Friday evening we attended the free performance in the open barn at the John Campbell Folk School.  Sparky and Rhonda Rucker took us through 400 years of American culture and folk history.  We were entertained with Appalachian music, railroad and slave songs, Civil War and cowboy music.  Sparky is a folklorist, historian, storyteller, and author who plays guitar, banjo, and spoons.  Rhonda plays banjo, piano, harmonica, and bones.  Their toe-tapping music was spiced with humor, history, and tall tales and an amusing rendition of Uncle Remus's Br'er Rabbit tales.

The air was soupy with nary a breeze but the barn filled with an audience of all ages.  This performance enticed generations made up of great-grandparents down to the sleeping infants.  Seated near us was a grandfather with his teen grandson carving a design in his block of wood while waiting for Sparky and Rhonda to appear on stage. During the performance, children danced and the audience interacted with the storytelling and song refrains. 

Sparky and Rhonda Rucker

This coming Friday night we'll go to the singing and mountain dulcimer concert at the barn.