Music of North Carolina
Encyclopedia
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 music
ians like the North Carolina Ramblers helped solidify the sound of country music in the late 1920s, while influential bluegrass
musicians such as Earl Scruggs
, Doc Watson
and Del McCoury
came from North Carolina. Both North and South Carolina are a hotbed for traditional rural blues
, especially the style known as the Piedmont blues
.
As a college region, the Raleigh
-Durham
area (collectively known as the Triangle) has long been a well-known center for rock
, metal, punk
and hip-hop. Bands from this popular music scene include Flat Duo Jets
, Corrosion of Conformity
, Superchunk
, Archers of Loaf
, The Rosebuds
, Love Language
, Tift Merritt
, Ben Folds Five
, Squirrel Nut Zippers
, Carolina Chocolate Drops
, Lords of the Underground
, Foreign Exchange, The Justus League
and Little Brother.
s were formed to accompany the social dancing. After slaves were given their freedom, small communities of blacks began to form in the North Carolina Piedmont
region. One of these communities outside of Statesville, North Carolina had enough of a fiddler population to support a fiddler’s convention. Joe Thompson, an African American fiddler still active today, is from the Cedar Grove community in North Carolina. The banjo was another popular instrument for African Americans to play in a string band. The banjo is an instrument adapted from its African relative the akonting
, and younger black musicians often learned to play from older community members. One black musician, Joe Fulp, from the Walnut Cove community used the banjo to help pass the time while waiting for tobacco to cure. String Bands of the North Carolina Piedmont region had their own sound consisting of long bow fiddle playing, flowing banjo lines, and a prominent bass line provided by the guitar, an instrument added to the ensemble in the early 20th century. The style of Piedmont string bands was influenced by the dance tune melodies of Europe and the rhythmic complexity of African banjo playing.
, known as the "First Lady Of Gospel". Caesar got her start when the group The Caravans
came through Wilson, North Carolina
in 1958. North Carolina is also famous for its abundance of family Gospel groups which thrive all throughout the state. Award-winning vocal group The Kingsmen
originate in Asheville, North Carolina.
in which a regular, alternating-thumb bass pattern supports a melody using treble strings. Blind Boy Fuller
(b. Fulton Allen, Wadesboro, NC, July, 1907) was a popular Piedmont blues guitarist, who played for tips outside tobacco warehouses 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
.
, (b. Rocky Mount, NC, October 10, 1917) the North Carolina connection is slight, as Monk's family moved to Manhattan when Monk was four. John Coltrane
(b. Hamlet, NC, September 23, 1926) 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), pianist and singer dubbed the "High Priestess of Soul" Dr.Nina Simone
(b.Tryon, NC, 2/21/33) 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.
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 local folk activity. One of the first local legends, The Corsayers (later The Fabulous Corsairs) - featuring Alex Taylor
and younger brother James
- could be heard around town. Later, Arrogance
became a major part of the folk scene. James Taylor would go on to a very successful career as a singer-songwriter
, and his "Carolina in My Mind
" would become an unofficial anthem for the state. The Chapel Hill Museum
opened a permanent exhibit dedicated to Taylor; at the same occasion the US-15
-501
highway bridge over Morgan Creek, near the site of the Taylor family home and mentioned in Taylor's song "Copperline", was dedicated to Taylor.
The Chapel Hill
music scene began to pick up steam in the 1980s when bands like The Pressure Boys, The Connells, Flat Duo Jets
, Southern Culture on the Skids
A Number of Things and Snatches of Pink began releasing their own records or signing to independent record labels. In the late 80's, thru the mid 90's the Chapel Hill scene reached its peak as bands such as Superchunk
, Polvo
, Archers of Loaf
, Small, Zen Frisbee, Dillon Fence, Sex Police, Pipe, The Veldt, Metal Flake Mother and many other bands were signed to local and national labels. The Young Rock wave of music was filling the college radio airwaves.
In the late 90's, gold record and platinum success came to several Chapel Hill bands Squirrel Nut Zippers
, and the piano pop trio Ben Folds Five
.
