Welcome to the homepage of the Charlie Poole Music Festival. Many of today's legends in American roots music have graced our stage - Mike Seeger, Norman & Nancy Blake, Tony Trischka, The Osborne Brothers, J.D. Crowe, Bryan Bowers, The McPeak Brothers, Tony Rice, Alice Gerrard, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Uncle Earl, The Freighthoppers - all in honor of a true icon in American music, Charlie Poole. The past few years have seen exciting developments for our festival, as we hosted the official release of the critically acclaimed and three-time Grammy nominated "You Ain't Talkin' To Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music" (Columbia Legacy) and the preview of the upcoming feature length documentary about Poole being filmed by George Goehl of Straight Six Films.

"Any chance to visit Charlie Poole's home town of Spray (Eden )NC and celebrate the
greatness of her native son is one to be taken.” ---so says Loudon Wainwright III , winner of this year’s Best Traditional Folk Grammy Award with his album “High, Wide and Handsome: the Charlie Poole Project.”. And celebrating the greatness of Spray’s native son is just what he will be doing on Saturday, September 25. He has agreed to do a benefit performance at the picturesque Governor Morehead Park in Spray, directly across the street from the textile mills where famed banjoist Charlie Poole worked between his rambles. “An Evening with Loudon Wainwright III” will be an evening of national caliber entertainment, with good food to make it complete—Fuzzy’s of Madison will be catering a barbecue supper, all included in the $25 ticket price. Wainwright will be coming fresh from a performance as part of the Duke University student concert series.
The proceeds are to help Piedmont Folk Legacies, parent of the Charlie Poole Music Festival, in its effort to save the huge historic Nantucket Mill by turning it into the National Banjo Center, and to help the park itself deal with the crumbling foundation wall of the area’s very first textile mill. Wainwright requests that all proceeds should remain in Spray out of respect for Charlie Poole.

Gates will open at 5 PM on September 25, and the barbecue will be served at 6.
The opening act at 7 PM will be Kinney Rorrer’s widely acclaimed New North Carolina
Ramblers. Wainwright will take the stage at 8 with his act that he has taken all over the
US and Canada since Grammy night.

Tickets at $25 each will be sold on line at www.charlie-poole.com through
Friday, September 17, or can be ordered with a check to Piedmont Folk Legacies, P.O.
Box 867, Eden, NC 27289. A table for 8 can be reserved for $200. No tickets will be sold
at the gate. For information, call 336-623-1043 or 336-627-0816.

 

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Our 2010Charlie Poole Music Festival list of winners has been moved to the Performers page