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Mark Kemp

Author, journalist, storyteller, music opinionator

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Category: Music

Featured, Music, News & CultureSeptember 26, 2025

The ‘Troubles’ with Mickey

A North Carolina singer revisits the ‘Wasteground’ of his Northern Ireland youth In 2018, I got a CD in the mail from an Irish singer-songwriter […]

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Featured, MusicAugust 5, 2025

David Childers: North Carolina’s most underrated songwriter

Facing cancer and a long-overdue honor, this small-town Renaissance man reflects on his faith, his art, and his gratitude

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Featured, MusicMay 30, 2025

The Vulnerable Beatle

Fans can get a pretty good idea of who John Lennon was — and what contradictions he lived — from his full body of solo music.

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Featured, MusicJune 19, 2024

Drive By Truckers: On the Road

Jump on the tour bus! It’s early December 2010 and the Drive By Truckers are pulling out for a quick trip down to Charleston, South Carolina.

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Featured, MusicJune 2, 2024

Cindy Lee Berryhill: Beat Poet

Since folk music seems to sound better coming from New York than it does from California, Cindy Lee Berryhill sounds better today than she did last year

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Featured, MusicMay 9, 2024

Esperanza Spalding: The Hectic Eclectic

“The creative process,” says jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding, “is all about trying to make these big, imaginary ideas feasible.”

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Featured, MusicMarch 15, 2024

Linda Thompson: Fashionably Late

The legendary British folksinger’s comeback after 17 years away from the spotlight is a long-overdue gem from one of rock & roll’s finest voices.

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Featured, MusicFebruary 27, 2024

The Happy Hollow String Band: Bluegrass and ’70s Feminism

An all-girl, all-teen string band in rural North Carolina was making a powerful feminist statement when they formed amid the male-dominated bluegrass scene of the early 1970s. Contemporary outfits like Della Mae can thank them for paving the way.

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Featured, MusicSeptember 2, 2023

Jimmy Buffett: Sail on, Sailor

When I was music editor at Rolling Stone in the ’90s, I was asked — well, told — to do a Q&A with Jimmy Buffett. Not being a fan of his music, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed talking to him. Buffett died today at 76.

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Featured, MusicJuly 11, 2023

Introducing … Cyanca

The choice was between music and track. Fortunately for all of us, this Charlotte-based hip-hop R&B singer chose music.

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