Raleigh Pop Culture

The most famous movie to come out of the Triangle area was not set in Raleigh, but in nearby Durham. We're talking, of course, about "Bull Durham", the Kevin Costner-Susan Sarandon classic about a minor league baseball player down to his last chance. Go to a Durham Bulls game to experience the magic that is a minor-league game on a sweltering summer night. To get a sense of the region's madness for basketball, pick up a memoir by one of the famed college basketball coaches—Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Dean Smith (UNC) or Jim Valvano (NC State). Or check out Will Blythe's hilarious "To Hate Like This is to Be Happy Forever" an account of a lifetime obsession with the Duke-UNC basketball rivalry. The Triangle, especially Chapel Hill, has a long tradition of top-notch indie, folk and rock music. James Taylor is a Chapel Hill native. Alt-country bad boy Ryan Adams founded Whiskeytown in Raleigh. And Indie-pop trio Ben Folds Five is from Chapel Hill, as are Superchunk and Squirrel Nut Zippers.