Sparky and Rhonda Rucker are no strangers to World's Fair Park. Not only have they brought their musical, storytelling talents to the Children's Festival over the years, but they also performed at the 1982 World's Fair itself.
Together, they have recorded ten albums, and their uplifting presentations are a unique blend of knee-slapping rhythms punctuated by humor, history, and storytelling. Their repertoir includes old-time blues, slave songs, Appalachian music, spirituals, ballads, civil rights songs, and their own original compositions.
In over fifty years of performing, Sparky and Rhonda have performed at the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as well as NPR's On Point, Prarie Home Companion, Mountain Stage and Morning Edition. Their recording, Treasures & Tears, was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award, and their music is also included on the Grammy-nominated anthology, Singing Through Hard Times.
photo credit: Pam Zappadino