At least a couple of times a year, I'll hear from people who will insist, "If I could only get [insert name of well-known artist] to hear my song, I just know they'd want to record it!" The cynical realist in me always wants to pat these people on the head and say, "Sure" before sending them on their way, because it almost never works like that.

And yet...every now and then, it really does work out exactly like that. Elizabeth South, a fine local singer who is largely unknown outside of the Triangle, actually got Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill on her new single and video, and it's a pretty remarkable story. See the video here, and read about it here.

Time, once again, for the annual Academy Awards telecast. It gets going at 7 p.m. Eastern time on ABC, and I'll be signing on around then to snark along. Please do drop in and join me, won't you?

Here's how it went last year, and the year before.

7:00 p.m. -- And here we go; did Kristin Chenoweth really just say, "The red carpet is 5,000 feet long; that's about 2,000 of me"? Meantime, check our Red Carpet photo gallery.

7:04 -- Looks like Jessica Chastain has been done up to look like Jessica Rabbit.

7:07 -- Kelly Rowland "interviewing" Channing Tatum. Why do they insist on doing interviews? Do they not understand that people just want to gawk at the togs?

7:09 -- The latest Allstate "mayhem" ad, which goes all the way back to forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, is better than any of the Super Bowl commercials.

7:10 -- "I can't sit down and I feel like my organs are being pushed out of my body." So says Amanda Seyfried. Ah, the things we do for fashion. But the honesty is bracing.

7:12 -- Quvenzhane Wallis, the 9-year-old nominee, is fun. I like her. Then again, she's not been interviewed so much that she's out of things to say.

7:15 -- The quote from the costume designer about how costumes "let (actresses) breathe" is pretty funny, given what Seyfried was saying five minutes ago.

7:16 -- Jennifer Lawrence looks pretty stunning, and she towers over poor little Chenoweth; who just told Lawrence that she's "an old soul." Good God...

7:17 -- Zoe Saldana actually seems like she might be worth a longer interview, so of course she gets cut off after less than a minute.

7:20 -- Catherine Zeta Jones looks like she was just peeled off the prow of a ship. Impressive, nevertheless. Chenoweth says, "I am in awe of you." Bless her heart.

7:22 -- Daniel Radcliffe walks the red carpet. Being English, he is unfailingly polite. Naturally.

7:23 -- Liev Schreiber, a.k.a. Mr. Naomi Watts, could not look more uncomfortable looking on while Watts does her red-carpet interview.

7:25 -- "The Oscar Road Trip" probably seemed like a good idea when they tossed it around at the pitch meeting. Not so much now.

7:29 -- Commercial: "My name is [insert name of arena-country star here] and I am QDR."

7:31 -- Reese Witherspoon at least admits that the whole dress-up process is fun and kinda silly. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt is rockin' some very cool socks; a fitting introduction to "The Year In Movies" as presented by Google, which allows you to catch up on a year's worth of flicks in about two minutes.

7:37 -- Kristin Chenoweth tells Bradley Cooper she once kissed him on the mouth. Whose idea was it to have her do this?

7:40 -- And here's Nicole Kidman; I'm always kind of fascinated to hear her and Watts speak out of character, in their regular Australian accents.

7:41 -- Cherlize Theron, that is one short haircut. Rockin' quite a white dress, however.

7:43 -- Sounds like one of the winning students (from the "Oscar Experience College Search," which selects kids to be Oscar runners) just said, "This is just too cereal."

7:50 -- Hugh Jackman is one charming, affable man, and a very good sport. Asked to compare their relative weights, he picks Chenoweth up and tells her that an Oscar weighs more than she does. Aww...

7:52 -- Chris Evans from "The Avengers" seems like a very regular guy.

7:53 -- Not so Robert DeNiro, who is one high-strung fellow. I keep expecting him to bust out a "Taxi Driver" routine. You talkin' to me?...

7:54 -- Daniel Radcliffe again? Okay; seems like a lot of camera time for a non-nominee...

7:58 -- Checking Twitter during the commercial, came across a pretty hilarious quote: "Fun fact: if you took all the Oscar dresses and laid them end to end, you'd have a lot of naked ladies yelling at you."

8:00 -- half-hour until the show starts; and Jennifer Anniston's bright-red dress looks like it should only be viewed through sunglasses. Ketchup-flavored, even.

8:02 -- ...Aaaaand Jennifer Garner's dress looks grape-flavored. Chenoweth, meanwhile, appears to be on the verge of launching into orbit.

8:03 -- Halle Barry is bucking for a slot on "Star Trek," looks like. She wears it well, nevertheless.

8:04 -- Adele left the couch-upholstery dress from the Grammys at home, thank God. This black number is much better; even if she says it weighs "50 kilos."

8:05 -- Not many people can make George Clooney look ordinary. Stacy Keibler is one of the few, in an amazing-looking dress that could pass for chain mail.

8:07 -- Ah, good old Sandra Bullock, East Carolina's own. Too bad technical glitches are rendering her inaudible. Oh well...

8:12 -- Anne Hathaway's dress is...let's say "pointy." Very, very pointy. And geez, the "Oscar Mystery" box thing is just completely stupid. Hathaway guesses that they're Dorothy's slippers from "The Wizard of Oz," which is correct. I, um, don't believe she came up with that on her own.

8:15 -- Jamie Foxx's daughter might be the most beautiful female to appear on camera so far tonight.

8:16 -- Hard to believe Daniel Day-Lewis is the same person who played Abraham Lincoln; he just disappears into his characters, but here he seems so...normal.

8:18 -- The public vote is that Jennifer Lawrence looked the best. For some reason, however, she's the only one of the top-five vote-getters not to be shown in the recap.

8:20 -- Another funny Tweet, in response to Anne Hathaway's dress: http://cardsagainsthumanity.com/

8:23 -- Weird to see a couple dozen Oscars being polished backstage. It's a veritable warehouse full of Academy Awards.

8:24 -- Even weirder to see Chenoweth talking college-football rivalries with Renee Zellweger. Texas versus OU, Chenoweth pulls for the Sooners. I'm liking her even less all the time.

8:25 -- We get it, Kristin, you're short. Really short. About half as tall as Queen Latifah, who is still the coolest person on earth.

