Breeze Cable

Highlands Porchfest is the Plateau’s premier community music festival.

On Sunday, September 15, from 1:00 to 6:00 P.M., over 30 musicians will perform across 14 different venues throughout downtown Highlands.

The festival is free to attend and attracts visitors from all over the country. Returning this year for her third Highlands Porchfest is singer-songwriter Breeze Cable.

At the age of 21, Breeze has already been performing for six years. She performed her first gig at a local Huntersville bar, near where she grew up in Charlotte, at the age of 15.

“My mom said I was humming before I could talk,” Breeze said.

She started writing her own original songs in the fifth grade and her teacher, seeing her budding talent, brought his guitar in and taught her a few chords. She attended Appalachian State briefly, studying Music Production, before leaving to focus on her music.

She now lives near Highlands and performs three or four days a week, enough to get by on music alone.

She credits Porchfest for helping her gain visibility and book more gigs locally. She even has a few regulars who come out to see her performances whenever they can.

Last year Breeze performed at High Country Wine and Provisions after Jerius Duncan. Duncan, a former contestant on American Idol, stuck around after his performance to listen to Breeze.

After Breeze’s set, someone in the audience suggested they sing a song together. Breeze accepted, although was nervous as she had never sung with someone before. The duet was one of the most memorable moments of the 2023 Highlands Porchfest as the two performed “I Was Born by the River.”

The two have kept in touch, even meeting up for a few jam sessions.

In the build-up to this year’s Porchfest, Breeze is busy with performances at bars and breweries, but her heights are set high. She hopes to release a single or an album in the future and is patiently waiting for the right opportunity while working hard doing what she loves most.

The 2024 Highlands Porchfest is organized and presented by the Highlands Cashiers Center For Life Enrichment. The festival is free to attend, and will be held on Sunday, September 15, from 1:00 to 6:00 P.M. in downtown Highlands.

For more information or to learn about sponsorship opportunities please visit highlandsporchfest.com, call (828) 526-8811, or visit the CLE’s office anytime Monday through Friday, 9:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.

The post Highlands’ Day of Music appeared first on Laurel Magazine.

Kim Keelor

On a pristine carpet of grass at Merion Golf Club in September of 1930, a 28-year-old golfer from Georgia made history.

Bobby Jones became the first ever to complete golf’s Grand Slam by winning the British Amateur, British Open, the U.S. Open, and the U.S. Amateur competitions within the same year.

His legacy and impact on the game cannot be overstated, as his love of innovation affects golf course design to this day. Join Dr. Catherine Lewis at her lecture on Tuesday, August 13, from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M., at the Highlands-Cashiers Center for Life Enrichment as she goes over the life and accomplishments of Bobby Jones.

Robert Corn-Revere

The next day on Wednesday, August 14, from 10:00 A.M. to Noon, she will talk about President Eisenhower’s love of golf and how it shaped 1950s America.

Dr. Lewis works at Kennesaw State University and is also on the Museum Committee for the U.S.
Golf Association.

Robert Corn-Revere is Chief Counsel for the Foundation For Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), an organization committed to both defending and promoting freedom of speech. Corn-Revere has successfully advocated to protect freedom of speech throughout his 40-year career. His book, The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder: The First Amendment and the Censor’s Dilemma, was published by Oxford University Press in 2021 and explores how freedom of speech and expression has become a cornerstone of American identity. He will be giving a lecture on freedom of speech at CLE on Monday, August 19, 10:00 A.M. Noon.

Dr. Catherine Lewis

Kim Keelor will be teaching a creative workshop on Thursday, August 29, from 9:30 A.M. to Noon, on felting wool necklaces. Wet felting is an ancient art technique that uses friction, soap, and water to agitate wool fibers to create everything from landscapes to still lifes. Kim’s art is heavily influenced by the natural world, and she completed an artist residency in 2022 with the Working Artist Studio Provisions of Scotland on the Isle of Skye. Her work has also been selected for 19 juried competitions all across the country. In her workshop, attendees will learn how to wet felt, needle felt, and create necklaces with wool pendants. Kim’s studio, Carolina Artworks, is located in Franklin.

Lewis and Corn-Revere’s lectures will cost $30 for CLE members and $40 for non-members, and Kim Keelor’s art workshop will cost $95 for members and $105 for non-members.

