Music of North Carolina

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Institutions
Asheville Symphony Orchestra
North Carolina Symphony
Western Piedmont Symphony
Organizations
North Carolina Mountain Acoustic Music Association
Venues
Cat's Cradle Coffeehouse
Festivals
Sleazefest
State song "The Old North State"
Topics Music of Chapel Hill - Piedmont blues - Beach music

North Carolina is known particularly for its tradition of old-time music, and many recordings were made in the early 20th century by folk song collector Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Most influentially, North Carolina country musicians like the North Carolina Ramblers helped solidify the sound of country music in the late 1920s, while the influential bluegrass musician Doc Watson also came from North Carolina. Both North and South Carolina are a hotbed for traditional rural blues, especially the style known as the Piedmont blues.

The Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham area has long been a well-known center for rock and punk music. It is a college region, referred to as the Triangle. Bands from this music scene include Flat Duo Jets, Superchunk and Archers of Loaf [1].

Contents

[edit] Piedmont blues

The Piedmont blues is a type of blues music characterized by a unique fingerpicking method on the guitar in which a regular, alternating-thumb bass pattern supports a melody using treble strings. Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen in Wadesboro, N.C., in July 1907) was a popular Piedmont blues guitarist, who played for tips outside tobacco factories in Durham during the 1930s. Fuller recorded more than 120 sides during the second half of the 1930s. South Carolina-born Piedmont blues musician Rev. Gary Davis also played in Durham in the 1930s when the city had a thriving black business community and an emerging Black middle class.

[edit] North Carolina Jazz Musicians

Several notable jazz musicians were originally from North Carolina. In the case of Thelonious Monk, (b. October 10, 1917, Rocky Mount, NC) the North Carolina connection is slight, as Monk's family moved to Manhattan when monk was four. John Coltrane (b. September 23, 1926, Hamlet, NC) spent most of his childhood in High Point, NC, before moving to Philadelphia when he was sixteen. Bebop pioneer Max Roach was born in Newland, North Carolina, but like Monk, moved with his family to New York City when he was four. Other jazz musicians from North Carolina include guitarist Tal Farlow (b. Greensboro, NC, 6/7/21), considered one of the top players during the 1950s. Hard-bop Saxophonists Lou Donaldson (b. Badin, NC, 11/1/26) and Tina Brooks (b. Fayetteville, NC, 6/7/32) were originally North Carolinians. Hard-bop trumpeter Woody Shaw (b. Laurinburg, NC, 12/24/44), pianist Billy Taylor (b. Greenville, NC, 7/24/21), and bassist Percy Heath (b. Wilmington, NC, 4/30/23) were born in the state as well. South Carolinian Dizzy Gillespie grew up just over the state line and attended school at the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. Jazz composer and arranger Billy Strayhorn spent some of his summers in Hillsborough, NC with his grandparents.

[edit] Punk Rock

Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill was a regional center for punk rock, due to its large number of college students. including popular local band Th' Cigaretz. Later hardcore punk bands included No Labels, Colcor, UNICEF, Stillborn Christians, DAMM, Bloodmobile, Subculture, 30 Foot Beast, Mission DC, Stations of the Cross. A Number of Things, and Oral Fixation [2].

At the same time, Charlotte had it's own punk rock scene. With bands like antiseen, Social Savagery from Charlotte, and bands from the local area, such as NRG from Hickory, and Bloodmobile from Statesville, to name a few. The Milestone was the main club for a good period of time, until a boycott began against the club, and it's owner. During this time, shows moved around the Charlotte region, at times at the Yellow Rose, a club off South Blvd, or even people's homes.

[edit] Chapel Hill rock

Chapel Hill's music scene dates back to the 1950s, and really began to take off in the 60s, when the Cat's Cradle Coffeehouse nurtured a local folk scene. One of the first local legends, Arrogance, became a major part of the folk scene [1].

The Chapel Hill rock scene came of age in the 1980s, however, when bands likes Angels of Epistemology led a new wave of bands that came to include the Pressure Boys, Flat Duo Jets and Southern Culture on the Skids.

Formed in the early 1990s, Polvo was considered one of the most important bands in the math rock genre. Its band members have gone on to form other local Chapel Hill groups.

More modern bands include the quirky Squirrel Nut Zippers, the power pop band Ben Folds Five, Archers of Loaf and The Annuals. Heavy metal band Corrosion of Conformity is based out of the Triangle area.

American Idol Chris Daughtry and forming member of Daughtry is from McLeansville, North Carolina.

[edit] References

1. http://toto.lib.unca.edu/sounds/ncjazza-e.html

  1. ^ a b Unterberger, Richie (1999). Music USA: The Rough Guide. The Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-421-X. 
  2. ^ Blush, Steven (2001). American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Feral House. ISBN 0-92291-571-7.