Music, Books, Illustration and Theatre for Every Passion

Tonight, Melrose Talent Night returns to Tryon with a 6:30 p.m. buffet. The feature entertainment will kick things off at 7 p.m. and host an open circle until 9 p.m. Bring stories, artwork, photography, music, poetry, or whatever creative thing you do best to share. Call the Melrose Inn at 859-7014 for more information. You could also unwind with auto-harp master Gove Scrivenor up at The Purple Onion from 7:30-9 p.m.

Friday leap into spring with Not Even Brothers blues and rock favorites at Persimmons in Landrum 8-11 p.m. You can enjoy a fine dining experience or just stop by for drinks and dessert in a lively social atmosphere lifted with sounds of guitar and flute playing the contemporary classics. Call 864-457-3599 for information.

If you feel the need to get away, escape Friday and Saturday to the Orchard Inn for a special Shakespeare Weekend. Award-winning professor, Dr. Pamela Macfie (University of the South: Sewanee, TN), breathes life into the works of Shakespeare. The weekend package includes dinners, breakfasts, program, and upstairs room for two nights. Call 800-581-3800 for details.

Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Nicholas Basbanes who has literally written the book on books, well actually seven of them, will be the special guest for "Together We Read" at Polk County Library. This award winning journalist and author is passionate about a good story and ready to share them with an audience of avid readers.

If American art and illustration of the 20th Century is your passion, don't miss the reopening of Upstairs Artspace this weekend. There will be a reception Saturday from 5-8 p.m. for the Maxfield Parish exhibit from the collection of Harriet and Alan Peoples.

If you've been singing the blues all week because Gigi Dover was too sick to sing, you can get your blues fixed 8 p.m. Saturday evening with Big Road Blues featuring Peggy Ratusz at The Purple Onion in Saluda. Or, take in the high energy festivities over at Saluda Mountain Jamboree where the Annual Clogging Competition is in full swing from 8-11 p.m.

Fellini's La Strada is the feature for the next meeting of the Buon Giorno foreign film festival. This 1956 Academy Award winner takes you backstage in a traveling carnival where love has gone mad. For additional information about the meeting Monday, March 3 starting at 6:30 p.m. call 894-2934 or 859-6602.

Be sure to buy your tickets now for the great events next weekend. Friends of the Polk County Band will be hosting a fun filled evening of variety entertainment called The Cadets Spectacular. Funds raised through ticket sales will support the band's trip to China. Tickets are available now at the Book Shelf, Stearns Education Center, Polk County High School and from band members for the show Saturday March 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the High School auditorium.

Catch a bit of "truth is stranger than fiction" theatre at the Tryon Fine Arts Center as TV personality and one man show Patrick Combs lights up the stage with his show Man 1, Bank 0. Find out what happens when you deposit a $93,000 check labeled "not legal tender" in your bank account, or at least what happens if you happen to be Patrick Combs. Tickets are available at the Tryon Fine Arts Center or by calling 859-8322.