A mostly upbeat but sometimes mellow mix of tunes featuring Southern musicians, from Doc & Merle Watson to Wes Collins.
by David Menconi

Summertime in North Carolina is when thoughts turn toward lazy days, balmy nights and seasonal pleasures like baseball, cookouts and vacation getaways. But there can be a melancholy aspect to it as well — a wistfulness for the carefree days of childhood, perhaps a lingering heartache for summer romances past or an undercurrent of sadness that the season will, too soon, come to an end. And so we present this summer playlist, which includes 11 songs featuring North Carolina artists that are mostly upbeat, but occasionally mellow.

Jennyanykind, “Up Early in the Morning” (2000)

We begin with identical twin brothers Michael and Matthew Holland, who have been playing in bands together for decades (most recently as regular contributors to HBO’s comedy series The Righteous Gemstones). During the 1990s and into the 2000s, they led a countrified blues-rock band called Jennyanykind. With its churchy keyboards and wide-eyed vocals, this opening track from 2000’s I Need You LP feels like a stroll into morning sunlight.

James Taylor, “Summer’s Here” (1981)

Honorary Tar Heel Taylor, who spent his formative years in Chapel Hill, was in a rough patch in the early ’80s with his marriage to Carly Simon on the rocks. He made a downcast breakup record called Dad Loves Work, on which this modest little deep-cut ode to the season seemed like a brief respite: “Summer’s here, that suits me fine/It may rain today ‘cause I don’t mind/It’s my favorite time of the year and I’m glad that it’s here.” The rainy day man, indeed.

Megafaun, “Volunteers” (2010)

“Sunlight, silhouettes and dogwood trees/Swayin’ all alone in the Carolina breeze…” The chorus and slowly ambling pace of Megafaun’s “Volunteers” feels like lying in a shade-tree hammock on a bright July afternoon. But listen to the rest of the song by these Wisconsin-to-Durham transplants, and it’s actually a pointed on-the-verge-of-a-breakup ultimatum.

Hobex, “Groove Baby” (1998)

Hobex started out in the mid-1990s as a side project for Greg Humphreys, frontman of the Chapel Hill pop band Dillon Fence. But Hobex ultimately outlasted Humphreys’ main band, and three decades later they’re still at it with bright, sunny funk-pop that’s perfect background music for cookouts — especially this song, from the LP Back in the 90s.

Blind Boy Fuller, “I Crave My Pig Meat” (1939)

Speaking of cookouts, Raleigh resident Marshall Wyatt assembled two-dozen old-time blues songs about the many facets of barbecue for the 2011 compilation Barbecue Any Old Time, released on his Grammy-nominated reissue label Old Hat Records. Here’s one of the tunes, the great 1930s-vintage Durham bluesman Fulton “Blind Boy Fuller” Allen holding forth about the pleasures of pork.

Watchhouse, “Morphine Girl” (2013)

This one is from Andrew Marlin and Emily Franz’s early days as Mandolin Orange, before they changed their name to Watchhouse in 2021. “Morphine Girl” was a highlight of their breakout third album This Side of Jordan, with Franz’s spectral fiddle creating an atmosphere as thick as humidity. It’s trance-inducing. 

Doc & Merle Watson, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (1983)

The late great folk-guitar legend was always able to spice up pretty much any old tune, including this instrumental take on the classic ode to America’s national pastime originally composed by Albert Von Tilzer. Merle passed in 1985 and Doc’s been gone since 2012, but their version of the ballpark anthem still plays during the seventh-inning stretch at Durham Bulls games.

Sunshine Anderson, “Heard It All Before” (2001)

It sounds like a discovery story from a movie: Anderson was a student at Durham’s North Carolina Central University when a classmate overheard her singing while walking to the cafeteria. That led to her connecting with producer Mike City, who produced this very sassy R&B number about hapless two-timing dudes. 

 Wes Collins,“Orangeandmagenta” (2018)

Before turning to music full time, this Chapel Hill singer/songwriter’s day job was librarian at Chatham Community Library — which means he comes by his facility with words honestly. A song about going someplace remote to try and forget about someone, “Orangeandmagenta” has an almost reverential tone (and nary a syllable out of place), subtle as shimmering heat waves rising off the beach.

Darin and Brooke Aldridge, “Cumberland Plateau” (2017)

The biggest draw of this Cherryville duo is Brooke’s voice; she’s won the International Bluegrass Music Association’s female vocalist of the year four times over the past decade. It’s easy to hear why on “Cumberland Plateau,” a song written by the couple’s frequent collaborator John Cowan (from New Grass Revival).

Flat Duo Jets, “New York Studio 1959” (1998)

The guitar/drums duo of Chris “Crow” Smith and the late Dexter Romweber almost always played at a breakneck pace. But here’s a lovely instrumental where they slowed down and even added strings to evoke a sense of vintage late-night classiness, big-city-style. A perfect wind-down number from the Jets’ final LP, 1998’s Lucky Eye.   

This article originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of WALTER magazine.