Music in the Gardens

Duke Arts is thrilled to announce that this year’s Music in the Gardens, now FREE to all, will be presented in partnership with Country Soul Songbook (CSSB). Music in the Gardens: The Country Soul Songbook Edition will be a five-concert showcase of musicians who fulfill CSSB’s mission to amplify historically marginalized voices (BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists) in American roots music— specifically country, Americana, folk and rock.

Music in the Gardens is a popular annual concert series held outdoors at Sarah P. Duke Gardens on Duke’s campus. This year, for the first time, concerts will be broadcast live on WXDU 88.7 FM, Duke University Radio, allowing audiences to tune in live from anywhere in Durham or online at wxdu.org.

Visitor Information

Music in the Gardens concerts take place on the lawn behind the Doris Duke Center. Lawn chairs, picnics, and blankets are encouraged. Pets are not allowed. Outside food and beverages, including beer and wine, are permitted and will also be available for purchase on-site from The Palace International. The lawn will open at 6 p.m. before each concert. University parking at the Gardens is $2/hour until 7 p.m. In the event of rain, concerts will take place at Baldwin Auditorium on Duke’s East Campus. Location changes will be announced by 1 p.m. on the day of the event.


Music in the Gardens is presented by Duke Arts in partnership with Sarah P. Duke Gardens and Country Soul Songbook, with support from WXDU and Duke Summer Session.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens
420 Anderson Street
Durham, NC 27708
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The 2024 Lineup

Previous Music in the Garden’s Lineups

Event Archive

July 2023


Music in the Gardens: Christian Lopez

July 5, 2023

Hailed as an “Americana wunderkind” by Rolling Stone when he burst onto the music scene in 2017, Christian Lopez is now a prolific and mature artist, set to release his …

June 2023


Music in the Gardens: Melissa Carper

June 28, 2023

Nebraska-born vocalist-bassist Melissa Carper started her music career at age 12 in her family band. Now, after a nearly four-decade career, Carper has suddenly found herself thrust onto the national …

Music in the Gardens: XOXOK

June 21, 2023

Softly powerful vocals layered over captivating and skillful guitar playing are the defining characteristics of XOXOK’s “atmospheric soul music” – an expansive blend of soul and jazz. This soulscape is …

Music in the Gardens: Rebekah Todd

June 7, 2023

Rebekah Todd’s “Cosmic Soul Rock” is an eclectic blend of blues, folk, rock, and soul music guaranteed to get the 2023 Music in the Gardens series off to an unforgettable …

August 2022


Music in the Gardens: Weston Estate with Kate Rhudy

August 4, 2022

Weston Estate may call itself “your aunty’s favorite boy band,” but the original, homespun alt-pop sound of this Cary-based group isn’t anything you’ll hear from the Backstreet Boys or BTS.  …

July 2022


Music in the Gardens: IAMDYNAMITE

July 13, 2022

MUSIC IN THE GARDENS LOCATION UPDATE: Due to inclement weather, tonight’s event featuring IAMDYNAMITE will take place at 7 PM at Motorco Music Hall in Downtown Durham. Existing reservations will …

Music in the Gardens: Sarah Shook & the Disarmers

July 6, 2022

“Y’allternative,” “cowpunk,” “alt-country” – critics can’t settle on a way to describe Sarah Shook’s boundary-pushing take on country traditions, but they ultimately all agree – it’s great music. Hailing from …

August 2020


Music in Your Gardens:
Rissi Palmer

August 19, 2020

We’re proud to present Rissi Palmer as a part of Music in Your Gardens, a free eight-week online concert series showcasing nationally renowned artists who call Durham and the surrounding …

Music in Your Gardens:
Young Bull

August 12, 2020

We’re proud to present Young Bull as a part of Music in Your Gardens, a free eight-week online concert series showcasing nationally renowned artists who call Durham and the surrounding area …

Music in Your Gardens:
Kamara Thomas

August 5, 2020

We’re proud to present Kamara Thomas as a part of Music in Your Gardens, a free eight-week online concert series showcasing nationally renowned artists who call Durham and the surrounding area …

July 2020


Joe Troop on fiddle

Music in Your Gardens:
Joe Troop

July 29, 2020

We’re proud to present Joe Troop as a part of Music in Your Gardens, a free eight-week online concert series showcasing nationally renowned artists who call Durham and the surrounding area …

Music in Your Gardens:
H.C. McEntire

July 22, 2020

We’re proud to present H.C. McEntire as a part of Music in Your Gardens, a free eight-week online concert series showcasing nationally renowned artists who call Durham and the surrounding …

