Terri Allard has an extraordinary talent for capturing the human spirit in her songs. With power-packed vocals and infectious energy she has the uncanny ability of moving her audiences to pin-drop silence. The Virginia based singer-songwriter has taken her rootsy blend of folk, country, and acoustic pop to countless clubs, coffeehouses and festivals throughout the U.S.
“On her self-titled debut album, she mixes poignant balladry and boot-kickin' honky-tonk in a manner that's sometimes reminiscent of Mary Chapin Carpenter."

”“Here is the authentic voice of country music - a mixture of wry wit, melancholy, grit, independence and hope" - Chris Bannon NPR Radio

Terri was a finalist in the 1994 and 1997 Kerrville, Texas New Folk Festival Showcase, the 1997 Telluride Festival Troubadour Showcase, the 1997 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Showcase and a the 1995 and 1998 Emerging Singer-Songwriter Showcase at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in New York. Terri performed at the 1996 Olympic Village Coffeehouse, at Nashville's 1997 and 1998 Extravaganza and at the 1998 AM JAM Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC

Open to the Public and Free of Charge. Donations accepted. Refreshments will be served during intermission.

Inspired by the Trickster’s spirit and by the rich history and heritage of their hometown -- Williamsburg, Virginia -- Coyote Run makes music to tell tales of battle, love, loss and the joy of living. They draw from the deep wells of Celtic, world folk, and maritime traditions in crafting their eclectic and powerful music.
Each member of Coyote Run plays a range of instruments, and all of them sing. David Doersch, lead singer and chief songwriter, plays accordion, djembe, octave mandolin and bass guitar; he may even break out the trombone on occasion. Steve Holiday sings bass and plays 6 and 12 string guitars, bass guitar and banjo. Les Kayanan, songwriter and tenor vocalist, plays 6 string and bass guitars, and percussion. Given the right encouragement, Les will demonstrate his prowess on the ukelele as well. Gabe Stone, a baritone, plays almost everything - bodhran, djembe, flutes, whistles, mandolin, cittern, bagpipes, tuba, didgeridoo.
“Coyote Run is a fun gallop over the world with ballads and adventures; a delightful blend of traditional, original ....cover songs and other exciting selection” Heather Ockler Circle Magazine.

Open to the Public and Free of Charge. Donations accepted. Refreshments will be served during intermission.

The community is invited to loan their photos of Bedford taken before 1970 for this February exhibit. The photos need to be framed and have hooks or wire on the back for hanging. People are encouraged to submit photos of both people and places. Accompanying explanations and brief stories are welcomed.
Come examine Bedford and see how it looked in the not so distant past. See if you can recognize old friends, family and places. The Friends of the Library ask that the photos be in good condition and reserve the right to decline a submission based on content or condition.
Entry forms are available by clicking here and downloading a pdf which can be printed and at both Bedford Central Library and branches in January 2003. Submissions will be dropped off on Monday, February 3 and the show will be hung that afternoon. The exhibit will be open during normal Library hours and the public is invited to attend free of charge.

Concert Postponed - Rescheduled for Tuesday, October 21, 7:30 p.m.

Gráinne Hambly comes from County Mayo in the west of Ireland. She started to play Irish music on the tin whistle at an early age, before moving on to the concertina and later the harp. She lived in Belfast for six years, where she completed a Masters Degree in Musicology, awarded by the Queen’s University. Gráinne studied harp with Janet Harbison, and in 1992 became a member of the Belfast Harp Orchestra, with which she has toured extensively. She has also performed throughout Ireland, Britain and North America with Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann. Gráinne is also a member of the Belfast based group Clarsheree, specializing in Irish music of the 17th and 18th centuries. She has recorded on 4 different CD’s including her 1999 solo CD Between the Showers. Her new CD is due out in early 2003.
“ A few decades ago the only decent harp was on the side of the black pint. Now we have some formidable and brilliant harpers. Gráinne Hambly is one such. Her harping is tremendous on the album Between The Showers. Nothing seems to daunt her in terms of technique, but she can also vary it, too, with airs and collaborations both with her sister Róisín on harp and Peter Ratzenbeck on guitar. Her debut album shows all the richness of the Irish harp and she takes from and tackles piping tunes (pipers pinched many an old harp tune in the past), fiddle tunes, naturally a trio of O'Carolan tunes, and new tunes making them all sound at home on her harp.” Joe Crane with Folk Roots magazine.

