Greensboro Daily Photo

The Zinc Kings

Banjo + Bass + Fiddle + Mandolin = String Band!  The Zink Kings are an old-time music band that plays around Greensboro at places that appreciate acoustic music- like Tate Street Coffee House. This past weekend, the Zink Kings performed at Earthfare Organic and Whole Foods Super Market on Battleground Avenue. They provided the entertainment during the supermarket's 'Burgers for Bucks' event. 

As the weather warms up and the days get longer, we will start to see more and more outdoor music events in Greensboro. And, the best part is that many of them are free. So, keep a lawn chair and your dancing shoes in your trunk. You never know when you will stumble upon one of these great events.

If you want to hear what the Zink Kings sound like, here is a link to a you tube video.

 

Greensboro Music Company

The Greensboro Music Company, established in 1993,  is located at the corner of Paisley and Greene Streets.  The actual address is 500 North Greene Street. These days, small, one-story, houselike buildings are getting harder and harder to find downtown.  The architecture and the Carolina blue trim make the building memorable.  The Music Company specializes in buying, selling, and repairing musical instruments, amps, and just about anything that needs fixing.  Fisher Park Apartments and Orrell Designs are just a stone's throw away. The location is fabulous. The leafless tree on a cold winter day makes the seen look cold and desolate. Walk inside and the feeling is completely different.  Happy Monday! If you get a chance, drive around and see if you can find this building. Better yet, walk or bike.

E is for Education and the Environment

This weekend, we were at Bur-Mil Park and stopped by the Frank A. Sharpe, Jr. Wildlife Education Center. It is conveniently located on the edge of the greenway and along the birding trail. The center is a great place to step in out of the elements- not to mention a place to get a drink of water and use the bathroom. In addition to being a great rest stop, they offer wildlife education programs for people of all ages. Two free classes, particularly relevant to this post, are Growing the Green Way and Living the Wildlife.

The renovated barn, that houses the above education center, was originally owned by Julius W. Cone and was known as the Owl's Roost Farm and Poker Club (reference). Julius was the brother of Clarabel and Etta Cone and son of Herman and Helen Cone. His stepdaughter's husband was local architect Edward Loewenstein. So, yet again, a facet of Greensboro's history takes us back to the prominent Cone family.

If you get a chance, stop by Bur-Mil's Wildlife Education Center. It is a fine example of a free, resource available to all. Today is ABC Wednesday and for our GO GREEN Greensboro, "E" is for 'Education and the Environment'.

Jaycee Christmas Parade

The local high school bands provided great entertainment at the Jaycee's Christmas Parade on Saturday. In the above photo, Greensboro College marches past the Central Library as one of their littlest, big fans looks on. This toddler was so happy when all the bands came by and, for the most part, she stayed on the street and danced to the music. We all had to move back on the sidewalk when the huge, impressive NC A&T Univeristy band came marching past. 

About the same time, Ben L. Smith High School came marching up Church Street, It must have been a bittersweet parade for the Smith High School marching band members as it was their first Christmas parade without band director Charles L. Butler. Butler died unexpectedly earlier this year in April. He had inspired band students at Smith High School for nearly fifteen years. You can be sure that, on Saturday, Butler's former students were remembering their last parade with him. Godspeed Mr. Butler and may one of your students be inspired to follow in your footsteps. Before we know it, Greensboro's children, like the little girl in the photo, will be in need of a band director.

Triad Tapestry Children's Chorus

Yesterday afternoon, the Piedmont Interfaith Council held their 30th annual Ecumenical Thanksgivng Celebration, "Giving Thanks for the Borough of Green." How fabulous to have the Abrahamic religions, and MORE, all on the stage at the same time. The event was even more special thanks to the involvement of the Triad Tapestry Children's Chorus, under the direction of Melissa Burris. The children, representing an array of Greensboro's 20+ religions, twirled ribbons and wove their way to the stage of Dana Auditorium to delight us with songs.

The Triad Tapestry Children's Chorus, with members of diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds, has been in existence for 20 years now. They meet at First Baptist Church each Tuesday. If you have a child age 7-11, we're not sure if they are still taking members this year, but you can learn more here. As for us, we've added this November gathering to our "must attend" list and will consider it our kick-off event for the end-of-year, holiday season.

Look at the above photo (under the stars and stripes of Old Glory) long and hard. These are Greensboro's future leaders! And to be fair to the chorus, this photo caught them between songs, when they were not in full concert position.

