The State of Things

Demolition came for a Raleigh landmark this week when The Brewery was flattened to make way for classrooms and retail space on Hillsborough Street. During its 28 years in business, The Brewery gave a boost to the careers of bands like Raleigh-born Whiskeytown and, in more recent years, offered a launch pad for pop groups like Paramore and Panic! at the Disco. Up-and-coming local musicians found a home there, too.

In 1991, the campus of Warren Wilson College outside Asheville, North Carolina hosted the first Swannanoa Gathering. From dulcimer workshops to Celtic music traditions, the multi-week, summer intensive featured instruction on just about all aspects of folk art. The first Gathering drew just under a hundred people. Now more than 1,000 flock to Warren Wilson College annually to participate in the program. Jim Magill, director of The Swannanoa Gathering, joins host Frank Stasio to talk about how the small folk culture series grew into a state tradition that draws iconic artists like Janis Ian, Tom Paxton and Patty Larkin to the mountains of North Carolina.

Mary Johnson Rockers is an accomplished singer-songwriter in her own right, but the last couple of years have been a collaborative venture with the members of her band. Mary Johnson Rockers and the Spark are out with their first album, “Hummingbird Heart.”

Same-sex marriage has long been illegal in North Carolina, but some lawmakers want to take the prohibition a step further. Among the proposed amendments to the North Carolina constitution is one that would outlaw gay marriage. When the General Assembly reconvenes in September, it will consider whether to put that amendment on a 2012 ballot.

For nearly two decades, the North Carolina Literary Review has been gathering the state's celebrated writers in its pages, and introducing new ones to a wider audience. To mark its 20th issue, host Frank Stasio talks with editor Margaret Bauer, Rives Chair of Southern Literature at East Carolina University, which publishes the North Carolina Literary Review. Two longtime contributors to the Review, James Applewhite and Bland Simpson, read from their work in the latest issue, centered on the theme of environmental writing.

Jon Herington has played with Steely Dan for 11 years. His guitar stylings are masterful interpretations of the famous rock band's iconic songs. He appears with Steely Dan tonight in Durham, but first he joins host Frank Stasio in our studio to play some original compositions from his solo CD “Shine, Shine, Shine” and discuss how a guy who grew up on jazz keeps a legendary rock sound going.