Open to the Public and Free of Charge. Donations accepted. Refreshments will be served during intermission.

Spanning a time frame from 1950 to the present, the works of art come from the collections of many Bedford residents and from the artist’s own. Painting almost exclusively in watercolor for a long time, Revelle now has expanded her range of mediums to include acrylics, oils and pastels.
She thinks of her art as a celebration of the world in paint. Her images include the beautiful landscapes of the area around Bedford, its flora and fauna, people, and their homes, businesses and churches. She loves the process of applying paint and pushing it around a surface. Opryland Hotel in Nashville commissioned her to paint four watercolors for them and a pair of prints of these paintings hang in each of Opryland’s 2000 rooms.
Ms. Hamilton was born in Locust Valley, NY, on Long Island. She had a career in fashion design after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. During the later 1970’s she took classes in watercolor at the Huntington (NY) Township Art League from Eloise Gardiner Giles, who inspired her. In 1980 she moved to Bedford, Virginia and has pursued her interest in Fine Arts. Her paintings are carried by Moncure’s Gallery in Bedford and Gibson’s at the Greenbrier Hotel, White Sulphur Springs, WV. She has taught watercolor and drawing, and has had numerous one-person and group exhibitions.

Due to illness The Reel World String Band, scheduled to perform on March 22, 2003, at Bedford Central Library, will be unable to appear. In their place the Christiansburg based old time music band Mountain Fling will perform. This concert is sponsored by the Friends of the Bedford Public Library, Inc. and the Friends apologize for any inconvenience this change may have caused. The concert is open to the public, free of charge. Donations are always gratefully accepted.

Mountain Fling is a four-piece band based in Southwest Virginia that relies heavily on traditional material and delves into the recent past for variety. They bring freshness to their sound by playing instruments that were an important part of the prewar mix but are now a little “to one side” of the usual old-time string band. The band has performed and taught at concerts, workshops, and festivals throughout the mid-Atlantic states. Among the members, they play autoharp, banjo, guitar, harmonica, bass, hammered dulcimer, and sing, while having great fun presenting the music of Appalachia to their audiences.

John Hollandsworth is an award-winning internationally known autoharpist who was the first champion of the prestigious Mountain Laurel Autoharp Championship in 1991. He has played and taught all over the United States and in England. His wife Kathie sings lead and harmony vocals in the group and plays upright bass and hammered dulcimer. She has taught hammered dulcimer workshops at several festivals in the East and South. Jim Lloyd has played banjo and guitar with several groups, is a well-known storyteller in southwest Virginia, and teaches many students from his barber shop in Rural Retreat as well as at regional workshops. He has studied and emulated many different old-time banjo styles. Ed Ogle of Roanoke plays guitar and is the other half of the vocal team in Mountain Fling. His award-winning harmonica playing features both slow, lyrical melodies and fast dance tunes on this instrument that figured heavily in the development of old-time music.

Matthew Abelson is one of the world’s most innovative hammered dulcimer players. Equally at home with American roots music, traditional Irish tunes and jazz, his playing is a truly enlightening experience. His between song banter sets this instrumentalist apart from other acts by involving the audience in improvisational humor - lending an intimate feel to his performances.
Abelson comes by his varied musical style honestly, playing a variety of venues. He has worked as a street musician in New Orleans’ French Quarter, and played Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra. He’s played for former President Bill Clinton and the First Lady, and also jammed with members of the HORDE Tour. Matthew Abelson can engage any audience and does.
His three CD’s chronicle his growth as a musician, The Flying Dulcimer, From Three to Here and most recently, Perspectives.
“Abelson attacks the dulcimer with an intensity rarely seen at your typical folk festival..” Lynn Brakeman Scene Magazine

Open to the Public and Free of Charge. Donations accepted. Refreshments will be served during intermission.

