Music of South Carolina
Encyclopedia
South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 is one of the Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

 United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and has produced a number of renowned performers of rock, R&B, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

 and other styles. In 1766, Charlestown, South Carolina became the home of the St. Cecilia Society
St. Cecilia Society
The St. Cecilia Society of Charleston, South Carolina, named for the traditional patron saint of music, was formed in 1766 as a private subscription concert organization. Over the next fifty-four years, its annual concert series formed the most sophisticated musical phenomenon in North America...

, the first musical society in North America. At the time, Charleston was a cultural center, attracting a number of musicians from Europe.

A few urban centers in South Carolina are home to thriving rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 scenes, including Greenville
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...

, Clemson
Clemson, South Carolina
Clemson is a college town located in Pickens County in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 11,939 at the 2000 census and center of an urban cluster with a total population of 42,199...

, Columbia
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

, Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...

, and Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

. Perhaps the best known rock band to hail from South Carolina was Hootie & the Blowfish
Hootie & the Blowfish
Hootie & the Blowfish is an American rock band that enjoyed popularity in the second half of the 1990s. They were originally formed in 1986 at the University of South Carolina by Darius Rucker, Dean Felber, Jim Sonefeld, and Mark Bryan. The band has recorded five studio albums to date, and has...

, but other groups such as The Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band is an American Southern rock band originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina. The band's blend of rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, country, and gospel helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s...

, The Swinging Medallions, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs and Crossfade
Crossfade (band)
-Studio albums:-Singles:...

 also hail from the Palmetto State. Native musicians, singers, and other artists born and/or raised in the state include James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...

, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...

, Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...

, Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...

, Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, born in Greenville, South Carolina...

, Nick Ashford, Teddy Pendergrass
Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...

, Josh Turner
Josh Turner
Joshua Otis "Josh" Turner is a country music singer and actor signed to MCA Nashville Records in 2003, Turner has released four studio albums for the label. The first of these was 2003's Long Black Train, whose title track was his breakthrough single release...

, Bill Anderson, Edwin McCain
Edwin McCain
Edwin McCain is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Career:While his albums are released under his name, he does have a permanent band, referred to as the Edwin McCain Band...

, Duncan Sheik
Duncan Sheik
Duncan Scott Sheik is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Sheik initially found success as a singer, most notably for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing". He later expanded his work to include compositions for motion pictures and the Broadway stage, leading him to involvement in the...

, Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas (musician)
Robert Kelly "Rob" Thomas is an American rock recording artist and songwriter. He is the primary songwriter and lead singer of the band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also records and performs as a solo artist...

, and John Phillips
John Phillips (musician)
John Edmund Andrew Phillips , was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter and promoter . Known as Papa John, Phillips was a member and leader of the singing group The Mamas & the Papas...

. The state's bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

 scene has produced such bands as The Hired Hands.

Official music

South Carolina is most noted for being the birthplace of beach music
Beach music
Beach music, also known as Carolina beach music, is a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the forties, fifties and sixties. These styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues,...

, an offshoot of early R&B and rock'n roll that featured a shuffling beat which spawned the dance called The Shag. This Myrtle Beach-area dance is the official State Dance, although South Carolina has also produced two other famous dances, the Charleston
Charleston (dance)
The Charleston is a dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one...

 and the Big Apple
Big Apple (dance)
The Big Apple is both a partner dance and a circle dance that originated in the Afro-American community of the United States in the beginning of the 20th century.- Origin :...

. It also has two official state songs: "Carolina
Carolina (song)
"Carolina" is the official state song of South Carolina since 1911. In 1984, it was joined by "South Carolina On My Mind".- History :The lyrics of the song are based on a poem by Henry Timrod. This poem was edited by G.R. Goodwin and was set to music by Anne Curtis Burgess...

", with words by Henry Timrod
Henry Timrod
Henry Timrod was an American poet, often called the poet laureate of the Confederacy.-Biography:Timrod was born on December 8, 1828, in Charleston, South Carolina, to a family of German descent. His grandfather Heinrich Dimroth emigrated to the United States in 1765 and Anglicized his name...

 and music by Anne Custis Burgess, and "South Carolina on My Mind
South Carolina on My Mind
South Carolina On My Mind is a song written and recorded by native South Carolinians Hank Martin and Buzz Arledge. It was adopted by South Carolina as a second state song1 on March 8, 1984.2 It joins "Carolina," which has been a state song since 1911....

", by Buzz Arledge and Hank Martin. South Carolina also has an "official music", spiritual
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...

s; spirituals are sacred Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 songs originally developed by African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

s in the 19th century.

Music institutions and venues

The region of Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...

 has been home to the well-known Carolina Opry, a country music-based variety show, established in 1986 by singer, producer and entrepreneur, Calvin Gilmore, South Carolina's official country music ambassador, who continues to produce and perform in the show today. The Carolina Opry was the first live family entertainment venue on the Grand Strand and helped turn Myrtle Beach into one of the major centers for country music on the East Coast. Local venues include the Dixie Stampede
Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede
Dixie Stampede is a dinner theater with two locations in the Southern United States. Dixie Stampede is owned by Dolly Parton and The Dollywood Company, a branch of the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation.-Locations:...

