Music

by Silverstein, Barrett A. Have you ever heard the phrase “the roaring twenties?” Also known as the Jazz Age, the decade of the 1920s featured economic prosperity and carefree living for many. The decade began with a roar and [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by . African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina: Kinston Area by the North Carolina Arts Council. Originally published in African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina, [...] (from North Carolina Arts Council.)

by Morton, Hugh M. Arthur Smith and the Crackerjacks posing with instruments at "Singing on the Mountain" gospel festival, Grandfather Mountain, NC. Left to Right: Ralph Smith (accordion), Sonny Smith (guitar), Arthur [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Freeman, Margery. Balinese gamelan musicians perform Balinese gamelan musicians perform, as seen from the rear side of the orchestra. Two men, wearing red pants, long-sleeved blue shirts, and red and gold embroidered [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Mitchell, Thornton W. Thomas C. Dula was born in Wilkes County on 20 June 1844, the son of Mary Dula. In 1862 he enlisted in the 42nd Regiment, North Carolina Infantry, as a private. Dula was captured at Kinston and was a [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Close-up of a statue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, showing a hand playing a banjo. The statue pays tribute to Stephen Foster, who penned many classic American songs, including "Oh, Susanna" and [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Morton, Hugh M. This black and white photograph shows a musical performance by Bascom Lamar Lunsford (left) and George Pegram (right), both playing banjo, at "Singing on the Mountain" gospel festival, Grandfather [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . A monument to the late local bluesman Blind Boy Fuller stands on the American Tobacco Trail in Durham, North Carolina. The monument reads: Blind Boy Fuller 1907-1941 (aka Fulton Allen) Most [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Simpson, Bland, Menius, Arthur C., III. Whether lightning-paced and exuberant or slow and mournful, the songs of bluegrass music are immediately recognizable by their tight vocal harmonies; precisely arranged string band instrumentation [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Holden, Charles J., Baker, Bruce E. North Carolina boasts significant contributions to the musical tradition known as the blues. Throughout its formative decades, the blues was the music of solo artists rather than groups, with the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (V-Disc)A 78-rpm "V Disc" produced by the U.S. Government to entertain troops during World War II features "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," sung by the Andrews [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by Patteson, Angelyn H. Brevard Music Center, often called the "Summer Music Capital of the South," is the site of an annual festival featuring musicals, operas, symphonies, and choral programs that attracts thousands of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Chautauqua was an adult educational program established in 1874 by leaders of the Methodist Episcopal church on the shores of Lake Chautauqua, N.Y. From this base, programs spread to many parts of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J., Foote, Margaret, Boyer, Miriam, Sherwood, Mary Bates. Classical Music by Margaret Foote and Wiley J. Williams, 2006 Additional research provided by Miriam Boyer and Mary Bates Sherwood. See also: Brevard Music Center; Eastern Music [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Michael. Cotten, Elizabeth Nevills [Libba] By Michael Hill Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History, [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Baker, Bruce E., Stephenson, Shelby. Country music is a distinctively American form of popular music based on traditional, southern, Anglo-American folk music and influenced to some extent by the blues. North Carolinians played a [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Morton, Hugh M. Donald MacDonald's Highland FlingDonald MacDonald dancing the Highland Fling while a girl plays accordion at first Highland Games in 1956 near Grandfather Mountain, [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Troxler, Carole W. Dulcimer by Carole Watterson Troxler, 2006 Settlement schools in the southern Appalachian Mountains at the start of the twentieth century nurtured elements of mountain culture they believed [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Jeaneane. The Eastern Music Festival (EMF), established on the Guilford College campus in Greensboro in 1962, is one of the most acclaimed music educational camps and festivals in the United States. Originally [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . El festival internacional oficial Extraído de Libro de hechos de El Viejo Estado del Norte. La propiedad literaria 2011 por la Oficina de [...] (from NC Office of Archives and History.)

