Shakori Hills Grassroots Spring Festival 2013

Just three weeks away is the much anticipated Spring 2013 Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance. The four-day festival begins April 18 in Chatham County and lasts through April 21. Over 60 bands will be performing on four stages throughout the festival. Some of these scheduled bands include Keller Williams & The Travelin' McCourys, Lizzy Ross Band, Onward, Soldiers, Donna the Buffalo, Solas, and many others!

Advance 4-day tickets are available online and at various locations in North Carolina including Pittsboro, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Students get a $5 discount with day tickets. More information regarding tickets can be found here.

EOT71 Occupy Raleigh 10/18/11

Occupy Raleigh- Mason Morris took a trip to downtown Raleigh to get the inside scoop on what the Occupy movement is all about and what it means for the people of Raleigh.

NC State Marching Band- Nick and Jay take a look at the Power Sound of the South to see what exactly makes this marching band stand out.

Changing of the Seasons- Jake expresses his feelings about the coming of fall, and how it is much more than just a different season.

Shakori Hills- Some of the WKNC staff had the opportunity to participate in Shakori Hills, a local grassroots festival and brought back some great clips.

English Premiere League Soccer News- Matt Gardner brings you all you need to know about Premiere League Soccer in the first broadcast of this new segment.

http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT71_101811.mp3

Shakori Hills Fall 2011

“Shakori Hills Community Arts Center’s mission is to provide an environment for community building through arts and education.”

The weather could not have been better for a four day weekend of communal music and dance at the Shakori Hills Grassroots festival.  A diverse group of people gathered together all with one goal:  to climb festival mountain.  Festival mountain has many trail heads that all lead to the top.  Some may choose to go the dancing route, and find themselves encountering the “whitest dance” around town: clogging.  That’s right, ladies and gentleman, a clogging workshop was led by The Green Grass Cloggers on Sunday morning at the festival.  Shuffle steps, Indians, and chugs were some of the many individual dances taught. Along with the clogging workshop, a zydeco dance workshop, as well as, a country two-step workshop were put on at the festival.

Another primary trailhead was the wonderful trail of music. From Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings to Bela Fleck and the Flecktones to Locos Por Juana; the festival provided a very eclectic group of music that was sure to soothe even the savage beast.  Dancing, singing along, hula hooping, and going into hippie freak-outs were some of the many activities that went on during the outdoor concerts.

After climbing through the mountain for some time, a festival-goer may find themselves a bit famished.  You would be in luck, because the festival offered some finger-licking, slap-your-mama meals that were affordable and satiable.  One meal to highlight was “The Veggie Thing”.  This was a piece of art in itself.  A sandwich served on a white flour tortilla filled to the top with a variety of veggies and sauces, that was sure to leave your belly full, and your mind happy.  Thirsty? Hand squeezed lemonade and frozen cherry limeade were some of the many drinks served at the festival. The sweet, tart lemonade was shaken not stirred and served in Mason jars.  This drink option was sure to quench a festival goers thirst in the warm, afternoon sun.

When people think about festivals, they often think art, music, dance, and culture.  What is not often thought about is the function of the festival.  Is this an event that is just for pleasure and entertainment, or does it get deeper than that, and provide some sort of escape from reality? While camping in middle earth (the name of our camp site), it occurred to me that the sense of community was very shire-like.  Everyone getting along, enjoying ales and sing-alongs, lending a hand whenever a neighbor was in need…we were in hobbit world!  I even think I saw Gandalf several times, or maybe that was just a hippie…not sure. Regardless of what your background was, the festival did provide an escape from everyday life—which was nice.  If nothing else, the festival gave one a relaxing environment to be a part of something big.  It’s not everyday that you get to climb festival mountain…

With the festival closing, a feeling of reality crept back, and we began to descend off festival mountain.  Thankfully the mountain will open back up next spring for another four-day escape.  Hopefully we can use the philosophy of the Shakori Hills festival in our everyday life.  Meaning, I hope we can strive to be hobbit-like, regularly.  Let’s build communities through arts and education, y’all!

Peace, Love and Swirl!

- Andrew, "The Cosmic Cowboy"

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Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival

WKNC DJs were on the scene for Shakori Hills Music Festival, a rollicking four days of music, art, and family-filled fun on the euphoric hills of Chatham County.

