Join the Old Dominion 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Libraries and the Ramblin' Conrad Folklife Institute as they welcome acclaimed folk artists Sparky & Rhonda Rucker to the Diehn Composers Room in the Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center on February 8. Sparky and Rhonda Rucker perform throughout the U.S. as well as overseas, singing songs and telling stories from the American folk tradition. They are internationally recognized as leading musicians, authors, and storytellers. They accompany themselves with fingerstyle picking and bottleneck blues guitar, blues harmonica, old-time banjo, piano, spoons, and bones. They will present an afternoon seminar from 2-4 p.m. using performance, video, and PowerPoint to discuss the roots of their music, their mentors, and the ways they have branched out from their early days as artists and a free, evening concert from 7-9 p.m.
Sparky got his start in folk music during the civil rights movement, marching shoulder-to-shoulder with SNCC Freedom Singers Matthew and Marshall Jones and playing freedom songs at rallies alongside such luminaries as Guy Carawan and Pete Seeger. He learned to play blues guitar under the tutelage of Reverend Pearly Brown, Buddy Moss, Johnny Shines (who traveled with blues legend Robert Johnson), Babe Stovall, and many others. Over the years, Sparky added storytelling to his performances, which is now a hallmark of their presentations. He performed many times at the original Ramblin' Conrad's, and together, Sparky and Rhonda have performed at numerous concerts and festivals in the Tidewater area. By contrast, Rhonda was a physician before she became a performer. Growing up in Kentucky, she was influenced by native performers like Jean Ritchie and Lily May Ledford. In addition to being a musician and storyteller, Rhonda is also an author. Her historical novel, Swing Low, Sweet Harriet, was a finalist for the Crystal Kite Award.