Bluegrass believers
UNC faculty, students and alumni have played a crucial role in a new cultural tourism project to revitalize downtown Shelby, N.C. This includes the new Earl Scruggs Center, which opened in January in the town's renovated 1907 courthouse.
Visitors to the new Earl Scruggs Center, nestled in the renovated 1907 courthouse in uptown Shelby, N.C., can immerse themselves in the life of the late banjo player and bluegrass pioneer who grew up in the nearby Flint Hill community.
They can watch footage of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs in the 1960s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. Hear artists Steve Martin and Béla Fleck on film talking about the influence Scruggs has had on their careers. Learn about the impact of textile mills and cotton farming on Cleveland County. Interact with a large touch table to start a musical “picking party.” Record an oral history.
And it was a serendipitous Tar Heel encounter in October, 2006 on a plane coming back from Nashville, Tenn., that got the whole project started.
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