Update: Local Bands In Studio This Week

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Des Ark will be postponing the band's in-studio performance on Oct. 5 to a future date.

No worries though, as the band will still be performing at Shakori Hills this upcoming weekend (Oct. 6-9)!

Moogfest 2011 - Get entered to win!

North Carolina is on point with fall music festivals - in September, Raleigh hosted Hopscotch Music Festival. This weekend, Pittsboro will have Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival. At the end of the month, Moogfest will reign in Asheville.



Moogfest, named for Bob Moog, the inventor of the Moog synthesizer who was a research professor at UNC-Asheville, is back for its annual music festival during the weekend of October 28 – 30.  Different venues across Asheville's downtown will host The Flaming Lips, STS9, Passion Pit, TV on the Radio and many more.  In addition to a packed lineup, there will also be artists in panel discussions, question and answer sessions, and workshops.  One thing I'm particularly excited about is the opportunity, in honor of Moog himself, to try out a variety of Moog instruments. There will also be visual art exhibitions, installations, and film screenings.

WKNC has two pairs of weekend passes to give away for this event - but it will take a little luck! Each day until October 21, one WKNC DJ will do a giveaway to get a listener put into a drawing the tickets. During Local Lunch on October 21, DJ Kligz will do the drawing live on-air and announce the recipients of the weekend passes.

 

Go ahead and put our studio lines on speed dial so when the WKNC DJ asks for it, you'll be ready to win!

(919) 860-0881 or (919) 515-2400

Local Bands in Studio This Week

With Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival going down this upcoming weekend, two local bands playing at the festival will be coming into the studio for a chat before the fun!

Peter Lamb and the Wolves will be at WKNC this Monday, Oct. 3 from 11-12 p.m. to chat before the Local Lunch and Des Ark will be in studio on Wednesday, Oct. 5 from 2-3 p.m. Expect some live performances in each interview and insight on what makes Shakori Hills the event that it is.

Want to go to Shakori Hills?

Of course you do! Four days of music, dance, art and education in the heart of North Carolina; what could be a better way to spend fall break?

The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance is holding its Fall Festival October 6-9 in Chatham County. Over 60 bands are scheduled to perform, including Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Donna the Buffalo, Brett Dennen, Sidi Touré, The Duhks, Rosie Ledet, Nawal, Emmit-Nershi Band, Eilen Jewell, Toubab Krewe, Bearfoot, The Old Ceremony, Locos Por Juana and HOBEX.



Keep your ears open for one-day pass giveaways for you and a friend. One pair will be given away each week leading up to the festival. When the WKNC DJ asks for it, be the correct caller on our studio lines, (919) 860-0881 or (919) 515-2400.

Liz Janes in-studio interview coming up 6/25!

Soulful singer-songwriter Liz Janes will be stopping by WKNC this Saturday, June 25th at 2pm for an in-studio interview with DJ Elly May. Janes began her interest in music at a young age and then went from being involved in the Northwestern noise scene to making her own bluesy folk music; now she has made a splash at WKNC with her new album Say Goodbye.  Despite its title, it certainly is not a goodbye from the artist who is in fact saying hello to the Triangle through two performances this weekend besides her on-air interview.  She'll be performing Friday at the Wild Goose Festival taking place at Shakori Hills this weekend and will be following up her interview with us with a show at Open Eye Café in Carrboro.  Be sure to tune in to find out more about this artist and be sure to leave a comment below if there's a question you'd like asked during the interview.

Shakori Hills Grassroots Spring Festival

Gettin’ my SWIRL on…

The ninth Shakori Hills Spring Grass Roots festival brought music, art, rain, hippies, families, and so much more together in a culture-filled, weekend extravaganza.  Early Thursday morning, I arrived to the festival grounds, checked in, loaded my gear out of my car, and hitched a ride on a tractor to the camping area.  I found a nice, little spot to pitch my tent in the camping area coined “Middle Earth.”  Although we weren’t actually in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional world, the attire and facial hair of many-a-folk begged to differ.

