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.

Charlotte, NC public TV station WTVI staff 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

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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

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.