CLCLT.COM | AUG. 9 - 15, 2018 VOL. 32, NO. 25
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After a full year of episodes, we’re taking a few weeks off at Local Vibes to make some changes and return with more of CLT’s best music. In the meantime, catch up with our first 52 episodes by typing “Local Vibes” into your Spotify search bar.
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It’s a girl’s night at McGlohon Theater on Saturday, August 11, when Girls Rock CLT holds a concert to wrap up a week of camp. Get the whole story on page 16.
We put out weekly 8
NEWS&CULTURE THE NEW KID IN CHARGE As the youngest president of the Charlotte Museum of History, Adria Focht is bringing us into the present through the past BY RYAN PITKIN 6 EDITOR’S NOTE BY RYAN PITKIN 7 THE BLOTTER BY RYAN PITKIN 9 NEWS BITE: MYERS PARK BAPTIST SUPPORTS IMMIGRANT DETAINEES BY RYAN PITKIN 11 NEWS OF THE WEIRD
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FOOD&DRINK THE MAN WITH THE SAUCE Edmar Simoes went from never having cooked barbecue to running one of Charlotte’s best BBQ joints BY SOPHIE WHISNANT
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TOP 10 THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK
MUSIC ROCK OUT WITH THE GIRLS Local camp brings young girls together for week of music and empowerment BY COURTNEY MIHOCIK 18 MUSICMAKER: RICK SPREITZER BY GREY REVELL 20 SOUNDBOARD
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ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT THE BIG THAW Katie St. Clair’s ice spheres feature beauty, decay — and mushrooms
BY PAT MORAN 25 FILM REVIEWS BY MATT BRUNSON
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ODDS&ENDS 26 NIGHTLIFE BY AERIN SPRUILL 27 CROSSWORD 28 SAVAGE LOVE BY DAN SAVAGE 30 SALOME’S STARS
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NEWS
EDITOR’S NOTE
CONNECTING WITH THE CULTURE Looking back on my 10 years at ‘The Loaf’ and what’s next I STILL REMEMBER the bittersweet localizing our coverage of arts and music, feeling I got from having my first story shining a light on a burgeoning scene through interviews in print and on our podcast, Local published in Creative Loafing. I was a CPCC student working as a CL Vibes. It’s been enlightening to learn from Mark, intern in the fall of 2008. I had pitched a story about a slew of accidents that had occured at and to be on the front lines as Charlotte’s the Duke Energy Center construction site. I culture continues to bloom as the city grows. had begun looking into the issue after coming I am a firm believer that the city’s creatives across a police report of a glass window are in a stronger position to make their voices dropping from many floors up and landing on heard than ever before in this town, and I a woman’s car as she drove through Uptown want to continue to provide a platform for them to do so. with her daughter. One of the most important aspects I reported on the story, speaking to local OSHA reps and other folks familiar with the of covering Charlotte’s cultural scene for site, only to come in on Monday to learn both me and Mark during our time working together was to shine lights on the more that my story had been killed because marginalized corners of the arts the Charlotte Observer had run one and music worlds; folks who similar to it that morning. don’t always get funding from On Tuesday, before we the big name Charlotte went to print, I came in arts organizations. Folks to find that a construction like LeAnna Eden, who worker had died at the in two months will host site and that as soon as I the second annual BLA/ updated it, we would run ALT Festival, building the the story. The worker’s event from scratch just name was Jonathan to showcase Charlotte’s Beatty, only 24 years old, black alternative music killed after being struck by RYAN PITKIN scene. Folks like Chanel a tool that had fallen down an Nestor, founder of NC Always, elevator shaft. I can’t forget the who responded to my question name, because I still remember the about where she gets funding to run rollercoaster of emotions I went through — a rush of excitement at finally achieving her creative consulting and event planning my goal of getting a byline in print, then a organization with a simple answer: Her day strong wave of guilt when I stopped to think job at Applebee’s. It’s folks like these that I want to continue about what exactly I was celebrating. It was an important and humbling lesson to push to the forefront of Charlotte’s cultural to learn. In the 10 years since that December scenes, because they deserve to be a part day, I have written countless more stories of the conversations being had in Charlotte for Creative Loafing and learned many more just as much as any new brewery, restaurant humbling lessons. I’ve gone in depth on crime, or bar. I want to keep looking at the fringes of homelessness, arts, music, the 2012 Democratic National Convention, the Charlotte Uprising Charlotte culture to make sure to include and everything in between. And I can’t forget everyone. For example, when I recently The Blotter, which I started writing during that wrote a cover story about the Southern Tiger internship in 2008 and have continued doing Collective and the growing street art scene in for a decade — save for a short stint as editor of Charlotte, I heard about a few local graffiti artists who felt slighted that their medium Union County Weekly in 2013-15. Creative Loafing is where I learned how to was being underrepresented. And that’s exactly what I want. Am I be a journalist, and that’s why I’m proud to announce that I will be taking over as editor- missing something? Let me know. I still look forward to writing that graffiti story once I in-chief of the paper this week. Over the last decade, I have worked with connect with the right sources. In the meantime, is there an amazing many different editors: Carlton Hargro, Mark Kemp, Kim Lawson, Ana McKenzie, Jeff singer/songwriter/rapper/artist/dancer/ Hahne, Anita Overcash, and finally, Mark actor/sculptor/activist/advocate/organizer/ anybody that deserves the spotlight? Reach Kemp again. While I learned a lot from all of them, I out and tell me about them. That way, we can all shine together. am especially proud of the work I have done RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM with Mark over the last year and a half, hyper6 | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
NEWS
BLOTTER
BY RYAN PITKIN
THE NEW SPEED A report surfaced last week regarding the seizure of 24 pounds of drugs in southwest Charlotte in January, but it was the type of drug that raised eyebrows. According to the report, six 4-pound packages of cathinone, or khat, was found in a business park on Sirona Drive off Shopton Road on January 2. Khat is a stimulant that causes euphoria and excitement and has infamously been fed to child soldiers in Africa to keep them fighting for long stretches of time. Although it is considered a Schedule I narcotic in the United States, police filed a non-criminal report, meaning it was probably unclear where the packages came from. Somebody must be missing them, though, because the street value of the entire find was put at $10,000. THREE STRIKES A 32-year-old man living in the Villa Heights neighborhood called police after he woke up on a recent morning to find that someone had made off with part of his fence. The man told officers that, at some point between 2 and 8 a.m. in early July, unknown suspects removed three sections of his backyard fence. In the most obvious statement of the week, the report reads, “The victim stated that the removal of the fence caused damage to the fence.” In all, it is believed that the thieves/vandals did $1,500 in damage. NOT FAMILIAR Management at a gas
station in west Charlotte filed a police report after a man who claimed to be one of the team scammed one of their employees. According to the report, the suspect walked into a 7-Eleven on Tuckaseegee Road one night after 11 p.m. and claimed to be an employee. It’s unclear what he said to the woman who was working the cashier that night, but he ended up walking out with $80 in cash that he claimed he was owed. It was only later that the woman learned that the suspect had never actually worked there before.
HOT SHOT Police responded to the scene of a recent accident on Monroe Road in southeast Charlotte and found a suspect who had clearly had too much to drink that night, and was having a hard time hiding it. According to the report, when police arrived, witnesses said the suspect had fled on foot carrying a bag of alcoholic beverages that he stashed away somewhere. He apparently didn’t get it all, though, because police still found an opened bottle of Fireball cinnamon whiskey in the car. The man was showing all the signs of drunkenness, according to the report, but refused to take any tests or answer any questions, so he was taken to jail. GHOST RIDER Someone in east Charlotte might have been doing their best Nicolas Cage impression recently, or maybe just
wrecked their dirt bike and got away cleaner than the guy in the incident previously described. According to the report, a woman called 911 after she was driving down Camp Stewart Road and suddenly came across a flaming dirt bike in the middle of the road. She got out to see if she could help the victim, but alas, there was no victim to be found. No witnesses in the vicinity reported seeing anyone walking away from the scene of the accident. The dirt bike was not reported stolen, so it’s unclear why the victim would leave the scene. Of course, there’s always the chance that it was the Fireball again, this time resulting in a literal fireball.
CUP OF JOE A 45-year-old bank teller called police last week after she was assaulted by one of her customers at the end of a long work day. The woman told officers that she was working at a Wells Fargo on South Boulevard at about 4:40 p.m. when a man became upset with her during a conversation about his account. She said the man “threw a brown liquid on her from a cup” he was holding during the argument. Here’s to hoping someone in that bank smacked this broke-ass man and let him know that his financial issues aren’t the fault of this woman just trying to do her job. NO TAKE BACKS A 57-year-old north
Charlotte man filed a non-criminal report last week just to make sure he had it on record that he tried to pay his taxi fare. The man told officers that he didn’t have enough money to pay his taxi driver on the previous night so he set up a meeting with him at 10 a.m. the next morning on Central Avenue. The man called police to show that he was there, even though the taxi driver didn’t show up, so as to make sure that he would no longer be held responsible for the debt.
AFTERNOON DELIGHT A 46-year-old woman called police after witnessing a disturbing sight on I-485 in east Charlotte recently. The woman told officers she saw a man exposing himself and masturbating while facing traffic on the freeway between the Lawyers Road and Mint Hill exits. The man must have figured that folks would be driving too fast to want to slow down and confront him, but truthfully, nobody wants to confront that mess anyway. POPPING BOTTLES What did the
motorcyclists do to you? That’s the question for one driver on I-485 who recently threw a bottle at a 52-year-old and his wife while they drove a Kawasaki 650 down the freeway. According to the victim, the suspect threw the bottle in a fit of road rage, injuring his leg and doing $200 in damage to the bike. Luckily, the victim kept control during the incident. All stories are pulled from police reports at CMPD headquarters. Suspects are innocent until proven guilty. CLCLT.COM | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | 7
NEWS
NEWSMAKER
THE NEW KID IN CHARGE As the youngest president of the Charlotte Museum of History, Adria Focht is bringing us into the present through the past BY RYAN PITKIN
W
HEN ADRIA FOCHT was a young girl, she and her Girl Scout troop took a trip to the Daniel Boone Homestead in a small town called Birdsboro in her home state of Pennsylvania. While she was there, she became captivated by a small case of artifacts that had been found around Boone’s birth site. Her mom took notice and later bought her a book called Archaeology for Kids. The rest, as they say, is history. Focht attended college at UNC Charlotte, with a double major in arts and anthropology. She later completed her graduate studies at East Carolina University, where she worked at the Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Laboratory, studying and preserving artifacts from Blackbeard’s infamous flagship. Focht’s post-graduate work only got more interesting, as she helped restore and reopen Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, then looked over a secretive Washington, D.C. warehouse that held the entire collection of National Park Service artifacts from the region that were not on display. In November 2017, after a successful tenure as executive director of the Kings Mountain Historical Museum during which she doubled the attendance there, Focht took the job as president and CEO at Charlotte Museum of History. At 35 years old, she’s the youngest to ever head up the museum. On a recent morning, we met with Focht in the library on the second floor of the museum to chat about what she’s been working toward both inside and outside the walls of the institution. Creative Loafing: What’s it like to be the young gun in a field like this? Adria Focht: When I got this position, I had a lot of friends that said, “Oh, that’s so cool because when I worked there or interned there it was always someone who was near retirement who was the executive director.” I think it’s really exciting. I had frequented this museum and I always thought it had so much potential to really do for the community what I thought this museum could do for the community, so it’s really exciting for me to be able to step into the role. And I think that having the energy and being tuned in with museum trends and museum futurism — what’s next for museums, how they’re going to stay relevant — all of those things have been assets for me being younger and in this field.
