Last Fridays
This seasons Last Friday's events wound up with the final event September 30th. Thanks to all that made the 2011 season one of the best ever!
2012 marks the 14th season of Last Fridays, running the last Friday of each month from April to September.
Last Friday's Art Walk continues! find info and gallery listings at our Last Fridays Art Walk page,
One of the longest running and successful arts events in the Triangle, the last Friday of each month brings a different band to headline the gala event with a free performance on the lawn of the historic Old Courthouse. See you Last Friday !
- Free Concert Series! From April through September, starting at 6:30 pm a free concert is featured on the old courthouse lawn alongside visual arts, dance, and literature.
- Artists, food vendors, musicians and craftspeople set up their wares on the sidewalks around the courthouse.
- Last Fridays Art walk features art galleries hosting opening night receptions.
- The Hillsborough Arts Council Gallery hosts exciting exhibitions.
- The sidewalk cafes of local restaurants remain open.
- The Hillsborough Pie Contest takes place at Cup A' Joe's.
- Art Galleries, shops, restaurants, churches, museums and historic sites remain open and offer numerous special events.
- Events, and workshops for children take place on the South lawn of the Courthouse.
- Check out the tabs to the left for program details and a map to all events
- Check out all event details below...
- The Arts Council is now on Facebook...
Jeanne Jolly in Concert
with full band
Friday April 27
6:30 to 9:30
It’s said that Singer/songwriter Jeanne Jolly broke onto the music scene as the featured vocalist for Grammy Award nominated jazz trumpeter Chris Botti. However, Jolly is in fact a formally trained vocalist…
she was a Fletcher Music
Scholar at Western Carolina University before going on to earn a Masters
in Vocal Performance from The New England Conservatory. She made a home in LA and paid her dues doing studio and commercial work for movies and television. It was this work that led to Grammy nominated Chris Botti hearing her on a demo and asking her to be his featured touring vocalist. This gave Jolly the opportunity to tour and perform with Botti and his Quintet throughout North America and to sing with world renowned symphonies, performing at venues like the Monterey Jazz Festival and playing to a sold out crowd at Carnegie Hall. How
do you top that? Jolly chose to leave the limelight to follow her heart
and her muse to pursue a solo career as a singer songwriter. In her Bio
she states that she felt herself "being pulled back to her Southern
roots". |  |
She
subsequently co-wrote, co-produced, and recorded her first
country/Americana EP in January, 2008 and started a band in Los Angeles.
In 2009, Jolly moved back to North Carolina where she began to focus on developing her guitar skills, sharpening her solo performance, and focusing on writing more of her own songs.
It wasn’t long until she once again found herself in the company of Grammy nominated artists, opening up for Sam Bush, Maura O’Connell, Chuck Mead, and many more.
| In October 2010 Jolly released her acclaimed new EP, 'Falling In Carolina'. You can Listen to Jolly's beautiful original composition 'Falling in Carolina' here: | |
In the song 'Falling in Carolina she writes:
as the wind shook the truth from the trees
with the leaves we fell in Carolina
and time stood still
We watched them fall one by one
Home in Carolina..."
If you listen to this rendition of Hallelujah recorded at the Southland Ballroom I trust you'll agree that we're fortunate indeed to have this very talented artist "Home in Carolina". - Mark Donley
John Fonvielle - The Beat Magazine
May through September Last Friday's concerts are being updated!
2011 Last Friday concerts
Last Friday, September 30
BIG DADDY LOVE
6:30 to 9:30 pm
| Big Daddy Love |  |
Last Friday, August 26
Lenny Marcus Trio
6:30 to 9:30 pm
| Lenny Marcus Trio |  |
The Lenny Marcus Trio is a well schooled jazz trio whose sound has been called “infectious” by Jazz Times Magazine! The trio has performed in two international jazz festivals in Barbabos and Grenada, many local and regional gigs in Southwest Virginia and North Carolina and throughout the Southeastern USA. Lenny himself worked for many years in New Orleans, studied with Ray Bryant, Ellis Marsalis, Alvin Batiste, and performed in three New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivals. His trio’s music has a sound of its own, and his music has been featured in radio and film.
