By: Eric Wolf,
on 3/8/2015
Would you like to be a part of a storytelling conference call that supports you in your use of storytelling? If so, then enter your name and email address and you will receive personal invitations to participate in The Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Conference call – most Tuesdays at 8pm Eastern. Name: Email: Share [...]
By: Eric Wolf,
on 9/17/2011
The Question that we must ask ourselves is if storytelling is so amazing why are more storytelling events not filled with sold out venues? In today’s internet based world - community, human connection and personal narrative are highly valued and desperately needed in the United States. Modern performers who can successfully and repeatedly bring these [...]
By: Eric Wolf,
on 8/25/2011
Reviewer Scott Shoger of Nuvo News awards 5 stars out of 5 for child audiences to the Indy Fringe Show “When Cats Could Fly…” This show by storyteller Brother Wolf will be opening three more times on Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week. Scott Shoger of Nuvo News Writes… “Cats could fly back during Brother [...]
By: Eric Wolf,
on 7/14/2011
photo by: Simon Brooks Yvonne Zinicola ( Rt.) with Lanes President Joanne Piazzi and President- Elect Tony Toledo Written by Carolyn Stearns This is part two of two of my interview of Yvonne Zinicola our Lanes Exec. Director. Now more than a year into her position we look at where we have come from [...]
By: Eric Wolf,
on 7/6/2011
Written for by Carolyn Stearns… Part 1- An Interview With Lanes Exec. Director Yvonne Zinicola as of 3-29-2011 I requested to interview Yvonne for the blog as a way of capturing her first year and reflecting on its impact with Lanes and storytelling in the Northeast. I sent [...]
By: Eric Wolf,
on 5/21/2011
by Stuart H. Nager I found out about World Storytelling Day (http://worldstorytellingday.webs.com/) on February 23, 2011, through a posting on Facebook. The global event, centered around the theme of Water, was to be on or around March 20th. I’ve been working hard as a Teaching Artist, doing my storytelling and other performance gigs here and [...]
By: Eric Wolf,
on 5/8/2011
The bankruptcy of the International Storytelling Center is a sad affair and a concern to all citizens of Jonesborough, who recognize the great cultural and economic contributions that the Center and its programming bring to the town. For storytellers and storytelling proponents around the country and the world, however, it is a tragedy in the [...]
By: Eric Wolf,
on 2/28/2011
Press Play to hear Storyteller Tim Ereneta talks about how he brought Storytelling to the Fringe on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf. Here’s the best thing about a storytelling performance in a Fringe Festival: I don’t have to wait to be discovered. I don’t have to worry about offending my host with my material. [...]
By: Eric Wolf,
on 2/2/2011
The International Storytelling Center has asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to alter or annal their contract with the National Storytelling Network.
This is a very personal moment for me – I am invested in the success of both these organizations. I am an active member of NSN and I believe that the ISC is essential for the success of the American storytelling revival. So who do I side with? I side with both organizations – being that I love them both – I am a child of two parents – long divorced – who are quarreling over money while the riches of the worlds drift through their fingers.
I know that many of you are mad at the ISC – I ask you to practice the better part of your nature and forgive… buy your tickets NOW to next years festival – I did – help this Jewel in the Crown of American Storytelling continue… I also ask the board members of NSN to defend NSN’s right to control the National Storytelling Festival and to negotiate with ISC as co-owners of the brand, name and event for the good of both organizations. Clearly no one wants to see ISC go down or NSN stripped of needed funding from the festival that represents members investment in the long term heath of the national storytelling festival.
All the Best
Brother Wolf
PS: Please comment below for your thoughts on this event…
By: Eric Wolf,
on 7/2/2010
Press Play to hear Michael Reno Harrell speak about American Folk Music and it's effect on American Storytelling Community on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Michael Reno Harrell Writes...
People like to be talked to. Well, if you have something interesting to say, they do. It's in our genes. All of mankind's knowledge was passed on through storytelling until very recently as things go. And it's a good bet that music started out as a part of that storytelling at about the same time. The two are as closely intertwined as fishing and talking about fishing.
I've been playing the guitar and writing songs for longer than I care to admit. And having grown up on folk and bluegrass, the songs that I tend to write are apt to be the kind that tell a story. And as a singer/songwriter I tend to do a whole lot of solo performances and am lucky enough to do mostly concerts. That is to say, where folks sit and listen to what I'm offering.
I found out a long time ago that an entertainer needs to connect with his audience on every possible level, so I started talking to my listeners. So, what do you say other than, "Thanks for coming out" or ‘The title of this next song is…"? Well, I've found that people have an interest in the story behind the song. So, I began to tell a bit about what I was doing or thinking about when I wrote a particular piece. That grew into writing a story that would lead into the song. Pretty soon the stories were longer than the songs, but my audiences didn't seem to mind.
Now when I do music festivals and someone comes up after a set and says something like, "Man, I really dig your songs, but I love the stories", I say, "Dude, you need to check out a storytelling festival!" (Hey, I only say "dude" if the guy says "dig".)
About Michael Reno Harrell
Michael Reno Harrell is an award winning songwriter, as well as a veteran storyteller and entertainer, and he's from the South; the Southern Appalachian Mountains to hone it a bit finer.
