Nina Simone sings the gospel standard “Oh Happy Day” in this rare 1970s live recording. A prodigious pianist, composer, singer and civil rights activist, Simone was born in the small town of Tryon, North Carolina in Polk County, 20 miles southeast of Hendersonville. The sixth of eight children (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon), she was a […]
It’s been a while since we offered up a Music Post, an occasional tradition around here on Sundays. But with the encouraging news that the six lawmakers who are negotiating the state budget (i.e. the “big” House and Senate appropriations chairs) have made some significant progress this weekend, we were inspired to present this interpretive dance video of the […]
Governor Pat McCrory announced today that eight North Carolina artists will receive the North Carolina Heritage Award for their outstanding contributions to our state’s cultural heritage. The 2016 North Carolina Heritage Award recipients are Maceo Parker, internationally-recognized funk, jazz and rhythm and blues musician (Kinston, Lenoir County); Sheila Kay Adams, a seventh-generation ballad singer, storyteller, and musician […]
Legislators return to Raleigh tomorrow (and many, including Representative McGrady, this evening) to continue their important work — after a week back at home meeting with constituents, attending events, and spending needed time with family. To mark their auspicious return, tonight (as is our occasional musical tradition around here on Sundays) we’re pleased to present “Redeye […]
– Happy Birthday Roberta Flack:
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/TmD16eSy-Mg” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] On this, the final Sunday of 2014, we bring you jazz legend and North Carolina native John Coltrane. It was fifty years ago this month that Coltrane recorded what many consider the greatest jazz albums of all time, A Love Supreme. Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North […]
There is simply no place more beautiful at Christmastime than the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Among the many holiday traditions there is the annual tree raising inside the mansion’s spectacular banquet hall. And this year, like every other, the tree at the center of it all is an enormous Fraser Fir — the official Christmas […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/myjiTvVuTAY” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] This morning we’re treated to the UNC Clef Hangers and their host David Venable performing the holiday classic “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” The talented lads appeared earlier this month on Mr. Venable’s In the Kitchen with David, the QVC network’s most-watched show. Mr. Venable is himself a UNC alumnus […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/nFiWEprPkGY” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] With Thanksgiving Day over and the leftovers nearly gone, this morning we’re treated to Bruce Johnson and his two sons, Kenny and Alan, playing “Turkey in the Straw” at the Old Hampton Store in the beautiful town of Linville, North Carolina — home to Grandfather Mountain and the […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/sZYjc57V55U” width=”590″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] Fifty-six years ago this week, The Kingston Trio had the number-one hit in the nation with their rendition of “Tom Dooley,” an old Civil War era ballad. It went gold the same year, and with it, the folk music revival reached its peak of popularity. The song […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/dpbE-CplR9s” width=”590″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] In this charming home video, renowned bluesman George Higgs reminds us that there’s always “two sides to every story.” Mr. Higgs hailed from Speed, North Carolina, a small town about an hour east of Raleigh in Edgecombe County. “It’s a slow town with fast name,” he liked to say. Mr. […]
Today’s Sunday Morning Music selection celebrates the beauty of Autumn. Without a doubt, North Carolina is one of the best places in the entire world to see the brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows of the changing leaves. This is the Autumn movement from Dan Locklair’s “Symphony of Seasons” commissioned in part by The North Carolina […]
Jazz great Thelonius Monk was born on October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. This weekend marks what would have been the legendary pianist and composer’s 97th birthday. Monk passed away in 1982. From This Day in North Carolina History: Monk’s style was original and unorthodox, incorporating elements of stride piano and gospel to […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/bRh_il6moC8?list=PLqeFjgajl947dUx1_hjkwLdQEt8NBn6mI” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] As summer comes to a close, we put policy and politics aside for a moment to remember that there’s more that unites us as a state, despite whatever differences we may have, than could ever divide us. And given that North Carolina has no shortage of musical […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/aZjR8L81yQk” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] Oh, say, can you see — by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/so3jQKdC00A” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] The time’s always right for some Southern comfort food, and so today we celebrate the life of the beloved North Carolina Blues singer Algia Mae Hinton with her delicious little ditty “Lima Beans.” Algia Mae was born in Johnston