If music is the soundtrack of life, NC is the stage. Home to a plethora of famous singers, songwriters, band members and other music groups, NC is also a popular tour stop, and many renowned musicians have graced stages across the Old North State—from the Triangle to Greensboro, Charlotte and beyond. Here, we challenge you to feel the music and test your knowledge on NC’s tuneful scene—from local venues to rising stars. It shouldn’t be too much treble. See answers below.
Famed country music star Scotty McCreery—born and raised in Garner—won which popular music competition show in 2011 at the age of 17?
America’s Got Talent
The Masked Singer
American Idol
The Voice
This Raleigh chef and band member also co-owns Downtown Raleigh live music venue Kings.
Cheetie Kumar
Kim Hammer
Eric Montagne
Angela Salamanca
This Fayetteville-born Grammy-nominated rapper, singer, songwriter and producer held the popular Dreamville music and arts fest in 2019 at Dorothea Dix Park showcasing a number of renowned artists such as Big Sean, SZA, Nelly, to name a few.
Snoop Dogg
J. Cole
Kendrick Lamar
Drake
The Avett Brothers—you know, the nationally recognized American folk rock band made up of NC-raised brothers Scott and Seth Avett (born in Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Charlotte, respectively; and reared in Concord, NC)—have held concerts at which of the following local music venues?
Lincoln Theatre
Cat’s Cradle
The Ritz
All of the above
Lincoln Theatre originally served as a movie theatre catering primarily to the African-American community. What year did it open its doors?
1838
1945
1951
1960
North Carolina singer, actor, author, activist and politician Clay Aiken is from which NC town?
Raleigh
Wilmington
Clayton
Durham
Before evolving into the popular concert locale that it is now, The Ritz was what kind of venue?
Jazz hall
Techno club
Disco club
Opera house
Randy Jones, a disco and pop singer from Raleigh (best known as the cowboy from Village People), attended what North Carolina university?
East Carolina University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
NC State University
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
How many rotating draft beer selections does popular record shop/live music venue The Pour House Music Hall (which bowed in 1997) now have for concertgoers to sip on?
10
20
30
40
What Old Crow Medicine Show song’s final version, including lyrics “and if I died in Raleigh, at least I will die free,” is an anthem at NC State tailgates(!)? History bonus: The song was originally co-written by Bob Dylan and Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor in 1973, before the latter added verses 25 years later and the final version earned certified Platinum status in 2013. Hint: The fan fave has also been covered by country music singer Darius Rucker.
WEB EXCLUSIVE ICYMI, Gov. Roy Cooper eased even more COVID restrictions last week thanks to the increasing number of adults getting vaccinated across the state (about half of NC adults are partially vaccinated, and almost 40% are fully vaccinated) and the reduced risk of transmission of COVID-19 in outdoor settings.
Cooper still anticipates lifting mandatory capacity, mass gathering and social distancing restrictions by June 1, and as soon as at least two-thirds of adults are vaccinated with at least one dose, he’ll ease restrictions even further.
“North Carolina is able to continue moving forward thanks to people rolling up their sleeves to get their vaccine,” Cooper tweeted April 29. “The more we encourage our friends and family members to get vaccinated, the sooner we can put this virus behind us. We’ve already shown that North Carolinians are made of tough stuff. Together we are going to get through this.”
Here are the current restrictions, which went into effect April 30 and will remain in effect until at least June 1.
Masks are no longer mandated outdoors (masks are still required in indoor public places, however, until at least two-thirds of NC adults are vaccinated).
Mass gathering limits have increased to 100 people indoors and 200 outdoors. Larger venues can apply to get approval for higher capacity on a case-by-case basis.
Social distancing and capacity limits for certain businesses are still in place:
Museums and aquariums, retail businesses, salons, personal care and grooming businesses, and tattoo parlors can operate at 100% capacity (but are still subject to social distancing).
Restaurants, breweries, wineries, distilleries, gyms and other fitness centers and studios, pools, and amusement parks may operate at 75% capacity indoors and 100% outdoors.