-Durham
-Chapel Hill
was a regional center for punk rock
in the late 70s, due to its large number of college students. The first wave of bands were more power-pop than punk, and included Peter Holsapple
& the H-Bombs, Sneakers, and Chris Stamey
and the dBs. The punks arrived shortly after with 'th Cigaretz, The Dads, the Fabulous Knobs, Butchwax, The X-Teens, Human Furniture, and the Junkie Sluts. Later hardcore punk
bands included Corrosion of Conformity
, No Labels, Colcor, UNICEF, Stillborn Christians, DAMM, Bloodmobile, Subculture, 30 Foot Beast, Mission DC, the Celibate Commandos, Rights Reserved, Creeping Flesh, Time Bomb, Stations of the Cross, A Number of Things, and Oral Fixation. Some other notable Heavy Metal
acts to come from North Carolina are Weedeater (band)
, Buzzoven, Daylight Dies
, Between the Buried and Me
, and Confessor
.
At the same time, Charlotte had its own punk rock scene, with bands like antiseen
, Social Savagery, and Influential Habits 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 its owner. During this time, shows moved around the Charlotte region, at times at the Yellow Rose, a club off South Boulevard. Christian-based pop punk band Philmont
also originate from Charlotte.
also boasts a long-standing and diverse hip-hop scene. During hip-hop's golden era in the mid-90s, both the Lords of the Underground
, who met while attending Shaw University
, and Yaggfu Front
were acclaimed In 1998, Little Brother, composed of Rapper Big Pooh
, Phonte
, and 9th Wonder
, met while attending North Carolina Central University
. The successful alternative hip-hop group also co-founded the Justus League
collective, which features other important North Carolina emcees, including L.E.G.A.C.Y.
, The Away Team
, Darien Brockington
, Edgar Allen Floe
, Chaundon
, and Cesar Comanche
.
Other major-label rappers and producers from North Carolina include J. Cole, Kaze
, Ski
, Travis Cherry
, Battman D.E. GannaBanna, Ricki Kuervo, and Petey Pablo
. Well-known underground acts include Troop 41
, S. Gold, King Myers, Lazurus, Trife Deuce, Bryce Snow, Kooley High
, Thee Tom Hardy, The Beast, Harvey Blount, and The Nobodies.
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
, and many recordings were made in the early 20th century by folk song collector Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Bascom Lamar Lunsford was a lawyer, folklorist, and performer of traditional music from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians."- Early life :...
. Most influentially, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
ians like the North Carolina Ramblers helped solidify the sound of country music in the late 1920s, while influential bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
musicians such as Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs
Earl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...
, Doc Watson
Doc Watson
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
and Del McCoury
Del McCoury
Delano Floyd McCoury is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respectively...
came from North Carolina. Both North and South Carolina are a hotbed for traditional rural blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, especially the style known as the Piedmont blues
Piedmont blues
Piedmont blues refers primarily to a guitar style, the Piedmont fingerstyle, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melody using the treble strings generally picked with the fore-finger,...
.
As a college region, the Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
-Durham
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
area (collectively known as the Triangle) has long been a well-known center for rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, metal, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and hip-hop. Bands from this popular music scene include Flat Duo Jets
Flat Duo Jets
Flat Duo Jets was a rockabilly band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia. They were a major influence on several bands of the 1990s and 2000s, including The White Stripes. In interviews, Jack White has often acknowledged Dexter Romweber's influence...
, Corrosion of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina formed in 1982. For almost the majority of its existence, the band has consisted of guitarist Woody Weatherman, bassist Mike Dean , drummer Reed Mullin and vocalist and rhythm...
, Superchunk
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...
, Archers of Loaf
Archers of Loaf
Archers of Loaf is an American indie-rock band originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, formed in 1990. The group toured extensively and released a total of four studio albums, a collection album, numerous singles and EPs, and a live album which was released after the band broke up in...
, The Rosebuds
The Rosebuds
The Rosebuds are an indie rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Its current members are Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp...
