Freight Train Blues: Dedicated Men of Zion and Faith & Harmony

Dedicated Men of Zion

The Dedicated Men of Zion come from a singing tradition that has flourished for decades in eastern North Carolina, around the city of Greenville and its small neighboring town of Farmville. Trained in the church and the home, the group’s four vocalists share the bond of that music and the literal bond of kinship. They are all related by blood or marriage.

Sharing bonds of music and blood kinship, the members of the Dedicated Men of Zion bring down a joyfully harmonious version of the gospel in a style so akin to soul music that we refer to it as “sacred soul.”

Faith & Harmony

Faith and Harmony is a family group—two sets of first cousins, three sisters in each. They grew up singing together in Greenville, North Carolina. All six members are descendants of Dorothy Vines Daniels of the Glorifying Vines Sisters, a gospel group that for many years has been a Music Maker partner artist, and great nieces of sculptor/guitarmaker/author/musician Freeman Vines.

Elizabeth Cotten’s Freight Train Blues 2026

Music Maker Foundation and the Town of Carrboro, N.C. proudly present Elizabeth Cotten’s Freight Train Blues series of live concerts every Friday evening between May 15 and June 12, 2026 at the Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main Street. The series is made possible with support from The Forests at Duke, North Carolina Public Radio – WUNC, and the North Carolina Arts Council.

Bring your picnic, lawn chairs and blankets for a FREE evening of live music on the lawn. Public parking is available and free in downtown Carrboro.

Elizabeth Cotten’s Freight Train Blues series honors Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten’s legacy in the world of roots music by emphasizing the cultural diversity, complexity, and vitality of her music and the music of many other artists local to her community and all over the country.