musicreporterblog

Musings on folk, Americana, country, bluegrass and newgrass


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2022 N.C. State Fair Folk Festival features some of state’s top musical talent

The N.C. State Fair has a tradition of featuring some of the state’s most talented artists and this year is no exception.

For 2022, the N.C. State Fair Folk Festival has moved to Heritage Circle next to the historic church. Talented musicians from across North Carolina feature performances ranging from old-time bluegrass music to folk and Americana. 

I am looking forward to hearing some of my personal favorites —
Into the Fog, Big Daddy Love, The Barefoot Movement, Violet Bell, Abigail Dowd — as well as being introduced to new talent such as Sweet Potato Pie, Russ Thompson, Jarrett Raymond and Dawn Landes, among others.

HERITAGE CIRCLE STAGE

 Thursday, October 13
 1 p.m.
3 p.m.
5 p.m.
6:30 p.m.		SPP Sweet Potato Pie All-female bluegrass band blends Americana, country, and gospel into their classic sound 
  Friday, October 14
 10 a.m.
12 p.m.		Russ Russ Thompson Folk and Americana singer-songwriter out of Greensboro  
 4 p.m.
6 p.m.
8 p.m.		BDL Big Daddy Love Winston-Salem’s purveyors of Appalachian rock,
bluegrass, and psychedelic jams 
 Saturday, October 15
 10 a.m.
12 p.m.		Jarrett Jarrett Raymond Wilmington-based folk singer-songwriter
and 1st Place winner at NC Dogwood Festival
 2 p.m.
4 p.m.
6 p.m.
8 p.m.		Ages Past Ages Past “Traditional with a twist” bluegrass from Western NC
 Sunday, October 16
 10 a.m.
12 p.m.		Chris Chris McGinnis Sultry, salty, and deeply rooted folk music out of Morganton, NC 
 2 p.m.
4 p.m.
6 p.m.
8 p.m.		John Jon Shain & F.J. Ventre Blues, jazz, and folk from these gifted Durham scene mainstays 
 Monday, October 17
 11 a.m.
1 p.m.
3 p.m.
5 p.m.
7 p.m.		Sideline Sideline Pickin’ and grinnin’ on these bluegrass classics and original compositions from some of the capital city’s finest 
 Tuesday, October 18
 11 a.m.
1 p.m.
3 p.m.
5 p.m.
7 p.m.		Into the Fog Into The Fog Adventurous genre-jumping newgrass from
Raleigh-by-way-of-Wilmington 
 Wednesday, October 19
 11 a.m.
1 p.m.
3 p.m.
5 p.m.
7 p.m.		Holland The Holland Brothers Old-school country and country-blues from the Piedmont duo
 Thursday, October 20
 11 a.m.
1 p.m.
3 p.m.
5 p.m.
7 p.m.		Barefoot The Barefoot Movement Americana and bluegrass quartet originating from Granville County
 Friday, October 21
 10 a.m.
12 p.m.		David David & Kolby Bluegrass, gospel and country music duo from Greensboro 
 2 p.m.
4 p.m.
6 p.m.
8 p.m.		Violet Violet Bell Delicated progressive folk duo from Chapel Hill 
 Saturday, October 22
 10 a.m.
12 p.m.		Abigail Abigail Dowd Greensboro’s folk singer-songwriter known for her vivid lyrics and unique classical influenced guitar style 
 2 p.m.
4 p.m.
6 p.m.
8 p.m.		Grassomatic  The Grassomatics Bluegrass and more out of the capital city
 Sunday, October 23
 10 a.m.
12 p.m.		Dawn Dawn Landes Folk and Americana-pop songwriting
from the Chapel Hill musician
 2 p.m.
4 p.m.
6 p.m.
8 p.m.		Carolina Line Carolina Line Bluegrass Bluegrass and country straight out of Southport/Oak Island, NC 
   
  


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Free Concert: Cary’s Park After Dark to feature Nik Parr on Sept. 21

Nik Parr photo resized
Nik Parr

Enjoy a fun night out in Downtown Cary with your significant other, a group of friends, or flying solo. Each Park After Dark features unique food from local vendors and entertainment! The concert runs from 7 to 9 p.m. and is free. It will be held on the site of the former library across the street from The Cotton House Craft Brewery.

Nik Parr’s original music is a high-energy piano-driven rock n’ roll endeavor with strong soul, funk and blues influences. Parr’s band is built around his piano playing and singing, with an ear for catchy, danceable and widely appealing new songs. The show is made even more unique, as Nik switches seamlessly from the saxophone to the piano in between singing, working the crowd, and directing his band. 

