Queen City Nerve - April 20, 2022

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11; APRIL 20 - MAY 3, 2022; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

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ISSUE

CANNABIS IN QUESTION

The future of hemp farming in North Carolina faces multiple threats

By Ryan Pitkin

North Carolina law requires a person to be at least 21 years of age to purchase alcoholic beverages. Attempting to purchase alcohol under the age of 21 or by using a fake or altered identification document is a criminal offense.

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HOW TO PLAY: 1. Scan the QR code to access the scavenger hunt form 2. Enter your email address and name 3. Head to all of the participating shops for a brew 4. Snap a picture OF YOUR RECEIPT and upload to the form 5. Once you’ve visited all the shops, submit the form!

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@Q UEEN CI T Y N ERV E W W W.Q CN ERV E.COM PUBLISHER JUSTIN LAFRANCOIS jla fra n c oi s @ q c n erve.c om

EDITOR - IN - CHIEF RYAN PITKIN

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DIGITAL EDITOR KARIE SIMMONS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS & OPINION

4 Cannabis in Question by Ryan Pitkin

The future of hemp farming in North Carolina faces multiple threats 6 Seed to Shelf by Karie Simmons

The Hemp Source cannabis dispensary has homegrown roots

ARTS & CULTURE

8 What’s That Sound by Emily Stepp

A quick guide to BOOM Charlotte’s in-person return 10 Lifeline: Ten Cool Things To Do in Two Weeks

MUSIC

12 The Best of Fiends by Pat Moran

Cope Fiend crafts a soundtrack for survival 14 Soundwave

FOOD & DRINK

16 A Crowntown Lounge by Nikolai Mather

New cannabis consumption lounge features infused mocktails, slushies and soft serve

www.WipeOutWaste.com

Thanks to our contributors: Emily Stepp, Grant Baldwin, Katie Grant, Gabe Lugo, Mary Massie, Julio Enriquez, Dick Costa, Lee Capps, Alice Kelso, and Dan Savage.

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Learn more at

LIFESTYLE

18 Puzzles 20 The Seeker by Katie Grant 21 Horoscope 22 Savage Love

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

CANNABIS IN QUESTION The future of hemp farming in North Carolina faces multiple threats

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BY RYAN PITKIN

When Armaney Richardson-Peterson and Charles Peterson launched The Hemp Source in 2017, for which they transitioned their Wendell tobacco farm into a hemp farm, the couple expected to face their share of obstacles.

“They say with the hemp plant, like anything you grow, your third year is like your first year farming,” Hemp Source CEO Richardson-Peterson told Queen City Nerve during a recent phone call from Wendell.

“We had a lot of hiccups with mice, figuring out the soil, all the hurdles that come with farming.

It’s not tobacco, it’s not any other grain, and it’s not marijuana — with all the lighting and stuff marijuana is a little bit different. It took a lot of test runs for us.”

The two entrepreneurs faced other barriers that they couldn’t have expected. There was Hurricane Florence in 2018, which led to the loss of half The Hemp Source crop that year. Then in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, forcing them to scale back their production for two years.

Despite the obstacles, The Hemp Source saw growth and success over its first five years. After humble beginnings — producing a kilo of hemp every two to three months and selling the resulting products at farmers markets and other pop-ups — the married couple opened their first dispensary in Wendell in 2018.

They saw their first franchise location, which you can read more about on page 6, open in Charlotte the same year. They now supply seven Hemp Source franchises spread across North Carolina and two more in Alabama.

Now, as the Wendell farmers return to preCOVID crop numbers — planting about 30 acres as they did in 2019 — they and others who work in the North Carolina cannabis industry face new threats: legislators and law enforcement agencies that appear to be turning their back on an industry that has exploded over the past five years.

On June 30, language included in state law that

exempts “industrial hemp” from the definition of illegal marijuana will expire, and if allowed to do so by legislators, the new law that takes effect on July 1 will make all forms of cannabis, including hemp, illegal.

There are also concerns about overreach from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which one South Carolina hemp company claims has been unlawfully regulating certain products derived from lawful hemp, actions that the company and others say have “serious, immediate, and irreparable consequences” for hemp producers and processors.

Then there’s North Carolina’s Senate Bill 711, which would legalize medical marijuana in the state, but in a way that would effectively shut out independent hemp farmers and others in the hemp industry from participating, and could push them out of the cannabis industry altogether.

