Bringing After Dark and Charlotte’s Music Past Back to Light, Part One

Charlotte has been on my mind a lot lately. Recently, I profiled the Queen City’s Emanuel Wynter in the episode “Violin’s Architect of Joyous Sound: Emanuel Wynter”, which followed a recent episode on Charlotte artist Sam Tayloe of the band Time Sawyer titled “New Stages for Time Sawyer and Their Hometown Festival”. Around the time I interviewed Emanuel Wynter, I was in Charlotte on two occasions for interviews that are coming to light here, in the first of a two part series on the public TV program After Dark, the brain child of the late Bill Barnes, who launched the series on WTVI in the late 1970s, continuing through 1984. Charlotte photographer, writer and music producer Daniel Coston came into possession of the audio of performances which were the foundation for After Dark episodes, and Daniel gave me the idea for this podcast and joined in as a co-producer.

This episode features interviews with former WTVI staff, members of Charlotte bands The Spongetones and Sugarcreek, as well as Daniel Coston, along with audio excerpts of performances from both aforementioned bands as well as The Fabulous Knobs and New Grass Revival, whose performance was the debut for banjo player Bela Fleck and guitarist Pat Flynn. Along the way is a good bit of history of the scene in Charlotte and the region, focusing on the late 1970s to mid 1980s, but also going back to the days of the Crazy Water Crystals Saturday Night Jamboree, a “barn dance” program on AM radio station WBT beginning in 1933.

Featured artists from Charlotte’s Finest concert series at Charlotte, NC public TV WTVI in 1984

Bringing After Dark and Charlotte’s Music Past Back to Light, Part One

Joe Kendrick

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Songs heard in this episode:

“Encourage Me” by The Fabulous Knobs, live at P.B. Scott’s, Charlotte NC 09/21/83

“Every Night Is A Holiday” by The Spongetones, performed live at P.B. Scott’s in Blowing Rock, NC, 07/15/81, excerpt

“Miss Mystic” by Sugarcreek, performed live at Yesterday’s, Hickory, NC, 07/28/81, excerpt

“In the Middle of the Night” by New Grass Revival, performed live at Fast Company, Hickory, NC 06/18/82

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Daniel Coston has been a previous guest on this podcast in our series titled “The Music and Culture Episode” parts one and two, and New Grass Revival members Bela Fleck, Sam Bush and John Cowan have their own episodes on this series, as well as being guests on the three part series on Green Acres Music Hall.

This is Southern Songs and Stories, where our quest is to explore and celebrate the unfolding history and culture of music rooted in the American South, and going beyond to the styles and artists that it inspired and informed. 

- Joe Kendrick

Elonzo Wesley: The String Band With An Indie Rock Approach

There have been any number of bands that started out in one mode only to wind up in another sooner or later. In one of our film documentaries, Amanda Anne Platt talked about thinking that she was a rock and roller at first, only to have an artist friend tell her that the songs she was writing were country songs instead. The scenario where young musicians bang out power chords early on before growing into an acoustic adulthood is fairly common. And then there are hybrids: pioneering acoustic guitarist Billy Strings said that he learned to play music by playing bluegrass, but he learned how to perform by playing in a metal band. The band Elonzo Wesley is unique in this conversation, not in that its members have largely rock and roll beginnings which evolved into an acoustic present, but in the approach that they use in expanding their sound far beyond just these two points in the musical spectrum. Their lyrics set them apart as well, revealing a keen awareness of the human condition. And their songs are good no matter what the backdrop.

(R to L) Dennis Contreras, Taylor Winchester and Jeremy Davis perform at the Fillmore in Charlotte, NC

Elonzo Wesley: The String Band With An Indie Rock Approach

Joe Kendrick/Osiris Media/WNCW

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In this episode, Elonzo Wesley members Jeremy Davis, Taylor Winchester and Dennis Contreras talk about the concept of their sound, how influences like Radiohead are still present in their music, the inclusive nature of the Charlotte music scene, and an after hours tour story that ended surprisingly better than it began. Along the way, you will hear music from their performances in March 2020 at Pisgah Brewing in Black Mountain, NC and at WNCW just ahead of that show, plus their cover of a song by My Morning Jacket. We get commentary from writer and photographer Daniel Coston about the band and his Queen City hometown, too.

