From R&B to indie rock: What Chapel Hill Town Council members love to listen to

For The Daily Tar Heel's 2025 Music Edition, staff writer Aiden Hall spoke with Chapel Hill Town Council members about their favorite songs, artists and genres. Their choices range from orchestral to indie-rock to experimental. 

Mayor Pro Tem Amy Ryan

Ryan said her favorite genres of music include classic rock and blues. 

Some of her favorites include Stevie Ray Vaughan for his complex blues rhythms, Joni Mitchell for her lyrics, Bruce Springsteen because Ryan is from New Jersey and the Talking Heads. 

She said recently she's been getting more into jazz and blues artists like Nina Simone and Miles Davis. 

Council Member Melissa McCullough

McCullough said one of her favorite bands is the Indigo Girls, because of their intertwining melodies — one of her favorite features in singing groups. She said other favorites include The Cardigans, The Monkeesand Joni Mitchell, who she said was an especially early favorite.

“I once went to a Joni Mitchell concert when I was sick, and I was chugging Pepto-Bismol the whole way because I was going to be damned if I was going to miss that concert,” she said. 

McCullough said she likes anything she can sing along and tap her toes to. 

Council Member Theodore Nollert

Nollert said he likes more local bands compared to popular bands, like local artists John Howie Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff and Superchunk. 

He also said he enjoys music from the Bavarian brass band LaBrassBanda, and said everyone should listen to Max Richter’s orchestral recomposition of Vivaldi’s "The Four Seasons." Nollert said he was in orchestra in high school. 

“I put all of my time into that when I was in high school, I used to skip lunch in the cafeteria and bring my own so I could practice,” he said. 

Council Member Camille Berry

Berry said her favorite genre is R&B, specifically artists like Earth, Wind and Fire, which is her favorite artist of all time, and Roberta Flack, Beyoncé and Stevie Wonder. 

“I have older siblings who — that's what they listen to — so that was a really happy time growing up, listening to that music," she said.

Berry said she likes to experiment and explore with music, and listens to pieces such as Beethoven’s "Symphony No.5" and "Que je t’aime" by Camille. 

“I have parents who are both musicians, they met at the Manhattan School of Music, and I got the gift of music appreciation from them,” she said. 

Council Member Elizabeth Sharp

Sharp said some of her favorite artists are Brandi Carlile, Beyonce, Sturgill Simpson, John Batiste and the music she grew up with like The Beatles, Cat Stevens and Jim Croce.

“I sang a lot as a kid, I was in a children’s choir and I sang a lot in highschool and stuff, so things I can sing along to are kind of my favorite,” she said. 

When she's working, Sharp said she listens to piano music by Art Tatum.

Council Member Karen Stegman

Stegman said her favorite genre is indie-rock, which was influenced by her childhood in Chapel Hill.

“I was in high school and college when the ‘Chapel Hill music scene’ was really at its best, so local music has always been close to my heart,” she said. 

Of that local music, she said she enjoys the dBs and Superchunk. 

Stegman said she also loves Wilco, Jason Isbell, REM, Lucinda Williams and the Avett Brothers, who she said played at her wedding before they got big.

Stegman said she really loves going to live music events, and that Chapel Hill and Carrboro are lucky to have so many local venues like Cat's Cradle, Local 506 and Haw River Ballroom. 

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