Mic Check
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Judebird & Jork Showcase Cross-Collaborative Process with Listening Party, Visuals
It doesn’t take a shared medium for creators to find a connection. Some of the best collaborations come from artists who draw on one another’s strengths from different fields. That is the case for Judebird and Jork, whom I would describe as a musical filmmaker and filmmaking musician, respectively. Jude…
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Gena Chambers Talks Jazz and Soul in Charlotte Before Lovers’ Night Out
There was a time in the 1990s when Gena Chambers was keeping a roof over her head with karaoke. The soul singer was living in Atlanta, where karaoke competitions were prevalent and rent was low. “I paid rent by going and singing karaoke and doing karaoke competitions, that was the…
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CeeLo Green Discusses His Journey and Legacy Before Carolina Theatre Show
When jazz, pop and R&B fans catch saxophone virtuoso Adrian Crutchfield’s high-energy hometown gig at Uptown’s Carolina Theatre on Aug. 8, they will also witness a force of nature. Crutchfield, an accomplished solo artist and key collaborator with Prince, will be joined onstage by his friend and colleague CeeLo Green,…
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The Nude Party Comes Home to NC for Roaring Riot Kickoff Jam
When we caught up with The Nude Party frontman Patton Magee over the phone on a recent afternoon, he was vacationing with his family in Boone, the town where it all began. That morning, he had taken his girlfriend to drive past the infamous house off US Route 421 where…
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PULSE Xperience Highlights BIPOC Creatives at Blackbox Theater
Black, Indigenous and other non-white (BIPOC) creatives too often have to elbow their way to a seat at the table. Instead of being invited or even welcomed into predominantly white spaces, BIPOC creatives are constantly being told to create spaces for themselves. At some point, Khalif J. Guiden got tired…
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Lute Talks ‘Gold Mouf,’ Anxiety and Dreamville Before First Local Headlining Gig
It’s hard to fathom that it’s been almost a decade since Charlotte rapper Lute, fresh off the release of his debut album West 1996, signed with J. Cole’s Dreamville record label, giving hope to the community of hip-hop artists who coming up in a scene where most people would say…
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blankstate. Discusses a Recent Shift in Songwriting and Sound
Echoing doleful yearnings for yesterday’s lost loves and coming-of-age summers, Charlotte indie pop-rock three-piece blankstate. transports listeners through sun-washed memories of one-sided romances and adolescent days spent in the summer sun. “It’s time we stop thinking about 16/ overthinking on the people we used to be…” the band’s vocalist Jacob…
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Modern Moxie Releases New Single, Looks Ahead to Summer EP
What started with Madison Lucas in her bedroom self-recording her first solo EP, aptly titled The Bedroom EP, in 2009, has in 15 years grown into one of Charlotte’s most formidable indie-rock bands, Modern Moxie. The foursome now includes Lucas as lead vocalist and rhythm guitar with her husband…
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Instrumental Virtuosos of Cloutchaser Mix Metal with Math Rock
Fueled by an undying sense of creativity and a mission to steer away from synthetic tendencies in today’s music scene, NC natives Cameron Price and Brady Kennedy bring the explosiveness and energy of 1980s metal to today’s math-rock as an instrumental duo. Distinguished by a volatile and dynamic sound that…
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Sweet Spine Talks Grunge, Darkness and Viral Fame
When 19-year-old Fox Haynes founded Sweet Spine in 2020, he and his bandmates set out to do what they knew set them on fire: writing and performing. “When you’re in a room with people who want to be there to listen to music, it’s almost like everything else falls away,”…
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Dollar Signs Drop New Album Full of Pop-Punk Folk Tales
In the song “Nuclear Family,” the penultimate track on local pop-punk band Dollar Signs’ new album Legend Tripping, frontman Erik Button tells the story of the 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash, in which a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two 3.8-megaton Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear…
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ReeCee Raps Shifts Her Focus and Her Sound but Not Her Work Ethic
When I catch up with Shauna Respass, aka ReeCee Raps, for a Sunday afternoon phone call, her voice is in and out. It’s not due to bad reception, it’s her literal voice, strained as the result of back-to-back shows in Durham and Charlotte over the weekend. It’s all in a…
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Shannon and the Clams Frontwoman Shannon Shaw Goes Coast to Coast
When I spoke with Shannon Shaw over the phone on April 19, she was enjoying a short respite between tours at her California home after having just ended a West Coast tour with her band Shannon and the Clams. The tour included a sold-out stop at San Francisco’s famed Fillmore…
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Charlotte Rap Dad Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon Counts His Blessings
For Charlotte rapper Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon, everything is about growth. When Queen City Nerve spoke to the always-evolving wordsmith in August, he was contemplating his space in the Charlotte scene. Since then, he has stayed on the grind, continuing to build connections across the country and build his name far…
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PREMIERE: Charles Walker Is a Man Torn in New “Passenger Side” Video
At one point in Charles Walker’s new video for “Passenger Side,” he hangs up a picture of Nashville next to a picture of Boone, where he’s lived for the last four years. He then stands between them and stares at the camera. It’s some pretty straightforward symbolism, as the Charlotte…
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Jamla Records Songbird Heather Victoria Lands in Charlotte
Born in Fayetteville and brought up in Wilson, R&B singer Heather Victoria was raised on soul music, but there’s plenty more than that mixed into her own art. Over her 10-year career, Victoria’s built her own sound, fusing soul and R&B with jazz and funk. “As an artist, I’m still…
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