Get to Know the Hartmans
A 2012 Interview on Hickory Arts, Music, Theatre & Community
Originally featured on The Mesh: People You Should Know with Hal Row
In 2012, Jeff and Carol Anne Hartman sat down with Hal Row for People You Should Know, a local interview series from The Mesh, to talk about music, theatre, photography, faith, family, and the early vision for what would become Hickory Arts.
At the time, Hickory Arts was still in its early stages. The name, the mission, and the idea were already there: a creative and performing arts space where students of all ages could study music, acting, writing, photography, recording, production, and other artistic disciplines under one roof.
More than a decade later, many of the ideas discussed in this interview still shape Hickory Arts today.
The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity, readability, and flow.
About the Interview
Program: People You Should Know
Host: Hal Row
Guests: Jeff Hartman and Carol Anne Hartman
Original Date: September 2012
Topics: Hickory Arts, music, theatre, photography, songwriting, artist development, faith-based music, community arts, and the Hickory creative scene
Early Music Background
Hal Row: Both of you have been involved with music for a long time. Let’s start there. Jeff, when I first knew you musically, you were performing with Scott Jeffrey’s Band. Tell us a little about that.
Jeff Hartman: We decided to give the band world a good go at the time. We performed under the name Scott Jeffrey’s Band, using my middle name to create a little anonymity. It was Carol Anne and me, along with the other musicians involved at the time.
Hal: Carol Anne, you were the vocalist?
Carol Anne Hartman: Yes. My voice is my instrument. My mother was actually offered a job in Texas as an opera singer when she was in college, so I suppose I inherited some of that from her. I grew up singing in church any chance I had—Christmas Eve, special music, all of that.
When I met Jeff, he was in another band, and I started singing background vocals. That was really the first time I used a different part of my voice outside of proper classical hymns and church music. It opened up another side of singing for me.
Hal: Jeff, did you start music young?
Jeff: I started writing and recording when I was fourteen. I started playing when I was nine. My parents got me into piano and guitar lessons, and I played throughout high school. Toward the end of college, I began auditioning for bands and joined a southern rock and country band called Southern Storm. We opened for The Georgia Satellites, which was a pretty cool experience.
Music, Theatre, and How They Met
Hal: You have both done quite a bit of musical theatre, too. Is that how you met?
Carol Anne: Yes. We met doing A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Jeff: I was the dirty old man.
Carol Anne: And I was the virgin.
Hal: What a show to meet in.
Jeff: Then we did The Fantasticks right after that at The Green Room, and that is when things really began.
Theatre has remained an important part of the Hartmans’ creative story. Over the years, both Jeff and Carol Anne have performed, directed, music directed, photographed, written, recorded, and supported productions throughout the Hickory area.
Hartman: Music, Worship, and Original Songs
Hal: What are you doing musically now?
Carol Anne: We perform as Hartman, just under our last name. We do a lot of worship leading. Sometimes we come in when a church worship team needs a break. Those teams are often made up of volunteers, and sometimes they need a Sunday to sit in the congregation and rest. We have also done worship concerts.
We work with a pool of musicians, depending on the setting. We like to adapt to the space and the situation.
Jeff: We tend not to use a traditional setup every time. We may have upright bass, violin, guitar, and other instruments depending on what fits the moment.
Hal: Is the music mostly original?
Carol Anne: Yes. We both write. Depending on the setting, we also include hymns or familiar worship songs people can sing along with, but original music is a big part of what we do.
“Do You See Me”
During the interview, Jeff and Carol Anne discussed their original song “Do You See Me,” which was written for a local film project.
Carol Anne: The song was written specifically for a movie filmed in this area, including Hickory and Morganton. There was a scene that called for a concert, and the filmmakers needed a song for it.
It became a song about feeling unseen, struggling, and then realizing that God had seen you the whole time. The phrase “Do you see me?” also came from one of our twins, Coble, who would come up to us after doing something and ask, “Did you see me?”
