Topics Related to Come Hear NC

Since 1989, the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Arts Council, has honored dozens of folk artists with the North Carolina Heritage Award. Throughout 2019, we will highlight the eminent musicians honored with the award. Today, we republish the official N.C. Heritage Award profile of the Wilson Brothers, a gospel duo from the western part of the state who received the award in 1998.

Back home in Puerto Rico in the early 1990s, I used to listen to a jazz radio show called “En Clave de Jazz” where the DJ played music by artists such as Tito Puente, Cal Tjader and Bobby Hutcherson. It was through that program that I discover the marimba! At the time, I had no idea what that instrument was or where I could learn it but I immediately felt in love with its sound.  Then in 1994, I started taking marimba lessons at the Escuela Libre de Música in Caguas, Puerto Rico; from there I went to the Puerto Rico Music Conservatory and eventually to the University of North Texas.

Story From our Friends at the Blue Ridge Music Trails

If there were such a thing as an academic rock star, Duke University’s Mark Anthony Neal would be one. Neal is a professor, hip-hop scholar, and author, who is a highly-sought after cultural critic.

Walker Calhoun was a Cherokee musician, dancer, and teacher. During his lifetime, he was honored for his work with the inaugural Sequoyah Award (1988), a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award (1990) and a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (1992). In celebration of National Native American Heritage Month, we are proud to share a revised version of his biography that was written for the 1990 North Carolina Folk Heritage Award Ceremony. We are grateful for his service to this state and his people. 


 

On the eve of New Year’ Eve, we wanted to share a story from the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina guidebook about a famous outlaw memorialized in song. Enjoy below.

On New Year’s Eve in 1930, one of North Carolina’s most famous outlaws was killed in a barrage of gunfire. Otto Wood was born in the Dellaplane community of Wilkes County. He spent most of his short life traveling across the country as a bootlegger, a bandit, and a fugitive. As the song would later say, “He loved the women, he hated the law and he just wouldn’t take nobody’s jaw.” 

This text appeared originally on Medium.com as part of the series "Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem in the Old North State." See the whole post with sources here.Story by Mike Coffey of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Archives and History Office. The Ballad of Naomi Wise

 John Coltrane, the master of the saxophone, was born September 23, 1926 to John R. and Alice Blair Coltrane, in Hamlet, North Carolina, in the rural, red clay farming region near the South Carolina state line. His grandfather was Reverend William Coltrane, a prominent African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) minister in Hamlet. 

Lauded as one of the most formidable guitarists and vocalists in music today, Warren Haynes is a prolific songwriter and producer known for genre-blending, his work with three of the greatest live groups in rock history – Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule and the Dead – and an ongoing acclaimed career as a solo artist. Haynes grew up in Asheville, N.C. and lives there today. An internationally beloved musician, his artistry has led to thousands of memorable performances, multiple GRAMMY nominations, and millions of album and track sales.

The gospel singer, historian, and educator has a voice and a presence that demand attention. Williams captured the hearts and minds of people across our state and region who’ve witnessed her chronicle the history of the Civil Rights movement through song.Born and raised in Garner, N.C., Williams grew up spending summer with her grandparents in Smithfield, N.C. Music was an integral part of her daily life – her father was a quartet singer and her grandmother was always singing.