Campfires and Constellations

Campfires and Constellations is a genre-defying, little-bit-of- Americana, little- bit-of-rock-and-roll, country-with-a driving-beat BAND currently based out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. All five musicians are UNC students from North Carolina and, Ernest Thompson, the banjo player (first row, left) is from Greensboro. Ernest developed his banjo style while taking lessons from Greensboro's ever talented Scott Manring. The other instruments represented in the band are guitar, bass, and percussion. The guys have such diverse interests and backgrounds and are talented not only musically but academically. 

The band was in Greensboro last night for a live performance on UNCG's radio station WUAG FM 103.1. If you want to hear their music, go here. If you like what you hear, head on over to the Facebook page for Campfires and Constellations and give them a "like." 

Latin Roots at Earthworks Gallery

Last Friday was hopping at First Friday in Downtown Greensboro. The above photo was taken at the opening reception for the exhibit "Latin Roots" at Earthworks Gallery. The exhibit celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month. Last week's music and the month-long exhibit are made possible in part by Casa Azul, an organization that is the catalyst for many great events celebrating Latino culture in the wider Greensboro area. Earthworks Gallery, the event's host, is located at 500 South Elm Street, just across the tracks from the Cascade Saloon Building- the one that has been so much in the news lately.

The man on the left side of this photo, Jim Rientjes, is one of the proprietors of Earthworks. Jim is a very talented potter and he works day and night to ensure that the potters, jewlers, and other artists at Earthworks are represented well. We own pottery made by several of the artists represented here.

If you get a chance, stop and show your support for Earthworks, Casa Azul, and the artists involved in the Latin Roots Exhibit. Items are available for purchase at all price points. Look for the display with the papel picado.  And, as for getting all that visual stimulation- priceless.

MUSEP @ Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

MUSEP with friends means fabulous summer fun. Local sponsors and the City of Greensboro bring music to the community each Sunday. The venues are mostly public parks and they are always free. Yesterday's concert was held in the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park off of Old Battleground Avenue& New Garden Road. The evening was one of country music with first, Katelyn Marks and then, Lisa Dames. It was as if Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline were in the park with us. The above photo was not our best at capturing yesterday's tremendous crowd. However, it captures the spirit of our city's great parks.

To the left, you see the 27' tall statue of Nathanael Greene, Revolutionary War hero and our city's namesake. In front of Greene is one of our giant oak trees; they sure help keep the green in Greensboro! The statue and the mighty oak dwarf the people en route to their seats. At the military park, being surrounded by trees enhances the acoustics and the seating area is great- plenty of shade and a gradual slope down to the musicians. The park should host more concerts.

Next Sunday at 6:30, the Greensboro Concert Band will play at Latham Park- a city park off of Wendover at Bessemer. There are four more concerts and then the concerts, and summer, come to a screeching halt!

Happy Monday, folks!

First Friday Fun

July is well under way. Above is a scene at Elements Gallery, 526 South Elm Street, taken at last night's First Friday celebration. Greensboro has some great artists, visual and performing alike, and Elements Gallery is a co-op of about 45 artists. They all work together to keep this gallery dynamic and stocked with colorful items..

Last night, Vance Archer was playing fiddle. He also sells painted blocks of wood in the gallery. (Unfortunately, we didn't get the name of the guitar player). At last night's event, people enjoyed seeing the paintings, jewelry, pottery and other items offered for sale.  During First Friday, Elements Gallery serves light appetizers and beverages, as do many of the galleries.

If you missed First Friday downtown, today, you can head to the festivities in the Lindley Park neighborhood. They will be celebrating from 12-8pm at the corner of Walker and Elam Avenues.

Tritech Electronics, Inc.

Tritech Electronics, Inc. is an analog and digital electronic service located at 1327 Headquarters Drive in East Greensboro. The business is an independently-owned, full-service repair facility for musical instruments and music related electronics. Owner Ben B Phillips III has been in the business for over twenty years. He got his start in Winston-Salem working for another company. He was thrilled to have the opportunity to buy the business and move back to his native Greensboro.

We haven't had a chance to meet Ben yet, but we can tell by the display of keyboards at the entrance to his little space, just off Bessemer Avenue, that he is a creative soul. We can tell by his website (linked above) that he is dedicated to his craft and his customers. He likes takinng broking electronics and giving them new life-- whether they are analog or digital. We should have saved this photo for the Fourth of July. It is very red, white, and blue.