The trio has recorded and performed with jazz legends such as Charlie Byrd, Frank Foster, Sonny Fortune, Brian Lynch, Jane Powell, Mundell Lowe and many others. Lenny also performs on flute and adds vocals, which makes his band a versatile and inventive trio that is sure to please, from small venues to much larger events.
Last Friday, July 29
Tropic Orchestra
6:30 to 9:30 pm
| Ricardo Diquez and The Tropic Orchestra |  |
Ricardo Diquez and The Tropic Orchestra is a Caribbean dance Orchestra, consisting of local and international musicians living in The Triangle area of North Carolina. The popularity of Latin rhythms such as the Merengue,Cha Cha, and Salsa, allowed our group to display a wide range of styles in festivals and places where people could listen, dance, learn, and most of all enjoy these rhythms of Latin music.
Ricardo has been singing all of his life and has entertained crowds and dancers in the area for over 10 years. Salsa music has been a part of Ricardo's life since he was a child having met many Salsa greats such as, Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades, Oscar D' Leon, and Tito Rojas; courtesy of his parents introductions as a child.
Cool John Ferguson and Band
6:30 to 9:30 pm
Playing
a blues rooted in low country gospel traditions, Cool John Ferguson is a
force to be reckoned with. He’s collaborated with blues greats, like
BB King and Beverly Guitar Watkins, toured at festivals and clubs around
the world, and Taj Mahal says he sits among the top 5 guitarist in the
world.
| "He
is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. He is with the
ranks of Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhart." Taj Mahal |  |
 | "..his guitar playing simmers." Chris Parker The Independent |
Last Friday, April 29
The Lizzy Ross Band
6:30 to 9:30 pm
The Lizzy Ross Band has an alt. country jazzy sound that fuses jazz and bluegrass with raw blues, rock and soul.
Ross’ sultry soaring vocals have pushed this local favorite to the number 3 position in the Reverbnation charts. The band’s tight arrangements are tasteful and unique, ranging from subtly complimentary to virtuosically explosive.
In June 2010 Lizzy Ross released her debut solo album, Traces was nominated for HGMN 2010 album of the year, Traces has been met with critical acclaim for the passion and beautiful songwriting it contains.
“I was utterly blown away… truly original songwriting, and the heart-bursting siren call of singer Lizzy Ross combined for something that I felt I had been waiting for my entire life. Ross’ voice has a soulful, swelling quality reminiscent of Fiona Apple…” |  |
 | "Lizzy Ross has the pipes to do it all," The Daily Tar Heel. “She can be sultry or innocent, despondent or hopeful. Throughout, though, her voice jumps octaves and bursts into extended runs, barely containing some hidden joy of youth or the excitement of uncertainty” Andrew Ritchie The Independent |
The Lizzy Ross Band includes Lizzy Ross on vocals and rhythm guitar, Dylan Shrader on electric guitar, Casey Toll on upright bass, and Drew Daniel on percussion. Based in Chapel Hill, NC, Ross writes original music inspired by artists from Sam Cooke to Patty Griffin. Shrader’s training in bluegrass, combined with Daniel and Toll’s formal jazz education, creates uniquely soulful music that is intelligent, danceable, and unique.
Brochures with a map of the Last Fridays Art Walk are available at any of the participating venues
The Hillsborough Arts Council is an all volunteer non-profit organization supporting the arts in Hillsborough, NC with funding support in part from the Hillsborough Tourism Board , the Orange County Arts Commission and private contributions, sponsors the Last Fridays program. Coordination support comes from the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough and its member organizations.
For general information on Last Fridays contact the Hillsborough Arts Council at 919-643-2500 or the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough/Orange County Visitors Center at 919-732-7741 or www.historichillsborough.org.
