Musicians

Video

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Meet the talented bagpipe player and leader of the Palmetto Pipes and Drums band. Founded in 1996, the band has flourished, showcasing their musical talent and dedication. They have achieved numerous...

Dizzy Gillespie:From the Be to the Bop Learning Activity

Document

Grades: 6 7 8

Much of America's blues and jazz influences are deeply rooted in the rhythms and melodies of the rural South. One artist who has greatly contributed to these genres' continued popularity is South...

Dizzy Gillespie, Part 3

Episode 103

Video

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

When the opportunity came for a young Dizzy Gillespie to leave Cheraw, he took it. Dizzy moved to Laurinburg, North Carolina, where he went to school at the Laurinburg Institute. While in Laurinburg...

Dizzy Gillespie, Part 2

Episode 102

Video

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

Dizzy Gillespie was awarded the coveted Handel Medal, which is New York City’s most prestigious arts award. Gillespie is also part of the Newport Jazz Festival Program, and introduced friends and...

Brown, James | South Carolina Public Radio

Audio

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

"B" is for Brown, James (1933-2006). Musician. Born in Barnwell County, Brown began his career in Augusta in the 1950s when he formed the Flames—the first of a series of backing bands that would...

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie | History of SC Slide Collection

Episode 60

Photo

Grades: 5

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (1917- ), a native of Cheraw, began playing the trombone and the trumpet in 1929. He studied harmony and music theory at Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina before...

Mac Arnold Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: Higher Education

Born and raised on a sharecroppers’ farm in Pelzer, South Carolina and one of thirteen children, Arnold grew up in a world where blues music did not exist, at least to his devoutly religious parents...

Drink Small Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: Higher Education

Few vernacular art forms have made as impressive a mark on American culture as the Blues. From the expressive experiences of African-American life, skilled musicians fashioned a distinctive idiom that...

Will Julian - How He Started Playing Banjo | Digital Traditions

Audio

Grades: Higher Education

A native of the upstate, Julian was born and raised near Vineland School in Pickens County. A farmer for over forty years, the Julian family is deeply rooted in old-time country music. Julian's...

Pappy Sherrill Photos

Photo

Grades: Higher Education

Homer Lee "Pappy" Sherrill played his first radio show in 1928. In the 1930s, long before multi-million dollar contracts and lucrative endorsement deals, Sherrill traveled the “Kerosene Circuit.”...

Al Wall Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades: Higher Education

Wall began playing hillbilly and “old-time” music before it was dubbed bluegrass. He was one of eleven children in a family he described as not very musically oriented. As a teen, he cut his teeth...

William "Singing Billy" Walker | S.C. Hall of Fame

Video

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

"Amazing Grace: The Story of William "Singing Billy" Walker is about the Spartanburg resident, religious music composer and publisher. Walker became famous in the mid 1800's for changing the way...