The Laurel Theater has been a hub for music and dance in Knoxville for over 40 years, and the organization that manages the Laurel, Jubilee Community Arts, has played an even wider role in Knoxville’s cultural history. JCA emerged out of the social movements of the 1960s and played an early role coordinating artistic and musical performances in the Fort Sanders neighborhood. Figures active in JCA would play an important role in the 1982 World’s Fair Folklife Festival and JCA would continue successor folk and international programming at the World’s Fair site through the 1990s. Since its reconstruction after a devastating fire in 1982, concerts at the Laurel would support important regional musical traditions and bring some of the most famous names in folk, bluegrass, and Celtic music to Knoxville.

About the Speaker

Ethan Fulwood is the executive director of Jubilee Community Arts. A biological anthropologist by training, he has harbored a long fascination with the music traditions, culture, and history of this region. He is also as a practitioner of traditional music and dance.