A WFDD Original
Across the Blue Ridge logo
Music & Culture

Across the Blue Ridge #141 - North Carolina Folk Festival

by Paul Brown

Rhiannon Giddens, pictured here on a North Carolina Folk Festival poster, is guest curator at the inaugural North Carolina Folk Festival September 7-9, 2018. In addition to performing, she will host a banjo history symposium. She is bringing performers to the festival who will engage in music-making and discussion that cross cultural, historical and ethnic lines. Paul Brown

This week's program provides a window into the upcoming North Carolina Folk Festival. The three-day event in Greensboro, North Carolina is a locally-sponsored event that takes over from the National Folk Festival, which completed a three-year run in Greensboro in 2017. 

Paul Brown talks with NC Folk Festival director Amy Grossmann about what will carry forward, and what will be new, at the Greensboro event, whose organizers hope to maintain the strong regional public interest and attendance that characterized the National. Specifically, Grossmann says the North Carolina Folk Festival will continue to honor the interpretation of what is traditional folk music and art as the National Folk Festival defined them. It will also expand the narrative to take into account vast changes in society and technology in recent decades. For example, she says the passing on of traditions “doesn't just happen on front porches anymore”, and the festival will present some music and art that clearly reflect the influence of technology including the Internet, miniature recording devices, and ease of travel. 

As always, this week's ATBR is packed with great music.  Hear bluegrass and old-time Appalachian music; a Peruvian street band; a Brazilian acoustic trio; two generations of African-American gospel singers within a family; and much more, as our brief hour provides a hint at the riches of the North Carolina Folk festival. 

Playlist

  1. Twinkle Little Star
    Bobby Hicks
    Fiddle Patch
    Rounder
     
  2. Blue Ridge Mountain Blues
    Cabin Creek Boys
    Fire On The Mountain
    Cabin Creek Boys
     
  3. Sally Was A Poor Girl
    Cabin Creek Boys
    Fire On The Mountain
    Cabin Creek Boys
     
  4. Interview 1 - Amy Grossmann
    Amy Grossmann
    ATBR recording
     
  5. Street Music
    La Patronal
    NC Folk Festival
     
  6. Stumbling On My Life
    Badgett Sisters
    Just A Little While To Stay Here
    The Badgett Sisters
     
  7. Prosperity Special
    Bobby Hicks
    Fiddle Patch
    Rounder
     
  8. Break 1 - Gardenia Waltz
    Bobby Hicks
    Fiddle Patch
    Rounder
     
  9. Interview 2 - Amy Grossmann
    Amy Grossmann
    ATBR recording
     
  10. Bodhran & Beatbox
    CyberTrad
    CyberTrad
    Matthew Olwell
     
  11. By The Hush, Me Boys
    CyberTrad
    CyberTrad
    Matthew Olwell
     
  12. Timburello Jam
    Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi
    NC Folk Festival
     
  13. Interview 3 - Amy Grossmann
    Amy Grossmann
    ATBR recording
     
  14. Kick Up The Devil
    Greg Adams & friends
    Augusta Heritage Center
     
  15. Break 2 - Mountain Reel
    Taylor Rorrer
    Playing Poole
    Flyin' Cloud
     
  16. Interview 3 - Amy Grossmann
    Amy Grossmann
    ATBR recording
     
  17. Keep Pushin
    Jarekus Singleton
    Refuse To Lose
    Jarekus Singleton
     
  18. Thank Heavens For Dale Evans
    Kristyn Harris
    Down The Trail
    Kristyn Harris
     
  19. On The Evening Train
    Bobby Hicks
    Down Memory Lane
    Rebel
     
  20. Terra Seca
    Trio Brasileiro
    Simples Assim
    Trio Brasileiro

300x250 Ad

More Across the Blue Ridge Archives

300x250 Ad

Support quality journalism, like the story above, with your gift right now.

Donate