This year, the North Carolina Folk Festival will continue a tradition honoring a beloved local musician. Matty Sheets was a talented storyteller, musician, artist and songwriter.
The longtime Greensboro resident was also a major community-building force. Over 15 years, he hosted open mics at venues across the city he loved. Good friend and North Carolina Folk Festival Artistic Director Savannah Thorne says those events helped form more than 70 different bands. Now, the Festival holds the Matty Sheets Memorial Open Mic night.
Thorne and her colleagues are currently collecting stories from those whose lives were impacted by Sheets, who died of cancer in 2024…