Rock & Roll Call 

That sentiment's especially true when it comes to music. Some artists may have broken up their band or recently left town, and some bands may be just getting started. And then you have the bedroom geniuses, content to simply share their talents with the curtains and cabinetry.

As such, this list is not truly comprehensive -- but it is, we think, pretty damn close. It's not a list of our favorite bands, though many are assuredly on here, too. It's more of a look at what we see as the best of a Charlotte original music scene that is more vibrant and healthy than at perhaps any time in our history -- no matter which style of music you may prefer (as someone once said, "labels are for suckers"). However, we did try to fit bands into the pre-established categories we felt they fit best, for convenience's sake.

In short, we think it's time for our hard-working Charlotte bands, duos, and independent musicians to stand up and be counted. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you: Creative Loafing's Rock & Roll Call. Go see "em. Go support them. And whatever you do, try not to get counted absent.

Jazz
Featured artist: Ron Brendle

Ron Brendle, a freelance bassist in the Charlotte area since 1981, has won more Creative Loafing "Best-of" awards over the last 20 years than most anybody not named Lupie Duran. His performance/recording vitae includes stints with Nneena Freelon, Clark Terry, Charlie Byrd, Andrew Hill, Charlie Rouse, and Mose Allison. Ron's latest project is the Lost Dogs, a combination of two saxophones, drums, and bass (the group recently performed at the Hampton Jazz Festival). (www.ronbrendle.com)

Don't Forget:

The Chad Lawson Trio, currently on the Arizona-based Summit Records (www.chadlawson.com)... Jaime Ibarra, formerly of De Madera and a top-notch flamenco guitarist (www.jaimei barra.com)... Scott McCloud and Hipshack, longtime Charlotte vets and jazz/funk-practioners (www.hipshack.com)... Jim Brock, champion session man and world-class percussionist (www.jimbrock.net)... A Sign of the Times Big Band, a rolling history of black popular music...Beth Chorneau, Charlotte's jazz vocalist extraordinaire... Celine Berman and Jazztrack, supper-club jazz (www.jazztrack.com)

Punk/Hardcore
Featured Artist: My So-Called Band

If there was a local music Hall of Fame, Chris Peigler would get in for time served. Peigler's been promoting shows, flyering, writing for magazines, putting together benefits, and attempting to consolidate Charlotte's punk and hardcore scene for years now. To boot, his (so-called) band has received nationwide acclaim for its meat-and-potatoes, old-school take on conscious punk. (www.mysocalledband.com)

Don't Forget:

The hardcore metallic maelstrom of Choke Their Rivers With Our Dead (www.choketheirrivers.com)... The Hungry Ghosts, riff-heavy political stomp... Drat, all-star old-school Charlotte boot rock (www.dratusa.com)... The Bad Samanthas, Pixie-fied Southern punk... Ten Missing Days, youth-fueled wall of noise dynamics (www.tenmissingdays.com)... Antiseen, the once and future kings of Charlotte punk and perhaps the most internationally famous band in Charlotte history (www.antiseen.com)... Minority Party, Rancid-style rave-up... Hopesfall, hard-touring Trustkill records stars (www.hopesfall.com)... Aria, metal-influenced hardcore (www.tribunalrecords .com)... A Closing Skyline, atmospheric aggro (www.aclosingskyline .com)... Seneca, melodic NC hardcore... Hell or High Water, Southern hardcore... Walsham, metal-flaked hardcore with an emo streak... Babyshaker, dirty glam boys (and girls)

Heavy Rock/Metal
Featured Artist: Gideon Smith and the Dixie Damned

Signed to the super-cool Detroit-based dirge rock label Small Stone (Dixie Witch, Throttlerod), Charlotte music scene veteran Gideon Smith seems to have hit his stride with the Dixie Damned, his best project yet. The band's Southern Gentlemen proved where there's (pot) smoke, there's fire, and no less a pop culture phenomenon than HBO's Sopranos recently used one of the band's songs in a scene ("Draggin' The River"). (www.smallstone.com)

Don't Forget:

Sever the Tie, brutal hardcore-influenced riffology... The Dead Kings, Dirty South punk metal (www.thedeadkings.com)... Horse Thief, calculus-level math rock... Black Lagoon, ethereal swamp dirge (www.theblacklagoon.com)... Semi-Pro, purveyors of self-described "sonic rock" (www.semi-pro.com)... Oh What a Nightmare, The Avett Brothers' hard rock project (www.theavettbrothers.com/owan/)... Elevator Action, energetic punk-tinged glamour rock (www.morisen.com) ...Murdercycle, bloodthirsty riff rock (www.murdercycle.us)

