2024
Mountain Makins Schedules
Music Schedule
2024 Dance Schedule
Story Telling
Saturday October 26, 2024
Sunday October 27, 2024
11:00AM - Wallace Shealy
11:30AM - Don Britton
12:00PM - Stephen Hollen
12:30PM - Stephen Hollen
1:00PM - Wallace Shealy
1:30PM - Bill Landry
2:00PM - Samuel Smith
2:30PM - Bill Landry
3:00PM - Samuel Smith
3:30PM - Catherine Yael Serosa
11:00AM - Linda Poland
11:30AM - Libby Street
12:00PM - Linda Poland
12:30PM - Libby Street
1:00PM - Jim Claborn
1:30PM- Don Britton
2:00PM - Jim Claborn
2:30PM - Open Mic
3:00PM- Don Britton
3:30PM - Glen Spayth
Storytelling
Catherine Yael Serota
Catherine Yael is a native of Asheville and spent much of her life in Western North Carolina. Her stories paint vivid pictures of childhood and heritage. Her storytelling portfolio contains tales of Appalachian historical, folk, tall tales, personal vignettes, and literary masterpieces seasoned with humor. She has told at Asheville’s Front Porch, TELLABRATION!TM, house concerts, libraries, synagogues, Center for Art and Inspiration, corporate and therapeutic venues.
Wallace Shealy
Arts Center of the Southeast declared Wallace Shealy the Southeast Bold-Faced Liar Champion by jury. With a twinkle in his eye Shealy said, “of course I embellished the truth slightly.” The Mountain Xpress said in their opinion “Shealy exaggerates more than slightly.” The Tribune revealed that this upstanding local had been caught lying. It doesn’t matter if he is recalling a tale from his childhood, telling a story based on the Good Book or spinning a yarn you will be delighted listening to him stretch the truth all out of proportion.
Linda Poland
Poland was honored in 1997 with the title
of Jonesborough's Resident Storyteller. This is a true honor since Jonesborough ignited the renaissance of the spoken word over 50 years ago and is now known as the Storytelling Capital of the World. She is a founding member of the Jonesborough Storyteller's Guild, which will celebrate its 30th year as the only Guild in the country to have a weekly public venue for
storytelling. Linda believes you can empower your family and community by helping them learn the importance of their stories. Her repertoire includes a multitude of stories collected over the years while traveling, teaching, and telling. Ireland and more recently Israel have been two of her favorite places to share her stories. Linda is a true Raconteur that uses the art of storytelling to craft stories about people and places she visits. She carries the stories of Jonesborough, TN in her heart and throughout the world.
Jim Claborn
Born Caddo, Oklahoma became a Tennessean at age 4. He is the author of two books. He has appeared in Last of the Mohicans, Disney’s Davy Crockett, and the Biography Channels Heartlands Series. He learned stories of Appalachia from his mother and other mountain folks.
Libby Street
Libby Street, known as the “Mountain Terp Teller,” hails from Flag Pond, where she works as a professional sign language interpreter. She artfully combines sign language, gesture, and voice to share stories that delve into her Appalachian heritage and her roots in a deaf Appalachian family. Libby’s storytelling repertoire includes folktales, fairytales, narratives of healing, historical accounts, traditional ballads, and stories about her four children. Her dedication to storytelling extends beyond her performances; she has served as the past president of the Jonesborough Storytellers Guild, contributed to the Healing Story Alliance’s executive board, and currently holds the position of Vice-President for the Tennessee Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Moreover, she is the Interpreter Coordinator at Tennessee Schools for the Deaf.
Don Britton
Morristown artist and storyteller, Don Britton completes undergraduate and graduate studies from the University of Tennessee in fine arts. Throughout his career he has won awards in various media, including pencil, watercolors, and sculpture.
Don's art follows the tradition of "storyteller" artists who freeze action in the moment and leave questions to be answered with their images.
As a storyteller, his cowboy poetry and "yarns" are told with humor and simplicity in the vernacular inherited from his Appalachian ancestors.
He says, "if these tales aren't true, they should be. Just maybe, some are!"
Samuel Smith
Samuel Smith is a storyteller from Mountain City, Tennessee, who focuses on Appalachian tales. He enjoys sharing the rich stories and folklore of the region, bringing to life the traditions and characters of the Appalachian Mountains through his simple and engaging storytelling.
Bill Landry
Bill Landry is the voice, host, narrator, and co-producer of The Heartland Series, which has aired on WBIR-TV for nearly thirty years. Since its beginnings in 1984, over 1,900 short features have been produced, including 150 half-hour specials. Bill has written, produced, and acted in many of the episodes.
Receiving an MFA from Trinity University at the Dallas Theater Center and a BA in literature from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Bill has gone on to receive two Emmy Awards for directing The Heartland Series, the Education in Appalachia Award from Carson-Newman University, and an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Lincoln Memorial University.
For over thirty years Bill has written, produced, and performed his one-man play, Einstein the Man. He has presented the play over 1,000 times in thirty-eight states and two provinces of Canada.
In 2009, Bill premiered his DVD production of William Bartram – An Unlikely Explorer for the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, which tells the tale of the little known eighteenth-century explorer, adventurer, and naturalist.
In 2011, Governor Bill Haslam appointed Landry to the Tennessee Historical Commission. Deeply rooted in the Appalachian region, Bill has served on the boards of Fish Hospitality Pantries, Beck Cultural Exchange, the Clarence Brown Theater, the Princess Theater Foundation in Harriman, and the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore, Tennessee. In 2011, his book, Appalachian Tales & Heartland Adventures was published by Celtic Cat Publishing, and is now in its third printing.
Bill works as a spokesman for WBIR-TV and for several other companies including Hallsdale Powell Utility District. He continues to write, direct, and produce video documentaries, and gives lectures and speeches, including his popular presentations of “An Evening with Bill Landry.”
Stephen Hollen's
Most folks know him as an Appalachian storyteller, historical impersonator performing as Mark Twain, Buffalo Bill Cody and a few other notable historic characters. Perhaps they know him as good ol' Doc Hollen, Medicine Show Impresario, selling snake oil at various festivals around the country.
Stephen grew up listening to stories on the front porch down home in eastern Kentucky. He has a degree in Oral Interpretation - a fancy term for storytelling. He has performed in 31 states, Canada, England and Israel. All that being said, some folks, after hearing Stephen tell some of his tall tales will tell you, "He just ain't right".
Please double-click on the YouTube image above to see the festival video and relive the art, music, crafts, and community spirit in the past festivals we have had.
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