Folk music legend Jean Ritchie will visit Penn State University Park the week of Sept. 6, to help launch "Singing the Moon Up." The show runs Sept. 6 to 24 in the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center. "Singing the Moon Up" is a collaboration of Ritchie's storytelling music from the Appalachian folk tradition, and will be performed by Susie Glaze, featuring Ritchie's sons Peter and Jon Pickow, as well as fiddler Kenny Kosek. Singing the Moon Up" previews Sept. 6 and runs thru Sept. 24 in the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center. Tickets are available calling (814) 863-0255 or (800) ARTS-TIX. For more information, visit http://www.pacentrestage.psu.edu online.
A native Tennessean, actress, singer and recording artist, Glaze grew up in the shadow of the Grand Ole Opry, learning the craft of country and bluegrass from a short distance by regular immersion of Flatt & Scruggs and Dolly Parton, among others. When just 16 she accompanied her brother Rick to Nashville's writers' nights showcases, performing his original folk and country music. New York audiences saw her Broadway debut as the young Southern matriarch Mary Jane Wilkes in the original Broadway company of Roger Miller's musical play "Big River." During her two years with that company, Glaze began researching the works of the pioneering artists who developed country, folk and bluegrass music from the early years and was led inevitably to the work of Jean Ritchie. After relocating to Southern California and joining the bluegrass group The Eight Hand String Band, Glaze recorded her first Jean Ritchie song "Poor Pilgrim of Sorrow" for their 2000 release "The Simple Truth" and was the winner of the Los Angeles 1999 Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Folk Festival for Traditional Singing. In 2002, Glaze's debut solo CD "Home On the Hill" reaped praise from Sing Out! and Bluegrass Unlimited magazines. In 2003 Glaze appeared alongside Ritchie at the Conner Prairie Living History Museum's White River Folk Festival, and in 2004 Glaze premiered her new concert piece "The Appalachian Songs of Jean Ritchie" at Southern California music festivals. Glaze's second solo CD "Blue Eyed Darlin'" was released in July 2005.
Ritchie is a commercial performer, author, recording artist, composer and folk music collector. Her legacy of old English balladry, sacred hymn-based music from her Appalachian upbringing, and her classic originals about the life and musical family of the Cumberland mountains of Kentucky have set her as a permanent musical icon in the history of American folk music. Ritchie came from a family of original American "song catchers" of 20th century America and has recorded much of her work for Smithsonian Folkways. Visit http://www.jeanritchie.com for her complete discography, videos and recordings.