Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Tickets are now on sale for the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival, Jan. 24-25.

The 14th annual storytelling festival will open with supper and stories on Friday night at the We Piddle Around Theater in Brundidge and continue with three storytelling concerts at the Trojan Center Theater on the campus of Troy University in Troy.

Donald Davis, the Dean of Storytelling, will be joined by Appalachian Josh Goforth, Texan Barbara McBride-Smith and West Virginian Bil Lepp. All four tellers are back for 2020 by popular demand, so it will be a perfect weekend for storytelling.

Donald Davis is billed as better than fine wine because his stories can be absorbed and savored for a lifetime. His facial expressions and his body language bring the stories to life. And, he has promised his Grand Canyon story this year.

Josh Goforth, a Grammy-nominated musician, has played everywhere from the café down the street to Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry. So, he’s right at home on stage whether he’s playing foot-stomping fiddle music or telling stories of his growing up among the tobacco fields in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

Barbara McBride-Smith is the female’s answer to Donald Davis, Bowden said. “When she steps to the microphone, she takes off and she never slows down. With that Texas twang, she reminds you of a carnival barker or a fire and brimstone preacher. It would be difficult for even a preacher to hold a candle to her when she catches fire.

There was a rumor that Bil Lepp was going to run for a high political office in West Virginia. Evidently, he decided to come to the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival instead.

Although Lepp is a five-time champion liar, his stories often contain morsels of truth. His tales can sometimes be confusing, but are always ultra-amusing.

Trojan Center Theater tickets are: 10 a.m. ($10), 2 p.m. ($15) and 6:30 p.m. ($10). All day tickets are $30. The preshow music starts 30 minutes before the storytelling. All concerts feature all four tellers with different stories. (Sorry, the Friday night performance is sold out.)

Tickets are available by calling (334) 685-5524 or (334) 670-6302. Tickets are available at “The Messenger in Troy.”