The Boys of Walltown features a high-energy fusion of Celtic and American music. A union of two seasoned musicians, Jonathan Byrd and David DiGiuseppe present engaging songs, inspired instrumental pieces and original material.
Jonathan Byrd is an accomplished singer, songwriter and guitarist known for his driving rhythms and distinctive vocals. David DiGiuseppe is a nationally recognized accordionist well versed in the tune traditions of Ireland and the American South. 
Together they offer a fun, entertaining and powerful performance.
“His funky acoustic soul is brilliant. Only Jonathan can take an acoustic guitar, simple percussion and his voice to construct songs of such roaring magnitude. “Faze3 Magazine
Jonathan Byrd grew up singing. As a Baptist preacher's son, he was surrounded by the powerful, vocal music of the Church. Meanwhile, his mother provided him with piano lessons.  From an early age, Jonathan experimented with a variety of instruments. In high school Byrd discovered jazz. In his big band class, directed by the legendary Bob Haas, he learned the theory, rhythms and musical basics that he draws upon today
David DiGiuseppe's musical career began at the tender age of three in the local barber shop, where he was often lifted onto a chair and encouraged to sing his favorite songs. At the impressionable age of eight, he was taking accordion lessons, becoming a model student at Petteruti's School of Music in Providence, RI. By twelve, the accordion was in the closet and Beatles' tunes could be heard emanating from his guitar. Since that auspicious beginning, David has gone on to perform as a soloist and with numerous groups. He is an accomplished and versatile singer, accordionist, mandolinist, and Irish cittern player.

The Friends of the Bedford Public Library and the Peaks and Pieces Quilt Guild will co-host the Seventh Annual Bedford Quilt Show 2001 from Wednesday, July 16 until the evening of Tuesday, July 22 on the second floor of the Bedford Central Library. This event is made possible through the generous participation of the Peaks and Pieces Quilting Guild and the Friends of the Bedford Public Library, Inc. The exhibit of contemporary quilts showcases the work of many talented quilt makers who use fabric to express their creativity.
The exhibit will be open for viewing during normal library hours. Ribbons will be awarded to top quilts in the show, based on viewer’s choice. The public is invited to come learn more about quilting and this rich aspect of Bedford’s heritage. The show is open to the public and free of charge. For more information or directions please call Bedford Central Library at 540-586-8911.

Karen Nichols is a native of Bedford, Virginia who has returned to the South after many years of performing and teaching in California. The contrast of living on both the West and East Coasts and her re-acquaintance with life in the South have provided her with a great deal of material. It had also allowed Nichols to create a fresh blend of contemporary sound with traditional influences from her mountain heritage.

Her style is eclectic, reflecting her technical mastery of many styles as a singer and keyboard player. Equally comfortable with jazz, pop, country, musical theatre, Celtic, and folk, she mixes in her own originals and comic connections between songs to create an evening of memorable and delightful entertainment. Her program is entitled “My Roots Are Showing.”
She was strongly influenced by her late father, Ralph "Rusty" Nichols, a beloved Big Band musician who kept the era alive even after his retirement, and her mother, "Nenie" a fine pianist who played for radio shows in the 1940’s.

Nichols recently won a first place award in the Poetry Society of Virginia's 2003 contest for her poem, "Mountain People" which she subsequently turned into a song. She teaches voice and piano privately and also consults with songwriters and drama students on specialized projects, provides music for church services, directs Centertown Singers, a teen ensemble she created, and customizes special event concerts for local groups. She was an “in demand” musician in Los Angeles and the San Francisco area, and has had featured roles in community theatre, including Little Town Players' production of Jerry's Girls last year where she wowed audiences with her personable style.

T

Lynn has been working as a professional storyteller for more than fifteen years. She has performed for schools of all levels, for adult organizations, libraries, and museums. In the past nine years she has written and toured ten shows for Young Audiences of Virginia. She has been a performer and workshop presenter for Core Knowledge Conferences in Anaheim, CA, and Boston, MA; at Storytelling Festivals in Richmond, VA; Williamsburg, VA; and Philadelphia, PA. She has also been a featured teller on many occasions on various radio programs. She has been named "Artist of the Year" by Young Audiences and "Best Actress in a Comedy" by Folio. Her recording of "Spy! The Story of Civil War Spy Elizabeth VanLew" won a "Storytelling World" Honor Award and a Parents' Choice Recommended Award. Her background in English and Theater combined to prepare her for creating and performing her own storytelling programs of historical stories, myths, folklore and personal stories.

