Tellabration! Features Michael Reno Harrell

Asheville Storytelling Circle (ASC) joins the global Tellabration! festivities for the 24th year on Sunday, November 24, at 3 p.m. at the Folk Art Center. The perennially sold-out event features premiere American storyteller/songwriter and NC native Michael Reno Harrell and also includes performances by ASC tellers Gwenda LedBetter, Zane Chait and ASC president Donna Marie Todd. Emcee will be Sherry Lovett. Pre-show music will be provided by the young fiddling sensation Lillian Chase.

“Michael is an American legend who combines song and story in ways no one else has before,” says Todd.

A songwriter and performer for nearly 50 years, Harrell eventually became a storyteller at the suggestion of his long-time friend David Holt. “I told him I didn’t know anything about telling stories,” says Harrell. “He responded, ‘Your introductions are longer than your songs. I’d say you’re already a storyteller.’”

Harrell has toured throughout the British Isles and much of Europe, as well as most of the U.S. He has served as featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival and teller-in-residence at the International Storytelling Center, and has performed at major music events including MerleFest and the Walnut Valley Festival in Kansas. His recordings continue to garner awards in country, Americana and folk circles.

“To me, a good storyteller has the ability to connect with an audience on a one-to-one level,” says Harrell. “I like to think that each member of the audience feels like I am speaking directly to them.”

ASC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to excellence in the oral tradition by affirming various cultures through storytelling and nourishing the development of emerging and established artists. The group will kick off a year-long celebration of its silver anniversary in January 2020.