Richardson-Peterson hopes that when the North Carolina General Assembly reconvenes in May, legislators will act to extend the hemp exemption.

“I wouldn’t panic yet,” she told Queen City Nerve.

However, she does worry that the actions being taken to further regulate North Carolina’s rapidly expanding hemp industry could have disastrous effects if they’re allowed to move further.

“That would be chaotic. It would be chaos after COVID, after all these things that have happened, to snatch people’s livelihoods, and to just say, ‘OK, this is illegal as of this day.’

“I don’t foresee that happening because we’ve worked so hard to get it here, and the industry blossomed so well that we became known — the hemp grows so well in our soil, North Carolina has become like a hub for hemp growing,” RichardsonPeterson said.

THE HEMP SOURCE HAS PLANTED ABOUT 30 ACRES OF CANNABIS FOR HEMP FARMING THIS YEAR. PHOTO BY ARMANEY RICHARDSON-PETERSON

whether growing or not,” followed by a long list of specifications of what those parts are and what they might include.

However this long definition currently includes a sentence that has been critical to the livelihoods of many in the CBD and cannabinoid industry: “The term does not include industrial hemp as defined in G.S. 106-568.51, when the industrial hemp is produced and used in compliance with rules issued by the North Carolina Industrial Hemp Commission.”

On June 30, if legislators don’t take action before The hemp exemption then, that language will be removed from the law Current North Carolina law defines marijuana as “all parts of the plant of the genus Cannabis, and the NC Industrial Hemp Commission referenced

therein will be disbanded.

As reported by Asheville-based hemp attorney Rod Kight in April, the Industrial Hemp Commission discussed these upcoming changes during an Aug. 5, 2021, meeting. “[T]he NC Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program will no longer be valid due to the 2018 Federal Farm Bill establishing a Domestic Hemp Production Program,” the minutes from that meeting read. “This action will be effective as of June 30, 2022….”

That would do away with all laws on the state books protecting hemp growers, processors or

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NEWS & OPINION FEATURE distributors, and leave no state agency in charge of overseeing or regulating hemp in North Carolina.

Under protections provided by the 2018 Federal Farm Bill, hemp producers licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will still be allowed to operate in the state after the new changes.

Richardson-Peterson said she takes comfort in that fact, as a USDA-licensed hemp producer. She also said the vertical nature of her business puts her in a better spot to adapt to laws as they change.

“By us being vertical — growing it, processing it and having the stores — our take on things is a little bit different because we can change any aspect of our industry,” she said.

Yet she recognizes that, if the hemp exemption is allowed to expire, it will have an impact on countless people in the industry.

“It would definitely shake up a lot of people — people that use it, number one, and people that are selling it,” she said. “How is that going to look?

All the hemp stores closed? It would definitely be chaos. It would be a lot for them to do that, just to snatch it away like that.”

Michael Sims, co-owner of the Charlotte-based Crowntown Cannabis, is one person who stands at risk of having it all snatched away.

As reported in our story on page 16, Sims and the Crowntown Cannabis team are planning for more expansion in the Charlotte area, but he said he loses sleep over the possibility that the laws could remove protections for his business.

When Queen City Nerve stopped by Crowntown’s north Charlotte warehouse on a recent Friday, there was excitement in the air around the company’s long-term and short-term plans for new locations, mobile dispensaries, and other larger projects.

However, a cloud of anxiety hung over all of that excitement due to the uncertainty around what will happen this summer.

“All of us — including myself, the people in this room and people in this industry — went all in because they told us it was OK,” Sims said. “And now again, in the eleventh hour, we’re fighting for our mere existence. We’re 100% invested. We’ve got millions and millions of dollars invested in this company, and it’s just one company. We’ve reinvested pretty much everything we’ve ever made because banks won’t give us funding. So if they do this they not only kill us, they kill this industry, they kill our business.”

Delta 8 and the DEA

In October 2021, the Hemp Industries Association and a South Carolina-based hemp company called RE Botanicals filed a new federal action aimed at clarifying the scope of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill.

According to a press release issued upon the complaint’s filing, the lawsuit alleges the DEA is unlawfully attempting to regulate certain products derived from lawful hemp by misinterpreting the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the 2018 Farm Bill.

