CLCLT.COM | APRIL 19 - APRIL 25, 2018 VOL. 32, NO. 9
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We visited a few hemp distribution companies in Asheville with a group of Charlotte entrepreneurs looking to open the city’s first CBD oil dispensary. Check out this week’s news feature on page 12 for more.
We put out weekly NEWS&CULTURE
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CBD IN CLT Charlotte’s first cannabidiol dispensary to open despite lingering stigma BY RYAN PITKIN 10 EDITOR’S NOTE BY MARK KEMP 14 NEWSMAKER: COREY HEDGEPETH, CHARLOTTE NORML BY ALLISON BRADEN 15 TROUBLEHUNTER BY ERIN TRACY-BLACKWOOD
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FOOD&DRINK A HEALTHY EQUATION Local couple serves up SUM Bucha BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS 18 THREE-COURSE SPIEL: AMANDA CARTER, SUNFLOUR BAKING CO. BY PAT MORAN
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TOP 10 THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK
MUSIC
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HIP-HOP CITY New Era Music Festival aims to change hearts and minds in Charlotte — PLUS, Top 10 must-see acts BY MARK KEMP 26 SOUNDBOARD
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ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT TAPROOT KEEPS IT WEIRD BOOM establishes its antiestablishment art mission for its third year BY GREY REVELL 30 FILM REVIEWS BY MATT BRUNSON 31 ARTSPEAK: BRIAN HESTER BY RYAN PITKIN
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ODDS&ENDS 34 NIGHTLIFE BY AERIN SPRUILL 35 CROSSWORD 36 SAVAGE LOVE BY DAN SAVAGE 38 SALOME’S STARS
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COVER DESIGN AND PHOTO BY DANA VINDIGNI
On the cover: Charlotte rappers Xavier “Tizzy” Walker (from left), Daquan “Kizzy” Bolton, Jah-Monte Ogbon (with cardboard cutout covering his face), Nige Hood, Bleu, Black Linen and Antony “Phaze Gawd” Potts get mellow on the meadow.. CLCLT.COM | APRIL 19 - APRIL 25, 2018 VOL. 32, NO. 9
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VIEWS
EDITOR’S NOTE
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY Rappers and cannabis entrepreneurs bust stereotypes in Charlotte STEREOTYPES. They’re so uncreative.
But Sims and Hentschke want to take Hemp gets lumped in with marijuana. things a step further. Their ultimate goal is Marijuana gets lumped in with images of legalization of all cannabis products in North hippie stoners and bleary-eyed rappers. Carolina. First, however, they plan to abide Rappers get lumped in with violence and by current laws governing hemp, Sims told aggression. None of those stereotypes have Pitkin, “so when we do have the opportunity much to do with reality, and yet society to go legal [with marijuana], we can say, ‘Hey continues to believe what it wants to believe. look, we’ve been doing everything by the book legally for all these years, give us an But things change. A few months ago I was driving out opportunity to hopefully be part of the pilot of my hometown of Asheboro, on my way program when that does change.’” Meanwhile, the higher-THC cannabis, back to Charlotte after a weekend with my parents, when I saw a sign on the town’s marijuana, remains illegal in N.C., so when main drag reading, “Everything Hemp.” It was we gathered several of Charlotte’s finest a little shop tucked into a strip mall about rappers together for this issue’s cover story halfway between my alma mater, Asheboro about the upcoming New Era Music Festival, we had to roll up fake blunts for them High School, and the old drive-in to smoke. (OK, so we sorta played restaurant where my friends and into the stereotype, but in a I would sneak off to during loving nod to Weed Day.) lunch to get our munchies fix. “Do you think it’s safe I had to laugh. My last for us to be ingesting name rhymes with hemp, this?” rapper Nige Hood and when I was in high asked when we handed school, that’s what the him a catnip blunt to puff students who were less on for the cover shot. Yes, inclined to partake of the we told him, it’s OK — just weed would call me. My, make like former President how things have changed. Bill Clinton and don’t inhale. The very word once used to MARK KEMP The New Era Music Fest, disparage my friends and me which takes place April 21, is was now a quaint shop that sells a celebration of local and regional hemp-based oils and lotions, fabrics, hip-hop artists featuring a who’s who of foods and beverages. Hemp was illegal for years because of its Queen City talent: Hood, Phaze Gawd, Black association with marijuana. Both are part of Linen, Bleu, Jah-Monte Ogbon, and many the cannabis family, and when the Marihuana others, including the festival’s brainchild, Tax Act of 1937 made cannabis illegal, largely Xavier “Tizzy” Walker of the duo Th3 Higher. When I was working on the story over for racist reasons, the low-THC hemp — used to make rope and other fabrics — was dragged the weekend, I couldn’t quite get across the along with the higher-THC marijuana, which enormity of Tizzy’s role in Charlotte’s rich hip-hop scene. So I did what I often do in was smoked for relaxation. In more recent years, laws banning even such cases: I tapped the extraordinary brain higher-THC cannabis have loosened, as of my girlfriend Kia O. Moore, who’s also a marijuana’s medical uses have increased and sometime CL contributor. “His real name is Xavier, right?” Kia said. Americans have become more tolerant of its Yes. recreational use. In 2014, when President “And he has a lab, with big whiteboards in Obama signed the Federal Farm Bill, states were allowed to set up pilot programs to it, where he does his planning, and notebooks reintroduce hemp farming. That opened the scrawled with ideas, right?” Yes. floodgates for stores like Everything Hemp “Like Charles Xavier — Professor X of in Asheboro. For our annual 4-20 issue — which X-Men,” she said. Yes! Xavier Walker is the Charles Xavier of acknowledges April 20 as International Weed Day — CL news editor Ryan Pitkin traveled to Charlotte hip-hop — a colorful superhero out Asheville with two Charlotte entrepreneurs to to bring truth, justice and peaceful coexistence check out the Carolina Hemp and Blue Ridge to the local music scene. Shouts-out to Kia for Hemp companies. Like Everything Hemp in transforming an ordinary report on a bunch of Asheboro, those western N.C. businesses also blunt-smoking rappers into a larger-than-life traffic in hemp-based oils and other products, adventure story about a team of superheroes and the entrepreneurs Pitkin traveled with, dedicated to busting stereotypes — led by Michael Sims and Dan Hentschke, would like one Professor X, whose guiding principle is, of course, “By any means necessary.” to do the same thing here. MKEMP@CLCLT.COM
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[From left] Randall Snyder, owner of Carolina Hemp Company, talks to Michael Sims and Dan Hentschke, founders of Charlotte CBD.
NEWS
The Charlotte CBD crew does inventory on CBD Honey Stix they purchased from CHC for their new Charlotte dispensary.
FEATURE
CBD IN CLT
PHOTOS BY RYAN PITKIN
Charlotte’s first cannabidiol dispensary to open despite lingering hemp stigma BY RYAN PITKIN
A
T CAROLINA HEMP, an industrial hemp distribution company in Asheville, the sales floor doesn’t take up much room, but there’s no lack of products. In fact, there’s seemingly no end to the uses for the magical cannabis plant, and those uses go well beyond the ability to get someone high. At CHC, customers can find clothes, or the yarn to make their own garments. They can find candles with hemp wicks. Energy drinks. Shampoo. Coffee. Mustard. Hot sauce. Lotion. Tinctures. Vaping oils. Dog treats. The list goes on. All of those items are made from hemp, and most contain CBD oil, a phytocannabinoid abundant in the hemp plant. On a recent Thursday, Carolina Hemp Company owner and CEO Randall Snyder stood in front of Charlotte entrepreneurs Michael Sims, Dan Hentschke and a couple of their friends, and spoke with a passion that seems to be present in everyone who deals with and advocates for CBD oils. Sims and Hentschke were in Asheville that day on a mission. While CBD products can be found at some head shops and vape stores in Charlotte, or ordered online, this pair plans to open the city’s first CBD dispensary, aptly named Charlotte CBD, in coming weeks. While the crew behind Charlotte CBD is still finalizing a location for its dispensary, they plan to launch a website, cltcbd.com, on 4-20, making many of their products available that day. Although some in the CBD industry take 12 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
pains to separate CBD from marijuana in the minds of the less-informed population, Sims and Hentschke hope Charlotte CBD will be a rallying point to carry on the fight to legalize marijuana in North Carolina. In Asheville, Snyder, after describing a process he and his team had found that allowed them to make CBD oil with the highest efficacy at the lowest dosage that he believed possible, spoke about why he left the oil and gas industry after 30 years. He was saddled with shame, and wanted to finally do something good for the world, “so I don’t come back in the next life as a three-legged toad sitting on a lily pad.” Snyder joked with the group, but he’s dead serious about his beliefs regarding the potential benefits of CBD oil and the cannabis plant. As he wrapped up his conversation with the Charlotte entrepreneurs before him, he was in full-on advocate mode. “Us ragtag crowd that stands here in front of one another are truly the soul and essence of humanity, and we are going to win this goddamn fight,” he said, and he meant it. CBD oil, which does not contain THC, and therefore does not make its users high, is believed to have many healing purposes. They include anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-nausea, anti-anxiety and many other uses. The oil was made legal for sale in North Carolina with the passing of the 2014 U.S. Farm Bill, under which the state later launched a pilot program allowing those who obtain a license to grow industrial hemp. It is through this program that CBD oil is made in the state.
I traveled with Sims and Hentschke to Asheville to visit CHC and other hemp and CBD distribution companies that the two are interested in working with upon opening Charlotte CBD. During the trip, Sims explained that the idea for the Charlotte store was born out of his trips with Hentschke to visit marijuana dispensaries in California, Oregon and Washington. Sims was impressed not only with the cleanliness and professionalism at the dispensaries he visited, but also with the oneon-one customer service. He plans to model Charlotte CBD’s operations after what he saw in those states. “We’re going to have it set up just as the dispensaries out west, where you have a waiting area you come to, and then you allow people to come back in small groups, so you can give more of an intimate, personal experience in medicating themselves or healing themselves the way that they want to,” Sims said. “What we’re going to do is not only sell the product, but we’re looking to educate people.” That may be an uphill battle, as there’s a large amount of misinformation surrounding CBD oils, making it harder for those who
want to run a legitimate business to even get started.
TERRI LONG LAUNCHED her company,
CBD Oil Source, from her home in Huntersville last fall. She became interested in medical cannabis use after suffering for years from fibromyalgia. No pharmaceuticals helped Long, so she began researching natural cures. By the time Long opened CBD Oil Source, she had cured herself of fibromyalgia through healthy eating, but remained intrigued by the cannabis plant. She left her high-paying job as an IT analyst with Duke Energy to pursue her newfound passion. “I love every moment of it. It still takes a while to get a business up off the ground and functional and profitable, but the feedback I get from people has been so amazing,” Long said. “Some people say I’m their angel. People are crying when they find out about it. And now I can’t imagine someone wanting to do anything different.” Life in the CBD industry is not without its hurdles, however. A lack of impartial research studies means there’s not much documented proof of the results that advocates say they’ve been witnessing for years.
The Food and Drug Administration has not verified claims about CBD, and the government limits what companies are allowed to say in their packaging, prohibiting the use of verbs like “cures” or “treats.” Long is not allowed to use Facebook or Google to advertise CBD Oil Source, which operates exclusively online. She said insurance companies “won’t even look at me,” making it impossible to participate in public vendor markets or events. Adding to the stigma already facing CBD oils are misleading news reports that paint CBD as a dangerous drug, Long said. In March, a clerk at a vape store in Mooresville was arrested after a high school student overdosed from vaping a synthetic cannabinoid falsely packaged as CBD oil. In February, two owners were arrested with more than 300 bottles of synthetic oil. CBD oil figured strongly in the headlines of both stories, despite the products in question being synthetic. Following the Concord arrests, police there released a statement calling all CBD oils illegal, which was then falsely reported by multiple local news outlets. “The news isn’t very clear. They just say, ‘Oh, teach your kids to watch out for CBD.’ Do they mean CBD laced with street drugs? Or CBD not from a reputable company?” she asked. “It’s a challenge. [Consumers] hear CBD and children getting sick or people getting shut down and they really only hear the headline. It’s hard because I run into it all the time and I have to re-educate them. People are really changing their mind and they’re willing to try something natural but I still do run into people who say, ‘No, no, no, I heard that you better not take it. It’s scary.’” What’s scary for Long is the risk of raids and arrest. Despite knowing she’s in the right, legally, she said the risk is a major factor in her decision to stick strictly to e-commerce for the time being. “They can arrest you and confiscate your product. If you go to court, you’ll win, but you may not get your product back,” she said. “The police don’t even seem 100 percent clear. It’s still a touchy area.”