, Love Language
Love Language
Love Language was the ninth album by R&B/Soul crooner Teddy Pendergrass. It was his first record for Asylum Records after being a longtime artist on Philadelphia International Records. It did much better on the Billboard 200 than his last two records, peaking at #38. He had not reached the top...
, Tift Merritt
Tift Merritt
Catherine Tift Merritt is an American singer-songwriter, musician and North Carolina native. With her longtime band, she has built what has been called a "unique" and critically acclaimed body of work of "sonic short stories and poignant performances." She has been compared to songwriters like...
, Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five is an alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds , Robert Sledge , and Darren Jessee . The group achieved mainstream success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes...
, Squirrel Nut Zippers
Squirrel Nut Zippers
The Squirrel Nut Zippers are a band formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by James "Jimbo" Mathus , Katharine Whalen , Chris Phillips on drums, Don Raleigh on bass and sideman Ken Mosher....
, Carolina Chocolate Drops
Carolina Chocolate Drops
The Carolina Chocolate Drops is an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina, United States. Its 2010 album, Genuine Negro Jig, won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in FRoots magazine's top 10 albums of 2010.The Drops are one...
, Lords of the Underground
Lords of the Underground
The Lords of the Underground are a hip-hop trio based in Newark, New Jersey. MCs Mr. Funke and DoItAll Dupré met DJ Lord Jazz when all three were undergraduates at Shaw University....
, Foreign Exchange, The Justus League
Justus League
The Justus League is a rap collective from North Carolina, that includes L.E.G.A.C.Y., The Away Team, Darien Brockington, Little Brother, Edgar Allen Floe, Median, Chaundon, Cesar Comanche, 9th Wonder, Buckshot, Sean Price, Skyzoo and Joe Scudda....
and Little Brother.
Early Black String Band Music
Slave musicians in North Carolina and throughout the country were often responsible for providing the dance music for both white and African American social gatherings. If a slave was trained as a musician, their value as property went up for their masters. String bandString band
A string band is an old-time music or jazz ensemble made up mainly or solely of string instruments. String bands were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and are among the forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass.-String bands in old-time music:...
s were formed to accompany the social dancing. After slaves were given their freedom, small communities of blacks began to form in the North Carolina Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
region. One of these communities outside of Statesville, North Carolina had enough of a fiddler population to support a fiddler’s convention. Joe Thompson, an African American fiddler still active today, is from the Cedar Grove community in North Carolina. The banjo was another popular instrument for African Americans to play in a string band. The banjo is an instrument adapted from its African relative the akonting
Akonting
The akonting is the folk lute of the Jola people, found in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa...
, and younger black musicians often learned to play from older community members. One black musician, Joe Fulp, from the Walnut Cove community used the banjo to help pass the time while waiting for tobacco to cure. String Bands of the North Carolina Piedmont region had their own sound consisting of long bow fiddle playing, flowing banjo lines, and a prominent bass line provided by the guitar, an instrument added to the ensemble in the early 20th century. The style of Piedmont string bands was influenced by the dance tune melodies of Europe and the rhythmic complexity of African banjo playing.
Gospel Music
North Carolina is also considered a cradle of Gospel music. In the days of slavery, spirituals played a huge role in the lives of the slaves of North Carolina elite, and after emancipation, this stayed true. During the 1940s and 50s, North Carolina was a favorite place to visit of Gospel singers for many reasons, among which was North Carolina's less rigorous Jim Crow laws. North Carolina is also home to many famous Gospel singers, the most famous being Shirley CaesarShirley Caesar
Shirley Ann Caesar is an American Gospel music singer, songwriter and recording artist whose career has spanned six decades...
