Oceans of Awareness
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Ben Phan has been making music for most of his life. Through formal and informal study, he has immersed himself…
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Setting Sail Again
Hope Griffin sings and plays acoustic guitar in a soulful, rootsy style, like a lot of songsmiths who settle in Western North Carolina. But…
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Chakra and Jive
Robert Johnson has a lucky name for a roots musician. But when he created his band, the musician sidestepped comparisons to the blues legend,…
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Straight from the Heart (Literally)
Five-piece bluegrass band Backline came together in 2016, playing a style of mountain music that bridges the gap between traditional and modern, between the…
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Making the World Right
In a world increasingly defined by fractiousness and divisiveness, the music and worldview of Western North Carolina multi-instrumentalist Andrew Reed is a welcome restorative….
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Béla in the Blue Ridge
A 15-time Grammy Award winner, Béla Fleck is the best-known banjo player living today. Though he often works in bluegrass, Fleck has followed…
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Home is Where the Muse Is
Based since 1996 in Western North Carolina, singer/songwriter/guitarist Nikki Talley took to the road about six years ago. With husband and multi-instrumentalist Jason…
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Rocket Man
Daniel Sage’s rare ability to perform a song he’s only heard once makes his classic-rock tribute shows highly participatory. After connecting with Safelight,…
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Leader of Blue Ridge Symphonic Brass Demystifies the Tuba
Bellowing out its bass notes in the marching band, the tuba looks and sounds like a challenge. It’s big, so it must be heavy,…
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Bluegrass Icon Larry Sparks Plays at Feed and Seed
Larry Sparks admits that he has a little black book filled with the phone numbers of potential sidemen, just in case his backing band,…
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