News Release

CHAPEL HILL — Charlie Poole was a ramblin’ man, a hard-livin’ type of a guy – sort of the archetype of the country musician about 20 years before country was country.

"He was Hank Williams before Hank Williams," said Steve Weiss, head of the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The banjo-pickin’ Poole, a North Carolinian, inspired and influenced Earl Scruggs, the Carter family and the creators of bluegrass.

On April 8 in UNC’s Wilson Library, the Southern Folklife Collection will sponsor a symposium, "Dynamic Legacies: Charlie Poole and the Evolution and Transmission of the Southern String Band Tradition." Musicians, producers, a biographer and others will share expertise on Poole’s life and contributions to American music.

The following performances will bookend the symposium:

· Big Fat Gap, noon April 12, Graham Memorial Building, sponsored by the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence.

· The New North Carolina Ramblers, 3 p.m. April 8, Wilson Library.

· String band jam, 8 p.m. April 8, Skylight Exchange on Rosemary Street. Musicians are invited to bring their instruments and participate.

Events will be free to all, but those wishing to attend the symposium should sign up in advance by emailing Weiss at smweiss@email.unc.edu. Space is limited. Also sponsoring the symposium will be Music in Context, a UNC student group.

The events are timed to the release of "You Ain’t Talking to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music" by Columbia Legacies, expected late this spring or in the summer. The three-CD boxed set will include mostly music by Poole and his band, the North Carolina Ramblers, but also some songs by other musicians of the late 1920s who influenced the genre.

The record’s producer, Hank Sapoznik, will speak on a panel from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. April 8, as will George Goehl of the independent company Straight Six Films, which is working on a documentary about Poole. Dr. Jocelyn Neal, an expert on country music and a UNC assistant professor of music, will moderate the discussion.

Also on the panel will be Kinney Rorrer of Danville, Va., who wrote the biography "Ramblin Blues: The Life and Songs of Charlie Poole." Rorrer’s uncle, Posey Rorer (the different spellings are correct), played fiddle in Poole’s band. Kinney Rorrer replicates Poole’s playing style in his trio, the New North Carolina Ramblers, named after Poole’s band.

Morning sessions of "Dynamic Legacies," from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will feature remarks by Alan Jabbour, former director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and UNC music librarian Philip Vandermeer. In addition, students will present their research on string band traditions.

Poole was born in Randolph County but settled in Spray in 1918, Weiss said. (Spray became part of what is now Eden.) Poole worked in textile mills but also found time to travel and play his banjo, taking on whatever work he could get along the way.

The North Carolina Ramblers evolved from jams by Poole, his brother-in-law Posey Rorer and other musicians. In 1925, Poole, Rorer and guitarist Norm Woodlieff auditioned in New York for Columbia Records. They were accepted and recorded almost 70 songs for Columbia through the rest of the ’20s.

Poole also was rowdy, reckless and a drinking man. When the Depression slowed record sales, he drank more. He was to appear in a film in 1931, but he died of heart failure before he was to leave for Hollywood. He was in his late 30s.

The Southern Folklife Collection, in Wilson Library, contains 13 re-issues of studio recordings by Poole and his band, plus several original recordings on 78 rpm records – one song per side. Visitors may hear the recordings by calling 919-962-1345 in advance for appointments.

For more information, contact Weiss at 919-962-1172 or smweiss@email.unc.edu.

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Southern Folklife Collection contact: Steve Weiss, 919-962-1172 or smweiss@email.unc.edu

News Services contacts: Print, L.J. Toler, 919-962-8589; broadcast, Karen Moon, 919-962-9585