by . Fiddle player Benton FlippenFiddler Benton Flippen holds his fiddle, standing in front of a case full of trophies. Flippen was born and raised in Surry County, North Carolina, and has played [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . Cover of a sheet music folio entitled "Songs of the Jubilee Singers from Fisk University." The Fisk Jubilee Singers were a group of African American singers at Fisk University in Tennessee who sang [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Troxler, Carole W., Williams, Wiley J., Baker, Bruce E. Folk Music by Bruce E. Baker and Carole Watterson Troxler, 2006 Additional research provided by Wiley J. Williams. See also:"Ballad of Tom Dooley"; Mountain Dance and Folk Festival; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, Carole W., Williams, Wiley J., Baker, Bruce E. Folk Music by Bruce E. Baker and Carole Watterson Troxler, 2006; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, July 2023 Additional research provided by Wiley J. Williams. See [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, Carole W., Williams, Wiley J., Baker, Bruce E. Folk Music by Bruce E. Baker and Carole Watterson Troxler, 2006 Additional research provided by Wiley J. Williams. See also:"Ballad of Tom Dooley"; Mountain Dance and Folk Festival; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, Carole W., Williams, Wiley J., Baker, Bruce E. Folk Music by Bruce E. Baker and Carole Watterson Troxler, 2006 Additional research provided by Wiley J. Williams. See also:"Ballad of Tom Dooley"; Mountain Dance and Folk Festival; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . In the early 1970s, a one-of-a-kind artist lived near Elm City—the blues guitarist, singer, and musical storyteller John Henry Fortescue. Known as Guitar Shorty, Fortescue—who was originally from [...] (from North Carolina Arts Council.)

by . Newspaper article in the Lenoir Topic, March 24, 1886. This article contains the lyrics to a song known as "The Ballad of Frankie Silver" that was sung in the mountains of North Carolina well into [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . Geneva Perry: From the International Sweethearts of Rhythm to Adkin High by the North Carolina Arts Council. Originally published in African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina, [...] (from North Carolina Arts Council.)

by . Gid TannerColor has been added to this black-and-white photograph of Gid Tanner holding a fiddle. Tanner achieved fame as an old-time fiddler with his band, the Skillet Lickers, in the 1920s and [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . The Golden Gate Quartet is widely considered to be the most successful African American jubilee quartet. The group started in Norfolk, Virginia, and by 1936 appeared regularly on WBT Charlotte. They [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by Williams, Wiley J., Foote, Margaret, Kobrin, Lisa Brantley. Gospel music, in both its African American and white traditions, is a very popular and influential musical form in North Carolina. The term "gospel" usually refers to a style of religious music [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wells, Mike "Lightnin'". For more than sixty years, George Higgs, of Tarboro in Edgecombe County, has been playing and singing the blues in his community and in places as far away as Australia and Switzerland—carrying on a [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Eckard, Max. The Triangle region of North Carolina, anchored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, Duke University and North Carolina Central University, is a [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Foote, Margaret. The singing of hymns has long been an integral part of the lives of many North Carolinians. During the colonial period, two denominations, the Anglicans and the Moravians, brought distinctive [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . In 1942, popular band leader Glenn Miller convinced the Army to accept him and put him in charge of a band that could entertain the troops. After D-Day, Miller's American Band of the Allied [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by . James Brown Band: "Almost Like a Kinston Band" by the North Carolina Arts Council. Originally published in African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina, copyright 2013. Republished [...] (from North Carolina Arts Council.)

by Conway, Cecelia. Benjamin Franklin Jarrell, musician, was raised in Surry County on the southern slope of the Blue Ridge, the son of Rufus A. and Susan Turney Jarrell. According to his father, the Scot-Irish family [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Conway, Cecelia. Thomas Jefferson Jarrell, musician, born and raised near Round Peak in Surry County, was the oldest child of Benjamin Franklin and Susan Letisha Amburn Jarrell. He was an exceptional instrumentalist, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cordle, Owen. Although the blues captivated many North Carolinians earlier than jazz did, the state nevertheless produced a long and impressive list of jazz musicians throughout the twentieth century. The scarcity [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Jim Crow JubileeSheet music cover illustration with caricatures of ragged African American musicians and [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Morton, Hugh M. Joe L. Hartley Sr., "Singing on the Mountain" gospel festival founder, holding a hat and bible, standing in front of a homemade "Singing on the Mountain" sign at the edge of the festival grounds at [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Lunk, Daniel. John Dee Holeman — Tobacco Harvest FestivalRenowned Piedmont blues artist John Dee Holeman performs “I Feel So Good” at the 2009 Tobacco Harvest and Hornworm Arts Festival at Duke Homestead in [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by Steelman, Bennett L. John Kuners (also known as John Kooners, John Canoes, Junkanoes, or Jonkonnu) were troupes of slaves and free blacks, brightly dressed and often masked, who sang and danced on Christmas and New [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Kinston's Tobacco Warehouses: Music Venues and Dance Halls by the North Carolina Arts Council.  Originally published in African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina, copyright [...] (from North Carolina Arts Council.)

