| RIPLEY - Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, Arts at the Alpine will present a night of Celtic Music.
Odie and Andrea Parkins of Cottageville, have been a part of the Celtic band Blackbirds & Thrushes for the last ten years. Along with band mate Mike Newman of Wheelersburg, Ohio, they will be performing tunes from the Irish tradition.
Odie, who has been playing guitar and banjo since he was 10 years old, has been accompanying his wife Andrea since their college days at Marshall University. Odie learned to play fiddle after he became interested in Irish traditional music and has learned his technique from some wonderful Irish players he met in Ireland and at home.
Andrea comes from a long line of Appalachian musicians whose styles range from traditional to classical. She performs ballads in both English and Gaelic from all over Appalachia and Ireland.
Mike lends more than twenty years of his considerable rhythmic talent to the bodhran, a traditional frame drum and the traditional African frame drum the djembe.
Joining them will be Irish Step Dancer, Hannah Thurman of Red House. Her early training goes back to the style of Jane George and has trained and danced in Ireland and the U.S. She performs in both soft shoe and hard shoe styles.
The event will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on March 16 at the Alpine Theatre. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased in advance at the Cornerstone Coffee Shop or at the door prior to the performance.
Arts at the Alpine is a non-profit organization with mission of bringing quality arts entertainment to the residents of Jackson County and the surrounding areas.
For more information visit the website at www.alpinewv.com
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