A special evening program featuring poets, musicians, songwriters and historians will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 8 in the Mountain Heritage Center on the campus of Western Carolina University.

The gathering is being called “The New Appalachia.  No more moonshine, Li’l Abners and Daisy Maes.”

Performers and presenters include Western Carolina University historian and director of the university’s Special Collections archives George Frizzell; singer-songwriter and recording artist Angela Faye Martin; poet and rock’n’roll drummer Michael Revere; and poet and publisher Thomas Rain Crowe.

The concert/performance will be free to students and to the general public. A free copy of Michael Revere’s illustrated book of writings, Appalachian Roots, will be available free for all attending.

Frizzell will give a presentation with personal inflections about the strange marriage of classic rock ‘n’roll and its possible and/or imagined influences on the history of Southern Appalachian music and culture. Martin hails from Macon County. Her latest CD is titled “Pictures From Home” and was produced by the late and legendary Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse. Revere, originally from Brevard and well-traveled, is back in Jackson County after several years in Montana. His lyrical and rock-beat song-style poems are both powerful and profound. He will be accompanied on the evening’s program by percussionist Gabe Wood, who is a native of Cullowhee. Crowe hails from Tuckasegee and is known as much for his nature and environmental writing as his poetry. He has performed for many years throughout the region with different variations of his spoken-word and music band Thomas Rain Crowe & The Boatrockers.

Donations will be accepted and will go to the Charles George V.A. Medical Center in Asheville. 828.227.7129 or 828.506.2854.