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This collection has use restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | About 650 items (45 linear feet) |
| Abstract | A musician on banjo, piano, guitar, and fiddle since childhood, Paul Brown spent years collecting and documenting traditional music in southwestern Virginia and northwest North Carolina. He worked in journalism and radio, especially for National Public Radio where, from 2001 to 2003, he was executive producer for weekend programming. He also served in several capacities as producer of NPR's Talk of the Nation and Morning Edition. The collection consists of materials from Brown's personal collection of recordings and accompanying documentation relating to his promotion of folk music and activities as record producer, banjoist, and radio journalist. Included are old-time music, bluegrass, and mountain music items, as well as materials relating to his radio career, especially with National Public Radio. Many of the recordings document NPR's "Across the Blue Ridge" episodes; others document performances, workshops, conventions, festivals, small gatherings, and private recording sessions that Brown attended and sometimes participated in, 1980-1999. Documentation materials include time sheets for five sets of ADAT multitrack masters and their accompanying DAT and cassette tapes, as well as programs and documentation from live events. Musicians significant in this collection are listed in online catalog terms. |
| Creator | Brown, Paul, 1952- |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical
Information
A musician on banjo, piano, guitar, and fiddle since childhood, Paul Brown spent years collecting and documenting traditional music in southwestern Virginia and northwest North Carolina. Brown attended Oberlin College, trained in photography at Penland School, and trained and worked as a custom upholsterer. Additionally, he studied banjo with Tommy Jarrell under an NEA Folk Arts Apprenticeship Grant.
In the 1980s, Brown was part owner and editor of a weekly newspaper in North Carolina and worked at historic mountain-music radio station WPAQ in Mount Airy, N.C. He spent nearly 13 years at NPR member station WFDD in Winston-Salem, N.C., as production manager, news director, and program director. He also produced and hosted a popular southern culture and music program, Across the Blue Ridge , and won an AP Enterprise Reporting award for his coverage of the changing lives of tobacco factory workers at R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
From 2001 to 2003, Brown was NPR's executive producer for weekend programming. He also served as acting executive producer and acting senior producer of NPR's Talk of the Nation and as acting senior producer at NPR's Morning Edition.
Brown has produced and performed on numerous CDs and LPs for the County, Smithsonian Folkways, Heritage, and Rounder labels. He won a National Federation of Community Broadcasters Silver Reel Award for his NPR music documentary "Breaking Up Christmas: A Blue Ridge Mountain Holiday."
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Scope and Content
The Paul Brown collection consists of materials from Brown's personal collection of recordings and accompanying documentation relating to his promotion of folk music and activities as record producer, banjoist, and radio journalist. Included are old-time music, bluegrass, and mountain music items, as well as materials relating to his radio career, especially with National Public Radio.
Sound recordings include open reel tapes, audio cassettes, DAT tapes, ADAT multitrack master tapes, BETA/PCM master tapes, and VHS vide cassettes. Many of the recordings document NPR's "Across the Blue Ridge" episodes; others document performances, workshops, conventions, festivals, small gatherings, and private recording sessions that Brown attended and sometimes participated in, 1980-1999.
Documentation materials include time sheets for five sets of ADAT multitrack masters and their accompanying DAT and cassette tapes, as well as programs and documentation from live events.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Sound Recordings, 1950-1999.
Arrangement: chronological.
Sound recordings consist of open reel tapes, cassettes, DAT tapes, BETA/PCM tapes, and ADAT multitrack masters.
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Series 2. Video Recordings, 1997-1999.
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Series 3. Documentation, 1997-1999.
Arrangement: chronological.
Time sheets for five sets of ADAT Multitrack Master tapes within the collection (FT-11569-11571, FT-11575-11590, FT-11591-11599, FT-11600-11603, FT-11604-11607) and several of their corresponding DAT tapes (DAT-417, DAT-426, and possibly DAT-511); an informal typrewritten program for the evening of 3 February 1998 (corresponding to FT-11591-11599 and possibly DAT-511) and an actual program; and a detailed script for the Cold Mountain Old Time Music Gathering at the North Carolina Museum of Art on 11 September 1998 (corresponding to FT-11604-11607, DAT-426, and FS-6917-6918).
| Folder 1 |
#20382, Series: "3. Documentation, 1997-1999." Folder 1 |
ADAT Multitrack Master time sheets and other materials #20382, Series: "3. Documentation, 1997-1999." Folder 1 |
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Items Separated
Items separated include ADAT multitrack mastertime sheets, DAT master time sheets, programs and scripts (SFC Field Notes vertical files), audio cassettes (FS-6577-6947), DAT tapes (DAT-282-516), ADAT multitrack master tapes (FT-11447-11653), BETA/PCM tapes (FT-11421-11446), reels (FT-11274-11302), and VHS video cassettes (VT-20832/1-2).
Back to TopProcessed by: Andrew Flory, 2003
Encoded by: Andrew Flory, 2003
Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.
Preservation of the Paul Brown Collection was made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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