Rooms to play
Listening rooms and small stages around the state.
- Six String Cafe & Music HallCary
- Live At Ted’sWilmington
- Tate Street Coffee HouseGreensboro
- Lost Province Brewing Co.Boone
- The Flat IronGreensboro
Music in North Carolina
★ Now playing statewide ★
Where North Carolina plays.
Mountain fiddle tunes, Piedmont club stages and historic coastal halls. Find your next night out, or your next gig.
On the marquee
- Cat’s Cradle Carrboro
- The Orange Peel Asheville
- The Historic Earle Theatre Mount Airy
- Thalian Hall Wilmington
- Motorco Music Hall Durham
- The Evening Muse Charlotte
- Lincoln Theatre Raleigh
- The Blind Tiger Greensboro
- Don Gibson Theater Shelby
- Jones House Cultural Center Boone
Browse by sound
Flip through the crate
Ten sounds North Carolina is known for. Each sleeve opens the stages, festivals and players behind it.
All music listings- NCM‑01 Old-Time & Bluegrass MerleFest · The Historic Earle Theatre
- NCM‑02 Blues Bull Durham Blues Festival · Cape Fear Blues Festival
- NCM‑03 Jazz Sharp 9 Gallery Jazz Club · North Carolina Jazz Festival
- NCM‑04 Gospel & Sacred Hayti Heritage Center · State Annual Singing Convention
- NCM‑05 Classical & Orchestral Brevard Music Center · Meymandi Concert Hall
- NCM‑06 Opera & Choral Opera Wilmington · Charlotte Singers
- NCM‑07 Americana & Songwriters The Evening Muse · NC Songwriters Festival
- NCM‑08 Rock, Indie & Punk Cat’s Cradle · Hopscotch Music Festival
- NCM‑09 Hip-Hop & R&B Dreamville Festival · Beats N Bars Festival
- NCM‑10 Beach Music & Shag Carolina Beach Music Festival · Atlantic Beach Music Festival
Coming up
On the bill this month
Shows, jams and matinees on North Carolina stages. Venues post their own dates once they claim a listing.
All music eventsPlaces to hear music
Rooms that made the music
From a 45-seat jazz room in Durham to summer stages in the mountains. Pick the kind of night you want.
Find a venue near youArtists, bands & ensembles
Who’s on the bill
Bands and players with North Carolina roots, plus the orchestras, choirs and ensembles that rehearse here every week.
Find musiciansTowns strong in music
The North Carolina tour
Ten stops worth the drive, from the Blue Ridge to the Cape Fear. Each town page lists what’s on and where to go.
All towns- BrevardBrevard Music Center and the Mountain Song Festival
- AshevilleThe Orange Peel, The Grey Eagle, and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, held since 1928
- BooneAppalachian Theatre, Jones House, and An Appalachian Summer Festival since 1984
- WilkesboroHome of MerleFest since 1988
- Mount AiryThe Historic Earle Theatre and WPAQ 740 AM
- CharlotteThe Evening Muse, Visulite Theatre and Neighborhood Theatre
- CarrboroCat’s Cradle, All Day Records, and the Carrboro Music Festival
- DurhamCarolina Theatre, Motorco, Sharp 9, and the Bull Durham Blues Festival
- RaleighLincoln Theatre, Meymandi Concert Hall, Hopscotch and Dreamville
- WilmingtonThalian Hall and the North Carolina Jazz Festival since 1980
For musicians
Play it, record it, get it on the air
Small stages and listening rooms, studios and pressing plants, the stations at the left end of the dial, and camps where you can learn.
On the air
Public, college and community stations live at the left end of the FM dial, 88 to 92. Swipe the dial.
Also on AM: WPAQ 740 kHz, Mount Airy · All stations
Record & press
Studios for tracking and mixing, and plants that press vinyl.
- Citizen VinylAsheville
- American VinylLeicester
- Donaldson Record Pressing CoWeaverville
- Bull City Sound StudioDurham
- Canterbury RecordingAsheville
Learn & teach
Summer camps, workshops and school programs.
- Swannanoa GatheringCamp
- Blue Ridge Fiddle CampCamp
- PineCone’s Bluegrass CampsCamp
- Brevard Music Center Summer InstituteInstitute
- UNC Summer Jazz WorkshopWorkshop
North Carolina heritage
From Deep Gap to Wilkesboro
Doc Watson grew up in Deep Gap, in Watauga County, and carried mountain guitar and song to stages far beyond the Blue Ridge. Since 1988, MerleFest in Wilkesboro has carried the name of his son and longtime musical partner, Merle Watson.
| Side | Year | Where |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | 1928 | Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, Asheville |
| A2 | 1938 | The Historic Earle Theatre, Mount Airy |
| B1 | 1988 | MerleFest, Wilkesboro |
| B2 | 1997 | Doc and Rosa Lee Watson MusicFest, Sugar Grove |
Founding years as listed on each place’s page in this directory.
For venues, studios, stations and bands
Is this your stage? Get it on the bill.
Your listing may already be here, built from public records. Claim it free to fix your details, add photos you own and post your shows.