for a benefit concert for the Kposowa Foundation, a non-profit institute dedicated to rebuiling a village in Sierra Leone which was almost destroyed in a Civil War.
The Stews were at their very best. They began with Tam Lin, an Irish song with an intricate melody. Tam Lin is a great hammer dulcimer song, and nobody does it better than Bob Shank. Below is the same tune played last summer with a slightly different cast:
As the night went on, the Stews played fiddle sticks (little hammers used on a fiddle by one person while the fiddler bows), accompanied by African drums. That was totally awesome, dudes!
If you've never heard anyone play fiddle sticks, here are Bob and Keith and the Stews demonstrating in a separate venue:
West Virginia University graduate and Morgantown native Sarah Culberson hosted the event. Sarah was adopted as an infant, and in 2004 she discovered her biological father was the leader of the Mende tribe in Bumpe, Sierra Leone – making her the princess of the tribe. Sarah's birth mother passed away some years ago. Culberson's adoptive father, Jim Culberson, is a neurobiology professor at WVU.
Bumpe High School was destroyed in a civil war . Sarah and her two fathers working together founded the Kposowa Foundation in hopes of rebuilding the school.
Sometimes, it is hard to know whether charity dollars are going to really go to the right place. But in this case, I personally had a very positive feeling that Sarah, her two dads and a lot of caring people are really going to make this work. There is a lot of blood and sweat equity going into this project.
The school currently runs without electricity, miles from any electrical grid, so they are hoping to install solar power at the school. I gave a few bucks and I hope others will also.
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