by . Extraído de Libro de hechos de El Viejo Estado del Norte. La propiedad literaria 2011 por la Oficina de Archivos e Historia de Carolina del Norte, Departamento de Recursos Culturale de [...] (from NC Office of Archives and History.)

by . Extraído de Libro de hechos de El Viejo Estado del Norte. La propiedad literaria 2011 por la Oficina de Archivos e Historia de Carolina del Norte, Departamento de Recursos Culturale de [...] (from NC Office of Archives and History.)

by . Maceo and Melvin Parker: Early Influences by the North Carolina Arts Council. Originally published in African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina, copyright 2013. Republished with [...] (from North Carolina Arts Council.)

by Freeman, Margery. Man playing flute at Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, IndiaIn Jodhpur, India, a man sits on a concrete wall at Mehrangarh Fort, playing a flute. The man wears the traditional dress of the Indian state of [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Menius, Arthur C., III. Medicine Shows by Arthur Menius, 2006 See also: Crazy Water Crystals; Patent Medicines; Country Music Medicine shows, from roughly the end of the Civil War through the 1940s, provided a [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Freeman, Margery. Men's marching band playing for funeralA men's marching band plays for a funeral procession. All the musicians wear blue shirts, red headscarves, red woven sarong, and black-and-white checked cloths [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Foote, Margaret, Kress, Kelly. The Menhaden Chanteymen are a group of retired African American fishermen who previously worked off the coast near Beaufort. The group, during their working years, used singing to synchronize the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McFee, Philip. MerleFest, a huge American roots and folk music festival that yearly draws nearly 80,000 people to Wilkes Community College and its surrounding area, stands as a musical homage to its namesake, the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hutcheson, John A., Jr. Moravian music is one of North Carolina's most striking and significant contributions to the heritage of the fine arts in the United States. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Baker, Bruce E. Asheville since 1928. That year, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, a passionate lover of mountain music and culture and an active collector of folk music, organized a contest for musicians and dancers in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Silverstein, Barrett A. Music History from Colonization to the 1920s "America's Music in the 1920s" by Barrett A. Silverstein Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian. Spring 2004. Tar Heel [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Sherwood, Mary Bates. The North Carolina Symphony had its origins in Chapel Hill as a work relief project as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal agencies in 1932. The first conductor was Lamar Stringfield, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Simpson, Bland, Menius, Arthur C., III, Kress, Kelly, Hicks, William. Old-Time String Band Music by Bland Simpson and William Hicks, 2006 Additional research provided by Kelly Kress and Art Menius. See also: Bluegrass Music; Country Music; Square [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wilson, Paul F. From the mid-1870s until World War I, any building used for presenting entertainment on stage was popularly called an "opera house." The term was something of a euphemism: despite the popularity of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Johnson, K. Todd. Moravians first brought the organ into North Carolina for use in worship services. Joseph Ferdinand Bulitschek, a Salem cabinetmaker and millwright, built two early organs for Moravian congregations [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Over There Lyrics by George M. Cohan; sung by Billy Murray, [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by . Over There (sheet music)The cover for sheet music to "Over There" by George M. Cohan, published by William Jerome Publishing Corp. in [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . Beverly Perdue is the first woman elected Governor of North Carolina in 2008. She was elected as the state’s first female Lieutenant Governor from 2000 to 2008. And she was elected to the General [...] (from North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.)