8:30 -- And here we go. Seth MacFarlane makes Tommy Lee Jones laugh right off the bat, so one mission accomplished.

8:31 -- So far, opening monologue not bad; good joke about accountants working overtime to make sure nothing recouped.

8:33 -- Daniel Day Lewis actually looks genuinely happy to be there. Then again, why wouldn't he be?

8:34 -- "Django Unchained" as Chris Brown and Rihanna's "idea of a date movie." This monologue is getting better!

8:35 -- William Shatner appears, by video screen, to try and save MacFarlane from himself.

8:38 -- A song called "We Saw Your Boobs." Um...

8:39 -- With the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles?! Genius!!

8:39 -- Channing Tatum and Cherlize Theron join MacFarlane to dance as he sings "The Way You Look Tonight." They're good! Tatum's spats are pretty cool, too.

8:41 -- Re-enacting "Flight" with sock puppets is even awesomer!

8:42 -- Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt out for a three-voice version of "High Hopes." Hmm...

8:44 -- But this bit with Sally Field ain't so great, and it's gone on way too long.

8:45 -- Redeemed at the end, however, when they suck face and go roaring off in a Trans-Am. Has "Smokey and the Bandit" ever been immortalized in an Oscar sketch?

8:46 -- The "Beauty and the Beast" song "Be Our Guest," rewritten for the occasion; not bad, but nowhere near as good as "Flight" or "We Saw Your Boobs."

8:47 -- Octavia Spencer, who won best supporting actress last year, out to present best supporting actor. Alan Arkin, Robert DeNiro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tommy Lee Jones, Christoph Waltz -- this is quite a field...

8:50 -- And it goes to...Christoph Waltz, in an upset. I don't remember any of the pundits mentioning him at all as a possiblity.

8:51 -- Waltz is clearly overcome with emotion; giving a nice (if over-long) speech. But I like it.

8:54 -- And here comes the snark. From Twitter: "Christoph Waltz is the first actor in Oscar history to win two awards for the same performance." Yes, he won for playing a similarly weird Germanic dude in "Inglorious Bastards."

8:55 -- Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy, both from "This Is 40," come out to present...something to do with sound. I guess...?

8:57 -- Okay, finally, it's best animated short film. Which goes to..."Paper Man."

8:59 -- And on to best full-length animated film. Which goes to..."Brave," not a big surprise. Mark Andrews is wearing a kilt. Nice; too bad they didn't show him out on the red carpet.

9:00 -- Reese Witherspoon out to introduce the first cluster of best-picture nominees, "Les Mis," "Life of Pi" and "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Followed by the obligatory clips from each. I don't much like that they do so many best-picture nominees now (nine this year). But I do like the score from "Life of Pi," and the star of "Beasts" is just danged adorable.

9:05 -- MacFarlane tosses Clooney a bottle of booze after making a bad joke about him; Clooney smiles and twists it open. Cheers!

9:06 -- The cast of "Avengers" out to present cinematography (and crack on each other). And it goes to..."Life of Pi." Which was apparently shot by Yanni's older brother.

9:07 -- Didn't this dude play in Dokken back in the '80s? Or was that White Lion?...

9:08 -- He looks like an aging hair-metal dude, but his befuddlement is nevertheless charming.

9:09 -- I can't tell if the "Avengers" guys are actually screwing up and getting pissed off at each other. But here we go with visual effects; which goes to...

9:10 -- "Life of Pi" again. Hmm, any chance this is an indicator for later?

9:11 -- Using "Jaws" as play-off music when someone goes on too long is a pretty hilarious touch, I must admit.

9:15 -- Channing Tatum and Jennifer Anniston out to present costume design; they all look pretty amazing. And it goes to..."Anna Karenina."

9:18 -- Cool to see the occasional normal-looking person onstage getting an Oscar, you know? As long as they don't go on too long, of course. And now on to makeup and hairstyling; which goes to..."Les Miserables."

9:20 -- Is she really wearing pink tights? And her, um, hair...These are the people who won for hair/makeup? Well, I guess it's what they can do for other folks, because it doesn't look like they put much effort into making themselves look good.

9:21 -- Halle Berry's get-up looks just as good indoors as it did outside; introducing a "James Bond" tribute...

9:23 -- ...chronicling all the stuff he's blown up and hot women he's shagged over the last 50 years. Oh, behave!

9:25 -- And here's Shirley Bassey to sing "Goldfinger." At 76, I'm afraid she just doesn't have the voice to carry this off anymore. Not bad, but a little ragged in spots. This song calls for more power than she can muster by now; doesn't look like the dress she's poured into is helping, either.

9:27 -- Nevertheless, she darn near carried that off at the end. Standing ovation.

9:32 -- Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington out to present best live-action short film, in front of a backdrop of hubcaps (or maybe that's supposed to be film reels?). And it goes to...

9:33 -- "Curfew." Polite applause. The winner looks like he plays in the band Fun.

9:35 -- Nervous as he is, a pretty decent acceptance speech. On to best short documentary, which goes to..."Inocente."

9:36 -- All the "Inocente" folks are in tears; which is nice. But no, dude, the arts aren't dying.

9:37 -- Liam Neeson introduces another trio of best-picture nominees: "Argo," "Lincoln" and "Zero Dark Thirty." Three powerful clips, too.

9:41 -- Sorry, Seth, tacky John Wilkes Booth joke. Yes, it's still too soon, even after 150 years.

9:42 -- Ben Affleck out to throw some snark at MacFarlane, and present best documentary feature. I'm pulling for "Searching for Sugar Man." And it goes to..."Sugar Man"! Cool!

9:45 -- Nice shout-out to Rodriguez himself, too, who didn't come because he didn't want any of the credit.

9:49 -- Jennifer Garner and Jessica Chastain out to present best foreign-language film. Which goes to..."Amour." Always bet on love, you know.

9:52 -- Shout-out to the orchestra; which is performing off-site, something I did not know, beamed in from the Capitol Studios. Freaky! And here's John Travolta, out to introduce the musical bit from "Les Mis."

9:54 -- First, however, they're doing the musical bit from "Chicago." Um...why? Wasn't this 10 years ago? So can someone explain why they've dusted this one off a decade later?

9:56 -- Still, gotta say, Catherine Zeta Jones still got game. Although it's curious that they didn't have Renee Zellweger up there, too.

