Jazz concert in Hickory A new Jazz on Tap series starts on Sunday at 4 p.m. with Rick Cline on drums, Troy Conn on guitar and Mike Holstein on bass.
From 2000-2020, jazz lovers came to hear live jazz from rotating musicians each week in Hickory. Cline, the host of Jazz on Tap, is celebrating the jazz night’s legacy with some of the most popular musicians from that 20-year time period.
The concert series will be in Union Square in downtown Hickory. There will be a total of eight performances throughout the year.
Bring a chair or blanket and enjoy the sounds of classic jazz from bebop to swing.
Bluegrass concert in Valdese The 2022-2023 Bluegrass at the Rock season draws to a close on Saturday. Alan Bibey & Grasstowne take the stage for the season’s final performance.
Hickory police: Woman attempted to start fire inside Walmart
Top 6 public employees in Catawba County each made more than $200,000 in 2023
Catawba County Schools to expand free breakfast and lunch to 17 schools
New $2.1 million wing of Hickory Day School houses classrooms, offices
2024 Kentucky Derby odds: Fierceness, Sierra Leone favored at Churchill Downs
Hickory Family Pharmacy, first Hmong-owned pharmacy in Hickory, closes
What is a Chef'Store and when is one coming to Hickory?
Catawba man charged with drug trafficking; sheriff's office seizes 9 ounces of meth, firearms
Records fall at Catawba County Track and Field Championships
Hickory City Schools drawing teachers from other careers
11 officers hired by Hickory Police Department
4 officers serving warrant are killed, 4 wounded in shootout at North Carolina home, police say
11-year-old dead in accidental shooting, Catawba County Sheriff's Office says
Five Catawba County track and field athletes to know, part 2
Bandys baseball earns top seed in next week’s conference tournament
Tickets for Alan Bibey & Grasstowne will be available at a presale price of $25 and can be purchased online at concertsattherock.com or by calling 828-874-6774.
Tickets can also be purchased at the door for $30. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the show will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Faith Community Church will be sponsoring concession sales the night of the show, offering snacks, cold drinks, coffee and hot chocolate.
The Old Rock School is at 400 Main St. W, Suite 35, in Valdese.
Each note Jake Blount plays on the banjo is a step toward helping his audience better understand a piece of Black history he believes has been lost.Though the banjo is not exclusive to one musical style, today, it is largely associated with country and bluegrass two genres that have struggled with diversity."It typically isn't thought of as a Black instrument anymore," Blount says.But the banjo is deeply rooted in African American tradition."The banjo had its first big site of growth in this country among the enslaved population in the Chesapeake Bay region, who were my ancestors," Blount says.Blount is a professional touring musician who plays traditional Black Folk Music, playing more than 120 shows last year. While traveling the country, he's using his music to teach people how the banjo became a key part of American culture."What we know is that when enslaved people came to the Americas, they had either the physical instruments that they brought from Africa or the knowledge of how to make them," Blount says.SEE MORE: Mississippi musicians are pushing to reclaim state's music historyScholars point to instruments like the Akonting as examples of what the banjo descended from."The banjo emerged as the first Black American cultural thing that was not just inherited by a cultural group in Africa but was created here by Black people collectively," Blount says. "So, it's kind of one of the first things we made here in the Americas."But Blount and other scholars, including those at the Smithsonian, say it's important people know how the banjo gained widespread popularity. Around the time when slavery came to an end, white performers used the banjo as a centerpiece in racist shows."Black-faced minstrels who were touring all across the United States and internationally kind of lampooning Black culture and making fun of us and using the banjo as a tool to do it," Blount says.Blount also says as instrument makers began to target white consumers, much of the banjo's African American identity faded, which he's trying to correct."I think when I play my music, I'm trying to give a little bit a window into what people were thinking or feeling back then," Blount says. "The music that we have passed down from that time is the most complete and, in some ways, the most honest text we have to tell us what our ancestors thought of the world and how they saw things and who they wanted us to be."SEE MORE: Why do we celebrate Black History Month in February?
Long View chili cook-off On Saturday, the Long View Lions Club will be hosting a chili cook-off at the Long View Recreation Center.
The cook-off will begin at 4:30 p.m.
The first-place winner will receive $100, second-place will get $75 and third-place will be awarded $50.
The event is open to the public. Adults will pay $10 for drinks, cornbread, hot dogs, dessert and all-you-can-eat chili.
Entry for kids, ages 4-11, will be $5. Children, ages 3 and younger, get in free.
The Long View Recreation Center is at 3107 Second Ave. NW.
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.