FAIRMONT – It all comes back around in the arts community, provided you search the world far enough and wide enough.
That credo comes from Lydia Warren, who delivers it daily in her role as director of the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center, at Fairmont State University.
“It’s exciting and it’s entertaining for audiences,” Warren said.
And it’s coming back around again Oct. 5, when the center hosts an afternoon featuring two eclectic, Morgantown-based artists who take where they’ve been – and then make something creative out of the journey.
Aristotle Jones and Annick Odom will perform original and traditional art and music at the center, with “performing,” being the watchword, the director said.
“So, settle in, because they really are amazing performers,” she said.
Jones, a singer, songwriter and guitarist who is known across the region as the “Appalachian Soul Man,” stirs influences from the mountains to Motown and Mississippi John Hurt in his original tunes.
For him, it all vectors back to the Osage coal camp, where his grandfather, Robert, made his name as a gospel singer.
Robert’s grandson, meanwhile, most recently represented West Virginia in Utah, as a keynote performer at National Association of Black Storytellers gathering Salt Lake City.
Odom, a Belgian-American multi-instrumentalist who has performed nationally and internationally, blends traditional West Virginian ballads with original compositions and newly commissioned pieces.
She’ll also present an array of “crankies,” a form of hand-cranked, panoramic-moving storytelling scenes, during her performance.
“Little kids are especially be enthralled by that,” Warren said.
A music jam will follow, the director said.
“So, bring your guitars and fiddles, so you can make music with the people who just performed.”
That the folklife center is quickly turning into a creative destination for arts and history of north-central West Virginia and Appalachia is music to Warren’s ears, she said.
The center just wrapped up a dulcimer music jam and festival last month and will host a history and showcase of West Virginia-made glass this winter.
Visit the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on Facebook for a full schedule of events, video clips and more.
“We’re proud to celebrate who we are,” the director said.