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What do you think you bring to this job that sets you apart? I have the benefit of having seen this museum from the outside for so long, and so I’ve seen it through many different eras of leadership and direction. So I think I’ve seen what has worked and what hasn’t worked from a visitor’s perspective. And also being in the museum realm in Charlotte, I hear it from a lot of colleagues. So I know what people think has suited the community and what hasn’t. Coming into this role, that was really my goal was just to listen to the community to hear what people think they want this institution to be for them, because that’s how we’re going to stay relevant is figuring out how we can use history to address needs in the community and engage people in history in a meaningful way that informs dialogue about the future. It’s interesting that you say that, because in my opinion, in the past the museum was very focused in white history, when there are so many other interesting aspects to this city’s history. Your predecessor Kay Peninger began to change that, but is that something you’re also paying attention to? I don’t think that we couldn’t. I think that it’s so important, especially to be responsive to this specific community. East Charlotte distinctly has high populations of recent immigrants, which is one of the reasons why we do the Fourth of July celebration, when we do a naturalization ceremony and invite the public in to celebrate recent immigration. We also have a lot of diversity compared to other regions in Charlotte, and to be responsive to the needs of this community we absolutely have to make sure that they see themselves in the narratives that we tell. One of the things that we’re doing is community-driven exhibits, asking the community to bring their items to us to be curated for display — things that speak to their diverse cultures. I’m a big fan of Tom Hanchett, being in the Charlotte history realm, and he talks about how this is not the melting pot model, it’s the salad bowl model, and a community member said, “I think the role of the museum is to be the dressing.” We’re the thing that brings all these diverse elements together and unifies them and helps them understand how this city came to be what it is today. You’re launching a new Passport to the Queen City program, in which young people get a passport and get it stamped
Adria Focht in front of a model of Charlotte circa late-1770s
The American Freedom Bell at the Charlotte Museum of History by coming to monthly events based on different cultures. Tell me more about that. Passport to the Queen City touches on a lot of the goals that we have. We’re looking at our metrics now not just as outputs — as in how many people did we get and how much money did we make — but as outcomes. Did we foster empathy and did we help people understand diverse cultures and appreciate those cultures? Starting that at a young age is really an avenue that we want to take. We want to beef up the school programming in general, but this Passport program, what it does is it invites young people in the community to learn about a specific culture through a kids’ lens. So they
PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN
PHOTO COURTESY OF NAVARRO COMMUNICATIONS
get to have hands-on activities, but it helps engender empathy and courage and helps people understand the diverse culture that we live in today. Just a couple weeks before you took this position, I reported on efforts to save the Siloam School, which the museum was highly involved in. Is that project something you’ve kept up with and still prioritize? Yeah, we’re engaging new partners with that. We meet regularly. The city has contributed $50,000 toward the moving of the structure. We are in the final stages of engaging the contract with the city to move forward with that.
BACKCOUNTRY DAYS Free; September 8, 12-4 p.m.; Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Drive; charlottemuseum.org
Right now the stages are more preliminary stages, such as documentation of the structure. We’re engaging with historic architects to basically do historic structure reports. They do the photography, they do the measurements, levels, all that good stuff, tell you what’s original, what would need to be removed if we were going to restore it to period. So we’re doing all the legwork now to figure out exactly what that bottom line is going to look like for fundraising for us. Your end goal is to bring Siloam to this property. Is that a possibility for other endangered properties? I’m picturing the Eastland Mall site just down the road from here filled with historic homes and buildings, creating a village. How off base is that? I hear that a lot, and I hear people say, “You know, you and Latta Plantation and Rosedale, you guys should all just move all your houses together,” and I think what’s wrong about that picture is a couple of things. One thing is, history is authentic where it happened. That’s why we’re in east Charlotte. This amazing Revolutionary War history happened right here in this backyard here in east Charlotte, where the creek is. And I think having the communities know that this history exists in their neighborhood is an asset. The other thing with historic preservation is, for this school, that’s really the only way that it can be functionally preserved and interpreted. But we really want to do a lot of education about what good historic preservation looks like. The Loray Mill, for instance, in Gaston County, what they did with that preservation, they paid so much attention to detail in preserving the fabric of that structure, but then they used it. There are breweries and it’s residential and commercial, it’s a functional historic space. That’s something that we really want to advocate for, is preserving historic structures, adapting them to current needs and making them functional because that preserves the authentic quality of those neighborhoods and that’s something that we really struggle with in Charlotte. Sixty people a day moving to Charlotte is the new statistic, and as that happens, there are beautiful, historic homes — a totally functional home being sold as a lot because they’re going to bulldoze it and put a McMansion up. So yes, historic preservation has to be a big focus for this institution. We merged with Historic Charlotte a few years ago, and we really want to live up to that piece of advocacy for historic preservation in Charlotte. How does the new Mad About Modern Home Tour play into that? So the Mad About Modern Home Tour is one of the things we do to highlight what historic preservation really looks like today. It doesn’t mean that you keep the ‘70s shag carpet. You keep the architectural nuances
of the structure, and then you adapt it for modern purposes and you live in it and you celebrate it. I think there’s that fear with Siloam School coming here that that’s what historic preservation should be; that you take a historic building and you dump it at a museum. But for that particular structure, because of where it is in an apartment complex, if it’s going to be open to the public, it’s got to be moved. But in general, we want to advocate for other models of historic preservation and show people that these buildings are beautiful and can be reused for so many different purposes. The museum is also involved in the City Walks Neighborhood Walking Tours. Tell me about your role in those and why they’re important. We are a partner with UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute, and last year we offered three of them in partnership with UNC Charlotte, but we hope to do more, because I think that’s a big piece of engaging people where they live. People are really curious about their neighborhoods, and if you’re going to inspire historic preservation, people have to know, “Hey, see that little brick thing right there? That was a privy and that was part of the mill village that was here, and now all these 1960s homes are built up around it but that was an original 1910 structure.” Now people know about that, and if their neighbor goes to knock that down, they’re going to say, “Hey, you shouldn’t knock that down because I care about it because I identify with it as the history of this area.” So I think pointing out the history hidden in plain sight is a big part of what we’re trying to do with this City Walks partnership. And next year we’re going to expand it, too. We like this concept of hidden history, hidden in plain sight, and so we’re thinking of doing something like tours of the Rosenwald Schools in the area, tours of the various cemeteries of the enslaved peoples in north Charlotte, the historic buildings that people live in that are not just midcentury modern — different types of ways that we can engage people in the history of their neighborhoods. If it’s design, if it’s architecture, if it’s mill history, things that will engage people and get them to care about it and to advocate for it. Last question is perhaps the most important one. The Meck Dec, is it real? [laughs] I don’t think I can opine on that either way. But the Mecklenburg Resolves are real, and Hezekiah Alexander was a signer of the Mecklenburg Resolves and those are, I would venture to say, equally important in terms of our revolutionary history in Mecklenburg County. We get everything from, “Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t,” to, “You’re calling our ancestors liars!”. For me, I like empiricism, I like empirical proof, and I know which one exists and that’s the Mecklenburg Resolves. What I think is fun about that is it’s one of those enduring mysteries, and we have a lot of enduring mysteries around the Hezekiah Alexander home site as well. Those are the things that inspire younger kids, they get excited thinking, “Maybe I’ll be the one to grow up and solve this mystery.” RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM
NEWS
NEWSBITE
IN SOLIDARITY Local church group heads to Georgia to show support for immigrant detainees BY RYAN PITKIN
ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON, August 3, the voices of about 30 congregants could be heard inside the sanctuary at Myers Park Baptist Church in south Charlotte. In unison, the voices sang, “Somebody’s hurting our brother, and we’re not going to be silent anymore.” That somebody is Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, acting on orders from President Trump’s administration. Reverend Ben Boswell, senior minister at Myers Park Baptist, is done being silent about it. After Friday’s prayer vigil at the church, Boswell and his associate minister Chrissy Tatum Williamson led a group of 27 people to Lumpkin, Georgia, where they formed a prayer chain outside of the Stewart Detention Center, an infamous private prison run by ICE that houses immigrant detainees awaiting deportation. The trip was part of the church’s Awakening series, a project thought up by Williamson in which church members study a social justice issue throughout the year, then end their studies with a pilgrimage. Last year, after studying racial issues in America, participating members toured through the Deep South. This year’s focus on immigration issues was inspired by an experience Boswell had with Gilles Bikindou, a member of his former church in Cary. Bikindou was a Congolese resident who had lived and worked in the United States for 10 years. In January, he was detained during a routine check up at the local ICE office and eventually deported back to Congo, where he had once witnessed a murder and felt his life was in danger. Boswell decided this year’s pilgrimage would follow the path of Bikindou and countless others who have suffered similar fates, from the ICE office in Charlotte to the York County Detention Center in South Carolina and finally to Stewart Detention Center. “When we saw his path and the inhumanity of the path that he experienced and the secrecy of it … we knew that there was something secretive and inhumane and immoral about what’s going on that we need to shed light on, that we need to bear witness to as people of faith and to tell the truth to the world about what’s happening in our own community,” Boswell said on Friday. “Friends and neighbors, brothers and sisters who are from other countries are being detained and they’re disappearing, and we need to be able to tell that story.” The group also stopped in Atlanta during
PHOTO BY MACKENZIE HARRIS
Rev. Ben Boswell at a recent prayer vigil for immigrant detainees at Myers Park Baptist Church. their trip to meet with representatives of refugee and immigrant advocacy groups and Baptist cooperative fellowships to discuss the Sanctuary Movement, a religious and political campaign in the 1980s that offered sanctuary to undocumented immigrants fleeing wars in Central America. In response to Trump’s immigration policies, more than 800 faith communities have come together across the country to form the New Sanctuary Movement. For Williamson, it’s all the more important for churches like Myers Park Baptist to speak up while evangelists and right-wing politicians who give lip service to religious values have been largely silent in the face of Trump’s “Zero Tolerance” immigration policy. “As a religious person, I think one of the central tenets of our faith is to love our neighbors,” Williamson said. “So when I think about what does that look like played out in public life, it’s certainly not ripping children from parents, it’s not locking people up who are in search of survival or fleeing violence or domestic violence or gang situations or no economic opportunity. “The tricky spot we’re in right now has emerged from the religious right using itself as a political movement to different politicians, and so the message of Christ in my opinion has been deluded and has become a political message that’s co-opted by the Republican Party,” she continued. “So I think it’s important for Christians on all sides of the political spectrum to speak out about how we interpret text and how God is telling us to live in the world. And I think some more progressive Christians have lost our public voice and it’s time to reclaim that.” Cynthia Aziz, an immigration lawyer from Charlotte, spoke at Friday’s prayer vigil. While she said she wouldn’t be joining the group on the trip to Georgia, she said she would be with them in spirit. “I’ve practiced immigration law for almost 30 years and it’s a conversation that I’ve had with people about immigration for years, and I was excited to see that people now really care and want to see what’s really happening,” Aziz said. “It’s sad that it’s taken this kind of atrocity at our borders to get people’s attention, but this movement, this prayer pilgrimage really means a lot, even to people that don’t know they’re doing it.” RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM
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NEWS
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED Among the gazillion other products and services available from Amazon is the behemoth’s facial recognition software, Rekognition, marketed as providing extremely accurate facial analysis. But when the American Civil Liberties Union gave it a go, the results were startling. Using Rekognition, the ACLU scanned photos of every current member of the U.S. House and Senate and came up with 28 matches to a mug shot database of people who had been arrested for crimes. The ACLU announced its findings July 26 and admitted it used Amazon’s default settings, to which Amazon responded, “While 80 percent confidence is an acceptable threshold for photos of hot dogs, chairs, animals or other social media use cases,” Amazon would advise customers to set the threshold at 95 percent or higher for law enforcement. The ACLU told NPR that the legislators who were falsely matched were men, women, Republicans and Democrats of all ages. However, the software did misidentify people of color at a higher rate. WEIRD SCIENCE You thought you were
old? You’re just a twinkle in a nematode’s eye. Russian scientists have revived two ancient, frozen roundworms, or nematodes, from samples collected in Siberian permafrost, The Siberian Times reported on July 26. The worms, which were found in cores taken from 30 meters and 3.5 meters deep, are believed to be female and 41,700 and 32,000 years old, respectively. After collecting the samples, scientists slowly thawed out the worms, which eventually started eating and moving. Scientists from the Institute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science in Moscow believe the nematodes have some adaptive mechanisms that may be of scientific importance.
