Carolina Music Ways: About The Organization

Carolina Music Ways Music Heritage Resource Group (CMW) is a grassroots 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the unique, cross-cultural music legacy of a seven county region spanning from Winston-Salem to Wilkesboro, North Carolina. CMW is governed and run by a board of directors. Board members work with area college students, an advisory council, and other community volunteers.

CMW board members and affiliates believe our region’s cross-cultural musical legacy is unique, encompassing Appalachian, African American and Moravian musical cultures. It’s influential, having produced nationally-influential musicians in each of the music styles. It’s relevant to today’s music. We believe this legacy should not be lost, but, rather, passed along to future generations.

CMW’s work is made possible thanks to funding from The Winston-Salem Foundation, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, and the Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County Schools. The Northwest Council of Governments provides invaluable technical support.

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* CMW covers the music traditions of Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Stokes, Surry, Yadkin, and Wilkes counties. (We are in the process of adding Wilkes County to this web site.)

** Current board members are R.G. Absher, Elizabeth Carlson (Communications Director); David Council; Jo Daniels (Secretary); Ed Gambill (Chair); Matt Kendrick; Joe Robinson (Vice- chair); Billy Rich; Frank Thomas (Treasurer).

Through research, documentation and education, CMW preserves our region’s cross-cultural musical legacy. CMW covers six music traditions—bluegrass, jazz, blues, gospel, Moravian, and old-time stringband—spanning the time period from 1753 to 1960.

CMW currently works on two projects—our new school show and this web site:

School assembly program for area elementary schools
Web site

· ongoing updates

· oral history interviews with area heritage musicians

· musicians directory (to be launched soon)

In addition, our heritage sampler CD is also for sale.

CMW board members and other volunteers live in an historic and scenic region of northwest North Carolina. Rolling foothills, small towns, farmland, and natural areas stretch east from Wilkesboro near the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains across the Piedmont into the Winston-Salem metro area.

Much of this area forms the burgeoning Yadkin Valley wine region, which year by year, is home to a growing number of vineyards and wineries.

Winston-Salem—settled by the Moravians and called “City of the Arts and Innovation”—is the area's largest city. It’s approximately 100 miles west of Raleigh, 80 miles northeast of Charlotte, and 30 miles south of the Virginia border.

Please contact us with any questions, comments, or feedback at carolinamusicways@juno.com. You can also reach us at Carolina Music Ways, c/o NWPCOG, 400 W. 4th St., Suite 400, Winston-Salem, NC, 27101, or at (336) 761-2111, ex. 3153.

If you would like to receive our E-MAIL NEWSLETTER, please contact us by clicking here. We provide information and updates about six times a year and we do not share our mail list with anyone.

For contact information about lodgings and non-music attractions, please go to the "Counties" section of this web site.

Carolina Music Ways has worked diligently to provide accurate information and give proper credit on this web site. In the event, however, that we have inadvertently erred, we apologize and request to be contacted so we can make any necessary corrections.