, known as the "First Lady Of Gospel". Caesar got her start when the group The Caravans
The Caravans
The Caravans is a Jubilee Gospel group that was started by Albertina Walker . The group reached its peak popularity during the 1950s and 1960s, launching the careers of a number of artists, including: Delores Washington, Albertina Walker, Bessie Griffin, Cassietta George, Dorothy Norwood, Inez...
came through Wilson, North Carolina
Wilson, North Carolina
Wilson is a city and the county seat of Wilson County in the Coastal Plain region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The 18th largest city in the state, Wilson had a population of 49,167 according to the 2010 census.- Geography :...
in 1958. North Carolina is also famous for its abundance of family Gospel groups which thrive all throughout the state. Award-winning vocal group The Kingsmen
The Kingsmen Quartet
The Kingsmen Quartet is an American Christian music group.-Musical career:The Kingsmen are a Southern Gospel vocal quartet based out of Asheville, North Carolina. Many legends of Southern Gospel have been members of The Kingsmen...
originate in Asheville, North Carolina.
Piedmont blues
The Piedmont blues is a type of blues music characterized by a unique fingerpicking method on the guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
in which a regular, alternating-thumb bass pattern supports a melody using treble strings. Blind Boy Fuller
Blind Boy Fuller
Blind Boy Fuller was an American blues guitarist and vocalist. He was one of the most popular of the recorded Piedmont blues artists with rural Black Americans, a group that also included Blind Blake, Josh White, and Buddy Moss.-Life and career:Fulton Allen was born in Wadesboro, North Carolina,...
(b. Fulton Allen, Wadesboro, NC, July, 1907) was a popular Piedmont blues guitarist, who played for tips outside tobacco warehouses 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
Black middle class
The black middle class, within the United States, refers to African Americans who occupy a middle class status within the American class structure. It is predominately a development that arose after the 1960s, during which the African American Civil Rights Movement led to reform movements aimed at...
.
North Carolina Jazz Musicians
Several notable jazz musicians were originally from North Carolina. In the case of Thelonious MonkThelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, (b. Rocky Mount, NC, October 10, 1917) the North Carolina connection is slight, as Monk's family moved to Manhattan when Monk was four. John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
(b. Hamlet, NC, September 23, 1926) spent most of his childhood in High Point, NC, before moving to Philadelphia when he was sixteen. Bebop pioneer Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
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
Tal Farlow
Talmage Holt Farlow was an American jazz guitarist. Nicknamed the "Octopus", Farlow's extremely large hands spread over the fretboard as if they were tentacles. He is considered one of the all-time great jazz guitarists. Michael G...
(b. Greensboro, NC, 6/7/21), considered one of the top players during the 1950s. Hard-bop saxophonists Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson is a jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker.His first recordings were...
(b. Badin, NC, 11/1/26) and Tina Brooks
Tina Brooks
Harold Floyd "Tina" Brooks was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and composer.-Early years:Harold Floyd Brooks was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and was the brother of David "Bubba" Brooks. The nickname "Tina", pronounced Teena, was a slight variation of "Teeny", a childhood moniker....
(b. Fayetteville, NC, 6/7/32) were originally North Carolinians. Hard-bop trumpeter Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and band leader, often referred to as the "last innovator" in the jazz trumpet lineage...
(b. Laurinburg, NC, 12/24/44), pianist Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
(b. Greenville, NC, 7/24/21), pianist and singer dubbed the "High Priestess of Soul" Dr.Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
(b.Tryon, NC, 2/21/33) and bassist Percy Heath
Percy Heath
Percy Heath was an American jazz bassist, brother to tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975...
(b. Wilmington, NC, 4/30/23) were born in the state as well. South Carolinian Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
grew up just over the state line and attended school at the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. Jazz composer and arranger Billy Strayhorn
Billy Strayhorn
William Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn was an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington lasting nearly three decades. His compositions include "Chelsea Bridge", "Take the "A" Train" and "Lush Life".-Early...
spent some of his summers in Hillsborough, NC with his grandparents.
