When you have a lifelong passion for both history and music, you’ll find plenty of both in North Carolina.
Tori Hinshaw’s award-winning capstone project at this month’s UNCG Research Expo is another step in her impactful research. “In high school (in Tennessee), I realized that my favorite bands – Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eagles – were either doing covers of or were directly influenced by the music of the American South. I made it my academic and professional mission to become a steward of Southern music history,” says the UNCG history (museum studies) master’s student.
One of the greatest figures to emerge from North Carolina is John Coltrane.
Steve Haines, UNCG professor of jazz, puts it plainly: “Coltrane is known to have taken the tenor and soprano saxophone to new, virtuosic heights never seen before.”
His recordings are revered. The album “Giant Steps” with groundbreaking harmonic chord structures.” Collaborating with Miles Davis on albums like the hugely popular “Kind of Blue.” The album “A Love Supreme,” with its transcendent musical and spiritual journey.
That journey began in High Point. He grew up at 118 Underhill Street (in what’s now known as the Historic District of Washington Street), where the house still stands. He learned to play clarinet and the alto horn. “Yes, clarinet was first for him, but it didn’t last long,” she says. “His grandfather, Pastor Blair, made sure the church and its music were part of his musical fabric as well.”
Many Triad residents don’t even know one of the most important music figures of the 20th century grew up here. That is changing. And Hinshaw is a key part of that effort to preserve the house and share the history.
She connected with Phyllis Bridges, an advocate for the home’s restoration, who gave her a tour and explained the ongoing efforts. They brought on Wally West, who’s served as music director and project coordinator for the John Coltrane Jazz Workshop (sponsored by the High Point Arts Council) for two decades.
This event would be her master’s capstone project. “I spearheaded this committee, and we gathered a production company, musical acts, and food trucks. In addition, I designed all the promotional materials, collaborated with the High Point Museum and created a new exhibit panel, spoke with Fox News 8 and iHeartRadio for promotion, and secured the stage at Washington Terrace Park. Through it all, ‘Trane Tracks: A Music Festival Fundraising Event’ was born – and it’s set to be held annually during Jazz Appreciation Month in April.”
She was a big winner at the UNCG Research Expo.
Her poster on the project, Conducting Coltrane: Uncovering Small-Town Roots of a Music Mastermind, received the Judge’s Award for Arts & Humanities Research as well as a People’s Choice Award.
“Tori’s project is critical to understanding the impact public history serves in amplifying the stories of local treasures while galvanizing public support around those valued histories,” says Dr. Torren Gatson, her advisor and the interim director of public history in the UNCG Department of History. “Moreover, Tori’s organized event singlehandedly brings various local organizations both civic and governmental together to celebrate history.”
In addition to Gatson, Dr. Anne Parsons in UNCG’s history department has been influential on her work, as have Beth Anne Koelsch and Suzanne Helms in UNCG Archives. In recent years, she has interned or conducted research at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, Nashville’s RCA Studio B, and The Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum – and with this project she continues to build on her body of research.
As a UNCG master’s student, Hinshaw has held the Mary Elizabeth Barwick and C. Jackson Sink Fellowship in the Humanities as well as the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections & University Archives Fellowship.
“The stewards of the Coltrane-Blair home hope to restore the house to how it was during Coltrane’s residency and plan to open the house as both a historic site and a community educational center. The High Point Preservation Society will take the funds donated at the ‘Trane Tracks” event to be used directly to help complete the restoration,’ she explains.
The event will Sunday, April 28, 4-7 p.m. at Washington Terrace Park in High Point. Admission is free; donations are accepted. It is more about raising awareness and interest than funds. Several musical acts will perform. The headlining act is the Spartan Jazz Collective led by UNCG’s Steve Haines (6-7 p.m.) Another is The Unheard Project, headed by UNCG alumnus Shane Wheeler.
By Mike Harris, UNCG Magazine
Courtesy photography.
Updated 4.24.24 to note the museum studies concentration is within the Department of History.