In our first episode, we gave a broad overview of Charlotte’s music history, going back to the 1920s with the advent of AM radio in the Queen City, and continuing forward into the 1970s and 1980s to focus on the public television series After Dark on WTVI. Here, we conclude our trip back in time with a more detailed account of both that TV series and some of the music artists it featured, with plenty of music from artists we interviewed (The Spongetones, and Sugarcreek) as well as others who are still making music, like The Voltage Brothers and Lenny Federal. It is a snapshot of a special place and time, both very familiar to me, having grown up in the region, but also much of which was unknown until digging into the WTVI archives and producing these podcasts.

George Hatcher Band - Coming Home album.jpg

Photo gallery, beginning top left: Lenny Federal of The Federal Bureau of Rock-N-Roll; Virginia Massey concert listing for After Dark; The George Hatcher Band album cover; Pat Walters and Steve Stoeckel of The Spongetones; Michael Federal of The Federal Bureau of Rock-N-Roll; Bill Hanna; WTVI’s remote broadcast van; former WTVI crew with host and producer Joe Kendrick

Songs heard in this episode:

“Black Moon Rising” performed live by George Hatcher Band 08/16/81 at Main Street Music Hall, Morganton NC

“Lost In A Photograph” by Sugarcreek, performed live at Yesterday’s in Hickory, NC, July 28, 1981, excerpt

“Dying To Live” by The Voltage Brothers, performed live at P.B. Scott’s, Charlotte NC, 7/23/83, excerpt

“Better Take It Easy” by The Spongetones, performed live at P.B. Scott’s in Blowing Rock, NC, 07/15/81, excerpt

“She Is The Woman Who Brings Out The Man In Me” by Super Grit Cowboy Band, performed live at P.B. Scott’s in Blowing Rock, NC, 06/19/82, excerpt

unknown song by The Federal Bureau of Rock-N-Roll, performed live at Johnny Dollars Beach Club, 08/07/82

Thanks for being here! We encourage you to follow this series wherever you listen to podcasts, and are especially grateful for top ratings and your reviews. You can follow this series on social media: at southstories on Instagram, at Southern Songs and Stories on Facebook, and you can view these episodes and a lot more on my YouTube channel, at the handle JoeKendrickNC. We can also send you newsletters via Substack, where you can read the scripts of these podcasts, and get updates on what we are doing and planning in our quest 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.

Big thanks to Daniel Coston for sharing the audio of After Dark performances and for being a key part of this two part series; it would not have happened without his guidance and support. Daniel has been a previous guest on this series several times, and an easy way to find those episodes is by using the search bar at southernsongsandstories.com.

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

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

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

Thank you for stopping by, and we hope you can spread the word about this series and help us reach more music fans just like yourself. Please take a moment and give us a top rating on your podcast platform of choice, and where you can, a review. Doing either, and especially both, boosts the ranking and therefore the visibility of this series to all the other music fans who also follow podcasts.

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.

- Joe Kendrick

Artist stereotypes do not apply

How many times have parents cringed when their children fell in love with a musician? Let's be honest, the world has looked askance at artists of all stripes (with notable exceptions) for most of our history. Musicians tend to be thought of as people who may be great at their art but who are nonetheless pretty bad at life skills like paying bills, getting to work on time, and sticking with the missus.

Aaron turns all those stereotypes on their head; he is not only a fantastic songwriter and musician, but he also runs his own construction business and is a devoted family man living a stone's throw from where he grew up in the western NC mountains. He is as meticulous and intense about his guitar and ballads as he is about his green built homes and raising his two girls.

As you'll see in our pilot episode, Aaron does both life and art exceptionally well. The folks around him are a big part of that.

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

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

Artist stereotypes do not apply