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Southern Food & Music to be Featured at Earl Scruggs Center!

Image635524005687088993The Earl Scruggs Center’s 2nd 2015 special exhibit, FEAST HERE TONIGHT: Southern Food & Music Traditions, celebrates the intersections of southern foods and music.

Feast Here Tonight explores the way in which the traditions of both southern food and music have woven individuals and families together to create and strengthen communities past and present.

Just like southern music, southern food traditions are deeply rooted in both diverse peoples and faraway places. This exhibit unearths the roots of food from the piedmont region by illustrating where today’s southern foods and traditions first appeared and exploring the cultures that introduced them.

From the Native American roots of barbeque, to the influence of African American cooks on southern cuisine, to the transatlantic influence of the European immigrants who eventually settled the piedmont region, Feast Here Tonight focuses on the dishes and traditions that defined the American South and, specifically, the piedmont and Appalachian regions of North Carolina.

Additionally, this exhibit traces the dramatic changes in southern food over time and how southern cooks continue to express—and even redefine—themselves through the traditions of the past through food fusion. And, of course, no exploration of southern food is complete without opening the pantries and cupboards of southern cooks and exploring popular southern food brands that line their shelves and have become family favorites for generations past, present, and future.

Emily Epley, Executive Director said “We are so honored to have Ronni Lundy, a founding member of the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA), partnering with us on this exhibit and related programming. Her enthusiasm and expertise on the subject will enrich the content of the exhibit and the programs.” In 2005, Lundy edited Cornbread Nation 3: Foods of the Mountain South, the SFA’s occasional anthology of the region's best food writing. Lundy is the author of Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes and Honest Fried Chicken: The Heart and Soul of Southern Country Kitchens (Atlantic, 1990) and Butter Beans to Blackberries: Recipes from the Southern Garden (North Point, 1999).

For more information on this or other great exhibits and programs, visit us at www.earlscruggscenter.org, “like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

The Center is free to Cleveland County residents on Wednesdays. Regular hours of operation are Wednesday 10 am-6 pm, Thursday – Saturday 10 am – 4 pm and Sunday 1 pm – 5 pm. Learn more about the Earl Scruggs Center: Music & Stories from the American South and upcoming events and programs by calling 704-487-6233 or visiting

The Earl Scruggs Center is a project of Destination Cleveland County, Inc., a non-profit 501©3 whose mission is to unite our county’s history, heritage, culture and arts to create a vibrant economy while embracing the future and preserving the past.

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