9:57 -- And here's Jennifer Hudson to sing her "Dreamgirls" star turn "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going." Yes, she's great. But again...why?

9:58 -- "Dreamgirls" was on last night and I was watching it, and it's kind of stunning how much thinner Hudson has gotten since then. Still got the big ol' massive voice, however.

10:00 -- Standing ovation for Hudson, which is well-deserved. And now we're on to a musical interlude that's actually current, "Les Mis."

10:02 -- Hugh Jackman is also just as likable and handsome indoors as outside. And here's Hathaway, who is a great singer -- is there anything she can't do? Hard to believe she was the kid in "The Princess Diaries" a zillion years ago.

10:03 -- Helena Bonham Carter, Russell Crowe; man, it's looking like the '27 Yankees up there.

10:04 -- Big finish! With cheese!!

10:09 -- And for this, I rushed back in time from the bathroom? The science and technology nosebleed interlude? No wonder this turkey goes on for a day and a half.

10:10 -- MacFarlane started out strong; but he's struggling as the evening goes along, getting less funny and more forced. And here's Mark Wahlberg and "Ted"...

10:11 -- ...to present best sound mixing; which goes to...

10:12 -- ..."Les Mis." On to best sound editing; and this one goes to...

10:15 -- ..."Zero Dark Thirty" and...something else? They said something about a tie? I'm confused. But here's the guy from "Thirty," who also looks like an aging hair-metal dude.

10:16 -- And they're also giving one to "Skyfall," the "James Bond" flick. So is this the first-ever tie in Oscar history?

10:18 -- They're also going on too long. Here comes "Jaws"!

10:19 -- A riff on "The Sound of Music." Not bad, as movie-nerd trivia goes, and a nice setup for Christopher Plummer; who is out to present best supporting actress. He does a good job poking fun at himself for being, you know, old.

10:21 -- My money's on Hathaway here.

10:22 -- And the winner is...yep, Hathaway (and her pointy dress). Seems like her turn, she's been nominated before -- and she seems generally well-liked in Hollywood.

10:23 -- And that's why, shout-outs to each of the other nominees. She's a classy, gracious winner, poised even though she's trembling.

10:29 -- The academy president out to do the obligatory public-service bit. Blah blah blah...

10:30 -- ...and introducing tonight's student Oscar schleppers, the aforementioned "Oscar Experience College Search" winners.

10:31 -- Sandra Bullock strides on out; she's presenting the award for best editing, and it goes to...

10:33 -- ..."Argo." Nice speech by the winner, short and sweet.

10:34 -- Jennifer Lawrence out, in one big dress; to introduce Adele doing her "Bond" song. This should be good...

10:36 -- ...and it is. Her voice doesn't sound anything like Dusty Springfield, but she exudes that vibe. I like the restraint of this.

10:37 -- Here comes the buildup. Belting soon to come. Consensus on Twitter seems to be that Shirley Bassey was spectacular, and she wasn't (although better than expected, for age 76). Folks, this is better.

10:38 -- Very nice. Some power on the outro, but she didn't go into blaze-away oversinging territory.

10:40 -- Also on Twitter: Hannah Montana ‏@hannah_yall im in the crowd at the oscars try n fine me!!!!

10:41 -- Further thoughts on Jennifer Lawrence's beautiful but huge-ass dress: It takes a village, and I think a good-sized one could live underneath it.

10:41 -- Nicole Kidman out to introduce the final trio of best-picture nominees: "Silver Linings Playbook," "Django Unchained" and "Amour."

10:47 -- Danielle Radcliffe and Kristen Stewart out to present production design; Stewart looks slightly out of it. Then again, poor girl is on crutches. And it goes to...

10:49 -- ..."Lincoln." God, it's almost 11:00, are we really just at production design? Been a long night, getting longer...

10:56 -- And now George Clooney, a movie's star movie star; introducing the memorial segment. This is always good for a misty moment or two...Ernest Borgnine, Jack Klugman, Adam Yauch (sniff), Michael Clarke Duncan, Charles Durning, Hal David, Nora Ephron, Ray Bradbury, Robert Sherman, Richard Zanuck, Marvin Hamlisch...and here's Streisand to sing "The Way We Were," and give a little Hamlisch tribute, wow. This is unexpected, and kind of great; some rough spots, too, but really good.

11:08 -- The cast of "Chicago" out, to present best original score. Will Adele's Grammy mojo transfer to the Oscars?...

11:10 -- ...Nope, it goes to "Life of Pi," which is amassing a fair quantity of Oscars in the secondary categories.

11:12 -- Next up, best original song. This one, I bet Adele gets...

11:14 -- ...Oh, here's Norah Jones to do a song from...MacFarlane's "Ted"? Whether it wins or not, Seth's reaction should be amusing.

11:15 -- And it goes to...yep, Adele, who now has an Oscar to go with her nine Grammys.

11:17 -- She appears overcome; adorable as always, too, very appealing.

11:18 -- Somehow, MacFarlane didn't say anything about "Ted" not winning. Maybe coming out of commercial?

11:22 -- Dustin Hoffman and Cherlize Theron; she is a whole head taller than he is, and he's got the taste to acknowledge her dancing from earlier. Meanwhile, they're here to present the writing awards. First up is best adapted screenplay, which goes to...

11:24 -- ..."Argo," that seems like an upset -- I was figuring "Lincoln" would take this, and most of the other big-category stuff. Hmm...

11:25 -- Deeply emotional acceptance speech by the "Argo" writer, quite well-done. Now on to best original screenplay, which goes to...

11:26 -- ..."Mr. Tarantino," for "Django Unchained." My goodness, he wins his second Oscar. "Thank you, Mr. Hoffman!"

11:28 -- "Peace out!" And he was gone.

11:32 -- Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas, who both look pretty fabulous, out to present best director. Which goes to Spielberg, probably...

11:34 -- Nope, Ang Li for "Life of Pi." Maybe "Lincoln" is not such a shoe-in after all.

11:36 -- Ang Li, shut up already!

11:40 -- Jean Dujardin out to present best actress; a stout field. And I just LOVE the 9-year-old nominee. She's not going to win, but I'm pulling for her.

