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3 weeks ago | 
ourstate.com | Mark Kemp
Listen as the pages of the magazine come to life in the Storytellers podcast featuring the voices of Our State writers. Each podcast episode features a writer reading their column aloud, allowing each distinct voice to shine. Click below to listen to Senior Editor Mark Kemp read his column aloud.
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3 weeks ago | 
ourstate.com | Mark Kemp
North Carolina, Noted: Tune in as Senior Editor Mark Kemp immerses readers and listeners in the roots and rhythms of North Carolina, discovering how gospel choirs and radio shows, beach music and bluegrass, mariachi and marching bands all contribute to the soundtrack of our state. Click here to read the story from our June 2025 issue. Click below to hear Mark read his column aloud. Our Storytellers podcast brings the pages of the magazine to life, featuring the voices of six Our State writers.
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1 month ago | 
ourstate.com | Mark Kemp
You’re a guitar, banjo, or mandolin picker looking for the perfect plectrum to pluck your instrument. But you don’t want just any old piece of plastic. You want something special. Hello, Honey Picks!Made in Taylorsville by brothers Rick and Andrew Calhoun, Honey Picks come in a variety of eye-popping colors: turquoise, green, purple, golden translucent. Some have shiny surfaces; others are rough and textured. Some are almost paper thin; others are thick as a credit card.
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1 month ago | 
ourstate.com | Mark Kemp
North Carolina, Noted: Tune in as Senior Editor Mark Kemp immerses readers and listeners in the roots and rhythms of North Carolina, discovering how gospel choirs and radio shows, beach music and bluegrass, mariachi and marching bands all contribute to the soundtrack of our state. Click here to read the story from our May 2025 issue. Click below to hear Mark read his column aloud. Our Storytellers podcast brings the pages of the magazine to life, featuring the voices of six Our State writers.
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1 month ago | 
ourstate.com | Mark Kemp
Listen as the pages of the magazine come to life in the Storytellers podcast featuring the voices of Our State writers. Each podcast episode features a writer reading their column aloud, allowing each distinct voice to shine. Click below to listen to Senior Editor Mark Kemp read his column aloud.
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2 months ago | 
ourstate.com | Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells |Mark Kemp
You open the front door of Madison Dry Goods and Country Store using the shop’s original 1908 handle. As you step onto the creaky wood floor, you smell cinnamon and brown sugar, hear the twang of bluegrass music playing over the speakers, and see local antiques lining the shelves. “When you walk in the door, you’re touching and you’re hearing and you’re feeling history,” says owner Michael “Smitty” Smith.
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2 months ago | 
ourstate.com | Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells |Mark Kemp
The first thing that guests at Opal & West House see when they walk into the historic inn is a golden dogwood flower on a blue wall. The bloom was painted by Heather Stevens, who owns the inn with her husband, Seth, and their daughter, Lynsie, and is one of many personal touches that the family has added to the 1860 property in the Central Shelby Historic District. When the Stevenses bought the former residence in 2022, it had been empty for a decade.
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2 months ago | 
ourstate.com | Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells |Mark Kemp
Step inside Don Walton Jr.’s distillery in Jacksonville, and you see it. It’s in the center of the tasting room, a still made with country ingenuity: a black barrel, a stainless-steel drum, and a beer keg that served as a filter. Walton’s cousin Norwood Rochelle built this still, and the two of them used it to carry on a family tradition at Walton’s Distillery — making moonshine. The cousins relied on a recipe that generations of their family used to create this illegal liquor.
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2 months ago | 
ourstate.com | Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells |Mark Kemp
RECIPE BY LYNN WELLSDress up a charcuterie board, burger, or grilled cheese with this sweet-and-savory spread. MAKE ITRECIPE BY LYNN WELLSHello, sunshine: Mixed olives, capers, and lemon wedges bring bright, punchy flavors to this chicken dish. MAKE IT RECIPE BY MARIE NALESToss the ingredients for this recipe into a slow cooker and let it do all the work. MAKE ITRECIPE BY LYNN WELLSA simple recipe with a spicy surprise: Winston-Salem’s own Texas Pete.
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2 months ago | 
ourstate.com | Rebecca Woltz |Tamiya Anderson |Lynn Wells |Mark Kemp
MayberryMount AiryFor fans of The Andy Griffith Show, visiting Mount Airy is like stepping inside the 1960s television town of Mayberry. Guests can sleep at Griffith’s childhood home; dine at Snappy Lunch, where the star frequently ate; or visit Floyd’s City Barber Shop, once owned by the late Russell Hiatt, who inspired the character Floyd the Barber. In September, the town hosts Mayberry Days, a festival celebrating the show and its feel-good focus.
