Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center will host and sponsor a free performance of The Liars Bench, a Southern Appalachian variety show, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 7.

The Liars Bench was founded by Sylva writer and storyteller Gary Carden in June 2010, and the show’s cast has been presenting monthly programs at City Lights bookstore in Sylva for the past year.

The upcoming performance at the museum, titled “On the Wings of a Snow-White Dove,” will have old-time religion as the theme. Carden, artistic director and host for the shows, will perform “Go Down Death” with musician Steve Brady. The White Sisters of Franklin will present gospel music favorites and Will Peebles, director of WCU’s School of Music, will demonstrate shape-note singing, with audience participation.

The show also will feature Mary Fowler, a spiritual singer from Liberty Baptist Church, and Paul Iarussi, a claw-hammer guitar player recently featured on the History Channel.

The Mountain Heritage Center will host another Liars Bench performance on at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 4, with the theme “Cherokee in a Changing World: Traditional and Contemporary Legends and Lore.”

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