PICKENS — All are invited to a special — and free — day of milling, stories, tall tales and lots of memories at the Hagood Mill Historic Site and Folklife Center from 10

Linda Goodman

a.m.-4 p.m., rain or shine, this Saturday.
As part of Hagood Mill’s “Music in the Mountains” series, the celebration of tradition will continue Saturday at the 13th-annual Hagood Mill Storytelling Festival. The hills around the old mill will echo with the whispers, howls and hollers of some of the Southeast’s best storytellers sharing bits about all sorts of folks, funnies, cultures and places.
Returning again to host is Hagood Mill’s storyteller-in-residence, author, musician and 2013 State Heritage Award recipient, Johnny Fowler.
From the rolling hills of upstate South Carolina with family ties to the western North Carolina mountains, Fowler’s storytelling is a blast of old-time energy of yesteryear introducing traditional yarns and folktales from the Carolina region. Those Appalachian family ties run deep in Fowler, which in turn creates his friendly and energetic personality. He also is an old-time mountain banjo and harmonica master, and plays several other traditional instruments, occasionally blending them into his programs. Fowler’s stories and old-time songs geared for audiences young and old, are stepping stones of history and southern culture. Fowler will be performing at the Exchange Place at the National Storytelling Festival.
Cora Newcomb lives in the charming seaside village of Beaufort. Her life reads like a modern-day action novel; her stories reflect chapters from her life along with inspirational stories, historical tales and ghost tales that make the imagination burn.
Newcomb began spinning tales to her daughter and then throughout the Lowcountry — weaving magic with hypnotizing yarns. She tells stories to entertain, to educate, and pass on cultural heritage but most of all because she loves the joy of telling tales.  Her dad likes to say, in an unbelievable voice, “I used to spank your butt for telling stories, and now folks come from all around just to listen — it’s amazing!!”
Author/storyteller/playwright Linda Goodman, an Appalachian Mountain native of Melungeon descent, performs her stories nationwide. She has been published in the Chicken Soup and Stories for the Heart Series. Her one-woman show and book, Daughters of the Appalachians has also been performed by theater companies in California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Virginia. Her writing workshops teach story creation and the interviewing process.
Both of Goodman’s CDs, Bobby Pins and Jessie and Other Stories, have won multiple Storytelling World Winner Awards.
The Old-School Duo of Leon and Marshall James started singing at an early age with their older brother, Albert, and father, A.B. James. Leon was only five and Marshall was seven. They learned harmony through DO-RE-ME singing, a kind of shape note singing. They joined other family members singing at church gatherings and social events. In high school they sang with the Agriculture Quartet which won them a number of trophies, ribbons and prizes. They also performed with the Holy Tone Quartet. The brothers are from Lyman. Their music represents an old-school style of singing that dates back to antebellum days featuring rich harmonies of call-and-response, shouts and praise all sung in an old time acapella style. Since 2002 Leon and Marshall have been calling themselves the “Old-School Duo.”
There will be lots to see on Saturday as Hagood Mill hosts a variety of folk life and traditional arts demonstrations.
“Music in the Mountains 2014” is sponsored by a private benefactor. For additional information, contact the Hagood Mill at (864) 898-2936.