WILL OSEROFF, OWNER and founder of Blue Ridge Hemp, a hemp production company with a CBD dispensary that runs out
of the back of a T-shirt shop in Asheville, said he’s built a good relationship with local police and the district attorney there. Oseroff holds meetings with the law enforcement community whenever he plans to introduce a new product. Oseroff ’s first involvement with CBD oil came when a loved one suffering from fibromyalgia ran out of pharmaceutical and alternative options. He said the oils he ordered Sims and Hentschke go shopping for hemp-made products at CHC. off the internet for her were the only things that helped, and she be proven to be on the right side. But it’s a soon saw the same results in friends who true risk.” also suffered from fibromyalgia and other Sims and Hentschke don’t want to go painful disorders. completely unnoticed, either. They hope When Sims and Hentschke visited being at the forefront of the CBD business Oseroff’s Blue Ridge shop, he was just a today will prepare them and their company to week or so from beginning to sell CBD lead the way in the logical next step beyond flour, which looks, smells and tastes like CBD oils: the end of marijuana prohibition in marijuana, but has no THC. He said he plans North Carolina. to sell pre-rolled “joints,” but worries about “We’re going to go ahead and go by these police reaction. rules that everybody goes by out west,” Sims “We’re going to go sit down with the local said. “So when we do have the opportunity authorities, show them the product, show to go legal, we can say, ‘Hey look, we’ve them the packaging,” Oseroff said. “We’ll been doing everything by the book legally have a system with them where we’re able for all these years, give us an opportunity to to document all the sales of it. If they pull hopefully be part of the pilot program when somebody over and they have one of our that does change.’” things, they can call us and be like, ‘Was this Sims hopes the company can partner with purchased in your store?’” Charlotte NORML and other advocacy groups For Sims and Hentschke, the risk of arrest to host meetings at the dispensary. He and for dabbling in an industry that exists in a Hentschke have even discussed with their seemingly gray area of state and federal law is lawyer the possibility of becoming registered something they have thought a lot about and lobbyists at the state level. discussed at length with their lawyers. Sims As Sims, who just six months ago became believes CBD flies under the radar of most a first-time father, explained why he decided local law enforcement in Charlotte, as police to enter an industry so full of uncertainties, have more important things to do. his passion for it became clear. I asked what But even if Sims is hassled, it’s a risk he he thought about former House Speaker says is worth taking. John Boehner, who the previous day had “Many people in this business, you know announced he was joining the board of a what you’re getting into,” Sims said. “And it’s cannabis investment firm, despite once like, we’re fighting the good fight. I think stating as a politician that he was “unalterably the consensus is, if we go down, we go down, opposed” to legalization. and I think in history and over time we will
“I actually laughed about the John Boehner thing,” Sims said. “The whole irony is that all these politicians that have for their careers fought cannabis and everything that goes along with it — not because they fear it, not because they think it’s dangerous, but simply because they’re in the pockets of big pharmaceutical companies, tobacco companies, alcohol companies and privatized prisons, which are all paying them.” As Sims spoke, he let out a series of ironic chuckles that weren’t as comedic as they were menacing, the sound of a man who knows too much about something he hasn’t been able to do anything about, until now. “What [the Boehner announcement] tells me is that the tides are definitely shifting. That was a direct signal, a direct sign that we can no longer be ignored. And ultimately it comes down to money,” Sims said. “The industry’s now legally generating enough money where they can compete with the lawyers and the lobbyists of big tobacco, big pharma, alcohol and everything else “And not only that, we have a younger generation of politicians coming up that realize there is no harm in this plant. It’s kind of like any movement, it’s like a muffled sound and it grows into a roar, and before you know it you start seeing it everywhere and [opponents] start jumping ship.” Until then, it can start with a shop. RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | 13
NEWS
How does Charlotte NORML work to address the needs of different communities of cannabis users? We have meetings that are diverse. We end up having those conversations of course about the disparity between incarceration behind the substance of cannabis. We have to understand that individuals are using medical cannabis and it doesn’t matter the race; we’re all in the same position because no matter the race, there are people who have epilepsy of all races, people who have PTSD of all races, anxiety, depression, migraines, which stretch across all races. So, when it comes to the black community and the white community, I think that what we have to do in North Carolina is focus on something we have in common. Say, “Listen, this is how cannabis helps us all.”
NEWSMAKER
A NEW HEAD AT THE TABLE Corey Hedgepeth takes over Charlotte NORML BY ALLISON BRADEN
THE CHARLOTTE BRANCH of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) works to expand the legal right to plant, grow and consume cannabis. Corey Hedgepeth, newly appointed executive director of Charlotte NORML, spoke with Creative Loafing about why expanding legal access to cannabis is about more than getting high. Creative Loafing: Tell me a little bit about Charlotte NORML. Corey Hedgepeth: Charlotte NORML is an organization that really wants to bring about education for cannabis to the state of North Carolina and also bring about awareness about the benefits of cannabis. What we’d really like to do is reform the laws surrounding the stigma of cannabis, so it won’t be so incarcerating or so limiting for the people who should be able to gain access. What are the biggest challenges you face in North Carolina and Charlotte specifically? The biggest thing we see in Charlotte as well as in the state of North Carolina is the stigma surrounding cannabis. We are in an area where we still look at cannabis as a gateway drug. I think that what North Carolina and Charlotte eventually need to do is what we’ve seen some of our 30 neighboring states do, and that is bring to cannabis an adult perspective of people self-managing themselves, and not so much looking at it as a gateway drug but understanding that alcohol, beer, liquor, cigarettes, nicotine can be gateway drugs to something else if you really look at it. Yet cannabis can potentially bring some health benefits to both children and adults. What we have to do is get around the stigma of the cannabis industry and really give it an opportunity to move forward and bring other things of benefit to the state and Charlotte. What are the biggest misconceptions you come across in your work? The biggest misconception that people have is that people just want to get high. It’s not that case because, when you take a look at what’s going on across the country, there are people who are uprooting their families and moving to different destinations across the country or different states in an effort simply to get medical assistance for things such as being able to sleep at night, or because they have insomnia, or their child is suffering from epilepsy and they’ve seen a great reduction in the epileptic seizures. 14 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Whatever it may be, they really want to be able to alleviate it and be legally able to do so without the potential of incarceration. Is it hard for people to take Charlotte NORML seriously because of that misconception? People are afraid to really be advocates for what they really want. More than anything it causes them to just sit on the sidelines and wait for it to eventually happen — legalization. There’s a lot of individuals who don’t really want to put their name to it because of the stigma that’s still there. There have been a number of different research polls, one specifically out of Elon College, that really showed that 67 percent are saying yes to at least medical forms of cannabis, but you may not see 6.7 people out of every 10 be a part of an organization. We’re trying to get rid of that stigma so that that changes, and people are more open and supportive. What would you tell those people? What I would say to them is, be more supportive of your different organizations like NORML. A lot of individuals can be members of NORML and you not ever know that they are members of NORML. When they’re a part of NORML, they attend meetings. They’re seeing some different concerns addressed. They’ll see some different benefits from people who really need medical cannabis. They can be silent members of NORML and still be educated, understanding exactly what the focus is — toward changing laws. And they become more educated, so when the topic comes up, they can speak to the issue from a very adult, mature and professional perspective. Is the legalization of medical marijuana NORML’s biggest priority right now? If you look around at medical marijuana right now, a couple of things are taking place: First of all, it gets rescheduled so we won’t see mass incarceration for non-violent offenses surrounding medical marijuana. The second thing is that it’ll give access to people who may not be able to participate financially in the pharmaceutical or medicine end of it. There are individuals out there who may have PTSD, who may have anxiety or depression, that can’t really afford that $150 or $250 tab every single month at a CVS pharmacy or whatever it may be. The next thing that cannabis would do is what we’ve seen in other states as well. The tax revenue that would be collected from the sales of medical marijuana would go a long
way to helping some deficits that we’re seeing here in the state of North Carolina and even put that money into our teachers, put money back into our roads and infrastructure. And finally, as we’ve seen throughout other states, it would bring back the energy and vibrancy of entrepreneurship because there’s so many entrepreneur efforts that are creating jobs in certain communities that otherwise wouldn’t have been fueled through job creation. What does the membership of Charlotte NORML look like? A lot of times when you come to our meetings you’ll see people who have multiple sclerosis, who have found cannabis to be helpful, so they have personal stories. You’ll find individuals who have moved to North Carolina from other states where it was legalized and now they feel the disconnect of not being able to access the medication they used before. You’ll also see from time to time people who are running for Congress come through and actually sit in our meetings and listen to some of the verbiage because in upcoming elections you’re going to hear more and more the topic of legalization of cannabis. So, a lot of the candidates will need to know what some of the concerns of the people are and when the topic comes up what they may be faced with. We are seeing our membership pick up more and more, and we’re seeing a reflection of the growth of interest and the real desire of individuals for medical cannabis to be part of North Carolina’s regime.
