By By KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER
Lifestyles & Features Editor
A former reporter for the Washington Daily News is set to return to his old stomping grounds later this month.
But this time he’ll be a front man for a featured band during the Smoke on the Water festival.
Charles Blackburn and his band, When Cousins Marry, are being sponsored by the Daily News and the Washington Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the newspaper.
Blackburn came to work at the Daily News in February 1975 as a cub reporter just starting out in the business. He remained on staff until November when he left to take a job with his hometown newspaper in Henderson.
Over the years, while polishing his skills as a writer, Blackburn also honed his talents as a musician. It’s that role that is bringing him back to Washington on Oct. 24. Recent health issues have temporarily slowed him down, but Blackburn is ready to reconnect with Washington.
“I may sit in for a couple numbers and introduce the band,” he said during a telephone interview. “I’m looking forward to it.”
As Blackburn recalled, he came to Washington after checking out the job markets in Wilson, Rocky Mount and Greenville.
“I thought I’d work in the western part of the state, but it snowed that day so I headed east,” he said with a laugh. As fate would have it, he landed on the Daily News’ doorstop and in the office of Ashley Futrell on the very day a position came open.
“I saw Mr. Futrell on CBS talking about a local murder trial on national television, so the next morning I just walked in down there and applied for a job,” Blackburn said. “As it turned out, Mr. Futrell’s sister was my mother’s best friend back in Henderson. That gave me a little bit of an edge.”
Blackburn, who now lives in Raleigh with his wife and daughter, said he has fond memories of his brief stint in Washington.
“It was a very welcoming place and people were very helpful to a cub reporter on his first newspaper job,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I do remember that the local meetings seemed to go on forever.”
After a busy career in news reporting, Blackburn now frequently writes articles for Our State magazine, and his short stories have appeared in the Raleigh News &Observer’s Sunday Reader and the Charlotte Viewpoint. His travels have brought him through Beaufort County, but this will be the first time in several years that he’s actually stopped to visit.
“I’m going to look around and see how things have changed in Washington,” he said. “And I want to go by Bill’s Hot Dogs, but I probably won’t eat four or five like we used to.”
Blackburn has nurtured a love of music since he was a high school student.
“I was self-taught, like a lot of people are,” he said. “I played a little bit, sitting in with people here and there.”
In 1981, he fell in with a group of like-minded musicians and When Cousins Marry was the result.
“We play several times a year at St. Mary’s and we play in the Triangle area a lot,” Blackburn said. “As for the band’s style, we call it rock, blues and beyond because our trombone player comes up with some pretty weird stuff.”
During Smoke on the Water, When Cousins Marry will perform some original tunes as well as old standards that will be familiar to the crowds.
Brownie Futrell, the Daily News’ president and publisher, is excited to welcome home a “long lost” member of the newspaper family.
“Charles is remembered very fondly at the Daily News, where he served as one of our finest reporters ever,” Futrell said. “He is very talented, both as a writer and as a musician, and it is only fitting that his band is helping the Daily News celebrate its 100th anniversary with a public performance.
“We are honored that the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce is helping co-sponsor the appearance of When Cousins Marry, and we invite the community to come out for what will be a great afternoon of entertainment.”
For more information about When Cousins Marry, visit www.whencousinsmarry.com.