Food Vendors

Flattz Signature Flat Breads
Sweet Fare Logo
Bond Brothers Brewing Co.

Items Allowed

Outside food and beverages are allowed. Outside alcohol is not allowed.

A limited selection of free, low-level lawn chairs will be available. Personal lawn chairs are allowed.

Parking

Multiple parking areas are available, including the Cary Arts Center (101 Dry Ave.), the downtown parking deck (113 Walnut St.)  and parallel parking along S. Academy St. Please mind all parking signs if parking in private lots.


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Carolina Indie Fest is free on Sept. 23-24

The city of Sanford is hosting Carolina Indie Fest, a FREE two-day, outdoor music festival, on Sept. 23-24.

Sanford is a bit to the southwest of the Triangle, but it’s close enough to make a very easy day trip. It’s a 45-minute or so drive from Raleigh, a 30-minute drive from Apex, and a 20-minute drive from Pittsboro.

Food trucks and local arts and crafts vendors will be on site as well.

The festival takes place from 5 to 10 p.m. on Friday and from 3 to 10 p.m. on Saturday.

The music will take place on a single stage in the lot behind Hugger Mugger Brewing, 229 Wicker St.

Carolina Indie Fest features 10 diverse performances:

Friday

  • Secret Monkey Weekend
  • Mike Dillon & Punkadelick
  • Big Break
  • Cliff Wheeler Band

Saturday

  • Whoop
  • David Childers and the Serpents
  • Oort Patrol
  • Paleface
  • The Phantom Playboys
  • Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands


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Creedmoor Music Festival celebrates 29 years of music and much more

GrassStreet

Twenty-nine years. That’s how long the annual Creedmoor Music Festival has been bringing folks together. Wayne Kinton, founding member of bluegrass band GrassStreet, remembers when the event started on a resident’s front porch. Kinton’s band was one of eight musical groups performing on two stages during Saturday’s festival held on Main Street. 

Those humble beginnings have grown into a full-blown festival attracting a variety of genres including blues, R&B, soul, country and original rock.

The weather cooperated to help visitors and more than 100 vendors and local businesses that lined packed streets. The festivities included a car show. And food. Hot dogs and hamburgers. BBQ. Giant turkey legs. Thai curry. Pizza. And the ubiquitous funnel cakes.  

Trey Snide, owner and on-air personality at Granville County’s Next Door Radio, served as guest emcee welcoming bands to their respective stages.

“We have a great mix of music and we’re thrilled to be back after missing the past two years due to Covid,” Snide said. 

One of the bands, Bellflower, played the festival for the first time. The five-piece rock band from Chapel Hill performs all original songs, some of which include a pocket trumpet played by Sam Davis-Castro.

“We’re thrilled to have this opportunity to share our music here,” said Franklin Bellflower, band founder and leader. “I love festivals because they allow us to expose our unique sound to a wide variety of people, who otherwise might never get to hear us play.”

But back to Kinton, who has been involved with the Creedmoor Music Festival since its inception. GrassStreet plays contemporary tunes based on traditional stylings, a mixture of bluegrass standards and original compositions. The current group is a derivative of the band Swift Run which has performed regionally since the early ’80s. 

A Henderson native, Kinton plays a 1951 Martin D-18 on stage. On Saturday, GrassStreet played a mix of gospel and classic rock songs — from Hank Williams to Bob Seger.

Kinton praised the Creedmoor Music Festival and its organizers for making sure the show has gone on all these years.

“This festival has hung with it and they built on what they had,” he explained. “They had competent and able help, they had a large volunteer pool, and they were very well organized. This festival is unusual because it is still here and it is thriving.”

Here’s a video clip of GrassStreet’s performance: https://www.facebook.com/wayne.kinton/videos/425032206283931

Read original story at https://restorationnewsmedia.com/articles/local-news-butnercreedmoor/creedmoor-music-festival-celebrates-29-years-of-music-and-much-more/


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Free Creedmoor Music Festival set for Sept. 17

The 29th annual Creedmoor Music Festival will be held on from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on SATURDAY, SEPT. 17, 2022. 

The 2022 Creedmoor Music Festival is dedicated in memory of Mrs. Merle Edwards. Mrs. Edwards was one of the original founding members of the festival in 1992.

Main Street Creedmoor will be closed to vehicular traffic starting at 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. from W. Lyon Street to Park Avenue for the safety of festival attendees.