Happy Tuesday, folks!

O is for Greensboro's Orchestra & Opera

Greensboro is lucky to have an opera. Unfortunately, as of September 15, 2011, Greensboro Opera is staffed exclusively by volunteers. They no longer have an executive director (Barbara Peters) or a company manager (Elena DeAngelis). The date of the last eNewsletter, coincides with their last days at work. Last year, at this time, eNewsletters were still being published. There is a luncheon event tomorrow at the Greensboro Country Club Pavillon, related to opera action and fighting on stage. Let's hope they can generate revenue so that Greensboro can continue to have an opera. They want to have a production November 2012; however, it would cost $160,000 and the board anticipates that they would only sell $50,000 in tickets*. We can't imagine our city without the quality, full operas with live music. We also hope they can maintain their program of performing for fifth graders at the Guilford County Schools.

The Greensboro Symphony Orchestra seems to be doing a little better, financially. They still have confirmed events on the 2012 calendar. The symphony orchestra presents so many outreach and education programs, bringing live, classical music to a generation that might otherwise never hear it. The conductor, Soviet/Russian-born Dmitry Sitkovetsky works tirelessly to generate interest in the orchestra's performances. He collaborates frequently with his mother, pianist Bella Davidovich. His mother draws quite a crowd when she performs with the Greensboro Orchestra. We are lucky to have these talented musicians in a leadership role in our community. The Greensboro Orchestra traces its roots to the 1920's.

In the photo above, the acoustic, upright bass, and the mask peeking out behind it, belong to a Greensboro family that loves all of the live performances in the Greensboro community. Today is ABC Wednesday and O is for opera and orchestra.

*reference and read more here.

 

 

 

 

 

Onward, Christian Soldiers

Last month, when we did a photo shoot at Guilford College United Methodist Church, we thought these two children with their foam filled batons, were precious. As we stood and watched them, an old church song came to mind: Onward, Christian Soldiers. The 19th century English hymn is taken from New Testament references about Christians being soldiers for Christ. As an example, the following verse, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Christ (II Timothy 2:3 (KJV). Onward, Christian Soldiers was played on the battleship HMS Prince of Wales in 1941, with Churchill and Roosevelt onboard. It was played at the funeral of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The hymn no longer appears in the hymnal of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and efforts have been made to ban it elsewhere.*

Consider the lyrics, "Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus, going on before. Christ the loyal Master leads against the foe; forward into battle, see his banners go." Young, American Christians of the 1950's were armed to battle not only with their Communist enemies but also with their spiritual ones.

Doubtfully, he children in the above photo know any of this history, or have even heard the hymn sung, but they sure do look like they are having fun on the inflatable battlefield! Happy Sunday, dear readers.

*read more from our Wiki reference here.

M is for Music

Today is ABC Wednesday and 'M' is for 'music'. Local musician Laurelyn Dossett makes beautiful music! Laurelyn performs weekly at Lucky 32 Restaurant. Each Tuesday, in addition to their regular menu, Lucky 32 serves up a traditional, southern meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, cornbread, and collards. Nothing goes with fried chicken better than Laurelyn's clear voice and acoustic music. Laurelyn has gained national attention for her local projects, grounded in the lore of North Carolina. 

In the above photo, Laurelyn, Scott Manring and Molly McGinn are performing the "Vote Against Amendment One" song. Listen to it  here on Monkeywhale Productions' website. From Rabbi Guttman to Mayor Robbie Perkins to restaurateurs Mr. and Mrs. Quaintance, many prominent citizens of Greensboro appeal to voters to vote against Amendment One on May 8th. Read about Amendment 1 here. 

Billy "Crash" Craddock

Billy Wayne Craddock was born in Greensboro in 1939. He earned the nickname "Crash" while playing high school football. Craddock, the youngest of thirteen children, was born into a musical family and his family encouraged his pursuit of music. One brother taught him to play the guitar; another paid him a nickel for every song he sang without missing any lyrics. While Craddock's influences were many, Elvis was just four years older and one of Craddock's role models. After touring for over fifty years, this country/rockabilly singer is still delighting fans. Unfortunately, the only thing we could find named for this hometown hero is the bridge at 16th street, near where he grew up. Since Craddock still lives in the area, we're hoping to interview him. In the meantime, does anyone know what high school he graduated from?

