The year 2019 as been declared the “Year of Music in North Carolina.”
The campaign being promoted by the North Carolina Arts Council is called “Come Hear North Carolina.” As part of the campaign the NC Arts Council republished it’s 1998 Heritage Award profile of The Wilson Brothers (Pap and his brother).
The State of North Carolina via the North Carolina Arts Council has awarded folk artists the North Carolina Heritage Award since 1989. In 1998 The Wilson Brother’s won the award.
It seems like just yesterday that they received the prestigious award for their music. I remember the girls were just babies when one of the interviews leading up to the event took place in our living room. It’s wonderful to see them highlighted again and the republished piece has garnered quite a bit of attention which is very pleasing as well.
To read the article about The Wilson Brothers go here.
Tipper
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What an honor! And well deserved 🙂
It’s hard to describe in words how much I enjoyed this post. I got my mail box straightened out and thank goodness I’m receiving your daily blog again. Y’all stay warm.
So thankful Tipper, for the opportunity to follow that link to the article and read every little bit they shared, and to listen to every single song……it was a blessing and an joy . A beautiful tribute and award, and then there is such a greater reward …the one I sure long for too… That first song in the first video was especially sweet today for me, as this would have been my husband’s mother’s 97th birthday today..”Me-Mama”… She passed away from us right around Thanksgiving in 2014..and oh the sweet joy of knowing we will see her again…. ”Till we meet ,till we meet, till we meet at Jesus’s feet, till we meet ,till we meet ,God be with us till we meet again.”
Jerry and Ray
they are OK
but I like Pap and Granny!
Really!
Ron Stephens’ comment set me to thinking about music in church. He’s right – all too often musicians become the focus. Our tiny church is fortunate to have two extraordinary singers in our midst and their singing is inspiring; but when they get through the congregation always gives them a hearty applause. While I greatly appreciate their talent, the applause seems out of place in church. A couple of our guitar players also like to play with dramatic flourish and, again, it seems very out of place. The music is supposed to encourage or enhance worship, not grab attention. A church in a neighboring community places their choir and other musicians, even soloists, at the back of the congregation and if the congregation isn’t singing along, they will often have their eyes closed and slightly sway to the music while listening. . . no applause . . . maybe an “amen” or two . . . but always with a sense of worship, not of entertainment. In listening to y’all’s music through the years, I’ve never had a sense that y’all were seeking attention, only that you were (and are) sharing music you love and enjoy. That’s what I appreciate. Thanks.
That was just a wonderful article and sample of Pap’s songs. Just listening made me feel like I was worshiping the Lord. Like me, you had the great blessing of being raised by a precious father and mother.
A beautiful tribute to your father and his brothers. I listened to them sing all those beautiful gospel songs. Even though I am from southern ancestry, I was raised in the north. I didn’t hear harmony singing until I was about 10 years old and visiting my grandparents down south. My grandmother had the radio on and I was just walking through the living room when a gospel group started singing. I stopped, “frozen in my tracks,” completely absorbed into listening to that beautiful 4 part harmony. Pap had such a beautiful voice and it has carried on to his children and grandchildren.
Thanks Tipper. Thoroughly enjoyed the singing and music. It was a blessing to me.
The words that come to mind to describe Pap and your uncle Ray are ‘integrity’ and ‘principled’. Or another way is with the words of “I’d Rather Have Jesus”, the ones about rather having him than “vain applause” or “worldwide fame” or “silver and gold”.
I grew up in churches that to this day do not have music or, if they did, it was only with a piano in the church. And the reason was to avoid that very thing of mixed secular and religious playing.
What a wonderful, well-warranted, tribute. I thoroughly enjoyed (and am enjoying again!) those wonderful reel-to-reel recordings. How blest we are to have the Wilson family in WNC!
It seems that anything I write here can never really express the importance of Pap’s lifetime devotion to the music he loved. His music seemed effortless, but I am sure it took many years of hard work to perfect his God given talent. You certainly have a right to be proud of your family. As I listened, it seemed to take me right back to the beautiful gospel of my childhood.
Tip, that’s a really nice article honoring Pap and is brothers. I know you are very pleased!
We don’t have to look far to find where you got your love of our Appalachian traditions and music.
Congratulations to Pap, he lives on in his music and his fine family!
Jow wonderful and what a way to say thank uiu for all the fantastic artists