Specifically, the release states, the DEA classifies intermediary hemp material (IHM) and waste hemp material (WHM), “two necessary and inevitable byproducts of hemp processing,” as Schedule I controlled substances.

The plaintiffs argued that Congress deliberately removed such commercial hemp activity from the DEA’s jurisdiction when it legalized hemp production, including hemp processing, via the 2018 Farm Bill, putting it under the jurisdiction of the USDA. “[A]ll hemp processors and manufacturers who work with and/or store IHM and/or WHM must now choose between ceasing to process, manufacture and/or store hemp; obtaining a Schedule I license from DEA; or risking criminal prosecution under the [Controlled Substances Act],” the lawsuit reads.

“Given the centrality of hemp processing to the hemp industry’s supply chain, forcing processors to choose between the foregoing options would effectively destroy the entire hemp industry.”

The DEA’s actions are an attempt to shut down the sale of products that contain Delta 8 and other similar compounds that can be found naturally in hemp, making it legal for sale in states that have protections for hemp but not marijuana.

Unlike more traditional CBD products, items containing Delta 8, Delta 9 and other similar chemical compounds have been found to produce psychoactive effects not unlike marijuana.

Law enforcement groups have lobbied for banning Delta 8, citing a reported spike in calls to poison centers from people who take Delta 8 products thinking they will have no effect.

Sims said that, in recent years, sales of Delta 8 products have exploded in his stores, now making up around 80% of total sales.

He said he hopes lawmakers will be willing to listen to small-business owners like himself rather than only take the accounts of law-enforcement lobbyists into consideration.

While there is no official legislation on the table

as of now to close the Delta 8 loophole in North Carolina, Virginia’s governor signed a ban on all Delta 8 products in that state on April 12, causing concern that North Carolina legislators will look to do the same.

Also, if the lawsuit against the DEA doesn’t go the way of the Hemp Industries Association that helped file it, that could have immediate effects on hemp distributors in states across the South where “marijuana” is illegal.

“A lot of this stuff is already in the works, and we’re hoping we have some kind of recourse,” Sims said. “We’re hoping that there’s some kind of commonality where we can come to the table and everybody discuss what’s best for the industry.

But unfortunately, with these decisions, a lot of times, there’s no adjustment whatsoever. It’s like, ‘Kill the program.’ And [the legislature and judges] usually side with the side of law enforcement. Law enforcement is our largest lobbyist group in the state, and they are lobbying for this.”

Richardson-Peterson agreed that the fear mongering around Delta 8 is just “a law enforcement tactic,” as she called it.

She said she prioritizes education around these issues for her staff so they can educate The Hemp

Source customers.

The Hemp Source stores, like all Crowntown Cannabis locations, are based on the dispensary model, where customers get one-on-one engagement from knowledgeable staff who can help them find what will work for them and warn them about the effects any product will or won’t have.

Richardson-Peterson said they treat all Delta 8 products as if they were marijuana, with warning labels and child-proof packaging.

“We make sure we educate everyone who’s buying it, and we give them suggestions on how to take it. They know what they’re doing,” she said.

“It’s important to have the warning labels and to let people know, even buying from gas stations and stuff like that, that’s not safe. Either you need to know who’s growing your products or have a reputable source.”

For folks at companies like The Hemp Source or Crowntown Cannabis that have invested millions of dollars and spent years educating their staffs so they can serve as that reputable source, only time will tell if they’ll be allowed to do so past the summer.

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

SEED TO SHELF

The Hemp Source cannabis dispensary has homegrown roots

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BY KARIE SIMMONS

One of the most common misconceptions Lesley Pittman Thomas hears as the owner of a cannabis dispensary is that hemp is fake — that it’s not “the real stuff.”

Whenever this happens, she explains that hemp and marijuana are both species of the cannabis plant and contain cannabinoids like CBD, which is commonly used to treat chronic pain, inflammation, anxiety and insomnia.

The real difference is you can’t get high from hemp, as it’s specially grown to contain 0.3% or less of the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), per federal guidelines. Marijuana typically contains 5-20% THC. Hemp is also completely legal across the United States, while marijuana is only legal in certain states.

“People say, ‘Oh, I use the real stuff.’ Like, OK, hemp is real, too,” Pittman Thomas said. “It’s cannabis. I always use the analogy of greens. You have different types of greens — turnip greens, mustard greens — but they’re still greens.”