On December 11th, Billy "Crash" Craddock performed at the Liberty Showcase in Liberty, NC-- just southeast of Greensboro. The above photo was taken at the concert by one of our readers, Mitch Luther, who reports that the concert was great!

See an early Craddock video here:

EMF/MUSEP 2011- Concert at Guilford College

In Greensboro, Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park (MUSEP) is soooooooooo much fun and FREE! Many people arrange a group picnic with family and friends-- bringing a cooler, blanket, and food. The music begins and you are transported into a land of heavenly music. The above photo was taken at the Guilford College/Eastern Music Festival event last Sunday. This will give you a sense of how many people take advantage of these concerts. Also, in the photo, you see the conductor giving a little boy from the audience the opportunity to "guest conduct" the group. The concert concluded with "Little Will" conducting and the EMF Young Artists Orchestra playing Stars and Stripes.

Sunday, July 17th, the Philharmonia of Greensboro will play at 6:00 at Lindley Park. The whole MUSEP schedule for the remainder of the summer can be found here. There are seven more concerts. Some people have "perfect attendance." If you are local, head out and support these musicians and this event. 

Kindermusik

Reaching America in 1978, Kindermusik is a music/music-education concept developed in Germany in the 1960's.  The corporate headquarters is located at 203 South Church Street in Greensboro. Kindermusik introduces children to the world of movement and music as young as newborns. They have a well developed curriculum, great instruments, and talented teachers. 

With the recent news that American Express is closing its call center in Greensboro, we need to celebrate, support, and thank businesses like Kindermusik, that are headquarted in our city! Kindermusik is established in over 60 countries and home base is right here. 

Well, when life throws you lemons, make lemonade. When red cars park in the way of your picture, save them for Ruby Tuesday!

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Here we see a singing quartet at First Friday in Downtown Greensboro on December 3rd. What a great way to ring in the holiday with people singing carols. The first known Christmas carols date to fourth century Rome and the tradition has many interesting facets (read more here). Caroling quartets with their a capella, vocal harmonies, bring the holiday season alive. We wish we knew the name of this festive, costumed  group singing on South Elm Street. They were fabulous.

Merry Christmas Greensboro. The best Christmas present for us would be to let us know what we can post for you in the upcoming year.

K- Kudos for Matty Sheets and the Blockheads

With seven institutions of higher education in the triad, Greensboro is brimming with talented musicians. Here we see a photo of a great-sounding group, known as  Matty Sheets and the Blockheads, performing at the Tate Street Festival last weekend. They bill themselves as "aquatic garage folk punk country infusion." That's a lot of adjectives. According to their website, they came to be underwater (not unlike Sponge Bob) but have come up for air! Band members include: Matty Sheets, Emily Stewart, Jessica Pennell, Jerrod Smith, Jon Bohlen, & Harrison Barrow (that's a lot of double letters!-- tt, ee x2 ,ss,ll,rr x3). Matty and the Blockheads will be playing at the Green Bean Coffee House tomorrow night (9/30) in case you are local and want a chance to hear them. 

This is our contribution to ABC Wednesday. We're stretching it a bit and saying, "K" is for "KUDOS." Hats off to these young musicians!

Band in Truck Bed at Friendly Center

A couple of weeks ago, on a Friday afternoon, these guys were hanging out in the bed of their truck at Friendly Center playing music. According to the accordion player, his teacher at Weaver Academy got the accordion at a yard sale for a song. The student and his friend were jamming in the sun and attracting a crowd of listeners. Their band was called "Utaratibu" which they said means "The Order" in Swahili. According to Google Translation, it means "Procedure" (order-- of sorts). While we were standing there taking pictures, a student from a different high school brought her mother's business card so that the new band could arrange to play at her mother's bakery. Instant discovery right before our eyes! Utaratibu, you saw them first here on Greensboro Daily Photo!

Guilford County Schools has a reputation for schools of choice which have proven tremendously motivating for students; so much so that the student dropout rate is impressively low! Weaver Academy is one of those successfully, fully-subscribed high schools. Enjoy this post for Skywatch Friday.