How will you be spending your 4-20? We’ll be at Lenny Boy Brewery this upcoming Friday, with art vendors and raising awareness in a professional way. That’s where we’ll be. But leave your herbs at home! We’ll congregate and talk and really help people understand where they can go for information, how they can become members of NORML and where they can go to ask questions. What’s the biggest ray of light and hope going forward for you? The biggest ray of light is how we’ve seen medical cannabis used to help people recover from opioid addiction. It’s used like the opposite of a gateway drug, and it’s really helping people recover from serious opioid addictions. Another ray of light is that we are seeing growth. One of the biggest things for us is that there continue to be bills put in the House and, when it comes to North Carolina, the hemp industry is really on the rise and doing well and bringing back an industry where they can create fiber. And you’re also able to extract CBD oil, which may have some healing properties. Is there anything I’m missing? The thing I would like to say is to be vocal, get in touch with your local NORML organization, Charlotte NORML, and become a part of the movement. Become a part of the education so that when someone asks you about the industry, you’ve got some real information that you can disseminate out to others, so you can help this industry become a reality for everyone in North Carolina. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
Account Sales Representative Womack Publishing, is seeking a creative Account Sales Representative for several newspapers in North Carolina to promote and market the business community through our products in print and online. A college degree is preferred but not required. A good work ethic, positive attitude and willingness to be part of a team will be an important consideration in selecting a candidate for this position. If you enjoy meeting people, this may be the perfect opportunity for you. Womack Publishing offers a competitive salary and a full benefit program. Womack Publishing is a family owned, growing multimedia company that publishes 19 regional newspapers. Please send your resume to: Ron Cox, Human Resource Manager, P.O. Box 111, 30 N. Main Street, Chatham VA or to rcox@womackpublishing.com
NEWS
TROUBLEHUNTER
WHO PROFITS FROM PROGESS? As marijuana hits the mainstream, black people aren’t invited to the party IN NOVEMBER OF 2012, Colorado and
the bars and restaurants where they can light Washington voted to become the first states in up without being ticketed. The black community hasn’t felt the America to fully legalize cannabis for personal use. At the same time, Trayvon Martin’s use economic boom of legalization, either. Last of the substance was headline news, leaked by year, the legal cannabis market hit $10 billion, police in Sanford, Florida, in an effort to cast and spawned a host of tertiary services such as “Ganja Yoga” and “420-friendly lodging.” doubt on his character and justify his murder. Florida judge Debra Nelson later allowed But, industry regulations favor the white and his killer’s defense team to introduce wealthy as well. Just applying for a retail license Martin’s marijuana use as evidence in the in some states can cost up to $1 million. Due to resulting murder trial. The lawyers claimed ongoing federal prohibition, banks rarely lend it corroborated the killer’s claim that Martin to these businesses, so financing is an opaque was acting “erratically” the night he was shot process that depends heavily on financial for no apparent reason. The killer was found connections and high-value personal networks. To work in the industry at all, you must pass a not guilty. As more than half of the U.S. has legalized criminal record check. There have been efforts toward progress, marijuana in some form, with nine states and Washington, D.C., offering full recreational and it’s efforts like these that Charlotte leaders use, social acceptance of cannabis has should take into consideration should our backwards state legislature see John Boehner grown to unprecedented proportions, with a joint in his mouth and suddenly and the industry has caught right their ship. The city of Portland fire faster than those loose voted to dedicate a portion of blunts of brick weed your its recreational cannabis taxes high school buddies used to finance the expungement to roll. In states where of previous marijuana marijuana has been convictions in communities legalized, inequity that were disproportionately has remained. As a impacted by prohibition. relatively progressive Ohio attempted to mandate city surrounded by reds, that 15 percent of dispensary Charlotte leaders should licenses be given to minorities. be keeping a close eye ERIN TRACYMassachusetts capped license on the effects — or nonBLACKWOOD fees at $300, prioritized minorities effects — of legalization on and eliminated marijuana convictions marginalized communities, as from the criminal records requirement. it is an issue that will someday arise Still, statistics from Marijuana Business Daily in this city. Because just like in 2012, the paradigm shift show only 17 percent of marijuana businesses in our country’s perspective has not offered its are owned or operated by people of color. If you’re wondering why I’m making a benefits to the African-American population. While morning TV shows produce cutesy happy thing like the impending end of weed segments like “Pot for Pets” and “Marijuana prohibition all about race, consider how Mommies,” someone in America is arrested for prohibition started: a race-based fear campaign possession every minute, and depending on in which Harry Anslinger, head of the Federal where they are, they’re three to 10 times more Bureau of Narcotics (predecessor of the DEA) likely to be black than white, despite usage released statements to the public such as, “marijuana causes white women to seek sexual rates being nearly equal among racial groups. If they’re black, they’re about six times relations with Negroes…” and “Reefer makes more likely to go to prison for it. These darkies think they’re as good as white men.” It’s always been about race. For nearly disparities not only persist in the age of legalization, but according to the ACLU, a century, African Americans have paid the highest price for prohibition, and now that they’re increasing. Even in states that have fully legalized, legal cannabis is generating billions, they are regulations on use make arrests possible, and gaining the least from it. I don’t care that John Boehner just joined these regulations disproportionately affect people of color. For instance, in Colorado, the weed game. I don’t care that I can buy public use is prohibited unless you’re in edibles I never knew existed when I go on spots in Denver that allow it. And since black vacation. As cannabis prohibition continues people are more likely to be economically to die in 2018, we have made tremendous disadvantaged (whites hold 13 times as much gains legalizing green, but I want to know wealth as blacks), they’re less likely to have a when we will focus on legalizing black. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM private place to smoke, and less likely to be in CLCLT.COM | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | 15
FOOD
FEATURE
A HEALTHY EQUATION Local couple serves up SUM Bucha BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS
S
ARAH NORTH hasn’t been
sick in five years. But this wasn’t always the case. In her 20s, trips to the doctor were routine. To help with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s disease, North was administered B12 shots regularly. Then one day, she simply didn’t have to anymore. “What are you doing differently?” her doctor asked. Sarah didn’t know at first, but then it dawned on her. She had been drinking kombucha. “I realized like, wow, this stuff — I liked it, but I didn’t realize what a great impact it was having on me,” she said. When she moved from Austin, Texas, to Charlotte in 2012, there weren’t as many kombucha options as in Texas or the West Coast. She decided to buy her own symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, also known as a SCOBY, and brew it herself. Her SCOBY sat in a combination of yerba mate and black tea fermenting for days, eating the caffeine and sugars and producing electrolytes and probiotics. “It’s like taking something that’s bad for us and then turning it into something that’s really good,” she said. Watching the SCOBY bubble and turn in jars of tea made Alex North, Sarah’s husband, skeptical. But after it was done fermenting, he reluctantly gave it a taste and was relieved. “It was good,” he said. Now, five years later, Alex shares his wife’s clean bill of health. The couple made batches for seven years, giving it out to friends, co-workers and family until they reached a point at which they were creating email lists and scheduling deliveries. It eventually became clear that, purposefully or not, they were running a small business. In October, Sarah and Alex launched SUM Bucha, hoping that everyone could enjoy the drink that had become so popular amongst their social set. They’ve since locked down a spot at Central Food Hub, a local farmer’s market of sorts that runs out of The Barn behind Pure Pizza in Plaza Midwood on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Central Food Hub customers can find bottles of SUM Bucha for $4, the cheapest they’ll find them in Charlotte, or fill up growlers for $16. Growler refills run them $10. 16 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
SUM Bucha offers a full line of products. The Norths are always happy to meet fellow kombucha lovers, but a special pleasure comes from being able to reform those who are dead set against it. “We’ve converted some people that say, ‘I don’t like kombucha,’ and we’re like, ‘Please just give it a try,’ and then before we know it we have customers,” Alex said. If tasting a free sample doesn’t close the sale, the list of health benefits does. Kombucha is filled to the brim with “good bacteria” like enzymes, B vitamins and vitamin C. It naturally has glucosamine, which is great for post-workout and helps with arthritis. It boosts metabolism and improves the immune system, which may account for the Norths’ perfect health, even while going through the stress of launching a small business. “When [customers] hear the health benefits and feel that energy from the B12 vitamins, they come back,” Alex said. “That’s why we’re filling up so many growlers every weekend.” SUM Bucha comes in flavors like ginger spice, lavender lemonade and pineapple, with each carrying its own unique benefit. “Flower Power” is made with two herbs that calm anxiety: St. John’s Wort and holy basil. It’s been nicknamed “happy juice” by regulars. The “Enabler” has elderberry, which strengthens the immune system and is
PHOTOS BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS
believed to fight the flu. “All the ingredients we try to put in to work together to provide optimal vitality,” Alex said. “So it’s not like we’re just throwing things in there. They work together well to try to make a really smooth blend, something that will help you out.” Besides the obvious rationale of potential profits, the health benefits were a major part of the reason the Norths decided to put their kombucha on the market. They had already witnessed on a small scale the impact it was having on people’s lives. Three years ago, Sarah brought the drink to a regular at the restaurant where she was waiting tables at the time. That was SUM Bucha’s first customer, and she’s been drinking it every day since. “She actually texted me last night at like 11:30,” Sarah said when we met recently, “and she’s like ‘Sarah, I just want to thank you for helping me stay healthy.’” Sarah also gave some to her boss, who’d been dealing with stomach issues. Even with medication and surgery, nothing seemed to help. But the kombucha did. “She still will tell people ‘Sarah saved my life.’ I’m like ‘No, I didn’t save your life,’ but it definitely helped her,” Sarah said. “Hearing people’s stories like that has really inspired us.”
Kombucha has been brewed for over 2,000 years, mainly in Russia and Asian cultures. Only in the past 20, however, has it gained popularity in the US. Sarah and Alex walked me through the process they use to brew the ancient concoction. After the original SCOBY fermentation, they juice the fruits and add herbs to the drinks. Then, fermentation occurs again, giving it flavor and vibrant color. The Norths get the majority of their ingredients from local farms. Sourcing locally is one way they try to live up to their motto “do sum good.” For example, the seasonal strawberry basil they’ve recently started brewing is made with strawberries from Cottle Farms in Faison. Another way they “do sum good” is giving back to the community. A percentage of SUM Bucha’s sales goes to local nonprofits. Their first donation was to The Center for Community Transitions, an organization that helps people with criminal records reenter the workforce. The third way they “do sum good” is by helping people become better versions of themselves through a healthy lifestyle. “Whenever you are a better you, you’re able to do more and experience life more and be an impact on people more,” Sarah said. “If
Alex [left] and Sarah North, founders of SUM Bucha.
“IT’S LIKE TAKING SOMETHING THAT’S BAD FOR US AND THEN TURNING IT INTO SOMETHING THAT’S REALLY GOOD.” SARAH NORTH, CO-FOUNDER OF SUM BUCHA
we all walk around feeling crappy all the time, we’re never able to be our best selves and be able to be there for each other.” Sarah compares this to an equation, which during her explanation also begins to sound a little like her brewing process. What you put in is what you get out, she believes. “You put in good things, you put in love and kindness, you put in hard work,” she said. “Whatever you put into your life then you reap your rewards.” And that’s where the “sum” in Sumbucha comes from. If you look closely at the bottle, there are hidden math symbols like plus signs and sigma symbols. You can find SUM Bucha at The People’s Market, Rhino Market and Deli on Morehead Street, US National Whitewater Center, and White Birch Food and Juice in Sarah’s hometown, Abingdon, Virginia. It’s also
CENTRAL FOOD HUB Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; The Barn, 1911 Central Ave. squareup.com/ store/centralfoodhub
the main ingredient of the Magnetic North cocktail at Fahrenheit in Uptown Charlotte. The Norths’ goal, somewhere down the road, is to open a taproom in Charlotte with a wellness area for yoga classes, community forums and other events. It’s the logical next step for the couple, and in the end, it all adds up. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | 17
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FOOD
THREE-COURSE SPIEL
COFFEE IN A CONE, CUPCAKES IN A LITTLE JAR Sunflour Baking Company spotlights quirks and quality BY PAT MORAN
Austin Eastciders: Blood Orange Cider
Good Road Ciderworks: Ty’s Blend
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Named for the owner of Perry Lowe Orchards in Taylorsville, NC. This orchard blend makes a crisp, apple-forward cider with hints of apple skin and pear in the background. Tannins provide a medium bodied mouthfeel. Drinking this cider makes you feel like you are standing in the middle of an apple orchard and it’s perfect for Summer time. Cheers to Ty!
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Sycamore: Mountain Candy IPA
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18 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
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THE PECAN STREET corridor has turned
into Bakery Row. A sharp-eyed motorist traveling along the thoroughfare from Plaza Midwood to Elizabeth will spot three local establishments selling, or soon to be selling, oven-fresh baked goods. From Nova’s Bakery on Central Avenue, past Deli’sh on Pecan, which is slated to open this spring, and onto Sunflour Baking Company on 7th Street, there are a lot of pastries packed into less than a mile. The challenge for each emporium is how to stand out from the sugar-rush pack. Sunflour steps up to the plate with a combination of sterling customer service and handcrafted breads, cakes and pastries, Amanda Carter says. Carter is store manager for Sunflour’s original location at 2001 East 7th Street in Elizabeth, which opened its doors in 2009. That’s plenty of time for the business to get to know its clientele. “We have a lot of repeat customers that we know by name or by their order,” Carter says. “We take a lot of pride in making sure that everyone feels like they’re our number one customer.” And those customers are getting baked goods made from scratch. “All we ever buy is raw product – milk and eggs and butter,” Carter explains. “Everything else we make completely here on location.” Sunflour carries a wide array of products, but ask any customer and you’re likely to find they focus on one particular delicacy. It seems that Charlotte has a love affair with Sunflour’s cupcakes “Cupcakes are a quick and sweet sugar fix that people are always looking for,” Carter says. “They’re easy to eat and they’re delicious.” Creative Loafing: Speaking of cupcakes, Sunflour offers cupcakes in a jar. Why did you come up with that idea, and how do you get them in a jar? Carter: It’s a great gift idea particularly if you’re buying for people who don’t live here. We ship cupcakes in a jar nationwide. It’s about two cupcakes per jar, so there’s a nice amount of product in there.