Chapel Hill rock
Alex Taylor (musician)
Alex Taylor was an American singer. Alexander Taylor was the eldest child of Dr. Isaac Taylor and Gertrude Taylor. He was a member of a family which produced a number of musicians, the most famous of whom is James Taylor, but also includes Livingston, Hugh and Kate Taylor.Alex Taylor had two sons,...
and younger brother James
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
- could be heard around town. Later, Arrogance
Arrogance (band)
Arrogance is a rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In the 1970s and early 1980s it was one of the most popular local bands in the state . The group has released six full length albums in its history and an early non-LP single...
became a major part of the folk scene. James Taylor would go on to a very successful career as a singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, and his "Carolina in My Mind
Carolina in My Mind
"Carolina in My Mind" is a song written and performed by singer-songwriter James Taylor, which first appeared on his 1968 debut album, James Taylor. Taylor wrote it while overseas recording for The Beatles' label Apple Records, and the song's themes reflect his homesickness at the time. Released as...
" would become an unofficial anthem for the state. The Chapel Hill Museum
Chapel Hill Museum
Chapel Hill Museum was a local cultural and historical museum in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The museum was founded in 1996 by leaders of the Town of Chapel Hill's Bicentennial Committee and celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2006. In the decade since its founding, Chapel Hill Museum averaged over...
opened a permanent exhibit dedicated to Taylor; at the same occasion the US-15
U.S. Route 15
U.S. Route 15 is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Carolina to Interstate 86 and NY 17 in Painted Post, New York.US...
-501
U.S. Route 501
-North Carolina business loops:-Virginia business loop:-External links:*...
highway bridge over Morgan Creek, near the site of the Taylor family home and mentioned in Taylor's song "Copperline", was dedicated to Taylor.
The Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
music scene began to pick up steam in the 1980s when bands like The Pressure Boys, The Connells, Flat Duo Jets
Flat Duo Jets
Flat Duo Jets was a rockabilly band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia. They were a major influence on several bands of the 1990s and 2000s, including The White Stripes. In interviews, Jack White has often acknowledged Dexter Romweber's influence...
, Southern Culture on the Skids
Southern Culture on the Skids
Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band that was formed in 1983 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina...
A Number of Things and Snatches of Pink began releasing their own records or signing to independent record labels. In the late 80's, thru the mid 90's the Chapel Hill scene reached its peak as bands such as Superchunk
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...
, Polvo
Polvo
Polvo is an American indie noise rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band, formed in 1990, is fronted by guitarists/vocalists Ash Bowie and Dave Brylawski. Brian Quast plays drums, and Steve Popson plays bass guitar...
, Archers of Loaf
Archers of Loaf
Archers of Loaf is an American indie-rock band originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, formed in 1990. The group toured extensively and released a total of four studio albums, a collection album, numerous singles and EPs, and a live album which was released after the band broke up in...
, Small, Zen Frisbee, Dillon Fence, Sex Police, Pipe, The Veldt, Metal Flake Mother and many other bands were signed to local and national labels. The Young Rock wave of music was filling the college radio airwaves.
In the late 90's, gold record and platinum success came to several Chapel Hill bands Squirrel Nut Zippers
Squirrel Nut Zippers
The Squirrel Nut Zippers are a band formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by James "Jimbo" Mathus , Katharine Whalen , Chris Phillips on drums, Don Raleigh on bass and sideman Ken Mosher....
, and the piano pop trio Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five is an alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds , Robert Sledge , and Darren Jessee . The group achieved mainstream success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes...
.
Punk rock and metal
RaleighRaleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
-Durham
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
was a regional center for punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
in the late 70s, due to its large number of college students. The first wave of bands were more power-pop than punk, and included Peter Holsapple
Peter Holsapple
Peter Holsapple formed, along with Chris Stamey, the singing, songwriting, and guitar-playing core of the dB's, a jangle-pop band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He became the band's principal songwriter and singer after Stamey's departure. The dB's were at the forefront of the guitar bands...