The Kitchen Sink Fiasco

Today's Central Carolina Fair photo takes us to some local entertainment. Look at these talented young musicians. They are members of a local indie/powerpop band that calls itself The Kitchen Sink Fiasco. Just before they performed on Saturday at the Central Carolina Fair, they struck this pose for Greensboro Daily Photo. If you missed their spectacular performance, check out their Facebook Page here. We were struck by how upbeat and happy the band members seemed. Since getting started in 2008, The Kitchen Sink Fiasco has evolved, adding people and layers of sound-- from an acoustic duo to an electric, full band with five members: Joe Davis, Connor Royals, Katie Wiggins, Drew Watterson, & Gregory McManus. 

Apparently, the sound men wear red shorts so, we're sharing the photo with Ruby Tuesday.

 

Unitarian Universalists.... En Plein Air

Summer is the time for relaxing outdoors or "en plein air" even for religious organizations. Here we see the banner for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro as members are out on the lawn of Guilford College enjoying last week's offering of the summer concert series. This evening's concert will start at 6pm in Center City Park and will be Philharmonia of Greensboro. 

Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park (MUSEP) is in it's 31st summer and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro (UUCG) has been around since the 1950's. While they have a great website, unfortunately, we didn't see a 'history' page outlining important dates for UUCG. However, if you are interested in this liberal religious community, check out their website or look for the banner!

 

Eastern Music Festival & MUSEP at Guilford College

In Greensboro, we are in the middle of the season of Eastern Music Festival. Yesterday's EMF concert was held on the Guilford College campus in conjunction with MUSEP. Thanks to the sponsors of MUSEP (Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park), the EMF concert was free and open to the public. This is a win win situation. As seen in the photo above, the Sunday evening concert series brings out an ocean of people to enjoy music and the EMF musicians have an opportunity to perform in front of a large, enthusiastic audience. The EMF is a 5-week professional concert series that gives musicians between the age of 14-22 an opportunity to train and perform throughout the summer. 

If you haven't seen an EMF performance yet, you've got until July 31. The EMF was founded in 1961 and can now boast its own Wikipedia entry, which helps put it, and GREENSBORO on the map! Please consider supporting this very important program by attending performances and/or making a financial contribution. It will be time and money well spent!

Norman Rockwell Moment

Here we see the closing scene from the musical 1776, performed at the Carolina Theater several times this past weekend. Forget arthritis, bad back, and other maladies of aging, this patriot in the center of the photo was the first to stand when the flag was lowered during the encore.

If you missed the showing at the Carolina Theater, consider renting the movie 1776, which is a 1972 adaptation of the stage musical by the same name. You will learn history while being entertained. The production makes it patently clear that, during the founding of our nation, slavery was a contentious issue. You will learn/be reminded that if one colony had dissented, the USA would not have become a nation on July 4th 1776. Did you know New York abstained 'courteously'  (more than once) during the Second Continental Congress; the turkey was under consideration for the nation's symbol; Thomas Jefferson played the fiddle and he had red hair?  Finally, among other things, you will learn that colonial women influenced their men and you will see the negotiating and debate that took place over the three months of deliberation

We have had several requests to showcase the interior of our city's treasure, The Carolina Theater. Fear not, we've got that on our 'to do' list!

 

It's 1776 at the Carolina Theatre

These patriotic folks are marching over to the Carolina Theatre at 310 South Greene Street. They are in for a real treat as they are about to to see the production "1776,"  an evening of singing, drama, and dancing, reenacting events of the year 1776 in America. This award winning musical was originally seen on Broadway. Locally, you can attend tomorrow for the July 4th showing. Afterwards, you can head on over to more of the Fun Fourth Celebration around town. There is plenty to do in Greensboro folks so here's to having a happy and safe Fourth of July tomorrow. For a little bit of serendipity, notice that the crossing count down is on 4 as in Happy 4th! If you want to know more about the production, click on the words "Carolina Theater" above. If you want to know more about the 2,200 seat theater that opened in 1927, click here.

We found just enough reflection in this photo to share it with our friends at Weekend Reflection!

 

 

Summer Solstice Event at Arboretum

The Summer Solstice Celebration in the Greensboro Arboretum takes place tomorrow from 3-9pm. The family friendly celebration will have something for everybody. Some years it rains; some years the sun is brutal; EVERY year everyone has fun. Rain or shine, the more outlandish your outfit-- garland, tulle, flowers, and wands-- the more you will fit in. Consider bringing dad out to hear the good music, get a massage, listen to some ringing bowls, be transported back to his teen years, and watch the fire ceremony at 9pm. Above is a picture from last year and if you click through you will see our post from last year. This free event is an example of why Greensboro is such a great city. Events like this have plenty of great items for purchase; yet, if you are on a tight budget or have downsized, you can come out and feel equally welcome. You can bet we'll be there, camera in hand! Come feel the positive energy!