Being that it was my first Shakori Hills Grassroots festival, exploration of the festival grounds was essential in order to orient myself throughout the weekend. While meandering about, the sounds of music diffused through the air and entered my ear balls resulting with my “festival switch” being turned on. Everyone has a festival switch, even the most uptight Philistine; although more often than not when the switch of the Philistine is turned on, it results in his/her head exploding.  Anyways, my “festival switch”…oh, yes.  When the switch is fired on all stress is forgotten, and you are left carefree in a world surrounded by some of the friendliest people you can possibly imagine.

After orienting myself around the 72-acres of meadow and forest, I decided to truck it back to “Middle Earth” to get some banjo-time in before I head into the music.  Before I could touch my finger to a string, two strangers, in the distance were magnetized to the wood and skin of my banjo.  These weren’t any two strangers, but rather a man in drag and a woman with tons of tattoos and piercings.  They also carried with them some dancing utensils including: one set of fluffy orange balls and a set of iron triangles.  So, I sat there and played my banjo while these festifreaks (not in a derogatory way) danced about—a good way to start the music!

Now, it’s somewhat difficult to paint a picture of what this large event was all about, but I will try and hit the major events through the photo album.  One thing the photo album doesn’t illustrate is the weather and slop.  Thursday and Friday brought some severe rains to the area, resulting with the festival grounds turning into a bog.  In a nutshell it was NASTY…



The festival hosted many workshops including a blues workshop with Captain Luke, Whistling Britches, and Ironing Board Sam, as well as a Cajun music workshop with Eunice, Louisiana’s Pine Leaf Boys. Educational workshops such as sustainability workshop and square dance workshops were some of the others.

Festival goers gotta eat...Many food vendors set up trucks and stands for the festival attendees’ pleasure.  There was barbeque, Mexican, crepes, and even breakfast.  My personal favorite food item was a sandwich entitled “The Veggie Thing.”  This sandwich was loaded with salad greens, onions, salsa, and a little slice of love (the secret ingredient).  After stuffing your face with the festival food, it may be necessary to wash it down with a tasty beverage.  For this very reason, a North Carolina native posted his soda truck in the food village.  Bob Muse of Indian Trail, NC is the co-owner of Hillbilly Bob’s Soda Company, and executive soda-maker.  This soda was the best damn soda I had ever had, and the best part was it was served in recycled Bush’s baked beans’ cans.

Although mother nature decided to make it rain, festival goers were not phased at all.  The spring festival was a good vacate from sanity, and thankfully, the fall festival will open up the door and welcome us festifreaks, soon enough!

So with that...Peace, Love and Swirl (the symbol for Festival as coined by Griff Blakewood of Lafayette, La)!

 

Shakori Hills is back for Spring!

Press release from Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance:

9th Annual Spring Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance

Silk Hope, NC -  The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance will hold its annual spring festival from Thursday, April 21 to Sunday, April 24, 2011. The festival will feature more than 50 bands and performers on two big outdoor stages, a large Dance Tent, and an intimate Cabaret Tent. Located on 72 beautiful farmland acres at 1439 Henderson Tanyard Road in Silk Hope, North Carolina, just down the road from Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, Burlington, and Greensboro. The festival also features local crafts, delicious food, various children's activities, environmental sustainability workshops, and much more in a family-friendly environment.

Featured acts include: The Travelin' McCourys, Arrested Development, The Lee Boys, Donna the Buffalo, Tift Merritt, Umalali, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Langhorne Slim, Scythian, Preston Frank & His Zydeco Family Band, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Orquesta GarDel, and Joy Kills Sorrow.

Other local favorites include: The Beast, Diali Cissokho & Kairaba!, Midtown Dickens, Greg Humphreys, Birds & Arrows, Lizzy Ross Band, John Howie Jr. & The Sweethearts, Mount Moriah, Cool John Ferguson, Gray Young, Kooley High, Big Fat Gap, Jack Maverick & His Wild Rebels, Penny Prophets, The Music Maker Revue, Bluegrass Experience, Dark Water Rising, Big Al Hall & Marching Rams, Skeedaddle, Sarah Shook & The Devil, Paperhand Puppet Intervention, Trilogy, Apple Chill Cloggers, HoopDrum, and Elikem African Dance

Other great acts on the bill: Pura Fe, Keith Secola & His Wild Band of Indians, Taj Weekes, Thousands of One, The Deer Clan Singers, Ayurveda, Hudost, Old Man Luedecke, Jason Ringenberg, Do It to Julia, Big Daddy Love, Nikki Talley, Farmer Jason, Spirit Family Reunion, Louise Omoto Kessel, Aaron Burdett, Old Sledge, Double E, Michael Jacobs, Daygot Leeyos, Stuart McNair, Possum Creek, and more.