11:43 -- And it goes to Jennifer Lawrence, from "Silver Linings Playbook." Oh my God, she fell on the stairs -- I was wondering when somebody would do that. Of course, it's THAT dress.

11:44 -- DeNiro looks like he's about to fall asleep during Lawrence's speech, but it's pretty charming.

11:45 -- Meryl Streep, who "needs no introduction," out to present best actor. It will be a gigantic upset if Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't win his third Oscar...

11:48 -- And the winner is...yep, Lewis. First man ever to win three lead-actor roles. He is appropriately humble and gracious; and a perfectly timed Margaret Thatcher-Meryl Streep joke. Lovely shout-out to Spielberg, and his wife for all the "strange men" she's had to live with. And he concludes with, "For my mother." Really nice.

11:52 -- Jack Nicholson will present best picture; with Michelle Obama via satellite from the White House. Meanwhile, I'm thinking "Life of Pi" might edge out "Lincoln" here...

11:54 -- Okay, back to Jack, who recaps the nine finalists...

11:55 -- Wow, Ms. Obama will read the winner: "Argo"! My goodness, I did not see that coming. Well, good for Ben Affleck and George Clooney.

11:56 -- The non-photogenic producer is going on for too danged long for this late, although it's very cute that his wife is sobbing.

11:58 -- Affleck is having to rush; it's kinda charming.

11:59 -- Aw, his wife Jennifer Garner is crying.

12:00 -- Clooney declines to speak, but that's cool. And as the clock strikes midnight, that's a wrap. I'm calling it a night before Chenoweth's show-closing star turn. Bye!

The last time I interviewed Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche was 2006, at which point Wilco wasn't too far past its revolving-door period. But even though Wilco had near-constant turnover of personnel during its early years, the band's lineup has been a model of stability since right around that time.

"Things are still going well with the Wilco camp," Kotche said in a recent interview. "Everybody gets along, we all still believe in the music, the live shows are still exciting. We just found the rite lineup. Once Nels and Pat joined seven years ago, it just clicked and we can kind of do anything we want with this lineup. There's enough experience and everyone is comfortable enough in a lot of different genres to handle anything. And everyone is personally very cool, so it works out."

One cool aspect of Wilco is that everyone in the band has intriguing side projects, and Kotche is in the Triangle this weekend for precisely that reason. For details, see the preview in Friday's paper.

Volume four of the Hopscotch Music Festival is coming in September, and the bulk of this year's lineup won't be announced for a couple of months. But organizers have already put one name out there, Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale. Tune back in along about late April for the rest of the lineup.

Follow along here Sunday night for all the thrills, chills and spills of the Grammy Awards. The telecast starts at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, but I should be snarking and blogging on the pre-broadcast portion before then -- at which point we should know whether or not a good chunk of my predictions came to pass. Y'all come.

6:45 p.m. -- We're still more than an hour from the telecast portion, and the news isn't good for most of our North Carolina nominees. But it's very good for Brevard's Steep Canyon Rangers, who take home bluegrass album.

Alas, the Triangle's Carolina Chocolate Drops didn't win folk album. I feared they might lose out to the classical-folk supergroup of Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile, and that is indeed what happened. Yo-Yo Ma, et al's "The Goat Rodeo Sessions" also won best-engineered non-classical album, beating out Jacksonville native Ryan Adams' "Ashes & Fire.

Also falling short are Concord's Avett Brothers for Americana album, won by Bonnie Raitt (not a surprise that Avetts didn't win, although I figured Mumford & Sons were going to take that one); and Charlotte native Anthony Hamilton, who didn't win either of his two R&B categories.

Still to come, Granite Falls native Eric Church, nominated in two country categories; and all the big main-category hoo-ha. Stick around, or come on back...

7:14 -- They may not have won their category, but it’s an absolute lead-pipe cinch the Carolina Chocolate Drops were the best-looking bunch in the house. Here’s a picture that co-manager Tim Duffy (who is second from the right) posted to his Facebook page a few hours ago…

7:41 -- While we’re waiting for the telecast to get going, all the fashionistas can take a look at this photo gallery of red-carpet arrivals.

7:57 -- Eric Church is 0-for-1, losing out to Carrie Underwood for country song. Telecast portion is mere minutes away.

8:00 -- And here we go. Guess it's not a surprise that Church lost out to Underwood, given that she's one of the announced performers.

8:02 -- What...the hell...is this? Methinks Taylor Swift has been reading "Alice in Wonderland" again. WhatEVer...I am still baffled by the dude in the butane-powered flame-throwing bicycle-type contraption.

8:05 -- Sorry, Taylor, that was underwhelming even if emcee LL Cool J calls it "spectacular." And now he's making a somewhat awkward speech about inspiration and such; shout-outs to Beyonce, Underwood, Justin Timberlake, Adele, Gotye. I'm expecting a point...soon...

8:08 -- LL, nobody cares that you won two Grammys. And now he's introducing Elton John and Ed Sheeran.

8:10 -- Elton's voice has always been the epitome of youthful yearning, but it has just not aged well. Sheeran quite nice, however, even if he's playing what appears to be a toy guitar; and Elton still plays a mighty fine piano.

8:15 -- And here's a commercial with Swift flogging her "Red" album, which she'd like you to know is "available at Target." It ain't the Super Bowl, but the multi-platform marketing is in full effect.

8:18 -- STOP already with the sucking up to Taylor Swift, LL! Pitbull and J-Lo are the first presenters, for pop solo performance...NOT feeling J-Lo's dress. And it goes to...Adele -- who apparently did not win enough last year. And if J-Lo's dress is unflattering, dang, Adele's upholstered dress makes her look like a couch. Charming short-and-sweet acceptance speech, however.

8:22 -- Neil Patrick Harris out to introduce Fun.

8:25 -- Young, earnest angst never goes out of style. Carry on and rumble, young men, rumble. But I've always wondered how they can dump water on people around microphones and electric guitars without shocking someone to death.

8:30 -- Gee, the omnipresent Taylor Swift is on "Letterman" this week, according to this here promo. What are the odds?!

8:32 -- Bonnie Raitt and John Mayer (I'm sorry, Bonnie, I really am -- he's not fit to tune your guitar) are out to introduce Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley.