Jeff: That helped spark the idea. We are often asking that same question in life: “Do you see me? Are you paying attention?”
The interview included a performance excerpt of the song.
The Early Vision for Hickory Arts
Hal: Let’s talk about the performing arts center. What is it called?
Carol Anne: The Hickory Creative and Performing Arts Center.
The idea is one place where students of any age—not just school-age students—can come and learn an instrument, an art form, creative writing, drawing, painting, and more. We use the word “art” broadly.
Jeff: My focus has been singer-songwriter development, private acting coaching, theatre, recording, film production, and anything under the artistic umbrella. We even had someone interested in teaching puppet making.
The early vision was broad by design. Hickory Arts was never imagined as only a music lesson studio or a single-discipline school. From the beginning, the goal was to create a connected place for artists, students, performers, and creative people.
That same idea continues today through music lessons, acting lessons, artist development, recording, photography, house concerts, creative services, and performance opportunities.
Carol Anne Hartman Photography
Hal: Carol Anne, photography would be one of your areas?
Carol Anne: Yes. I own Carol Anne Hartman Photography. I do wedding and portrait photography, event photography, and work with local ballet schools and theatres. I love live events.
I had also been teaching photography classes, especially for moms who have DSLR cameras and want to learn how to use them. These cameras are wonderful tools for parents who want to document their family and their children’s lives, but even good cameras have limitations. It helps to know how to move beyond automatic settings when you are not getting the shot you want.
Photography has remained an important part of the Hickory Arts story, from performer headshots and event photography to visual storytelling and creative documentation.
Building a Community Space
Hal: How do you put together a creative arts center?
Carol Anne: We had a budget we needed to meet before opening a building. In a short time, we raised a significant portion through in-kind donations from people who believed in the vision—parents of future students, parents of past students, and supporters in the community.
We wanted it to be more than a space for lessons. We wanted it to be a community space. If a group needed a place to meet, we wanted to be able to say, “Here it is.” The idea was that people would come into the building, see local art on the walls, meet the teachers, and experience what was happening creatively.
Hal: So the space would help students, artists, teachers, and the community all at the same time.
Carol Anne: Exactly. It all works together.
Theatre in Hickory
Hal: Jeff, you’ve done a lot of theatre. What have you been working on recently?
Jeff: The last production I did was The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I still love theatre. We usually do one or two productions a year. Sometimes I music direct, sometimes I am in the show, and we volunteer however we can—online ads, photography, helping here and there. We love supporting the theatre.
Carol Anne: I was playing Maria in The Sound of Music at Hickory Community Theatre at the time of this interview, and our oldest son was on stage with me in his first role as Kurt von Trapp.
Theatre has always been part of the Hartman family’s life and part of Hickory Arts’ creative foundation.
Why Hickory?
Hal: You could go anywhere. Atlanta. Nashville. Larger cities. What is it about Hickory? Why are you here?
Carol Anne: For us, North Carolina supports the arts in an incredible way, especially Hickory and Newton. We have theatres, children’s theatres, places to hear live music, and an art museum that is constantly changing and highlighting both visiting artists and artists from this area.
This region is an incredible source of art and music.
Jeff: I grew up in New Jersey, so moving here was amazing to me. Hickory is in the middle of so many things. If you want mountain culture, Boone and Blowing Rock are nearby. I went to Appalachian State. If you want city life, Charlotte is about an hour away. Asheville has an incredible arts community. Wilmington has film and theatre opportunities.
For me, Hickory is right in the middle of so many different things. We are close to larger cities without having to live in the middle of that environment every day.
Looking Back
Listening back to this interview years later, what stands out most is how much of the original vision is still alive.
Hickory Arts has grown and changed, but the heart of the idea remains the same:
A place for artists.
A place for students.
A place for music, acting, photography, recording, writing, performance, and creative growth.
A place rooted in Hickory, North Carolina, but connected to the larger arts community throughout the region.
The details have changed.
The mission has not.
Home is where the art is.
