Too many temptations, but the music wins out!

October can be the cruelest month, with apologies to T.S. Elliott. It’s not the kind of cruelty to be dreaded or cause me to hide out. No the cruelty in October is the weather and all the things to do with our dwindling time. And great events too. Seems like every time I turn around or answer the phone there’s something else really interesting but it’s the same weekend as something else I’ve got to [gladly] attend.

There are several things this weekend all over the western third of NC that could tempt me out, but I won’t have to drive any. Instead, three blocks into Uptown and I’ll be in the middle of Art of Sound. Some of the artists will be new to me, others like Acoustic Syndicate, Michael Reno Harrel and Jim Lauderdale I’ve been hearing on radio and in concert for quite a while. But well over 22 artists I’ve never heard! It’ll be good for the ears.

I’m especially looking forward to hearing the Slate Mountain Ramblers who hail from the ‘hills and hollers’ around my hometown of Mt. Airy. A local friend tells me most folks around here have probably not heard much of what gets labeled Old Time String Band that took root up that way before and after the Civil War. That’s when we had all kinds of Scots-Irish, British, African, German Moravians, city-folk and country dwellers, all bumping into each other in that boisterous period. It took a few decades to brew a more refined thing like the early Bluegrass sound that began here, in Galax and Bristol in Virginia, Mt. Airy and then somehow got on to records and then radio in Nashville.

So, even when there’s a great little wine festival up in the northern foothills, I’ll dodge the cruelty of schedules and fall colors and great weather to stay home and feed the soul with some great listening. It's all in the streets, landmark buildings, and minds of folks here in Uptown Shelby. See y’all there!