Arts & Culture

Over the weekend, folks in Eastern North Carolina belted out their favorite tunes at the 44th National Hollerin' Contest. Asma Khalid reports from Spivey's Corner on this unusual tradition.

Asma Khalid: Drive about an hour Southeast of Raleigh, and you'll find Spivey's Corner. It's a tiny town, no post-office, one stop-light. But it's claim to fame is hollerin'. Hollerin' is not yodeling, and it's not calling in the hogs. Folks in Spivey's Corner say hollerin' was a form of communication used in Sampson county long before phones.

New research from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill finds physical fitness around the globe is plummetting.

Asma Khalid: Sure, we may already know a lot of us Americans are overweight. But, the problems aren't limited to our borders. This study finds a growing number of people in the U.K., Brazil, India and China are less active than a generation ago.  Barry Popkin is a nutrition professor at UNC and a co-author of the report.

A new report is detailing the economic impact of arts in North Carolina.

Jeff Tiberii: The national study concludes nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in the state had a financial impact of 1.24 billion dollars during the 2010 fiscal year. That ‘impact’ figure includes ticket purchases, estimates on money spent before and after the show, and the salaries art professionals earn. Catherine Heitz New is with the Arts Concil of Forsyth County:

The dB's are back. This week, the legendary band releases Falling off the Sky. It's their first studio album in more than 30 years. The dBs began life in the late 70s in New York after growing up in Winston Salem. After several critically acclaimed records, members of the band went their separate ways -- but the music they recorded continued to influence fellow musicians.

The current state of the economy has shaken up countless careers, especially if you were in the housing construction business. But in a neighborhood outside High Point, one woman who used to build homes now uses her own home as a bakery. She said it was time to do the one thing she knew best and Big Boss Baking Company was born. Leoneda Inge has this report for our series, “Breaking into the Food Biz.”

Lavinia Hensley:  Hey come on in, how are you. You found us. See you weren’t too far.
Leoneda Inge: I know. I found it.

Musician Doc Watson died on Tuesday. The 89 year old guitarist from Deep Gap, North Carolina, had been in a Winston-Salem hospital recovering from a fall and other ailments. Watson was an iconic North Carolina musician, he broke new ground in bluegrass, country and gospel. His legacy has fueled a generation of musicians.

Doc Watson: In the summer of 1934, papa made my first musical instrument, a little five string fretless banjo and he played me a tune on it.