NC Senate Bill 76

Located in Rutherford County, NC is the small, friendly town of Ellenboro. Ellenboro continues a long tradition involving popular music in the area with its annual Fiddlers and Bluegrass Convention. The event just celebrated its 30th anniversary. Event representative Ronald Hawkins dropped by WNCW on Nov. 12, 2021, just prior to this year's event.

David Holt grew up in Garland, Texas. He says, “I grew up in a family of informal storytellers, and there was plenty to tell about our wild and wooly Texas forefathers. Storytelling was just a natural part of family life for me. I never thought about telling stories in public until I began to collect mountain music and came across interesting and unusual anecdotes from mountain folks. I began to use these stories in concerts and realized the power storytelling holds."

Musical Performers continue to skip Nashville, New York, and LA for the musical diversity of Asheville and its many opportunities. Long before today's artists and music scene, Asheville already had a long and unique history of all types of music. That's why The Asheville Music History Walking Tour would be an adventure you might want to participate in. Tour Representative Alli Marshall talked with WNCW on Nov. 15, 2021.

The often challenging and often controversial process of redistricting North Carolina's voting maps was recently completed. With it comes changes to several districts and some new ones like District 13. Get the scoop from Smoky Mountain News Politics Editor Cory Vaillancourt who appeared on More to the Story on Nov. 10, 2021.

WUNC (North Carolina Public Radio) and Education Reporter Liz Schlemmer took part in this More to the Story to go over this year's ongoing teacher shortage. The teacher shortage connects to a supreme court case that goes back several years, Leandro vs. The State of North Carolina. The conversation first aired on Nov. 3, 2021.

David Weintraub, local filmmaker of over forty documentary films, with The Center for Cultural Preservation in Hendersonville, signed a deal with PBS to distribute four of his films to public television stations across the nation. David and the Center provide Western North Carolina history and events like no one else. This interview originally aired Oct. 29, 2021.

Of all the fiddlers in the fiddler-rich region of Western North Carolina, Arvil Freeman was a veritable North Star of Western North Carolina fiddling and traditional music as a whole. Arvil is likely the most heard “in-person” fiddler and likely the most influential. On October 21, 2021, Western North Carolina lost fiddling legend Arvil Freeman.

Across Western North Carolina, people looking to learn to play an instrument or musicians looking to step up their game can enjoy many opportunities to learn in immersive settings. Many camps offer week-long packages of music instruction, food, and lodging. The whole package provides a chance for the musician to spend a week completely focused on the music. How great is that?

An event and book signing brought Author Michael Almond to the campus of Isothermal Community College, which gave WNCW the chance to turn it into a Friday Feature Interview. Michael is a retired Economic Development Attorney here in North Carolina. Michael told us all about his first published book, The Tannery - a fictional story based in Wilkes County in the early 1900s that has to do with race and murder. The interview originally aired Oct. 22, 2021.

WFAE (Public Radio-Charlotte) Politics and Government Reporter Steve Harrison returned to the More to the Story microphone to talk about the latest in redrawing North Carolina voting maps and just how spread out the 14th district in the west might become. Steve also updated listeners on Charlotte's Street Car and if it's a growing trend for the city. This interview originally aired Oct. 27, 2021.