SIGN OF THE TIMES Just after
midnight on July 22, a couple in Palo Alto, California, were awakened in their bedroom by a 17-year-old burglar with a garment obscuring his face. Instead of demanding money or jewelry, though, the intruder asked for their Wi-Fi password. According to the Sacramento Bee, the homeowner forced the teen out of the home and called police, who tracked him down a block away and arrested him for felony residential burglary. Police later determined it wasn’t the teen’s first attempt at connectivity. Less than an hour earlier that night, a prowler had summoned a woman from her home to ask for access to her Wi-Fi network also. She told him to go away, and he rode off on a bicycle — which she realized the next day he had stolen from her backyard. She called police, who recovered the bike near where they had arrested the teen.
HAT TRICK Jeffrey Jacobs, 37, thought he had a great thing going. Last year, when
a tree fell on his White Plains, New York, home, he told the owner of a tree service (and big hockey fan) that he was the owner of the NHL’s Boston Bruins, reported The Hour. Impressed, the tree service owner sent a crew in the midst of a storm, then billed the actual club owner, 78-year-old Jeremy Jacobs, $5,100 for the service. Police in nearby Wilton, Connecticut, heard about the deception when they received a call in May from security officials at a company chaired by the Bruins’ owner. The story sounded familiar: In November, Jacobs had been pulled over in Wilton, and he told officers he owned the Bruins in an effort to get out of the ticket. On July 20, Jacobs was pulled over for using his phone while driving in Poughkeepsie, New York, sent back to Wilton and charged with criminal impersonation.
INTERGLACTIC LOVE Diamonds are
so 20th century. In Japan, Warp Space is offering newlyweds the chance to make their union universal with wedding plaques launched into space. According to United Press International, the startup company, founded by faculty members from the University of Tsukuba, will print a titanium plate with the names of the betrothed and put it, along with a few hundred other plaques, in one of a series of small cubes to be released into space from the International Space Station. Astronauts will memorialize the launches by taking photographs, which will then be sent to the newlyweds. The service costs $270.
SHITTY
PUNISHMENT Painesville (Ohio) Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconetti has a reputation for serving up unusual sentences, and he delivered again on July 24 when 18-year-old Bayley Toth appeared in his courtroom. Toth was convicted of two misdemeanor criminal mischief charges for toppling a portable toilet at Painesville Township Park in June, among other things. Cicconetti sentenced him to 120 days in jail, but suspended it in lieu of Toth shoveling manure at the Lake County Fair. “You act like an animal, you’re going to take care of animals,” Cicconetti told Toth. The News-Herald reported Toth will also have to perform 40 hours of community service and pay restitution for damage to the park.
JUST SAY NO Brody Tyler Young, 25,
was arrested in a Nashville, Tennessee, McDonald’s on July 23 after spending “all day” locked in the women’s restroom, dancing naked, doing jumping jacks and hitting the wall. According to WFFA TV, when officers managed to enter the restroom, they found Young locked in a stall, smelling of “chemical fumes, as if he had been huffing.” Young was
taken into custody and charged with public intoxication and public indecency.
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL LIFESTYLE A weird in-air
experience for passengers traveling from the Canary Islands in Spain to the Netherlands on May 29 ended tragically. The Transavia flight was forced to land in Faro, Portugal, after passengers began fainting and vomiting in reaction to the overpowering smell of another passenger, 58-year-old Russian rocker Andrey Suchilin. “It was like he hadn’t washed himself for several weeks,” Belgian passenger Piet van Haut said. CBS News reported that Suchilin had sought medical attention in Spain and was given antibiotics for an “ordinary beach infection.” Taken to a hospital in Portugal, his condition deteriorated, and he was diagnosed with tissue necrosis. Doctors induced a coma and performed several surgeries, but his wife reported on his Facebook page that he died on June 25. The airline assured fellow passengers that “there has been no risk of infection.”
LUCKY! Kyle McAleer, 20, a Chicago Cubs
fan from Iowa, adopted a goofy “rally cap” idea from former Cubs player Starlin Castro a few years ago — a plastic bucket. But no one’s laughing now: As McAleer and his family watched a game from seats under Wrigley Field’s manual scoreboard on July 24, a 6- to 8-inch metal pin fell out of the board and onto McAleer’s head, where he had only moments earlier secured the bucket. Although he suffered a cut requiring five staples, McAleer is crediting the bucket for saving his life: “It might have fractured my skull. It definitely could have been fatal. I am extremely lucky,” he told the Associated Press. Cubs spokesman Julian Green said the incident has been ruled an accident, not a structural issue, and the team has sent McAleer some swag, including a jersey. COPYRIGHT 2017 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
CLCLT.COM | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | 11
FOOD
FEATURE
SAUCEMAN’S Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Closed Mondays; 228 West Blvd.; 704-333-7070; saucemans.com
THE MAN WITH THE SAUCE Edmar Simoes went from never having cooked barbecue to running one of Charlotte’s best BBQ joints BY SOPHIE WHISNANT
J
UST SEVEN YEARS after its opening, Sauceman’s has consistently been a contender i n the “best barbecue in Charlotte” conversation with its no-nonsense, Lexington-style barbecue. And no one is more confident in Sauceman’s style than general manager Edmar Simoes. Originally from Brazil, Simoes had never made Southern-style barbecue when he took the job at Sauceman’s six years ago. But it’s safe to say he adapted nicely. Simoes moved to Charlotte in 2012 after spending 10 years in Boston. He had worked in the restaurant industry before, but never on a concept quite like Sauceman’s. After two years as a manager at a local Chipotle, Simoes got to know Cole Gray, the former owner of Sauceman’s. Gray hired him, and Simoes easily picked up the ins and outs of running and cooking for a successful barbecue joint. “I believe in old-school cooking,” Simoes says. “We just keep everything as simple as possible.” Focusing on the barbecue and keeping the menu easy to navigate are parts of why Simoes says Sauceman’s is so special. That and the fact that everything is made fresh. From sauces and sides to hunks of delicious and tender brisket, everything is made in house and never reheated. “I get everything as fresh as possible,” Simoes says. “I buy the best meat on the market.” Michelle Gray, who is in charge of the restaurant’s catering services, also credits freshness as an important part of Sauceman’s appeal. But she says the locally owned, authentic Southern vibe is a big reason why people love the restaurant. “It’s kind of like it just sticks with people once they eat it,” she says. “It’s like it’s always on their mind.” The sausage, chicken, brisket and pork plates are all popular among customers. Hogs are cooked for 14 hours over hickory and oak, which packs a big flavor. Sauceman’s bar manager Stephanie Helff says the sausage is “hands down” her favorite meat on the menu. While it may not be the 12 | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
“EVERY MONTH YOU LOOK, FOUR OR FIVE MORE RESTAURANTS, WHICH I LIKE. (IT) KEEPS EVERYONE BUSY AND BRINGS MORE PEOPLE TO SOUTH END.” EDMAR SIMOES, GENERAL MANAGER OF SAUCEMAN’S
item that brings people in, it’s built its own loyal following. “We sell out of it like everyday, but not a lot of people think to order it [on their first trip],” she says. The star of the show, however, remains the pork, prepared with a little vinegar in the mornings during prep to keep it nice and juicy. The saucing, however, is left up to the customer. The barbecue is Lexington style, but customers can choose to dress their dish with a vinegar-based, mustard-based or smoky barbecue tomato sauce. Helff says that true Sauceman’s fans know to stop by the fridge near food pickup and grab a bottle of Alabama white sauce, or “the secret sauce” as she calls it. Regulars swear by it and use it on the pork, sausage, even on the sides.
If barbecued meats aren’t your thing, there are plenty of vegetarian-friendly sides to choose from, something that can be rare from a traditional smokehouse. “Our onion rings are the best,” Simoes says. “Any fried item, you’d be surprised how good they are.” The staff even keeps a warm batch of pork rinds heating in a machine for customers to grab with tongs while they wait for their food. Simoes says that the secret to Sauceman’s fried goodness is changing the oils every day, keeping everything as fresh as possible. Helff’s favorite side is the more unusual fried corn on the cob. “People think it’s weird,” she says. “They’re like, ‘Fried corn, what is it?’ But it’s the best thing.” Aside from the classic pork plates that are most popular around lunchtime, Sauceman’s
serves up tons of ribs on Saturdays. “I don’t know why,” Simoes says, “what’s the reason, but I feel like people feel more comfortable eating ribs on Saturdays, so they get their hands dirty.” While there are always a lot of regular faces in the crowd, Simoes says Sundays bring in a lot of new customers who heard about them during the week. One of the perks to serving a classic, Southern staple for Simoes is having confident, no-frills customers. “They know what they want, they know exactly what they’re looking for already,” Simoes says. “You don’t see a customer in here like ‘Oh, what’s this?’” (Save for the fried corn, of course.) And the customers turn out in droves during lunch time, as the restaurant is nicely situated between Dilworth and Wilmore in the South End neighborhood. “Lunch is a money machine,” he says. On a recent Friday, two Sycamore Brewing employees stopped by Sauceman’s for “The Pig,” a plate of barbecue, hush puppies, slaw and a side. “The beer selection is always great, their food selection is fantastic, it’s a lot of bang for your buck,” said Scott Jenkins. “They provide so much food, it’s so delicious.” His coworker and lunch companion, Archie Gleason, described the food as “really well-done Southern barbecue.” Both men said they visit Sauceman’s for lunch once or twice a week. Aside from lunch, catering is an important part of Sauceman’s business. In fact, Gray said it makes up about 30 percent of total sales. While corporate meetings account for most of the restaurant’s catering business, during football season, Gray is a regular at some Panthers tailgates. So far, dinner crowds still don’t compare to lunch time, but Simoes said the business is growing. Sauceman’s recently expanded its hours to stay open until 9 p.m., allowing for a longer dinner rush, but Simoes said it’s common for lunch to be so crazy that they start selling out of items by 7:30 or 8 p.m. Changes to the hours aren’t the only updates to the restaurant since it opened in 2011. Last year, Sauceman’s debuted new renovations that allowed for a much larger sitting area and full-service bar. The remodel elevated Sauceman’s from a quick hole-inthe-wall lunch spot to a place to sit down and hang out. Simoes said Sauceman’s sales tripled after reopening. Simoes said the team reassesses the menu every couple years, but it’s important to keep things simple. The most recent addition to the menu was actually the return of an old favorite: the Dixie Cuban, which includes either pork or brisket with chipotle cheddar cheese and fried pickles on Texas toast. What’s not changing is Sauceman’s location. Simoes says that he loves his
PHOTOS BY SOPHIE WHISNANT
Edmar Simoes goes to work on a brisket (left). The newly renovated dining area and entryway. neighborhood and all the hustle and bustle that comes with it. He doesn’t mind the rapid change that’s happening around him. “Every month you look, four or five more restaurants,” Simoes said of Charlotte’s growth. “Which I like. (It) keeps everyone
busy and brings more people to South End.” Regardless of how much competition comes around, Simoes remains confident in the product he’s putting out. “Some people don’t like it when a new restaurant opens,” he says. ‘“Oh my god now
it’s gonna take some of my customers,’ I don’t see it that way.” Ultimately, Simoes is glad that he left Boston and made the trek to Charlotte. From having never cooked barbecue before to managing one of Charlotte’s best barbecue
spots, he has discovered just how much North Carolinians covet their ‘cue. “Here, everybody likes the barbecue.” We can’t argue with that. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | 13
THURSDAY
9
*REPEAT REPEAT What: Self-proclaimed “surf rockcandy” band *repeat repeat is hanging 10 all the way down the east coast, and that includes a stop at Charlotte’s Stage Door Theater. Formed in Nashville, the beach rock band cultivates a ‘60s vibe that acts as a nod to both lead vocalists’ California roots. The top Spotify song from the band’s 2014 Floral Canyon album, “Girlfriend” is a good place to start if you’re into up-and-coming surf indie bands. Then just ride the wave. When: 7:30 p.m. Where: Stage Door Theater, 155 N. College St. More: $20 and up. blumenthalarts.org
14 | AUG. 9- AUG. 15, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
THURSDAY
9
THINGS TO DO
TOP TEN
Cirque du Soleil THURSDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
THURSDAY
9
FRIDAY
10
FRIDAY
10
REID PEGRAM
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL ‘CORTEO’
IZZY TRUE
SIR ABSTRAXXX
What: Originally from Greensboro, comedian Reid Pegram now lives in Raleigh, where he hosts the biweekly Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson House Party Comedy Open Mic and the monthly People’s Showcase at The Outpost. He’s built a nice following in the capitol, and has recently ventured out around the state to perform. After performing at 2018’s inaugural North Carolina Comedy Festival, Pegram brings his nerdy aesthetic to the Q.C. for All Organic Comedy Open Mic.