Bars, meeting and reception spaces, lounges, nightclubs, auditoriums, sports arenas and fields, movie theaters, and gaming facilities may operate at 50% capacity.
Studio Sheds provide space to work, play and stay outside of the home.
When Scott Maitland, founder and owner of Chapel Hill’s famed Top of the Hill restaurant and TOPO Distillery, says to “step into his office,” what he really means is to follow him out to his backyard Studio Shed. The intimate space—which Maitland and wife Ashly bought from the leading prefabricated modern backyard structure company to alleviate the challenges of working from home during the pandemic—houses a large desk, a shelving unit and a cozy couch (for the occasional nap break and the like, natch). “The shed morphed into a much-needed pressure-relief valve—both in terms of space and serenity,” says Maitland. “Our 5-year-old got his own room back, the entire family got its dining room table back, and Ashly and I got a place to think, work and breathe—where the noise of quarantine could be kept to a dull roar.” Besides office spaces, Studio Sheds can also act as yoga and wellness studios, guest rooms, art studios and an additional storage space. One customer even turned theirs into a cat rescue (!). Co-founder Jeremy Nova says that, during the pandemic especially (when many were forced to work from home—and continue to do so), Studio Sheds have allowed individuals to separate their work life from their home life, and maintain their home as a sanctuary while nurturing creative passions elsewhere. We could all use a way to shed some stress these days, are we right? studio-shed.com
New Raleigh Murals book remembers the creations of local artists throughout DTR from last summer.
With great turmoil after the nationwide protests-turned-riots following the death of George Floyd in May 2020 came a plethora of inspirational murals splashed across the boarded-up businesses throughout Downtown Raleigh. Now, on the anniversary of Floyd’s death (May 25), local artists Akira Dudley and Laura Pfaff’s new coffee-table book, Raleigh Murals, will be available for preorder—immortalizing those pieces—and their significance. Though the murals directly followed the DTR riots, Dudley says the book isn’t solely in response to what happened here in Raleigh. Spanning more than 100 pages and including the works of 60-plus local artists, Raleigh Murals solidifies and further spreads the messages created by these artists, serving as a reminder of the necessary changes in equality that need to be made both here and across the country.
“What sparked [Raleigh Murals] in the first place was police brutality across America,” says Dudley. “I didn’t want it to be like, ‘Yeah, we put up art because of the riots.’ We put up art because we felt like a message needed to be sent about something bigger than the riots. But if the riots didn’t happen here, I’m sure we would’ve put up art because they were happening everywhere else.”
Dudley himself created five murals at Junction West. Though he was staying in Boone at the time the riots happened Downtown, he jumped at the opportunity to contribute to the beautification of the city, working on his pieces between attending virtual summer classes. “It was such a moving experience to be able to be a part of,” he says. “The murals definitely made a difference.”
When Pfaff approached Dudley about creating the mural book, he again jumped at the opportunity. Together (and with the help of The Raleigh Murals Project and contributing artists), they gathered photos of the hopeful wall art woven across DTR in an effort to showcase it long after the boards came down.
All proceeds from Raleigh Murals will be donated to Emancipate NC, which works to dismantle structural racism and mass incarceration across North Carolina; and the African American Atelier, a nonprofit art gallery in Greensboro that promotes awareness and appreciation of the arts and culture of African Americans.
In addition to availability at local retailers Father + Son and House of Swank, Dudley’s goal is to extend the book’s reach beyond Raleigh via Amazon. “If more people see this, it’ll bring the community together—not only based around the art, but around the message,” he says. After all, in the famed words of Leon Brown: “History repeats itself endlessly for those who are unwilling to learn from the past.” Preorder May 25; official release Juneteenth (June 19); amazon.com
TOP: From left: Lord Phly, Matthew Scofield BOTTOM: From left: Jalel Ronin, Thirty Sixth Murals Company, Akira Dudley, Grace Ownbey
Craften reinvents the food hall experience in tertiary markets.