You know how you usually bake a cupcake in a liner? Instead we bake everything in trays. So we just punch out the holes – or the circles – to fit the jars. Then we put icing in between [each cupcake] to make the jar a perfect fit. Then we seal it, and put into a refrigerator to keep it nice and fresh until it’s ready to go. All our regular cupcake flavors can be made as cupcakes in a jar. That’s about 20 flavors. You also offer CoffeeInACone. What’s the story behind that? For CoffeeInACone we partnered with Dayne Levinrad, owner of The Grind Coffee Company. He started it in Johannesburg, South Africa, and then he brought it over to the states. It’s really quite new to the bakery scene and we were the first place in Charlotte to offer it. You can drink coffee out of an ice cream cone with a chocolate layer on the inside. We put a shot of espresso in the cone, and add a little bit of steamed milk. You drink it and enjoy your cookie afterwards. It’s a fun kind of eye-popping thing. Some people think it’s bizarre. Some people think it’s funny, but everyone loves it. So your coffee and your cupcakes are getting a lot of buzz. Is there an unsung product you carry, something that people have not yet discovered? Actually it’s one of our breads. We make croissants and breads in house. When we have leftover croissant dough we make it into butter rolls and loaves of bread that are absolutely phenomenal. The bread is buttery and rich. It’s great for French toast and sandwiches. We don’t have it all the time, so it’s not something that is consistently out. There‘s this whole untapped section of our clientele that just don’t know how amazing it is. I feel that people will be blown away if they only could experience this. Once you try it you fall in love with it. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | 19
THURSDAY
19
PETER CILUZZI What: Growing up in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Peter Ciluzzi was captivated by classic rock guitarists like Jimmy Page. Then he heard Michael Hedges and everything changed. Like Hedges, Ciluzzi has developed a unique approach to fingerstyle playing that uses tapping, harmonics and quicksilver runs up and down the guitar neck to suggest several people playing at once. Ciluzzi’s rippling compositions take listeners on immersive journeys that tell wordless stories. When: 7 p.m. Where: Evening Muse, 3227 N Davidson St. More: $8-$10. eveningmuse.com
20 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
THURSDAY
19
THURSDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES What: There was a time not long ago when NoDa had a strong sense of community. Neighbors hosted “NoDa Family Dinners” and every bar was like Cheers. But alas, an explosion of condos and the arrival of the light rail extension has made NoDa more of a tourist spot for drinkers than a homey arts district. The true NoDa feeling is still alive in some places, though, as Canvas Tattoo kicks of their second annual outdoor movie series with a screening of Liar, Liar. When: 8:00 p.m. Where: Canvas Tattoo & Art Gallery, 3012 N. Davidson St. More: Free. canvastattoos.com
THINGS TO DO
TOP TEN
Eric B. & Rakim FRIDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIC B. & RAKIM
FRIDAY
20
SATURDAY
21
SATURDAY
21
ERIC B. & RAKIM
TASTE OF AYRSLEY
HOP, DROP & PLAY
What: The greatest rapper ever to walk Planet Earth is coming to Charlotte along with his mindbending DJ. OK, that’s debatable, even in the CL office. Our editorin-chief is Rakim all the way; the news editor leans to Nas (who would likely agree with the EIC). But whatever your thoughts are on “greatest rappers,” no one can deny the dizzying genius of Eric Barrier and Rakim Allah’s classics: “Eric B. is President,” “Paid in Full,” “Microphone Fiend,” “In the Ghetto.” The pioneering duo’s reunion should not be missed.
What: The beautiful “Town of Ayrsley” wants to show off their underrated community, and if that involves giving out free food and drink samples, we’re all the way here for it. Located on the lawn of Piedmont Social House, this inaugural festival will have performances by local funkrock-fusion band Hipshack from 1 to 3, followed by alt-acoustic Falconheart from 3 to 6. The family-friendly event will also feature a vendor marketplace and lots of activities for the little ones.
What: Shakespeare was prolific, but he didn’t crank them out this fast! In honor of the bard’s birthday, Chickspeare, Charlotte’s all-female Shakespeare Company, hosts this 24-hour theater project. Starting at 8 p.m. Friday night, local playwrights, directors and actors pool their talents and resources to take a project from script through rehearsal and onto performance. Came Saturday night at 8, the curtain rises and the show goes on! As that dour Dane Hamlet said, “The play’s the thing!”
When: 1-6 p.m. Where: Piedmont Social House, 2135 Ayrsley Town Blvd. More: Free. tasteofayrsley.com
When: 8 p.m. Where: The Event Space @ Camp North End, 1824 Statesville Ave. More: $20. chickspeare.com
When: 8 p.m. Where: Fillmore, 802 Hamilton St. More: $30. fillmorenc.com
Scrap Arts Music MONDAY
NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS
Fatai TUESDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUMENTHAL
ARTWORK COURTESY OF FATAI
SUNDAY
22 WHALES FOR WISHES What: In the story of Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab is obsessed with capturing the sperm whale that bit off his leg. Over the years, the famous whale has become a metaphor for sought-after beers; hence the name Whales for Wishes for this bottle sharing event. Attendees sample hard-tofind beers and hope to win some in raffles, all the while helping to grant wishes to local children. The goal is to raise over $18,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. When: Noon-4 p.m. Where: Resident Culture Brewing Company, 2101 Central Ave. More: $20. thebeerexchange.io/ whales-for-wishes-2018
SUNDAY
22 YOUNG CHAMBER MUSICIANS What: Sure, they’re just kids, but the stakes are high. The winning ensemble receives $12,000, a studio recording session, a paid performance in the 2018-19 Davidson College Concert Series and $3,000 scholarships for each ensemble member to the Brevard Music Institute. Local experts will judge the four finalists as they play it out. Don’t worry, you get some say, too. The People’s Choice Award offers a $2,000 prize. When: 3 p.m. Where: Duke Family Performance Hall, Davidson College, 207 Faculty Drive More: $9 and up. ycmc.wdav.org
SUNDAY
22 ADAM SANDLER What: If you’re heading to this show, make sure you’re camera ready. You might end up on Netflix. Sandler’s Charlotte performance is one of a few shows being recorded for an upcoming Netflix special. The comedian is no stranger to the streaming service. His starring roles in The Ridiculous 6, The DoOver and Sandy Wexler make for three of the most-watched Netflix films, proving that you all have inexplicably bad taste. When: 8 p.m. Where: Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd. More: $39 and up. tinyurl.com/AdamSandlerCLT
TUESDAY
MONDAY
24
23 SCRAP ARTS MUSIC What: It’s one thing to be talented enough to make music. It’s another to be talented enough to make it with trash. This international band makes instruments out of industrial scrap material: submarines, boats, steel and old accordions. Gregory Kozak, the band’s co-founder, even made swing bells out of Vietnam War artillery shells. Scrap Arts Music puts on an upbeat show with unique and unexpected sounds. One man’s trash really is another man’s treasure. When: 7:30 p.m. Where: McGlohon Theatre, 345 N College St. More: $25 and up. blumenthalarts.org
FATAI What: “Do you want to build a snowman?” was the question that put Fatai on the music map. Her rendition of the song from the Disney movie Frozen went viral and earned her a spot on the We Love Disney album. She also gained recognition in 2012 as a contestant on the Australian version of The Voice. Now, she’s doing her own thing on the Blank Canvas tour. Guys On a Bus, a band said to be a mix of The Beach Boys and Maroon5, will open.
When: 7 p.m. Where: The Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. More: $15. eveningmuse.com
CLCLT.COM | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | 21
MUSIC
FEATURE
HIP-HOP CITY New Era Music Festival aims to change hearts and minds in Charlotte BY MARK KEMP
O
N A HOT APRIL afternoon at the Music Factory near uptown Charlotte, Xavier Walker stands atop a grassy knoll between the Fillmore and the VBGB Beer Hall, taking a giant drag from what appears to be a blunt. He cocks his head to one side, his golden locks dangling from a blue aviator hat, and blows a plume of white smoke into a camera’s lens. Walker, better known by his hip-hop name Tizzy, is surrounded by a handful of fellow Charlotte emcees, talking about the New Era Music Festival, a big hip-hop event he’s planned for April 21. Though he may look like your typical weed-loving nerd rapper in his furry hat, olive-green harem pants and white Ethiopian Alphabet T-Shirt, Xavier Walker is really more like his comic book namesake Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, the X-Men founder who provides a safe space where his fellow mutants can hone their superpowers in order to ensure peaceful coexistence among humans and mutants. When I visited Tizzy’s creative lair in a small house off Eastway Drive last year to do a story on his duo Th3 Higher, he talked animatedly about their hip-hop takeover, pointing to huge whiteboards on the walls scrawled with concepts for new projects, names of collaborators, and dates and times when certain events would take place. Tizzy and his Th3 Higher partner Kizzy were serious about bringing respect to Charlotte’s hip-hop community, the kind of respect that allows for peaceful coexistence with other musicians in the city. With the New Era Music Fest, Tizzy has upped the ante. “I wanted to do this thing on 4-20,” Tizzy tells me today, referring to International Weed Day, the day cannabis connessieurs the world over celebrate their beloved miracle of 22 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Smokin’ on the knoll: Some of Charlotte’s hottest acts — Antony “Phaze Gawd” Pitts (from left), Solomon “Black Linen” Tetteh, Bleu, Nige Hood, Jah-Monte Ogbon, Kizzy and Tizzy, and many others not pictured — will showcase Charlotte hip-hop, circa 2018, at the April 21 New Era Music Fest. nature. “It’s my favorite holiday.” The problem is, Weed Day falls on a Friday this year, and throwing a daylong music festival on regular workday would not be optimal. “So I was like, ‘Nah, I’ma put it on the weekend.” On April 21, the day after 4-20, Tizzy will transform the New Era Music House on Old Concord Road in north Charlotte into a celebration of local and regional hiphop, featuring two stages — one outside and one inside — booming with a who’s who of Charlotte rap. Th3 Higher will be there, of course, along with the crew that’s gathered at the Music Factory today: Phaze Gawd, Black Linen, Nige Hood, Jah-Monte Ogbon and Bleu. But there will be many other members of Charlotte’s ever-expanding pool of talent, too: La La Specific, Indigo Jo, SideNote, Ahmir The King, Ricky Rodgers, the Gifted Musik crew and several more, as well as such regional luminaries as Danny Blaze, from Durham, and Tange Lomax, from High Point. The reason for the festival, Tizzy says, is to put a giant spotlight on local and regional hip-hop artists who are routinely forced to jump inordinately tough hurdles just to land gigs in local venues. “It’s hard for us to book venues, because venues don’t fuck with us,” Tizzy says. “So I was like, ‘A’ight, well fuck y’all — we’ll just throw our own festival.’ I wanted to do something where they can’t ignore us anymore, because all of us are here, and together we can throw one huge festival and knock it out the park.” Once venue owners see that a bunch of local rappers can organize and execute a
successful festival, draw a crowd, make money and have fun, Tizzy hopes, then maybe more local rap acts — specifically, more rap acts of color — will start getting a little love around town. “After this, y’all gone have to book us,” Tizzy says. “I mean, you get big acts like Young Dawg, Yo Gotti, 2 Chainz and people like that coming to Charlotte, and y’all booking them at the same venues where you won’t book us. So obviously you like hip-hop…” — he pauses to correct himself — “well, you like the money that comes with it anyway.”