What: The superhero of the circus world — and the planet’s largest theatrical producer — Cirque du Soleil uses its powers for good. Cirque dispensed with the cruel animal acts that have marred many circuses, and introduced a more modern template — a theatrical approach featuring storylines that promote circus styles from around the world. The current show, Corteo, is an Italian celebration of the circle of life. It’s artsy, elegant, inclusive and cruelty free.
What: Brother-sister duo Isabel and Silas Reidy joined up with a few friends to form the alt-rock group Izzy True, covering themes ranging from mental health to sex and gender. While the subject matter is dense, Isabel’s voice is soothing and hypnotic with a fluttering quality reminiscent of Dolores O’Riordan. Check out their most recent release “Bobo,” to see what we’re talking about. Izzy True is joined by Big Baby, Charlotte’s own Alright and Stress Fractures from Columbia, South Carolina.
What: Charlotte spoken-word artist Sir Abstraxxx is celebrating the release of his latest EP, 1:18AM, with a concert in Crowne Plaza’s Carolina Ballroom. Joined by the Next Level Band, Sir Abstraxxx will perform poems from his new album as well as some older content. Over sounds provided by DJ Blanco, Abstraxxx will flex his smooth, soulful voice. The result is far from rap, but still something you can vibe to. Dress code is mature and fashion forward, because it’s all about progression.
When: 9 p.m. Where: The Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. More: $3. eveningmuse.com
When: 7:30 p.m., through Aug. 12 Where: Spectrum Center, 333 E Trade St. More: $51 and up. spectrumcentercharlotte.com
When: 8 p.m. Where: Oso Skate Park, 933 Louise Ave., Suite 109 More: $5. ososkatepark.com
When: 8-11 p.m. Where: Crowne Plaza Charlotte Executive Park, 5700 Westpark Drive More: $10. 118amconcert.eventbrite.com
*repeat repeat THURSDAY
Festival of India SATURDAY
NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS
Juvenile SATURDAY PHOTO BY CORTNEY ARMITAGE
PHOTO BY MIKEL J
SATURDAY
11
SATURDAY
11
SATURDAY
11
LSD TOUR
JUVENILE
FESTIVAL OF INDIA
What: Sure, it’s called the LSD Tour but this is no hippie show. The spirit of real Hank Williams-andJohnny Cash country lives in this trio of iconoclasts. With plainspoken poetry, Lucinda Williams packs more meaning in her songs than all of Nashville. With his controversial political outlook Steve Earle is the outlaw antithesis of bro country. And Dwight Yoakham brought country back to its rockin’ honky tonk roots. No drugs needed: This is a mind-blowing Americana bill.
What: We’re coming up on the 20th anniversary of its release, and yet, you’d be hard pressed to find a club that doesn’t still go crazy at the opening strings of “Back That Azz Up,” Juvenile’s classic ode to the hindquarters. The New Orleans native has plenty of other hits, from “Ha” in ‘98 to “Slow Motion” in 2004, he and the Hot Boys provided a soundtrack to the turn of the millenium. Add the fact that he introduced the world to Lil’ Wayne, and it’s hard to question Juvenile’s status as an O.G. in the game.
What: Experience the rich culture of India with the 24th annual Festival of India. Created to celebrate the history and heritage of India, the festival also serves to foster better understanding among cultures. This event features not only Indian fare, crafts, languages and clothing, but a combination of modern Bollywood and traditional dances to enthrall and educate everyone who watches. Yoga, henna tattoos and saree demos will also be in the mix.
When: 7 p.m. Where: CMCU Amphitheatre, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd. More: $18 and up. charlottemetrocreditunionamp.com
When: 7 p.m. Where: The Underground, 820 Hamilton St. More: $27-37. fillmorenc.com
When: Noon-8 p.m.; Aug. 12, Noon7 p.m. Where: Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St. More: $6-7. indiafestival. iacofcarolinas.org
PHOTO COURTESY OF INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CHARLOTTE
MONDAY
13
CAROLINA VOCAL PROJECTS What: Carolina Vocal Projects takes the stage for its inaugural concert this Monday night at the historic Duke Mansion. The Charlotte-based group takes in singers from around the city and produces concerts, shows and recitals, promising high-quality talent. CVP’s goals include developing local talent and producing new works while encouraging community engagement and bringing performance to underserved areas. This Monday, the gang will be performing musical theater, opera, jazz and contemporary selections. When: 7-9 p.m. Where: The Duke Mansion, 400 Hermitage Road More: $15. carolinavocalprojects.org
WEDNESDAY
15
DISCUSS CLT: CHARLOTTE’S TRANSIT FUTURE What: All these damn people moving into the city every day (the number changes depending on who you ask, but it’s a lot, ok?), and they all have to get around somehow. While we long for a day when the streets are filled with rechargeable scooters and zero cars, we’re not quite there yet. So come discuss what’s in Charlotte’s more short-term transit future in regards to funding for the light rail, the streetcar and the city’s new bus routes. When: 6-8 p.m. Where: Catawba Brewing Co., 9300 Louise Ave., Suite 105 More: Free. tinyurl.com/DiscussCLT
CLCLT.COM | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | 15
MUSIC
FEATURE
ROCK OUT WITH THE GIRLS Local camp brings young girls together for week of music and empowerment BY COURTNEY MIHOCIK
A
S EACH OF their names were called to be assigned instruments, a roaring cheer from a group of girls rang through the room. Once everyone had an assigned instrument, the girls broke off to begin ice breaker activities. Some of them hugged old friends from previous years, lifting each other up and swinging one another around. Others excitedly shared their interest in favorite T.V. shows, songs, school subjects and music genres with their brand-new friends. Led by a camp counselor, the girls chose their bandmates and formed a handful of bands, thus beginning their five-day program of music and girl power. This is Girls Rock Charlotte. An offshoot of the Portland, Oregonbased organization with which they share a name, the Charlotte chapter of this movement was brought to the city by executive director and founder Kelly Finley. After her daughter participated in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel-Hill chapter of the camp, Finley was inspired by the impact it had and wanted it in her own city. The camp program is not constrained to a few cities here and there in the United States, however. The Girls Rock Camp Alliance has member organizations in states across the country and the world — boasting chapters in locations like Japan, Mozambique, Scotland, Australia and Serbia. The widereaching program gives girls everywhere the chance to build confidence and express themselves through music, most notably in a genre that is historically male-dominated and controlled. “They’re all over the world and that’s what’s so inspiring is that Girls Rock camps are not an experience, it’s a movement,” Finley said. Girls Rock Charlotte is a non-profit organization designed to empower young girls ages 8 to 16 years old in a five-day summer camp through music and learning to play instruments. Campers who attend are tasked with writing and composing an original rock song to be performed at the end of the week in a band showcase concert. This week’s camp will culminate with a concert at McGlohon Theater on August 11. While that all may seem like a daunting task, the girls are not without help. Girls 16 | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
“THE WHOLE POINT OF THE CAMP HAS NEVER BEEN TO CREATE PERFECT MUSICIANS. IT’S ABOUT CREATING POWERFUL GIRLS.” KELLY FINLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER OF GIRLS ROCK CHARLOTTE Rock Charlotte relies on a network of volunteers comprised of musicians, business owners and mentors to coach the campers during activities such as “Stage Confidence” and “Band Gear and Tech Talk.” These activities within the program create an atmosphere in which the girls can be educated and empowered simultaneously. The camp doesn’t center on creating music, per se, but rather using art and music as a vehicle to empower youth and educate the girls about social justices and equality, according to Finley. The fun of the camp program helps bring girls together in a safe place to discuss how they can use their power in the communty and stand up for themselves and one another. “The whole point of the camp has never been to create perfect musicians. It’s about creating powerful girls,” Finley said. “So it’s this collective experience of empowering workshops that feature leaders in the community, amazing artists and professionals, that talk a lot about gender and power and using your voice. It’s a really powerful mix together that makes this collective experience for them.” And despite the fact that the girls only have five days to learn an instrument, compose a rock song and put on a concert, they rock
out harder that you would expect, said local musician Lisa De Novo, music volunteer coordinator for Girls Rock Charlotte. “Just seeing them do so well when they only do it for a week, and then spring out these crazy lyrics about being your own person and being really powerful and just rocking out. I think people will leave the concert feeling really inspired,” she said. De Novo also enjoys watching the girls utilize the lessons they learned at camp in their everyday lives. “Outside of the camp, they become stronger girls, in every aspect,” De Novo said. “The music gives them the confidence because they know, ‘I can stand on a big stage and rock.’” This rings true for returning campers Georgia Foley and Charlie Poth, who both said the program has helped them build confidence. Sitting across from them on their first day back, it was already apparent how excited each camper already was for the upcoming showcase concert at the end of the week. “I would totally recommend it for young girls and teens, it’s so much fun and it’s given me a lot more confidence,” said the 14-yearold Poth. “It helps you get in front of large groups
of people so you can feel confident about being in front of people — and talking to a lot of people at once — when you may not have been comfortable doing that before,” Foley, 13, chimed in. Furthermore, one of the most important aspects to be noted about the program is that it is staffed and run by women. Many of the mentors and counselors that De Novo and Finley recruit tell them that they wish they had a program like Girls Rock when they were younger, which motivates them to be there for the campers now. This staffing practice gives the young campers roles models that they can relate to and look up to, while also creating a safe space for them to express themselves. “When we’re learning about our bodies at such a young age, it’s important that we feel really comfortable in that kind of environment,” De Novo said of the female staff. “You want to make sure that everybody’s really comfortable and that we can really rock it as girls and just to have them see that they have role models that they can look up to.” The culmination of everything that the campers experience comes down to the Saturday evening concert, which will showcase what they learned during the week. This year, the night is dubbed “Rock N’ Reel Show: A Night of GRRRL Power” and will
Campers of the Girls Rock Charlotte Camp perform their original songs at the 2017 showcase concert. also showcase the film camp that runs in conjunction with the music camp. But the show doesn’t stop there. Throughout the rest of the year, Girls Rock Charlotte holds a workshop called Amplify!, wherein once a month throughout the school year the campers are encouraged to attend and continue creating music and practice building confidence. Finley said it’s a way for the chapter to sustain and cultivate the relationships that they’ve built with the campers even after the weeklong program is over. The program also includes a “house band” made of campers that meet periodically to practice for shows around the community throughout the year. Headed by the camp’s music director, Krystle Baller, the band practices at her music studio, Pachyderm Music Lab, and gives the girls a way to continue using music in their lives outside of the camp. This year marks the first time Girls Rock is running side by side with the film camp. The sister program was brought about by Finley as a way to give girls the opportunity to be mentored behind the camera. Much like the rock camp, the Film Summer Camp will be assisted by female volunteers such as Jolly Dale, a former producer of The Walking Dead, and Kara McGee from Showtime’s Homeland. “We were just talking about how we need to have more women and more people of color behind the camera. Because that’s where the power is when it comes to story and media in our lives,” Finley said. “It’s a really hard industry to break into, and a lot of young women are very, very interested in it, but you really need to have some mentors and people who make that network for you. With that, we thought,
PHOTOS BY DANI NICOLE PHOTOGRAPHY
TEEN ROCK N’ REEL SHOW August 11, 7-9 p.m.; McGlohon Theater, 345 N. College St.; girlsrockclt.org
