Thomas Lee “Snuffy” Smith, bass fiddler with the Bluegrass Experience, grew up on a one-horse tobacco farm in rural Lee County listening to his father play guitar in a square dance band. “He showed me some chords so I started messing with the guitar,“ he said. In addition to playing music, living on the farm… Read More →
Chatham Rabbits
Meet This Artist: Experience Bluegrass with bass fiddler Snuffy Smith
Meet This Artist: Bluegrass icon Tony Williamson overcomes pain, finds purpose on his farm
Born into a multi-generational family of musicians, Tony Williamson and his brother Gary quickly earned the title of “child sensations” on the national bluegrass stage. Back home at their school in rural Randolph County, however, their music earned them some teasing from their classmates. Tony and Gary were undeterred. “Music was such a fun… Read More →
Meet This Artist: Leandra Strope is empowering girls to find their voices
While other toddlers were smearing yogurt in their hair and coloring on the walls with crayons, Leandra Strope at age two was learning to play the violin. “My mother was committed to the idea that my brother and I would be musically literate,” said Leandra. By the time she was in elementary school, she had… Read More →
Go See This: Shakori Hills Stimulates the Senses
For four days in the fall and spring, the bucolic Chatham County community of Silk Hope is enhanced with an event that awakens all the senses. Celebrating its fourteenth year, the Shakori Festival of Music and Dance is a world of sights, sounds, smells, and feelings that helps make Chatham an especially amazing place. Bands from across the state and around… Read More →
