CARRBORO, N.C. -- The Town of Carrboro proudly presents the Music Maker Foundation’s Freight Train Blues series of live concerts every Friday evening between May 16 and June 13, 2025, at Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main Street. Concerts start at 6:30 p.m.
The series is a collaboration among Music Maker Foundation; the Town of Carrboro, WUNC 91.5 FM, and The Forests at Duke.
Bring your picnic, lawn chairs and blankets for a free evening of free live music on the lawn. Beer and food will be available for purchase at the events.
An annual event marking its 11th year anniversary honors GRAMMY-winning folk and blues artist and North Carolina Music Hall of Famer Elizabeth Cotten, born in Carrboro, N.C. in 1893. Cotten’s soulful voice and unique guitar style have rendered her a legend in the world of blues, leading her to receive National Heritage Fellowship in 1984 and a GRAMMY award in 1985. She lived to be 104 years old and died in 1987. Her songs, like the iconic “Freight Train,” have been reimagined by artists like The Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan. In 2022, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Music Maker Foundation honors Cotten’s legacy in the world of roots music by emphasizing the cultural diversity, complexity, and vitality of her music and the music of many other artists local to her community and all over the country.
Freight Train Blues Concert Series 2025 Lineup
| May 16 | Jimbo Mathus and the Creatures of the Southern Wild (Roots) & The Crimestoppers |
| May 23 | Charly Lowry and Thomas Rhyant Jr. (Acoustic Blues) |
| May 30 | Dedicated Men of Zion & Faith & Harmony |
| June 6 | Conjunto Breve (Salsa) |
| June 13 | Gail Caesar, Lakota John Locklear |
Jimbo Mathus and the Creatures of the Southern Wild
Jimbo Mathus, the legendary roots artist, serves as the Music Maker Studio’s house producer and leader of a versatile band. Recently they have recorded with MMF artists such as Albert White, Earnest Guitar Roy, and Leonard Lowdown Brown. Besides his work with MMF artists, Mathus has worked with Squirrel Nut Zippers (who he founded), Buddy Guy, Andrew Bird, and many others.
The Crimestoppers
The Crimestoppers are a collaboration between Mathus and several members of Eastern North Carolina sacred soul-singing royalty, the Vines family. Consisting of Amp, Cree and KeAmber, they have been an integral part of this region’s vital African-American gospel scene. With The Crimestoppers, though, they combine to sing southern soul music with a modern twist. They provide a profound and incredible component to the show with their deep rooted voices, beautiful dance, and costuming.
Starting out as the backup vocals for blues artists such as Albert White, Earnest Guitar Roy, and Leonard Lowdown Brown, The Crimestoppers have recently recorded their first solo album in Music Maker’s Studio. Their talent was so evident from the beginning that they were invited to perform at Telluride in 2024 for several of Music Maker’s featured acts.
Charly Lowry
Charly Lowry, a musical powerhouse from Pembroke, NC, is proud to be an Indigenous woman belonging to the Lumbee/Tuscarora Tribes. She is passionate about raising awareness around issues that plague underdeveloped and under-served communities. Since her teenage years, Charly has established a career as a professional singer-songwriter with unique passion and voice. In addition to performing solo, for 10+ years Charly has been the front-woman for the multi award-winning band, “DARK WATER RISING”.
Thomas Rhyant Jr.
Rhyant was raised on quartet gospel music. His father, an aspiring singer, was frustrated with the difficulties of trying to keep a group together. Eventually, he built one the organic way, fathering four sons who became a family gospel quartet known as The Rhyant Brothers. All four sons sang, but Thomas — the oldest and the one with a razor-sharp musical memory — was elected to be the guitarist. Later, he became part of The Violinaires, the legendary group with whom Wilson Pickett cut his teeth before becoming an R&B superstar. Through The Violinaires, Rhyant met many of his musical heroes, and spent hours listening, soaking up the history of their lives and music. These days, Rhyant uses music to tell the stories of those who came before him, allowing people to not only understand but emotionally connect with history.
Dedicated Men of Zion
The Dedicated Men of Zion — all eight of them — come from a singing tradition that has flourished for decades in eastern North Carolina, around the city of Greenville and its small neighboring town of Farmville. Trained in the church and the home, the group’s four vocalists — Anthony Daniels, Antwan Daniels, Dexter Weaver, and Marcus Sugg — share the bond of that music and the literal bond of kinship. They are all related by blood or marriage. Sharing bonds of music and blood kinship, the members of the Dedicated Men of Zion bring down a joyfully harmonious version of the gospel in a style so akin to soul music that we refer to it as “sacred soul.”
Faith & Harmony
Faith and Harmony is a family group—two sets of first cousins, three sisters in each. They grew up singing together in Greenville, N.C. All six members are descendants of Dorothy Vines Daniels of the Glorifying Vines Sisters, a gospel group that for many years has been a Music Maker partner artist, and great nieces of sculptor/guitar maker/author/musician Freeman Vines.
Conjunto Breve
Multinational Salsa Band, Conjunto Breve, was founded by their leader, percussionist Brevan Hampden in 2012. Members of the band come from all walks of life, from all areas of the world, including Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, The United States of America, and more. This band mixes the sounds of New York Style Salsa and Cuban Salsa, and members of the group have played with many famous Salsa Musicians including (but not limited to) Celia Cruz, La India, Tito Rojas, Raulin Rosendo, Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Paquito Guzman, Tito Gomez, Luis Enrique, N’Klabe, and many others. Look for sounds of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and sounds of American Music from this band, as they encompass all walks of life, from all areas of the world.
Gail Ceasar
Gail Ceasar floats somewhere between bluegrass and the blues. Her music has roots that run deep in Virginia soil. Taught the blues by her uncle, Pete Witcher, Gail’s Piedmont style is “reminiscent of Etta Baker and Elizabeth Cotten” (Bluegrass Situation). Losing her home to a fire in 2022 didn’t stop her from releasing her debut album, Guitar Woman Blues. The album, produced by Music Maker, has been called “sweet and captivating” and “gritty and raw as the high lonesome wind” (Americana Highways). She performed with Music Maker at the National Gallery of Art in February 2023.
Lakota John Locklear
Lakota John is, in and of himself, a living representation of the musical cultures of southeastern North Carolina. He is a member of the Lumbee Tribe who combines the blues with the indigenous music of his ancestors. Born in 1997, John Lakota Locklear, grew up listening to his dad’s music collection. At 7 years old, he picked up the harmonica and, at 7, his first guitar. Intrigued by the sound of the slide guitar, by 10 he had bought himself a glass slide, placed it on his pinky finger and has been sliding ever since. Today, Mama Tonya, Papa John and Sister Layla join him to form a proud Lumbee Nation family of talented musicians. Since the creation of blues music, Native Americans have paid an often overlooked but deep contribution to this musical tradition. Lakota John & Kin continue to Meld their ancestors’ ancient harmonies With traditional blues.
