Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis has strong ties to North Carolina. He’s been traveling here since he was a teenager just beginning to master the trumpet. He’ll swing through the state again in September for a concert in Greensboro.
School Spirit in Jarvisburg
A little white schoolhouse once served as a hub for Black students and farming families in Currituck County. Lovingly restored and filled with memories, it remains an enduring point of pride.
Swimming Across NC
One writer sets his sights on an ambitious goal, aiming to swim at every YMCA pool in the state. In the water, he finds familiarity, fortitude, and memories of his first and most important coach: his dad.
An Our State Playlist: Mighty MerleFest 2024
Our curated Spotify playlist features a selection of the talented artists that are performing at this year’s famous festival.
An Our State Playlist: Carolina Chill
Enjoy the soothing sounds of homegrown instrumental music as you turn the pages of a great North Carolina novel.
Entering Western North Carolina’s Lost Cove
Long before the last family departed, settlers in a remote corner of Yancey County gave their mountain town the name Lost Cove. Years later, the choice seems prophetic. The once-thriving community has returned to nature, tucked out of sight, lost to all except historians and hikers.
The First Family of NC Mountain Music
Doc Watson’s legendary flat-picking style helped define the sound of North Carolina. But he would’ve been the first to say that he was one link in a long tradition of folk and bluegrass. Raised in a musical home in Deep Gap, his influence branched out far beyond Watauga County, welcoming new generations of musicians into the fold.
Stories of Somerset Place
The beauty and tranquility of a former plantation in Washington County belie its fraught past. But Somerset Place is telling its history honorably.
An Our State Playlist: The Watsons: 40 Favorites
Forty songs that give a glimpse of Doc Watson’s life and legacy as an Appalachian folk singer, gifted musician, and pioneering flat-picker who created a distinctly signature North Carolina sound.
