CulloWHEE! advance tickets available through today

There's still time to reserve your place on the lawn - and take advantage of special advance ticket prices - as Western Carolina University brings great music to the Great Smoky Mountains this Friday and Saturday, June 20 and 21.

Advance tickets are available through today (Thursday) for the second annual CulloWHEE! ArtsFest, a two-day celebration of live music and fine art featuring nationally known musicians performing rock 'n' roll, blues, folk, adult contemporary and "newgrass" music.

Advance two-day tickets for the festival are $50, with children age 13 and younger admitted free of charge with a paying adult. Discount tickets at $40 each are available for groups of 10 or more, and single-day passes may be purchased for Friday or Saturday. The cost of two-day tickets purchased on festival weekend increases to $60.

Performing on Friday will be Grammy Award-winning "folkabilly" queen Nanci Griffith, a singer and songwriter hailed by critics as one of the brightest lights in a generation of artists who have merged country with folk and pop music, a list that includes Lyle Lovett, Dwight Yoakum and Steve Earle. Griffith will be followed by legendary blues singer Delbert McClinton, whose multiple Grammy Awards include a trophy in 2001 for best contemporary blues album with "Nothing Personal." The Washington Post called his latest effort, "Room to Breathe," one of the finest efforts yet in McClinton's 30-year career.

Edwin McCain, who will take the stage prior to Collective Soul, is a popular singer-songwriter from upstate South Carolina whose music appeals to listeners of all ages. Often called "an acoustic rock troubadour," McCain has produced several top 40 hits, including "I'll Be" and "I Could Not Ask for More," and is touring in support of his latest album, "The Austin Sessions."

The afternoon headliner is Acoustic Syndicate, an explosive "newgrass" quartet from the Shelby area that fuses acoustic roots music, bluegrass, jazz and rock ån' roll to create what one critic praised as "a powerful and unique blend of acoustic Americana."

Also performing on Saturday's mainstage are Asheville's Laura Blackley Band, which plays a gritty style of acoustic blues and rock ån' roll, and Deborah Coleman, a hard-driving blues guitarist praised by USA Today as "unquestionably one of blues music's most exciting young talents."

Western's own Catamount Chamber Singers, directed by Bruce Frazier, will perform several times over the two-day festival, on both the mainstage and on a second stage in the WRGC Arts Village. Also performing in the village will be Taylor Roberts Music, an acoustic group out of Raleigh, and Jackson County's own vocal and guitar blues duo, Sugar & Pooch (Karen "Sugar" Barnes and Steve Dennison). The festival will feature a juried exhibit and sale with a variety of fine art and craft media, along with vignettes from the play "Greater Tuna," part of a new summer theatre season opening this month on campus, and a performance of dance and choreography by Western dance faculty member Amy Dowling and students.

For information, contact Western Carolina's Ramsey Center at 227-7722, or click on www.cullowheeartsfest.com. Tickets may be purchased at the Ramsey Center ticket office, online via Tickets.com (www.tickets.com), or toll-free at 1-888-332-5200, or at the Jackson County and Maggie Valley chambers of commerce.

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