Festival tickets are on sale now and available by phone and at http://www.shakorihills.org/tickets-info. Four day passes are $90 in advance and $100 at the gate. Kids 12 and under are FREE! Day passes are $25 (Thurs), $35 (Fri), $45 (Sat), and $25 (Sun). Youth prices (13-15) are $12, $17, $20, and $12. Tent camping is $10 per tent and vehicle camping is $50 in advance and $60 at the gate.

Stay tuned to WKNC for ticket giveaways and more updates!

Embarrassing Fruits to Promote their Shakori Hills Performance Tuesday

With the fall Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival this weekend, we wanted to speak to some of our favorite local bands performing at the festival. Tomorrow (Tuesday October 5), Special K will be chatting on the phone with Joe Norkus of Embarrassing Fruits as he promotes his band's show at the Carson Grove's Stage on Thursday, October 7.

Norkus will also be discussing the band's recent album release of Frontier Justice which came out last month. The Chapel Hill band will be performing around 11 p.m. For the full band schedule, please visit the Shakori Hills website. Please listen in on the conversation only on 88.1FM or streaming online.

EOT36 Goodnight, Raleigh! 8/11/10

Eye on the Triangle creator Saja Hindi runs down the latest news in her last program as host. Then Tyler Everrett previews the Wolfpack football schedule From the Sidelines. In a special extended VIP, Saja talks with John Morris, founder of the popular community blog Goodnight, Raleigh! and several members of his staff. Then Jacob Downey previews the Stars in the Round fundraiser for the Shakori Hills Community Arts Center in Hear This.

http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT36_081110.mp3

Local Beat Video Exclusive: Shakori Hills

Shakori Hills 2010 with 88.1 WKNC from Wolf TV on Vimeo.

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Last month, Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance was held on a 75 acre farmstead in Chatham County. Kate "Riff Raff" Rafferty, Tommy "Tommyboy" Anderson, and myself, Nicole "DJ Kligz" Kligerman, got the chance to drive to Shakori to see what it was all about. Well, to put it simply, we had the time of our lives. After setting up our official WKNC tent on Friday, Riff Raff, Tommyboy, and I ventured around the grounds to see what there was to do. Shakori supplied its guests with kid-friendly activities, workshops for musicians and dancers, arts and crafts, a healing arts area, several stages, a vast camping site, and a food area that included a delicious "Veggie Thing". While at the festival, Wolf TV videographer Jane Moon joined us to capture footage of the festival for the first ever Local Beat Video Exclusive, which includes interviews with Bowerbirds, Midtown Dickens, and festival-goers. This video has been posted on Wolf TV's site for quite a while and I thought it deserved a place here as well. Take a look!

EOT29 Art Museum 4/26/10

This week we preview Technician's latest issues, Shakori Hills, We Cycle, and the reopening of the North Carolina Museum of the Arts.

http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT29_042610.mp3

Giveaways for the rest of April -- check It!

Check it - Check it - Check it out!

WKNC has tickets to great shows for YOU! Here are the shows happing during the rest of April that we are giving away tickets to:

Thursday, April 22

Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival (April 22 to 25)
**Be sure to tune into WKNC for an interview with The Honeycutters on Friday, April 23 from11 a.m. to 12 p.m. w/ DJ Kligz as the last of WKNC Shakori Interview series**



Friday, April 23

The Old Ceremony w/ Benji Hughes @ Cat's Cradle

The Old Ceremony photo by Scott Simontacchi

Sunday, April 25

Frightened Rabbit w/ Maps & Atlases, Bad Veins @ Cat's Cradle



Monday, April 26

Quasi w/ Let's Wrestle @ Cat's Cradle



Wednesday, April 28

Clipse w/ XY & Ninjasonik @ Cat's Cradle



Friday, April 30

Kaki King w/ An Horse @ Cat's Cradle



As always, be sure to check out The Rock Report for a complete list of local shows. Tune into WKNC 88.1 FM for your chance to win tickets or stream us online.