Indie Rock
Featured Artist: The Talk

Equal parts 70s punk, 60s pop, and late 80s indie, The Talk are following up their last one, No, You Shut Up with a new release, It's Like Magic In Reverse, which is due out later this month. Produced by Saddle Creek knob-twiddler Mike Mogus (Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint), the record is picking up airplay daily, and for good reason -- these guys pack more rock into one song than some people do on entire albums. (www.the-talk.com)

Don't Forget:

Pyramid, an eight-man sonic collective (www.sidewalkexplosion.com)... The Sea of Cortez, Rodney Lanier's equally large Spaghetti-O western band... The Houston Brothers, brazen emotional atmospherics (www.thehoustonbrothers.com)... The Sammies, energetic post-punk rave-up (www.sammiesrock.com)... Bellglide, Mitch Easter-produced and shoe-gaze friendly (www.bellglide.com)... Bullship, anti-formula math rock (www.bullship.com)... The Interstellars, space rock -- the final frontier (www.theinterstellars.com)... The Virginia Reel, low-fi indie comers (www.thevirginiareel.com)... The Gold Coast, a new songwriting project manned by ex-First Night on Earth drummer Vance Carlisle... Ashley Robinson, recently signed to Liquilab Records (www.ashleyrobinson.com)

Roots
Featured Artist: Cast Iron Filter

Playing what they dub "Irongrass," Cast Iron Filter are equal parts mandolin, a funk/jam rhythm section, and straightforward songwriting, all wrapped up into one happy (heavy?) Cast Iron package. The band tour near-constantly, and have built up a large following up and down the East Coast for their radio-ready take on jamgrass. (www.castironfilter.com)

Don't Forget:

David Childers and the Modern Don Juans, bootstomp country and rock (www.davidchilders.com)... The Avett Brothers, the world's first porch "n' roll band (www.theavettbrothers .com)... Dave Rhames & the Westchesters, Hank Jr.-style outlaw country... Les Dirt Clods, six-man country boogie by way of The Faces... Lenny Federal, local guitar hero and Americana scene standby... Hard Times Family, Chad Edwards' (Lou Ford) newest project... Black Market Radio, radio-ready alt.country (www.blackmarketradio.com)... Candlewyck, studio-shined contemporary bluegrass (www.votiverecords.com)... The Moonshine Racers, local staple "Fudd" McKinney's bluegrass band (www.moonshineracers.com)... The Belmont Playboys, local roots and rockabilly legend (www.rockabilly.net/belmontplayboys)... Jem Crossland and the Hypertonics, American rockabilly Anglo-style (www.jemandtonics.com)

Blues
Featured Artist: Abe Reid and the Spikedrivers

Abe and his Spikedrivers play their blues/rock/reggae authentic Piedmont style (well, at least the blues part), and his stint with the (in)famous Blue Rags provides the necessary boho slant for a young white kid to pull off such an endeavor. For a young fellow, Abe's seen a lot, and it all goes into the music, from his chicken-fried pickin' to his warm mahogany yawp. Abe and the boys have a new CD, Falling Boogie, out now.(www.abereid.com)

Don't Forget:

Mookie Brill, Charlotte sideman extraordinaire and local fixture... Robin Rogers, been-there-done-that blues belter (www.robinrogers.com)... Shelia Carlisle, former Arhooly vocalist and possessor of some serious pipes... The Double Door Inn's Monday Night All Stars, perhaps the tightest regular band in town...

Singer/Songwriter
Featured Artist: Benji Hughes

Ever since his days in the long-gone Charlotte group Muscadine, Benji Hughes established himself as a perennial front-runner in any discussion of Queen City songwriters. Whether crooning with his band The Goldenrods, at a solo piano show, or with other songwriters (Hughes is rumored to have penned a track or two with Alice Cooper), Hughes' dead-on sense of humor and drop-dead sense of melancholy make his songs impossible to forget.