MONEY WASN’T the overriding factor for
Tizzy back in 2014, when the budding rapper met Bunny Gregory, a local supporter who allowed Tizzy and Kizzy to turn her basement into a safe space for young emcees and other artists to hone their skills. Her basement became known as The Underground, the seeding spot for nearly every act that will appear at the New Era Music Fest. Gregory had recently moved into a house on Monroe Road when she ran into the duo one day and saw hope for the future of young black creatives in Charlotte. “[They] wanted to do something with me,” Gregory told me in an interview last year. “From there it sort of snowballed. We started in my little white house on Monroe Road next door to the Auto Bell, and were there for two years.” In those two years, magic happened. “She had a huuuuggge basement and she gave us permission to turn it out,” Kizzy, whose real name is Daquan Bolton, told me when I
PHOTOS BY DANA VINDIGNI
interviewed Th3 Higher for a story last June. “We painted all the walls black, put in lights and a stage, and started throwing #MFGD.” That’s short for “Mufucka Gahdamn,” The Underground’s version of Showtime at the Apollo, in which crowd acceptance determined whether an artist was ready to rise to the next level. “It was an open mic where artists were allotted one song,” Kizzy said. “If the crowd liked it, they’d say, ‘Mufucka Gah-DAMN!,’ and the artist was able to perform another song. If the crowd didn’t like it they’d simply say ‘Gahdamn,’ and the artist would leave the stage and try again the following week.” The parties got so popular that CharlotteMecklenburg police began showing up, although not for the good vibes. “Code violations” is what the cops told Gregory she was breaking when they came by to bust up the events. “It would have been crazy expensive to do the necessary improvements,” Gregory said. “So we took it outside and started doing [The Underground] as bonfires.” The Underground was a haven for young artists, mostly black, who had been repeatedly shunned by venues that typically roll out welcome mats for local rock bands. “It’s just shitty when we come to book [a show] and get turned away ... even after we present professional proposals — just based on the fact that we’re hip-hop,” Tizzy told me. He was the Underground’s ringmaster, working tirelessly to make each night’s experience a positive one for everybody. Nige Hood, another emcee hanging out with us on
“I WAS LIKE, ‘A’IGHT, WELL FUCK Y’ALL — WE’LL JUST THROW OUR OWN FESTIVAL.’” XAVIER “TIZZY” WALKER OF TH3 HIGHER this April afternoon at the Music Factory, well remembers the effort Tizzy put into the events. “Tizzy’s work in Charlotte did not just begin with this idea for the New Era Music Fest,” says Hood, who describes his own music as folk-rap. “It’s those consistent weekly hiphop events he would throw that weren’t based on ego, weren’t based on being flashy or anything like that.” Hood pauses and laughs. “I mean, we started out in a basement — a leaky basement…” “A hot-ass leaky basement,” Tizzy adds.
AS THE SUN BEATS down on the crew
gathered for our playful 4-20-themed photo shoot, Hood furrows his brow. He’s standing next to Tizzy, holding a lighter to the tip of a fake blunt, about to fire it up. “Do you think it’s safe for us to be ingesting this?” Hood asks, very clinically and with utter seriousness. The others burst into laughter. Hood is referring to the catnip we’ve rolled into blunts to provide legal props for the shoot, but he’s a little wary of it. I assure him the worst Nepeta cataria — the scientific name for catnip — can do, according to a 2013 report in Popular Mechanics, is give him a mild headache. Perhaps he should just make like former President Bill Clinton and not inhale. Hood appears slightly relieved, as his cohorts continue laughing. The rappers are kicking it in between shots, scoffing at having to smoke fake blunts
when it would be much easier to just fire up the real thing. The vibe is electric, as the group talks excitedly about the upcoming festival. Jah-Monte Ogbon, sporting a fire-engine red T-shirt that bears his own image, has a lopsided grin on his face. I get the idea he may have prepared for today’s shoot with a little more than catnip before he left home, as he habitually hides behind two giant cardboard cutouts of himself when the camera snaps. “Yeah man, shouts-out to Tizzy!” JahMonte blurts, before launching into a Yogi Berra-like string of non sequiturs that somehow makes sense when you read it on paper. “ I mean, not to just give Tizzy a shoutout because he needs it — because he don’t need it — but shouts-out to him anyway for working so hard to bring everybody together.” Uh... OK? Asked how he thinks the festival will go over among Charlotte’s historic fickleness to local live-music events, Jah-Monte — whose song “Best Rapper in Charlotte” is one of his more popular tracks — deadpans, “Well, with me being the best rapper in Charlotte and all, I feel like it’ll be a beautiful day for this city. “Seriously though,” he adds, becoming a bit more lucid, “I’m just happy Tizzy’s giving everybody the opportunity to connect with each other and grow this thing in Charlotte. There’s a lot of things that he could be doing for Th3 Higher, but he’s doing this for all of us, and that’s love right there, man.” He shakes his head. “That’s real love.”
Black Linen, who describes himself as a “festival head,” plans to be at the show for the duration. “I’ma camp out there all day, man,” he says. “A lot of people don’t understand what a festival is — it’s a time to be festive, to hang out and really celebrate what Charlotte has, help build the culture.” He grins. “And you know I’m all about building the culture.” One way to build the culture is to present it visually. The idea for this week’s photo came from a classic Village Voice cover that made a big impact on me decades ago, when I lived in New York City during the golden age of hip-hop. In January of 1988, the Voice — the country’s preeminent alternative weekly — featured an influential essay by early hip-hop writer Greg Tate called “It’s Like This Y’all,” which reflected on hip-hop’s rise from the Bronx and anticipated where it was going. On the cover was a photo of almost every important NYC hip-hop act up to that point, from Afrika Bambaataa to Salt-NPepa, Queen Latifah to Public Enemy. The headline read: “Hip-Hop Nation.” In an era when rock still ruled radio and MTV, this was a declaration that a change was gonna come, and it was right on time. We wanted to present something similar for here and now in Charlotte, and the artists gathered here today were stoked. “For us to be all up in this thing together, on this cover...,” Black Linen begins, then pauses. “I mean, I’m a magazine head. I’m into all the
magazines from back in the day — the ‘70s and ‘80s, when they always displayed all the artists together. It wasn’t about individuals, and when there was one artist, the artist was still connected to all these other artists. Like, all the major artists we know today, they were together in this thing — like Jay knowing Busta knowing Nas. And when you put that all together, it looks big — like it is big.” One face in this crowd today is a relative newcomer to the Charlotte scene. Bleu has released a highly experimental EP called The Unexplained Vibration, along with a killer video with a chopped-and-screwed vibe called “Grape Kool-Aid.” She’s pretty thrilled that her Indigo Music Collective will be part of the New Era fest. “The fact that Tizzy has brought so many different types of music together,” Bleu says, “and will have different stages for us, so that we can bring our own separate types of people into one big group — to come together as one and mingle and see different types of culture — I really like that.”
THE EVENT THAT inspired Tizzy to
realize his New Era vision was Charlotte singer-songwriter LeAnna Eden’s Bla/Alt black alternative music festival last October. Tizzy was there, front and center, at the edge of the stage, camera in hand, filming the proceedings. “I had wanted to do a festival, but it’s a big idea and I was like, ‘I can’t do a festival,’” CLCLT.COM | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | 23
MAKE A PLAN Top 10 Must-See Moments at New Era Every act on the New Era Music Festival roster is worth checking out, but here are 10 highlights you must not miss. The party starts at noon on Saturday, April 21, at the New Era Music House, 5814 Old Concord Road. Tickets are $20 at tinyurl.com/NewEraFest.
Bleu
AHMIR THE KING (12:40 P.M., INSIDE STAGE) One of Charlotte’s’ most interesting up-and-coming emcees, ATK was the subject of a CL story last year that delved into the then-high school student’s beginnings.
Nige Hood
NIGE HOOD (3 P.M., OUTSIDE STAGE) As leader of the Folk-Rap Band, Hood mixes rock with hip-hop, but he’ll drop the rock in favor of a DJ for this performance, returning to his strictly rap roots.
SIDENOTE (3:30 P.M., OUTSIDE STAGE) Featured in CL’s annual Music Issue last year, Sidenote is a young female MC to be reckoned with.
BLACK LINEN (3:50 P.M., OUTSIDE STAGE) A favorite here at Creative Loafing, no one brings the positive vibes quite like Black Linen does. Look for his new album Black Linen III.
LA LA SPECIFIC (5:20 P.M., OUTSIDE STAGE) Much more than just a rapper, La La Specific drops knowledge to kids in the community with her educational outreach.
Black Linen
BLEU (6:35 P.M., INSIDE STAGE) Bleu’s in-your-face style and willingness to experiment is bound to make waves on the Charlotte scene in the coming months.
Ahmir the King
GIFTED MUSIK (7:15 P.M., INSIDE STAGE) Want a little soulful crooning with your hip-hop as the evening sets in? Check out the Gifted crew, with singer-rapper Day Brown.
JAH-MONTE OGBON (11:10 P.M., OUTSIDE STAGE) Whether rapping as King Callis or Lord Jah-Monte, you’re gonna get great storytelling when Obgon reaches for the mic.
PHAZE GAWD (11:35 P.M., OUTSIDE STAGE) When he quotes Kanye West’s infamous “I am a God” interview for his own “Feeling Like a Gawd,” this Charlotte rapper ain’t lyin. His sound cuts a wide swath.
TH3 HIGHER (12:25 A.M., OUTSIDE STAGE) Among the more dazzling duos on Charlotte’s rich hip-hop scene, Th3 Higher’s musical Zen is like Star Trek — it goes “where no man has gone before.”
SideNote Th3 Higher 24 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS
Tizzy says. “And then seeing my friend do it, seeing LeAnna do it, I was like, ‘Nah, man, I can do this shit!’” He breaks into a big grin. “I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’ma do it.’” “The thing is,” adds Antony Potts, whose hip-hop name is Phaze Gawd, “nobody else is going to do this for us, so at the end of the day, we gotta do it for ourselves. We just all gotta pull together. Like Tizzy says, we got the talent, we got the resources, we got the networking. All we really needed to do was just come together as artists and put on a great show.”
Tizzy knew he couldn’t do it by himself, though. On a GoFundMe page he set up in January, he wrote, “While the NEMF is my brainchild I’m 100% aware and confident in myself to say I can not pull this off alone. The sheer purpose of this event is to evoke a sense of community and unity within the state and by doing so start the North Carolina Takeover, and you can be a part of that.” Next year Tizzy has even bigger ideas for the festival. He plans to schedule it for the same weekend, but in 2019 it will follow not only the CIAA tournament in March, but also
the NBA All-Star weekend, which takes place in Charlotte a month earlier. “So this will be the third thing people can do,” he says, referring to next year’s cluster of big events. “What I want is for this to be Charlotte’s A3C [hip-hop festival in Atlanta], Charlotte’s Made in America [hip-hop festival in Los Angeles], Charlotte’s Afropunk [festival in various places, notably NYC]. Like, this is our festival. This is us.” It’s part of a grand scheme Tizzy has been cooking up ever since he threw those early MFGD parties at The Underground.
