Craig Havighurst

1 week ago | wmot.org | Craig Havighurst

The hyper-eclectic Big Ears music festival returned to the clubs and streets of Knoxville for its eleventh edition in late March. And amid the acid jazz, contemporary classical, and brain jangling avant-garde, the duo of Larry & Joe stood out like a bouquet of flowers in a mosh pit. On the festival’s closing Sunday, Joe Troop, the globe-trotting American banjo and fiddle player, and Larry Bellorín, multi-instrumentalist from Monagas, Venezuela, flooded the joy zone at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

3 weeks ago | wmot.org | Craig Havighurst

That. Was. Fantastic. WMOT’s experienced and passionate (and woman run) team pulled it all together, lined up great music, got a little lucky with the weather, and our people turned out for a truly exceptional Roots On The Rivers. All afternoon and evening on Saturday, the grounds of Two Rivers Mansion rang with authentic music that touched some core genres in the Americana universe - modern folk, rock and roll, bluegrass, newgrass, and the blues. Our members and fans turned out in record numbers.

3 weeks ago | wmot.org | Craig Havighurst

This special music city profile is an adapted transcript of the radio show, which streams here on demand. The Durham NC Armory was built out of stone by the Works Progress Administration in the mid 1930s. After years serving the NC National Guard, it became an all-purpose civic venue in the heart of downtown. In the 1950s and 60s, it complied with Jim Crow laws by alternating between concerts and dance parties for White and Black audiences.

3 weeks ago | stringtheories.substack.com | Craig Havighurst

Some of you are getting this Substack newsletter from me, unexpectedly, for the first time. I’m publishing a book this fall (described below) and in the interest of reaching long-time friends and associates, I’ve taken the liberty of adding a few select email addresses to my free mailing list. I hope that’s okay! It’s a free and infrequent update on my work, with news about the book coming in the year ahead. Unsubscribe with a simple click at the bottom if you wish to.

1 month ago | wmot.org | Craig Havighurst

Saturday’s WMOT festival gives us a fresh reason to pause and think about the fuzzy quantum energy particle that is Aaron Lee Tasjan. He’s a shapeshifter, a rocker and a folkie, a singer and guitar player for the ages, and a mensch beloved by his Nashville community. In the dozen years he’s been in Nashville, he’s released a wildly daring and diverse string of albums.