
Connie in the News
News: The Dispatch – Opinion Weintraub
Standing in the shoes of history By DAVID WEINTRAUB Posted Mar 15, 2020 at 3:01 AM When nationally acclaimed local storyteller Connie Regan-Blake sat down with legendary seventh-generation raconteur Ray Hicks for the first time, she was impressed by his...
News: Asheville Citizen Times
It is hard to tell sometimes whether Connie Regan-Blake is a storyteller or a comedian.Her tales provoke so much laughter from audiences that storytelling simply does not fully describe her talent.Yet, that is exactly what she is, and is proud to be. One of the most celebrated storytellers traveling the world today, sharing folktales and true-life stories, Regan-Blake has spent her adult life spinning tales. For many of those years, she traveled with cousin Barbara Freeman who helped her get into the storytelling business.
News: Mountain Xpress
When we’re willing to be in the present moment with others and share our stories, we’re connecting,” says award-winning, Asheville-based storyteller Connie Regan-Blake. “There’s something innate in us that wants to tell and wants to listen, as if it’s in our DNA. It’s part of who we are as humans.”
News: Library of Congress
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...
News: Herald & Tribune Jonesborough, TN
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...
News: Bristol Herald Courier
“…oral traditions of various people and places. This year’s featured tellers also include perennial favorites Donald Davis, Connie Regan-Blake, and Bil Lepp.”
News: Asheville Citizen Times
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,...
News: National Public Radio
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.
News: Asheville Citizen-Times
Celebrated storyteller Connie Regan-Blake brings her engaging humor and Southern charm to an evening of storytelling…
News: Tryon Daily Bulletin
Storytellers Dottie Jean Kirk and Connie Regan-Blake will be serving up delicious Southern stories “Made From Scratch”…
News: Mountain Xpress
When she realized some of the rare finds she had in her collected materials from over the years…
News: USA Today
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…
News: Asheville Citizen-Times
The art of storytelling has been alive for thousands of years, shaped and perfected over time and passed down through generations…
News: Verve Magazine
Originally Regan-Blake told mostly traditional folk stories. But in the last 10 to 15 years, she’s built stories based upon personal experiences…
News: WNC Woman
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…
News: Mountain Traditions
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…
News: Journal of Tar Heel Tellers
Like Jack, I went on an adventure this summer. I signed up to spend seven days of retreat with Connie Regan-Blake…
News: Asheville Citizen-Times
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…
News: Our State
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.”…
News: Johnson City Press
Connie Regan-Blake helped make storytelling history in 1975 when she hit the back roads of America…
News: The Mountain Times
Regan-Blake’s love for and interest in the lives of such local celebrities as the late Ray Hicks and family…
News: Asheville Citizen-Times
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...
News: Asheville Citizen-Times
Asheville Storyteller Connie Regan-Blake will share her ancient art form with new technology fans Wednesday…
News: The Herald
“I think storytelling is more than words,” Regan-Blake said […}”I think it’s images. And it’s personal, because it’s your image.”…
News: The Roanoke Times
Connie Regan-Blake performs with Roanoke College’s resident chamber music group the Kandinsky Trio at the Lyric Theatre.
News: Storytelling Journal
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…
News: The Palm Beach Daily News
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…
News: Storytelling Magazine
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…
News: School Library Journal
“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…
News: Good Housekeeping
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…”
News: Laugh Makers
Once upon a time, nearly 20 years ago, two cousins from the South got in a truck and drove all over the United States telling stories to audiences who had forgotten or never knew the age-old storytellers art of talking to the heart and leaving imprints on the soul…
News: New Age Magazine
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…
News: School Library Journal
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 . . .