Connie in the News

Stepping Back in Time Storytelling with Connie Regan-Blake and Barbara Freeman Homegrown Concerts from the Library of Congress, Co-sponsored by the American Folklife Center In the 1970s, cousins Connie Regan-Blake and Barbara Freeman were both working at the...

Festival: Event closes with good memories, solid numbers Another successful Storytelling Festival closed this week, complete with blue skies and stunning sunsets. By ALLEN RAU Staff Writer arau@heraldandtribune.com This year’s edition of the National Storytelling...

Connie Regan-Blake steps back in time at Black Mountain Center for Arts Special to Scene USA TODAY NETWORK The Black Mountain Center for the Arts will present Connie Regan-Blake in a solo performance titled "Stepping Back in Time" at 7:30 p.m. June 29 at the center,...

The more than 45 year career of Western North Carolina performance story-teller Connie Regan-Blake will be documented and stored at the Library of Congress. David Hurand spoke with Connie Regan-Blake about her most recent honor.

Celebrated storyteller Connie Regan-Blake brings her engaging humor and Southern charm to an evening of storytelling…

Storytellers Dottie Jean Kirk and Connie Regan-Blake will be serving up delicious Southern stories “Made From Scratch”…

When she realized some of the rare finds she had in her collected materials from over the years…

You can’t help but lean in when Connie Regan-Blake says “I’d like to tell you a mountain story.” Her voice starts to rise and fall, her hands weave through empty air…

The art of storytelling has been alive for thousands of years, shaped and perfected over time and passed down through generations…

Originally Regan-Blake told mostly traditional folk stories. But in the last 10 to 15 years, she’s built stories based upon personal experiences…

I was delighted with Connie’s engagement into the realm of symbolism, archetype, and myth; and her rich and detailed narration of her GIM adventures left us both breathless and wanting to know more of her unfolding journey…

Connie Regan-Blake first discovered storytelling as an art form in 1971 at the age of 24. “I ended up falling in love with story-telling,” Regan-Blake says. “Within two weeks I knew I would tell stories for the rest of my life. I never thought I would make a living at it, but I fell right into it…

Like Jack, I went on an adventure this summer. I signed up to spend seven days of retreat with Connie Regan-Blake…

For Connie’s work in popularizing the art of storytelling nationwide, the National Storytelling Network has presented the Asheville resident with the Lifetime Achievement Award…

Sometimes a story will come up to me, tap me on the shoulder, and ask to be told,” says master storyteller Connie Regan-Blake. “The tapping comes after you’ve been telling stories for some time.”…

Connie Regan-Blake helped make storytelling history in 1975 when she hit the back roads of America…

Regan-Blake’s love for and interest in the lives of such local celebrities as the late Ray Hicks and family…

At her upcoming workshop, “ Giving Voice to Our Stories: A Storytelling Workshop” starting Friday in Candler, Regan-Blake will help participants of all skill levels weave a story into personal and professional lives. “One of the focuses for this workshop is how old...

Asheville Storyteller Connie Regan-Blake will share her ancient art form with new technology fans Wednesday…

“I think storytelling is more than words,” Regan-Blake said […}”I think it’s images. And it’s personal, because it’s your image.”…

Connie Regan-Blake performs with Roanoke College’s resident chamber music group the Kandinsky Trio at the Lyric Theatre.

By Connie Regan-Blake
We have been looking up to him from the beginning … the lanky 6’ 7’’ man of the mountains, who came down from North Carolina, bearing old-world gifts…

Combining words and music is as old as music itself — very little independent instrumental music predates the late 16th century. Words inspire composers and help to shape their music. Such a work is The Cantankerous Blacksmith, also known as “Wicked John,” from Tales of Appalachia…

According to Regan-Blake, the blending of notes with words is nothing new. Several storytellers have collaborated with orchestras to perform narrative works, including Jay O’Callahan…

“Storytelling is so personal,” Connie said, “and because of that, it has great power to move people in the same way great music moves them. That’s what draws all people to storytelling – people have always listened to and told stories, so there’s a sense of familiarity…

A hush falls over the crowd as one of the women steps up to a microphone and says, “I’d like to tell you a story…”

The Folktellers are cousins whose families settled in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and Alabama. As a young girl Barbara lived in Nashville, Tennessee, while Connie’s family moved to Florida, but they spent the summers together riding horses, running…

As these two storytellers unfolded tale after tale, the brick walls of suburbia melted away like the walls of the attic where the magic godmother lived in George MacDonald’s beloved The Princess and the Goblins, and for a few moments, the dinner guests were lost in a faraway world . . .