8:35 -- This is kind of awful. They're both off-key, and the band doesn't sound as if it has ever played together before. Their voices also aren't a good match, not at all. To bottom it off, they both look terrible. And Lambert's pink microphone is disturbingly reminiscent of...well...Never mind.

8:38 -- As Arlo Guthrie once put it, "That was horrible." The bar has been set pretty low.

8:39 -- Dick Clark tribute with footage of teenage LL on "American Bandstand." Nice period piece. And it's on to Miguel and Wiz Khalifa...

8:40 -- Much better, mostly because Miguel can actual, you know, SING.

8:42 -- Country solo performance being presented, here is Eric Church's last shot...

8:43 -- ...but he is denied by Carrie Underwood, yet again. Guess he's only crossed over so far after all. And that closes the book on our North Carolina nominees, who only took home one Grammy (Steep Canyon Rangers for bluegrass album) out of seven nominations. Just wait 'til next year!

8:44 -- Underwood closes by thanking God; what are the odds?!

8:50 -- LL, it's no cooler to suck up to Carrie Underwood than to Taylor Swift. Come on, dude, seriously. And now Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are out; dang has Faith Hill lost about 50 pounds? Looking quite severe.

8:51 -- And song of the year goes to..."We Are Young," by the aforementioned Fun. Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" denied.

8:53 -- Fun. looks like a huge bunch of robonerds, and they don't know when to shut up. Finally, they're done. And here's Johnny Depp, introducing Mumford & Sons. A year ago, the Avett Brothers were up there with Mumford, backing up Bob Dylan.

8:55 -- Is it just me, or have almost all the performers been off-key? Like they can't hear themselves, maybe? This is an almost unrecognizable version of Mumford's "I Will Wait," not unlike what Dylan has been doing to his own songs for years. Maybe they were comparing notes last year?

9:04 -- Beyonce and Ellen DeGeneres out to do a painfully awkward introduction of Justin Timberlake (seriously, I thought Beyonce was gonna reach over and smack her when she did that weird up-close stare).

9:05 -- Say what you will about JT, dude is a star. Pretty cool touch to go monochromatic on this, too.

9:06 -- Ooh, nice, Beyonce's husband stands up from his seat in the crowd and walks up rapping. This song ain't much, but Timberlake is great to watch.

9:08 -- Okay, this second song is beyond redemption even by Timberlake. It's not even a song so much as a succession of vamps and flourishes.

9:11 -- And it has gone on waaaaaaaaaay too long. Now here is Kelly Rowland (fresh off the Destiny's Child Super Bowl reunion) with Nas to present urban contemporary album. Please don't let the loathesome Chris Brown win...

9:13 -- ...And he doesn't. It goes to Frank Ocean instead. Good.

9:18 -- What does it mean that Timberlake's Bud Light commercial is better than the second song he just played?

9:19 -- Back to the show, Dan Auerbach announced as non-classical producer of the year; no surprise there. And now it's time for rock performance, which goes to...Auerbach's band the Black Keys -- no surprise there, either. They're on their way to a big night.

9:22 -- LL introducing Alicia Keys and Maroon 5. Help. If we just let Adam Levine take his shirt off, can he not sing? Pretty please?

9:23 -- Dammit, he's singing. I have never understood the appeal of this bunch, who seem like the epitome of faceless dreck. And Levine has always seemed like a poor man's Dave Matthews (who I hate, too, while we're at it).

9:25 -- Wow, Keys on drums as she sings. That's...unexpected. But the more she sings, the less Levine will. It's all good.

9:26 -- Keith Urban and someone from "The Big Bang Theory," in a very odd combination. More awkward small talk as they introduce pop vocal album nominees. Please don't let it go to Maroon 5...

9:28 -- ...and it doesn't. The winner is Kelly Clarkson, a good choice. She has to hug everyone on her way up to the stage. And she is just adorably enthusiastic -- shouting out Miguel and saying they've "gotta sing together." Cool. I dig her.

9:34 -- 96 Rock's "Million Dollar Commercial" is truly embarrassing.

9:36 -- Rihanna out to sing; comes out of the gate sounding lots better than most of tonight's other performers. Wish they hadn't shown Chris Brown applauding afterward, however.

9:40 -- Carly Rae Jepsen and Ne-Yo out to present rap-sung collaboration. Seems like Jay-Z's a shoe-in for this one, since he's got two nominations...

9:41 -- ... and he does, sharing it with Kanye West. Frank Ocean does most of the talking, and Jay-Z closes. Where's Kanye? Hmm...

9:43 -- Lightnin' Hopkins, Glenn Gould, the Temptations, Carole King, Ravi Shankar and Charlie Haden are the lifetime-achievement award winners, which they spend less than 10 seconds on. Classy...

9:48 -- Based on this Pepsi commercial, Tate Stevens is "The X-Factor"'s idea of a country star. They are clearly not to be trusted. Yee-ha...

9:49 -- Time for Black Keys' performance! With Dr. John and Preservation Hall Jazz Band!! Suddenly, we have signs of life -- this is majorly kick-ass.

9:51 -- And here's your Grammy moment, right here. Pile-driving beat, excellent song and that brass pumping away. Awesome! Love Dr. John's headdress, too.

9:53 -- Kelly Clarkson back up to sing. She can, too, you know. Nice Patti Page tribute with "Brand New Tennessee Waltz"; segued into Carole King's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" -- really, really good; if a tad oversold on the outro.

9:57 -- Now Clarkson gets to present country album; which goes to...

9:58 -- Zac Brown Band. Well, okay. Better then than Miranda Lambert, who was ghastly earlier in the evening...Aw, now Brown is choking up while thanking everyone.

10:05 -- Here we go with the Bob Marley tribute, featuring Sting, Ziggy Marley, Bruno Mars...

10:06 -- Mars starts off. I thought this was supposed to have something to do with reggae? I'm confused. Mars and his band are aces, though, so at least there's that.

10:08 -- And here's Sting; almost inaudible. Hmm...

10:09 -- But they've segued into the old Police hit "Walking on the Moon." You can hear him now. Not bad. Not great, either.

10:10 -- Which brings us to the younger Marley, with Rihanna. Better.

10:11 -- Damian Marley out to rap. Better still.

10:18 -- Lumineers out for an unplugged hootenanny-type thing on "Ho Hey." Nice enough, but I find myself wishing the Avett Brothers had gotten this performance slot instead. Oh well...

