John Fowler
This Old Porch Host and Word Stage ProducerJohn started as a volunteer radio announcer in the spring of 1995, spinning vinyl and a brand new media, the Compact-Disc. He recalls, “In those days we had, reel-to-reel recorded programs, and guests crowding around the one mic to perform live - all bundled up into a 2 hour live old-time radio show." Now This Old Porch is three hours of top notch programming with up-to-date technology.
“On top of that nothing has changed,” he said.
When John is not playing his favorite traditional tunes on Sunday afternoon he is busy presenting old-time storytelling and music programs at schools, festivals, college's and special events throughout the region. He also conducts folklore research and workshops for grant development projects. John play's a number of old-time instruments including; banjo, fiddle, harmonica, spoons and auto-harp. "I love the old authentic music, the way it used to sound, and I enjoy playing this music when I'm on-the-air".
johnf@wncw.org
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Pete is a puppeteer, theater teacher, and storyteller. He makes his home in Asheville, N.C. The Fly and The Lion is an Aesop Fable that teaches bragging can get you in trouble. -
Doug Elliott is a naturalist, herbalist, basket maker, back-country guide, harmonica master, and storyteller from Rutherford County N.C. He has spent much of his time learning from traditional country folk and indigenous people. He performs programs at festivals, museums, nature centers, and schools from Canada to the Caribbean. He is the author of five books, many articles in regional and national magazines, and is an award-winning recording artist. -
Michael "Badhair" Williams has been telling Appalachian folk tales on stage since 1975. Television, radio, and rock videos have pushed storytelling into the corners with the cobwebs. "Badhair" sweeps it back out, pulling from his Appalachian heritage the tales that delighted our grandparents, and now delight our children and ourselves. -
Kyra Freeman writes poems, tells stories, and dances in the kitchen in Morganton, North Carolina. A former school librarian turned massage therapist, she was raised in Vermont not too far from the Appalachians. She lives with her family and infamous pets and goes outside in the yard as much as possible. She is a member of the Asheville Storytelling Circle and the N.C. Storytelling Guild. -
Minton Sparks is a wildly original poet, performance artist, novelist, teacher, and essayist born in a Tennessee college town and raised among her Southern family in and around Arkansas. She earned degrees from the University of the South and Vanderbilt University. Her appearances range from the prestigious Jonesborough National Storytelling Festival all the way to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and the American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center in New York City. -
Amy Ammons Garza is a storyteller who tells tales of growing up in the North Carolina Mountains. As a child, she sat at the foot of her grandfather and listened to tales of how her ancestors, seven generations past, were a part of those who traveled to Western NC and settled in the isolated mountains. His stories intrigued her, and so she stored them away until she grew up and began to write about them. -
Michael "Badhair" Williams is from the North Carolina Mountains, the heart of Appalachia. He has been telling Appalachian folk tales on stage since 1975. Television, radio, and rock videos have pushed storytelling into the corners with the cobwebs. "Badhair" sweeps it back out, pulling from his Appalachian heritage the tales that delighted our grandparents, and now delight our children and ourselves. Michael "Badhair" Williams has been telling stories in schools and at festivals across the country for over three decades.
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Wordstage on WNCW: Pete Koschnick – The Fly And The Lion
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WORDSTAGE ON WNCW: JESS WILLIS - SUNDAY DINNER DENTURES
