Humanities Project: Mountain Music to Kick Off Spring Humanities Series on Jan. 21

Jackson Grimm sitting on a red sofa posing with guitar

Jackson Grimm

Jackson Grimm will kick off the Spring 2020 humanities performances on Jan. 21. The performance will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Spencer/Rounds Performing Arts Theatre. The performance is free and open to the public.

From Asheville, North Carolina, and in the Swannanoa Valley, Grimm has been drawing from and harnessing the mountain’s lonesome sound of Appalachia. This performance will draw from the music of legendary mountain songsters such as Doc Watson, Ola Belle Reed, Bryan Sutton and others. Many of these songs and tunes seem to come from the mountains themselves - they have no known author, but were passed down orally for the past few hundred years within the distinct and insulated mountain culture. Those attending the performance will hear a blend of authentic old songs and modern interpretations.

Grimm also has taken these traditional influences, and has used them to craft his own original sound and songs. Expect some original material as well, but don’t always expect to be told what is traditional and what is original. The audience will have to figure it out! Grimm will be joined by Nashville fiddler Nathan Evans Fox in a performance highlighting guitar, banjo, fiddle and harmonies.