The Triangle area’s own Nee Ningy Band were big on the festival scene in the late 70’s and 80’s. With seemingly every sound and instrument on earth at their disposal (except guitar – no guitars!), they get called world music, corralling everything from Cajun to Appalachian music to Tex-Mex to French and English folk songs into one joyful sound. But maybe we can just call them funk. It’s all just funky, dirty, down-to-earth, shout-it-out music, reaching into the gut of every culture and genre for that thing that makes you feel alive. Why was I born too late to join them? They sound like they were having more fun than the rest of us.

— Zoe Van Buren