As Cat’s Cradle gears up to celebrate its 50th year as Chapel Hill/Carrboro’s flagship music venue — and as 2019, designated “Year of the Cradle” by Carrboro, comes to an end — Frank Heath spoke with WCHL’s Aaron Keck about how the past five decades have brought music into his life and the lives of Cradle-loving locals.

“I think people are recognizing this area as being an arts hub,” said Heath. “And so, that brings in more people from outside, more bands move here … It brings in more money to help foster artists and a lot more innovation.”

Cat’s Cradle is celebrating its 50th anniversary and well-deserved status as a local iconic venue with six nights of shows, featuring up-and-coming bands alongside Cradle staples and legends alike — including Superchunk and Mandolin Orange.

“We’d been eyeing this year as the 50th anniversary for, you know, for a while, not really knowing that we’d make it this far,” said Heath. “Derek Powers, longtime manager at the Cradle, has helped with booking for years. He started just gauging interest among bands around the area from mostly local groups about playing and the response was overwhelming … It eventually spread over six nights, which is kind of crazy because it’s not what we had in mind, but it’s, like, almost six times as good.”

With 2019 winding down and Cat’s Cradle set to end its 50th year on one of the highest notes in its storied history, there’s a bright future to look forward to when it comes to local music and hometown bands.

“It never ceases to amaze me how much people can change things on a year to year basis,” said Heath. “We have our hands full just trying to juggle all of the latest phrases and technologies and so on and pay for that stuff. We have to do our best to support the local musicians and they’re in the band … It’s sort of like being a quarterback in football. You have to keep your head up and know what’s going on around you at all times.”

You can listen to the full conversation between Frank Heath and WCHL’s Aaron Keck below

 

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