, one of many attractions owned by Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...

, the Alabama Theater, named for the band Alabama
Alabama (band)
Alabama is a country music and southern rock band from Fort Payne, Alabama, United States. The band was founded in 1969 by Randy Owen and his cousin Teddy Gentry , soon joined by Jeff Cook...

, and the Palace Theatre. Other artists tried their hand with their own theaters which did not last, such as Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country’s most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s...

 with the Ronnie Milsap Theater, and the Gatlin Brothers with the Gatlin Brothers Theater. Both of these venues now house churches. Myrtle Beach is also home to the South Carolina State Bluegrass Festival.

Outside of Myrtle Beach, the town of West Columbia
West Columbia, South Carolina
West Columbia is a city in Lexington County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 13,064 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area....

 is notable as the home of Bill Wells of the Blue Ridge Mountain Grass; he is the owner of a local music shop, next to which is held a weekly bluegrass show called at the Pickin' Parlor.

Lesser known venues include Ground Zero in Spartanburg
Spartanburg, South Carolina
thgSpartanburg is the largest city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest city of the three primary cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina, and is located northwest of Columbia, west of Charlotte, and about northeast of...

, New Brookland Tavern
New Brookland Tavern
New Brookland Tavern is a bar and music venue located in West Columbia, South Carolina. New Brookland Tavern is one of, if not the oldest continuous running music venues in the Columbia area. It is known for presenting live music 365 days a year. It takes its name from the previous name for West...

 in West Columbia
West Columbia, South Carolina
West Columbia is a city in Lexington County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 13,064 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...

 in North Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
North Myrtle Beach is a coastal resort city in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. It was created in 1968 from four existing municipalities north of Myrtle Beach, and serves as one of the primary tourist towns along the Grand Strand...

, South Carolina|North Charleston]], the Music Farm
Music Farm
Music Farm is a music venue in Charleston, South Carolina located off of East Bay Street. It has been open since April 1991.- History :The "original" Music Farm opened in April, 1991 on East Bay Street. From his experience as a musician and as a member of a band that had toured the Southeast, Kevin...

 in the downtown area of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

,and the former venue The Studio in Ladson
Ladson, South Carolina
Ladson is a census-designated place in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 13,264 at the 2000 census....

.

Musicians and bands from South Carolina

Musicians
  • Chazwick Bundick
    Toro Y Moi
    Chazwick Bundick better known by his stage name Toro Y Moi, is an American recording artist and producer. His music has taken on many forms since he began recording, but he is often identified with the chillwave movement of summer 2010...

  • Mäiki
  • Bill Anderson
  • Nick Ashford
  • Brook Benton
    Brook Benton
    Brook Benton was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he scored hits such as "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly", many of which he co-wrote.He made a comeback in 1970...

  • Ben Bridwell
    Ben Bridwell
    Benjamin "Ben" Bridwell is the lead singer of American rock band Band of Horses and a former member of the band Carissa's Wierd.-Early life:Bridwell was born on April 25, 1978 and grew up in Irmo, South Carolina...

  • James Brown
    James Brown
    James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...

  • Peabo Bryson
    Peabo Bryson
    Peabo Bryson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, born in Greenville, South Carolina...

  • Chubby Checker
    Chubby Checker
    Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...

  • Dizzy Gillespie
    Dizzy Gillespie
    John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...

  • Danielle Howle
    Danielle Howle
    Danielle Howle is an American singer-songwriter. After releasing an early song on a Columbia, SC music sampler, she joined the Columbia band Lay Quiet Awhile, which had been formed by brothers Dan and Phil Cook in 1989 and had released two EPs...

  • Eartha Kitt
    Eartha Kitt
    Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...

  • Edwin McCain
    Edwin McCain
    Edwin McCain is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Career:While his albums are released under his name, he does have a permanent band, referred to as the Edwin McCain Band...

  • Teddy Pendergrass
    Teddy Pendergrass
    Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...

  • John Phillips
    John Phillips (musician)
    John Edmund Andrew Phillips , was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter and promoter . Known as Papa John, Phillips was a member and leader of the singing group The Mamas & the Papas...

  • Duncan Sheik
    Duncan Sheik
    Duncan Scott Sheik is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Sheik initially found success as a singer, most notably for his 1996 debut single "Barely Breathing". He later expanded his work to include compositions for motion pictures and the Broadway stage, leading him to involvement in the...

  • Aaron Tippin
    Aaron Tippin
    Aaron Dupree Tippin is an American country music artist and record producer. Initially a songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music, he gained a recording contract with RCA Records in 1990...