We’ve all been there. You’re going out to eat at a food hall with a group of friends or family—one of you wants tacos; another wants pizza; you want a salad. You’ll all wait in separate lines for different periods of time (could be five minutes, could be 15 minutes) to place your orders, then meet back at your table; sit down and chat for a few minutes; then all go back and get your food. In about an hour, you’ve spent more time waiting in line than having actual conversation. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? Here to reimagine the standard food hall is duo Max Trujillo, local hospitality vet and co-host of the NC F&B Podcast; and Kip Downer, entrepreneur and owner of multiple Burn Boot Camp locations (West Raleigh, Garner, Knightdale and South Durham). Their new concept, Craften, the first of which will be opening in Knightdale in late summer, flips the food hall script. Instead of having to wait in multiple lines for different types of food, Craften (a blend of “craft” and “kitchen”) will allow customers to order food and drinks directly from an app and have everything brought to them by a server—without ever having to leave your table.
Kip Downer & Max Trujillo | RDP3 Photography
“We want to take the hospitality angle of a restaurant and the comfortability that you’re taken care of, and apply it to a food hall,” Trujillo says. “So you don’t have to stand in four lines to get four different types of food; you just sit down and we bring it to you.”
The idea for Craften started unfurling last summer when Trujillo and Downer met through mutual friends. Downer had already had an idea for a central space that would bring a bunch of great local food trucks together, while Trujillo was simultaneously conceptualizing a multiple-food-outlet business. “As it started to unfold, what he really needed was an operator, and what I really needed was somebody that had vision and could grow and build the business,” says Trujillo.
Craften will be anchored by a thoughtful beverage program that Trujillo will oversee (think handcrafted cocktails, craft beer, wine and more). “We are going to put an emphasis on the beverage program and bring the downtown craft cocktail lounge concept to a small town,” Downer says. Bringing this community-oriented food and beverage concept to tertiary markets—which are expanding and becoming more and more popular outside of the already thriving DTR scene—is very important to the pair. Downer says he was inspired by the book Blue Ocean Strategy, which notes that the real success and the real ability to deliver something unique exists in the blue ocean.
“And that’s what these tertiary markets are right now in Raleigh,” Downer explains. “We really want to bring this Downtown feeling to them with the growth of Raleigh out to these markets. If we can get there now and we can create a community feel now, then, not only will we be in the right place 10 years from now, we’ll also have built those relationships with those customers. … And I think Craften is going to be able to follow these tertiary markets through their growth as well.”
Craften will also provide local food trucks with a commissary kitchen and a low-barrier to entry for their first fixed location in the hopes that the food hall will act as a stepping stone to a brick-and-mortar restaurant. The four food concepts they selected for Craften Knightdale include Poblanos Tacos, Fiori Trattoria, The Corner Venezuelan Food and Finca Burger. Once these concepts “graduate out” of the food hall, they’ll bring in new ones that are just as excited to succeed.
Trujillo jokes that he would never want to go to a restaurant that offers multiple different types of food (“because nobody is that good”), but at Craften, “everyone is doing what they do best, and that’s it,” he says. “And we’re helping our food concepts sell their food. It improves our bar to have great food for people to come and hang out and sit down and enjoy.”
Downer and Trujillo’s goal is to open multiple Craften locations “anywhere there’s a neighborhood that needs better food and service,” says Trujillo. (They plan to open the second, larger Craften in Clayton by the end of the year, which will feature 6,000 square feet of indoor space, plus a 4,000-square-foot astroturf lawn area.) The whole idea is to provide that big city-feel to smaller areas by bringing the restaurant mentality to a food hall and offering people a diverse food and drink experience.
“As a [group], you can make one decision: Let’s go to Craften,” Downer says. “We’re going to get service. We’re going to get to spend time together. We’re all happy. We get good drinks. And we don’t have to choose a particular restaurant—and I think that’s really exciting.” The icing on the cake? You don’t have to wait in any lines. craftenfood.com