“Everything has to be targeted with precision, so that we can build our network like those other cities have done,” he says. He cracks a smile and flashes a little wink. As for the smoking of any illegal substances at this year’s New Era fest, Tizzy says, “There will be no smoking. I mean, we’re not tryna to get the shit shut down.” Then he adds, “But next year, when we move it to another location — hopefully out in the woods somewhere — oh yeah, we’ll be blowin’ down.” MKEMP@CLCLT.COM
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MUSIC
SOUNDBOARD APRIL 19 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Opera Carolina: The Marriage of Figaro (Belk Theater)
COUNTRY/FOLK Beavergrass Bluegrass Jam f. Jim Garrett (Thirsty Beaver)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Le Bang (Snug Harbor)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Social Club Misfits (The Underground) Gifted Party: Walt B.3, Day Brown and more. (Petra’s)
POP/ROCK Peter Ciluzzi, Spencer Elliott (The Evening Muse) Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Ovens Auditorium) The Bleeps, Rebuilder, Rooftops, The Commonwealth, Erik Button (Milestone) Bush (The Fillmore) Goldfish Andy (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson) Karaoke (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Nina Nesbitt (Visulite Theatre) Open Mic music with Willie Douglas (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub) Resinated, Sugarshine (The Rabbit Hole) Shana Blake and Friends (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Tuck Fest-Lettuce, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong (U.S. National Whitewater Center)
APRIL 20 COUNTRY/FOLK Oak Grove String Band (Don Gibson Theatre, Shelby) The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Method (RiRa Irish Pub) Mark Farina, Vonfunkhouser, That Guy Smitty, Melodious Funk (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
APRIL 21 COUNTRY/FOLK The Bundys, Violet Bell (Evening Muse) The Lacs (Coyote Joe’s)
CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Alfred Sergel IVtet (BOOM Intersection) Opera Carolina: The Marriage of Figaro (Belk Theater) WDAV’s Young Chamber Musicians Competition Past Winners Concert (Davidson College TylerTallman Recital Hall, Davidson)
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Ragoza (RiRa Irish Pub) Mic Larry (Tin Roof) Tilted DJ Saturdays (Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B
POP/ROCK
AfroPop Nation! After Party (Snug Harbor) New Era Music Fest: Phaze Gawd, NiGE Hood, Danny Blaze, Tange Lomax and more (New Era Music House) Seph Dot from the Bushes (BOOM Intersection, Charlotte)
9 Day Trip (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Ovens
POP/ROCK
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Eric B. & Rakim (The Fillmore) Quentin Talley (BOOM Intersection)
26 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Auditorium) The Brummies (Neighborhood Theatre) The Business People’s 420 Throw Down (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Charlotte Symphony Altsounds: Rockin’ With Dylan: Featuring School of Rock (Knight Theater) DownTown Abby & The Echoes, Daniel Jordan (Evening Muse) Dude Ranch and the Girl at the Rock Show (The Underground) Haley Mae Campbell (Tin Roof) Jake Halden Vang (Shore Club) Jerry Jacobs Band (Tin Roof) Kiko Villamizer, Chocala & Ancestor Piratas After Party (Snug Harbor) Lofidels (BOOM Intersection) Ma’am, Black Powder, No Brainer, Uncle Buck (Milestone) Mall Goth (Petra’s) Mary Fahl (Evening Muse) Minthill (BOOM Intersection) Old 97s, Jaime Wyatt (Visulite Theatre) Tuck Fest-Deer Tick, John Moreland, Walden (U.S. National Whitewater Center)
Anchor Detail, Sound & Shape, Grown Up
Avenger Stuff (Milestone) Anderson East (The Underground) Art of Sound: Live Music & Live Painting (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub) Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Ovens Auditorium) Bon Jovi (Spectrum Center) Dinner Rabbits (BOOM Intersection,) Egypt Elizabeth (BOOM Intersection) Hipshack (RiRa Irish Pub) Leadville Social Club (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) LeAnna Eden & The Garden Of (BOOM Intersection) Mall Goth (Petra’s) Mike Strauss Band (Comet Grill) Moses Jones, Revelry Soul (The Rabbit Hole) Mt. Joy (Lunchbox Records) Peoples’ Blues of Richmond, Matone (The Music Yard) Rhythmic Soul Dance Company» (BOOM Intersection) Southern Culture on the Skids (Visulite Theatre) Stella Rising (Tin Roof) Tosco Music Party (BOOM Intersection) Tuck Fest-Shakey Graves, Susto, Ghost Of Paul Revere, Driftwood, Elonzo Wesley (U.S. National
No Joy, Jenny Besetzt (Snug Harbor) Tiny Stage Concerts 2nd Birthday Celebration (Heist Brewery) Tuck Fest-The Wood Brothers, The Infamous Stringdusters, Nicki Bluhm (U.S. National Whitewater Center)
Whitewater Center)
New Music Davidson (Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room, Davidson)
APRIL 22 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Jazz Arts Initiative (BOOM Intersection) WDAV’s Young Chamber Musicians Competition (Davidson College’s Duke Family Performance Hall, Davidson)
COUNTRY/FOLK Lindi Ortega, Hugh Masterson (Evening Muse)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Bone Snugs-N-Harmony (Snug Harbor)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B GameBreax (BOOM Intersection)
POP/ROCK Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Ovens Auditorium) Charles Walker, Pink Pots, Communal Sex Dice, The Local Odyssey (Milestone) Mall Goth (Petra’s) Minus the Bear, The Coathangers (Neighborhood Theatre) Māya Beth Atkins (BOOM Intersection)
(Snug Harbor)
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TODAY
1037 WSOC SOUTHERN GIRLS NIGHT OUT FEATURING
CHARLES KELLEY AND
DANIELLE BRADBERY LIMITED ADVANCE $12 VIP FLOOR SEATING $30
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APRIL 23 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge) Knocturnal (Snug Harbor)
POP/ROCK End Of Art Party with Loude Zue: Claudio Ortiz (Petra’s) Find Your Muse Open Mic featuring English & Hareza (Evening Muse) Hellwitch, Nemesis, Dire Hatred, Krvsade (Milestone) Music Trivia (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) A Musical Showcase Competition (Belk Theater) Scrap Arts Music (McGlohon Theater)
COUNTRY/FOLK Dead Horses, Kate Rhudy (Evening Muse) Open Mic/Open Jam (Comet Grill)
POP/ROCK April Residency: Paint Fumes, JaggerMouth, Reese McHenry & The Fox, Dim Delights (Snug Harbor) The Maine (The Underground) Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor) Open Mic with Jared Allen (Jack Beagles) Pluto for Planet (RiRa Irish Pub) Rumor Mill (Shore Club) Sick Minds, Withdraw, Recover The Satellite, Dad Fight (Milestone) Songwriter Open Mic @ Petra’s (Petra’s)
APRIL 24
COMING SOON
CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH
The Darkness (April 27, The Underground) Blue October (May 3, Fillmore) Carbon Leaf (May 5, Neighborhood Theatre) David Byrne (May 9, Ovens Auditorium) Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples (May 10, Ovens Auditorium) Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers (May 10, PNC Music Pavilion) David Bromberg Quintet (May 16, Neighborhood Theatre) St. Vincent (May 21, Fillmore)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Soul Station (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
COUNTRY/FOLK Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill)
POP/ROCK Canker Blossom, Labia Minor, Fozmo (Milestone) Fatai, Guys on a Bus (Evening Muse) Local Odyssey, Beach Bath, The Donner Deads (Snug Harbor) Open Jam with the Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Stars (The Underground)
APRIL 25 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Percussion Ensemble (Belk Theater, Robinson Hall)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Karaoke with DJ Alex Smith (Petra’s) Cyclops Bar: Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape
4/18 THIRD STORY 4/19 NINA NESBITT 4/20 OLD 97s 4/21 SOUTHERN CULTURE THEON SKIDS 4/26 LYDIA LOVELESS 4/28 ATLAS ROAD CREW 5/2 TAUK 5/6 (the) MELVINS 5/11 SOUTHSIDE WATT 5/12 MAGIC GIANT 5/19 TheCLARKS 5/15 TANK AND THE BANGAS 5/18OF GOOD NATURE 5/22 LILLIE MAE 5/25 MATTHEW SWEET 6/9NIGHT RIOTS 5/31 Justin Townes Earle 6/16 Town Mountain 7/23 6/21AMERICAN AQUARIUM 7/21JUPITER COYOTE FANTASTIC NEGRITO 7/19 THE
ROOSEVELTS
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SOUNDBOARD
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THIS SATURDAY
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FRIDAY, MAY 4
COYOTE JOE’S 27TH BIRTHDAY BASH STARRING
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CLCLT.COM | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | 27
BOOM CHARLOTTE
FEATURE
ARTS
Free-$85. April 20-22, 6-11 p.m.; April 21, 1 p.m.-midnight; April 22, 1-7 p.m.; Various venues, inside and outside, in Plaza Midwood. boomcharlotte.org.
TAPROOT KEEPS IT WEIRD BOOM Charlotte establishes antiestablishment art mission for third year BY GREY REVELL
S
Camerin Watson and Jessica Stewart wear VR headsets in Taproot CLT’s ‘What Future is it Now?’
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAPROOT CLT
ALENA MABLE STAMP is
instantly recognizable in her Taproot T-shirt as she enters the Roasting Company on Central Avenue, flanked by two of her Taproot cohorts, Yessena Whitfield and Shakeela Mays. “I wore the T-shirt so you’d spot us quickly,” Stamp says with a grin. Mission accomplished. The members of Taproot CLT are headed to rehearsals for their upcoming show, What Future Is It Now?, which they’ll perform at this year’s BOOM Charlotte, the third installment of the city’s beloved fringe arts fest held at spots throughout Plaza Midwood. Despite some scary weather — Stamp narrowly avoided a fallen branch on the way over — several other Taprooters have now begun making their way into the rotisserie to talk with me about BOOM and the state of weirdness in Charlotte. Camerin Watson, one of Taproot CLT’s founding members, arrives with Jessica Stewart, and we’re soon joined by two newer members, Kizzy Alexander, aka Kizzy Kashay, a veteran of Chicago’s storied Second City Improv group, and Kevin Patterson, an indie filmmaker who inadvertently found himself performing with the group after he was asked to produce a filmed sequence for its show. “We didn’t tell him that he was signing up for a lifetime commitment to Taproot,” Watson quips. Taproot’s 45-minute piece will debut at Petra’s Bar on Friday April 20, as part of BOOM’s three-day celebration of art and performance. The piece began as an improv dance work conceived as a duet for Stamp and Mays. Watson saw it and recommended they expand it into a larger and more fully realized production. The result is a surreal look at a reality show of tomorrow, a comment on society’s obsession with images and ideas about the future, whether utopic or dystopic. The dark comedy explores possibilities both likely and unlikely, while examining some very human situations. A successful career woman, played by Whitfield, has 28 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Taproot’s Salena Mable Stamp (left) and Shakeela Mays look at their futures. everything she ever wanted, but is alone and longs for an idealized companion. Two astrophysicists, spying a potential worldending threat, argue over the best way to handle the approaching apocalypse. A filmed sequence depicts the wonders (and hazards) of a life lived virtually. The scenarios are sci-fi stories of working people, or people working through outrageous situations via theater and dance. What Future Is It Now? asks us to take a deeper look at the undercurrent of weirdness beneath the slick veneer of Charlotte, the banking and development town — a look just below the surface of its money-making grin, its manicured lawns and neo-marble. Beneath all of that is a river of strangeness that only experimental and avant-garde artists can get to. Those are the folks who ask the important questions: Why do we do what we do? Why do we punch the clock? What’s at the root of our dreams? These are the questions that Taproot CLT and the other artists who are part of BOOM Charlotte pose, and they pose them not only through theater and dance but also through music, visual arts and more. For their part, Taproot’s history dovetails with the BOOM festival. The group started in 2012 as a genre collision of dance and theater. Watson and her creative partner Brianna Smith wanted to do original performance art, something “experimental and collaborative,
without adhering to any genre,” Watson says. The pair’s earliest performances were pop-up happenings around the Uptown area during the Democratic National Convention. “We were calling them random acts of culture,” Watson remembers. From there, Taproot attracted others who wanted to get involved. Mays, a graphic designer, joined in 2013; both Whitfield, a dance instructor, and Stamp, an upstate New York college graduate also who handles programming at the Blumenthal, joined the following year. Whitfield says she was moved to join after seeing Watson and Smith perform a structured improv piece that used audio from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream Speech.” Watson and Stewart also serve as cocollaborators with Manoj Kesavan, founder of the non-profit Que-OS, which curates BOOM Charlotte’s performances. He’s the genial and passionate heart behind the BOOM festival, which aims to bring collaboration to the city’s art scene by offering constructive challenges to what’s become stale established systems. “So many of our institutions work out of a place of control and exclusion,” Kesavan says. “The future is going to be directed by newer platforms, grassroots organizations, and BOOM is a reflection of that.” Kesavan arrived in Charlotte as an architectural instructor in 2003, and found
a conservative environment that he felt was creatively stifling. But it woke in him an instinct to nurture and preserve the weirder elements of his surroundings. In 2012, he and Faron Franks landed a residency at the McColl Center to do an Open Studio, bringing together a range of designers, artists and members of the community to work collaboratively on projects of broad interest and impact. It was during that period that Kesavan began to observe the nature of creative establishments, and what it meant for artists working in a modern urban world. “Often it’s about the investment, and where the money goes,” Kesavan says, “and therein lie the priorities.” The generally slow-moving nature of 21th century curating establishments often means new ideas take a long time to reach the mainstream. But not all artists are waiting for the world to come to them, and those are the artists that were attracted to Que-OS and later the BOOM festival — artists like Taproot CLT. What Kesavan, Watson and all who are involved in BOOM Charlotte propose is a new model of patronage and curation. BOOM fills a void left by a world that has moved too fast into the future without adjusting its focus on the people living in it. What Que-OS and BOOM provide are collaborative spaces for artists to find one another, work together, and promote each other’s works — all while providing true and constructive commentary and challenging critiques of the world in which we all live and love and work. BOOM, Kesavan says, is “growing and evolving so fast. So it’s different every year. I think the reason we’re growing so fast is that we’re able to respond quickly to what is going on in the city, to the level of diverse talent, and we’re able to respond to the needs of the city as well as showcase that level of talent.” Watson agrees. “A lot of [theatrical] companies in Charlotte are figuring out ways for artists to maintain their creativity, while also maintaining financial stability — all the while keeping things fun and creatively inspiring,” she says. Hard-hitting, pragmatic millenial optimism is a hallmark of Watson’s worldview — and of Taproot CLT. Recently, co-founding member Smith moved away to Austin, Texas, where she started a sister Taproot group, Taproot Austin. (Ironically, in this particular case, Charlotte led the way for a city it once longed to be more like. Back in the mid-2000s, after Austin launched the “Keep Austin Weird” movement to remind the tech companies arriving in that city of its historic creative community, Charlotte started its own similar, though slightly less confident “Make Charlotte Weird” movement.)
