On Wednesday at noon, bring a lunch and join Mike Lowe for a “Lunch and Learn” at the Museum Annex, 144 W. Oak St. This program is free and open to the public.
Lowe is a Surry County native who lives in a log house on Stewart’s Creek with his wife, Carol, and daughter, Maggie. Lowe started playing guitar before the age of 10. He was virtually surrounded by musicians. His grandpa played banjo and fiddle; his dad played banjo and guitar; and his mother played piano. He also was surrounded by their music: old-time country, gospel and hymns.
Although now able to play several instruments, Lowe’s first love was and still is the guitar. He started learning from “pickers” who came by to make music with his dad ... folks like Kyle Creed, Wilson Ramey and Paul Sutphin. All these musicians would stop and take time to show “the kid” something.
These influences motivated him until the fifth grade, then a small pocket transistor radio introduced him to the blues. While it was different, blues still had elements of the old-time music. That was Lowe’s start in a new direction. The radio actually served to teach him two things: the blues, obviously, but more importantly, how to hear music. Since then, music influences have included classical, Chet Atkins-style picking, jazz, rock and roll, folk and Celtic. Over the last 50 years, these influences, along with a desire to create his own music, have enticed him to work at playing.
Lowe is an accomplished songwriter, musician, storyteller, interpreter of history and classroom instructor. He has performed in studios, classrooms, theaters, churches, libraries, special events and festivals, as well as on stage. He has written and directed plays and has conducted writing/storytelling workshops for both students and teachers. He has released original CDs of stories, songs and music. To listen to Lowe is a harmonious blend of all the styles and all the people and all the effort ... it’s music.
New Harmonies will be on view through April 24. Mount Airy Museum of Regional History and the surrounding community was expressly chosen by the North Carolina Humanities Council to host “New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music” as part of the Museum on Main Street project — a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations.
New Harmonies tells the American musical story through photographs, instruments, lyrics and artist profiles. Although “roots music” is a relatively new term that generally applies to forms of folk music, its influences run deep throughout American culture and can be heard in today’s commercial country, gospel, pop and hip-hop genres. The exhibition not only describes the work of well-known folk, gospel, country and blues artists like Ma Rainey, B.B. King, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Mahalia Jackson, Woody Guthrie, and Joan Baez that have inspired generations of musicians, but also captures the spirit of musical styles that are at the heart of local heritage — Tejano, zydeco, polka, Cajun, conjunto, and klezmer. New Harmonies focuses on how roots music gives Americans a soundtrack and a voice for their stories.
“We continue to be pleased with the community’s reaction to New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music,” said Matt Edwards, executive director of the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. “During the first week alone over 500 people have visited the exhibit. People are regularly traveling from the metro Charlotte Area and the Research Triangle to see New Harmonies and visit our community, and we’ve documented visitors from as far away as Minnesota and Texas since the opening. New Harmonies has provided great exposure for the museum and for Mount Airy.”
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