Rock on!

The Beast and Orquesta GarDel make sweet music in the WKNC studio

If you've been following along with us these past two Fridays, you'll know that we've been participating in a small interview series featuring many of the talented acts at this spring's Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival. Last week, DJ Mick and DJ Kligz sat down with Bowerbirds and the ever so comical Inflowential. On this particular Friday, I had the pleasure of interviewing two great local bands, The Beast and Orquesta GarDel.



As an avid local music lover, The Beast, of course, was no stranger to my earbuds. I last caught the band last at WKNC's fall Fridays on the Lawn series where they opened for Kooley High. Obviously, I was going through a bit of a withdrawl, and with promises of on-air free-styling from Pierce Freelon, the Beast's front-man, the interview was too hard to pass up. Orquesta GarDel was a newcomer to my music pallet. Based in strong Latino roots, GarDel plays classic and modern salsa music with a sound heavily influenced by the New York-Puerto Rico connection of the 1970s. Eric Hirsh, Beast's keyboardist, is also a major part of GarDel, which has ultimately led to some interesting collaboration in the past. I won't give away too much, but I experienced firsthand the powerful forces and talent when these two groups collide. Be sure to check out the whole interview including the free-style performance:

Part 1: The Beast. The Beast

Part 2: Orquesta GarDel.Orquesta GarDel.

Part 3: Shakori Hills.Shakori Hills

Part 4: Free-style "Ahora" GarDel and Beast. Free-style "Ahora" GarDel and Beast

Next Friday, tune in to DJ Kligz as she will be talking to The Honeycutters as they gear up for their performance at Shakori that weekend.

Inflowential Interview from Friday, 4/9

Inflowential stopped into the WKNC studio last Friday to talk about their upcoming show at Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, their first LP (on the way...), an imminent move, and to thank everyone they've ever met.



DJ Kligz and I had a grand time chatting it up with them and spinning some of their music, so have a listen below.

Inflowential Interview

Fridays on the Hills (Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival)

As most of you know, the spring edition of Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival (April 22nd-25th) is rapidly approaching. For those of you who don't know about the festival, Shakori Hills is a four day experience, which exhibits various dance, art, and music. With over 50 bands performing on four stages,  we wanted to give you a taste of some of the talented acts of the festival. Due to various N.C. State baseball games interrupting the much beloved Local Beat during April, we've asked some of our favorite Shakori Hills musicians to join us in the WKNC studio earlier on Friday afternoons for the remainder of the month.

Take a look at who's dropping in:

This Friday -- April 9th, 2010

Inflowential (1-2pm w/ DJ Mick and DJ Kligz)

Bowerbirds (2-3pm w/ DJ Mick and DJ Kligz)

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Friday -- April 16th, 2010

The Beast and GarDel w/ Special K 2 to 3 p.m.

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Friday -- April 23rd, 2010

The Honeycutters (11am-12pm w/ DJ Kligz)

If Fridays weren't already your favorite days of the week, then hopefully WKNC will change that with these great interviews. Be sure to tune in online or at 88.1FM. Also, check out our spring Fridays on the Lawn concert this Friday on Harris Field at N.C. State featuring local bands Aminal and Bright Young Things. The show is free and so are the t-shirts and pizza. Don't you just love Fridays?

Interview with Lizzy Ross This Friday, Oct. 16

Most people might recognize the powerful and beautiful voice of Lizzy Ross as the lead singer of Chapel Hill's own Lafcadio. With  booming success within the Triangle and a recent performance at Shakori Hills Grassroots Fall Music Festival, it's a wonder how Ross, a full time philosophy and music student at UNC-Chapel Hill, has time to embark on her solo career. However, the future looks bright for this young musician who recently received praise for her tracks Maria, Slave to the Muse, and No Man on Lafcadio's self-titled LP. She also plans to graduate this December.

Be sure the check out the interview and live in studio performances from Lizzy Ross this Friday at 2 p.m. with yours truly, DJ Special K.

Listen streaming online.