CCU's OLLI offers free 'Unpainted South' concert
The event is a collaboration between Mindy Burgin (vocals, guitar, cello), Rutledge Leland (vocals, mandolin, guitar, banjo) and author William P. Baldwin, whose poetry provides the framework for musical composition. A lyrical nod to changing times, this thoughtful collection of songs is woven from soothing organic vocals and gentle acoustic instrumentals.
The concert is sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). The center is located at 160 Willbrook Blvd. in Litchfield.
Burgin is a Tennessee native who has lived in Georgetown for the past 10 years. She graduated from the University of Tennessee with a master’s degree in music and serves as church musician at St. James Episcopal Church in McClellanville. Along with teaching piano and cello privately, she is also a cellist with the Tre Amici trio, a collaboration with Elsie Pollock and Patti Edwards, and a member of the Florence Symphony Orchestra.
Leland grew up in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. He studied music at Brevard College where he developed a love for Appalachian music and its traditions. He worked at Celestial Mountain Music as a teacher where he furthered his knowledge of old-time and bluegrass music and became proficient in many acoustic string instruments. He has played in many local string bands at square dance and bluegrass festivals. He also played backup for Western North Carolina songwriters including Suzanne Schmitt (The Moon Shine Babies), Galen Kipar and Lyndsay Wojcik.
A lifelong resident of the Carolina Lowcountry, Baldwin is an award-winning novelist, poet, biographer and historian. He graduated from Clemson with a bachelor's degree in history and master's degree in English.
Baldwin's books include "Plantations of the Low Country" and "Lowcountry Plantations Today," both with architectural photographer N. Jane Iseley, in addition to the oral histories "Mrs. Whaley and her Charleston Garden" and "Heaven Is a Beautiful Place" with Genevieve Peterkin. Most recently Baldwin collaborated with photographer V. Elizabeth Turk on "Mantelpieces of the Old South" and supplied the text for Chef Charlotte Jenkins’ "Gullah Cuisine: By Land and by Sea." His poetic text for Selden Hill’s photography book, The Unpainted South, was the basis for many of the song lyrics.
Selden B. Hill is a photographer, pen and ink artist, historian, and the founding director of The Village Museum at McClellanville. In earlier years, he worked as a typesetter and layout artist, played a lot of pool and sold a lot of furniture, and in the opinion of his friends, each occupation, in its own way, has helped to make him a better photographer. As museum director, he’s offered encouragement and employment to both photographers and writers and curated many photography shows.
Along with Susan Hoffer McMillan, he is the author of the photography collection “McClellanville and the St. James Santee Parish” published in 2006 and most recently, "The Unpainted South." He still spends his free time exploring the less traveled paths of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Nothing gives him greater pleasure than stumbling upon the perfect photographic subject: a derelict tobacco barn framed by live oaks, with white puffy clouds overhead and dark streaming shadows in the foreground.
Refreshments will be served at the event. CDs and books will be available for purchase and signing. Call 843-349-6584 for more information.