Pittman Thomas knows that understanding the differences and similarities between hemp and marijuana can be confusing, that’s why education is a major platform at her South Boulevard store, The Hemp Source.

Headquartered in Wendell and run by Armaney Richardson-Peterson and Charles Peterson, The Hemp Source is a vertically-integrated organic cannabis company that’s licensed by the state to grow industrial hemp.

The Black-owned, family-run company grows, harvests and processes their hemp plants on a 100plus acre farm in eastern Wake County that they transitioned to hemp in 2017 after generations of growing tobacco.

The final products — flower, oils, edibles, lotions, etc. — are then distributed to their 10 franchised dispensaries in North Carolina and Alabama, including The Hemp Source on South Boulevard, which Pittman Thomas opened in 2018 as the first Hemp Source franchise.

It’s a seed-to-shelf business model that allows for control at every stage of the process, Pittman

Thomas explained.

“Everything that is in the store that is hemprelated has been touched by human hands. There’s no big machinery,” she said. “So when you talk about small business, you can’t get any smaller than us …

We are the grower, we are the processor, the supplier and the end result.”

A budding industry

The Hemp Source was an early inductee of the North Carolina Industrial Hemp Pilot Program, established in 2015 through the passing of the federal Agricultural Act of 2014 and subsequent state legislation.

North Carolina began accepting applications for the program in 2017, just as The Hemp Source got off — or out of — the ground.

Interest has been strong since the pilot program began. According to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS), there were 1,500 licensed hemp growers in the state as of July 30, 2021, with 6.8 million square feet of greenhouse space and 14,016 acres registered for production. In addition, there were 1,295 registered processors.

“When you look at it, the license numbers are in the four to five digits — our license number has three digits — so being one of the first, it’s like, wow,” Pittman Thomas said. “When this whole program sort of started, it was like, ‘What is gonna happen?’ And now you see it grow.”

In the five years since, the federal government passed the 2018 Farm Bill, which made hemp a legal agricultural commodity and established the regulatory framework for a Domestic Hemp Production Program managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The NCDA&CS announced in August 2021 it would eliminate the Hemp Pilot Program at the end of the year and hand oversight of the industry over to the USDA, making North Carolina the first state to discontinue pre-existing state-run oversight.

As of January 2022, North Carolina hemp farmers

LESLEY PITTMAN THOMAS OPENED THE HEMP SOURCE ON SOUTH BOULEVARD IN 2018.

PHOTO BY KARIE SIMMONS

must now get their licenses through the USDA, and there remains some uncertainty regarding the future of hemp farming in North Carolina, which you can read more about in our story on page 4.

However, thanks to their USDA license and the vertical nature of their business, The Hemp Source is set to weather whatever storm comes its way.

For many, hemp provides relief

Thomas first heard about the budding hemp industry from a friend and was curious, so in May 2018, she attended a meeting of the North Carolina Industrial Hemp Commission (NCIHC) — the ninemember body responsible for general oversight of the Hemp Pilot Program, including application review and approval.

Someone there invited her to an event for Black farmers, which is where she met RichardsonPeterson and Peterson, founders of The Hemp Source. Once she toured their farm and production facility and learned about their products, she was hooked and said she wanted to become part of the industry.

In September 2018, just two months after the CEOs opened their flagship dispensary in Wendell — and as Hurricane Florence battered their crops at the farm — Thomas opened the second location in Charlotte.

She said she sees a lot of customers at her South Boulevard dispensary who tell her they’re in pain, or experiencing inflammation or anxiety and want relief outside of traditional medicine.

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE Most of the time, they come in not knowing what they want or even what hemp is all about, so Thomas has to first educate — and sometimes re-educate due to false information — before helping them find the right product. She then takes into consideration a customer’s height, weight, metabolism, pain level and whether they’ve used hemp before to determine the proper dosage and method.

The Hemp Source carries a variety of hemp products, including the flower itself, both in store and online, that customers can smoke, eat or apply topically. Thomas said among her most popular products is the hemp tincture — oil placed under the tongue that ranges from 150-2,000 milligrams of CBD — and the pain salve, which is for rubbing on sore knees and joints.

