Brendan Greaves is a writer, curator, and folklorist who has published and lectured widely about American vernacular art and music. He currently serves as Director of Public Art and Community Design at the North Carolina Arts Council, in which capacity he has collaborated with communities statewide on public art, arts facility, cultural tourism and creative economy projects; current large-scale efforts include the African American Music Trail, the Historic Happy Valley Byway, and Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. In 2010 he founded Paradise of Bachelors, a record label dedicated to curating and releasing under-recognized music of the American vernacular, with an emphasis on the South.