  • Rob Thomas
    Rob Thomas (musician)
    Robert Kelly "Rob" Thomas is an American rock recording artist and songwriter. He is the primary songwriter and lead singer of the band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also records and performs as a solo artist...

  • Josh Turner
    Josh Turner
    Joshua Otis "Josh" Turner is a country music singer and actor signed to MCA Nashville Records in 2003, Turner has released four studio albums for the label. The first of these was 2003's Long Black Train, whose title track was his breakthrough single release...

  • Calvin Gilmore
  • Trevor Hall
  • Darius Rucker


Bands
  • Band of Horses
    Band of Horses
    Band of Horses, originally briefly known as Horses, are an American rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle by Ben Bridwell. They have released three studio albums, the most recent and most successful of which is 2010's Grammy nominated Infinite Arms...

  • Carolina Liar
    Carolina Liar
    Carolina Liar is a Swedish alternative rock band. Lead vocalist Chad Wolf is originally from Charleston, South Carolina, but the band and most of its members originate from Sweden....

  • Chasen
  • Cravin' Melon
    Cravin' Melon
    -History:Cravin' Melon was formed at Clemson University in 1994 after the dissolution of two other local South Carolina bands, Doghouse and The Next Move. The band gained popularity on the regional live scene, and after a self-pressed EP and full-length, they signed to Mercury Records and released...

  • Crossfade
    Crossfade (band)
    -Studio albums:-Singles:...

  • Hootie & the Blowfish
    Hootie & the Blowfish
    Hootie & the Blowfish is an American rock band that enjoyed popularity in the second half of the 1990s. They were originally formed in 1986 at the University of South Carolina by Darius Rucker, Dean Felber, Jim Sonefeld, and Mark Bryan. The band has recorded five studio albums to date, and has...

  • Emery
    Emery
    Emery may refer to:* Emery ** Emery paper** Emery board, nail filers* Emery , a post-hardcore band from Rock Hill, South Carolina* Emery Theatre, a historic multi-purpose theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio* Emery Worldwide, a cargo airline...

  • Hundredth
    Hundredth
    In arithmetic, a hundredth is a single part of something that has been divided equally into a hundred parts. For example, a hundredth of 675 is 6.75.A hundredth is the reciprocal of 100....

  • Iron & Wine
    Iron & Wine
    Samuel Beam , better known by his stage and recording name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released four studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a live album...

  • Jump, Little Children
    Jump, Little Children
    Jump, Little Children, later known as Jump, was a band formed in 1991 in the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Known for their unique sound, energetic live performances, and willingness to interact with fans, the band built a strong following over their fourteen years together...

     ("adopted" hometown of Charleston)
  • The Marshall Tucker Band
    The Marshall Tucker Band
    The Marshall Tucker Band is an American Southern rock band originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina. The band's blend of rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, country, and gospel helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s...

  • Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs
  • needtobreathe
    Needtobreathe
    Needtobreathe is an American rock band from Seneca, South Carolina. The band has charted on mainstream rock/pop charts, but have had their greatest number of singles on Christian music charts...

  • Nile
    Nile (band)
    Nile is an American death metal band from Greenville, South Carolina, formed in 1993. Their music and lyrics are inspired by Ancient Egyptian/Near Eastern mysticism, history, religion, and art, as well as stories by H. P. Lovecraft.- History :...

  • Sent By Ravens
    Sent by Ravens
    Sent by Ravens is a Christian post-hardcore band from Hartsville, South Carolina.-History:Sent By Ravens was formed in January 2006 by Jamie Windham , Andy O'Neal and Andy Warren . In August 2007 after searching for a drummer, the band found Dane Andersen through a video he posted of himself on...

  • The Sparkletones
    The Sparkletones
    The Sparkletones were an American rock and roll/rockabilly group from Spartanburg, South Carolina.-History:...

  • Stretch Arm Strong
    Stretch Arm Strong
    Stretch Arm Strong is a hardcore punk band from Chapin South Carolina, and the flagship band for We Put Out Records. They have been active since 1992. Several of the band members are outspoken Christians, but they prefer not to be classified as a Christian band in some cases. They do prefer to be...

  • The Swinging Medallions
  • Graves of Valor
    Graves of Valor
    Graves of Valor is a death metal band formed in 2005, hailing from Florence, South Carolina. They recently inked a deal with Relapse Records and have since released their first full length album, Salarian Gate, on May 26, 2009.-History:...

  • Through the Eyes of the Dead
    Through the Eyes of the Dead
    Through the Eyes of the Dead is an American deathcore band from Florence, South Carolina, formed in 2003. They have released three full-length albums, one EP, and one split album with The Knife Trade.-History:...

  • The Working Title
    The Working Title
    The Working Title formed in 2001 and released their first E.P. "Everyone Here Is Wrong" in 2003. The EP was rated 5 out of 5 in Alternative Press Magazine and they also labeled The Working Title, A Band To Watch. The band's next LP, About Face, was released July 18, 2006...

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