Music, prose comprise Woodland-Sparks show

Release Date: 5/14/2002. Expired: 6/1/2002

The Renaissance Center’s own Glenn “Wailin’ Wood” Woodland has a lot to blow his own horn - uh - harmonica about. Not only is he the opening act for The Nashville Bluegrass Band when it takes the Performance Hall stage at The Renaissance Center Saturday night, May 18, but he’s combining his musical bent with the hilariously funny country prose and poetry of comedienne, storyteller and DualTone recording artist Minton Sparks at the center Saturday, June 1.

To say Woodland is a virtuoso and innovator in his craft is an understatement. Winning more awards than he can count, including two trips to the top in the national championships, Woodland joined The Renaissance Center staff earlier this year as an adjunct harmonica instructor after 25 years blowing the blues, bluegrass, country and just about any other genre one can count. He picked up his first harp in high school and the rest, as they say, is history.

“I was in the hospital in traction and a friend brought me my first harmonica,” Woodland said. “It was the thing to do and I had a lot of time to fill. We used to take half-hour bus rides to and from school and play in the back of the bus. I haven’t put it down since.”

“He is a wonderful addition to The Renaissance Center staff,” said Elaine Sherrill, senior director of Music at the center. “His talent seems to know no bounds and neither does his amiable personality. He sat in with the band during our Wintertime Blues dinner theatre performances and stole the show, of course. Students are coming from as far away as Lewisburg just to take lessons from him.”

Traveling from festival to festival, and competitions all across the nation, Woodland captures wins in virtually every event he enters. He’s held state championship titles in Tennessee, Indiana and Georgia, as well as his two national championships.

Although he began making his living as a harmonica player in his home state of New Jersey, he said, if you want to be the best, you’ve got to go where you can learn from the best. So he moved to Tennessee in 1982 and has even played with the Knoxville Symphony in a 4-hour documentary on Appalachian music.

“I was making a living back home playing in the clubs and that kind of thing and I just wanted to go a little bit further,” he said. “The only way to get better is to be around the people that are better than you, so I came here.”

Currently a Dickson County resident, Woodland has recorded several CDs, including The Collection, which features Jessie’s Jig, a song he wrote specially for his daughter, and Wayfaring Stranger.

Sparks has been called an innovative, grassroots raconteur and a down-home performance poet. Telling stories of neighbors, family and friends from times past, she paints pictures that put listeners along backyard fences of the rural South. She talks of Miss Lena, Cousin Velma, Aunt Lorene, Gertie and the guest preacher at a prayer meeting, among others.

“These characters call to me across back fences of time and remind me where I came from,” said the Nashville artist and mother of two.

Music Row Magazine calls Sparks’ performance a “poetic feast” and her poetry a “serious jewel of Southern literature.”

Steve Hall, senior director of Multimedia at The Renaissance Center, said the program will be video taped and could later be made available to fans of both artists.

“Anyone who likes down-home humor is going to appreciate Minton Sparks,” Hall said. “She was nominated for a Grammy and it’s easy to see why. She is extremely unique and she brings true Southern humor to The Renaissance Center stage.

“Many people in the community have met Glenn or seen him perform. He is hilarious, not to mention what he can do with a harmonica. This should be a fun show for everybody.”

The Woodland-Sparks concert is 7 p.m. Saturday, June 1, in Performance Hall at The Renaissance Center. Tickets are $10 adults, $8 seniors and $5 children under 13.

For more information or to purchase tickets call The Renaissance Center at (615)740-5600.

The Renaissance Center is located at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 minutes west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.

Visit the Events - Concerts and Recitals page for more about musical performances.

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