BAS web site.

 Their site.

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