Ron Liberti Collection, 1993-2023

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Summary

Creator:
Liberti, Ron.
Abstract:

Ron Liberti (1967-) is a white musician and artist originally from Passaic, N.J., but a resident of Orange County, North Carolina since 1991. The collection contains posters and audio recordings that document Ron Liberti's involvement in the Chapel Hill, N.C., independent music scene. Poster art constitutes the bulk of the collection. The posters are primarily announcements of concerts in the Chapel Hill area, many of them commissioned by Cat's Cradle, a local music venue, but there are also posters relating to film festivals, art openings, album releases, and tours. Among the artists and events featured on the posters are the Buzzcocks, Evil Wiener with Billy Sugarfix, Half Japanese, the Hi Mom! Film Festival, Tift Merritt, Portastatic, Sebadoh, Sleazefest, Southern Culture on the Skids, and Zen Frisbee. Audio recordings include rock music recordings by bands in which Liberti played, among them Pipe and the Ghost of Rock. There are also recordings from Liberti and Groves Willer's local alternative music imprint, Hypno-Vista Records, founded in 2002. These include some by Cantwell Gomez & Jordan, Mind Sirens, and Work Clothes.

Extent:
245 items
Language:
Materials in English
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Ron Liberti was born in July 1967 in Passaic, N.J. Between 1985 and 1990, he studied fine arts and film at Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., and printmaking at Brighton Polytechnic in Brighton, U.K. Liberti moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1991, where he participated in the local music scene as a musician, the head of a record label, and poster artist.

Liberti has been making posters for local and touring bands and events since the early 1990s. His work has been commissioned regularly by Carrboro, N.C., venue Cat's Cradle. Beginning with posters for his own bands, Liberti has developed a following for his work, both in the music and the art communities; his posters have been viewed and sold worldwide on the web and in art galleries.

A singer and guitarist, Liberti has performed in several Chapel Hill bands, including Pipe, the Ghost of (the British Soldier Who Loved to) Rock, Clok Lok, the Tooth, Bringerer, Poncho Holly's Bullfight Party, American Balm, the Civil War, and Nice Joe Green. In addition, Liberti started local record label, Hypno-Vista Records, in 2002 with fellow Chapel Hill musician Groves Willer.

Scope and content:

The collection contains posters and audio recordings that document musician and poster artistRon Liberti's involvement in the Chapel Hill, N.C., independent music scene. Poster art constitutes the bulk of the collection. The posters are primarily announcements of concerts in the Chapel Hill area, many of them commissioned by Cat's Cradle, a local music venue, but there are also posters relating to film festivals, art openings, album releases, and tours. Among the artists and events featured on the posters are the Buzzcocks, Evil Wiener with Billy Sugarfix, Half Japanese, the Hi Mom! Film Festival, Tift Merritt, Portastatic, Sebadoh, Sleazefest, Southern Culture on the Skids, and Zen Frisbee. Audio recordings include rock music recordings by bands in which Liberti played, among them Pipe and the Ghost of Rock. There are also recordings from Liberti and Groves Willer's local alternative music imprint, Hypno-Vista Records, founded in 2002. These include some by Cantwell Gomez & Jordan, Mind Sirens, and Work Clothes. A copy of a recording by Zen Frisbee is included because of its value as a seminal local release.

Acquisition information:

Received from Ron Liberti of Carrboro, N.C. in April 2005 (Acc. 100056), November 2006 (Acc. 100537), June 2010 (Acc. 101313), October 2011 (Acc. 101512), and October 2019 (Acc. 103745); from Maria Estornio in July 2017 (Acc. 20260224.3); and from Matt Welborn, circa 2023 (Acc. 20260224.4). Website harvested using Archive-It, beginning in October 2013 (Acc. 101961). Additional posters received as part of Acc. 20240219.8, provenance unknown.

Processing information:

Processed by: Library Staff, June 2005

Encoded by: Jason Casden, June 2005

Updated by: Robin Chen, July 2007; Amanda Loeb, May 2014; Nancy Kaiser, November 2019; Barrett Brooks, February 2026

In 2017, we began using "white" as an ethnic and racial identity for individual and families, in addition to "Black," "African American," "Jewish," and other familiar identity terms that we have used for decades in collection descriptions. We use this identity term so that whiteness is no longer the presumed default of the people represented in our collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

Sensitive materials statement:

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

Access to audio materials may require production of listening copies.

Restrictions to use:

Publication of materials must be approved by donor.

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Ron Liberti Collection #20398, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu