The Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in East Asheville will host the stage performance of Tom Godleski’s original play, Fresh Preserves January 13–15.

Fresh Preserves won the 2009 Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre’s Annual Scriptfest Playwright Competition. A wonderful blend of mountain storytelling and songwriting, the play is a true expression of Southern Appalachian culture.

Godleski, a native of Western North Carolina, is well known for his bluegrass band Buncombe Turnpike. As a songwriter, Godleski has been inspired by the area’s history and by his own family’s stories. In 2008, he produced a CD, also titled Fresh Preserves, based on stories that had been handed down to him from his grandfather, mother, and uncle. After the CD, he decided he wanted to write a play honoring those people in his life.

“My Uncle Robert Fowler was my biggest influence as a storyteller,” says Godleski. “He passed away in August of 2008, he was 94 years old. He had dementia at the end of his life, and he couldn’t remember his stories. Then it became more important for me to write this play, to keep the stories alive.”

All the songs from the CD are woven into the production of the play. Actors and musicians share roles, making the play a multimedia experience for the audience. Fresh Preserves also features original paintings by Asheville artist Scott Allred that are brought onstage spotlighting characters and scenes.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for students. For more information, call 828.298.7928 or visit craftguild.org.

The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, just north of the Hwy 70 entrance in East Asheville. The Folk Art Center is home to the Southern Highland Craft Guild, an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.