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Exploring the R & B Roots of Soul Music in the Carolinas

As a student at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2002, Jason Perlmutter began collecting local soul recordings from the Carolinas. He searched for them all, whether recorded by an obscure or famous soul artist. In 2005 Perlmutter launched CarolinaSoul.org, the online home for discographies of 45-rpm soul recordings made in the Carolinas in the 1960s through 1980s. He says the website “serves as a living encyclopedia dedicated to the celebration and rediscovery of soul music from the Carolinas.”

Perlmutter will highlight stories, artists and songs during the program History à la Carte: North Carolina Soul at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. Drop in for this informal lunchtime lecture on Wednesday, June 8, at 12:10 p.m. Bring your lunch; beverages are provided.

Representatives of the soul scene have contributed to CarolinaSoul.org, sharing songs and stories from the last half century. From gospel to rap, Perlmutter notes that the website aims to explore the common threads, figures and influences that bind all soul artists — past, present and future — in the Carolinas.

Perlmutter researched and compiled the 2007/2008 Jazzman/Now-Again Carolina Funk release and is a disc jockey (of soul music, of course) throughout the Carolinas and in Virginia, Washington, D.C. and New York City. In 2010 he co-founded the record label Paradise of Bachelors, which documents, curates and releases under-recognized music of all styles, emphasizing the South.

For more information about the museum, call 919-807-7900 or access ncmuseumofhistory.org or Facebook. The museum is located at 5 E. Edenton Street, across from the State Capitol. Parking is available in the lot across Wilmington Street.