Jeremy Davis and Taylor Winchester of Elonzo Wesley in their Southern Songs and Stories interview

Thanks for listening, and stay tuned for episodes on Elizabeth Cook and Paul Thorn soon! - Joe

Songs heard in this episode:

Elonzo Wesley “Them Houses” live at Pisgah Brewing 3-13-20

Elonzo Wesley “Golden” (single)

“Everything In Its Right Place” by Radiohead from Kid A excerpt

“Rule Of 7” from Elonzo Wesley live on WNCW 03-11-20

“Traveling Song” by Elonzo Wesley live at Pisgah Brewing 3-13-20

The Music And Culture Episode, Part Two

We wrap up our two part series on Southern music and culture with a focus on notable artists from the last half century, including icons like Doc Watson and more recent bands like Southern Culture On The Skids. Our guests from episode one are all here: Laura Boosinger, Daniel Coston, Ty Gilpin, Kim Ruehl, Stu Vincent and Garret Woodward, with conversations about Southern hospitality, how it can be sheik to be from the South nowadays, as well as the darker side of culture and history in the region. We also welcome writer and editor Fred Mills as well as Kruger Brothers banjo player Jens Kruger to this podcast, which features music from the likes of Pete Fountain, Doc Watson, Tom Petty, Laura Boosinger, R.L. Burnside, and many more.

Doc Watson, photographed in December 2010 by one of our guests on the show, Daniel Coston.

Southern Music and Culture, part 2

Joe Kendrick/Osiris Media/WNCW

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Thanks to our supporters on Patreon, to Dynamite Roasting, and to Bluegrass Planet Radio for carrying our series. Please spread awareness about this independent endeavor and consider helping us by subscribing and commenting on our show, and by becoming a supporter. It's easy to do, either with a one-time donation via the blue "Tip Jar" button on our site's front page, or by chipping in monthly on our Patreon page, which offers a lot of great bonus material. Thanks for listening, and we hope you enjoy the show!

The Music and Culture Episode, part one

It's a question which is at the heart of everything we do on Southern Songs and Stories, and we always pose it to artists and bands: How does your music speak to the South, and how does the South reflect itself in your music? It can go as broadly as a 'who are we and how did we get here?' exercise in philosophy and history, on down to the more anecdotal and local 'what foods do you miss the most when you're touring far away?' variety of queries.

A map of the Southern Section of the United States including Florida from 1816. They didn't want to count Florida all that much it seems.

With our latest podcast, we break from the deep dives into artists and bands that we have been doing for the last several episodes to pose this question to some of our favorite music professionals: Laura Boosinger, Daniel Coston, Ty Gilpin, Kim Ruehl, Stu Vincent and Garret Woodward. Their answers are thought provoking, and reveal a good bit of the unique nature of Southern music and culture, highlighting how it evolved and continues to change and expand into the larger world. 

This is part one of a two part episode, where we focus on origins and feature more of the roots end of the Southern music spectrum. Part two will continue forward in time and touch on the grittier side of the Southland as well as how music acts as a unifying element, and look at where these intersections of culture and music have been in the more recent era as well as where they may be in the near future.

Southern Music and Culture, part 1

Joe Kendrick/Osiris Media/WNCW

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Thanks to our sponsors, Dynamite Roasting, and our supporters on Patreon. Please spread awareness about this podcast and consider helping us by subscribing and commenting on our show, and by becoming a supporter, either with a one-time donation via the blue "Tip Jar" button on our site's front page, or by chipping in monthly on our Patreon page. Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy the show!