Featuring:  Dave and Carol Sharp – Idlewild duo aka Glastonbury duo

Story Musicians, Visual Artists, Supportive Spouses

Some people get to enjoy the arts with their spouse…not just as an audience member but as a partner in every way on the stage.  When I first met Dave and Carol Sharp, it was at the Olympus Chapter Meeting with the Utah Storytelling Guild.  People kept saying that “you have to meet them!”  They had so many performances, their showings at the Chapter Meetings were rare.  Yet, they tended to make the annual Chapter Christmas parties.  Normally, people bring a dish to share.  Dave and Carol brought their instruments.  I was enraptured as Carol played a harp carved herself with a majestic bird looking upon her as she swept her hands across the strings.  Dave added to the atmosphere and told stories with energy, delight, and–at times–tenderness.  We were glad to have witnessed the intimate and wondrous performance that night.

Since that time, I have seen Dave and Carol as advocates for anyone in the arts–especially musicians–as well as supporting interfaith performances.  They give of their time and talents freely while being a standard in performance.

Dave and Carol Sharp performed during the inaugural Story Crossroads Festival and have since told stories and played instruments at several fundraising house concerts for us.  In fact, they will be performing “Tales of Haunted Japan” in Ogden at the Tobin Home on Friday, February 1, 2019 from 7:00pm-8:30pm.  Come if you can.  See their February 1st House Concert and other monthly House Concerts here.

While usually delving in the performing arts, they both have sculpting abilities.  Carol tends to keep those skills to her instruments, while Dave also creates instruments and commissioned pieces with some sculptures taller than doors!  Dave has had many gallery exhibits with his carvings, paintings, and other 2-D and 3-D pieces.  One day, Dave surprised me with a remarkable raccoon mask that my family delights in whether on the wall or used for my own storytelling.

Let us find out a little more about Dave and Carol from them.  As usual for their performances, they did their answers in tandem.

What got you started in storytelling?

We got started in storytelling when fellow animator Mark Gollaher asked us to play Celtic music for his Irish Tales. We played music with the tales much like a movie score and did the sound effects for the stories. We toured with Mark and Terra Allen for Arts Inc, and one day I told Carol that “I would love to tell stories like Mark.” In the Animation studio, the animators were always doing character voices for one another. We had played Celtic and Old Time American Traditional music for many years and had introduced the music and its history to the audiences, often like a narrative story.

Why delve into storytelling?

Storytelling had the additional advantage of adding new performance venues for our duo or larger band. We performed Renaissance Fairs around the west with our music and stories and felt that the music enhanced the stories and stories the music. We were part of the Utah performing arts tour for eight years and often did our stories in our music gigs whereever it seemed appropriate or where we had a mixed audience of families.

What are you best known for and what will do do with storytelling in the future?

Our Celtic stories went over well and since we had famous Pioneer ancestors that took part in the building of the West we began writing stories in that vein as well. We’ve branched off most recently into Japanese ghost stories and Norse Sagas which we plan to write more of. We were planning to write and illustrate some children’s story books and make recordings and YouTube videos of each of them.

So toss, tip, or take off your cap to Dave and Carol Sharp!

We also have year-round events such as the monthly house concerts and the 4th Annual Story Crossroads Festival that will be on May 15, 2019.