Topics Related to Shaped by Sound

The NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) is pleased to announce that the Come Hear NC Music Office (CHNCMO) is now a part of the North Carolina Arts Council. This marks a fitting return for Come Hear NC, which began as an NCAC initiative during the 2019 “North Carolina Year of Music.” As a longstanding steward of the mission of arts for all citizens, the NC Arts Council represents a perfect home for CHNCMO.

Shaped by Sound is made possible through the support of the Come Hear NC Music Office (CHNCMO), a program of the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The PBS NC original series spotlights North Carolina’s thriving music scene, featuring artists working in a broad range of genres, including indie rock, rap, R&B, country, jazz, bluegrass, folk, and gospel. 

Shaped by Sound is made possible through the support of the Come Hear NC Music Office (CHNCMO), a program of the North Carolina Arts Council, which is a division of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Shaped by Sound­— a PBS NC original series showcasing North Carolina’s thriving music scene—is back. The second season features a bright new lineup of homegrown indie rock, rap, rhythm and blues, country, jazz, bluegrass, folk, and gospel artists. 

On February 6, the premiere episode of Come Hear NC Presents: Shaped by Sound will air on PBS NC, featuring Iron & Wine. The group’s led by singer-songwriter Sam Beam, who has been gently experimenting with folk sounds since the early 2000s. Beam’s Grammy nominated songs have been featured in countless films and television shows.

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Indie rock powerhouses Superchunk are up next for PBS NC's SHAPED BY SOUND, with their episode airing on Thursday, February 20th at 9:30 PM. Over the course of twelve LPs and countless EPs and singles, the band’s mapped out a sound and ethos for alt rock in North Carolina and beyond. Superchunk and Merge Records’ hooky, frenetic form of indie remains influential and vital today.

Winston-Salem’s Sonny Miles has a seemingly effortless ability to blend and mix musics. In a way that harkens back to greats like Stevie Wonder and to contemporaries like Frank Ocean, Miles beautifully weds genres (R&B, hip-hop, jazz and soul to name a few), production styles (lo-, mid- and hi-fidelity, analog and digital), and instrumentation (drum machines and acoustic guitars, live vocals and samples).

Alice Gerrard is this week’s featured artist on SHAPED BY SOUND (Thursday, 3/13). She made four records with Hazel Dickens in 1960s and ‘70s, the first two for Folkways and the second for Rounder. Now considered landmarks of old-time and bluegrass, these LPs have had the natural but distorting effect of downplaying Gerrard’s life and career post Hazel & Alice.