“Carolina Cutups” is an homage to NC’s rich musical culture

Music Maker Foundation is excited to announce the debut album of North Carolina-based bluegrass and old-time band The Carolina Cutups. Carolina Cutups releases on the Music Maker label November 8, 2024.

One of the most exciting up-and-coming acts in the Piedmont, The Carolina Cutups play loud, fast, and rowdy “punk bluegrass” with a reckless abandon that showcases their rip-roaring group dynamic. The four-piece band includes fiddler and bandleader Tim Wells, banjo player Matthew Rubin, guitarist Dave Henderson, and bassist Spencer Woodman.

Wells, a former middle school math teacher, had honed his skill as an old-time musician while studying at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC. He brought his love for this music into the classroom, inspiring three of his students – Rubin, Henderson, and Woodman – to play as well. The four played together in different configurations over the years until the COVID-19 pandemic brought them all back to their native Hillsborough, NC. As informal picking developed into a serious group, The Carolina Cutups were born.

Between Wells’ old-time fiddle and Rubin’s bluegrass banjo emerges a distinct hard-driving sound which draws on North Carolina’s diverse traditions of string-band music. Molded after early bluegrass groups like the Shenandoah Cutups, The Carolina Cutups’ music could be at home in 1944 as comfortably as it is in 2024.

“Carolina Cutups is, in a sense, an homage to the folks here in North Carolina who gravitate to the rich musical culture that surrounds us,” says Tim Duffy, Music Maker co-founder, “taking up their instruments to play, have fun, and keep on spreading the music.”

The Cutups’ debut album was recorded at The Grotto at Music Maker Foundation’s office in Hillsborough, NC. It was recorded and produced by Bill Moore and mastered by Bill Reynolds.