The Venue

The Band Kelly performing (pre-pandemic) in the John C. Campbell Folk School’s Festival Barn. Photo Courtesy of John C. Campbell Folk School.

John C. Campbell Folk School

SCENIC NORTH CAROLINA CAMPUS STRIVES TO KEEP APPALACHIAN MUSIC, DANCE AND CULTURE ALIVE IN BRASSTOWN, NORTH CAROLINA The traditional Morningsong music program is offered several days a week at 7:45 a.m., and Friday performances are streamed live on the Folk School’s Facebook page. A socially distanced and masked crowd filled the historic Keith House Community…

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Photo by Bonnie Trogdon Dreamcatcher Photography

Little NC Towns Hosting Big Stars

For Dewey and Leslie Brown, seven is a lucky number. They wed in 2007. After seven years of marriage, the former Clinch Mountain Boy fiddler and his wife started their own business, Brown Entertainment, and opened their first musical venue, the Liberty Showcase, in Liberty, North Carolina, in 2014. Then, seven years later, they opened…

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Way Down Upon the Suwannee River

The Suwannee Spring Reunion Photos by Frank Serio In March 2022, I went to the Suwannee Spring Reunion to write about the event and interview a few musicians.  I had no idea what to expect. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I had never been to a music festival. Although I went to cover…

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New Kid on the Block of Traditional Music Programs

Warren Wilson College While it has only been around for a short time, Warren Wilson College’s Traditional Music program is well on its way to being a go-to destination for Appalachian culture immersion.  Now offering a major (BA) and a minor in music with a concentration in Traditional Music, the program features “a unique concentration…

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Center for Appalachian Studies

Appalachian State University In the heart of the western North Carolina mountains is the small town of Boone. Named after the historical figure Daniel Boone, who lived in the area for two years in the 1700s hunting and trapping before moving westward through the Cumberland Gap into what is now called Kentucky, Boone also features…

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Bluegrass Music Program

Colorado College Colorado College, located on a ninety-two acre campus in downtown Colorado Springs, is a small liberal arts college comprised of only two thousand total students (only 500 of the 20,000 annual applicants are accepted each year).  The difference between Colorado College and the many other small four-year liberal arts institutions in the United…

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