For more information, visit creedmoor.org/departments/recreation/events/creedmoor-music-festival.


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Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival set for Oct. 6-9

The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance is a collaboration between the Shakori Hills Community Arts Center and Donna the Buffalo’s GrassRoots Festival Organization, providing a family-friendly celebration of music, dance, art and education.

The Shakori Hills Community Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Make a donation to the SHCAC! The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival Organization is also a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit. Find out more about the GrassRoots Family.

For tickets and more information, visit this link https://www.shakorihillsgrassroots.org/

About Donna the Buffalo

A friend and fellow musician suggested the band name of “Dawn of the Buffalo,” which was misheard as “Donna the Buffalo.” The name stuck, and a couple years later in 1991, Jeb Puryear started the GrasssRoots Festival along with Donna the Buffalo, his family and everyone else that he knew.

Now almost 30 years later, Donna the Buffalo tours regularly and hosts multiple GrassRoots festivals. Their devoted fans, The Herd, are a self-organized “tribe” of people who met at the group’s shows and travel to see them.


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Carolina in the Fall Music and Food Festival returns to Wilkesboro Sept. 23-24

I call it the mini-MerleFest. After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, I’m excited to announce Carolina in the Fall Music and Food Festival, presented by Window World, is set to return on Sept. 23-24, 2022, to Wilkesboro.

Organizers say significant changes have been made for this year’s festival including a new presenting sponsor, Window World, which also sponsors MerleFest.

“We have been blessed with great local support for the festival from the very beginning and that tradition continues as Window World has taken over the role of the presenting sponsor for Carolina in the Fall”, said Dale Isom, festival organizer, on the event website. “We are very thankful for all of our sponsors over the years and their desire to provide excellent entertainment to our community”. 

Additionally, this year’s festival will be held entirely in the Carolina West Wireless Community Commons in Historic Downtown Wilkesboro. 

“Probably the biggest change to the festival is that it will be free to those that want to attend free”, Isom added. “We will sell a limited number of Reserved Seats to help fund the festival and the rest is free to the public”. 

The goal from the very beginning was to present a free festival, said Jens Kruger, of the festival’s host band, The Kruger Brothers, who call Wilkesboro home. “It just took us a while to figure out how to do it. We are excited to offer an amazing weekend of free music to our community and those that will visit Wilkesboro.”

The festival begins on Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday’s festivities will begin at noon.

“We are very excited about the bands we have lined up for this year’s festival,” said Festival Director Michelle Isom on the website. “We have worked very hard to bring excellent talent to Wilkesboro just as we have in our previous years. As always, we focus on bringing bands from North Carolina as this festival is a celebration of our musical roots. We are thankful to have the Kruger Brothers back as our host band and this year they are bringing a very special surprise for our audiences”. 

For more information and the full lineup, visit www.carolinainthefall.org. 

Famous for an amazing selection of food trucks, Carolina in the Fall will be bringing some of western North Carolina’s best trucks to feed their audiences. The festival will also have a limited number of vendor tents. The festivities will include the Annual Chad Lovette Memorial Run to benefit the American Cancer Society. Festival beer and wine sales will be handled by the Wilkes Heritage Museum with all proceeds going to benefit the museum.

Carolina in the Fall Music and Food Festival is a production of Heart of Folk, LLC along with the Town of Wilkesboro and The Kruger Brothers.


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Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival celebrates 10th anniversary with Kruger Brothers, Junior Sisk

The Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival was started in 2011 by the Camp’s Board of Directors as a fundraiser for the Camp’s scholarship and capital development funds. According to organizers, it has achieved that goal, operating in the black every year thanks to careful planning and generous stewardship of the festival’s sponsors, organizational team, and volunteers.

This year’s festival set for Saturday, Sept. 10, will feature The Kruger Brothers, the Junior Sisk Band, the Carly Arrowood Band and Big Ron Hunter.

The festival has also become a way to introduce a larger community to the Camp, and to bring Camp friends and family together for a special annual event.

In 2019, Carolina Country magazine readers voted Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival the winner of the inaugural “Carolina’s Finest” award for the Best Festival in the state of North Carolina! In 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic and state restrictions prohibited us from holding the festival. We were more grateful than ever to gather together in 2021, and again, we were blessed to win the Carolina Country “Carolina’s Finest” award for Best Festival.

Each year, we pray for a “successful” festival as our Heavenly Father would define success!

For tickets and more information, visit https://www.cbcbluegrass.com/