There’s also hot sauce, lollipops, mints, gummies, bakery treats, honey, chocolate, body butter, soap, bath bombs, shisha for hookah and pre-rolled joints, among other items, plus a monthly subscription box service for customers buying multiple products.

The Hemp Source also sells products containing delta-8 THC — the psychoactive cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant that’s legal in North Carolina and has exploded in popularity over the last two years — as well as hemp CBD oil and treats for pets.

Pittman Thomas is the first to admit she is not a doctor and cannot make any medical claims about the results of using hemp. However, the stories she’s heard and the results she’s seen from customers speak for themselves.

“When people are consistent — they’re not just throwing money at me — that says something, “ Pittman Thomas said. “I mean, when you come in and I see a whole different person from who I met initially … like, we’ve helped people get over drug addiction.”

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Facing challenges

Advertising and marketing were among Pittman Thomas’ biggest challenges when she first opened The Hemp Source in Charlotte, due in large part to a lack of education surrounding hemp and its legality.

In the beginning, she said, hardly any companies would run ads for the dispensary because “they weren’t sure about it.”

“There was one company that embraced us and the only reason I think this company embraced our marketing was because the sales associate was an advocate for cannabis, and not marijuana,” she said.

“They were an advocate for hemp because they had

THE HEMP SOURCE OFFERS EDIBLES, TOPICAL CREAMS, OILS AND PRE-ROLLED JOINTS, AMONG OTHER ITEMS. an experience that helped them.”

Pittman Thomas still struggles to this day with letting customers know The Hemp Source dispensary is on South Boulevard, nestled in a strip mall just south of South End, next to a Steak ‘n Hoagie Shop and Grecos Chicken.

“Opening was the easy part. The hard part is saying ‘Hey, we’re over here,’” she said, adding that it has remained difficult despite the area’s rapid growth.

As a native Charlottean, Pittman Thomas said she “remembers South End before the train,” referring to the light rail, and when the iconic Queen Park Cinema was across the street from where her dispensary sits today. She has watched buildings grow from the windows of her storefront, and while some of the city’s history and character has been compromised in the process, she said being amongst the growth in South End has been exciting.

There are also many more cannabis dispensaries in Charlotte now than there were four years ago, but Pittman Thomas doesn’t see them as competition.

The Hemp Source stands out through its seed-toshelf model, she insisted.

“There are aspects of the plant that everybody can participate in,” she said. “It just really gets down to the quality of the product and how it’s processed.”

Additionally, being a Black woman in the cannabis industry comes with its own set of challenges. For Pittman Thomas, it all started at the NCIHC meeting back in May 2018, when curiosity fueled her first steps toward learning about the industry.

“At that meeting, I could count the number of women in the room on both hands, and it was a huge room,” she said. “But also in that room, I could count the minorities on one hand.”

Pittman Thomas said she didn’t feel out of place as a Black woman in a white industry because she was taught from a young age that she belongs in every room she walks into. But that’s not to say there haven’t been challenging times since then.

She recalled a situation at her dispensary when she overheard a male customer asking a female employee several questions and demanding to see the business’ license. She could tell he was angry and “had an issue dealing with women.”

She came out from the back room when he asked to speak to the owner, but he didn’t believe she was the person in charge.

“His words were, ‘How did you get something like this?’” Pittman Thomas said.

“Minority women, we have to be — not 10 times — a million times, gazillion times more on

PHOTO BY KARIE SIMMONS

our feet daily no matter what industry we’re in, but especially in the cannabis industry,” she added.

The cannabis industry, particularly when it comes to hemp, is rife with misconceptions and misinformation. Pittman Thomas said people are sometimes unsure if they can even come into The Hemp Source — if it’s a legal business — and have even called from the parking lot to double check.

Once they’re inside, Pittman Thomas puts her educator cap on and there’s no such thing as a stupid question. She breaks down the similarities and differences between marijuana and hemp, full spectrum and broad spectrum, CBD and delta-8, and has data on hand to back up everything she teaches.

“We strive on education,” Pittman Thomas said.

“We don’t want customers to feel like they just bought something and they have no idea what they bought.”

Every day at The Hemp Source she works to dispel the biggest misconception of all: that hemp is fake and it’s not “the real stuff.”That is, until people smell it or experience it for themselves, Pittman Thomas said.