Spy! The Story of Civil War Spy Elizabeth Van Lew

Elizabeth Van Lew was a remarkable, daring woman. She lived in Richmond, Virginia, for most of her life. Although her father was a wealthy businessman who owned slaves, Elizabeth was passionately against the practice. Before the war broke out, she and her mother freed all the family slaves, and during the war her dedication to the cause of abolishing slavery led her to begin spying for the Union. General Ulysses S. Grant himself credited her with sending him extremely valuable information during the war. This is the story of how Elizabeth Van Lew became a spy. It is the story of how she smuggled messages into Libby Prison in a pot of food; how she saved her favorite horse, Chieftain, from soldiers; and how she hid escaped prisoners in her home and sent them to safety through her own underground railroad. Here also is the story of how she earned the nickname "Crazy Bet" when she began affecting dementia in order to avoid suspicion. Much of the material in this story comes from the diary that Elizabeth kept all during the war and which she buried in her back yard when she feared it would be discovered.
Lynn Ruehlmann's fans, who have long recognized her to be a storyteller's storyteller, will be delighted to know that she has recorded Spy! The Story of Civil War Spy Elizabeth Van Lew. Her telling of this story has been heralded by Virginian as being an enthralling tour de force, and bringing the story to the recorded medium should serve to broaden its appeal and introduce it to new audiences who will delight in this marvelous piece of story-theater.
Ruehlmann's theater background is evident throughout the story as she uses a variety of voices and inflections to differentiate characters, time changes, and moods. She could not have chosen a more dramatic tale to showcase her considerable talent.
Ruehlmann wrote Spy! After a great deal of research, much of it coming from the diary that Elizabeth Van Lew kept during the war. The story reveals the details of the life of a remarkable southern woman from Richmond, Virginia, who became an abolitionist after witnessing the consequences of a baby being sold out of the arms of its slave mother.
When the War Between the States erupted, Van Lew, whose antislavery views were well-known, was urged by her brother to flee Virginia and return after the war was over. Replying that she was "a Southerner and a Virginian," she refused to leave.
Van Lew and her mother were drawn into the spy business after the Battle of Bull Run in 1861, when their caring for union prisoners and wounded led to the passing of coded messages and other acts of espionage. Ruehlmann, assuming the persona of Van Lew's niece, the story's narrator, carefully details the tricks and devices that Van Lew used to get messages to the union army. The listener cannot help but admire Van Lew, who risked everything, including her life and the respect of her community, to bring justice to the social landscape of the country.
Van Lew did not mind being ridiculed to accomplish her goal. Overhearing neighborhood children refer to her as "Crazy Bet," she reasoned that if people thought that she was really crazy, they would not suspect her of being a spy. Thereafter, she set about convincing the populace of Richmond that she was, indeed, crazy. They bought her deception lock, stock, and barrel. Meanwhile, Van Lew was hiding escaped Union soldiers in her attic and creating her own version of the Underground Railroad.
That Van Lew made it through the war as a spy without being caught is testimony to both her genius and her acting ability. Ruehlmann relates her journey with humor, respect, and enthusiasm.
Lynn Ruehlmann has given us a story that is well-researched, well-written, and masterfully delivered. It belongs in every story-lover's library.
-Linda Goodman
In Tale Trader October 2001


Responses following performances include:

"The stories come alive with your telling, and your movements are economical and memorable. We were impressed with the attentiveness of the students and their enthusiastic responses." -Ramona Mapp

"Teachers mention Ruehlmann's enthusiasm and endearing nature when working with the students and her professional manner. She is a dynamic resource."
-Bobbi Hutchko
Education Director, Peninsula Fine Arts Center

"It was wonderful!" -Alice Wakefield
Old Dominion University Professor

"Excellent! Captivating!"
-Nokesville Elementary School, Nokesville, VA

"Outstanding! Many thanks!"
-Tucker-Capps Elementary School, Hampton, VA

"Lynn Ruehlmann charmed us. She was spectacular-wish her performance had been longer!" -Elderhostel participants
Wakefield, VA

Program will include works drawn from Teleman, Ravel, Osborne, Villa Lobos, Horovitz and Kreutzer.

Clarinetist Eugene Jones's rich and varied concert experience includes recital and chamber music performances at Boston's Symphony Hall, Harvard University, Brandeis University, the New England Conservatory of Music, the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), Hampton University, the Berkshire Music Center, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Maine Festival, and on WGBH radio and television. He has also appeared in concert at Carnegie Recital Hall, the Lincoln Center Library, the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Concerts with the Boston Pro Musica Quartet, the American Symphony Chamber Players, the New England Piano Quartette, and the award winning Portland String Quartet have done much to establish his excellent professional reputation.

Eugene earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in clarinet performance from the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied with Gino Cioffi, Kalmen Opperman, Peter Hadcock, Keith Stein, and Roger Hiller. He was awarded a fellowship by the prestigious Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood where he performed as principal clarinetist under conductors Erich Leinsdorf and Gunther Schuller.

