“State of Music” TV series receives $15K grant from Community Foundation of Henderson County

Press release from the Community Foundation of Henderson County:

The Will & Deni McIntyre Foundation has been awarded a $15,000 grant by the Community Foundation of Henderson County to help fund Season 5 of David Holt’s State of Music, an Emmy-nominated public television series distributed nationally by PBS.

“David Holt’s State of Music is proud to showcase the musical heritage and scenic beauty of our Southern mountains for a national audience,” said Will McIntyre, series producer and chairman of the Will & Deni McIntyre Foundation, which is based in Henderson County.

Shot entirely on location in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and South Carolina, David Holt’s State of Music features music from emerging young performers as well as veteran masters.

David Holt, the four-time Grammy winning host, is an Asheville-based musician and storyteller who toured for fourteen years with the late Doc Watson. He says “The traditional music of this region is a treasure we’re privileged to share. Whether it’s bluegrass, gospel, a string band, or the blues, the artists we feature are performing at the very highest level. Some are young, some are older but deserve greater recognition. We help raise awareness of these artists by presenting them to the PBS audience nationwide.”

The first three seasons featured Rhiannon Giddens, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Molly Tuttle, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton, April Verch, Joe Newberry, Wayne Henderson, the Kruger Brothers, Dom Flemons, Amythyst Kiah, Jeff Little, Alice Gerrard, Rayna Gellert, Laurelyn Dossett, the St. John AME Zion Unity Choir, Josh Goforth, the Branchettes, Bryan Sutton, Mipso, Balsam Range, and the Steep Canyon Rangers.

Season 4, which will premiere in November, will present the band Della Mae, Darin and Brooke Aldridge with John Cowan, Taj Mahal, Cane Mill Road, the Burnett Sisters with Willow Dillon, Presley Barker, and Josh Goforth and Zeb Holt playing with host David.

The series premiered on North Carolina Public Television (UNC-TV) in 2015. Nashville Public Television (NPT) is the presenting PBS station for David Holt’s State of Music, which is carried in nearly 90% percent of PBS markets in the United States.

In addition to the latest grant, the Community Foundation of Henderson County and its component Perry N. Rudnick Endowment Fund have supported the production of David Holt’s State of Music from its first season through previous grants to the Will & Deni McIntyre Foundation totaling $90,000.

The Community Foundation of Henderson County is a nonprofit, public charity that helps people who care make lasting contributions to causes that matter by building permanent endowments and other philanthropic funds and by being strong stewards of donors’ gifts.

The Will & Deni McIntyre Foundation is a 501(c)(3), charitable nonprofit that was established in 2009 to raise the profile of the arts and educational organizations through the creation of videos, books and photography for websites and related media. It is the prime fundraising entity for David Holt’s State of Music.

To learn more about David Holt’s State of Music, visit DavidHoltTV.org and follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

Find out when you can watch David Holt’s State of Music by checking your local PBS station’s schedule, or consult the widget on the homepage of DavidHoltTV.org. The series can also be streamed anytime on iTunes, Amazon Prime, or (for PBS Passport members) at PBS.org.

To help celebrate and preserve the traditional and modern musical heritage of Appalachia, please consider supporting the production of David Holt’s State of Music by making a tax-deductible contribution to the Will & Deni McIntyre Foundation at WillandDeni.org.