The 1996 North Carolina Folk Heritage Awards, honoring the state's finest traditional artists, have been presented to Robert Bushyhead, Verlen Clifton and Paul Sutphin, Nell Cole Graves, Elizabeth Jacobs, Dock Rmah, and Earl Scruggs.
Lucy Powell, who has a background in Southern vernacular music and public folklore work, is the folklorist at the Hiddenite Center in Alexander County.