10:21 -- Jack White up next. Now, kids, watch: HERE is a rock star and this is how you do it.

10:22 -- I love that his entire backup band appears to be women. They're good, too, really good.

10:23 -- Okay, now he's also got a band of really noisy dudes; doing "Freedom at 21," a snarling blues-rock song from his album last year. Excellent!

10:26 -- Katy Perry and her dress out to present best new artist. That is, um, yeah, quite a dress; almost a special effect. And the best-new-artist curse goes to...

10:27 -- ...Fun., who you may now kiss goodbye. Maybe they'll still have a career by the time they play Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh Sept. 25.

10:35 -- Speaking of special-effects wardrobes, here's Carrie Underwood, in a dress that looks as if she probably had to be put onstage by crane, singing her winning song "Blown Away."

10:37 -- Wow, that dress is suddenly doubling as a Jumbotron IMAX screen. Will it be nominated for a technical award next year, I wonder? If nothing else, it's insuring that her singing ain't what anybody will be talking about afterward.

10:38 -- It's alive! Carrie Underwood's dress is alive!!

10:39 -- Prince out to present record of the year. Dang, wish he was playing instead of just presenting. Looks like he's wearing a blindfold. So will Black Keys' hot streak continue?...

10:41 -- Nope, Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know." Hoo boy...

10:42 -- Dude, say thank you and go away (although, to his credit, at least he appears to be in awe of Prince).

10:49 -- And we're back with a Dave Brubeck tribute, by Chic Corea and Stanley Clarke. Nice to hear "Take Five" in something besides a car commercial.

10:50 -- How to make the Neil Portnow eat-your-vegetables bit about the Grammy Foundation less appealing? Put Ryan Seacrest out there, too. Yawn...

10:51 -- But bringing Justin Timberlake back out is a pretty good idea. Except he's babbling about this being the "best Grammys ever." God, I hope not.

10:53 -- Segueing into the in memorium segment. Brubeck, Andy Williams, Donna Summer, Chuck Brown, Robin Gibb, Patti Page, Earl Scruggs, Doug Dillard, Davy Jones, Dick Clark, Marva Whitney, Fontella Bass, Herb Reed, Frank Wilson, Hal David, Andy Griffith, Marvin Hamlisch, Richard Adler, Patty Andrews, Dorothy McGuire, Jenni Rivera, Kitty Wells, Doc Watson, Joe South, Ravi Shankar, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Adam Yauch, Ed Cassidy, Levon Helm and Ronnie Montrose among those we lost. Rest in peace...

10:57 -- Elton John kicks off the Levon Helm tribute with a shout-out to the Sandy Hook Elementary School victims. Zac Brown takes the first verse of "The Weight." Mumford & Sons and T-Bone Burnett among the backup band...

10:59 -- Mavis Staples rules!

11:00 -- I like Marcus Mumford, but I don't envy him having to follow Staples.

11:01 -- Brittany Howard from Alabama Shakes is killin' it, too -- I saw her do this at AMA back in September and she was great then, too.

11:02 -- And to Elton. Oh, Elton, your voice...

11:03 -- But this is still my favorite performance of the night; this, Black Keys and Jack White.

11:08 -- Lengthening commercial creep as the telecast wears on. Ugh...

11:09 -- Juanes out to do a Latinized version of Elton's "Your Song." Um...I'm sorry, but...this is kinda coming off like a caricature. Not feelin' it, even the part En Espanol. Sorry.

11:11 -- Frank Ocean in a most puzzling yellow-suit-and-headband ensemble. Singing "Forrest Gump," which ain't much of a song. Presentation a little too high-concept for its own good.

11:14 -- This is stupid. And off-key. And it's gone on too long. Dude, stop runnin'.

11:15 -- Would that Adele had changed her dress. But no, she's out to present album of the year. Fingers crossed for Black Keys! And it goes to...

11:16 -- ...Mumford & Sons instead. Still, coulda been worse.

11:24 -- LL Cool J (who has changed clothes), Chuck D, Tom Morello and Travis Barker out for the big finale. Public Enemy's main man can still be The Voice of Doom. and LL ain't bad, either...

11:27 -- Aw, nice Adam "MCA" Yauch tribute here, with some Beastie Boys riffing. I'm not the only one who misses him.

11:28 -- And that's a wrap, as the credits roll. 'Night, everybody.

For about a solid year and a half after his album "Chief" came out in the summer of 2011, country singer Eric Church was a consummate road warrior, working as hard as any touring act in America. The work paid off with a million-selling album and numerous accolades for the Granite Falls native (and Appalachian State University alumnus). He's been scarce since the calendar turned over, however.

"When the year ended, I really just shut down," he said in a recent interview. "No cell, no nothing, and I've not talked to anybody since the tour ended. In the off-season, I really have to get away because when I tour, I really go at it with everything I've got. So I've just got to have those periods of resetting, where I don't do anything even remotely in the area of music or business. I've got some land near Nashville and I get out and do manual labor. A lot of chainsawing logs, I've gotten good at that."

Church's public profile looks to rise again soon, however -- starting with Sunday night's Grammy Awards, in which he's nominated in two categories. For more, see two pieces in Sunday's paper: an interview with Church on his crossover dreams of the past year, and some fearless predictions as to how he and other North Carolina nominees might do in their respective categories. Then come on back here Sunday evening for the Grammy liveblog to see if any of those predictions panned out.

One thing you can say about Concord's Avett Brothers is that they seem to have done just about everything right, steadily building a career that anyone would love to have. Although they've never had a hit single, the Avetts are one of the top-drawing live acts in the country -- and Grammy-nominated to boot. Their manager, Dolph Ramseur, has had a lot to do with the success of both the Avetts and their fellow Grammy nominees, the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

With two of his charges up for Grammys Sunday night, now seemed like the perfect time to make Ramseur our Tar Heel of the week. Check the story here; and tune in Sunday night to see if the Avetts or the Drops win. I'll be liveblogging the telecast here.