“THE FUTURE IS GOING TO BE DIRECTED BY NEWER PLATFORMS, GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS, AND BOOM IS A REFLECTION OF THAT.” MANOJ KESAVAN
Stamp (blue) and Mays are, respectively, an astronaut and an apocalypse prepper. At first, some members of Taproot CLT were concerned when Smith left the Queen City. “When Bri took the hiatus and moved away, we weren’t sure if we could go on without her,” Stamp remembers. “But it’s turned out fine, and the energy is still great.” The strength in the troupe is its flexibility. With members such as Jessica Stewart also engaged in administrating and curating alternate BOOM events, the idea was hatched to film some of its sequences. “This is the only kind of group I’ve ever seen that gets together to rehearse based on who’s available,” Watson says with a laugh. As the arts continue to cross-populate around Charlotte, there are endless future possibilities for further collaborations among Taproot CLT and other performance collectives, such as XOXO, which also will perform at this year’s BOOM fest. “I’m really excited to see other artists
involved, as well as the pop-up installations,” Stewart says. If it weren’t for the genre and media collisions that Que-OS and BOOM encourage, Kizzy Kashay says, she wouldn’t have known fringe art collaborations could happen in Charlotte. “I had no idea this even existed, or was possible,” Kashay says. Stamp agrees. “Before Que-OS and BOOM,” Stamp says, “the dance world wasn’t really privy to the theater or comedy worlds, and likewise.” Nowadays, it’s possible for an actor to join a group of dancers and create a scifi performance piece based on reality TV — and the possibilities beyond that are limitless. “The weirder, the better,” Watson says with a grin. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | 29
ARTS
FILM
ANIMAL ACTS
Between The Rock and a good movie BY MATT BRUNSON
IT PROBABLY DOESN’T need to be
reiterated, but here goes anyway. Despite a rating that allows for the admission of children, despite the animated nature of the piece, and despite the focus on our cuddly canine companions, Isle of Dogs (***1/2 out of four) is decidedly not one for the kiddies. In a pinch, parents are in fact probably better off taking their youngsters to Fifty Shades Freed than the latest from Wes Anderson — at least in that film, there are no shots of a dog’s skeletal remains, the result of nobody being able to get the poor mutt’s locked cage door open. On the other hand, adults are encouraged to check out Isle of Dogs at their earliest convenience. Anderson’s first film since his grandly entertaining gem The Grand Budapest Hotel is a dazzling and heady achievement, employing quirky animation to relate its tale of a futuristic Japan in which all dogs have been confiscated to nearby Trash Island after a canine-related virus has swept through the country. The fascistic ruling class ultimately seeks to kill, not just quarantine, all dogs, with only a pro-dog professor (Akira Ito), his dedicated assistant (Yoko Ono!) and his courageous students seeking to thwart this insidious agenda. For his part, a little boy named Atari (voiced by Koyu Rankin) misses his dog Spots and sets out to Trash Island on a rescue mission. Upon arrival, he encounters resistance from a gruff stray named Chief (Bryan Cranston) but receives assistance from a quartet of former pets (Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum and Bob Balaban). Naturally, the one student who rallies the others to save the dogs is American (Greta Gerwig), but aside from this opening for charges against the usual “white savior” syndrome exhibited in movies, Isle of Dogs is otherwise too fantastical to be compared to any real-world parallels. The stop-motion animation is even more impressive than that displayed in Anderson’s previous romp in this realm, 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, and the multi-faceted plot continually branches out in imaginative and unexpected ways. Canines will understandably object to the phrase, but Isle of Dogs is clearly the cat’s meow.
CRITICS HAVE OFTEN been accused of unfairly dissing a movie because it’s not the one they imagined in their head, placing the finished product at a disadvantage for not satisfying any preconceived notions of where the story should have gone. Perhaps there’s some validity in that charge. Take, for instance, the new Dwayne Johnson action spectacular Rampage (** out of four). It’s based on a 1980s video game 30 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
‘Isle of Dogs’ in which an enormous ape, an oversized wolf and a gigantic reptile wreak havoc on various American cities. A film version is naturally going to follow suit, but that nevertheless didn’t prevent me from wanting the filmmakers to retain the gorilla and axe the other critters. It wouldn’t have made for a very faithful movie, but it might have made for a more involving one. That’s basically because the heart of this picture rests in the relationship between Davis Okoye (Johnson), a primatologist at the San Diego Wildlife Sanctuary, and George, an albino silverback gorilla who basically qualifies as the human-hating Davis’s BFF. Through some serious pilfering from Mighty Joe Young, the early sequences establish a nice rapport between Davis and George (Jason Liles is the actor under the motion-capture CGI), and watching these two pal around in the manner of Clint and Clyde in Every Which Way But Loose wouldn’t be the worse way to spend two hours (and like Clyde, George also has a predilection for flipping that middle finger). Unfortunately for George, he’s exposed to a serum initially developed by Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) to aid humankind but nabbed by ruthless CEO Claire Wyden (Malin Ackerman) to sell as a biological weapon. The serum, which not only supersizes its recipients but also triggers rage, ends up also infecting a wolf and an alligator. The three beastly behemoths then head to Chicago, with only Davis, Kate and a gregarious government agent (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, pouring a thick Southern accent onto his characterization as if it were syrup on pancakes) there to stop them from completely leveling the city. As far as video-game adaptations go, Rampage is one of the better ones, although that of course isn’t really saying anything. An amusing gag or quip manages to occasionally stick the landing, but the plot particulars are rarely more developed than those found in, well, an arcade game. Johnson coasts on
FOX SEARCHLIGHT
his charm, the talented Harris (superb in Moonlight) is largely wasted, and Ackerman is an interesting choice to play a villain (far less successful is Jake Lacy as her simple-minded brother and partner-in-crime). George is a magnificent visual effect, but the other monsters are rather ridiculous, and watching them demolish buildings (and each other)
during the climax makes for a particularly protracted slog. Rampage aspires to be dumb fun, and that’s fine — we can always use films of that nature. It’s just a shame the fun too often takes a backseat to the dumb. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
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THE FISH WHISPERER Brian Hester has taught some of Charlotte’s best artists, but now he’s out to make his own name RYAN PITKIN
WHEN I SAW Brian Hester sitting at the
bar at Hawthorne’s Pizza on Monroe Road, looking up at the televisions with one hand on his Hoppyum IPA, he looked nothing like the countless artists I’ve met around the city in my years with Creative Loafing. And he’s cool with that. Hester calls himself an amalgam, and prides himself on standing somewhere outside the stereotype. He’s never quite fit into any one scene he’s in. As a student at UNC Charlotte, he was a jock and artist, showing up late to class out of breath and with wet hair from swim practice. As an arts teacher at Northwest School of the Arts, he was the “drill sergeant,” who taught with an intensity that many students weren’t ready for. Still, it would be hard to say he’s not been effective. He once taught an arts class at Independence High School that included Hayley Moran, Will Puckett and John Hairston, Jr., all of whom have gone on to make huge impacts on Charlotte’s arts scene. Now at 48, as he focuses on pursuing his own arts career, Hester still doesn’t fit the mold of what you’d imagine when you hear the word “artist.” “I don’t put a lot of product in my hair or dread my hair out,” Hester said. “I don’t wear skinny jeans or come off as this flashy guy with weird glasses. There are so many stereotypes about what an artist is supposed to look like, but I like riding that stereotype line.” He’s also riding his own fly-fishing line, as Hester’s outdoorsman arts style — realist fish and landscape paintings with a trippy, surrealist touch — has been gaining him attention in the local scene lately. He was recently commissioned to create one of 20 paintings now hanging in the NoDa Brewing taproom, and his paintings and fish sculptures were recently featured in his first gallery show at Coffey & Thompson art gallery in South End. We caught up with Hester, now an arts teacher at Myers Park High School, to chat about being a fly-fisherman in an artist’s world, and vice versa. Creative Loafing: How long has art been a part of your life? Brian Hester: I always knew, even out of kindergarten, that I had this thing — this tactile, this observational, this conceptual thing — going on up in here (points to head) that was just always working. The funny thing with me about the visual arts
in drawing and understanding color and color theory and being able to observe and understand proportions of what you’re observing, as long as I can remember, those puzzle pieces were already in place. Were outdoorsman activities, like fly-fishing, always a part of your life, as well? Growing up in Boone, first of all you become immune to the cold. I wasn’t afraid to be in the creeks, always finding crawfish. My dad took me fly-fishing and introduced me to fishing at a very early age. Right after kindergarten it was like, all of a sudden I had a fly rod in my hand. So the development and my evolution through fly-fishing was just ingrained there. That was my thing. I was good at three things: I was good at swimming, I was good at the visual arts and I was really good at fly-fishing. So it must have come naturally for you to start painting fish and nature scenes. No. The funny thing is that I always flyfished, but I was too stupid to do anything about putting the marriage of those entities together. Oddly enough, I didn’t realize the symbiotic relationship between those two, i.e. the art of fly-fishing as well as my art and my painting and the finesse and the poise and the precision and the articulation of all of them. I remember one of my painting professors in college, his name was Ron Taylor, he told me, “You know, you could be somebody with this thing, but you’re not painting your passion, so you’re not doing anything.” I turn 49 in May. It took me until three years ago to get my shit together. And then all of a sudden I said, “Ok, this is it I’m going to do it.” How has the feedback been? Funny thing is, I’m doing all these beautiful sculptures that I’m actually digging, and all my paintings are coming together, and my wife, who knows how ridiculous of a fly-fisherman I am, she goes, “Brian, you really think that people are going to buy this?” And after being pissed off for probably about a week, I kind of said, “You know what? I’m staying the course. I’m going to follow Ron Taylor’s information that he gave me, and I’m going to continue with this.” Oddly enough, my wife has turned the corner, because people are slowly starting to recognize what’s happening with my art. RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM
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32 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
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ENDS
NIGHTLIFE
TURN UP AT THE TEETER Get your grown folk on with bottle shops and grocery stores ON SUNDAY I woke up around 3 p.m. Give
