Whole World Music & Stories Hawk Hurst at Jones House Friday By Jeff Eason Some storytellers tell tales that go back for generations. Some of Hawk Hurst’s stories are centuries old. Hurst will present songs and stories with a decidedly world history feel to them at the weekly Concert on the Lawn at the Jones House Community Center on Friday, June 11, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public. Music lovers are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs to the Jones House in downtown Boone for this outdoor show. High Country storyteller and musician Hawk Hurst will present songs from his forthcoming CD this Friday at the Jones House’s Concerts on the Lawn series. The Concerts on the Lawn show by Hawk Hurst is just one of many High Country appearances that the musician and storyteller will be making this summer. He will also appear at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock every Thursday at the recreation center from 8 to 9 p.m. A magician will open the show each Thursday at 7 p.m. On Saturday, June 12, he will take part in the big Yarnspinners Festival at Hickory Ridge Homestead in Boone. On Monday, June 14, Hawk will tell stories for kids of all ages at the Watauga County Library in Boone from 4 to 5 p.m. He will return to the library on Thursday, June 17, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for a gourd workshop. Folks will learn how to carve gourds and decorate them with story pictographs. Call Judith at (828) 264-8784 to register for this workshop. Hurst will lead a one-day workshop at the Carlton Gallery in Foscoe on Saturday, June 26, from 1 to 5 p.m. The workshop is called Native American Flute Making and Playing and will provide each student with a chance to create an authentic Native American river cane flute. Early French trappers called these instruments flagelots and they are satisfying to make and easy to learn to play. Hurst has studied with the some of the finest Native American flute makers in the country. Participants are asked to bring their own pocketknife if they own on. All other materials are included. $65 per student. Call (828) 963-4288 to register. In July, Hurst will participate in a musical workshop at Everything Magical in Foscoe on Saturday, July 10, from 5 to 6 p.m. (ph. 963-4309), meet with the public at a book signing at the Todd General Store on Saturday, July 17, from 2 to 5 p.m., and participate in the Toe River Festival in Spruce Pine. Hurst will conduct his Earth Summer Youth Camp July 18-27 in Todd at the Silver Water Retreat. The camp is open to kids ages 7-12. Hurst will also introduce his new flute-walking stick at the Appalachian Cultural Museum in Boone this summer and will appear on WXIT Radio’s “Meet the Author” program. Hurst and his wife spent the better part of the last year in Charleston, South Carolina. While there, Hurst had the opportunity to study the musical differences of his two Carolinas homes. The dual musical inspiration of the mountains and the coast led to a trip to the recording studio for his latest album. “It’s an interpretation of my life in the mountains and the coast,” said Hurst. “The tentative title is Drifting Away and should be ready for release by July.” Hurst described the album as an instrumental work with a definite “whole world music” feel to it. For Friday’s concert on the lawn, Hurst plans to play music from the new album and tell stories. Sponsors for the Concerts on the Lawn series for 2004 include the Watauga County Arts Council, the Mast General Store and Earth Fare. For more information on this Friday’s concert featuring Hawk Hurst, call the Jones House Community Center at (828) 264-1789.