UNC News Services
Bluegrass, black gospel, country and a steel guitar sound rooted in the black church will come together in a celebration of North Carolina’s grassroots music on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.
The “Carolina Breakdown†concert will feature the innovative bluegrass of the Tony Williamson Band of Siler City, the sacred steel sounds of the Allen Boys of Mount Airy, the old-time country of Laurelyn Dossett of Greensboro and the down-home gospel of the Branchettes of Newton Grove.
Sponsored by the folklore curriculum at UNC and the ArtsCenter, as part of its American Roots Series, the concert will be taped for a podcast offered by the curriculum and a two-hour broadcast on WXYC 98.3 FM, the UNC student radio station. The air date will be announced later.
Besides performing, the artists will answer questions from the concert’s hosts, giving the event the flavor of an old-time radio program.
Tickets, $13 ($11 for ArtsCenter Friends), are available by phone at 929-2787 ext. 206 or online at www.artscenterlive.org/. The ArtsCenter is located at 300-G East Main St. in Carrboro.
WXYC airs the program “Carolina Breakdown†every other week, and the folklore curriculum offers podcasts of the same name. The show features performances and conversations with some of the region’s roots-based musicians. The podcasts have logged more than 1,000 downloads over the program’s first two seasons, said Glenn Hinson, chair of the folklore curriculum in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences.
The Tony Williamson Band and the Allen Boys, the concert headliners, come from distant ends of the musical spectrum but share a dedication to eclecticism and impassioned improvisation, Hinson said.
Williamson has performed with many of the greatest names in bluegrass — from Ralph Stanley to David Grisman. For the “Carolina Breakdown†concert, he has pulled together a quartet of his favorite regional musicians, many of whom recorded with him on the compact disc “McBane Mill Sessions.â€
The Allen Boys are North Carolina’s only band now performing in the sacred steel style, Hinson said. Pedal steel guitar player DaShawn Hickman specializes in capturing the improvisatory excitement of worship in sanctified churches. In these congregations, instruments often take on the sounds of the human voice, mimicking its sighs, slides and shouts. Rarely heard in non-church venues, the Allen Boys grew up playing in the House of God in Mount Airy.
Laurelyn Dossett, a bluegrass/country singer and founder of the Greensboro-based string band Polecat Creek, will open the concert. Praised for her songwriting and vocals, Dossett favors songs that tell stories in an old-time way, making even the newest songs sound as if they came from treasured, scratchy recordings from years past. This blending of old and new won Dossett top honors at the 2004 Merlefest songwriting competition.
The Branchettes’ traditional singing embodies the soul-stirring power of black gospel. Sister Lena Mae Perry, vocalist, and keyboardist Wilbur Tharpe recently celebrated their 34th anniversary of singing together. The two have sung in church all their lives, stirring congregations and bringing church-goers to their feet, Hinson said. Recipients of the N.C. Folk Heritage Award, the state’s highest honor for excellence in traditional artistry, the Branchettes also are the featured performers on the first compact disc produced by the folklore curriculum, “Singing in the Spirit,†to be released later this year.