Listen to the Recordings

"Well me and my friends sometimes we'll get the laptop, get a mic and hook up the studio and make music. Most of my friends, they all make music. My big brother, I actually have a song, I'm not going to play it. Everybody around me, we got something going for ourselves, you feeling me, it's not just hanging out and doing kids' stuff, we're trying to get somewhere."

[Brody: And would you say most of the, I mean now there's a lot of bigger groups that come, would you say a lot of them are local or--?] All of them. One of my goals, one of my priorities is to book local. 'Cause there's so much, in terms of 'passing the hat,' it's-it's so weather-dependent. I mean last year, the weather was really bad and we had to move inside and as you can see, there's not a lot of room inside. And if they're local they have more of a following. You're not going--if I book someone that's just coming through town that nobody's heard of, it's not going to bring in a crowd. [Brody: And would you say that the music scene in Chatham County in general is pretty--like how would you describe the music scene here?] I think it's huge. You have City Tap that does stuff constantly, um, Mosaic is now getting into it. Is it Red--Red Moose Brewing? They do stuff. And it's not, it's not Chatham County, but Southern Village has music every Saturday night I believe up on their lawn. I'm trying to remember who else 'cause I look at these places of people, of who's booking to see if there's anybody, 'hey, let's try and get them here.' And I'm sure they do the same for us. So I think, I think it's a pretty vibrant scene.

[Brody: And you've been in Bynum you're whole life, how have you seen it change over time?] "Oh gosh, there are too many differences from when I was growing up as a child to what it is now. I mean, um, there's a lot more artists. There was always musicians in Bynum, I mean, you know, my dad was--called square dances. And there was a band in Bynum that played square dances. And so, there have always been musicians in Bynum, but not as many, you know, as there are now. And there have always been people who have done crafts. You know, the women would get together and do quilting and stuff like that. But a lot of different artists have come, you know the potters, and the glass blowers, and the stained glass bakers and stuff like that. So, it has changed."

"That's Chatham county. You shake a tree, an artist falls out and lands on a musician or a writer."

"I mean It's a close-knit community. There's a lot of mentorship between player older players and younger folks getting into the scene, which I think is really unique and different from, like the Orange County, like more Chapel Hill, Carrboro situation. So that's really cool. And there is also just a lot of, I don't know how you would say it, but like I feel like there's a lot of support from the local Arts Council. I can definitely say that they've been really supportive of us, and upcoming like bands that are growing and trying to, or musicians that are trying to grow and start up. The Arts Council is just super important, and so I think that that has contributed to a really strong music scene, and also the fact that Chatham County is home to the Bynum General Store Concert Series is super awesome"