Brianna Truehart also known as "Brianna_Unboxed" on Instagram is a dear friend who is also a fantastic artist. She can't remember a time she hasn't loved to draw, but started really pursuing art more in 2021. Her art was chosen to be featured in Minnesota's Renaissance Festival Coloring book for 2023, and she also is open to commissions on her Instagram.

   The story behind how she became the artist for Appalachian Tales: Bonnie Kate truly shows her skills. I had finished producing the story of Bonnie Kate and was ready to submit it to the Audio Drama Alliance when I realized I had forgotten to create cover art. I tried multiple ways to create cover art for this show but none worked out.

    I then decided to see if Brianna was up for a challenge. I messaged her at Midnight on April 29th asking if she would be willing to work on a 24 hr art challenge. I needed cover art by the end of April 30th to submit the finished drama that day. Brianna messaged me back around 8 in the morning saying she would give it a shot. I scrounged up reference photos of Fort Watauga and that evening she went to work. She sent me a rough sketch around 4pm, and later that evening she had inked it and began to use alcohol markers to add color. After collaborating on the color scheme for Bonnie Kate over the evening and into the next morning, at 5:22pm she sent me the finished art.

    Text was quickly added and we had the final cover for Appalachian Tales: Bonnie Kate. I am so thankful for all the work Brianna put into the the beautiful cover art, and hope we can work together again on more projects in the future! (Thank you, Brianna for all you do and for being an amazing friend!)

If you are interested in following Brianna and seeing her other art pieces follow her on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/brianna_unboxed/

    When Appalachian Tales was first made for the Audio Drama Alliance Challenge it didn't have any music. After getting feedback from others I set about to find a fun upbeat song that fit the history of the area, and came across the Appalachian Folk song "Cumberland Gap." It was the perfect piece but I had no way of getting a live recording. Enter Dominic. Dominic is a friend and fellow audio drama enthusiast I met at Lamplighter Ministries when he was recording one of the lead roles in "Shipwrecked". He is a talented composer, musician, voice actor, and more!  I asked if he would kindly play "Cumberland Gap" for my production and he heartily agreed. Giving me a small sample in less than an hour! A couple weeks later the song was ready to go. You can hear it set the tone at the beginning of Appalachian Tales as Fern runs through the woods to her Gran, and later you can hear the full song during the final credits.

    Dominic has been singing his own personal soundtrack for almost as long as he can remember. As a classically trained violinist with over ten years of orchestral experience and a member of the Carissimi chamber choir, he has developed a deep love for melody and harmony and a passion for storytelling through music. Dominic’s composition work has been featured in several mainstream audio dramas, including “Double Date” (A Friend from Woodgrove), “The Hold Up” (The Church at Trestle Falls), “David vs. Joseph” (HeartMatters), and most recently, LRT Media and Eternal Future Productions’ Robin Hood: Rising to Honor.He also enjoys voice acting, and has played characters for Lamplighter Theater, LRT Media, Eternal Future Productions, HeartMatters, Dominion Artists, and First Acts Productions. He owns and operates Saint Benedict Radio Theater, where he releases his own audio drama productions.

For more about Dominic visit his Website or Follow his composer page! Thank you so much for dropping by.

http://www.saintbenedictradiotheater.com/

www.audio.com/dominictreiscomposer

Hello There! Welcome to the first blog post for Triple Cord Productions. I'm so glad to have you here and that you are wanting to learn more about our first project. "Appalachian Tales: Bonnie Kate".

First off, I want to let you know that this will be a series of blog posts that will feature our actors, musician, artist and more! So check back soon for our spotlight posts.

Appalachian Tales: Bonnie Kate is a Micro Audio drama that was created for a 5 Minute Audio Drama challenge for the Audio Drama Alliance. The theme for the contest was “Spring”. After listening to a documentary on Appalachian Culture the plan was to create an audio drama showcasing an "Appalachian Spring" while simultaneously using a play on words. What better story to use than local history and the true story of Bonnie Kate and how she “Sprung up” over the wall. The story takes place at what was then called Fort Caswell and now known as Fort Watauga in Carter County, Tennessee. Research was done to make sure the historical facts were correct, including listening to a video showing a historical reenactment of Cherokee War cries, finding sound effects that mimicked the sound of musket fire, and of course getting the amazing cast to bring the story to life! If you wish to visit the real life Fort I recommend visiting Sycamore Shoals State Park. If you go and visit during the month of June every weekend they have a live reenactment play of our local history telling the story of the Overmountain Men, the Battle of King's Mountain, and a scene featuring the story of Bonnie Kate and John Sevier.

I hope you enjoy the story of Bonnie Kate. You can listen free below. Please, if you enjoy it post a review on Gumroad, in the comments, on Facebook, or Instagram.  Thank you again for taking the time to listen and read this post. Lord willing, there will be many more stories to tell!

Cast includes
Bethany Baldwin as Gran
Betsy Nicholson as Grandchild
Alicia Hansen as Bonnie Kate
Craig Hart as John Sevier
Additional Background voices include: Bethany Baldwin, Austin Peachey, John Tuttle III, Daniel Saccullo, and Rachel Saccullo
Written and Produced by Betsy Nicholson
Sound Design by Betsy Nicholson
The Song "Cumberland Gap" was Performed by Dominic Treis
Cover Art by Brianna Truehart known by Brianna_Unboxed on Instagram

If you enjoyed this micro audio drama please consider donating via Buy me a Coffee or consider purchasing a copy via our Gumroad Store Page .