De Temps Antan Lead a Workshop and Perform this Saturday at the Blue RIdge Music Center

September 19 at The Blue Ridge Music Center - De Temps Antan plus Paul Brown, Terri McMurray, Alice Gerrard and Kay Justice. Workshop at 3 PM, Concert begins at 4 PM.

Concertgoers are invited to arrive at 3 PM for a workshop on the fascinating history of music and dance in Quebec led by De Temps Antan. Afterward, renowned regional musicians Paul Brown, Terri McMurray, Alice Gerrard, and Kay Justice will kick off the afternoon performance with a healthy mix of old-time, folk, bluegrass, and more.

De Temps Antan, photo courtesy Blue Ridge Music Center

With fiddle, accordion, harmonica, guitar, and bouzouki, the Québécois folk music trio DeTemps Antan (Éric Beaudry, André Brunet, and Pierre-Luc Dupuis) blends boundless energy with the unmistakable joie de vivre found in traditional French-Canadian music. Their sound, anchored by the "tac-tic-a-tac" of les pieds (a form of seated clogging found only in French Canada), explores time-honored melodies from Quebec's musical past.

The group's workshop will focus on the music of Quebec, including instrumentation (fiddle, accordion, harmonica, guitar, foot percussion) and dance. Longtime members of the folk, bluegrass, and Americana music scenes, Brown, McMurray, Gerrard, and Justice will take turns performing together and in duets. Paul Brown spent years collecting and documenting traditional music in Southwest Virginia and the Round Peak region near Mount Airy, North Carolina. As a performer, record producer, and former NPR host, Brown has introduced millions to Appalachian music, and helped ensure its preservation and vitality for future generations.

Terri McMurray started playing banjo uke and banjo when she was pint-size. She cofounded the Old Hollow String Band with Riley Baugus and Kirk Sutphin, and dug into clawhammer banjo with Tommy Jarrell in North Carolina. Spanning some 50 years, Alice Gerrard's superb recordings showcase the artist's many talents: compelling, eclectic songwriting; powerful, hard-edged vocals; and instrumental mastery on rhythm guitar, banjo, and old-time fiddle. Her most recent album, Follow the Music, was nominated for a 2015 Grammy Award. West Virginia's Kay Justice is a noted singer and guitarist known for her work with Ginny Hawker in the 1990s and Gerrard and Gail Gillespie in the Southern traditional music trio, The Herald Angels.

The Blue Ridge Music Center features the award-winning, interactive Roots of American Music exhibit, open daily from 10 AM. to 5 PM, and Midday Mountain Music performances by local and regional musicians, daily from noon to 4 PM. Both activities are FREE.

While you're there, be sure to trek the trails on the grounds. The Fisher Peak Loop Trail is a moderate 2.25-mile hike and the High Meadow Trail is an easy, family-friendly 1.35-mile jaunt (one way) in and along the edge of the woods. High Meadow is also a Kids in Parks TRACK Trail which features brochures with fun activities for children and families.

The Blue Ridge Music Center is located just north of Boone NC at Milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway,  700 Foothills Road in Galax, VA. For tickets and concert information, visit blueridgemusiccenter.org or call (866) 308-2773, ext. 245.