Chris Stamey’s pop has always had a streak of ornate studio magic, even back when he was doing semi-rough garage rock in the original incarnation of the dB's 30-plus years ago. And now he's made his most direct orchestral move yet, an album he says is "the closest I've ever gotten to the sound I hear in my head in the middle of the night." That's "Lovesick Blues," which has nothing to do with Hank Williams but everything to do with lovely and emotional pop done up with strings, woodwinds and Stamey's customary melodic grace.

For more, see an interview with Stamey from Friday's paper, which also has details about that evening's album-release shindig. While I'm at it, I'd also direct you to this 2004 profile of Stamey; and this from last year, when the dB's broke a three-decade silence with a new album.

DURHAM -- Friday night, it took Tony Bennet exactly two songs to go for the kill. He had strode onstage at the Durham Performing Arts Center, looking and sounding sharp as ever as he took up the Great American Songbook. Song number two was "They All Laughed," by one George Gershwin.

"They all laughed at us and how," Bennett sang. "But ho ho ho -- who's got the last laugh now?"

Then he did a little soft-shoe routine that ended with a twirl. He came out of it in a bit of a crouch, palms out, head cocked and a twinkle in his eye. It was a spry gesture that screamed, How ya like me now?, and the crowd roared. Sixty-plus years in show business, and the next crowd Bennet leaves unslain will be his first.

At age 86, Bennett is a remarkable specimen. Unavoidably, he's lost a good chunk of the voice he once had. But the decades have not dimmed Bennett's charisma, or robbed him of his sense of style or timing. Over time, those songs about romance between man and woman have become metaphors for romance between singer and audience. Time does not appear to have dimmed the fire on either side.

In a concession to age, most of the songs Bennett sang Friday night were truncated down to a verse or two, which saved his voice and allowed him to cover more material in an hour-long set. In the mark of a true star, he was somehow able to evoke what he once was, performing in such a way that you could extrapolate out to past glories.

None of which is to diminish what he did do Friday night, which was pretty glorious in its own right. As he demonstrated time and again, Bennett could still bop, belt and most of all swing, hitting those soaring crescendos with a majestic grace unmatched in popular song. And he also still has a way with a between-song anecdote, telling stories about Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, Rosemary Clooney and other stars of yesteryear.

The set's two-dozen songs included most of what you'd want to hear -- "Cold, Cold Heart," "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "The Best Is Yet to Come," "For Once In My Life," "My Funny Valentine" and, of course, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Even Bennett was clapping after that one, despite a flubbed lyric.

Bennett could have been forgiven if he'd spent time hiding behind his band (and the piano-guitar-drums-bass quartet was excellent). But he did not make anything easy on himself. "The Way You Look Tonight" was stripped down to just voice and guitar, completely unadorned, and darned if it wasn't about the most moving, emotionally satisfying thing I've heard in a year or two. Anyone in the room who wasn't misting up has no soul.

The absolute masterstroke, however, came with the encore-closing "Fly Me to the Moon," which also featured just Gray Sargent's guitar. As Sargent softly played, Bennett put down his microphone to sing unamplified, making an intimate moment even moreso. A hush fell over the house as the crowd strained to hear. It was worth the effort.

Fill my heart with song, let me sing forever more!

We're lucky to be sharing the planet with him.

A chapter of North Carolina blues history ended Tuesday with the death of George Higgs, a blues-harmonica player from Tarrboro. He was 82 years old and died from respiratory and heart ailments.

"He hadn't been doing well the last two years," said Bettye Higgs, his wife of 63 years. "He did one concert in New Bern last year, and after that he just wasn't able."

In his day, Higgs was one of the most renowned harmonica masters in the state. He learned the music from his father, who taught him how to play harmonica, and blues mentors including Sonny Terry and Peg Leg Sam.

Higgs was never a full-time musician and had to work for most of his life, so music was something he did nights and weekends at house parties. Still, his reputation grew over the years and he won an array of honors, including a North Carolina Heritage Award in 1993.

"George represented the last active musician in his generation of Eastern North Carolina's country blues tradition," said Wayne Martin, executive director of the NC Arts Council. "He always said he liked the old music, which was really true -- not only the old repertoire, but the older ways of presenting it. His music was never urbanized, and it always felt like Eastern North carolina."

He never stopped playing those old songs, including the Peg Leg Sam standard "Greasy Greens." That went over well on the folk and blues festival circuit in America and beyond, including Europe.

Higgs also released two albums through the Music Maker Relief Foundation, winning album of the year from Living Blues magazine for 2001's "Tarborro Blues."

"The last time I played with him was about a year ago and he still had it," said Music Maker head Tim Duffy. "His voice had gotten a little softer, but he could still blow."

UPDATE: Funeral arrangements are set. Public viewing will be 2-8 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 2) at Willoughby Funeral Home in Tarrboro; with funeral services set for 2 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 3) at C.B. Martin Middle School in Tarrboro.

###

Below, a feature from 1993, when Higgs was the News & Observer's "Tar Heel of the Week."

George Higgs is sitting on top of the world
By David Menconi, News & Observer 6/6/1993

TARBORO -- A blues harmonica's natural rhythm is like that of a chugging train. George Higgs plays the instrument at an unhurried pace, one that makes good time and lets you admire the view along the way.

Perched on a stool in his Tarboro bungalow's tidy living room, Higgs sings and plays one of his old favorites, a sly ode to collard greens:

Well, way down South where I was born
Didn't raise nothin' but cotton and corn
Green tomatoes and blackeyed peas
Man, good Lord, them greasy greens...

Higgs plays with remarkable expressiveness, sometimes using the harmonica to double for words and singing with gritty power. When he settles into a call-and-response groove between his voice and harmonica he switches back and forth so seamlessly that it seems impossible that one person could be doing both.

If you're gonna fix a plate for me
Don't fix nothin' but greasy greens.

"That was written by a fellow called Peg Leg Sam," Higgs says after the song is finished. "Peg Leg Sam came from down South. I never knew too much about him or anything about his people, but he was one A-1 harmonica player. He used to blow down at the tobacco warehouses in Rocky Mount during the tobacco auctions. I heard him when I was real small.

"A lot of people say his leg got shot off, but he never did say what happened to it. He would start to jamming that peg on a wooden floor when he was playing, and it would sound like he had a drum behind him."

Laughing at the memory, Higgs puts the harmonica back to his mouth and blows some more.