& the H-Bombs, Sneakers, and Chris Stamey
Chris Stamey
Chris Stamey is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. After a stint playing with Alex Chilton, and a brief partnering with Mitch Easter under the name Sneakers, he formed The dB's, whose stewardship he would share with Peter Holsapple.In 1977 in New York, Chris founded the...
and the dBs. The punks arrived shortly after with 'th Cigaretz, The Dads, the Fabulous Knobs, Butchwax, The X-Teens, Human Furniture, and the Junkie Sluts. Later hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
bands included Corrosion of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina formed in 1982. For almost the majority of its existence, the band has consisted of guitarist Woody Weatherman, bassist Mike Dean , drummer Reed Mullin and vocalist and rhythm...
, No Labels, Colcor, UNICEF, Stillborn Christians, DAMM, Bloodmobile, Subculture, 30 Foot Beast, Mission DC, the Celibate Commandos, Rights Reserved, Creeping Flesh, Time Bomb, Stations of the Cross, A Number of Things, and Oral Fixation. Some other notable Heavy Metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
acts to come from North Carolina are Weedeater (band)
Weedeater (band)
Weedeater is a sludge metal band formed in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1997 with members from the recently defunct Buzzov•en. The band has released four full length albums...
, Buzzoven, Daylight Dies
Daylight Dies
Daylight Dies is a Melodic death/doom band which focuses on dark, melancholic, emotional introspection.-History:Daylight Dies was formed in 1996 by Barre Gambling and Jesse Haff. In 1999, the two recorded the band's first demo, The Long Forgotten Demo...
, Between the Buried and Me
Between the Buried and Me
Between the Buried and Me is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They have released a total of five studio albums, as well as a cover album, an EP and a live DVD/CD...
, and Confessor
Confessor
-Confessor of the Faith:Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...
.
At the same time, Charlotte had its own punk rock scene, with bands like antiseen
Antiseen
Antiseen is an American punk rock band formed in Charlotte, North Carolina by vocalist JeffClayton and guitarist Joe Young, the sole members to have remained for the entire existence of the group...
, Social Savagery, and Influential Habits 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 its owner. During this time, shows moved around the Charlotte region, at times at the Yellow Rose, a club off South Boulevard. Christian-based pop punk band Philmont
Philmont (band)
Philmont is an American pop-punk influenced Christian rock band based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. They were signed to Forefront Records / EMI CMG until Spring 2010. Their debut album, Attention, was released on August 25, 2009...
also originate from Charlotte.
Hip-hop in North Carolina
The Triangle metropolitan areaMetropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
also boasts a long-standing and diverse hip-hop scene. During hip-hop's golden era in the mid-90s, both the Lords of the Underground
Lords of the Underground
The Lords of the Underground are a hip-hop trio based in Newark, New Jersey. MCs Mr. Funke and DoItAll Dupré met DJ Lord Jazz when all three were undergraduates at Shaw University....
, who met while attending Shaw University
Shaw University
Shaw University, founded as Raleigh Institute, is a private liberal arts institution and historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1865, it is the oldest HBCU in the Southern United States....
, and Yaggfu Front
Yaggfu Front
Yaggfu Front are notable for being the first North Carolina based hip-hop group to be signed to a major record label. Their group name is an acronym which stands for You Are Gonna Get Fucked Up Front, they consist of members Spin 4th, D'Ranged & Damaged and Jingle Bel...
were acclaimed In 1998, Little Brother, composed of Rapper Big Pooh
Rapper Big Pooh
Big Pooh is an American rapper, who, along with fellow rap artist Phonte, was a member of the acclaimed North Carolina hip hop group Little Brother. In addition to numerous records and EP's by Little Brother, Pooh released a solo album in 2005 entitled Sleepers to positive critical review...
, Phonte
Phonte
Phonte Coleman, better known as Phonte, is a Grammy nominated American rapper, formerly of the now defunct North Carolina trio Little Brother and one-half of the duo The Foreign Exchange. He has also recorded R&B-flavored output as a singer...
, and 9th Wonder
9th Wonder
Patrick Douthit , better known as 9th Wonder is a hip hop record producer, record executive, DJ, professor, and lyricist from Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A. He began his career as the main producer for the hip hop group Little Brother, and has also worked with Mary J...
