Americana music has always had a unique kind of patriotism. It tends to avoid the shadow of imperialism or—dare we say—anti-intellectualism that mainstream country music sometimes preaches, and instead totes patriotism for the people, by the people.
So when old-time crooners Old Crow Medicine Show set out to make a “patriotic” album, they aimed their focus on people—not parties—percussionist, vocalist and banjoist Cory Younts tells RM. Their newest record, Union Made, drops June 5 amid a ~six month U.S. tour—including a stop at Koka Booth Amp in Cary May 28.
Commentary that felt fitting—or at least pride in their country—didn’t come easy at first. “Management didn’t want to use the word patriotic,” emphasizes Younts, “but wanted some sort of tribute to the 250th anniversary of America. Let’s face it: Who’s proud of America right now?”
Despite starting out discouraged, Old Crow rose to the occasion to make an album for everyone. “How much longer will it be before we reach as one, torn apart and divided by the colors that we see, refusing to believe we’re all in the same family,” sings the track “Beautiful Land,” calling out the steep and often nonsensical divide through the country. “[OCMS frontman] Ketch loves to—as he says—get the hippies and the rednecks together,” notes Younts.
Bipartisanship has always coursed through the Nashville-based band’s blood. What other band would open for staunch conservative Hank Williams Jr. only to later feature blatantly leftist folk artist Jesse Welles in an opening track? Younts tell RM that while they wanted Welles on the record, he didn’t have a hand in writing the opening track “Howdy Do America”—he only had a voice in the vocals.
“That song is very Fozzie Bear and Kermit to me,” quips Younts. “It’s very moving right along.”
Also gracing Union Made is Merle Haggard’s influence via a cover of “Rainbow Stew,” a whimsy and hopeful (at least by Haggard standards) deep cut. “Merle didn’t perform it the way we do,” says Younts. “We listened to it, and ‘I said, you know, we could double time this and make it our own,’ and we’ve been performing that pretty much every night.”
On top of “Rainbow Stew,” OCMS is still happily strumming “Wagon Wheel.” The show may be in Cary, but the line “If I die in Raleigh, at least I will die free” will hit close to home no matter where you are.
Concert tickets are notoriously hard to score right now, and predatory practices like dynamic pricing, scalping and speculative tickets sales (aka broker-listed tickets they do not own) only add to the long list of problems making live events even harder—and pricier—to attend.
Enter the Real Tickets, Real Fans Act. A new NC bill was introduced April 27 to improve ticket transparency and protect fans from overpriced or fraudulent tickets, making live events more accessible and affordable.
If passed, the bill—sponsored by Sens. Jay Chaudhuri, Vickie Sawyer and Timothy Moffitt—would require ticket resellers to clearly identify themselves as such, plus ban deceptive language, fake-seat sales and the use of bots to circumvent sales restrictions.
Ticketing troubles, though, aren’t unique to fans—musicians and small event venues backing the bill also face the consequences of scams.
“We’ve got people weeping outside who want to come in… and can’t,” says Heather LaGarde, owner of the Haw River Ballroom. Reduced bar and merch sales (a result of fake tickets prompting low turnout) hit both the venue and the artists incredibly hard, she adds.
Bottom line? Fans, venues and artists concur: The ticketing traps need to stop—and NC lawmakers are leading the charge.
The latest on the hantavirus outbreak—and if it could impact NC.
By Heidi Reid & Erin Weeks
After a rare and deadly hantavirus outbreak on Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius left three dead and at least eight more infected or suspected to be, panic ensued across the internet—and when all passengers were evacuated from the ship and sent back to their home countries, the hysteria doubled.
With COVID-19 barely in the rearview mirror, online chatter is stirring up new anxieties about a 2020-scale lockdown. But this time, the virus has a much higher mortality rate—as high as 50% in the Americas. The stats are scary, but does the virus pose a real threat to NC?
In actuality, the situation isn’t as fearsome as your TikTok feed may be suggesting—yet.
Infectious Disease Specialist and Assistant Professor at Duke Dr. Nicholas Turner told RM no individuals from the infected ship are set to arrive here, and emphasized that spread to the broader public is unlikely.
“Almost all known human-to-human transmission events occurred among individuals who live together or directly cared for sick individuals,” notes Turner. “That means spread within close confines—like on a ship—can certainly occur, but spread to the broader public is unlikely.”
This specific strand of hantavirus, the Andes virus, is the only hantavirus documented to occasionally transmit between people. But even the Andes strain is not efficient at jumping from host to host. Data suggests transmission requires prolonged close contact with someone who is already showing signs of infection.
To wit, there is no vaccine for hantavirus as of right now, and that’s in part due to how rare infection is, with just ~30 cases in the U.S. annually.
“There have been fewer than 1,000 total cases in the U.S. since reporting began in the 1990s,” emphasizes Turner. “While public health agencies will be tracking the cases and direct contacts who returned to the U.S. very closely, we do not anticipate we’ll see much, if any, ongoing spread in the U.S.” Unless you’ve had direct contact with an affected traveler, there’s no need to stress, adds Turner.
While there are no grounds for pandemic panic right now, it’s worth noting hantavirus is yet another infection that made the jump from animals to humans—just like Ebola, bird flu and COVID-19. Thanks to humans pushing deeper into wildlife habitats and climate change shifting where animals live, that number is expected to increase.
All told, even though North Carolina is expected to remain uninfected, tread lightly. Hopefully, hantavirus is nothing more than a warning that another pandemic is always possible.