relaxin’ on the swings in the butterfly garden me a break, Saturday was a late night that or the updated deck and patio area. Not to mention, I was recently reminded turned into an early morning. that they’d completed renovations inside the It happens. I checked my email and saw something bottle shop. Needless to say, I was sold. We located a parking space and walked up from my P.I.C. It was an invite for a birthday celebration in the coming weeks. I scrolled to the familiar, homey spot. The boo thang down to see the location and I had to rub ordered each of us a frosty piña colada and my eyes: HT Wine Bar Myers Park. I scrolled we sat down. Traditionally, piña coladas are made with back up, squinting with crusty eyes thinking I rum, but it’s my understanding that NoDa must’ve read wrong. Nope, I began reading the email and Company Store doesn’t have a liquor license noted “…[we] are throwing a little joint get — similar to other bottle shops in the area. As we slurped at the bottom of the cup, together for our birthdays this year at the we both agreed that we had a good best bar on earth, the Harris Teeter buzz going. What magic is this? wine bar — the plan is to start No rum, and yet, we were still the party there and then move buzzing? Naturally, I ordered somewhere for some dinner/ another one #noselfcontrol. continued drinks. $5 wine We enjoyed the flights on Saturday should warm vibes of spring (I have everyone in the say this despite the chill right mindset.” that followed just a few I chuckled about short days later) while a the invite with the live band performed on boyfriend. Not because it the patio of the restaurant was a stretch for my P.I.C. adjacent to us. to suggest a pregame at a AERIN SPRUILL I was having a great time local grocer, but because it but my eyes started to get heavy. felt like the icing on the cake as It wasn’t because I was bored, but we continue to get older. because I was content. And that’s when That’s when I realized, my Friday started out with that same damn icing. Gasp. I realized that “pregaming” at a grocery store After a long work week, I was so excited about or bottle shop wasn’t a terrible idea. In fact, it would make for an earlier night getting off work that I didn’t care where the without the haunting expectation that you’re night led. That’s despite the fact that I’d bought going to be drunk bickering or hungover the tickets for me and the boo to SoFar Sounds next day. To be completely honest, I intend on Charlotte’s second-year anniversary show. Before you knew it, there was no longer the having a handful of early Friday and Saturday question of, “Are we going to go to the show nights this coming season. I’m going to finish work, make arrangements to Uber to a bottle or not?” We opted instead for a visit to the NoDa shop of sorts for early evening drinking and call it an evening before the real “freaks come Company Store. Self-described as a “multi-faceted space out at night.” Well, that’s the plan, anyway. for wine, local beer and bar snacks, plus art, If you’re interested in escaping your usual exhibitions and live music,” NoDa Company Store has quickly become one of my favorite and engaging in the same, you have more than a handful of options to choose from: places to hang out or work remote. Often times, when the doors are wide NoDa Company Store, Harris Teeter wine bar, open and the warm breeze is blowing through Craft Tasting Room and Growler Shop, Salud the common space, it feels like I’m sitting Beer Shop and Brawley’s Beverage. And of course, who can forget about the on my grandma’s porch with a glass of lemonade — but instead I’m usually holding Common Market. Even though they got rid of my favorite location in South End, I don’t the signature Company Store sangria. The boyfriend had sent me a screenshot think the one in Plaza Midwood is that bad – of their post before I left the office. The though plenty of others would disagree. But I digress, here’s to trying something caption read: “#TGIF because we have ALL the NoDa-Colada waiting for you.” It was new this weekend in the Q.C. absolutely the perfect day for maxin’ and BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
34 | APR. 19 - APR. 25, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Twilight Dawn ENDS
CROSSWORDS
CELEBRITY SPOONERISMS ACROSS
1 Former Delta rival 4 Humane org. since 1866 9 Shining 14 Birds’ beaks 19 On top of, in verse 20 Nerd relative 21 City in Utah 22 Bugged a lot 23 Support a female donkey? 25 All fired up 26 Flag sewer Ross 27 “Dies --” (Mass hymn) 28 Squirmy 30 “Listen up, warm-blooded animal!”? 32 More itty-bitty 34 African country 36 Disfigure 37 Horror director Roth 38 Open a new tavern? 41 Magna -- laude 42 Baltique or Adriatique 43 Units of bag thickness 44 “Bridge of Spies” actor Mark 46 Core belief of orthopedic practice? 48 Home to Pago Pago 52 “Vesti la giubba,” e.g. 53 -- Majesty the Queen 54 IM-offering ISP 55 Choose a wooden peg? 57 Aromatic resins 59 Chai or pekoe 62 Pyle and Els 63 Railcar walkways 64 Sees 66 Church call 67 Makes a warden gentle? 72 Australian avians 73 Be the king 75 Delilah duped him 76 Rub down 78 Sketch show since ‘75 79 Estate of a winegrower 81 Curly-furred cat’s giggle? 84 The way, to Lao-tzu 85 Undertake 86 Thing to hum 87 Wraith 88 Descend upon a certain grainfield in droves? 92 Circles around heavenly bodies 94 Sails through 95 Neither hide -- hair
96 Bad review 97 Very tentative taste of food? 102 Greek “H” 103 Match unit 104 Ballroom dance 106 Dr. Seuss’ real surname 107 Pale people writing things quickly? 110 Jetsons’ dog 113 Caffeine-laden nut 114 Perrier rival 115 Aristocratic 117 Toast topper that’s nifty? 119 Tuscan town 120 Bugs a lot 121 Sporting site 122 Big cat’s lair 123 Stunning gun 124 Cries out 125 Cyclist, e.g. 126 Before, in verse
DOWN
1 Way of being thrilled or torn 2 What to do if the shoe fits 3 Esoteric stuff 4 Modifying word: Abbr. 5 Really rely on 6 100-Down’s partner in magic 7 Euro fraction 8 Big gulf 9 Orang, e.g. 10 Minister Billy 11 Boston airport 12 Outranking 13 Guys on the job site 14 Elephant king of kiddie lit 15 Agenda unit 16 “Open up!” 17 The Bunkers’ “old” car 18 Hair salon employee 24 Actor Dullea 29 Agave plant 31 Actress d’Abo 33 Online brokerage 35 Receivable 39 What “there oughta be” 40 Uncommon 42 Choice bit 43 Hollywood’s Gibson 45 Zippo 46 Celebrity lawyer Melvin 47 Mix, as salad 48 Pickle units 49 Flying guys
50 “Chicago Hope” doctor 51 Assenting to 53 -- impact on (effects) 56 East, in Ulm 57 Small jewel 58 Suffix of enzymes 59 V8 ingredient 60 Musician’s exercises 61 Affirm 63 Analyze 65 Australian state capital 68 -- whole 69 Subject 70 Manicure aid 71 Scoundrel 74 University sports org. 77 Tuna variety 80 Wasp variety 81 1921 sci-fi play 82 Sufficient, in verse 83 TV “Warrior Princess” 84 “Conan” network 86 Pacific island country 88 “My Little Chickadee” co-star 89 Wife of Nero 90 Head-hugging hats 91 Mega Millions, e.g. 92 Soup holder 93 French forest region 96 Soft shade 98 Moped, e.g. 99 “Tristan und --” 100 6-Down’s partner in magic 101 Boosler of comedy 103 Sub detector 104 Quaver 105 Actor Werner 108 Tarzan’s lady 109 Author Wiesel 111 Actress Polo 112 Bog grass 116 Slalom path 118 Pickle holder
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very elastic and much of the ‘permission to enter’ actually involves intentional relaxation of the muscles by the bottom” and not force applied by the top, Dr. Shalit affirmed. (The top applies gentle pressure, the bottom breathes, relaxes, and opens up.) “If a person suffers from constipation, that should be addressed as its own problem and not blamed on any type of anal sexual activity,” said Dr. Shalit. “In addition: For obvious reasons, it’s not fun to bottom if you’re constipated, so it would be good to have this problem evaluated and treated by a nonjudgmental health-care provider who understands that anal penetration — by fist, penis, or dildo — does not cause constipation.” Finally, FIST, your doctor was misinformed, and therefore not helpful. If you don’t feel comfortable telling your doctor EVERYTHING you’re doing “down there,” you can find a new doctor — one you can breathe, relax, and open up to (in a different way) — under “find a provider” at GLMA.org.
“There are many myths about anal sex, but this is the first time I’ve heard this one,” said Dr. Peter Shalit, a physician in Seattle and a member of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. It’s also the first time I’ve heard anyone associate fisting with constipation — typically when fisting is mentioned in the same sentence as constipation, FIST, it’s as a cure. But it’s a myth that fisting cures constipation, My boyfriend and I just of course, along with got back from Berlin, anal sex being inherently and we had a great time dangerous. — until the last night. “Fisting is a safe activity, There was a dark room DAN SAVAGE provided that both the top in the basement of this and bottom are sober at the gay bar, and my boyfriend time,” said Dr. Shalit. “It does wanted to check it out and I not cause damage or constipation did not. We are monogamous for or any other type of bowel problem. The now — I’m open to opening things up same applies to other anal sexual activities down the road — and I didn’t see the including anal receptive intercourse (getting point of going down there. I told him that fucked) and use of toys (dildos, vibrators, drunk in a gay bar at 3 a.m. wasn’t the etc.) for anal stimulation — again assuming right time to open up our relationship, this is voluntary on the part of the bottom and he angrily insisted he wasn’t trying and that both partners are not under the to do that. But if we’re monogamous and influence of mind-altering drugs during want to stay monogamous, why go into a sexual activity.” (For safety’s sake, of course, dark room at all? buttfuckers should use condoms and gay and DUDE INTO MONOGAMY bi men get should get on PrEP.) While many people engage in anal play If it was your boyfriend’s intent to reopen while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, negotiations about monogamy while horny and most emerge unscathed, uninfected, and men circled you in a dark room, DIM, un-constipated, FIST, getting fucked up before that wouldn’t be OK. But it is possible for fisting is not a butt sex best practice. A fucked- monogamous couples to enter sexually up top can quickly become an out-of-control charged environments like dark rooms, sex top, and a fucked-up bottom can be numb to parties, or swingers clubs and emerge with feelings of discomfort that mean “slow down,” their monogamous commitments intact. It’s “stop and add more lube,” or “stop altogether.” advisable even — or at least I’ve advised Despite the fact that millions of people monogamous couples who want to keep safely engage in anal play, many people things hot to visit those kinds of spaces. Go believe that anal play does irreparable harm in for the erotic charge, soak it up, and plow to the anus — or the soul — and that sadly that energy into each other. So next time, go down there. You might have to bat a few includes many doctors. “There is a misconception that these hands away, but once the other guys realize activities can cause damage by stretching or you two aren’t there for anyone else, they’ll tearing the tissue, when actually the anus is turn their attentions to others who are.
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ARIES (March 21
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(May 21 to June 20) Those changes you planned to implement in early summer might need to be reassessed. But don’t make any moves until you’ve discussed this with someone you trust.
CANCER (June 21 to
July 22) Your aspects favor harmony, making this a good time to work out problems in relationships -- whether personal or professional, big or small. An old friend comes back.
LEO (July 23 to August 22)
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(August 23 to September 22) An unexpected development creates a lot of excitement. Where it takes you is your decision. Check out the possibilities, then decide if you want to go with it or not.
LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Although your supporters help you squash an unfair claim against you, don’t let this go unchallenged. You need to learn more about the motives of those behind it. SCORPIO (October 23 to
November 21) There still are some tasks to clear up by midweek. Then you can welcome the new month on a high note. A friend brings surprising but very welcome news.
S AG I T TA R I U S
(November 22 to December 21) You might want to change your plans before they’re set in cement. Consider advice from colleagues. But remember that, ultimately, it’s your choice.
CAPRICORN
(December 22 to January 19) A difficult situation is working itself out. Lingering problems should be resolved by week’s end, allowing the Goat to enjoy a calmer, less stressful period.
AQUARIUS
(January 20 to February 18) Be careful not to move so quickly that you miss possible warning signs that could upset your plans. Slow down. Your supporters will continue to stand by you.
PISCES
(February 19 to March 20) Your generosity in sharing your time and wisdom with others leads to an intriguing development that could have you considering some interesting choices.
BORN THIS WEEK You have a way of influencing people to be and do their best. You would make an excellent teacher.
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