Currently, Eugene Jones is on the faculties of both East Tennessee State University and Emory & Henry University. In addition to clarinet instruction, he offers extensive expertise in music history, the history of jazz, and instrumental ensembles. He has also served as an artist-in-residence through the Virginia Commission's Artist Residency Programs. His training and experience afford presenters opportunities to create programs and services suitable for audiences of all ages and levels of expertise. Programs can also be designed to address specific needs and themes upon request.
Julee Hickcox was born in Singapore and spent her formative years in Hong Kong. She moved to the United States with her family at the age of 7. Ms. Hickcox was accepted to the North Carolina School of the Arts at the age of 15 where she studied with Philip Dunigan. She also played regularly with the NCSA Symphony both in the United States and Europe, the Winston-Salem Symphony and Salisbury Symphony Orchestras on both flute and piccolo. Since the mid-90's she has played flute and piccolo with the Wintergreen Festival Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of Lynchburg, Winston - Salem, Greensboro and Salisbury and with the Western Piedmont Symphony. Ms. Hickcox plays flute and piccolo for Mill Mountain Theatre and Opera Roanoke . This past fall, Ms. Hickcox was a featured piccolo soloist with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. Current studies include lessons with such contemporary masters as Jeffrey Khaner, Principal Flute of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Jeffrey Zook, piccolo for the Detroit symphony, Clement Barone, retired piccolo player with Detroit and Jan Gippo, piccolo with St. Louis Symphony. She currently maintains a full flute studio in Roanoke teaching many local young flutists and members of the Roanoke Youth Symphony.

Michael Havens was born in Roanoke, Virginia. He began his studies on guitar around age 12. After graduating high school, he was accepted with scholarship to study classical guitar with Dr. Robert Trent at Radford University. There he gained experience working with various ensembles, teaching, and studying the Renaissance Lute. After graduation he then moved to Cincinnati to work towards his Master's degree at the College Conservatory of Music on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. He was accepted with full scholarship and awarded a teaching assistantship under the direction of Clare Callahan. Currently, Mr. Havens lives in Roanoke and maintains a full schedule of teaching guitar studies at Radford University, Emory and Henry College, and applied lessons at Ridenhour Music in Roanoke. He also performs regularly as a soloist and with partner Julee Hickcox.

Traditional jazz, classic blues and “slice-of-life (original) songs that ring with truth, wit and experience,” writes The Washington Post of this duo. Barbara Martin combines a healthy respect for the roots of American music with the top of the line musicianship.
Martin is equally at home wailing the blues or singing a tender ballad. Her show features women blues singers of the 20’s, such as Bessie Smith, reviving their music with anecdotes from their colorful lives, as well as early jazz greats Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Martin began performing during her high school days in Iowa in local coffeehouses and continued in Boston where she earned a Master’s degree in music therapy.
Barbara’s musical partner, guitar wizard, Mac Walter, is a master of blues, jazz and folk stylings. A professional musician for over 25 years, he spent 8 years touring the United States and Europe with the Deanna Bogart Band. They have performed at the Kennedy Center, Roanoke, Albany, the Bluebird Blues Festival, the Herndon Jazz Festival and the Lehigh Valley Blues Festival.
“Barbara Martin’s compact combo swings hard, with Martin’s muted brass voice between Mac Walter’s bending and sliding steel strings “ Dirty Linen

Gráinne Hambly comes from County Mayo in the west of Ireland. She started to play Irish music on the tin whistle at an early age, before moving on to the concertina and later the harp. She lived in Belfast for six years, where she completed a Masters Degree in Musicology, awarded by the Queen’s University. Gráinne studied harp with Janet Harbison, and in 1992 became a member of the Belfast Harp Orchestra, with which she has toured extensively. She has also performed throughout Ireland, Britain and North America with Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann. Gráinne is also a member of the Belfast based group Clarsheree, specializing in Irish music of the 17th and 18th centuries. She has recorded on 4 different CD’s including her 1999 solo CD Between the Showers. Her new CD is due out in early 2003.
“ A few decades ago the only decent harp was on the side of the black pint. Now we have some formidable and brilliant harpers. Gráinne Hambly is one such. Her harping is tremendous on the album Between The Showers. Nothing seems to daunt her in terms of technique, but she can also vary it, too, with airs and collaborations both with her sister Róisín on harp and Peter Ratzenbeck on guitar. Her debut album shows all the richness of the Irish harp and she takes from and tackles piping tunes (pipers pinched many an old harp tune in the past), fiddle tunes, naturally a trio of O'Carolan tunes, and new tunes making them all sound at home on her harp.” Joe Crane with Folk Roots magazine

