Category: Portraits

Tony Williamson

Music, Portraits



I was down in Chapel Hill on Friday to move my son out of his dorm at UNC and took the time to stop by the Carolina Inn to see old classmate and mandolin virtuoso Tony Williamson play with his son Rad Andy and the Tony Williamson Band. They play a sort of blluegrass-jazz-blues-fusion that is pretty cool, especially on a warm Spring Carolina afternoon. For info about Tony and his music, check out http://www.mandolincentral.com/.



(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

Raising Vegetables

Agriculture, Farm, Portraits, Randolph County


My father’s cousin Thomas Routh and his wife Lula Mae live just down the road from us in Grays Chapel. In their late eighties, Thomas and Lula Mae grow a large vegetable garden each year from which they sell fresh produce at the local farmer’s market in Asheboro. Doing all the work themselves, they grow plants in their greenhouse from seed, prepare their ground, plant their plants, do all the harvesting, and sell the fresh vegetables at the market. I caught them Saturday morning as they were finishing up planting tomatoes. This year, they have about 750 tomato plants. That’s a lot of tomatoes. Of course, they also will have squash, cucumbers, potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, corn, plants and canned goods too. Lula Mae said last year she kept track of the green beans they picked, and the total came to 2300 lbs.



(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

Elderly Lady

Portraits


Photographs of 99 year-old Margie Wall of High Point, for a website redesign. She was being interviewed while these were being shot, and her life story was fascinating. Born at the base of Caraway Mountain in Randolph County, North Carolina, she developed polio as an infant. Her family moved to High Point when she was three because, “I got better”. Never married, she “never met anyone I fell in love with”. Though physically slow in body, her mind and sprit are clear and sharp, and she loves to entertain those around her by singing hymns.

(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

Scottish Drum Major

Greensboro, Portraits, Scotland

(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

Large sections of North Carolina were settled by Scots in the 18th and 19th centuries. Both my wife and I claim descent from Scottish families. I have been told that there are more people in North Carolina of Scottish descent than there are in Scotland. Whether that is true or not, I do not know, but in recent years there has been a surge in the Scot culture in this state, and elsewhere. Many highland games are held each year throughout the country featuring highland garb and food, bagpipe bands, heavy highland athletics and dancing, with the largest being the annual highland games at Grandfather Mountain in Linville, North Carolina. Both of my sons have participated in these games over the years, my son Tristan as a piper and my son Devin as a flourishing tenor drummer. There are a couple of pipe bands active in the Greensboro area, The Jamestown Pipes and Drums and the Deep River Pipes and Drums. The photograph above is of a drum major from the Triad Highland Games, held annually in Greensboro.