It’s induction time at the NC Music Hall of Fame

NORTH CAROLINA MUSIC HALL OF FAME

Rapper Petey Pablo, a native of Greenville, N.C., is one of six inductees to the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony is Oct. 17 in Kannapolis.

It’s time for the 2024 class of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame to take its place among the state’s recording giants.

Five North Carolinians and one company will be enshrined Oct. 17 at the Charles Mack Citizen Center in Mooresville. The ceremonies – which include performances by the honorees are part of the hall’s 30th anniversary.

The gala includes dinner and a show with performances by Petey Pablo, Anthony Hamilton, Tennessee Bluegrass Band, H.C McEntire, Kendrick Williams and David Johnson & Bobby Denton. The ceremony starts at 7 p.m., with red carpet appearances at 6 p.m

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The inductees and their hometowns are:

• Clarence Avant (Greensboro). Avant was a quiet powerhouse in music and entertainment over half a century. His ability to mentor some of the biggest U.S. music acts as well as presidents from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama earned him the nickname "The Black Godfather.”

Avant, who earned doctorate degrees from Morehouse College and North Carolina A&T State University, also earned the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award from the NAACP, the Recording Academy’s Trustees Award, an award from the Jazz Foundation of America and induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Ahmet Ertegun Award. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

• Mary Cardwell Dawson (Madison). Founder of the National Negro Opera Company in 1941, the first Black-led opera company in the U.S., Dawson trained students to sing opera and launched guilds in Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Newark, N.J., and New York.

She was appointed to the National Music Committee by President John Kennedy in 1961.

• Tommy Faile (Charlotte). A songwriter, bassist, vocalist and broadcast personality, Faile is best known for composing the 1967 hit “Phantom 309” and recording “The Legend of the Brown Mountain Lights.”

Faile started out with the Hired Hands in 1949 before joining Arthur Smith and the Crackerjacks in 1951. He launched “The Tommy Faile Show” on WBTV in 1969.

• Bobby Hicks (Newton). A 10-time Grammy Award-winning fiddler, Hicks is an inductee to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Fiddlers Hall of Fame.

Hicks’ contributions over five decades include more than 50 albums and collaborations with stars like Bill Monroe, Porter Wagoner, Jesse McReynolds, Carlton Haney, and Jim Eanes. Hicks spent 23 years as a fiddler with bluegrass group Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.

• Petey Pablo (Greenville). The Grammy-nominated rapper is best known for the anthem “Raise Up.” Among the platinum recording artist’s other hits are “Freek-A-Leek” and “Carolina Colors.”

Pablo’s music collaborations with Timbaland, Black Rob, Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne and Ciara have earned spots atop the Billboard charts as well as platinum certification by Recording Industry Association of America.

• Merge Records (Durham). The independent record label founded in 1989 by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, who launched it to promote their own band, Superchunk, as well as music of their friends.

Merge has grown from assembling 7-inch singles in Ballance’s bedroom to one of the top independent music labels in the world, publishing the work of artists such as The Magnetic Fields, Neutral Milk Hotel, Lambchop, the Mountain Goats, and Caribou.

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