November PVFS Event will Feature Story Teller Andy Davis

Source: Pioneer Valley Folklore Society

Pioneer Valley Folklore Society’s November Song & Story Swap will feature story teller Andy Davis from Tamworth New Hampshire on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at  First Church, 165 Main Street. Free parking is available in the lot behind the church.

The Song & Story Swap is open to members of the public of all ages. Admission is free, with a suggested minimum donation to the artist of $10.00. At song and story swaps, people of all experience levels gather to share stories and songs that are traditional, newly written, or drawn from personal experience. You can tell, sing, or lead everyone in singing, or request a song or story. Attendees will be invited to contribute a song or story on the topic of “finding your way” during an opening round of sharing. Listeners are welcome.

About the Artist
Andy Davis began telling comic tales by candlelight in refugee camps while doing human rights work in Guatemala in the 1990s. He later spent 22 years co-directing the World Fellowship Center, a family camp and retreat center devoted to peace and social justice. His stories blend multicultural folklore, magical realism, grassroots history, and personal experience, from shaggy-dog tall tales and New England mountain and woods lore to poignant family stories and portraits of political courage.

Davis has performed as far north as County Down, as far east as Paris, as far south as Bamako, Mali, and as far west as San Diego. He is also known for bringing stories to audiences by bicycle. One summer he pedaled about 900 miles over two tours to give 20 performances between Lake Champlain and Provincetown, with no carbon emissions. Jo Radner, former president of the National Storytelling Network and the American Folklore Society, said of his story “The Sweater,” “Only Andy Davis could weave a story of such complexity and such sparkling novelty.”

Storyteller Michael Parent calls Davis “a storyteller with brains and heart,” and Bob Reiser has named him “the best darned tall-tale teller in New England!”

Learn more about Andy Davis at https://andydavisstoryteller.com.

Now in its 31st year, the monthly Song and Story Swap is sponsored by the Pioneer Valley Folklore Society of Western Massachusetts. Visit the Folklore Society website at https://pvfs.us. For information, contact Paul Kaplan at (413) 687-5002.