The November Third Thursday Concert on Nov. 19 at the Artist Retreat Center will be more than a concert.
Featured performers, Still on The Hill --the duo of Donna and Kelly Mulhollan--will perform a special show using instruments made by Ozark folk artist Ed Stilley. They will share stories about Stilley and his work and will introduce their new book, "True Faith, True Light, the Devotional Art of Ed Stilley."
This will be the first booksigning for "True Faith, True Light," which is published by the University of Arkansas Press.
"True Faith, True Light," was written by Kelly, with photographs by northwest Arkansas photographer Kirk Lanier. Lanier will attend the event, and an exhibit of his photographs that were taken for the book will be on display. The book signing will take place after the musical performance.
The Mullhollans have been performing for more than three decades. In addition to writing their own songs and performing, they also search the backwoods of the Ozarks to discover the rich culture that resides in these hills, which is how they met Ed Stilley.
As musicians they have toured worldwide, produced eight CDs, and are recipients of the Governor's Folk Life Award and multiple Northwest Arkansas Music Awards. They have performed at numerous festivals including the Philadelphia Folk Festival and the Kerrville Folk Festival. Both are multi-instrumentalists.
Donna is best known for her exuberant fiddle-playing but also excels with folk instruments such as washboard, musical saw, pickin' bow and mule jawbone as well as mandolin, guitar and ukelin. Kelly masterfully handles guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, ukulele and standup bass. For this special show at the ARC, concert-goers will have the rare opportunity to hear the duo perform on instruments made by Stilley.
Stilley, a farmer, who lives at Hogscald Hollow near Eureka Springs, knew nothing about building musical instruments, but says that God sent him a message telling him to build instruments and give them to children. In the past 25 years, he has created more than 250 instruments.
Lanier's photographs in "True Faith, True Light" show the extraordinary shapes of the primitive instruments and include X-ray images that show the unique construction.
The ARC is at 13467 Lookout Drive in Old Bella Vista on the west side of U.S. 71. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show. Tickets are $10. Reservations are highly recommended for this event, since seating is limited. To reserve a seat, call 479-268-6463.
Community on 11/18/2015