Can a room full of angry jurors ever reach a verdict? You’ll find out when you attend the Smoky Mountain Community Theatre’s current production of “Twelve Angry Jurors,” a play by Reginald Rose. Remaining performances are July 23, 24, 25, 26 at 7:30 pm.

Tickets are $8 for adults, and $5 for students ages 6 to 18. Children under six are admitted free. For information or reservations, contact Director Toby Allman at 828-488-8103 or 828-508-6645.

The Smoky Mountain Community Theatre is just one of the entertainment options available when you visit Bryson City and the North Carolina Smokies this Summer. There’s Saturday evening music at the Depot and Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center; as well as programs at the Swain County Center for the Arts and the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in nearby Franklin. You’ll find a complete schedule here.

A tradition of southern gospel runs deep in bluegrass music, almost as deep as the traditional cowboy hats that many groups wear on stage. Except when it’s time to sing a gospel song, the hats generally come off — another tradition observed by the Rye Holler Boys at the Freedom Fest celebration last weekend.

Ranging in age from 15 to 17, the Bryson City foursome has attracted a growing fan base. They’re scheduled to perform twice at the Saturday evening Music In The Mountains concerts at the Bryson City depot — August 7 and September 18. You can learn more about the free Music In The Mountains concerts here.

The 2010 season of Bryson City’s Music in the Mountains gets underway the first Saturday in June with a free concert by Dusk Weaver, a performer whose music has been described as “unique, toe-tapping, thought-provoking fun.” The following week’s concert features Bryson City’s own “The Barn Cats”, pictured above.

Each Saturday night, through October, Music in the Mountains brings a different performer to the stage at the Bryson City train depot. The groups range from old-time country to bluegrass, to jazz, to Celtic music. And Elvis will even make an appearance as the final show in October. The concerts are free and last from 6:30 to 8 pm. You’ll find a complete schedule on the Bryson City area entertainment calendar.

By day, Jeff Delfield is the Librarian at Bryson City’s Marianna Black Library. And in his spare time, he’s a maker of unique hand-crafted musical instruments, filling requests from as far away as Australia.

Above, he’s putting the finishing touches on a tackhead banjo with a distinctive “patchwork quilt” design — a specific request of the buyer. To achieve the multicolored pattern, Jeff constructed the rim from eight different woods. And to fully display the beauty of the woodwork, he hid the head tensioning system on the inside of the rim, a technique he borrowed from the makers of Irish Bodhrán drums. The head is calfskin, the neck walnut and the fretboard is made of bloodwood.

Jeff makes just one instrument at a time, a process that usually takes about six weeks. You can see more of his hand-crafted folk instruments, including videos, on his Deep Creek Strings website.

Twice a month, there’s an informal gathering of string musicians at Bryson City’s Marianna Black Library for the Community Music Jam. The group generally includes a mixture of professionals, amateurs and learners; and in the Summer — when they usually gather outside under the shade tree — there can be as many visitors as locals. Anyone with a banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle (anything unplugged) is welcome.

Larry Barnett of Grandpa’s Music keeps the music flowing and the fun going. Normally, Larry calls out a tune and its signature and the group plays it together. But there’s also an opportunity for anyone to perform a favorite tune for the group. The jam sessions offer a chance for musicians of all ages and levels of ability to share music they have learned over the years or learn the old-time mountain songs.

Community Music Jams are held on the first and third Thursdays of every month, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at the Marianna Black Library. For more information, call 828-488-3030 or visit the library web site.