Topics Related to Arts Across NC

On Tuesday May 28th, Mandolin Orange played a special set at the North Carolina Executive Mansion in Raleigh to help usher in a partnership between Come Hear North Carolina and the Americana Music Association (AMA). Governor Roy Cooper and First Lady Kristin Cooper hosted musicians, AMA members, and press to celebrate all that North Carolina has given to the world of music, and Mandolin Orange provided the perfect soundtrack to the occasion.

Photo Credit: Allison Lee Isley/Winston Salem JournalWinston-Salem native Margaret Vardell Sandresky, now 97, continues to play and compose music, following in the footsteps of her grandmother Linda Rumple Vardell, who founded the Conservatory of Music at Flora MacDonald College in Robeson County.

Activism and music go hand and hand for Laila Nur, a founding member of The Muslims, a black/brown/queer punk band from Durham, North Carolina.  Born in Brooklyn, New York, Laila Nur moved south after her family was priced out of the big city. Discrimination and gentrification are realities Laila understands as a queer, black, Muslim woman with working class roots. In the tradition of punk music, Laila and The Muslims channel anger, joy, and hope through the music they make about the place and time in which they live.

Alice Gerrard | Photo by Irene Young.Alice Gerrard is a living legend. A musician, writer, and traditional music advocate, Alice is known for her work with Appalachian singer Hazel Dickens and has appeared on recordings with the likes of Tommy Jarrell and Matokie Slaughter. She performed a song written by her grandson at the 2018 kick-off of the Oxford American's North Carolina Music Issue.

Alexis Raeana | Photo by Sandra Davidson.

In November 2018 the Oxford American launched its North Carolina Music Issue with a series of concerts across the state. In this video, North Carolina Heritage Award Recipient Sister Lena Mae Perry leads a group of musicians from Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill in a rousing rendition of "This Little Light of Mine," at the Fletcher Opera House in Raleigh. Performers include: Sister Lena Mae Perry, Tift Merritt, H.C. McEntire, M.C. Taylor, Chatham County Line, Brian Horton, Phil Cook, Big Ron Hunter, Alice Gerrard and Brevan Hampden.

NEW PODCAST EPISODE!Etta Baker is one of North Carolina’s most famous Piedmont blues guitarists. Born in Caldwell County, she started learning guitar from her father when she was three. Her masterful, emotive pickin’ first appeared in 1956 on the album Instrumental Music from the Southern Appalachians, but it took 35 years before her next recording - and first solo record - One Dime Blues appeared. That album arose from many years of recording sessions produced by Wayne Martin, our host of “Director’s Cut.”

Caroline Shaw masterfully stitches together sound, ideas, and genres.

To understand the evolving impact of COVID-19 on the state’s arts network, the North Carolina Arts Council sent a survey to all 2021-22 grantees. We asked many quantitative questions and were also interested in learning about the less measurable aspects of COVID-19’s effect on how organizations do their work. We received 200 survey responses, with many organizations indicating they had a unique story to share about unexpected opportunities or innovations that arose from the pandemic.

To understand the evolving impact of COVID-19 on the state’s arts network, the North Carolina Arts Council sent a survey to all 2021-22 grantees. We asked many quantitative questions and were also interested in learning about the less measurable aspects of COVID-19’s effect on how organizations do their work. We received 200 survey responses, with many organizations indicating they had a unique story to share about unexpected opportunities or innovations that arose from the pandemic.