April 14, 2004 News & Views » Cover

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Rock & Roll Call 

The Best of Charlotte's Original Music Scene

By
click to flip through (3) Ron Brendle
  • Ron Brendle
   

Page 2 of 3

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)

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