Music in Your Gardens:
Shirlette Ammons

July 15, 2020

We’re proud to present Shirlette Ammons as a part of Music in Your Gardens, a free eight-week online concert series showcasing nationally renowned artists who call Durham and the surrounding area …

Music in Your Gardens:
Skylar Gudasz

July 8, 2020

We’re proud to present Skylar Gudasz as a part of Music in Your Gardens, a free eight-week online concert series showcasing nationally renowned artists who call Durham and the surrounding …

Music in Your Gardens:
Hiss Golden Messenger

July 1, 2020

We’re proud to present Hiss Golden Messenger as a part of Music in Your Gardens, a free eight-week online concert series showcasing nationally renowned artists who call Durham and the …

Music in the Gardens: Cedric Burnside

July 17, 2019

Part of an outstanding multi-generational musical birthright that includes his father Calvin Jackson and genre-pioneering grandfather R. L. Burnside, Cedric Burnside literally grew up in the blues. Living in his …

June 2019


Music in the Gardens: Bedouine

June 26, 2019

Drawing on as well as contributing to a rich folk music tradition, Azniv Korkejian brings a diasporic knowingness to the rich and rewarding songs recorded under her Bedouine moniker. Though …

Music in the Gardens: Joan Shelley with Nathan Salsburg

June 19, 2019

First cultivating a national profile with 2014’s exemplary Electric Ursa, Joan Shelley continues to lure listeners into her musical world. Imbued with secrets and tells, the Kentucky singer’s songcraft culls …

Music in the Gardens: H.C. McEntire

June 13, 2019

Due to the threat of rain, Duke Performances’ presentation of H.C. McEntire at Music in the Gardens on Wednesday, June 12 has been re-scheduled to Thursday, June 13 at 7 …

July 2018


June 2018


July 2017


Music in the Gardens: Caleb Caudle

July 26, 2017

Winston-Salem singer, songwriter, and bandleader Caleb Caudle spent years shaping and sharpening his approach to country music before arriving, last year, at a triumph called Carolina Ghost.

Music in the Gardens: River Whyless

July 19, 2017

Asheville’s River Whyless has emerged from the mountain city’s bustling scene as one of the state’s most instantly likable bands.

Music in the Gardens: Kelsey Waldon

July 12, 2017

Kelsey Waldon sings it like she means it. The western Kentucky native doles out tough realizations about heartbreak and cheating, hard luck and lying (and battling back against it all) in a delightful monotone that says she’s seen and lived it all one too many times.

June 2017


Robbie Fulks

Music in the Gardens: Robbie Fulks

June 21, 2017

Even the stylistically broad label “alt-country” has been too slim to contain Robbie Fulks, “a wordier, more musically elastic, American Nick Lowe,” according to The New York Times. A graduate …

Robert Finley

Music in the Gardens: Robert Finley

June 14, 2017

Robert Finley is a legend waiting to be shared. At the age of eleven, in Louisiana, he used his shoe-buying allowance to snag his first guitar, and it, in turn, ensnared him in a lifelong love affair.

July 2016


Music in the Gardens: Black Twig Pickers

July 27, 2016

ALERT: Moving Black Twig Pickers at Music in the Gardens Indoors to Motorco Music Hall. Heavy lightning & thunderstorms are forecast for tonight at showtime. As a result, we have …

Music in the Gardens: Mount Moriah

July 7, 2016

Following cancellation due to rain on Wednesday, June 29, Duke Performances’ presentation of Mount Moriah has been re-scheduled for Thursday, July 7 at 7 PM. All ticket holders will be …

Music in the Gardens: Sierra Hull

July 6, 2016

Bluegrass mandolinist and singer Sierra Hull’s breakout album Weighted Mind went right to the top of Billboard’s bluegrass charts at the start of this year. The Chicago Tribune praised Hull’s “crystalline …

June 2016


Music in the Gardens: Skylar Gudasz

June 15, 2016

Please note: Since heavy lightning and thunderstorms are anticipated for Wednesday, June 15 (80% probability), we have moved the concert with Skylar Gudasz out of the Duke Gardens and over to Motorco Music …

Music in the Gardens: Leyla McCalla

June 8, 2016

After a stint in the GRAMMY-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, singer and cellist Leyla McCalla has developed a sound all her own on two acclaimed solo records: her Langston Hughes tribute …

Music in the Gardens: No BS! Brass Band

June 1, 2016

The No BS! Brass Band draws from all over the American brass tradition. One minute, they sound like a New Orleans second line, the next like Mingus-style free jazz, the …

July 2015