Feature article
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‘Smoke’ kicks off Art Nights/City Lights series
By Jessica Fischer
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| 'Smoke on the Mountain' |
The year is 1938. It’s Saturday night in Mount Pleasant, N.C., and the Rev. Oglethorpe has invited the Sanders Family Singers to provide an upliftin’ evening of singin’ and witnessin’.
The audience literally becomes the congregation in Cumberland County Playhouse’s production of “Smoke on the Mountain,” which will kick off the 2009-2010 Art Nights/City Lights performing arts series on Sept. 1 at the Kingsport Renaissance Center.
Show time is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for regular admission and $18 for students and seniors.
Two dozen traditional and original hymns plus stories of witness from family members form the very simple structure of “Smoke on the Mountain,” the first of three hit musicals about the singing Sanders family by Connie Ray and Alan Bailey. But the honesty, humor (albeit sometimes unintentional) and faith of this Southern mountain family and the church’s young preacher connect strongly with audiences of all ages and faiths.
The Art Nights/City Lights series also will feature:
- Jazz master Freddy Cole in concert at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 17.
After a hand injury sidelined a possible career with the NFL, Nat King Cole’s youngest brother began playing and singing in Chicago clubs. Although he was ready to hit the road at 18, his mother intervened and he continued his musical education at the Roosevelt Institute in Chicago. In 1951, he moved to New York and enrolled at the Juilliard School of Music, where he found himself profoundly influenced by John Lewis, Oscar Peterson and Teddy Wilson.
Cole earned his master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music, then spent several months on the road as a member of an Earl Bostic band that also included Johnny Coles and Benny Golson.
Cole released his first single, “The Joke’s on Me,” in 1952 on an obscure Chicago-based label. He went on to record several albums for European and English companies during the 1970s, helping him develop a loyal overseas following. Cole’s latest album, “The Dreamer in Me,” was released earlier this year.
Tickets are $20 for regular admission and $18 for students and seniors.
- Conductor Jack and the Zinghoppers at 7 p.m., Sept. 19.
Hosted by award-winning children’s musician, educator and television host Jack Norton, the Zinghoppers show combines music, movement, puppetry, drama, storytelling and comedy to create a preschool dance party that’s been described as “Leon Redbone meets Sesame Street Live.”
Norton and his wife Kitty created the children’s TV show “The Zinghoppers Show,” which has been seen on PBS, NBC and FOX stations. The stars of the show — Penelope The Possum, Olo The Donkey and Coconuts The Kangaroo — have toured the United States, Canada, Mexico, France, England and Australia with Conductor Jack.
Norton performs an average of 350 shows a year, both solo and with his backup band, the Zinghoppers, at performing art centers, theaters, libraries, malls, fairs and festivals. He recently toured Tennessee with Governor Phil Bredesen to promote Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program, and is the only children’s musician to ever have a featured night at the legendary Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.
Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, and $5 for children 12 and younger.
- The Tams in concert at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 29.
The Tams have been entertaining audiences for more than 40 years, with such hits as “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy,” “What Kind of Fool,” “I’ve Been Hurt” and “Untie Me.”
The Tams were formed in Atlanta, Ga., in 1962 and began performing in local night spots for $1.25 each. Their modest wages allowed them to purchase matching Tam O’shanter hats to wear while on stage, and from their trademark caps, the legendary Tams name was born.
Since 1963, the Tams have released more than 15 albums, one of which was certified Platinum and two more went Gold. They have toured and recorded with Jimmy Buffet and performed with such greats as Gladys Knight and Jackie Wilson. The Tams have been inducted into the Georgia Hall of Fame, the Atlanta Hall of Fame and the Beach Music Hall of Fame.
The Tams — including founding member Charles Pope, his son Li’l Redd, Robert Arnold, Reginald Preston and Greg Gallashaw — are still recording today, and recently released the singles “My Main Squeeze” and “This Love Will Last” from their newest CD, “The Tams Comin’ At Cha’.”
Tickets are $20 for regular admission and $18 for students and seniors.
- Dale Jett and Hello Stranger along with the Whitetop Mountain Band at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 6.
The Crooked Road is coming to Kingsport with an exhibit in the Renaissance Center’s Atrium Gallery and a concert of bluegrass and old-time music featuring third-generation Carter family member Dale Jett.
Jett, the son of Janette Carter and the grandson of A.P. and Sara Carter, helped emcee and performed at the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, Va., for more than 30 years. These days, he performs at festivals, concerts, colleges, workshops, private gatherings and other events along with his wife, Teresa, who plays doghouse bass, and his long-time friend, Oscar Harris, on guitar, mandolin and autoharp.
Hello Stranger is hard at work on a CD of Civil War tunes — including Jett’s a cappella version of “Shiloh’s Hill” — along with another CD of all Carter Family songs that the band hopes to have finished up in another couple of months.
Admission is $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors.
- Voices of the Mountains at 8 p.m., Nov. 7.
Under the direction of Dr. W. Patrick Flannagan, the Voices of the Mountains choir will round out the series’ fall offerings with “Elegant Choral Sounds of the Renaissance.”
All tickets are $12.
Art Nights/City Lights is presented by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Kingsport in conjunction with the Arts Council of Greater Kingsport. The concerts are sponsored in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Touring Arts program.
All shows are held at the Kingsport Renaissance Center.
For tickets or more information, call 423-392-8417 or visit KingsportARTS.org.
--------GoTriCities--------
“Smoke on the Mountain”
WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Sept. 1
WHERE: Kingsport Renaissance Center
COST: $20; $18, students/seniors
CONTACT: 423-392-8417, KingsportARTS.org
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