Don't Forget:

Todd Busch, ex-Flyweb guitarist, local legend, and the ultimate musician's musician... Gigi Dover, ex-Rank Outsiders alt.country popstress (www.gigidover.com)... Michael Reno Harrell, critically acclaimed story songwriter (www.michaelreno.com)... Rick Spreitzer, young Americana upstart (www.rickspreitzer.com)... Tom Eure, bluegrass-tinged roots folker (www.tomeure.com)... Jason Hausman, former Godmanradio frontman and talented songwriter/composer (www.jasonhausman.com)... Deanna Lynn, former Doubting Thomas chanteuse (www.deannalynn.com)... John Dungan, soulful folk/blues (www.johndungan.com)... Etta Lea, the honey-voiced alter ego of Lea Pritchard (www.ettalea.com)

Kitchen Sink
Featured Artist: Alternative Champs

You never know what you're going to get at an Alternative Champs show: perhaps an "all-white" evening (clothing, that is), spacesuits, maybe even no clothes at all. What you can count on is rock-solid musicianship, backed by a wit that is sometimes desert-dry and other times drenched in potty humor. Going to see music that relies on humor as its meal ticket is often a dicey proposition. Luckily, the Champs roll sevens more often than "snake-eyes." (www.alternativechamps.com)

Don't Forget:

Haitian Hate Gods, featuring former members of goth-rockers VooDou (www.haitainhategods.com)... Snagglepuss, local legend Hope Nicholls' exuberant traveling tea party(www.snagglepuss.com)... Baleen, hummable jazz/rock/ska/core (www.baleen.net)... The Aqualads, perhaps the best surf band in NC history (www.aqualads.com)... Unknown Hinson, recent signee to Capitol Records and the self-proclaimed "King of the Country/Western Troubadours (www.officialunknownhinson.com) ...Delancey Street Band, a versatile quartet recently in studio with Mark Williams (www.delanceystreetband.net)

Jam Bands
Featured Artist: Satellite Union

The self-described "Jazz/Funktronica" band Satellite Union recently finished in the Top 10 of Relix Magazine's "Jamoff" competition, earning some press and a spot in a sampler to be distributed free with copies of Relix magazines at music festivals. Probably the closest this town has to a Sound Tribe Sector Nine or Disco Biscuits, bands that look to the living as much as they do The Dead.

Don't Forget:

Tom Constanten and his Able-Bodied Posse, the ex-Grateful Dead keyboardist's new blues band (www.tomconstanten.com)... Wavy Train, a walking jukebox of 70s rock and soul... Bellyfull, well-done funk/jazz/soul sandwiches (www.bellyfull.com)... Bessie Mae's Dream, straightforward Dead/Panic-style jamming (www.bessiemaesdream.com)

Pop/Rock
Featured Artist: The Spongetones

The name Spongetones sums up this band pretty well. All the members are self-proclaimed sponges for the golden era of pop songwriting, and manage to blend these lessons into their own music with laudable results. Comprised of Patrick Walters, Rob Thorne, Steve Stoeckel and Jamie Hoover, the "Tones are likely the longest-running band in Charlotte history, and more than likely its most successful. Earnest, pop-barbed songwriting, Merseybeat hooks and harmonies, and folk music finesse are their calling cards, and they've been handing them out for over 20 years now.

Don't Forget:

Poprocket, power pop with just enough noise (www.poprocketband.com)... Justincase, who were on Madonna's Maverick label (www.justincasefans.com)... Merseybeat, formerly Filmschool, and Mike Mitschele's solo vehicle... gogoPilot, led by pop songwriter Jeff Williams... The Noise, straight ahead rock led by the raspy Bruce Hazel... Scoot, otherwise known as George Pittman Jr., purveyor of "acoustic brain food." (www.scootmusic.com)... Leisure McCorkle, power pop Don (www.leisuremccorkle.com)... Major Nelson, local tunesmith Henry Pharr's long-running band (www.majornelsonband.com)... Tyre Fyre, the 70s-saluting new project of John (Come on Thunderchild) Morris (www.tyrefyre.com)... Jason Scavone and the Noises Ten, radio-ready melodic rock (www.jasonscavone.com)

Hip Hop
Featured Artist: The Others

The group's anticipated sophomore CD, Past Futuristic, is due out sometime in May. Conscientious hip hop that manages to avoid the tedious preaching and backpack-gazing that often befall the genre, The Others' recent recording history suggests they might not be relegated to outsider industry status for much longer. Featuring production by djDR and madwreck and featuring guests like Supastition and DJ Slate, Past Futuristic shows The Others doing what they do best: keeping one foot in the past as they step confidently into the future. (www.madwreck.com)

Don't forget:

Supastition, local grown and nationally known (www.supastition.com)... Dominant 7, a local collective kickin' it Mt. Holly-style (www.dominant7.net)... Figga 4, long-running underground spittin' (www.figga4.com)... kHillmorgan, young act on the rise (www.khillmorgan.com)... Tha Notz, Charlotte-based duo (knomad.host.sk/notz/index.html)