WUNC Music

North Carolina musicians made waves on the national stage in 2019. Close to a dozen artists from the state, including Rhiannon Giddens, DaBaby and J.Cole, are up for Grammy Awards in 2020, and new talent keeps popping up.

WUNC Music is excited to share 'Dance It Away' - the new single from Raleigh's Kate Rhudy. It's the first new music from Rhudy since 2017's 'Rock N' Roll Ain't For Me' and was produced by Jack Hallenbeck (Maggie Rogers) and Kate Rhudy in Los Angeles & Raleigh.

This time of year families come back together and share stories.  For Will Blythe, a writer who grew up in Chapel Hill there was one piece of family history that had him convinced he, and the town of Chapel Hill, was connected to this seasonal classic by Joni Mitchell.

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. This week, we look at the one song that most everyone identifies with our home state. Writer Will Blythe joins Eric Hodge to talk about James Taylor's 'Carolina In My Mind.' He says it's a song that affects people both young and old.

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. This time, former Cat's Cradle owner and Crook's Corner chef Bill Smith talks about The Red Clay Ramblers. Smith saw The Red Clay Ramblers perform all the time in the early days of Cat's Cradle. For this episode, he focuses on their version of the song 'Aragon Mill.'

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. On this episode, HC McEntire joins Eric Hodge to talk about Nina Simone's 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free.' Like Nina Simone, McEntire grew up in Tryon, NC. She says the music Simone made often illuminates the challenges people in the South face, even to this day.

Michaela Anne grew up the daughter of a Navy officer. That means she moved around - a lot. In turn, that constant uprooting fuels some of the songs on her new album, 'Desert Dove.' She spoke with Eric Hodge about her upbringing and the process of recording the new album.

One of the themes she explores is constantly being on the move, both growing up and as a touring musician. On 'Child of the Wind' Michaela sings that her "home town was a back seat looking at highway signs."

'Dawnbreaker' is the debut album from Daughter of Swords, the new solo venture from Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig. It's an album that Sauser-Monnig says was written about a break-up that had yet to happen. It's also one that touches on the topic of hitting the road.

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. On this episode, Jacob Sharp of Mipso talks about 'Black Flower Blooming' by The Dead Tongues. He says it's a song that both speaks to living in North Carolina, and also needing to spead your wings and fly from home. 

Jonah Tolchin's journey through life has been a little rough over the past few years.  His marriage ended and it left him looking for a new beginning.  'Fires For The Cold' is the result of putting some of those harrowing personal experiences to music. It's something he excels at.

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. This week, Grammy winner and American Songster Podcast host Dom Flemons talks with us about the legacy of 'Shady Grove.' He says it's a song that is synonymous with North Carolina. 

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. On this episode, we chat with Durham rapper Lord Fess  about Sylvan Esso's 'Die Young.' It's a song he says speaks to him personally, and is also one with incredible production.

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. This week we've got MC Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger telling us about why he loves 'Traveling Alone' by Tift Merritt - the title track from her 2012 record.

Here's a video of MC Taylor performing 'Traveling Alone' at the North Carolina Art Museum in 2017.

Jack Klatt grew up in Minnesota. As a teenager, his musical tastes took him from The Clash, to Bob Marley and Woody Guthrie.  You can hear some of that in the songs from his new record 'It Ain't The Same.'

Ahead of his show at Cat's Cradle on November 9th, Klatt chatted with WUNC Morning Edition Host Eric Hodge about the new record. He talked about the process of recording the album, one that's a bit more produced than his previous work.

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. On our 40th episode, Executive Director of the North Carolina Arts Council Wayne Martin talks about a recording of the song "Pretty Fair Miss In A Garden" he made with fiddler Doug Wallin. He also talks about how the traditional music of North Carolina has resonated not only in our home state, but worldwide.

Durham's Hiss Golden Messenger is back with their 11th studio album 'Terms of Surrender.' It's an album that touches on dark topics in a hopeful and optimistic way, something principal member MC Taylor excels at. The album kicks off with the politically charged 'I Need A Teacher.' To create a video for the song, Taylor and director D.L.

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. This time, writer Allison Hussey tells us about a rare recording of the gospel standard 'Fifty Miles of Elbow Room' recorded by Emily Frantz and Andrew Marlin of Mandolin Orange with Josh Moore.

We've teamed up with Come Hear NC on a podcast series that explores North Carolina music one song at a time. On this episode, musician Kamara Thomas talks about the Jonathan Wilson song 'Can We Really Party Today?' She says it's a song with dual meanings.

Jonathan Wilson plays The Arts Center in Carrboro on Friday, October 25th.