06/08/10

Boston Globe calls Charlotte 'Wall Street South', touts our comeback

Remember when The Washington Post ran this story last fall? It really irritated local business leaders, not least because it was written by a former Observer reporter, the talented Binyamin Appelbaum. In fact, it still holds a special place in many civic boosters' craws, because of passages like this one:

Few American cities prospered more over the past two decades than Charlotte, its growth propelled and gilded by Wachovia and its crosstown rival, Bank of America. Executives shoehorned gaudy... Read more »

Posted at 03:52 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/26/10

Levine Museum of the New South garners national award

Forgive me while I brag for a moment: Some big news out of Los Angeles today. A contingent of staffers from our very own Levine Museum of the New South is on the West Coast this week for the annual conference for the American Association of Museums, where it was announced that the museum has been awarded an Excellence in Exhibition Award for its current exhibit Changing Places: From Black and White to Technicolor. The exhibit was recognized for Special Achievement in Community Engagement. These are sort of like the Oscars for museum exhibits, and Levine Museum was competing against all types and sizes of institutions from across the country (disclosure: my wife works for the museum. Hence, the bragging.).

A judge had this to say, according to a press release from the... Read more »

Posted at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/20/10

MuTue May 18 edition: Lou Ford and Leadville!

Man, is it Thursday already? Then it's mos def time for a Music Tuesday. Charlotte has had a great run of shows lately, and that run continues. Here we go...

Friday, May 21
Lou Ford with Leadville Social Club
Local band Lou Ford (it is a band, not a person. Lou Ford is a character from a Jim Thompson novel) has already made an appearance in Music Tuesday, in a stripped down version. Now, the full band reunites for one of its occasional shows, this time at the legendary Double Door Inn (which is not an inn but an old house converted into a great blues club. Confused yet?) Lou Ford is led by harmonizing, guitar-slinging, songwriting brothers Alan and Chad Edwards. They play a slightly... Read more »

Posted at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/12/10

May 11 Music Tuesday: Josh Ritter! OK Go! More!

I was all prepared to post this week's Music Tuesday yesterday, i.e. on Tuesday, but then I realized that would be bad form. So I waited until today, Wednesday. Is anyone getting this joke?

Huge day of music in Charlotte today. Let's go:

TONIGHT Wednesday May 12
Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band at McGlohon Theatre
I've been waiting for this show for a long time. I've seen Ritter play twice before, at the Visulite, and was blown away each time. I'm excited to see him in the larger, acoustically excellent McGlohon. He's often lauded for his superior songwriting chops, but he is also a transcendent live performer. He connects with the audience on each and every song, his enthusiasm and gratitude coming across as what it is, sincere. As for... Read more »

Posted at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1

05/07/10

Music Tuesday Big Honkin' May 7 Edition

After an inexplicable (even to me!) absence, Music Tuesday is back this week. (By the way, does anyone get the joke that Music Tuesday never actually runs on Tuesday? Or is this funny only to me?) This is a great week for a comeback -- some great shows are coming up. Let's get to it, shall we?

Friday, May 7
Levon Helm Band with the New Familiars at Knight Theater
Because, according to the publicity, "in 1954, Levon was fourteen years old when he saw Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins do a show at Helena." That's pretty cool. And this year, Levon Helm won a Grammy for Best Americana album. That is also pretty cool. And so is seeing concerts at the new Knight Theater. Three cools=a notice on my blog. But wait! It gets better! This is an actual... Read more »

Posted at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

04/15/10

Music Tuesday April 13 Edition: Todd Snider, Loud & Rich

More good stuff on the horizon this week. Let's get to it.

Thursday, April 15
Todd Snider with Paleface at the Visulite
I discovered Todd Snider in 1994, when, while "finding myself," I was working at a record store in Eastland Mall. The store manager, a funny dude who was a dead ringer for Weird Al Yankovic, announced that I had to hear a song, and he put in a Todd Snider CD. The song was a sendup of the Seattle grunge scene and not, I would come to find out, a completely typical Todd Snider song. Not that there is a typical Todd Snider song. Later, in an interview, he told me that his songwriting hero was John Prine, and I can see that. Snider writes funny songs, sad songs, story songs. He writes fast songs and slow songs. All carry a... Read more »

Posted at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1

04/12/10

Three Blocks of Bearden

While I'm waiting for my Center City basketball park concept to catch on (momentum is building ... slowly), I thought I'd offer another free idea to help make this city more interesting.

This one is inspired by an article in The New York Times on four blocks of Picasso exhibits:

"Two exhibitions within strolling distance provide access to an eye-popping 327 examples of Picasso’s etchings, aquatints, lithographs and linocuts. This total is probably more than can be seen in any other four-block area on the... Read more »

Posted at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2

04/07/10

Music Tuesday April 6

Missed last week due to some hairy magazine deadlines, but back at it this week. I hope you've figured out that although I call this segment "Music Tuesday," the actual publish day is a bit, um, fluid. Not too many shows on my radar this week, but here are ones worth checking out:

Thursday, April 7
Pico vs. Island Trees at Evening Muse (late show)
I don't know the band is called that, and I'm not going to look it up. A bit twee if you ask me. But I like their sound. It's got a classic pop ring to it--somewhat radio-friendly actually. I could see XM or Sirius in particular going crazy over these guys. Seeing them play the intimate Muse should be a treat. You can preview Pico's newest record below. Do I detect a slight Commodores... Read more »

Posted at 09:59 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

03/23/10

Music Tuesday March 23 edition

Really interesting week of music coming up. No big (or even medium-size) national names on my radar, but two very cool local shows and one black banjo reunion. I'm guessing it'll be the only black banjo reunion I write about all year.

Friday March 26
Alan and Chad Edwards (of the band Lou Ford) at Evening Muse
A dozen or so years ago, I met Alan and Chad Edwards and bandmates Mark Lynch and Shawn Lynch (no relation) in an Irish pub to talk about their band Lou Ford for a story. To this day, it may be the best Charlotte band I've heard since moving here fifteen years ago. Their sound evolved from hard country to alt country to twangy indie (all on the same spectrum, but gradually more complex) over the years and through a few different lineups. But... Read more »

Posted at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

03/17/10

Library closings, layoffs

Among the new items coming out of the county budget workshops is that our library system is getting hammered. On top of $4 million in cuts since January 2009, the library system announced today that it is losing another $2 million in funding before June 30. This will result in at least 140 layoffs and the closure of almost half of the libraries, according to a press release. I've pasted the release below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2010

Library learns of $2 million cut in current budget year



Charlotte, NC - On Tuesday, March 16, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library learned that Mecklenburg County would be reducing the Library’s funding for Fiscal Year 2010 by 6.3 percent, or $2 million dollars, before... Read more »

Posted at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1