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Brown Bag to feature Birdsong

Local ballad singer Jane Birdsong will take the stage at the Randolph County Community Art Center’s Brown Bag Lunch Concert on Wednesday at noon. This free monthly event is sponsored by the Davis Trust Company.

Jane Birdsong started singing folksongs and ballads by the age of 7, as her older brother brought home recordings of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and other folk music revivalists in the late 50’s & early 60’s.

Birdsong recalls her first live folk concert around age 9 when Odetta performed at Wabash College, and from that point on, she was determined to sing with that type of spirit to make a song come alive.

In the early-mid 70’s, Birdsong performed as autoharpist and vocalist with the Riverfront Ramblers around Louisville, Kentucky and southern Indiana. Moving to West Virginia in 1982, she was eventually lured to Elkins by the Augusta Heritage Festival, enjoying the many types of music offered there.

In 1989, she and several other Elkins women started singing together at “cabin fever” gatherings and this group eventually became the Elktones. The Elktones performed regionally from 1990-2004, releasing one CD in 2001, “Got What it Takes,” which is still available at Mainline Books. Birdsong currently plays a mixed bag of her favorite ballads, old and new, accompanying herself on guitar, dulcimer and autoharp.

The Randolph County Community Arts Center, a non-profit organization promoting and supporting the arts in Randolph County and surrounding areas, is located at the corner of Randolph Avenue and Park Street in Elkins. The RCCAC is supported by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.

RCCAC is committed to providing accessibility to individuals with disabilities. If you are in need of an accommodation, please contact our office in advance. Call the RCCAC office at 637-2355 or log onto www.randolpharts.org for more information.

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