Saint & Sinner Reconciled
Twenty-five years ago, Charlotte author Frye Gaillard wrote about Johnny Cash for the award-winning book Watermelon Wine: The Spirit of Country Music. This profile of Cash is excerpted from a 25th anniversary edition of the book tobe published this fall by NewSouth Books. It is a portrait of a singer at the peak of his…
Sue Who?
It was the summer of 1995 on Capitol Hill, and Congresswoman Sue Myrick was on fire. I would know. I reported to her office every morning as an unpaid intern. I even authored some of the press releases and opinion columns her office sent out to newspapers that summer — as is typical in congressional…
Johnny, Waylon, Tom And Me
I was privileged to meet Johnny Cash once, on January 6, 1990. Like many people’s brushes with celebrities, the encounter was one of those out-of-the-blue things that to this day has me pinching myself sometimes. The Tom Cruise race car flick Days Of Thunder had been filming at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and in and…
Terror and Britney!
I’m sure you remember all the weird coincidences surrounding the assassinations of Presidents Kennedy and Lincoln — the names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters, Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy and Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln, a week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland, and a week before Kennedy was shot,…
Cash on the Barrelhead
Johnny Cash was as American as apple pie. He was also as American as an ex-con, a drug abuser, and a preacher man. As visually iconic as any popular music artist since Elvis Presley, the symbolism of his black clothes rang true because you knew it went way beyond the surface. In a culture rife…
The Blotter
HYPOCRITES SET THE BEST EXAMPLES: A sleepover held by two young girls went downhill one evening when they began to argue. After hearing about it, the girls’ mothers decided to take action and teach their daughters the proper way to settle a dispute. This, however, also went downhill as the two mothers assaulted each other…
Into The Great Wide Open
In 1992, several Newfoundland musicians got together and released their first recording. Aggressively folky, without apology, these hyperactive, full-tilt performers set out to reflect the unique world-view of their island’s spectacular musical heritage with their self-titled debut. Since then, Great Big Sea has basked in their own success with seven award-winning (Canadian) releases, gradually becoming…
News of the Weird
Dick of death: Females in tribes in Kenya and other African nations are finally rebelling at the ancient custom of requiring a newly widowed woman to pay to have sex with the village’s “cleanser” to purify her soul sufficiently to be allowed to attend her husband’s funeral, according to an August Washington Post dispatch. Said…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 9.17 SNMNMNM — For starters: a lead accordion player. A tuba player instead of a bass guitarist. Three-part harmonies. Also, that cliched-ass instrument called the electric guitar. Yet another band proving that it’s not the gimmick that makes the band, but the other way around. Sure, it takes some getting used to — accordion…
Red Star Tavern
Meet Market Upscale comfort food, rookie servers at popular Dilworth eatery “It’ll be about 15 minutes,” the hostess of Red Star Tavern informed us. “You can wait in the bar.” She handed us a pager. We made our way through a thicket of casually dressed people, but discovered there was little room to stand, much…
CL Recommends
Hardbacks All The Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer (John Wiley & Sons). Veteran New York Times foreign correspondent chronicles the 1953 US-sponsored overthrow of Iran’s democratically elected leader, Mohamed Mossadegh, in a brilliantly realized history that also explains why US troops are dying in Iraq today. Kinzer connects the dots in a manner that would…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Sep. 17 Big Al’s Pub, Mooresville Jes & Sherry Blue Soul Station Buckhead Saloon Mission 19 Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Coley’s Tavern Acoustic Soul-ution Cuvee Wine & Art Gallery Trio 21 Double Door Inn Brian Doyle Band The Evening Muse Fullgrown w/ Dave Isaacs, Bill West Fat City SNMNMNM Graduate, Gastonia Simplified…
See & Do
SEPTEMBER 18 – THURSDAY Spirit Square becomes the arts Mecca of the South as the Southern Arts Federation holds its annual Performing Arts Exchange Project in Charlotte this week. The four-day conference includes two very full evenings of performance showcases running simultaneously at McGlohon Theatre and the smaller Duke Power Playhouse. Performances at these venues…
Mexican Jumping Scenes
They say the third time’s the charm, yet here’s Robert Rodriguez doing everything in his power to destroy that time-tested maxim in the year 2003. Rodriguez’s Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over may have been a summer box office hit — presumably because its target audience of under-12s had never enjoyed the dubious merits of three-dimensional…
Stargazer
For All Signs Mercury turns direct on the 20th. Projects and decisions that have been delayed or set aside can now be addressed and the routine business world will resume its usual hectic pace. Hopefully, the period of the retrograde will have done its job of encouraging reflection and reevaluation of previously made plans. Any…
The Ultimate Sin
Weary travelers who need a place to stop for the night now have a choice: They can spend about $65 to stay in a decent motel or they can shell out eight bucks and crash in a theater auditorium that’s playing The Order. Either way, their slumber won’t be interrupted. So unremittingly dull that I…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Mush To Judgment I know my boyfriend loves me, but I can’t get him to understand the difference between “thoughtful” and “romantic.” He’ll surprise me with socks I need (thoughtful), but not flowers I don’t (romantic). He pointed out that he didn’t buy me just any socks, but the Cadillac of hiking socks: a special…
Home Theater
ALL THE REAL GIRLS (2003). Writer-director David Gordon Green, an NC School of the Arts grad, followed 2000’s George Washington with another movie shot entirely in rural North Carolina. This sophomore effort is so laidback — so in tune with the naturally sleepy rhythms of everyday existence — that it feels unlike any love story…
Pat and Cat Do Argentina
If you’ve followed Billy Ensley for the past three years, you’ll notice that Charlotte’s preeminent triple threat has expanded his horizons as a singer and an actor. To effect his startling transformations — most memorably as Fagin in Oliver! and as the lead rocker in Hedwig — Ensley has radically changed his look. He brings…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES COLD CREEK MANOR Just imagine, a movie trailer that actually builds interest for the picture being plugged without (hold onto your seats!) giving away the entire plot of the film? That’s the case with the teaser for Cold Creek Manor, which never quite allows viewers to peg whether the actual movie is a…
CSO: Seen But Not Heard?
