Local musicians experiment with bluegrass sound at Beer and Banjos

At 6:30 p.m. on any given Wednesday, local musicians fill the once-empty stage at the Carrboro restaurant and bar 401 Main  with instruments — notably the banjo and guitar. For the next couple of hours, community members are surrounded by the strumming excitement of bluegrass music. 

Through its Appalachian-rooted music, Beer and Banjos, a weekly event at the restaurant, aims to bring a palpable communal spirit to Carrboro. The event was originally started as a small project by Hank Smith — a faculty member in UNC’s music department — in Raleigh, and has gained traction over the last 10 years. 

In North Carolina, live music pulses through the veins of the state and through the individual by letting loose, Jamie Rowen, a member of the husband-wife musical duo Relay Relay and a performer for Beer and Banjos, said. 

At the start of the event, Beer and Banjos’ event organizers open with their own traditional bluegrass set before handing the stage to another local artist or band.

“It has branched out to this statewide collective of musicians,” Jackson Pettee, who runs Beer and Banjos, said. “So, people like bluegrass musicians that want to share that music with the people in their towns and their communities.”

Rowen said that breweries are essential places for local musicians to perform, providing them multiple performance opportunities and a consistent audience. The prominence of casual live music in local breweries was integral to his growth as a musician, he said.

“People come there and they know that good music happens, so they continue to come back,” he said. 

Beer and Banjos has expanded upon the traditions that are implicit within the music community by giving them a local twist. 

“Just the name is very casual, it has a very casual vibe too,” Pettee said. “It’s what we like to promote. The music itself is very humble, down-to-Earth style.”

It is this welcoming atmosphere that allows audience-members to relax, and facilitates a sense of community during these Wednesdays, he said. He added that he has gotten closer with fellow musicians because of the Beer and Banjos events, and the events allow musicians to easily network with one another — giving them more opportunities than they perhaps would have had before. 

Beer and Banjos has created an environment where the N.C. tradition of live bluegrass music can persist. Usually comprised of four to seven instruments, including the fiddle and the five-string banjo, bluegrass combines several N.C. musical traditions. These include historic styles of old-time mountain music, square dance fiddling, blues and gospel. Like jazz music, bluegrass musicians often improvise.  

Despite their interest in bluegrass, Beer and Banjos gives performing artists the creative freedom to share the music that resonates the most with them, Pettee said. Relay Relay, who transitioned away from bluegrass music to more indie pop, still plays frequently for Beer and Banjos.

The celebratory and communal nature of Beer and Banjos is shown in how committed they are in helping smaller bands grow. Chase Christopher — guitarist in the local band The Wilted Plums — said that Jackson Pettee from Beer and Banjos was incredibly helpful in getting them opportunities.

“He’ll just do stuff for people,” Chase said. “He didn’t know me at all, and he just let me — I mean, I showed him some videos of my band, and stuff — and he just let me play.”

It is about community, long-lasting friendships and a passion for music, Pettee said. 

401 Main is just one local brewery to experience this music-loving community. The tradition of live music is so deeply embedded into the N.C. piedmont culture, and these audience members react and interact with the musicians, Rowen said. 

Beer and Banjos is about artists sharing with their own communities the music that moves them, Pettee said. In doing so, they connect with their listeners and encourage them to support live music. 

“There’s a special connection that is formed between people that share a passion like music,” Pettee said. “Because you’re making something together.”

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