The Associated Press calls her music “a new kind of old-time music for the 21st century,” and the Philadelphia Inquirer says she has “a striking new voice.” Nashville Scene says, “her approach to making music is ripe with lessons borrowed from a long-forgotten way of life …”

The Evergreen Arts & Humanities Series of Washington State Community College is pleased to announce Adrienne Young and Little Sadie as the opening event for the 2006/2007 season. Fusing past and present in her pop-inflected old-time music, the concert will showcase her newest album, The Art of Virtue. The concert will be

October 21 at 8 p.m.
in the Harvey Graham Auditorium on campus.

Tickets for opening night will be available at Sugden Bookstore, Brighter Day, at the door or by calling 740.374.8716 x 2107. A series contribution of $10 is suggested.

To Adrienne Young, its everyday choices – not grand gestures – that add up to a virtuous life, and she’s crafted her sophomore album, on her own Addiebelle Records, around that concept. The theme came to Young as she pondered the outcome of the last presidential campaign and how “moral virtues” were leveraged during the election.

“There seems to be a growing passion – collectively and individually – to understand the foundation of our American culture and how we’ve turned from that,” states Young. “Personally it steered me back toward a time when our country was rooted in agrarian ideals and words were powerful enough to begin a new world. Ben Franklin had such a practical approach toward nurturing virtue, the first point being nobody’s perfect.”

Art of Virtue – most of which she wrote or co-wrote – was produced by Young with able assistance from long-time collaborator Will Kimbrough and acoustic recoding genius Gary Paczosa. Besides Young’s accomplished songwriting, the 15 tracks include old-time fiddle tunes re-imagined for a new day, the gospel standard “Farther Along,” and the Grateful Dead’s classic anthem of renewal “Brokedown Palace.” The message is consistent: every choice we make, from the food we buy to the channels we watch to the history we do or don’t preserve, has consequences. Our standards can be higher, she says, despite the many forces that seem to corrode them. Few songwriters can negotiate this terrain with ease and assurance, but Young is one who can.

It’s a big concept, but Young says it starts with “tending your own garden,” which she takes literally. Young endorses and promotes the FoodRoutes Network, an organization which helps people find fresh food from local farmers in their area. On the CD, she urges listeners to “vote with your dollar for food democracy … eating is a political, agricultural and moral act.”

The land is in Young’s blood. As a seventh generation Floridian, her ancestors helped establish agriculture in the state, the nation’s second largest producer of fresh vegetables. Family land had been developed by the time she grew up.

“I was shaped precisely because I didn’t grow up on a farm,” Young said. “I grew up in a house my grandfather built, on land that had been a farm two generations ago but now was partly a four-lane highway.”

“I really felt as a young person a large part of my soul was unfulfilled because I didn’t have that connection with nature that was so bred into me.”

Between tour dates, Young enjoys organically grown vegetables, herbs and flowers from raised beds in her own backyard. “People think growing your own food is some enormous challenge. If you devoted a total of 24 hours to tilling, planting and creating a garden you could feed your family through the season,” Young said. “It’s those small efforts that make the difference.”

With The Art of Virtue, it’s a message Young now applies to the cultivation of the self.“This time, it’s about inner seeds – personal seeds,” she said.

As part of the Series season opener, an exhibit of the artistic excellence of Beth Nash will open in the Arts & Sciences Center. Nash’s work will be on display from October 21 through November 10.

Beginning with abstraction of form, Nash relies on the pleasure of the action of painting only and then attempts to create spatial relationships.

“I have always been fascinated with people and the human figure and how it occupies space both in the real world and the 2-dimensional surface on which I create,” said Nash.

Nash’s art shows an interest in the construction of form and often maintains the underlying shapes and lines of construction for the final product.

“I use the underlying forms to fragment the planes of my figures in color and shape. I often go into my studio and just begin painting without judgment as to the expected outcome,” she said.

Accepting what emerges from within; Nash attempts to work with from both the mental and the picture plane, relying on the pleasure of the action of painting only.

“I find that prejudgment of intended outcome does not help, but rather hinders my creativity. Images emerge that I had previously thought unacceptable to me.”

Nash’s work will be on display during the Adrienne Young and Little Sadie concert, which also opens the Series program year on October 21 at 8 p.m. A series contribution of $10 is requested. Tickets are available at Sugden Bookstore, Brighter Day, at the door, or by calling 740.374.8716 x 2107.

By Jeri Knowlton

It’s one thing to develop a wealth of knowledge about the inner workings of early childhood; it’s another thing to expand your knowledge to include other cultures very different from your own. When the opportunity to travel to Ghana, West Africa, arose for Tami Tuten, assistant professor in the early childhood development program, there was little trepidation about traveling to the third world country.

Working on her doctorate at Ohio State University, the opportunity presented itself to Tuten by Dr. Cynthia Dillard – an opportunity to observe preschools that have been started by the Queen Mother (Dillard), as the Ghana people refer to her.

“It was an opportunity to visit children, their culture, and look at what children are like in another culture,” said Tuten.
Ghana consists of 10 regions, four of which Tuten was able to visit in her two week visit. “It was amazing to see the difference between being in a resort hotel and then walking down the beach and seeing such dire poverty,” tells Tuten.

As you walk through the villages, people are selling their wares, everything from tie dying, kente cloth – an elaborate type of weaving – wood-carved masks, to printing and bead making. Tuten returned with a variety of musical instruments to share with her students.

As she experienced the Ghana children way of life, the poverty, and the living quarters, she was observed many things.“They have hardly any possessions and whole families live in one room, but they seem to be very happy. The children improvise for things they don’t have, like a soccer ball, or a little girl who tied a rope between two chairs so she could jump over it.”

Whether it was the 4- and 5-year-olds carrying babies on their backs while their parents worked, or kids running about chasing goats, laughter and smiles were abundant.
“I was amazed by the unity among the people and their appreciation for family. I was most surprised at how friendly, happy and proud they seem to be of their crafts, of their family and their homes, which were nothing more than mud shacks. They simply seem to appreciate what they have and their attitude about life is contagious.”

Tuten adds, “Simple is a gift. Not to romanticize the poverty, but they live one day at a time and hope to do better the next.”

And that is what Tuten learned about herself: Appreciate each day no matter what it brings as you strive to do better. Simplicity is a gift.

It appeared to Tuten that the kids were more engaged in their play than American children. They enjoy simple kinds of play. And while play is sort of universal, simple types of play may be harder to find in American culture.

“Kids in our culture could benefit from not being rushed and having more time to investigate the outdoors and in things they can actually engage in.” Ghana children have a real connection with their immediate world because they pay attention to the details of their environment. While Tuten believes there is a great deal of diversity within Appalachian culture, this multicultural, diverse experience will enhance her ability to instruct her adult students.