From left to right, the group includes community member Susan Blankenship, Ferrum College student Gage Shelton, Professor Emerita Jody Brown, faculty member Rachel Blankenship-Tucker, faculty member Emily Blankenship-Tucker, Ferrum student TJ Baker, faculty member Rebecca Crocker, and community member Silas Blankenship-Tucker.
Ferrum, VA, August 11, 2023 — On August 10, the Ferrum College Jack Tale Players performed at the Rex Theater in Galax, Virginia for the 87th Old Fiddler’s Convention.
The Old Fiddler’s Convention originated in the spring of 1935 when a few members of the new Moose Lodge #733 needed to raise funds and promote publicity. In a newspaper, it was stated that the convention was dedicated to “keeping alive the memories and sentiments of days gone by and make it possible for people of today to hear and enjoy the tunes of yesterday.”
The Jack Tale Players performed during the Stories and Strings festival, which was new to the convention this year. All of the College’s theatre faculty participated in the performance along with two theatre students and several community members.
“This is an event that I always enjoy. It’s a great way to meet new folks who are playing this type of music. People from all around the region and the world come to this convention as it is the largest fiddler’s convention in the world,” said Director of Appalachian Music Emily Blankenship-Tucker.
The Jack Tale Players are a collaboration between the Ferrum College theatre department and Professor Emeritus Rex Stephenson. He founded the Jack Tale Players in 1975 to dramatize folktales with his students, who also performed traditional music of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Since his retirement in 2012, Stephenson has continued telling the tales, often with alumni and other collaborators, using the name Jack Tale Storytellers.
This year marks a revitalization of the Jack Tale Players with Ferrum College students participating, and this performance at the famous fiddler’s convention was much celebrated by everyone involved.