You’ve seen the headlines and the news stories that began surfacing early last week. So you know that the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra musicians have declared a strike in a contract dispute, forcing cancellation of last week’s season-opening concerts with flutist Sir James Galway.Well, I’ve read about CSO management calling in federal mediators to help reach…
Freedom to Read
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Slaughterhouse Five, Of Mice and Men: Every one a literary classic, critically acclaimed over and over, and often staples of high school literature classes — and they’ve all been banned at one time or another. And now you can add the…
Gathering Fragments
A writer better have a good reason for using experimental techniques, since they oftentimes draw readers’ attention to themselves and away from the story. Although this debut novel by Matthew McIntosh has appeared to some as a mere collection of unrelated short stories, he puts his experiments to good use. McIntosh is never quirky for…
Divas For Dykes
It’s about 10am on a Saturday morning when I arrive at Bev’s house. Bev is a friend of mine who happens to be a lesbian. One night over drinks, we got a great idea while laughing about a recent episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I thought it would be great if we…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Concert on the Green The Davidson College Jazz Ensemble will present an outdoor concert on the Village Green at the corner of Main St & Concord Rd. Sun., Sept. 21, 6 p.m. Free. Davidson College. 704-894-2357. Morgan State University Choir Performance of traditional and contemporary gospel music and spiritual music. Mon., Sept. 22,…
Check out what you don’t know
It’s usually not a good sign when you get to a venue at the appointed showtime and the only folks there are the musicians, the promoter, and the bartenders — unless, of course, you’re itching to just drink a lot and avoid people altogether. A showcase of some hip-hop acts from the Chicago-based indie label…
La Vida Dulce
If you’ve not yet visited one of the growing number of Mexican bakeries in town, you have a treat in store. “Most of my customers are Mexican and I see them on a regular basis,” said Augustine Cervantes, owner of Odalys Panaderia y Pasteleria, who opened his third bakery two years ago. “But about 20…
Letters to the Editor
Think you get junk mail? Below is a tiny sample of the mail received in our Letters to the Editor mailbox last week. Attention Cable TV Viewers Get Your PAY-PER-VIEW, ADULT CHANNELS, MOVIE CHANNELS, SPORT EVENTS, and other SPECIAL EVENTS—FREE!!! –Delia Lamb Get a Lift For the first time on the web, we are offering…
Jump In
After a particularly crappy day, treating yourself to something special helps erase the To-Do list in your mind. Relaxing your body, mind and spirit winds you down so you can lounge on the couch without feeling guilty. For me, a massage treats the body; a long bubble bath eases the mind; and a great bottle…
Don’t Phone Home
One of the wireless companies has a radio commercial for its “family share” plan featuring a mother squeaking that it lets her keep in touch with a daughter away at school. She can hear all about her tests and even the new guy in her life! To those who have just embarked for college, I…
Good Eats
All Around Town Anntony’s Caribbean, 400 S. Tryon St., 704-339-0303; 2001 E. 7th St., 704-342-0749. All locations have different owners. A hint of the tropics; rotisserie chicken with Jamaican jerk sauce, ribs, Paradise Island fish special, curries, and Caribbean styled greens. $$ Azteca, 116 Woodlawn Rd., 704-525-5110; 9709 Independence Blvd., 704-814-9877; 1863 W. Franklin Blvd.…
Fickle Firing Squad
Some people are just born loudmouths. Honestly, I don’t think they can help it. One of my friends is one of those people just born loud, and her family is always telling stories about her noisiness as a child, the trouble she got into as a teenager, and how even today she sticks her foot…