George Higgs is the real thing, a bluesman who learned the music as an oral tradition handed down from previous generations. His first musical mentor was his father, who taught him how to play harmonica. He also learned from the late great Sonny Terry and the aforementioned Peg Leg Sam, becoming a master of the instrument.

"George is arguably the best living Piedmont-style singer and harmonica player," says Durham blues musician Scott Ainslee. "He's been playing music in his community since the '40s, mostly at house parties. But he has almost no notoriety outside Edgecombe County."

Higgs has lived in the Eastern North Carolina county all his 63 years, mostly in and around the hamlet of Speed. He spent a few years farming, like his father. Then he worked as a carpenter for more than 32 years, finally retiring two years ago because of rheumatoid arthritis.

Music was never a full-time career for Higgs because he was too busy earning a living. That's a common experience for blues musicians, and his music is all the more powerful because Higgs lived it.

But the down side is that he remains an undiscovered treasure, a world-class player whose reputation hasn't traveled any farther than he has.

That's starting to change. Higgs has won a number of awards in recent years, including one of this year's Folk Heritage Awards from the N.C. Arts Council.

The award, which will be presented this week, is the state's recognition of each recipient's talent, and carries a $3,000 grant as well.

Ainslee -- who nominated Higgs for the folk heritage award and frequently plays with him at festivals -- also is trying to secure a grant to record an album of Higgs' music.

Such recognition is nice, even if it's long overdue. Higgs is unusually young for an authentic Piedmont blues musician. At least he's getting some attention while he can still capitalize on it.

"Before I learned anything about arts councils or folklore societies, I just played for fun," Higgs says. "The first thing I can remember is singing the blues, but I didn't think there was anything to it. Years back, if I'd known there were people with interest, maybe I could've made something of it.

"But it was just for fun," he said. "Playing and drinking that corn liquor."

Higgs has played with a few bands over the years. Mostly, though, he has performed at weekend house parties for friends, family and co-workers. Higgs' skill on the harmonica and guitar made him a popular fellow at parties.

"We'd get some fried fish, some cooked pig, a little corn liquor; yeah, those house parties would get pretty wild. I remember the man with the liquor would want a dime for a drink. Well, money was scarce and some fellows would take an iron and press aluminum foil on pennies. In the dark, they could pass for dimes. The next morning, the man would come to find out he had more pennies than dimes."

Until recent years, Higgs was almost as accomplished on guitar as on harmonica. Then a 1987 mishap with a saw crippled the index finger of his left hand. Higgs guesses he lost "about half" his guitar-playing ability, but he still plays well enough to get by.

Putting aside his harmonica to pick up a guitar, he plays a couple of songs, starting with "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl."

His style is classic Piedmont fingerpicking, with the thumb keeping time on the top strings and the index finger plucking leads and melodies on the bottom strings. His repertoire is long on traditional blues classics that aren't written down anywhere except in the heads of people who still play them.

"A lot of these songs come from way, way back, the '40s or even earlier," he says. "Like 'Greasy Greens.' Whatever you enjoy, you'd write a song about it, and everybody likes to eat. Or folks would be out plowing a field, then after work they'd do a song like, 'The sun is shinin', but I believe it's gonna rain.'"

Then he demonstrates by playing a blues riff and a chorus that goes just like that. "Yeah, those were the good old days. Everything is so fast and modern now."

Higgs starts outside toward his car to take a visitor on a quick driving tour of his old stomping grounds.

"I started trying to play guitar at about age 11," Higgs says, settling in behind the steering wheel. "There was this one old fellow in the neighborhood who played, and I would follow him around. He would tune my guitar for me every Sunday. By the next Sunday, it was out of whack again and I would have to go find him again, until I learned how to tune it myself. That's the key to any instrument: You can't play it 'til you know how to tune it."

Before he learned how to tune his guitar, however, Higgs had to get one first.

"I had this squirrel dog, Sam, that this other fellow from the next farm over wanted to buy," he says. "I didn't want to let Sam go. But my daddy said, 'If you sell the dog, you can buy a guitar.' So Sam was gone. I loved that old Sam, but I wanted a guitar more.

"That's how I got my first guitar. And even after I sold Sam, he stayed at my house more than the other guy's. So I never felt like I lost him."

Higgs drives through Princeville and pulls onto N.C. 122 for the short drive over to Speed, past acres and acres of fields planted with neat rows of corn and cotton.

"My dad, he loved that cotton," Higgs says. "He planted more than anybody in our neighborhood. We'd pick 15, 20 bales by hand and never sell before July -- that's when you'd get your peak. He was 66 when he died. My mother lived to be 90 years old. She was a tough one, never got on that bed. She was cooking the morning she died. Just fell on the floor in the kitchen."

When Higgs was growing up, Tarboro was the nearest town of any size. He has traveled this route countless times over the years, going back to the days before there was even a road.

"I was born between Hobgood and Speed, a little closer to Speed," he says. "My grandfather and his father, they all lived around here. I remember my grandmother, Hattie Higgs. She would sometimes tell stories about slavery. Her mother used to get whupped for misbehaving, she said. But that wasn't something she talked about much. It was a cutoff subject."

Just outside Speed, Higgs points out where he married his wife Bettye in 1949 (the building was torn down years ago and it's a cornfield now). Then there's a dilapidated old house his family lived in when his two oldest girls were born.

"See that field there, I plowed it many a day," he says. "Many a day."

Higgs remembers something about almost every house in Speed -- one where a cousin who played banjo used to live; another where "Cracker Jack," the biggest moonshiner in the area, lived.

He also remembers buildings that aren't there anymore, like the general store that became ground zero for parties every Saturday with Higgs blowing his harmonica long into the night. Today, it's an empty lot.

"Home sweet home," he says with a wistful smile. "Yeah, this is where I done all my running around and guitar playing. I remember when this was a dirt road and I used to walk it every hour of the day and night, with a guitar on my back.

"All my roots are here."

GEORGE HIGGS
Born: March 9, 1930, near Speed.
Family: Married to Bettye Higgs since 1949; six children ages 26 to 42, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Career: While earning a living as a farmer and carpenter, became one of the most accomplished Piedmont-style blues singer and harmonica players.
Awards: N.C. Folklore Society's Brown-Hudson Award, 1992; N.C. Arts Council's Folk Heritage Award, 1993.