 

Prom Season in Greensboro

Gone is the day when high school proms are held in decorated gyms on campus. Now, they are held at ballrooms, in hotels, and other venues around town. Last Saturday, Grimsley High School held its prom in the Regency Room on Elm Street in downtown Greensboro. Dudley High School held their prom at the Marriott. This is not the best photo we got of Grimsley's prom; however, it is one featuring the student who made her prom dress entirely out of Starburst candy wrappers. You can see her in the knee-length dress above or on this video clip captured by the local media. While all attendees looked beautifully elegant, this young woman with her creative idea captured the most attention. Even one of the chaperones commented that one day she would be able to say, "I knew that person." The shoes, purse, and her escort's bow tie were also made from Starburst wrappers!

 

OPA! Greek Cuisine & Dining for Hunger

The waiters at OPA Greek Cuisine, located at 200 S. Elm St.,  are dancing for joy to the live band. We ate at this establishment (also known as Taverna OPA!) on Saturday. The live music was peppy and fun, without being loudly distracting. The food was not only visually appealing but tasty. The spanikopita was more spinach and filling than phylo dough-- just the way we like it. Service was attentive without being overbearing. Watching the waiters dance while the kitchen was between orders, was just plain uplifting.

Today is Dining out for Hunger in the Triad and there are one of over 100 participating establishments. By eating out in one of these restaurants today, you will be helping Greensboro's Urban Ministries feed and care for those less fortunate than most of us reading this message. This event only happens once a year. So, hop in your car and EAT OUT today. If you've already eaten, go somewhere and buy dessert. Buy take out to reheat the next day. If you look at our linked list above, surely, you will find SOMETHING to suit your palate. Opa! (horray) for dining out for hunger!

The folks at Ruby Tuesday will love those red sashes!

 

Boston's House of Jazz & Blues

For Mellow Yellow Monday, we're starting the week off with Boston's House of Jazz & Blues. Don't be fooled by the name. This venue for great music is located here in Greensboro, North Carolina. The family name of the proprietor is Boston! Sorry Massachusetts but the Boston Family is here. From West Virginia to New York to North Carolina, the Bostons have been involved in the music and business worlds since the early 1900's. See family photos and read about the Boston Family (link here) and we're sure you'll want to head out and hear their music!

We stumbled on this view when we were driving by the Newbridge Park Baseball Stadium as House of Jazz is a stone's throw from the stadium, at the corner of Edgeworth and Smith Streets.

 

David & Ginger Hildebrand of the Colonial Music Institute

Here we see David and Ginger Hildebrand of the Colonial Music Institute sharing their infinite knowledge about music of the American Revolutionary Period. They spoke and played at Tannenbaum Historic Park this past weekend as part of the interpretive offerings related to the Reenactment of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Sitting in the audience, we heard not only a minuet but also the protocol for dressing and being introduced at this social dance. We heard 18th century songs with explanations of how tunes and lyrics were authenticated through primary source documents. We learned that playing a volin/fiddle would have damaged a woman's reputation; however, while violin playing was reserved for men only, its affordability made it possible for men of all financial means to play it. Conversely, the harpsichord could be played by men or women but only the wealthiest could afford them! We sat in the audience marveling at all of the great events tied to the reenactment of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. If the Hildebrands return to Greensboro next year, you won't want to miss them!

For ABC Wednesday, I is for INSTRUMENTS!

 

Grand Girls

These grand girls of music reside inside the music building at UNCG. The sculpture spans 3 stories from the base, to a globe to the girl on the bell of the horn. We didn't see a description of the artwork or an artist's plaque. If you know about it, please share. It looks as if the woman is playing to a little copy of herself. Perhaps this represents the reflective process of thinking about your playing, how you sound, look, and what you think of your playing. Other than voices in the head, music in the ears, what better way than to see yourself lifting your your arms, pursing your lips, blowing air through the mouthpiece and making music!!!

If we had one wish it would be for someone to clean the cobwebs off of this work of art-- oh, and remove the nickel from the bell of the instrument. Nature brought us the cobwebs but student humor brought us the nickel for your effort!

In the ABC Wednesday meme world, this week's letter is "G" and "G" is for Girls!!!!! 