, met while attending North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University is a public historically black university in the University of North Carolina system, located in Durham, North Carolina, offering programs at the baccalaureate, master’s, professional and doctoral levels....
. The successful alternative hip-hop group also co-founded the Justus League
Justus League
The Justus League is a rap collective from North Carolina, that includes L.E.G.A.C.Y., The Away Team, Darien Brockington, Little Brother, Edgar Allen Floe, Median, Chaundon, Cesar Comanche, 9th Wonder, Buckshot, Sean Price, Skyzoo and Joe Scudda....
collective, which features other important North Carolina emcees, including L.E.G.A.C.Y.
L.E.G.A.C.Y.
L.E.G.A.C.Y. is a rapper from North Carolina, and member of the Justus League collective.-Biography:L.E.G.A.C.Y. is an acronym for Life Ends Gradually and Changes You. He was born on the military base Fort Bragg, and grew up in Fayetteville, before moving to Goldsboro, North Carolina...
, The Away Team
The Away Team (group)
The Away Team is a hip hop duo consisting of MC Sean Boog and producer Khrysis, both of whom are members of the North Carolina rap collective the Justus League.-History:...
, Darien Brockington
Darien Brockington
Darien Brockington is an American singer, songwriter, vocal arranger and actor. Born in Washington, DC and raised in Durham, NC, Brockington was exposed to music early on in life and began singing at the age of 2. He was brought up in a Seventh-Day Adventist Church and sang his first solo at 6...
, Edgar Allen Floe
Edgar Allen Floe
Edgar Allen Floe is a hip hop artist from North Carolina and a member of Justus League and The Undefined. His name is a play on words of famous poet, Edgar Allan Poe.-Biography:...
, Chaundon
Chaundon
Chaundon is an American hip hop artist from, South Bronx, New York City, who is part of Little Brother's Justus League collective. In 2008 he released his debut album "Carnage" and since has become an internet sensation with his website and his independent music show , as well as his internet blog...
, and Cesar Comanche
Cesar Comanche
Cesar Comanche, is a hip hop artist. Comanche was born Christopher Robinson on November 18, 1976 in Jacksonville, North Carolina.-History:Comanche is one of the founding MCs of North Carolina-based The Justus League....
.
Other major-label rappers and producers from North Carolina include J. Cole, Kaze
Kaze
Kaze is the Japanese word for wind.Kaze may also refer to:*Kaze Ghost Warrior, an independent, computer animated film*Kaze , hip hop artist from North Carolina, United States...
, Ski
Ski (producer)
David Willis, otherwise known as DJ Ski and Ski Beatz, is an American record producer mainly working in hip hop.-Biography:Discovered by DJ Clark Kent, Ski was originally known as "MC Will-Ski". In the 1990s, he was a member of the group Original Flavor, the first group managed by future recording...
, Travis Cherry
Travis Cherry
Travis Cherry is a two-time Grammy nominated American music producer, musician and songwriter. He has worked with artists such as Bone Thugs and Harmony, Keith Sweat, Jennifer Lopez, and J. Holiday. His work appears on the Gold selling album Back of My Lac' by J. Holiday and on Jennifer Lopez's...
, Battman D.E. GannaBanna, Ricki Kuervo, and Petey Pablo
Petey Pablo
Moses Mortimer Barrett III , known by the stage name Petey Pablo, is an American rapper from Greenville, North Carolina.-Biography:...
. Well-known underground acts include Troop 41
Troop 41
Troop 41 is an American hip hop ensemble from Raleigh, North Carolina founded in 2005. The group consists of three members: T-Breezy, Lil Lee and Lil Inferno....
, S. Gold, King Myers, Lazurus, Trife Deuce, Bryce Snow, Kooley High
Kooley High
Kooley High is composed of six former N.C. State University students, who met on campus by way of hip hop. They started out as a student-run hip hop organization, known as H2O. The North Carolina group is made up of three MCs, Charlie Smarts, Tab-One, and Rapsody, two producers, Foolery and The...
, Thee Tom Hardy, The Beast, Harvey Blount, and The Nobodies.