Jay Smar to bring old-time country and
coal mining music to Cross Keys June 16

CROSS KEYS/NEW OXFORD, PA – Singer-songwriter Jay Smar will bring his repertoire of old-time country and coal mining songs to Cross Keys Village – The Brethren Home Community on Saturday, June 16, for a free, public concert at 7 p.m. in Nicarry Meetinghouse.

Smar, who has been performing since he was 14, is on the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts juried roster for professional folk musicians and educators, in part because of the research he puts into his writing and playing. His coal mining songs bring the Pennsylvania coal region of the 1800s to life and depict the impact the industry had on the people.

One song, “The Ballad of Glen Onoko,” tells of a waterfall in the town of Jim Thorpe (the area where Smar grew up), where an Indian princess leaped to her death after her lover had been executed by her father, the chief.

Smar, who plays guitar, claw-hammer banjo, fiddle and harmonica during his performances, has performed across the U.S. and Canada and been the opening act to such performers as Tom Paxton, Emmylou Harris, and Kathy Mattea. The most recent of his six CDs is “Accoustic Buffet.”

The performance is part of the 2007 Fine Arts Concert Series at Cross Keys. The next of this year’s eight concerts will the husband-and-wife musical collaboration of Hanover’s David and Laura Berndt on Sept. 15.

Cross Keys Village – The Brethren Home Community is located at the intersection of U.S. 30 and PA 94 (Cross Keys), less than two miles east of New Oxford’s town circle. Nicarry Meetinghouse is best accessed via the Route 30 entrance, which is at the northwest corner of the campus. Directional signage is available at other entrances. Ample free parking is available.

For more information about this or other events at Cross Keys Village – The Brethren Home Community, call 717-624-5203.