County on August 29, 1929 and she celebrated […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/YbQa-SsjD0A” width=”590″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] Legislators tried their best last week to wrap-up the work of the 2014 session, including when and under what conditions they would finally adjourn for the year. They’ll return next week to try again. With that in mind, we offer up words of wisdom from North Carolina’s […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/iSkKst_N4VE” width=”590″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] Speaker of the House Thom Tillis and Senate President Pro-Tem Phil Berger both announced on Twitter last night that a budget deal has finally been worked out between the House and Senate. WRAL’s Mark Binker reports that “the $21 billion spending plan will provide slightly more than a […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/RkgoxPWSDGc” width=”590″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] Last night opened the 48th season of Shindig on the Green, Buncombe County’s beloved summer celebration of the musical heritage and mountain culture of Western North Carolina. This morning we feature the Stoney Creek Boys, the official house band of Shindig for the last 40 years. The band […]
To celebrate the arrival of summer this weekend, today we feature the amazing Billy Stewart with his highly distinctive rendition of the jazz standard “Summertime,” the first single released from his 1966 album Unbelievable. The song was originally composed by George and Ira Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy & Bess and has been recorded more […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/GI4tq0A-s18″ width=”590″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] We mark Father’s Day this morning with the beloved Donna Fargo singing her 1969 song “Daddy” in this, her first-ever television appearance. Ms. Fargo, a native of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, is an award-winning singer and songwriter who has the distinction of being the first woman in […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/Oxuz0JgGwVo” width=”590″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] 176 performs “Enjoy The Ride” from their debut album of the same name. 176, an original rock band from Tryon, features Ian Harrod (bass and vocals), Rich Nelson (guitar, keyboards and vocals), and Robbie Johnson (drums and vocals). Filmmaker Erik Olsen produced the music video. 176 is […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/39F65-KmQ5M” width=”590″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] To mark the beginning of the third full week of the General Assembly’s busy short session, today we feature the 1960s dance-craze tune “The Loco-Motion,” performed by North Carolina’s own Eva Boyd. Just 19 years old and a babysitter when she first recorded the song for the […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/vSfPCVeRnA4″ width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] In this charming home video from the Music Maker Relief Foundation, Etta Baker strums an old tune her mother used to play for her on the harmonica. Etta Baker is perhaps one of the most well-loved women Blues performers of the last century — and over the course […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/KtKXc_v2iLE” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] Today we mark the birthday of country music star and North Carolina native Randy Travis. Thank you to the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources for providing the following article, which was cross-posted from their informative website This Day in North Carolina History. Follow them on Twitter @NCHistoryToday. Randy Travis and His […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/27Aljv0KpzQ” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] The legendary bluegrass banjo player Earl Scruggs performs “The Black Mountain Rag.” Mr. Scruggs started playing the banjo at the age of 4, and by the age of just 10 he had already developed his own unique three-fingered technique, later known as “Scruggs-Style Picking.” His name has become […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/pYBE-snfj1w” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] Nina Simone sings the gospel standard “Oh Happy Day” in this rare 1970s live recording. A prodigious pianist, composer, singer and civil rights activist, Simone was born in the small town of Tryon, North Carolina in Polk County, 20 miles southeast of Hendersonville. The sixth of eight […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B75BPO8t7CQ” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] John Parker performs Alexander Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto in A-flat Major with the University of North Carolina Symphony Orchestra. Under the direction of Tonu Kalam, the 100-member ensemble was also the First Place Winner of the 2012 American Prize in Orchestral Performance. Mr. Parker, who just graduated from […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/qyQOCJ4SUSk” width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″] The legendary Doc Watson sings “Deep River Blues.” Blind since early childhood, Watson went on to become one of our nation’s preeminent folk and country performers, winning seven Grammy Awards over the course of his long career. Watson was a native of Deep Gap, North Carolina, ten […]
[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCXVxE_YeP4″ width=”580″ modestbranding=”1″ autohide=”1″ fs=”1″ border=”1″ hd=”1″]