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Versatile Duo ‘Violet Bell’ Sings About Life’s Beautiful Moments

Lizzy Ross and Omar Ruiz-Lopez
Violet Bell
Lizzy Ross and Omar Ruiz-Lopez

Last year Omar Ruiz-Lopez began playing alongside songstress Lizzy Ross. Ruiz-Lopez is a classically trained violinist, viola and cello player who complements her folksy sound. As their collaboration grew, he became more than just an accompanist, and the duo became known as Violet Bell.

The band has since performed about 200 shows together and recently returned from a tour that took them from the Outer Banks to Massachusetts. Their songs reflect the beauty they find all around them and their sense of wonder and gratitude. 

Host Frank Stasio talks with Violet Bell and they play live in our studio.

Violet Bell will perform at Mystery Brewing Public House in Hillsborough Friday, July 14 at 8 p.m. They are the featured performers at Saturdays in Saxapahaw on Saturday, July 15 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. They have shows in Duck, Kitty Hawk and Wilmington in August. And they will release their next album at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro on September 15. Host Frank Stasio talks with Violet Bell about their evolution as a band and the moments that matter to them.  

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio

Jennifer Brookland is a temporary producer for The State of Things.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.