Join us for an evening of music and dance Friday, October 25th in Legends Plaza! This FREE event will serve as both a fundraising event AND a way to thank and acknowledge the hundreds of volunteers and first responders who mobilized in our community to provide relief after Hurricane Helene. While recovery work is ongoing, we want to take a moment and celebrate the unity and goodwill displayed throughout our local towns in the midst of this unprecedented crisis. Read below to learn more about each performer and to learn how to donate!
The Artists:
In no particular order. More details still to be added - check back frequently for updates!
Pam Stone, Emcee:
Comedian, actress and writer, Pam Stone, is best known for co-starring 7 seasons on the hit ABC sit-com, ‘Coach.’ Portraying Coach Judy Watkins, Pam returned to Universal Studios in 2015 to film the ‘Coach’ sequel pilot for NBC.
As a comedian, Pam won The American Comedy Award for ‘Best Female Stand-up,’ performed at The White House, and made dozens of television appearances on such shows as ‘The Tonight Show,’ ‘Oprah,’ ‘The Drew Carey Show,’ Fifty Years of Funny Females,’ ‘Comedy Central,’ ‘Joan Rivers,’ along with 3 Showtime Cable Specials.
Zion Grove A.M.E. Zion Church Music Department:
The Zion Grove A.M.E. Zion Church is located on Pea Ridge Road in Polk County, NC and was founded in 1882. The church is a part of the global ministry of The A. M. E. Zion Church (Piedmont Episcopal District – Blue Ridge Conference). Zion Grove’s mission is to show the love of God as we minister to all. Within any worship experience, you will find a diverse culture with a warm spirit of inclusivity and hospitality. The church is located in the center of the community and the location is relative to our ministry to be a haven of hope, resources, encouragement, empowerment, and guidance. Our music ministry expresses that diversity with its variety of genres – from traditional to contemporary while adding their own style. Dr. J. Ruth Davis is the current Pastor and Presiding Elder (Hendersonville District). The ZG Minister of Music is Corey McDowell. Other musicians include John H. Staley, Stephen Staley, Rahjay Hines, and Robert Staley.
Awake In The Dream:
Awake In The Dream is a band with long established roots in Hendersonville, NC. The members are close friends that have a love for music and decades of experience to back up their rock devotion. High energy shows and a plethora of knowledge from the 80's, 90's, 2000's and originals, helps to elevate their music. "Come give us a listen and you will love us forever!"
The Kenya Cultural Quintet:
Singing (either solo or as part of an ensemble) is an integral part of family, school, community and spiritual life throughout Eastern and Central Africa.
Accomplished performers, teachers, composers and arrangers in their own right, members of The Kenya Cultural Quintet have come together to share their talents and to build strong alliances with colleagues and music lovers internationally.
With a repertoire of songs spanning the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods, the all-star ensemble takes enthusiastic audiences on a multilayered auditory journey through East African history, culture and society.
Carri Bass Photography
Dr. Samuel Waymon:
An award-winning composer, musician, singer, pianist, arranger, actor and producer, Dr. Samuel L. Waymon’s career has over the last sixty years intersected with major events, movements and artistic endeavors in the United States and throughout the world.
A native of Tryon (North Carolina), Dr. Waymon has shared the concert stage with well known artists including Miles Davis, Odetta, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Quincy Jones, Donny Hathaway, Phyllis Hyman, and Max Roach. He marched and went to jail with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and has appeared as an actor in several memorable films.
Although best known to the public as the manager, confidante, organist and best friend of his late sister Eunice Waymon (Nina Simone), Sam’s life has included decades of social activism, significant work in the motion picture industry, contributions to various theatrical productions and roles as an actor in Personal Problems (the first black soap opera) and several films. His musical compositions were utilized in Broadway and off-Broadway productions by the renowned producer and director, Joseph Papp – founder of The Public Theater and Shakespeare in the Park.
Memorable performances during his years on tour with Miss Simone include the 1968 Westbury Music Fair, the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival (aka ‘The Black Woodstock’) as well as concerts for King Hassan II of Morocco, for President William Tolbert of Liberia and for French President François Mitterrand. It was at Westbury (New York), three days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that the group premiered “Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)”, a deeply moving tribute to the late Nobel laureate. Waymon and Simone would also perform at Dr. King’s funeral.
Dr. Waymon’s composition “Its In Your Eyes”, sung by Pauletta Washington, accentuated the Academy Award-winning film Philadelphia directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks.
Likewise, his resume includes music for the film Ganja & Hess written and directed by the late Bill Gunn. In that production, Waymon was cast as Rev. Luther Williams. At the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, Ganja and Hess was named one of the Ten Best Films of the Decade. It is now a permanent part of the Museum of Modern Art’s Library Archives.
Waymon’s music was also featured in Alice Crowe’s 2019 Film, The Last Disintegrated School, which told the story of a 1943 fight waged by Thurgood Marshall (representing the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.) and the African-American parents of Hillburn, New York to end segregation at the city’s Brook School.
