We wrap things up tonight with a folk music jam where the instruments are as varied as the people playing them.

Each musician brings their own rhythm to the mix, blending the familiar with the unexpected in a way that could only happen when stories and melodies collide.

"Carolina Impact's" Chris Clark explains.

- [Chris] Folk music is a tapestry woven with the stories, sounds and spirits of people from every walk of life.

The melodies that carried on banjos, fiddles, guitars, and even instruments you might not expect.

Nowhere is this diversity more alive than in Charlotte, where a vibrant community of musicians proves that folk isn't just a genre, it's a shared heartbeat.

- We wanna let folks know that this is their tradition and it's a celebration of the human experience.

- [Chris] The music in this region traces its roots back hundreds of years carried over by the earliest settlers and shaped by their rich culture.

It's a genre about as broad as it is deep, blending gospel, jug band tunes, blues, Cajun rhythms, and more.

Musician Mike Seger captured its essence perfectly calling American folk music, quote, all the music that fits between the cracks.

- You're gonna have Celtic music and old time music and bluegrass.

- [Chris] This year's Charlotte Folk music Festival turned St. Martin's Episcopal Church into a vibrant stage where performers brought the crowd to life with toe-tapping tunes and soulful melodies, drawing hundreds of music lovers.

- This is a style of music where you don't need amplifiers and electronics.

You don't need electricity of any kind.

- [Chris] The stories of how these musicians found their instruments are about as rich and varied as the tales they weave into the songs they play.

- My daughter, beginning around maybe age three or four, started taking Suzuki violin lessons and when I realized that the mandolin and the violin are tuned the same way, I thought, well, I can help her with her practice now.

She gave up around the age of maybe six or seven and I just kept going.

- [Chris] He also plays a mean bass.

Then there's Brooke Leonard who discovered the joy in rhythms and styles far removed from the polished concert halls.

- I'm a classically trained violinist.

I'm in school for classical violin, but I love old time music.

- [Chris] Whereas Betsy Cesalar's journey is one of transformation.

- I'm a recovering classical musician.

- [Chris] She went from strumming 47 strings on the harp to five strings on the banjo.

- I majored in harp in college.

I played, you know, orchestra chamber music.

In my mid fifties I woke up, I must have been struck by lightning and I said, I wanna play the banjo, the rest is history.

- [Chris] We can't forget about Father Joshua Bowron.

Of course, his main job is leading people to Jesus, but his side hustle.

- I play mostly banjo.

- [Chris] Father Josh became the eighth rector of St. Martin's in October of 2014, but his talents go way beyond the pulpit.

With the way he plays, he could fit in in any era, especially since he's brave enough to tackle the banjo.

- The banjo is a cross to bear of certain, you know, just 'cause there's lots of jokes about banjos.

Well, I've listening to banjos since before I was born 'cause of my grandfather and and mother were into bluegrass.

- [Chris] Meanwhile, Greg Clark plays guitar like he stepped straight out of the Grand Ole Opry, but he's just as comfortable with chords A and D as he is coding zeros and ones.

- I was a IT consultant, mainly manufacturing, they call it supply chain now, but inventory control systems and learned Computer pro, Java and websites and HTML.

- [Chris] Traditions don't just survive on their own.

They thrive when people embrace them, breathe new life in them, carry them forward.

In the Piedmont, that means connecting with the music's roots while finding your own place in its story.

For some, that journey begins with a deep appreciation for heritage and a willingness to learn from those who've kept the melodies alive for generations.

- I have family from Western North Carolina and that's always been a really big deal to me.

The heritage and the culture, which are things I still actively participate in, whether it's the religious aspect or the cultural, just in general aspects.

And I go up to the mountains a lot and that's where I picked up that music.

- [Chris] Usually love of folk music is passed down through generations rooted in family traditions.

For others, that spark comes from an unexpected moment, childhood introduction that just lingers.

Nicholas Tutwiler vividly remembers a night in 2008 when at just six years old, everything changed.

- I went and saw a local band there perform called The Whipper Snappers and the violin shop, their owners that the Dave Magor, that's their family band, the Whipper Snappers.

And I remember I watched his son up there playing the fiddle and I was like, oh dad, I want to, I wanna learn how to play the fiddle and never forget, like asking my dad I wanted to take violin lessons.

- [Chris] And for a select few, it's a test of skill and a craft to master as part of their journey toward musical completeness.

- The experience of delving oneself into different types of music is to me essential to be a complete musician.

- [Chris] At times, music scenes can feel defined by their barriers to entry, but folk music thrives on inclusivity and shared passion cutting across generations and backgrounds, weaving individual stories into a shared melody carried forward by those who embrace its rhythms and its roots.

- Traditional music lives and breathes through right that that community like it's a oral tradition in the sense that the tunes and are passed down right from Fiddler to Fiddler.

- [Chris] It is never too late to start making music, especially here.

Age is just another layer of character in the tune proving that the right time to start is simply when the music calls.

- I had a little band that we would go to a lot of, you know, senior centers, and I would always tell those people, none of us started to play these instruments until we were at least in our fifties and sixties.

- [Chris] Whether inspired by family roots, childhood memory, or late in life calling, this music draws people together in a way that transcends time and backgrounds.

Here in Charlotte, it's more than a melody.

It's a testament to the enduring power of community and the stories we share through Song.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Chris Clark.