One could compare Michael's performances to his granddaddy's pocket knife: well warn and familiar feeling, but razor sharp and with a point. His brand of entertainment appeals to a very diverse audience. A typical day for Michael might include a program for 4th graders in the afternoon and a concert for a mixed audience that evening.
Michael's recordings top the Americana Music Association charts year after year. His original songs and stories have been described as "Appalachian grit and wit" but, as his writing shows, Michael's awareness is much broader than the bounds of his boyhood home or even the Southern Experience. Having toured throughout the British Isles and much of Europe, as well as most of the US, the songs he writes and the stories he creates reflect an insight into people's experiences that catch the ear like an old friend's voice.
Michael's natural knack for storytelling, in print, song and spoken word has earned him praise from not only t
By: Eric Wolf,
on 5/24/2010
Press Play to hear Brother Wolf speak with David Ambrose on the foundation and running of the International Storytelling Festival of Wales.
Picture a fairytale castle perched on a cliff-top on the romantic Welsh coast; at the foot of the castle, a medieval jousting field, fringed by woodland, the tower of an ancient Saxon church rising above the trees. Terraced gardens slope gently down from the castle to the sea. In every garden, there is a tent. And in every tent, a storyteller….
This is St Donats Castle, the setting for Beyond The Border Wales International Storytelling Festival, which I set up with the help and encouragement of leading UK storyteller Ben Haggarty in 1993. Ever since then, BTB has been dedicated to exploring and celebrating the world’s rich heritage of oral tradition, bringing to Wales an unparalleled selection of storytellers, epic singers and musicians from the four corners of the earth, and creating for itself a worldwide reputation as a unique haven for traditional story. The result has been the growth of a remarkable quality of listening. Where else could you find several hundred people sitting in a Mongolian–style yurt, listening in rapt attention to the mesmerizing recital of a 1,000 year-old Kyrgyz epic, while acrobats and fire jugglers entertain hundreds more on the castle Lawns, a European Wonder Tale unfolds to cello accompaniment in the Rose Garden, and in the magnificent Great Hall of the Castle, an audience is spellbound by a tale from the Arabian Nights? Unfortunately for that loyal audience of listeners, the changes of funding that often upset arts events like this forced the festival to take time off over the last couple of years.
But the good news is that Beyond the Border is back! In July this year, Britain’s leading international festival of storytelling returns to its spiritual home of St Donats Castle, on the beautiful S Wales coast, for another spectacular weekend of stories by the sea!
For three glorious and magic-filled days, the grounds of our fairytale castle will echo with the sound of stories from Wales and the World…Silk Road stories….travellers’ tales….stories and songs from Celtic Britain…1001 Nights….stories & music from West Africa & The Caribbean…..Tales To Sustain….
A stellar line-up includes storytellers and musicians from Italy, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Nigeria and from right across the British Isles.
Together they will entertain and illuminate, amaze and amuse an audience drawn to St Donats Castle from across the UK and from around the globe, an international audience attracted not only by the breadth and quality of the programme, but also by the magnificent, other worldly atmosphere of the location. To visit Beyond The Border really is to be in a fairy tale come true. We hope you can join us. To learn more about Beyond The Border 2010 and find out how to get tickets and join the BTB email list, visit http://www.beyondtheborder.com
By: Eric Wolf,
on 5/6/2010
Press Play to hear Brother Wolf takes questions from his audience on the Art of Storytelling Show on being a professional storyteller. This is 3 of 3 shows commemorating the 100th Anniversary episode of the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Show. This Episode is podcast in 128 bit rate – this higher bit rate costs more to cast online – if you enjoyed listening to the higher quality show – perhaps you would consider purchasing your next download through the website….
This picture is called a Wordie – it is picture of the words people used when they wrote their thoughts on the 2010 National Storytelling Network Oracle Award..
What People are saying about the Art of Storytelling Show…
I would like to thank the following people for contributing there time and energy to the 102ndt Anniversary Episode….
Harvey Halbrun – Show ID – http://hdhstory.net/
Steve Otto Show Introduction http://www.i-tell.net/
Ellyce Cavanough Introduction of Brother Wolf – http://www.freespiritnaturecamp.com/
Fran Stallings – Oracle Award Committee - http://www.franstallings.com/
Michael D. McCarty – Invitation to attend the National Storytelling Conference in LA in July/August in 2010 – http://www.storynet.org
Jean Luster – Art of Storytelling Ipod Testimonial – The Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers
Buck P Creacy - http://www.buckpcreacy.com/
Heather Forest – Defining Storytelling www.storyarts.org
Journey Sandeers – How do one become a professional storylteler? http://www.jostory.com/
Dale Jarvis – International Symbosym – International Perspective – When storytelling and when is it a tradition? http://www.sc-cc.com
Margret Endinburg – How do I go about telling stories for pay? http://www.kuumbastorytellers.org/MargaretEdinburgh.html
Rob Mcabe – How do I get Grant Money? –
1 Comments on Art of Storytelling 102nd Anniversary Episode., last added: 5/6/2010
The Question that we must ask ourselves is if storytelling is so amazing why are more storytelling events not filled with sold out venues? In today’s internet based world - community, human connection and personal narrative are highly valued and desperately needed in the United States. Modern performers who can successfully and repeatedly bring these [...]