Current projects include a new album, Purpose and a motion picture, Sam and Nina. His musical composition “Blood of the Fang” will be included in the marketing campaign for the upcoming Warner Brothers motion picture “SINNERS” - written and directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan.
Throughout the years, Dr. Samuel Waymon has been a tireless activist for civil rights. During the 1960s, he marched in Philadelphia, in Mississippi and in Alabama. He became friends with Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz and with his sister Nina Simone marched, performed and protested at many anti-discrimination events across America.
Flat Rock Playhouse:
Flat Rock Playhouse is the State Theatre of North Carolina and located in the beautiful village of Flat Rock. Whether you enjoy Broadway style musicals, plays, family theatre, or music concerts, FRP offers professional productions from February-December annually. Unfortunately, the impacts of Hurricane Helene caused the theatre to cancel two productions. While the theatre is currently unable to host patrons on its property, we are happy and proud to share our Educational Programming (Playhouse Jr.) with Rock Out-in Concert. The Rock Out concert features upbeat performances for youth and families where kids are encouraged to sing out and dance along and shake off the stress and fear of the past few weeks. The healing power of the arts is strong and proven, and we are thrilled to partner with Tryon International to lift up the community we love so much during this difficult time.
Donate:
In no particular order. We encourage you to give to the cause(s) that inspire you!
Thermal Belt Outreach:
Outreach is a private 501c3 organization that serves Polk County NC neighbors in need. Services available include Financial and Food Assistance, Home Repair, Veteran Services, Shelter Assistance, and more. Donate at this link.
Força Foundation:
The Força Foundation is a local WNC 501c3 organization, and all donations are tax deductible. Families in need will be helped one at a time, with applications open now. Financial donations are needed! Text NCSTRONG to 53555 or donate at this link.
Restore Lake Lure:
“Restore Lake Lure” is the only fundraising campaign dedicated to the clean-up and restoration of the lake itself and championed by local community leaders. The three main initiatives of the campaign are boat retrieval, debris removal and water quality restoration. Donate to the restoration of Lake Lure here.
Babies Need Bottoms:
Since 2017, Babies Need Bottoms diaper bank has worked in partnership with community based organizations to provide diapering supplies for families facing diaper need in Western North Carolina. Donate here!
Fleet of Angels:
Fleet of Angels has been called "the most responsive national go-to organization in the country" for helping horse owners and small rescues when they need urgent assistance after being devastated by a natural disaster or other major emergency. Our goal is to keep horses safe and in good care so they can stay with their loving families and equine friends. By providing a combination of grants and services, Fleet of Angels provides qualified applicants with whatever is needed to provide a solution to temporary challenges to give owners more time to find long term solutions. No other equine-centric nonprofit in the country laser-focuses its resources on the mission of providing grants and critical services to both private owners and small rescues to help their horses through crises. Donate here!
DONATE FUNDS VIA CHECK:
If you are interested in making a financial contribution to recovery efforts, you may write a check to the Green River Foundation and mail to 4066 Pea Ridge Road, Mill Spring, NC 28756 with "Hurricane Helene relief" in the memo. 100% of your donation will go to the relief efforts in Polk, Rutherford, Henderson and Buncombe Counties in North Carolina and Spartanburg County, South Carolina. We will work with location agencies for that distribution. 100% of the contribution will be tax deductible.
Production:
Dr. Samuel Waymon and Melvin Cox serve as co-producers for this event. Film recording by Jeff Chambers.
Melvin Cox:
Chair of the Tryon Fine Arts Center’s Program Committee, Melvin H. Cox is a lecturer, filmmaker, advocate for greater diversity within the equestrian community, international traveler and proponent of experiential education.
As an accredited journalist, he has covered numerous national and international events including: The African-African American Summits in Libreville, Gabon (1993), Dakar, Senegal (1995) and Harare, Zimbabwe (1997), the Badminton Horse Trials (UK), the National Summit on Africa (2000), CHIO Aachen: World Equestrian Festival (Germany), the Dubai International Horse Fair (UAE), HORFA: China International Horse Fair (Shanghai), CSI Al Shaqab (Qatar) and the 1996 Organization of Africans in the Americas (OAA) Conference (San Jose, Costa Rica).
A member of the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), his alma mater, he has been the principal instructor in the Focus on Africa series at UCSC’s Merrill College since the fall of 2014. Cox has been a guest speaker at Stanford University, the Kenya Diaspora Homecoming Convention (Nairobi) and Makerere University (Uganda).
Melvin is currently President of The AFRICAN CONNECTIONS Research and Education Fund, Inc. - a non-profit organization that seeks to build bridges between North America and Africa and to train and nurture a new generation of internationally focused “virtual griots” – multimedia historians, journalists, writers, technicians and photographers.
He and his wife (Pamela) reside in Green Creek and are supporters of The Goodwin Hounds. He is the proud father of an adult daughter, Kimberly. Since 2019, Cox has moderated the annual Tom Bass Seminar on Diversity in Equestrian Sports.