The Ebbs Chapel Community Center provides a venue for the performing arts, conferences, festivals, weddings, and similar activities, and hosts services for the people of the Upper Laurel community and those beyond, in and on the grounds of the historic Ebbs Chapel School. The Center is managed by the Upper Laurel Community Organization, Inc., a registered non-profit North Carolina corporation with voluntary leadership, dedicated only to the renovation, maintenance and operation of the Center. Activities of the Center are supported and funded by facility rental proceeds, contributions from the community and with the cooperation and support of Madison County, North Carolina.
One of the major achievements in the conversion of the historic Ebbs Chapel School to a Community Center was the restoration of the school’s auditorium to a climate controlled 250-seat theater: the Ebbs Chapel Performing Arts Center. The Center has been the site of frequent performances by accomplished amateur and professional musicians celebrating traditional mountain music, as well as gospel and classical genres. The Center is a member of the Blue Ridge Music Trails and a venue for an annual concert series sponsored by the Madison County Arts Council.
2024 Concerts:
- Tuesday, July 9 – 7: 00 PM
A History of Appalachian Music. at the Ebbs Chapel Performing Arts Center Auditorium.
Presented by William Ritter, Appalachian Musician and Song Keeper
This program looks back even before Wolf Laurel to when these mountains rang with the sounds of ancient music. Passed down through voices in the fields, in the kitchens, on the porch, with and without fiddle, guitar, or banjo, the Southern Appalachians were the home to a musical tradition that stretched back across the ocean to Ireland and Scotland and even old England. Our program focuses on that music.William Ritter was born and raised in these mountains. He plays the fiddle and guitar and sings the true traditional music of the Southern Appalachians. He describes himself as a “song keeper” in the spirit of the “song catcher” tradition. During his time as a student at Appalachian State University, William also made the connection between old-time traditional music and heirloom seed saving, both of which are having a renaissance. “Keepers of both traditions,” he notes, “carry stories and memories,” their oral traditions. Today William raises heirloom plants on his farm in Mitchell County and performs throughout the Southern Appalachians. He will perform and share the stories of many of those traditional songs and tunes to help us celebrate the history of our region captured in its trademark music.
This event is FREE and open to the public.
This program is co-sponsored with the Ebbs Chapel Community Center.
Ebbs Chapel Performing Arts Center Auditorium is at 281 Laurel Valley Rd, Mars Hill.