 

School of Music at UNCG

Yesterday's footbridge walking to the north edge of UNCG's campus leads to the School of Music Building. Like those southern churches that extend for a city block, the music building starts at McIver Street and extends westward on Market Street-- a loooonnnng way. It is comprised of red brick, cement, and glass, combining hard angles and acoustically-accommodating round edges. Here we see one tiny piece of the building. Even more glorious than the outside is all of the wonderful music being created inside. Each theater, practice room, and classroom is an oasis of sound. On any given day, instruments of all kinds, music of every genre, and musicians at all proficiency levels can be seen and heard herein. Personally, we could use a good dose of POLKA & Oberek music.

If Ruby Tuesday considers Brick Red as red, we're onboard with the passionately red crowd today!
 

At Grove & Portland, The Beat Goes On

This music venue is located at the corner of Grove and Portland in the Glenwood neighborhood. Glenwood is making a real effort towards gentrification. As you can see, the building is beautifully painted with a snazzy banner of musical notes and instruments framing a plywood window and a bedsheet-curtain. This neighborhood is starting to spark to life on the weekends. Optimistically, wikimapia says about Glenwood, "A historic and very diverse lower-middle class to middle class neighbourhood in the southwest corner of Greensboro. It has seen some tough times in the years, but through local community efforts, the neighbourhood is to be expecting a revitalization. This will be like Greensboro's downtown."  Wikimapia, we sure hope you are right! If you follow that site, you can see a google map of the actual neighborhood-- very 21st century!

Sanctuary of West Market Street United Methodist Church

Happy Sacred Sunday! Recently, we published an exterior view of the West Market Street United Methodist Church in downtown Greensboro. Several commenters thought the exterior of the building looked German. 

Today, we take you inside to see sanctuary. The beautiful Dobson-Rosales organ sounds even better than it looks-- and it looks stunning!  The stained glass windows are said to be Tiffany. The rounded pews wrap around the sanctuary and soften the look of the interior. In person, the rounded shape and minimal hard edges is even more apparent. Truly, the building is a feast for the eyes and the soul outside as well as inside. In future weeks we will share examples of the artwork. Fortunately, this downtown church continues to thrive. Hopefully it will be here for another century, or two, or three...

If you are visiting the blog today for the Sacred Sunday post and want to see our earlier posts in this category, please click here for eight months of Sundays!

UNCG Sapphires: Singing A'Cappella, at Night, in the Rain

The August 2009 theme for the 1,000 City Daily Photo sites around the globe is: NIGHT. Greensboro's contribution is this photo of the Sapphires, an all-female a'cappella singing group from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). We took the photo AT NIGHT in the pouring rain at Greensboro's 2008 Summer Solstice event. We want to feature this very talented group and encourage you to enjoy their music. Their always-fine music varies depending on the strengths of the current members. For example, in the above photo, the singer holding the water bottle makes amazing, percussive sounds with her mouth. This You Tube video is a good example of the percussive sound of the Sapphires. Also, the song, "Numb," an MP3 file on the Sapphires' My Space account will leave you convinced that they are using instruments.

The Sapphires formed in 2000, after two members of the Spartones, UNCG's male a'cappella group, decided that UNCG needed a female group. Ironic that the male group formed first since UNCG has only been accepting male students since 1968. At any rate, we are thrilled to have both groups in Greensboro.  Let's hope CDP's August 2009 Theme Day gives the Sapphires a little international recognition!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Music in the Air: Eastern Music Festival & MUSEP Concerts on Sunday

 

Summer is the perfect time for playing music outdoors in Greensboro and there are many opportunities to enjoy music for FREE! The above photo was taken on Sunday, July 12, 2009 on the Guilford College Campus. The Eastern Music Festival Student Orchestra gave a concert that through the free MUSEP series. The center of the photo features the guest conductor for that concert, Chelsea Tipton, who is originally from Greensboro.

Tomorrow's free, outdoor MUSEP concert (July 26th) will again be held at Guilford College, starting at 6pm. It is also part of the Eastern Music Festival featuring The New Familiars. Allow plenty of time to park, walk, and set up your own picnic space to enjoy while watching the concert! If you follow our link to The New Familiars'  my-space page, you will see that Sunday's FUN, GREAT, acoustic concert will be fringe-like and informal! 