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Madison Owenby

Highlands Porchfest is the Plateau’s premier community music festival.

Throughout 14 different locations, Highlands hosts over 40 musicians from every genre. The festival is free to attend and attracts musicians and visitors from all over the country. One of the artists returning to Porchfest this year is Madison Owenby.

Before the 2023 Highlands Porchfest, Madison had only performed at open-mic nights. Her sound is heavily influenced by her love of jazz but she plays to her audience. Bouncing between genres ensures that “everyone has something they can sing along to.”

As she settled into the Fern of Highlands Boutique and set up her equipment, wrestling with pre-performance excitement and nerves, the unthinkable happened. She tore her pants. Performing in a boutique had its perks and after a quick wardrobe change, Madison wowed an audience with covers of some of her favorite artists, from Florence and the Machine to Amy Winehouse.

Growing up in Savannah, Georgia, Madison’s mom nurtured her love for music. She participated in the band and marching band where she played the baritone and took piano lessons. While driving in the car she and her mom would listen to Nora Roberts over the radio, singing along. She moved to the mountains of North Carolina for a fresh start and began attending Western Carolina University to study Business Administration and Law. She goes to school online while waiting tables to pay her own way.

Her work ethic is evident, as she even worked the morning of her performance at Lazy Hiker’s Outdoor Music Jam. She opened for Grizzly Mammoth and the band was so impressed with her that they offered her a spot singing with them in the future.

Madison has her heights set high as her dream would be to move to Nashville and play music full-time. She humbly admits that just playing the occasional gig would keep her happy but would also enjoy using her business degree to work in the music industry.

For now, Madison is working hard to finish her degree while her music career is picking up speed. She is performing more gigs in the lead-up to her return to this year’s 2024 Highlands Porchfest. It is clear she has a love of performing but she is also excited to “see all the musicians. It was just fun walking around Highlands and seeing everyone play and all the different types of music.”

The 2024 Highlands Porchfest is organized by the Highlands-Cashiers Center for Life Enrichment and is free to attend and will be held on Sunday, September 15, from 1:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. in downtown Highlands.

For more information or to learn about sponsorship opportunities please visit highlandsporchfest.com, call (828) 526-8811, or visit the CLE’s office anytime Monday through Friday, 9:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.

The post Highlands Porchfest appeared first on Laurel Magazine.

Barbara Jamison

Michael Rosenfeld has won 11 Emmys for his news and documentary films during his career.

From his time as president of National Geographic Television to his current role as Executive Producer for PBS, much of his recent work has explored humanity’s relationship with nature, offering new perspectives in a world embroiled in climate change and loss of the natural resources that have the power to save us.

Join Rosenfeld on July 23 at the Highlands-Cashiers Center for Life Enrichment on a journey exploring how best to save nature in the face of climate change and extreme weather events, offering indigenous perspectives and his own experiences creating award winning nature documentaries.

Michael Rosenfeld

Two days later. CLE will host Dr. Marshall Shepherd. He is a meteorologist but you won’t see him giving the weekend weather forecast. You will see him advising NASA, the White House, Congress, the Department of Defense, and even foreign governments on how best to deal with climate change and extreme weather events. He has served as both a fellow and the president of the American Meteorological Society. Shepherd has given multiple TedTalks and works at the University of Georgia where he is the Distinguished Chair Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences. On July 25 he will be speaking at CLE on how to better understand weather and climate.

Sculptor and painter (and Friend of The Laurel) Barbara Jamison is inviting CLE into her studio for a tour and art demonstration on Tuesday, July 16.

Dr. Marshall Shepherd

Jamison has developed her own unique process of liquefying acrylic paint before moving it around on the canvas in a combination of using palette knives, blowing air through a straw, and heating it with a blowtorch. The pigments come alive as they react with the water and heat, creating the vibrant paintings that have come to characterize her art.

Her own work has been displayed in over 25 exhibitions and has won awards from the Charlotte Art Guild and the International Pastel Society. The Cashiers Chamber of Commerce recognized her work within the community granting her the Award for Advocacy of Arts & Culture.

Both Shepherd and Rosenfeld’s events are $30 for CLE members and $40 for non-members. Jamison’s studio tour is $40 for members and $50 for non-members.

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