Singers, songwriters, and storytellers will converge on Sparta, NC, May 13 & 14, as SkyLine/SkyBest presents the first Backwoods Beat Music Festival in Sparta’s Crouse Park.

Tim & Myles Thompson, a Nashville father/son duo perform Friday, May 13, 7pm, and will teach a songwriting workshop Saturday, May 14. Kate Campbell, a popular performer with Sparta audiences, returns to teach songwriting with Tim & Myles on Saturday, and performs Saturday evening at 7pm. Galax native, Dori Freeman, opens the Saturday evening performance at 6:30pm.

The festival events will open Friday and Saturday evenings at 6pm. Admission Friday is $5/person. Admission Saturday is $10/person. If you bring your ticket from Friday night, Saturday’s admission will be half-off. Kids 12 and under are free.

A variety of food vendors will be on-site before the performances begin. Craft beer and wine will be available from Round Peak Winery and Skull Camp Brewery. Crouse Park is located at Grayson & Whitehead St., Sparta. Free parking is available in surrounding lots.

“We want to bring all types of music lovers to Sparta,” says Festival Chairman, Barbara Halsey. “The Festival will encourage a sense of community while it offers Workshop participants the chance to learn songwriting skills from experienced artists.”

The Saturday songwriting workshop is free to the first 60 registrants, with a $10 registration fee covering lunch and a tee shirt. The morning session begins at 9am. After a lunch break, the afternoon session goes until 3pm. Students will have the benefit of a session with Tim & Myles, and a session with Kate. Private sessions with the instructors are available after the workshop for $30/half-hour, $60/hour. Call the Alleghany Chamber,  336-372-5473 for details.  Registration closes May 9.

To register for the songwriting workshop, visit the Backwoods Beat Facebook event page, the Alleghany Chamber website, http://www.VisitAlleghanyNC.com, or pick up a form at the Chamber office, 58 S. Main St., Sparta. Funding for the workshop was made available through the Arts Guild of Alleghany and the North Carolina Arts Council.

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Tim and Myles Thompson are a father-son duo who will be teaching songwriting workshops during the Backwoods Beat Music Festival, and headlining on the Crouse Park Stage Friday evening at 7pm.

Tim is a Nashville based session player, singer/songwriter and the 2008 International Fingerstyle Champion. He has recorded 11 CDs and two DVDs. He has been featured in three magazines and has taught several songwriting and guitar workshops, much like the one planned for the Backwoods Beat Festival.

Music has always filled the Thompson home; unknowingly it inspired Myles to pick up the violin at the tender age of five! By the age of twelve he was studying music theory and improvising with skill beyond his years – it was clear that music would be his life. Today at the ripe old age of twenty-one Myles is also a prolific singer/songwriter and mandolin player.

No one music genre totally encompasses the Thompson’s repertoire. Is it acoustic rock, pop, country, Celtic, jazz, funk? The simple answer is yes to all of the above. To experience a Thompson performance is to remember the experience.   http://timandmylesthompson.com/

Kate Campbell is a singer-songwriter whose past performances have developed a strong Sparta fan base. On Saturday Kate will be teaching workshops during the day and will perform on Saturday evening at 7pm on the Crouse Park Stage.

Campbell has a musical career spanning over 20 years. She has always resisted the temptation to follow musical trends, and instead has decided to set her own pace for her unique musical journey. Campbell is originally from the Mississippi Delta and is the daughter of a Baptist preacher. Her formative years were spent in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, and the experiences she gained from that difficult period of time shaped her life as well as her songwriting. Campbell’s music, which effortlessly combines Southern rock, rhythm and blues, and soul, is filled with cultural themes from her upbringing. Her music continues to inspire and excite a growing fan base. http://www.katecampbell.com/

Dori Freeman is a 24-year-old singer and songwriter from Galax, Va. who will open for Kate Campbell  at 6:30pm on Saturday evening.

Freeman comes from a family rooted in art and tradition. Her grandfather, Willard Gayheart, is an artist and guitar player, and her father, Scott Freeman, is a multi-instrumentalist and music instructor. While her style subscribes to no one genre, the influence of her Appalachian upbringing lies at the core of her music — heard especially in the lulling mountain drawl of her voice. She sings without affect and with striking clarity, delivering each song carefully and earnestly. Her recently released CD was named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top 35 most anticipated country CDs of 2016.

Freeman’s style was shaped by American Roots music:  Bluegrass, Rhythm and Blues, and Old Country. Her early introduction to musicians like Doc Watson, The Louvin Brothers, and Peggy Lee have heavily influenced her modern yet timeless sound. Dori learned how to play the guitar at fifteen and began writing her own material a few years later, citing Rufus Wainwright and his haunting melodies and achingly honest lyrics as the spark that inspired her to pen her first song. Her songs often center on heartache and pining; unrequited and sometimes unconventional love are common muses for her melodies and lyrics.  http://www.dorifreeman.com/

This post was based on a press release by Jennifer Swenk.