Greensboro is celebrating our 30th year of free, outdoor music concerts in the summer. If you have a chance, follow the links to read more about opportunities to enjoy music this summer; it isn't too late. Of course, for those in the position to lend financial support to these well attended events, donations are greatly appreciated and can be arranged through the EMF and MUSEP websites!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Happy "Cinco de Mayo." This photo was taken on Saturday at the  Artbeat Festival in our beautiful City Center Park in downtown Greensboro. The four dancers are dressed in festive costumes from Jalisco, Mexico. These women make dancing look easy; however, in reality, the dresses are extremely heavy and the women get quite a workout swishing the skirts and moving around on stage. 

Typical of events where Artbeat and the Greensboro Public Library are involved, this event attracted people of all ages and from many cultures. The Artbeat Greensboro Festival will continue until May 10th, so if you haven't attended an event yet, it is not too late. Also, if you are in the mood to celebrate Cinco de Mayo today, turn your radio dial to 94.5 FM, La Preciosa, and enjoy the "musica inolvidable en vivo." If you look to the left of the photo above, you can see the tent belonging to "La Preciosa." The announcers were balanced bilinguals and took great care to accommodate their English and Spanish listeners.

If you go out today to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, please dine in one of the 127 restaurants participating in the "Serving Greensboro Together" fundraiser for Urban Ministries. Ten percent of the sale will be donated to Urban Ministry.  Arriba!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day: Got GREEN?

Scottie dogs aren't Irish (maybe Scots-Irish!), but this fellow looks so cute sporting glittery, green shamrocks. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Our holiday vignette shows you how one Greensboro family goes all out decorating for St. Patrick's Day-- even if they aren't Irish! If you are up for celebrating the green, M'Coul's on 110 W. McGee St. has quite an St. Patrick's Day line-up and at least the first six events sound wonderful AND family friendly! 

Johnny Burris with his Bagpipes 8am to noon

Jason Pierce 12:30- 2pm

Dakota Joe and Scott Manring 2:30- 4pm

Walsh Kelley Irish Dancers 4:30- 7pm

Molly McGinn 5:30- 7:30pm

Limerick Contest 8pm-9pm

DJ 9pm-1am

Here is a modified Ogden Nash limerick to put you in the festive spirit:

A jolly young fellow from Yuma

Told an elephant joke to a puma;

Now his skeleton lies

Beneath Greensboro* skies-

The puma had no sense of huma.

*(hot western)

               

Brown Building on the UNCG Campus

Known as the Brown Building since 1960, the Music Building opened in 1925 on the campus of the University of North Carolina Greensboro. It served as the School of Music's home until 1999, when a new Music Building was dedicated on McIver Street. Recently, we found a post card with the above view of the original music building in the 1950's. The post card was written to a family in Daytona Beach, Florida, by a man named Bill. When the post card was written, UNCG was known as the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, and only females attended, hence the use of the word "fems" below.

On January 26th (today's date) 1958, Bill wrote,

Hey--

Every day I go by this building it reminds me of my younger days before they made the practice rooms sound proof-- you could hear the fems trying to reach high C on our front porch on a warm spring night, boy the years do fly-- see you soon, Bill

What an opening sentence for a novel!  Bill, unless you make yourself known to us, we claim that line!

By the way, we tried our best to replicate the view found on the post card while photographing the building. After all, we aren't called Greensboro Daily Post Card!! Surprisingly, the building's façade hasn't changed! See a 1927 version of the Brown Building here.

Here are four relevant books...

                                      

Breaking Up Christmas

 

As the Christmas season comes to a close, the above old-time dancers just may be dancing to the fiddle tune, "Breaking Up Christmas."  Breaking Up Christmas parties are held in Greensboro; however, they are believed to have originated in nearby Surry County.   In the days before electricity and multi-media entertainment, people would gather in each others' homes, push back the furniture and dance to fiddle and banjo tunes. These parties remain especially popular in the time between Christmas and the Epiphany,today, January 6th (read more about the Appalachian tradition here). Guilford County is home to many fabulous old-time musicians and dancers, many of whom are, well, breaking up Christmas. Listen to master old-time fiddler, Benten Flippen, playing Breaking Up Christmas here.

 

If your New Year's resolution was to exercise more, put on your dancing shoes and head on over to the Vintage Theater in Winston-Salem TONIGHT to hear two fine Greensboro old-time musicians, Rich Hartness and Tolly Tollefson, with Kenny Greer calling (7:30 dance lessons, 8- 10 pm dancing; $7).