Heidi was a well-known performer in the Pacific Northwest for two decades before moving back home to New Jersey, when she met Bob at a Northeast Regional Folk Alliance conference. Bob’s multi-instrumental talents at accompaniment (he’s a 9-year veteran of the Mountain Stage Band) and skills as a recording engineer led to their further collaboration, and they began performing together in 2003.

Heidi and Bob have appeared at the NewSong Festival, Augusta Heritage Center, Central Florida Dulcimer and Autoharp Festival, Tumbleweed Festival and Seattle Folklore Society concerts and shared the stage with Bill Staines, Robin and Linda Williams, Crooked Still, Kate Campbell, Johnsmith and Small Potatoes. They released their first CD together named Seeing Things in late 2005.

Tears of Joy Theatre is recognized nationally for its commitment to excellence and innovation. Four of their productions have received American puppetry’s highest honor, the Citation of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry. Tears of Joy performs in theaters, community centers, festivals and schools throughout the U.S. and abroad. Each year they perform for over 250,000 people.

Tears of Joy presents puppet theatre that celebrates the diversity of world cultures. Besides their extensive touring program, Tears of Joy Theatre is a resident company at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts in Oregon where they present six productions each year, for a total of over 100 performances. Their performances in West Virginia are supported by the Japan Foundation through the Performing Arts JAPAN program.

All ages are invited to perform in the celebration. There will be both traditional and neo-traditional categories with a youth and adult division in each. Performers will not be judged, but will receive a gift from the Opera House. There’s no fee to participate.

The Hammons Family carried on ancient traditions of fiddling, banjo playing, ballad singing and story telling at their remote mountain home in Pocahontas County. They had a pervasive and enduring effect on West Virginia’s regional mountain music. Though they have passed on, their influence is alive to be celebrated.

Read the guildelines and register below. Registration will also be available the day of the event at the Opera House. So practice together with some friends, and sign up to celebrate Pocahontas County’s rich musical tradition at the Hammons Musical Heritage Celebration!

Guidelines

1. All instruments played should be acoustic.
2. Each participant/group should play/sing two tunes.
3. Participants may be one or more musicians.
4. “Traditional” music means playing/singing in the old-time style.
5. “Neo-traditional” music means playing/singing music that combines elements of the traditional
   old-time style with alternative techniques and various musical styles.

Register

A musician by the time he started high school, Larry Sparks stepped into the history books and into the heart of the music when he began making appearances as the legendary Stanley Brothers lead guitarist before graduation. With the death of Carter Stanley in 1966, he became Ralph Stanley’s right-hand man, moving into the Clinch Mountain Boys’ all-important guitarist and lead singer role and carrying on the Stanley sound even as he began to make his own contributions. Three years later, he formed his own band, the Lonesome Ramblers, and quickly became favorite of the growing audience in the “Bluegrass Belt” that stretches from the Mississippi River through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and on across to the powerhouse bluegrass area around Baltimore and Washington, DC. Developing his bluesy, signature guitar licks and resonant, soulful voice into the building blocks of a traditional, yet immediately identifiable personal sound, he has produced a steady stream of gripping albums.