Taking a leap: An evening of stories with Connie Regan-Blake

Celebrated storyteller Connie Regan-Blake brings her engaging humor and Southern charm to an evening of storytelling at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts on Friday July 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door and can be purchased online at BlackMountainArts.org or by calling 669-0930. The Black Mountain Center for the Arts is at 225 WW. State St.

Credited with helping to ignite and shape the American storytelling revival, Regan-Blake is a founding member of the National Storytelling Association and continues to be a frequent host and featured performer at the annual National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. She has entertained audiences in 47 states, 17 countries and six continents. She has won numerous awards including the ORACLE Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Distinguished National Service Award, the B.B. Maurer West Virginia Folklife Scholar Award and Storyteller of the Year by the North Carolina Storytelling Guild, among others.

Regan-Blake weaves tales of masterful humor and poignant drama with her Irish heritage and Southern roots, taking listeners on a journey through traditional mountain tales, original narratives and heroic adventures. Her career began at the Chattanooga Public Library where her cousin Barbara Freeman got her a job. Soon after, in 1975, the two hit the road as The Folktellers, touring the country in a yellow pickup truck and thrilling audiences with their performances.

Their two-woman play "Mountain Sweet Talk" holds the record as Asheville’s longest-running play. Regan-Blake collaborated and toured with the chamber music group The Kandinsky Trio sharing "Tales of Appalachia: Stories and Chamber Music." For more than a decade she has been an active community partner with Bead for Life, a nonprofit that empowers Ugandan women.

For this solo show, Regan-Blake brings her four decades of experience as a professional storyteller to charm local audiences.