Buies Creek, N.C.-On the way to carving out a niche as a foreign language professor at Campbell University, Dr. Ann Ortiz found another avenue of expression, as a fiddle and banjo player in the traditional music band The Huckleberry Brothers. The band will perform on Sunday, April 11, at the North Carolina Museum of History as part of the Music of the Carolinas concert series sponsored by the Pinecone organization and the North Carolina Museum of History.
Headquartered in the rural coastal plains of eastern North Carolina, the Huckleberry Brothers band was formed to explore the members’ interest in the traditional and popular music of mid-19th century America. The band’s instruments include 5-string banjo, fiddle, guitar, accordion, mandolin, tinwhistle, harmonicas, bones and tambourine.
“Our goal is to research and perform the minstrel and old time styles of music in a way that is faithful to the original form,” Ortiz said. “The music is composed of songs, ballads and fiddle tunes from the 1700s through 1865.
Other band members include Curtis Cole, Marsha Harris, Bryant Henderson, Edwin P. Little, Jr., Kendall Smith, Troy Parker, Mike Parker and Bryan Craddock.
The Huckleberry Brothers can be seen performing at Civil War reenactments, living history presentations, period dances and other events. A CD of their favorite traditional tunes, “First Pickins,” is available now. For more information, contact Bryant Henderson at 919.259.9981
Photo Copy: The Huckleberry Brothers, from left: Marsha Harris, Mike Parker, Ann Ortiz, Bryant Henderson, Dr. Edwin Little and Curtis Cole. The HuckleBerry Brothers are members of the Cape Fear Living History Society.