The Mountaineer

The Haywood County Arts Council presents Gypsy Bandwagon in concert at 3 p.m.  Sunday, Nov. 15, at the Haywood County library auditorium in Waynesville. The concert is part of the Sunday concert series at the library, which is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Haywood County Library. The concert is free and public is cordially invited to attend.

In the fall of 2004, in a cold, dark cabin in the mountains, a genre-challenged band called Gypsy Bandwagon was born. Band members are Carissa Moore, Lance Moore, Karin Lyle and James Lyle. Gypsy Bandwagon mixes songs of their own with strange, ancient instrumentals. Carissa Moore became interested in piano at age 2. She later earned college degrees in both music and science. She has performed with the rock band Woven Hearts and Irish-music band Celtic Knot. Her piano work is as stunning as her fiddle playing. Guitarist Lance Moore has been playing in bands since the ’80s. He moved to the Great Smoky Mountains, answered an ad for an Irish guitarist and met wife Carissa Moore.

Karin Lyle began her music career as a toddler playing songs from the radio on a toy organ. Her parents recognized her talent and purchased authentic instruments on which she could learn to play. As an adult she left her hometown of Chicago to marry James Lyle, moved to North Carolina and became a music teacher. She worked in the family’s dulcimer shop and learned to play 22 instruments. When she is not playing music, she is teaching music. She is the author of a number of music instruction books, and has performed on many music recordings.

James Lyle, aka “Uncle Biscuit,” grew up in the mountains of Western North Carolina, spending his childhood emulating various comic book characters and musical groups. He formed the band The Chimpanzees with his two older brothers at age 7. Later he abandoned a promising music career to pursue art. In the 1980s, his comic strip featuring Todd Rundgren’s band Utopia, helped land him a fan and a wife (Karin). Besides playing with Gypsy Bandwagon, James Lyle is a professional cartoonist and artist. His work has been published in comic books and magazines in the U.S. and abroad.

Call the Haywood County Arts Council at 452-0593 or visit www.haywoodarts.org. This project received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources, and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.