‘Well, if we can teach them how to rock then we can teach them to make a movie in one week.’” One of Girls Rock Charlotte’s missions is to operate inclusively. This means also creating opportunities for lower-income families and campers by implementing a sliding payscale system for the program’s fees. The sliding scale operates on an honor system, with an understanding that families who can afford to pay the full amount know that some of that money will go toward supporting another camper whose family may not be able to afford as much. Not only does the program work to include participants from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, but also campers from varying gender identities. “Some people think that we’re only for girls, but we’re also very passionate about and committed to a camp that includes gender diverse and queer and trans youth,” Finley said. In a world that demands the need for movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp, a program such as this will help prepare girls to help contribute to a future of powerful women demanding equality for all, Finley hopes. And if they learn to rock out in the meantime, more power to them. CLCLT.COM | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | 17
MUSIC
MUSICMAKER
IN SEARCH OF COMMUNITY Singer/songwriter Rick Spreitzer asks where the scene lives BY GREY REVELL
IN HIS 30 YEARS of songwriting, with
influences ranging from Townes Van Zandt to Nick Drake, Rick Spreitzer has quietly carved his own corner in a scene illuminated by iconic local songwriters like David Childers. “Rick Spreitzer is a beautiful guy; gentle but strong and clear-sighted about the human condition.” Childers says, “He writes about regular people in a way that reaches all of us, if we take the time to listen.” Louis Beeler, whose Tiny Stage Concerts have showcased a host of Charlotte songwriter talent, was equally effusive in his praise of Spreitzer. “Rick Spreitzer takes heartfelt poetry and weaves it with music to create songs that take you on an emotional journey and leave you in a higher place,” Beeler says. From working-class stock, Spreitzer’s father was a meat cutter while his mother stayed home to raise their six kids. Born in Queens, New York, Spreitzer moved to South Florida when he was 11. He moved to North Carolina shortly after graduating from the University of Florida in 1992. For over 25 years, he has worked with adults who deal with severe mental illness and addiction challenges, a career path that profoundly influenced him as a man and a songwriter. Spreitzer will perform as part of a showcase of Charlotte veteran songwriters at the Evening Muse on August 15, along with Bill Noonan and Christopher Chandek Peace. Creative Loafing had the pleasure of sitting down with Spreitzer recently to discuss the Queen City scene and his work as a mental health counselor. Creative Loafing: What does a city like Charlotte in these weird times offer in regards to a singer/songwriter community? Rick Spreitzer: I would be reticent to speak about the nature of the community or even consider there being one. I know several area songwriters — good ones. I visit a scant few pockets of songwriting venues. Catawba Coffee is one hidden jewel. But there is a seeming lack of effort or interest in what could be a stronger community. What would you like to see more of? More involvement from the Charlotte Folk Society, and more opportunities from local coffee shops and small bars. Why is the Charlotte Folk Society not more involved with local showcases? With pairing local openers with [established] traveling acts? 18 | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Or more Nashville Songwriter Association events? I have friends who are involved in both. Good folks. But where are the events, the venues? Where is the community? Are younger songwriters and audiences adding to the tradition? Has anything been lost? The songwriter showcases I do attend have some young ears in the audience. That’s a start. But I think you’re asking about something beyond my sense of scope. (laughs) I feel like a watch repairman in a dusty shop in a tiny town. I guess I don’t see or feel the culture much. I think it all takes a village — artists, venues, listeners. The Evening Muse used to host events for songwriters, but sees — and understandably — more viability and money in the form of younger bands. Where does local Americana live? On WSGE [Gaston College radio]? Where else? I honestly don’t know. Where could it in this town? With Charlotte Folk Society and in coffee shops. Where else could it? Since the music business seems to have moved toward a more live show-centric model, does it affect the writing in a noticeable way to you? The biz has not changed my writing. Life and life’s changes have, though. Getting divorced has. Losing furry kids, and a home. Getting more spiritually fit. Meeting a good woman who has children. Getting un-miserable. These things have really impacted my process. I jokingly tell my girlfriend that she has ruined my songwriting. (laughs) It’s just a coy joke though. What’s the thing you love the most about what you’re doing now? I love my band, the Antique Babies. We are all close. We love each other. We are like a live cooking show. I bring the bones of these songs. And we stir stuff in until we get the soup about right. No hard and fast rules and little effort toward consistency. We seek an in-the-moment state of levitation within each song. How has working as a mental health and addiction counselor influenced the songs? Oh, Lord, 25 years working with severely mentally ill adults? Heartbreaking stuff. Beautiful and humble moments of grace. You can’t work with broken and beautiful souls in want of redemption like that and be unaffected and unchanged.
PHOTO COURTESY OF RICK SPREITZER
Rick Spreitzer What else inspires you when you write? I want my songs to be listened to more than I want their author highlighted, but the ethereal force that sparks songs — I call it the Muse — and the desire to write are everywhere. I am mostly happy and mostly at peace today, so my personal climate has changed considerably. The writing has followed suit. I aspire to write emotionally based intimate vignettes and character studies. My tunes are about sympathetic and basically decent flawed folks. It’s me trying to work through them. I try to artfully describe and humanize broken or fallen people,
and it’s sometimes very healing to my own brokenness. I have a song, “One Last Look,” about a guy staring at a crib at the baby mama’s place. It’s his ex, his kid, and he decides to not step forward and rouse the baby. “Take one last look at her now... before you leave.” His impression is the baby will be better off without his touch, his contact. I try to poetically humanize him as a self-described fuck up. To write songs like that is at once healing in an odd way, and emotionally exhausting — to fall into that kind of character and sing through them. I love it though. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
Snuggle Up with CL
tonight....
CLCLT.COM | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | 19
MUSIC
SOUNDBOARD AUGUST 9 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Red Baraat (Neighborhood Theatre)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Dende (Salud Cerveceria) DJ Matt B (Tin Roof) Le Bang (Snug Harbor)
COUNTRY/FOLK Old Salt Union (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Scott Porter (Tin Roof) Summit Songwriters Showcase (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B The Purple Madness Prince Experience Featuring Bobby Miller (The Fillmore)
POP/ROCK The Fifth Divine at Alive After Five! (Rooftop 210) Musicians Open Mic Sign hosted by Ryan Happy Hippie (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub) Arc & Stones (Evening Muse) The Fed Ups (Comet Grill) Karaoke (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern, Charlotte) Matt Waters (Tin Roof) Music Bingo with Dr. Music (Heist Brewery) The Pink Spiders w/ Lonely Jones (Milestone) *Repeat Repeat (Stage Door Theater) Shana Blake and Friends (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Vicarious, Nick Cianci, and Kyle Duke (The Rabbit Hole)
AUGUST 10 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Lagos Bugalú: August Edition: DJ Kato (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Sounds on the Square: The Menastree (Spirit Square) Jazzy Fridays (Freshwaters Restaurant)
COUNTRY/FOLK Canaan Cox (The Rabbit Hole) Dierks Bentley (PNC Music Pavilion) Griffin House (Neighborhood Theatre) The Paper Crowns (U.S. National Whitewater Center) 20 | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Scott Porter (Tin Roof) Unknown Hinson (Unknown Brewing Co.) The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Drop !t Featuring Ganja White Night, Subdocta (The Fillmore) Fortunes Fest 2018 (Red Diamond Event Center, Pineville) Player Made: Permanent Vacation’s Elevator Jay, Jaboi B Rab and A-Huf present an Ode To Southern Rap of All Eras (Snug Harbor)
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Matt B (Tin Roof) DJ Overcash (RiRa Irish Pub)
POP/ROCK 42... a Tribute To Coldplay, Bullet the Blue Sky (The Underground) ABACAB - The Music of Genesis, Bless the Rains - Toto Tribute (Visulite Theatre) Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Don Gibson Theatre, Shelby) Cuzco, Ol’ Sport, The Stayhomes, Earther (Milestone) Iioioioii, Zigtebra, Sext Message (Petra’s) Izzy True w/ Big Baby, Alright & Stress Fractures (Oso Skate Park) Mike Strauss Trio (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson) Nathan Angelo Band, Brooks Dixon (Evening Muse) RIVVR, Paul McDonald (Evening Muse) RJ Acoustics (RiRa Irish Pub) Sp)lit, Deep Rest, Consumed with Hatred (Skylark Social Club) Steven Metz (Tin Roof) Taplow (Cabarrus Brewing Company, Concord) TroubleMaker (Smokey Joe’s Cafe)
AUGUST 11 COUNTRY/FOLK LSD Tour: Lucinda William, Steve Earl, Dwight Yoakam (Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre)
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Phalse ID (RiRa Irish Pub) DJ Y-Not (Tin Roof) Tilted DJ Saturdays (Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B
MUSIC
SOUNDBOARD Juvenile (The Underground) The Old School Day Party & Concert Jam: August Edition (Morehead Tavern)
POP/ROCK Summer Concert Series (Blakeney Shopping Center) 2 Slices w/ Phaze Gawd, Lofidels (Snug Harbor) Austin Lucas Immortal Americans Full Band Tour, Brit Drozda (Evening Muse) Donna Duncan Band (Comet Grill) The Get Right Band (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Girls Rock: Teen Rock N’ Reel Show (McGlohon Theater) Heroes At Last (RiRa Irish Pub) The Hey Joes (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Kansas (Ovens Auditorium) The Lopez w/ Swampwalk, Acne & Couch Surfer (Milestone) MadPark Designs Music Fest: Swamp78, Bergenline, Vinyl Sirens, The Dirty Low Down, Never Home, Richie Rust (Oso Skate Park) Matt Bennett Band (Tin Roof) (Sandy) Alex G, Elvis Depressedly, Daddy Issues (Neighborhood Theatre) Thunder Dreamer, Wild Pink (Evening Muse) Todd Johnson & The Revolvers, Logan & The Kidders, Steven Hall (Petra’s) Z Trio (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson)
AUGUST 12
AUGUST 13 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Jazz Jam (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge) Rico Nasty - The Nasty Tour, Maliibu Miitch (Neighborhood Theatre) Knocturnal w/ Jericho Jackson (Elzhi & Khrysis), Kil Ripkin, King Callis (Snug Harbor)
POP/ROCK Songs at the Mansion (Duke Mansion, Charlotte) Brangle (Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Charlotte) Find Your Muse Open Mic welcomes Brooklynbased duo Skout (Evening Muse) Krvsade & Locus Mortis w/ Mortality Salience & Divine Treachery (Milestone) Music Bingo (Tin Roof) Music Trivia (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Open Mic with Lisa De Novo (Legion Brewing)
AUGUST 14 COUNTRY/FOLK Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Eclectic Soul Tuesdays - RnB & Poetry (Apostrophe Lounge) Soulful Tuesdays: DJ ChopstickZ, DJ JTate Beats (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL
DJ/ELECTRONIC
Brew-Grass Sundays hosted by River Ratz: Water’s Edge (Cabarrus Brewing Company, Concord)
POP/ROCK
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Red (Tin Roof) WEPA! A Sun-Day Party (Petra’s) Bone Snugs-N-Harmony: Bryan Pierce (Snug Harbor) More Fyah - Grown & Sexy Vibes (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
POP/ROCK HyeTension w/ Write The Ship, Middleasia & And The Luckier (Milestone) The Sword, Ume (Neighborhood Theatre) Metal Church Sunday Service (Milestone) Omari and The Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Sunday Music Bingo (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern)
DJ Steel Wheel (Snug Harbor)
Carnivora & Accursed Creator w/ Morganton & Ladyhel (Milestone) Jason Mraz (Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre) Open Jam with the Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Reaves, Green Knuckle Materia,l Focose (Evening Muse) Uptown Unplugged with Sweet Sweet (Tin Roof)
AUGUST 15 COUNTRY/FOLK Open Mic (Comet Grill)
DISHING FRESH WHO’S AD AND ISFOOD IT ANYWAYS? BEVERAGE NEWS WEEKLY.
