Playlists from the NC Folk Festival
The North Carolina Folk Festival has compiled playlists, based on themes and topics relaying stories and elements of folk culture, that are meaningful to the guest curators we have invited to create them.
Check back for more playlist releases or sign up for FolkFest News!
If you enjoy this content and the artists that the North Carolina Folk Festival presents, consider donating to help support our mission!
Compiled by:
Mark Dillon, President of the Fiddle & Bow Folk Music Society and GTCC Commercial Music instructor
Compiled by: I moved to North Carolina for the music, no lie. More specifically as a working musician, I thought I was moving to Asheville for the music. Instead, I moved to Asheboro. There is a big difference between Asheville and Asheboro. No worries, I figured I’d stay in the Piedmont long enough to find
Compiled by:
Gavin Douglas, Associate Professor of Music and Ethnomusicology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro
Tibetian opera, folksong, and dance group “Chaksam-pa” performing at the 2016 Festival. Photo courtesy of Alex Forsyth Compiled by: Dangdut, kebyar, hsaing waing, sape, saung, nhạc tài tử, mahori, kulintang, morlam, degung, gender wayang, sandaya, kecak, rindik… on and on. The varieties of music and dance found in Southeast Asia are endless. I first visited
Compiled by:
Chris Williams, Executive Director of Eastern Music Festival
Dom Flemons, member of the old-time string band The Carolina Chocolate Drops, preforming at the 2018 NC Folk Festival. 📷 Photo by Unknown. Compiled by: At the height of the Covid-19 crisis in March and April, the news was rife with stories about potential food shortages and troubles in our food distribution pipeline. With these
Compiled by:
Atiba Berkley, President of the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society
Piedmont Blues Preservation Society Performer Veronika Jackson plays at the Guilford College Underground Railroad Tree as part of the North Carolina Folk Festival's 2020 Virtual Concert Series. 📷 Photo Credit: Brendan McLean. Compiled by: Our playlist for the 34th Annual Carolina Blues Festival is designed to showcase artists from our original lineup as well as
Compiled by:
Chris Williams, Executive Director of Eastern Music Festival
World-renowned Irish band Lúnasa performed at the 2019 NC Folk Festival. 📷 Photo by Unknown. Compiled by: County Armagh-born fiddler Brendan McGlinchey’ reel Splendid Isolation opens and closes this collection of fiddle tunes from Ireland, Scotland, and North America. The opening setting, by NEA National Heritage Fellow Kevin Burke (born in London to parents from
Compiled by:
Amy Grossmann, President & CEO
Mariachi Los Camperos at the 2016 National Folk Festival in Greensboro, NC. 📷 Photo by Lynn Donovan. Compiled by: For six months in the mid-2000s I lived in Los Angeles. I had just left my job in Washington, D.C., taking only what fit in my car as I drove 3,000 miles cross country with dreams