by Cauble, Frank P. John Frederick Peter, musician, composer, teacher, and minister, was born of German parents in Heerendyck, Holland, where his father, John Frederick Peter, was a Moravian pastor. His mother was [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Fick, Virginia Gunn. Pianos were ubiquitous in North Carolina homes, churches, and schools from the late eighteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century. By the late 1700s, pianos were imported to America by [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Warner, Anne. Frank Noah Proffitt, farmer, craftsman, and singer of traditional songs, was born in Laurel Bloomery, Tenn., the son of Wiley and Rebecca Alice Creed Proffitt. His paternal grandparents, John and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wells, Mike "Lightnin'". Recording Industry - Part 1: Introduction; Recording Industry - Part 2: North Carolina Recording Pioneers; Recording Industry - Part 3: Independent Labels Find Success; Recording Industry - Part 4: [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wells, Mike "Lightnin'". Recording Industry - Part 1: Introduction; Recording Industry - Part 2: North Carolina Recording Pioneers; Recording Industry - Part 3: Independent Labels Find Success; Recording Industry - Part 4: [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wells, Mike "Lightnin'". Recording Industry - Part 1: Introduction; Recording Industry - Part 2: North Carolina Recording Pioneers; Recording Industry - Part 3: Independent Labels Find Success; Recording Industry - Part 4: [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Recording Industry - Part 1: Introduction; Recording Industry - Part 2: North Carolina Recording Pioneers; Recording Industry - Part 3: Independent Labels Find Success; Recording Industry - Part 4: [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Recording Industry - Part 1: Introduction; Recording Industry - Part 2: North Carolina Recording Pioneers; Recording Industry - Part 3: Independent Labels Find Success; Recording Industry - Part 4: [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Ola Belle Reed was born in 1915 at Grassy Creek in Ashe County, N.C., located in the New River Valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina, to Arthur Harrison Campbell and Ella Mae [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by . Revival hymnRevival hymnFour-part notation for "Judgment [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Menconi, David. Rock music in North Carolina has always been marked by a "do-it-yourself" streak-meaning that some of the state's most notable musicians have practiced their craft while holding down day jobs. In [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Michael. Rouse, Ervin T. 19 Sept. 1917-3 July 1981 by Michael Hill, Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History, [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Morton, Hugh M. From UNC: "Group of men and women by campfire with Roy Clark (at left, in cowboy hat) at taping of Oral Roberts' 1976 television special directed by Jerry Lewis, at "Singing on the Mountain" gospel [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Kress, Kelly. The Sawtooth Center for Visual Art, an arts education facility located in downtown Winston-Salem in a renovated 1910 textile mill with a distinctive jagged roofline, serves the Triad community [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Morton, Hugh M. Scottish Pipe Band on the rocksScottish pipe band on a rocky outcropping at Grandfather Mountain, NC for the Highland [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Foote, Margaret. Shape-Note Singing by Margaret Foote, 2006 Shape-note singing is a form of American choral music developed in the early nineteenth century and still sung in sections of the southeastern [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Morton, Hugh M. Singing on the Mountain Crowds gathered at "Singing on the Mountain, " watching a musical group perform on a [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Case, Steven, Kemp, Amy. State Song of North Carolina: "The Old North State" by Steven Case and Amy Kemp, 2017. NC Government & Heritage Library. See [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . In just ten years, WBT was transformed from a tiny backyard operation to one of the Southeast’s most important radio stations. This booklet, published as a souvenir of a regular program, shows the [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . Benjamin Franklin Swalin led the North Carolina Symphony for 33 years, from 1939 to 1972, revitalizing and expanding the project that Lamar Stringfield had started under the WPA. In 1945, Swalin's [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by . Maxine Swalin, with her husband Dr. Benjamin F. Swalin, revived a floundering North Carolina Symphony in the late 1930s and built it into an organization that became nationally known for its [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by . "The Old North State" was written in 1835 by William Gaston and was popular for nearly a century before it was deemed the official state song in 1927. The score for the song was written by R. [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Agan, Kelly. State Toast: The Old North State: A Toast (aka, The Tar Heel Toast) by Kelly Agan, N.C. Government & Heritage Library, 2016 See also: North Carolina State Symbols and Official Adoptions [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Bair, Anna Withers. Charles Gildersleeve Vardell, music educator and composer, was born in Salisbury, the only son of Charles Graves, a Presbyterian minister, and Linda Lee Rumple Vardell. He grew up in Red Springs, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . In the top left, WBT announcer Grady Cole smiles from behind a CBS microphone. In the bottom left is an advertisement for Peruna, one of WBT's sponsors. The ad reads: New Pe-ru-na The famous tonic [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Jones, H. G. Cratis Dearl Williams, folklorist, ballad collector and singer, linguist, professor, and college administrator, rose from humble beginnings in the Caines Creek community of Big Sandy Valley in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Baker, Bruce E. Work Songs by Bruce E. Baker, 2006 See also: Menhaden Chanteymen. Work songs are sung as an accompaniment to work, primarily manual labor. They are usually traditional in nature, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)