After almost 40 years, MerleFest hasn’t lost sight of the music.
MerleFest has festivals figured out—and Raleigh should take note. The famed folk fest drew ~80K fans to the foothills of the Appalachian mountains April 23–26 (the hosting town, Wilkesboro, has a population of just 3,650) for the four-day music fete at Wilkes Community College.
The fest—founded in 1988 by local bluegrass legend Doc Watson—was launched as a tribute to Watson’s late son Merle, who shared his skill for the genre. Watson always maintained that MerleFest was meant to deliver “traditional-plus” music, a term he and Merle coined to describe “the traditional music of the Appalachian region plus whatever other styles we were in the mood to play.”
In tune with that philosophy, the lineup always includes blues, country, roots rock, and folk—standout artists such as Old Crow Medicine Show, Steep Canyon Rangers, Joy Oladokun and Molly Tuttle joined the lineup this year—and make for a who’s who of big names and trailblazers propelling the genres forward.
Merlefest hit happy mediums across the board: It’s fam-friendly but all ages and all demographics can be spotted, and it’s perfectly low-maintenance—you don’t need to plan outfits weeks in advance or haul yourself across the county looking for a clear purse that fits the guidelines. And because the event is entirely alcohol-free, both the fans and the fest are uniquely focused on the music over the bustle and booze that often come alongside music fests.
As someone who has witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly at music fests across the country, myriad traits left me pleasantly surprised as a first-timer. Here, all the ways MerleFest won me over.
Rain, Rain, Here to Stay I quickly found out that it famously rains every year during MerleFest—at least three locals gleefully told me—and despite the severe drought this year, Mother Nature still provided (the adage allegedly passed around claims the MerleFest rain is the only time a year the “hippies take a bath”). The show went on with ease—all those years of rain stacked up to a lot of unbothered festival goers and multiple booths handing out ponchos.
Jam-Packed Yes, the lineup was immaculate and I thoroughly enjoyed every set I caught, but my favorite performances happened underneath the pickin’ tents, where locals and patrons toting instruments gathered for mini jam seshs.
Each group would simply pick a song and go, bouncing off each other’s notes and chatting as they went—and the musicians that showed were all over the map. Read: A 92-year-old man with a trucker hat, a violin and an incredibly soothing singing voice, followed by an eight(ish)-year-old picking a banjo while holding intense eye contact and coaxing passerbyers over to lend him an ear.
Festival Food Hall Not only were all the food ops local, but they were very inexpensive, by fest and non-fest standards—and in this economy, that’s huge. I’ve never eaten so much at a festival (a Philly cheesesteak, kettle corn and ice cream were all on my menu) and not felt like my bank account was crying. To boot, all the food was very appetizing. Because the fest is entirely alcohol-free, one local theorized with me that they can’t get away with selling mid food to tipsy fete-goers like other festivals can.
Parking = No Problem Transit was shockingly a breeze. Parking is free, and a free (and fast!) shuttle service is provided to and from the fest. Read: The line for the shuttle never took more than 10 minutes, making for a smooth getaway.
By the time you’re attending hosted dinners, housewarming parties, or marking a friend or colleague’s new digs, you’ve likely outgrown the default candle-and-wine routine. Still, figuring out what to give can feel a little like buying jeans online—high stakes, low certainty.
The best gifts don’t need to scream sentimental—or strictly practical—to land. They strike a balance: elevated but usable, personal without trying too hard, and just indulgent enough to feelchosen, not grabbed. Whether you’re showing up for dinner or acknowledging someone’s next chapter, a handful of local finds are the kind of gifts that, well, feel right at home.
1. Chili crisp is the ultimate chameleon ingredient—Sichuan chili flakes and peppercorns with green onion and garlic—and a little drizzle pairs well with pretty much everything. Chili crisp oil, $14, strochraleigh.com
2. Everyone uses olive oil on the reg, but rarely splurges on a good bottle. An infused version adds a little luxury to everyday meals. Tuscan herb extra virgin olive oil, $35, midtownoliveoil.com
3. It may look unsexy, but it’s one of the few gifts *guaranteed* to be welcomed—and used. An upscale cleaner paired with a kitschy kitchen towel is especially handy for first-time homeowners (or even recent grads). Ratatouille tea towel, $28, shopquintessentials.com
4. Picture this: A low-maintenance and purely analog pastime to break out over an afternoon coffee or an after-dinner glass of wine—plus you still get to chatter and collaborate. Stationery puzzle, $29, decoraleigh.com
5. Dress the bar—but better. Dare your home-bar-obsessed friends to step out of their comfort zone with a funky bottle of bitters. Bittermens bitters, $21, thebitterync.square.site
6. Don’t call it basic—call it classic. Both functional and aesthetic, candles and diffusers are staple home gifts for good reason. Flamingo Estate night blooming jasmine & damask rose candle, $58, lamaisonraleigh.com
7. When in doubt, opt for booze. If the recipient drinks, a bottle of local liquor paired with a funky bar tool is a low-maintenance, high-reward pick. Abaco bottle opener in blue and yellow, $36, edgeofurge.com; Damn Fine Vodka, $22, durhamdistillery.com
8. Who doesn’t love the novelty of a completely customized yet genuinely useful knickknack? Seal your wishes with a stamp. Custom stamp, prices vary, shop similar at raleighstamps.wixsite.com
