Music is in the Air

By Molly Harrison | Wednesday, October 3, 2012
The Duck Jazz Festival will rock this tiny town on Sunday.

Bust out your dancing shoes because it's all about live music on the Outer Banks this week. From restaurant bars to shopping center porches to our small but scenic amphitheaters, the tunes are going to be blowing in the winds this week.

By now you must know about the Outer Banks Bluegrass Festival at Roanoke Island Festival Park. Promotion for this festival went on for more than a year, and it's drawing a sell-out crowd for certain. Modern-day bluegrass stars Rhonda Vincent, Doyle Lawson, Stacy Grubb and Clay Hess, The Whiskey Rebellion, Nothin' Fancy, The Hillbilly Gypsies and numerous other bands (including Hatteras' Banjo Island) are playing all day Friday and Saturday. With its location along the Roanoke Sound and giant grassy lawn, Festival Park is definitely one of the best places on the Outer Banks to see live music. It's outdoors, on the lawn, so bring your chairs or blankets. Hopefully you've already gotten your tickets because they are nearly sold out. At this writing they had some left, but if you've got your heart set on going, you'd better go online and get your tickets now.

The Bluegrass Festival has some side shows as well, including Drymill Road at the Brewing Station on Friday at 10 p.m., Cumberland River at the Brewing Station on Saturday at 10 p.m., and Bluegrass Bonfire Jam on the beach on Sunday at 7 p.m. On Sunday at 5 p.m., The Pioneer Theatre in Manteo is showing O Brother Where Art Thou. There's also a banjo workshop with Gary "Biscuit" Davis on Friday at 9 a.m. at Festival Park. It's a jam-packed weekend for bluegrass fans, to say the least. See the website for further details.

Manteo also has First Friday this week, and that means live music in the streets. On the courthouse steps, see Crosstown Trio featuring Betsy Robinson, Doug Wingate and Ray Evans from 6 to 8 p.m. There will be more music around town, plus lots of good eats, happy people milling about, shopping deals, kidstuff and more.

Up in Duck, it's Duck Jazz Festival weekend - and that means live music plus food and drink from Thursday through Sunday. On Thursday you can catch Outer Banks favorite Mojo Collins on the porch at the Scarborough Faire Shopping Village - a great setting under live oaks. On Friday Aqua is having a Hanky Panky party starting at 6 p.m. and running til 2 a.m. The Mo Rons will begin, then its Pillow Talk with Dan and Laura Martier and then hold on for Time Band featuring Tim Reynolds, Charlie Kirkpatrick and Joe Mapp. Wow. That's quite the line up and there's gonna be a crowd no doubt! Other weekend events in Duck include live music at Roadside Grill, The Blue Point, Coastal Cantina and Aqua, a Shrimp N Beer Fest at Dockside N Duck on Friday, an Oyster Roast at Roadside on Saturday, wine tastings, restaurant specials and a lot more. Check the Duck Jazz Festival website to see the full line up of pre-events.

The Sixth Annual Duck Jazz Festival is on Sunday, beginning at 11 a.m. on the Duck Town Green, with gates set to open at 10 a.m. Scheduled to perform are The Rippingtons featuring Russ Freeman, Paula Atherton, The Fuzz Band, and Emme St.James & Her Jazz Gentlemen. It's a great day on the lawn next to the Currituck Sound, and this place gets packed with locals and visitors. Plan to stake out a spot and spend the day. This is event is FREE! Thanks Town of Duck!

Other live music highlights of the week:

Sky Blue Summer Concert Series at REAL Kiteboarding in Waves has Jack Jr. on Thursday, The Wilders on Monday and Mojo Collins next Thursday. It's over after that, so get down there and catch an outdoor show on HI. Showtime is 6 p.m.

The Fuzz Band on Friday night at 10 p.m. at Ocean Boulevard.

Out in the Cold Band from Elizabeth City at Kelly's on Friday night.

Jonny Waters Band from the Inner Banks area on Saturday at Kellys.

Irish Tenor Mark Forrest is performing at Holy Redeemer by the Sea on Sunday at 7 p.m. Looks to be a big deal as Forrest is an international-level singer who has performed for Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa and in The White House and Carnegie Hall.

All of the other live music options on the Outer Banks this week can be found in the Nightlife section.

There's a bunch of other stuff to catch this week. Hey, it's the fall on the Outer Banks - the time when we try to pack every weekend with as many possible festivals and fundraisers as possible.

This week is the Outer Banks Home Builders' Association's 20th annual Parade of Homes, running Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Twenty-one homes are on the tour, and you can tour at your own pace.

First Flight Rotary's annual Oink N Oyster Roast will be held on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. at Longboards Island Grill in Kitty Hawk. Always great eats and a good time.

In celebration of The Lost Colony's 75th anniversary, the Roanoke Island Historical Association and National Park Service at Fort Raleigh are producing a major international public symposium called The Roanoke Conundrum Fact or Fiction in association with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the First Colony Foundation, Elizabeth R & Company and Dare County Schools music departments. With more than 30 events, from music to plays to speakers and workshops and history talks, it takes place on Roanoke Island from October 6 to 10. The symposium features public-oriented presentations about the 16th-century history of the Roanoke Island settlements and presentations on interpreting history through the arts and literature. One-hour performances are also scheduled to illustrate the interpretation of history through the arts. Mid-days during the event, specialized guided tours of Fort Raleigh and the Waterside Theatre are offered for the public. Additionally, professional archaeologists will be on site conducting actual digs, and educational specialists will be on hand to interpret for the public. Everything is free to the public, except box lunches if patrons choose to reserve any. As part of the Roanoke Conundrum events, there will be free showings of the plays Bloody Mary and the Virgin Queen and Shepherd of the Ocean at the new Fish & Wildlife Visitor Center on Roanoke Island. Go to the website on the link above to get all the details about all of these programs.

Nags Head Elementary School's annual Pumpkin Fair is on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's a great place to pick out your fall decorating items, including pumpkins of all sizes at reasonable prices, hay bales, corn stalks and mums. There is also lots of food, a bake sale, auction items and kid stuff.

Island Farm in Manteo also has a Pumpkin Patch event for all the Saturdays in October. You can take a hay ride, make candles and corn husk dolls, play 19th century games, stuff a scarecrow, and buy a pumpkin. Admission is $6. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This isn't all. There's so much more, from white elephant sales to fish fries to art shows, but I have to stop somewhere. Have a look through our By Day section to see what else is going on this week.

It looks like the weather is going to pretty on up for this weekend: mid-70s and light NE wind. See the forecast here.

Have fun out there! Be safe, call cabs if you're drinking, and show the love to all those hard-working musicians.

Outer Banks This Week Giveaway



This week you have a chance to win a Family Style Picnic from Pigman's Bar-B-Que and a $50 gift certificate to Ocean Annie's Craft Gallery!

For more information about Pigman's BBQ, check out their website.

For more information about Ocean Annie's, check out their website.


Last Week's Winner

Congratulations to Joyce Asbury‎!!!

You won a $50 gift certificate to Frisco Rod & Gun and $25 to Studio 12!

Outer Banks This Week Giveaway Winner










For more information about Frisco Rod & Gun, check out their website.

For more information about Studio 12, check out their website.


About the Author Molly Harrison
Molly Harrison is managing editor at OneBoat, publisher of OuterBanksThisWeek.com. She moved to Nags Head in 1994 and since then has made her living writing articles and creating publications about the people, places and culture of the Outer Banks.