8/10Abacab A Tributeto GENESIS 8/17 RED BARCHETTA A Tribute to RUSH RECORDS BIRTHDAY SHOWCASE 8/18 ABBEY ROAD LIVE! 8/25 REFRESH featuring JUNIOR ASTRONOMERS& CUZCO 8/24 TREEHOUSE 9/6 FAMILY AND FRIENDS 9/11 JOSEPH 9/19 NOAH GUNDERSEN 9/20CARL BROEMEL of My Morning Jacket 9/23 JON STICKLEY TRIO 9/28 CAAMP 9/30 CASEY JAMES 10/2 MT. JOY10/9WELSHLY ARMS 10/31BUMPIN UGLIES + TROPIDELIC 11/7 WILL HOGE 11/10THE NIGHT GAME 12/15 RUNAWAY GIN
Creative EVERY WEEK IN:
loafing DJ/ELECTRONIC
KARAOKE with DJ Alex Smith (Petra’s) Cyclops Bar: Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor)
POP/ROCK Drag 101: Delighted Tobehere (Stage Door Theater) August Residency: Cheesus Crust w/ Koosh (Snug Harbor) Bill Noonan, Chris Peace, Rick Spreitzer (Evening Muse) Open House & Karaoke (Sylvia Theatre, York) Open Mic (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson) Open Mic (JackBeagle’s) Open Mic & Songwriter Workshop (Petra’s, Charlotte) Unified Right, Rhythm of fear, Diztort, Substance (Skylark Social Club) Trivia & Karaoke Wednesdays (Tin Roof)
COMING SOON Pusha T, Valee (August 23, Fillmore) X (September 5, Neighborhood Theatre) Ani DeFranco (September 8, Neighborhood Theatre) I’m With Her (September 13, McGlohon) Alina Baraz (September 14, Fillmore) Toad The Wet Sprocket (September 20, McGlohon) Rebirth Brass Band (September 21, Neighborhood Theatre) Kaleo (September 21, Fillmore)
NEED DIRECTIONS? Check out our website at clclt.
com. CL online provides addresses, maps and directions from your location. Send us your concert listings: E-mail us at mkemp@clclt. com or fax it to 704-522-8088. We need the date, venue, band name and contact name and number. The deadline is each Wednesday, one week before publication. CLCLT.COM | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | 21
ARTS
COVERSTORY
THE BIG THAW Katie St. Clair’s ice spheres feature beauty, decay — and mushrooms BY PAT MORAN
C
OLORFUL PAINTINGS — collages of fractured shapes and brilliant hues — will line the walls of Central Piedmont Community College’s Ross Gallery when Katie St. Clair’s exhibit Fruiting Bodies opens on August 15. But the main event arrives five days later in the form of spherical ice sculptures that will be suspended from the ceiling. Sculptures that won’t be long for this world. Judging from images of similar spheres St. Clair has created for previous shows, the sculptures are startling. Mushrooms, natural pigments, parts of plants and even roadside trash are encased in the ice, and these verdant and/or decaying materials come unlocked as the spheres slowly melt. During previous installations, people were convinced St. Clair had rigged up tubes so running water would drip through the sculptures and onto the floor. That’s an optical illusion, she says. “In reality, the execution is so simple. They’re basically big round ice cubes hanging from strings,” St. Clair says laughing. The exhibit illustrates a state of flux, the artist continues. Over a period of 24 to 48 hours, the spheres, ranging in size from 8 to 12 inches in diameter, shrink as they drip, splatter and even start to smell. Canvasses stretched below the dwindling sculptures capture water, pigment and pieces of fungi in newly created paintings. As one artwork is destroyed, another one is created. After the first sphere installation on August 20, two more waves of installations will follow on September 12 and October 1. St. Clair says the multiple installations of ice spheres are like adding additional layers of paint to a canvas over time. St. Clair also reveals that the spheres are a result of her hikes in the Carolina woodlands foraging for mushrooms, an activity she picked up shortly after moving to Davidson two years ago. “I wanted to create a body of work that was rooted to the place where I was living,” says the 33-year-old assistant professor of art at Davidson College. The exhibit takes its title from the sporebearing cap and stem, the above-ground part of a fungus we call a mushroom head, as opposed to the root-like often hidden mycelium, St. Clair explains. Fruiting Bodies also represents a culmination of the artist’s lifelong fascination with making collages and viewing the world in 22 | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
During and after melt. Natural debris, trash, pigment and ice on canvas.
PHOTO BY KATIE ST. CLAIR
“THE MUSHROOMS ARE ATTRACTED TO THE DAMAGE WE CREATE AND THEY HAVE THE CURE. IT’S AN AMAZING CIRCLE OF LIFE.” KATIE ST. CLAIR
a fractured way. “As artists, a lot of our fodder for creativity comes from our childhood,” St. Clair says, adding that her immersion in nature began when she was growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her mother was a creative writer as well as an avid gardener, and her father is an engineer and farmer who currently lives on a selfsustaining, 200-acre spread in rural Kentucky. After her parents divorced, St. Clair lived with her mother and grandmother in a forested Cincinnati park called Fox Preserve. So a focus on nature is not new to her work, St. Clair says, but it took her a while to come around back to it. While earning a Bachelors of Fine Arts at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and subsequently a Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Michigan–Stamps School of Art and Design, St. Clair created pieces that exposed people to the act of looking. “A lot of it was figurative work, [images] of women looking in nature,” St. Clair remembers. She decided to simplify her
approach, eliminating the human figures and focusing on what she calls “the natural world in all its beauty and decay.” This approach led to her creating collages, juxtaposing painting with photographs in fractured cut ups that reconfigured time and space. A collage gives images context, St. Clair maintains. “We understand beauty in terms of what is around it,” she says. “We see a thing as beautiful because it’s surrounded by things that are corrupt.” Although she no longer works with photographs, St. Clair feels she has never stopped working with collages’ cutup, fractured and recombined images. “Collage is actually how I think,” says St. Clair, who is dyslexic. “The way I think is a little fractured within a normal context, but fracture is not a bad thing.” To illustrate her point, she cites her approach to one of her favorite hobbies since moving to North Carolina — foraging for mushrooms. Searching for fungi in the woods involves thinking about space and shape recognition in
a decontextualized and reconstituted way, she explains. It’s a picture of the world that is less linear than we’re inclined to believe. St. Clair says she goes into a meditative space when she starts to comb the woods for mushrooms. “I’ll let myself wander and go where I’m led,” St Clair reveals. “Once I start finding the right kind of mushroom, my eye becomes trained to that shape and color. It’s like something instinctual kicks in — a primal hunter-gatherer sensitivity.” She says the same approach holds true for working with collages. When she’s cutting up pieces to use in a painting, often the best pieces fall onto the floor. Often, what was once considered refuse became more important than the material she was initially going to use. All of which raises a question about St. Clair’s choice of raw materials for her art: Why mushrooms? “In a funny way, mushrooms found me,” St.
FRUITING BODIES CPCC Ross Gallery August 15 – October 10 Artist Lecture: September 12 Opening Reception: September 12 Sphere installations: August 20, September 12, and October 1 cpcc.edu
Clair says. When she was rambling through the woods she found herself drawn to the shapes, colors and textures of mushrooms. She started making dyes from the fungi to color paper she used for collages and paintings and to add tints to her ice spheres. Finding edible mushrooms and learning to make mushroom tinctures for health benefits turned out to be an unexpected bonus. St. Clair feels focusing on mushrooms for raw material was less a conscious decision and more a case of the mushrooms showing up in her work organically. As an artist she followed where the mushrooms led, and in the process she discovered an intriguing fact about fungi: Mushrooms tend to grow in landscapes that have been disrupted. “If there’s an environmental change like an insect killing all the trees — that’s the kind of condition that attracts mycelium,” the vegetative state of a fungus that forms a mushroom, she explains. Once the mushrooms start to grow, they utilize decaying organic matter and reconstitute into something new. From decomposition comes new life — what we call the fruiting body. “The mushrooms are attracted to the damage we create and they have the cure,” she says. “It’s an amazing circle of life.” St. Clair sees a metaphor for this process in the ice spheres. Once the inert material drops out of the melting sculpture and onto the canvas below, what’s left looks like mycelium. There’s beauty in decay and renewal, St. Clair maintains. It’s a celebration of the ephemeral. A mushroom exists for a limited time, a few days at most. Similarly, the ice spheres only exist for 48 hours, disintegrating as they melt to create paintings underneath. St. Clair collects materials for the spheres from the disruptive marginal landscapes she describes — roadsides and drainage ditches — which ties in with her idea that the natural world is in constant flux. Flux, of course, is very much present in the spheres as they melt, decay and change. “There’s a mixture of natural trash and debris in the spheres,” she says. “It’s whatever I find. I’m not picky. I take what’s there.” Though the ice sculptures embody an almost cosmic sense of natural cycles, they are created in a homespun setting — St. Clair’s kitchen and her freezer. She reveals that she’s currently eating all the frozen food in her freezer to make way for art. Using a container similar to a salad bowl, she creates half a sphere. She fills the bowl with trash, natural debris and pigment, fills the bowl with water and pops it in the freezer.
PHOTO BY KATIE ST. CLAIR
Raw Materials: Natural debris and trash waiting to be added to ice spheres.