About 15 minutes after saying that, a customer walked in and said: “I want to see the difference between this and the real thing.”

Pittman Thomas just smiled. That’s her queue.

KSIMMONS@QCNERVE.COM

ARTS FEATURE

WHAT’S THAT SOUND? A quick guide to BOOM Charlotte’s in-person return

BY EMILY STEPP

After two years of online showcases and limited capacity performances, BOOM Charlotte will return on April 22 for two days of fringe arts, breaking away from its original Plaza Midwood locale to arrive at Camp North End in 2022.

The annual BOOM Charlotte festival features art of all types — ­ with a focus on the unusual or avant-garde — including theatre and film, music and dance, spoken-word and showcases that blend genres or defy them altogether.

This year, BOOM’s fifth, sees the return of what could be called the BOOM binary: the “Fringe” shows, which feature experimental original art performed in intimate indoor settings such as Boom Move (featuring dance) and BOOM Speak (spokenword performances); and the “Intersection” shows, which will take place in a central outdoor setting and be free for anyone who attends BOOM or just so happens to be strolling around Camp North End.

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In the Fringe

BOOM Fringe performances cost $10 each, and some will be live-streamed for the same cost. Or you can spend $50 for a weekend pass that grants access to all Fringe shows and the afterparty on April 23.

We’ve picked out five interesting Fringe artists to check for during this year’s festival.

In the world of theatre, The Again/+ (pronounced “The Again And Or Plus”) is throwing out the script. Local artist Matthew Barnes and his troop of actors will perform three shows — all improvised from audience suggestions. Of course, each show will be different, as they won’t know beforehand what to expect from the audience. They will also perform a poetry reading (not improvised).

The Again/+ will perform at Dupp and Swat on April 22 from 7:30-8:30 p.m., and April 23 from 3-4 p.m.

William Stephen Davis is a man of many hats: artist, educator, songwriter and producer. He is also the founder of local arts advocacy group Small Creatures and director of the Film Studies Program

at UNC Charlotte. For BOOM, he’ll be wearing a different title, one that’s known well in Charlotte’s music scene: Rasmus Leon.

Carried out under that moniker, Davis’ multimedia performance called “Foothills” uses elements of music, projection and storytelling to explore complex emotions. The performance, according to BOOM’s website, “is an intimate burrowing past the landscaped skins of self into a universal cosmic fray.” You can watch Rasmus Leon perform in the mign room on April 22 at 6 p.m., and April 23 at 7 p.m.

Moving Body Dance Company, founded

by Erin Bailey in 2018, will perform a dance called “Under,” which “explores the complex relationships between the good and bad, the clean and unclean and the notion of innocence and guilt,” according to BOOM’s artist bio, and invites the audience to tackle such questions as, “How can shame unpack itself in the body and keep you under? How do you attempt to dig yourself out?” all through the medium of dance.

The performance will be shown in the Camp North End Event Space on April 22 from 7-8 p.m., and April 23 from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

For those who might not be able to make it to the in-person festival, A Poet Named Superman is here to save the day. That’s the moniker used by spoken-word artist Greg Murray, whose poetry explores personal experiences, social injustice, and finding one’s purpose.

“He’s here to save the world … one word at a time,” says BOOM’s artist bio. MacFly Fresh will host Superman via Zoom on April 22 from 7:30-8:30 p.m., then in-person on April 23 from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

CineOdyssey Film Festival will host a multicultural showcase of various short films by local, national, and international filmmakers titled BOOM Shorts, curated by Tre’ McGriff of CineOdyssey.

Like A Poet Named Superman, BOOM Shorts will feature a Zoom live-streamed broadcast as well as a live viewing.

DEAF ANDREWS

ALEXANDRIA NUNWEILER AND ASHLEA SOVETTS

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOOM CHARLOTTE

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOOM

Tre’ McGriff is the founder/director of the CineOdyssey Film Festival, and has produced several indie short films. The live viewing will be at Dupp and Swat on April 22 from 9-10 p.m., and April 23 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. The Zoom broadcast will be later in the day on April 23, from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

and has published three collections of poetry — most recently Obedience on Ahsahta Press. You can encounter Poetry Fox in his Writing Cabinet at the Boileryard Intersection Living Room on April 22 from 6-9 p.m.

