On Thursday, July 11 at 6:30pm New Hampshire storyteller Andy Davis will be performing outdoors at the historic Spring Farms in Guilford at 49 Carpenter Hill Road in Guilford. He will be joined by several local storytellers including Prudence Baird, Lissa Weinmann, and Mary Collins. Suggested donation is $15 but no one is turned away for lack of funds.

The venue will open at 6:00 for gathering and picnickers. There is plenty of parking in Guilford Center and accessible parking for people who need to be closer to the venue at the Farm.

If the name "Andy Davis" rings a bell, this storyteller is not the beloved Brattleboro-area legend, the local musician, storyteller, dance caller and retired music teacher. That Andy Davis is out of town, so the name niche needed filling. Both Andy Davises have the idea that they ought to perform together sometime but, alas, this will not be the time. Watch for a future Andy Davis & Andy Davis music and storytelling extravaganza.

The event is part of the storyteller's week-long tour by bicycle. Davis will leave his home in Tamworth, New Hampshire, in the southeast corner of the White Mountains, and pedal to a series of house parties and other events in Keene (July 10), Guilford, Marlow, NH (July 12), Perkinsville, VT, and, finally, Sanbornton, NH (July 14), before pedaling home.

Is this some kind of a gimmick? "No, it just feels natural to combine two of the things I love the most, riding my bike and telling stories," said Davis. "But there is a certain satisfaction in being able to say, 'there were no carbon emissions emitted in bringing you these tales.'"

Storyteller Andy Davis lived in Keene throughout the 1980s, and went to Guatemala to do human rights work during the 1990s. It was during his years in Guatemala that he got his start as a storyteller, telling comic tales by candlelight in refugee camps. He has since broadened and refined his craft and has entertained audiences as far north as County Down as far east as Paris, as far south as Bamako, and as far west as San Diego. Find out more about his work at http://www.andydavisstoryteller.com.

At the Springs Farm, following an opening set by local storytellers, Davis will perform a multi-layered story casserole called "The Sweater," which blends personal narrative, New England and North American history, and Scottish folklore, along with the human (and canine) search for meaning and belonging, 19th century farm life, sled dogs, the Yukon gold rush, apple tree pruning in Vermont, prodigious snows, frigid temperatures, and an international love story that revolves around…a sweater.

Jo Radner, former president of both the National Storytelling Network and the American Folklore Society said about "The Sweater," "Only Andy Davis could weave a story of such complexity and such sparkling novelty, wrapped in love, smelling like old sheep, and, finally, full of mystery. A delightful journey!"

For more information, call Mary Wallace Collins at (617)293-8002, or email marywallace83@gmail.com.

Event Info

Nov 13, 2024, 5 to 6:30 PM

Nov 16, 2024, 10:30 to 11:30 AM

Nov 17, 2024, 4 PM