PHOTO BY KATIE ST. CLAIR
‘Pholiota.’ Fruiting Bodies Series, 2018, Acrylic, collage and an assortment of experimental techniques with dye, loose pigment, spray paint, gesso and rice paper on canvas. “It’s just like making ice cubes or a Jell-O mold,” she says, laughing. St. Clair pops each frozen hemisphere out of its bowl, drills a hole through each and fits the two halves together to make a whole sphere. An airplane cable connects the icy hemispheres and runs up into the gallery ceiling, while a wooden peg keeps the sphere halves joined at the bottom. Visitors to Ross Gallery who see St. Clair’s Fruiting Bodies paintings lining the walls might assume that they are the artwork that forms in an apparently random fashion on the canvasses beneath the sphere. They’re not. St. Clair creates those particular paintings in her studio, but the melting spheres inspire her process. Near the end of a previous ice sphere installation, St. Clair looked at the puddles forming underneath
Katie St. Clair in her studio. the collecting canvases and noticed how the paint was drying. She started questioning if she could mimic that process with paint in her studio. “Weird things would happen when trash mixed in with the other materials,”
PHOTO BY JENNIFER GARCIA PEACOCK
she remembers. “When something that has gasoline on it mixes with the pigment and water, it creates a chemical reaction.” The canvases on the gallery walls will be St. Clair’s SEE
THAW P. 24 u
CLCLT.COM | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | 23
ARTS
COVERSTORY
THAW FROM P.23 t attempt to recreate that chemical reaction under controlled conditions. “I started using paint in very different ways than I ever would before,” she says, “and it’s all because of the inspiration of the spheres.” When St. Clair first developed the idea to create the melting spheres, it stemmed from a desire to create a metaphor for what happens daily in her studio. When she is working she is frequently covered in paint from head to toe, with paint dripping down and drying on her arms. It’s not a far cry from melting balls of ice to create puddles of paint, fractured mushrooms and piles of roadside debris. For St. Clair, the act of creation is just like life — immersive, tactile and frequently messy. She takes a similar approach to the art classes she teaches at Davidson. She teaches in a tactile, hands-on manner, encouraging her students that it’s okay to try anything, because it eliminates the fear of failure. “I promote the idea that anyone can have an amazing creative practice in his or her life,” she says. For St. Clair, creative practice means that art is something that you show up for every day. It’s not about making one good painting to get a grade. Rather, she teaches learning habits and urges experimentation. She’s less concerned with pushing final product, and more interested in encouraging
students to push past their own preconceived notions of what is right and wrong, and what is good and bad. Given St. Clair’s organic teaching methods and her devotion to nature it comes as no surprise that she advocates for sustainable living. She’s traveled to Indonesia to study cultural views surrounding life cycles: refuse degrading on streets, the burning of native landscapes and local death rituals. She went diving in the Indian Ocean to photograph and document the dying coral reefs. She’s a committed environmentalist, but she’s not evangelical about it. “I don’t think it’s my job to use art as a petition,” she says. “I have a positive outlook on the impact people can have on the world. I believe that people are good at their core.” Art can inspire and build awareness of how the choices we make can change the world and make life better, she believes. Art can open a window, she continues. “I think art can make us stop, look and actually question things,” she concludes, and she hopes the ice spheres are part of that process. Maybe melting globes of ice, pigment, mushrooms and roadside trash can lead viewers to contemplate the cycle of life and decay on this fragile planet. PMORAN@CLCLT.COM
U.N.C C FOOTBALL BE PART OF THE EXCITEMENT
HIRING EVENT STAFF (USHERS, TICKETS TAKERS) & SECURITY FOR UPCOMING 2018-19 SEASON
2018 JOB FAIR AND ORIENTATION SAT.& SUN. AUGUST 11th-12th JOB FAIR FOR NEW APPLICANTS 10:00 AM TO 12:00PM ORIENTATION FOR NEW & RETURNING EMPLOYEES 12:00PM TO 2:00PM
Enter UNCC off of North Tryon Street at Institute Circle, to Robert D Synder Road, to Philips Road Park in the Stadium Parking Lot, look for the job fair signs
JERRY RICHARDSON FOOTBALL STADIUM AT UNC CHARLOTTE The Epic building is next to the UNCC football stadium
8700 PHILIPS RD. CHARLOTTE, NC 28223
We are seeking energetic people ages 18 and older. People with criminal records need not apply. Background checks will be conducted. Must bring social security card and a state issued driver’s license or ID. 24 | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Katie St. Clair.
PHOTO BY JON VERNEY
DISNEY
Ewan McGregor in ‘Christopher Robin’ (Photo: Disney)
ARTS
HOME ALL WEEK!
FILM
Charlotte Knights vs. Buffalo
WELL, POOH
MONDAY
SCHOOL KIT GIVEAWAY
Disney’s cross to bear BY MATT BRUNSON
A.A. MILNE may have been the one who
invented Winnie the Pooh, but it’s actually the spirit of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie that hovers around the margins of the new Disney yarn Christopher Robin (** out of four). Like Steven Spielberg’s 1991 Hook, a look at how the adult Peter Pan (Robin Williams) managed to reclaim his childhood innocence and exuberance, this picture posits that the adult Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor), formerly Winnie the Pooh’s human companion, has become so busy with grownup responsibilities that he has forgotten how to stop and smell the honey. Yet the Barrie connection doesn’t end there. Christopher Robin is directed by Marc Forster, whose 2004 Finding Neverland centered on Barrie (Johnny Depp) and the family that inspired him to create Peter and the Lost Boys. This new picture falls in between those earlier efforts: It isn’t as artificial and lead-footed as Hook, but it also isn’t as probing or moving as Finding Neverland. Ever the perpetual money machine, Disney is stumbling over itself in its attempts to make new versions of seemingly every property it has ever owned. Its run thus far has been largely expected and mostly successful, with such gems as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and even Pete’s Dragon (the latter actually improving on the original). Christopher Robin, unfortunately, falls short of hitting a similar mark. Last year’s Goodbye Christopher Robin, which looked at the relationship between A.A. Milne and the son (Christopher Robin Milne) who inspired a literary namesake, was — despite a PG rating — largely made for adults, what with its dark themes of post-traumatic stress disorder and family dysfunction.
Now here comes Christopher Robin sporting that same PG designation, yet this one is clearly made for family audiences. Certainly, the wee ones will thrill at the sight of Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings, who’s been essaying the role for approximately 30 years), Tigger (also Cummings), Eeyore (Brad Garrett) and the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood gang being brought to life as talking, walking plush toys. Yet will they care to watch McGregor’s Christopher fret over having to fire his fellow employees, or seeing his wife (Hayley Atwell) frowning over the fact that her workaholic husband is never home? Forget the kids: Even adults in the audience might balk at these uninspired interludes, dutifully set up so the movie’s overworked theme of reclaiming childhood innocence can knock them over like a bowling ball slamming into carefully arranged pins. In fact, much of Christopher Robin feels rote and routine, with the antics of the animals only providing brief respites from the overall drudgery on display. Just because Pooh and Eeyore are often sleepy doesn’t mean the movie itself has to follow suit. It would be unfair not to acknowledge that those who reserve a special place in their heart for Pooh Bear will in all likelihood absolutely adore this movie. Others, however, might not quite understand all the fuss. Like honey, Christopher Robin is very sweet. Unlike honey, it doesn’t really stick. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
THE KNIGHTS ARE PARTNERING WITH UNITED HEALTHCARE ON A “SCHOOL KIT” GIVEAWAY TO THE FIRST 1,000 KIDS THROUGH THE GATES.
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SUBVERSIVE SUBCULTURES AfroPop! celebrates its two-year anniversary A few weeks ago, I went to a networking or you don’t have enough money. Ownership event to support a friend of mine. These is the key … We need our own and to put events aren’t a cup of tea for introverts like other people on. Things are changing though me. Yes, I’m an introvert. Luckily, a few and more minority owners are popping up familiar faces from my last job were there everywhere.” to put my mind at ease. After a few drinks, That being said, I felt privileged when the stuffiness had worn off and I was more my new connection gave me her number and willing to gab with patrons. invited me to attend AfroPop!’s two-year My friend who hosted the event is the anniversary event at The Underground at type of person who doesn’t meet a stranger. AvidXchange Music Factory. I read up on the It was only a matter of time before he event on their website and Facebook page was making introductions on my behalf. and was reminded of my first Su Casa I’m thankful that he did, because he visit and the article that followed ended up introducing me to a in which I described the event sweet woman who told me all as a “monthly oasis for the about an event that happens culturally starved.” at least once a month in I was grateful that by Charlotte, Durham and the time I arrived, the Atlanta called AfroPop! crowd had thinned out. What is AfroPop! Nation? It’s an event As I said earlier, I can get a “that celebrates the rich bit overwhelmed when I’m heritage of various African in larger crowds. I bounced diaspora nationalities around with a friend who through music, live drums, works at The Underground AERIN SPRUILL dance, vendors, fashion and and visited a few of the booths art.” Why in the world hadn’t placed around the dancefloor. I’d I heard about this event before?! promised myself I wasn’t going to buy Especially when then-editor Mark Kemp anything, but $60 later, I was the proud had just written an article in March about owner of a handmade copper ring and a the inspiration behind the event. *cue selfSouth African beaded necklace. I celebrated judgment* by doing some version of a reggae dance Yes, there’s plenty I could do to stay before heading outside where I’d later chat #woke and aware of who’s “doing it for the with my invitee and Ndelo, her brother. I culture in Charlotte,” but then I also thought wasn’t in the best state to ask questions so I about how easy it is to access information asked for his card so we could connect later. about events in the city that aren’t put on by When I asked him to reflect on his first those classified as “other.” AfroPop! event and how far the events have For example, Durag Fest, which was an come, he said: “The two-year anniversary was alternative Juneteenth celebration held at Camp North End, was a perfect catalyst to special to me because that’s two trips around discussions about “who’s supported in the the sun and AfroPop! is still just picking Charlotte community.” The durag was used up steam. It’s a beautiful feeling knowing as the centerpiece of the celebration, and and not knowing the potential growth that if you know anything about the history the future holds … The vibe was electric. of durags you know that it is entangled With the horns, AfroPop! dancers, two-DJ in conversations about blackness, culture set, light show and concert-style venue, it and fashion. Quite the statement event, felt more like a show or concert party than however, it was only after the event was just a cultural dance party. It showed that fairly invisible in the Charlotte community we stepped up our showmanship and are and then went viral in the aftermath that offering a tailored experience … We set out I began to question how much support do to intertwine the fashion, dance, knowledge, “other” communities have in the Q.C. colors, music, food and celebratory aspects “I don’t feel that minorities have equal of various pan-African cultures to create one access. You can see distinct pockets in the big gumbo called AfroPop!” city where certain cultures go to a party. And let me tell you, that gumbo is Getting access to venues is a tough thing definitely worth tasting. What are your in Charlotte,” says Eric Ndelo, one of three thoughts on the state of cultural diversity or innovators behind AfroPop!, on minority lack thereof in Charlotte nightlife? access to resources in Charlotte. “Either you BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM don’t have the right vibe (look) for the club
ENDS
FeeLing Lonely?