Born to a performing family in Dublin, Ireland, Aengus grew up in Shelter Valley, Canada and spent time working as a research diver, an actor, an ornithologist, and a schoolteacher before he started writing songs. He now runs his own label, currently tours North America with his trio, and was recently awarded the “New Folk Songwriting Award” from the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas, “Songs from the Heart Award” from the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals and the “Royal Canadian Decoration” , a commemorative medal from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
To singer-songwriter Aengus stories are everywhere - in every town, every person, every moment. Inspiration comes from time and place for Aengus as a singer-songwriter, who talks affectionately about the “places he has met” and the timelessness of the past. “All the things we think are important, thing we are trying to accomplish, our dreams, have been lived out a thousand times over years ago and in every little town. It’s reassuring and humbling,” says Aengus.
“Disarmingly Artful” - The Toronto Star
“A Travelling Archivist” - Saturday Night
“Classic Songwriting” ,”Heartbreaking” - Penguin Eggs
“Honest ballads” and “Emotional stories” - The Globe and Mail
“A supremely talented composer” Sing Out! Magazine

"CELTIBILLIES" Take four musicians steeped in their native Appalachian music, add in the beautiful repertoire of Celtic music and the result is - Celtibillies. Celtibillies was formed in 1994 as a contra dance band. Their music soon expanded beyond dance tunes to include a wide range of traditional Celtic and Appalachian Old-Time music and song as well as original music. The band is based in southwest Virginia and features Becky Barlow on hammer dulcimer, keyboard and bodhran, Jack Hinshelwood on fiddle and guitar, Tim Sauls on banjo, bouzouki and guitar, and Patrick Turner on bass. Celtibillies performances are an energetic mixture of duet vocal arrangements and spirited jigs, reels, waltzes and breakdowns. Traditional dance forms are also part of many Celtibillies performances. In 1999, the group produced and released their first CD of Appalachian and Celtic music on Zygoat Records.PATRICK TURNER’s 13 years of musical background includes many diverse influences from classical, jazz, blues, traditional and other musical genres. Patrick’s bass playing in Celtibillies ranges from poignant bowing to hard driving arrangements of reels and jigs.
JACK HINSHELWOOD began playing Traditional music, much of it fiddle tunes, on the guitar in 1972. He won the Knoxville World’s Fair Guitar Championship, the Galax Fiddler’s Convention Guitar Contest and, in 1995, he won a handmade Henderson guitar for first place in the Wayne Henderson Guitar Championship.
TIM SAULS multi-instrumental talents were developed through playing in a variety of Irish, Bluegrass and Old-Time bands since 1972. Tim’s driving style of guitar, banjo and bouzouki playing creates much of the high energy sound of Celtibillies. In addition to performing,
BECKY BARLOW grew up studying classical piano and french horn. After moving to southwest Virginia in 1980, her interests turned to traditional Appalachian and Celtic music and dance.

"Singer/keyboardist Karen Nichols, Bedford's prodigal musician who has come full circle back to the mountains she loves, returns to our concert series after a standing room only performance in July of her show, "My Roots are Showing." This is the perfect opportunity to welcome the Christmas season with "CELEBRATE ME HOME", an eclectic night of heartwarming songs, local humor spotlighting the differences between California and Bedford, and the cabaret style pizzazz for which Nichols is known. Her father, Rusty Nicholds, a well known Big Band musician, returned to Bedford after a musical life on the road. "Many of my Dad's friends come to see me play. I stand on my own, but I'm my father's daughter on the stage. I owe so much to him, to my pianist Mom Nenie, and to my two brothers, John and Jim, who are highly regarded jazz and fingerpicking guitar virtuosas."
The last twenty five years of Nichols life were spent in Los Angeles and California's Bay Area and the blend of contemporary and traditional training and experiences she had had are brought to her music. At times lyrical, humorous, and very engaging, she is an accomplished and multi-talented pianist and singer. Her influences include a diverse list including Dr. John, Laura Nyro, Carole King, Bette Midler, Bruce Hornsby, Bill Evans, Fats Waller, Ella Fitsgerald, Bobby McFerrin, Anita O'Day, Loreena McKennitt and Cherish the Ladies. She is equally comforatble singing old ballads from the mountains of Applachia, blues, country or contemporary jazz. Welcome back, Karen!