Nubia Jones’ ArtIs2B showcase is also an interactive art experience in which attendees will watch her create art in her unique dotted style. Her work is all about love, healing and the meditative nature of art itself.

According to her artist bio, “Nubia has coined her dotted style of art to be meditative heARTwork, where her renderings come out as pure as water, placing each dot onto the medium of choice with no agenda and no pre-planned finished product.”

You can watch her live painting at the Boileryard Intersection Stage on April 23 from noon-1:40 p.m.

For a different kind of live art performance, you can check out self-taught artist Elle Walsh, whose showcase features live chalk art that is “historically based,” according to her bio. “Her goal is to raise awareness about current events and honor a history untold through the creation of thought-provoking public art.” You can see Walsh create her chalk work at the Intersection on April 23 from noon-3 p.m.

The Garrison Experience is a dance group founded by local dancer, choreographer and teacher Kyle Garrison Shawell. They offer a dance called “Bohemia Revisited,” which explores themes of life, heartbreak and happiness. Their style and performance are rooted in elements of jazz dance.

Blink and you’ll miss ’em; hey’ll be at the Boileryard Intersection Stage on April 23 from 3:15-3:30 p.m.

BOOM Speak and BOOM Move are smaller subsets of Fringe, and feature only a select few indoor showcases.

Alexandria Nunweiler and Ashlea Sovetts perform as a dance duo whose work “10 Recalling-20” offers a look into the lives and stories

At the Intersection

BOOM Intersection will feature free performances in a central outdoor area at Camp North End. This is the space where attendees are invited to walk around and see what they can find, to be immersed in art and sound and new experiences occurring all around them.

Here are just a few of the nearly 40 free showcases.

Deaf Andrews is one of the music offerings at Intersection, and the indie-rock quintet’s performance comes as they finish recording their first full-length album, according to BOOM’s website. Their sound is influenced by blues, classic rock and funk.

According to their bio on BOOM’s website, “Deaf Andrews is on a mission to explore sounds that compel the feet to move and the head to bang, and reward the ears for getting closer to the music.”

You can see their performance at the Boileryard Intersection Stage on April 22 from 7:25-7:55 p.m.

Spoken-word artist Poetry Fox, the moniker of poet Chris Vitiello, offers poems for you to take home, written on-demand in an interactive experience. From inside The Writing Cabinet, Poetry Fox will sit click-clacking away at a typewriter while the audience will be invited to write down their hopes, dreams, fears, or whatever emotion it may be so Poetry Fox can write an impromptu poem in response.

Vitiello is also an award-winning arts writer

ARTS FEATURE of interviewees ranging from ages 4 to 85 and reflects on the emotions and changes of life we all experience. You can see their performance in the Camp North End Event Space on April 23 from 1:302:30 p.m and at a later evening show the same day from 7-8 p.m.

TwinNation are two twin brothers whose dance performance “God’s Work” is also part of the BOOM Move showcase. “God’s Work” tells the story of friendship and jealousy in the inner city.

According to their artist bio, the twins taught dance classes at the Blumenthal for eight years and performed in the 2021 Super Bowl Halftime show with The Weeknd. You can see their Move performance at the Camp North End Event Space on April 23 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. and later in the day from 7-8 p.m.

Kathleen Finch is part of the BOOM Speak showcase. Her performance, “Your Voice,” is a blend of spoken-word and digital projection featuring photos of people and individual words that hold meaning to them.

“Her artwork and poetry focuses on illuminating the breath of human emotions in all its splendor,”

says her artist bio, and “[s]he holds dearly the philosophy that seeing the worth in it all, brings us one step closer to peace.”

You can see Finch perform “Your Voice” at Dupp and Swat on April 22 from 6-7 p.m., and on April 23 from 8:30-9:30 p.m.

Husband-and-wife duo Kia Flow and Jerm747 will offer a spoken-word performance called “Flow Town.” The story is one of an artist “who has elaborate visions of her grand performance someday with thousands of people in the audience cheering her name,” says the artist bio, and while she “still has a nine-to-five, is a full-time student and is still trying to figure this thing called life. In the process she enjoys creating and has enlisted the help of her companion in her latest endeavor.”

The audience is invited to see how the story unfolds from there at Dupp and Swat on April 22 from 6-7 p.m., and on April 23 from 8:30-9:30 p.m.