CROSSWORD
SEEING THINGS ACROSS
1 Brand of taco shells 7 Serapes, e.g. 13 Holders of strike signs 20 Film critic Richard 21 Social outcast 22 Be given via will 23 “Get Smart” device for a secret conversation 25 All excited 26 One using a plus sign 27 Rose Bowl sch. 28 Mario Lanza, for one 30 Hands over 32 Classmate 38 People swearing 42 Actress Reid and skater Lipinski 43 Barrett of gossip columns 44 1990s IBM computer 45 Give out, as a task 47 Helps out 50 Withholding corporal punishment, biblically 52 Baja naps 53 Holiday in Hanoi 54 Oven output 55 Imitated 56 Top pitcher 57 Mag revenue source 61 Get bloated 65 Leaps over 67 PBS series featuring documentary films 70 -- tank 73 Keyboard instruments 74 Avers 78 Gardner of the screen 79 Biblical king before David 81 Join closely 83 Historic time 84 Like some snakelike fish 86 High-definition iPad feature 92 Faux names 93 Puts up, as an edifice 94 Arrive at a choice 95 City near Lake Tahoe 96 Watson’s partner
97 Popping-up appliance 98 “Under the Net” novelist 102 Shovel go-withs 104 “Cheerio!” 105 High wind 106 Private stash 111 Provides 115 Punny statement about seven key words in this puzzle 119 Soon-to-be bride 120 Salary maker 121 Artemis’ twin 122 Stretching muscles 123 With 32-Down, event with a funnel cake stand, often 124 Unit of force
DOWN
1 Sea menace 2 Big crucifix 3 Take care of 4 Sword sort 5 1936-52 British king 6 “Woof!” kin 7 Mace, e.g. 8 Recital sites 9 Locale 10 Finish at #1 11 Body of eau 12 Kind of pony or sheepdog 13 Keyboard instrument 14 Being pulled 15 Bird’s sound 16 Actor Wahl 17 Unit of work 18 “Shop -- you drop” 19 -- Jeanne d’Arc: Abbr. 24 RAV4s, e.g. 29 Golf’s Ernie 31 Persia, now 32 See 123-Across 33 As a result 34 “Mila 18” author Leon 35 USPS part 36 Unbroken 37 Damsels 38 -- pall over 39 Elevated 40 Sports data 41 KnightlY title 42 Mao of China 45 Had food 46 One forming something
47 Cleo’s cobra 48 Kitchen tools 49 Car types 51 Indian butter 55 Liable 58 Indy area 59 Licoricelike flavorers 60 Music box? 62 Agcy. OK’ing medicines 63 “Dudley Do-Right” damsel Nell 64 Not mailed, say 66 Exercise 68 D.C. figure 69 Alan of film 70 African hunt 71 More sinful 72 Some Italian sandwiches 75 Kindled again 76 Vocation 77 Singer Leo 80 Sub inits. 82 -- Cruces 85 Its capital is Vientiane 86 Puts on a new course 87 Actor Close 88 Cal -89 Big star, say 90 Picture of an ocean view 91 Mac rivals 96 String after B 97 Track beams 99 -- Polo 100 Cow’s milk source 101 Gets higher 102 Wage recipient 103 At the ready 105 Unit of heredity 107 State boldly 108 Old Briton 109 Hawaii County seat 110 Rival school of Harrow 111 Not fore 112 “Bah!” 113 Groupie, e.g. 114 Come- -- (shills) 116 Sombrero, for example 117 Be wrong 118 Sci-fi’s Solo
graB Your copy today
SOLUTION FOUND ON P. 30.
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ENDS
SAVAGE LOVE
SEXUAL AWAKENING A reader experiences a second sex life BY DAN SAVAGE
I’m a 27-year-old woman living on the East Coast. I’ve been sexually active and on birth control since I was 16 — almost always on the pill. I recently switched to the NuvaRing, which I had a bad reaction to: I had no libido at all and extreme mood swings/bouts of depression I could not live with. My boyfriend and I decided it would be a good idea to go off hormonal birth control for a while, just to see what would happen. We’ve been together for almost four years, so we agreed condoms would be fine, and I would try the route of no more supplemental hormones. I stopped a couple of months ago, and it’s been a mix of good and bad. The good is that my moods are more even. Another good thing is I feel like I’m having a sexual awakening. My libido came back! But the bad thing is my libido came back in a way I wasn’t expecting. My sexual appetite is insane. I want to have sex with everyone! Men, women, friends, colleagues, acquaintances. My boyfriend has been amazing through all of this. He’s agreed to let us open up our relationship under specific terms. I agree with the terms we placed, but I still feel like my urges are going to get me in trouble. I know not to have sex with friends and colleagues, but a lot of situations come up that make it hard to resist — especially when alcohol is involved. I’m very good with self-policing, and I don’t think I’ll actually act on my urges. My question is one you get a lot: Is this normal? Can removing a cocktail of hormones from my life really change me this much? I used to want sex, but now I WANT SEX. I want a lot of it, and it’s overwhelming. I don’t want to blame it all on the birth control, but I can’t help but feel it to be true since it was the only variable in my life that changed in the last couple of months. I want to be faithful to my boyfriend, who has been great and understanding — allowing us to open our relationship to casual encounters with strangers. (Also: No friends, no one we both know, DADT, and no intimacy with anyone — it must be purely sexual/physical.) But I’m feeling sexual connections to so many more people now, and often to people I’ve known for a while. I see this all as mostly positive, but the adjustment to the new sexual hunger 28 | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
has been strange and difficult to wrap my head around.
involved in the menstrual cycle and pregnancy; levels are highest in the week SUDDENLY HORNY AND GOING GAGA ISN’T NORMAL before menstruation (called the luteal phase) and are also high during pregnancy,” said Dr. “I’m so glad to hear this woman sees the Chivers. increase in her libido as positive,” said Dr. “A recent, large-scale study reported that Meredith Chivers, an associate professor of women with higher progesterone — women psychology at Queen’s University in Canada, who weren’t using HC — had lower sexual a world-renowned sex researcher, and — interest, on average. Because using HC is I’m proud to say — a frequent guest expert associated with reductions in sexual interest, around here. we could predict that stopping HC, and “At the same time, I understand how thus progesterone levels returning to more overwhelming these urges can feel, especially typical lower levels, could be associated with when they are new.” increases in sexual motivation.” Luckily for you, SHAGGIN, you’re with Since you definitely experienced an someone who’s secure enough to let you feel increase in sexual desire after you removed the fuck out these new feelings. Whether or your NuvaRing and started using condoms, not you act on them is one thing — DADT SHAGGIN, Dr. Chivers was comfortable agreement or no DADT agreement — but saying… that you definitely experienced an not having to pretend you aren’t suddenly increase in sexual desire and that might be interested in fucking men, women, friends, related to going off HC. colleagues, and acquaintances is a real gift. “Given that she has been using some Another example of your good form of HC since she became sexually active, luck? Dr. Chivers is about to my guess is that she’s never had the give you the Actual Science chance to experience her sexuality download on hormonal while naturally cycling,” said Dr. birth control — complete Chivers. with qualifications about “Part of her process what we know, what could be learning about her we don’t know, and unmedicated hormonal areas that require more cycle, her sexuality and the research! variations in her sex drive. “It’s difficult to For example, does her sexual say what is and isn’t interest fluctuate over her normal when it comes cycle? She might want to DAN SAVAGE to the effects of hormonal consider collecting some data contraception (HC) on with a cycle tracker app. Flo, Clue women’s sexual interest,” said and Period Tracker are among those Dr. Chivers. that my women sex-researcher/educator “To my knowledge, researchers have not colleagues recommend. This might help her specifically examined the question of what notice patterns in her libido, attractions and happens to women’s sex drive after stopping sexual pleasure — and help her to develop HC.” strategies to manage, and perhaps even But lots of women have stopped using capitalize on, her sexual desires.” hormonal contraception for the exact same As for your boyfriend, SHAGGIN, and reason you did, SHAGGIN: worries about your desire to be faithful to him: So long how it might be affecting their libido — and as you honor the terms of your openness there is some indirect evidence that HC can agreement, you are being faithful to him. But negatively impact a woman’s desire for sex. check in with him more than once before you “The NuvaRing is a combined hormonal fuck someone who isn’t him. Because when a contraceptive containing synthetic estrogens partner agrees to open the relationship but and progestins (the same as many birth then places a long list of restrictions on who control pills),” said Dr. Chivers. you can fuck — a list that excludes most of “HC like the NuvaRing works, in part, by the people you wanna fuck — that can be a raising and stabilizing progesterone levels sign your partner doesn’t actually want to throughout the menstrual cycle, which helps open the relationship. to prevent ovulation and implantation.” The last word goes to Dr. Chivers: And it’s those stabilized progesterone Whether you’re having fun with others or you levels that could be the culprit. decide to remain sexually exclusive with your “Progesterone is one of the hormones boyfriend, “Have fun!”
To learn more about Dr. Chivers’s research, visit the SageLab website (queensu. ca/psychology/sexuality-and-gender-lab) and follow her on Twitter @DrMLChivers. I’m part of a nonhierarchical polycule. In a few months, one of my girlfriends will be marrying her fiancée. I’ll be attending as a guest with my other girlfriend. What are the guidelines or expectations for purchasing a gift for your girlfriend’s wedding? Surprisingly, the other advice columnists don’t have guidance on this one. WEDDING ETIQUETTE DILEMMA
Get the couple something nice, something you can afford, maybe something from their gift registry. Or give them a card with a check in it so they can spend the money on whatever they might need for their household or use it to cover the expense of the wedding itself. In short, WED, wedding-gift guidelines are the same for people in nonhierarchical polycules as they are for love-muggle monocules. I’m not slamming the poly thing for overprocessing and overthinking — most people process (aka communicate) too little, and it’s often better to overthink than to under-think or not-think — but not everything needs to be dumped into the poly processor and pureed. Congrats to your girlfriend (the one who’s getting married) and her fiancée! My husband and I were married in Toronto, Canada, in 2005, before marriage equality came to the United States. Does the U.S. government recognize our Canadian marriage or do we need to remarry in the U.S.? Can you find out from one of your legal friends? DOES OUR MARRIAGE APPLY?
“The US government does recognize your marriage,” said Robbie Kaplan, one of my legal friends—and the attorney who represented Edith Windsor before the US Supreme Court and won. In United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government was required to recognize legal same-sex marriages, thereby gutting the Defense of Marriage Act. “We did the same thing,” Kaplan added. “We were married in Toronto in 2006, and the US recognizes our marriage. No need to get married again here.” On the Lovecast, the kink phenomenon of “sub drop”: savagelovecast.com.
CLCLT.COM | AUG. 9 - AUG. 15, 2018 | 29
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SOLUTION TO THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE
WHERE WE ALL REFUSE TO WEAR SOCKS.
ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Impatience with those who don’t keep up with you can cause resistance, which, in turn, can lead to more delays. Best to be helpful and supportive if you want results. TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) A surprise announcement from a colleague could put you on the defensive. Gather your facts and respond. You’ll soon find the situation shifting in your favor.
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GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Time spent away from a project pays off with a new awareness of options you hadn’t considered before. Weigh them carefully before deciding which to choose.
LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Disruptive family disputes need to be settled so that everyone can move on. Avoid assuming this burden alone, though. Ask for -- no, demand -- help with this problem. SCORPIO (October 23 to
November 21) Patience is called for as you await word on an important workplace situation. A personal circumstance, however, could benefit by your taking immediate action.
SAGITTARIUS
(November 22 to December 21) Don’t lose confidence in yourself. Those doubters are likely to back off if you demand they show solid proof why they think your ideas won’t work.
CAPRICORN
(December 22 to January 19) A temporary setback might cause the usually sure-footed Goat some unsettling moments. But keep going. The path ahead gets easier as you move forward.
CANCER
(June 21 to July 22) Consider confronting that personal conflict while there’s still time to work things out. A delay can cause more problems. A longtime colleague might offer to mediate.
LEO (July 23 to August 22) Some emerging matters could impede the Lion’s progress in completing an important project. Best advice: Deal with them now, before they can create costly delays.
AQUARIUS
(January 20 to February 18) There’s welcome news from the workplace. There also could be good news involving a relationship that has long held a special meaning for you.
VIRGO (August 23 to
September 22) Your aspect continues to favor an expanding vista. This could be a good time to make a career move, and taking an out-oftown job could be a good way to do it.
PISCES (February
19 to March 20) You might still need to cut some lingering ties to a situation that no longer has the appeal it once held. In the meantime, you can start to explore other opportunities.
BORN THIS WEEK: Your sense of what’s right can inspire others if you remember not to push too hard to make your case. Moderation works best for you.
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