BOOM is back, and after two years of boiling in the virtual world, this year’s in-person return seems ready to burst with live artists. BOOM 2022 is shaping up to be not just a bursting of talented artists, but of people stepping out into the sun and saying, “Isn’t it good to be back?”

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

BOOM

CHARLOTTE

Festival

Friday & Saturday

APRIL 22-23

TWO DAYS OF

CAMP NORTH END

Dance | Poetry | Music Theater | Film | Visual Art

FREE & Ticketed Events from $10 @clt_boom

boomcharlotte.org

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EVERYONE DESERVES A SLICE OF HAPPINESS

WED4/20

LADIES WHO ROCK THE ART WORLD

Performers from Ladies Who Rock, a local group of women who like to write about historical women in a funny and light-hearted way, tell the stories of several women who have painted, penned and pirouetted their way into art history. Joni Deutsch, Tiffany Bryant Jackson, Jenny Kabool and Kitty Janvrin tell the stories of legendary women you may have never heard of, including writers, poets, actresses, dancers, painters, and museum curators.

Here’s hoping they include author Dorothy Parker for reportedly saying, “Tell him I was too fucking busy – or vice versa.”

More: Free; April 20, 7 p.m.; Bechtler Museum, 420 S. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

FRI 4/22

THE VELDT, CANDY COFFINS, THE MYSTERY PLAN, ANCHOR DETAIL

Shoegaze, soul and psych permeate a bill topped by pioneering Raleigh/NYC combo The Veldt.

Launched by Black twin brothers Danny and Daniel Chavis in the 1990s, The Veldt evoked both Cocteau Twins and Otis Redding with a wash of psychedelic guitars, muted soul and R&B filtered through a time warp. The mélange wasn’t widely embraced back in the day, but the world has finally caught up. Charlotte’s The Mystery Plan complements The Veldt’s psychedelic storm, parlaying genre-slicing musical hybrids that range from jaunty yet deadpan front-porch shuffles to rippling trip-hop.

More: $10; April 22, 8 p.m.; The Milestone, 400 Tuckaseegee Road; themilestone.club

BOOM CHARLOTTE: SHALEIGH DANCE WORKS Photo by Dick Costa

PAPERHAND PUPPET INTERVENTION THEATER Photo by Lee Capps

4/22-4/23

FRI &4/22SAT SAT 4/23 - 4/23

TUE4/26

WED4/27

BOOM Charlotte, the city’s biggest, best and riskiest arts festival, will decamp its Plaza Midwood birthplace for the up-and-coming confines of Camp North End for its return in 2022. On the plus side, BOOM is back at full strength after a twoyear pandemic-induced mix of online and limited capacity shows. The eclectic mélange of dance, music and theatre covers two days with a mix of BOOM Fringe, experimental original art performed in intimate settings; and BOOM Intersection, a broad range of art performed on a central stage for all to enjoy.

More: Free-$10; April 22-23, 4:30 p.m.; Camp North End, 1824 Statesville Ave.; boomcharlotte.org

Multi-faith climate and environmental movement Greenfaith bands with Rise St. James, Earthworks and The Hip Hop Caucus to stop Formosa Plastics and Bank of America from building “The Sunshine Project,” a petrochemical complex that would add 10 chemical manufacturing plants to 150 oil refineries, plastics and chemical facilities along Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” where cancer rates are 50 times the national average. The vigil includes a demonstration

by Paperhand Puppet Intervention Theater, which utilizes giant puppets, masks, shadow plays and spectacle performances “to undermine and eradicate greed, hate and fear and promote justice, equality and peace.”

More: Free; April 26, 11:30 a.m.; Uptown Center, 100 N. Tryon St.; actionnetwork.org

DEFUND FORMOSA PLASTICS

POET LAUREATE JAKI SHELTON GREENE

BOOM CHARLOTTE

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4/26

JOEDANCE ROCK THE CEMETERY

Rock the Cemetery features live music plus the screening of four short, spooky films, and it all takes place in the Historic Elmwood Pinewood Cemetery. Films include Lunch Ladies, in which two school cafeteria workers use means unfair and foul to become Johnny Depp’s personal chefs. A summer getaway becomes a sojourn in hell in the Stephen King adaptation Rainy Season, a widow is blackmailed by her dead husband in The Wages of Sin, and a cute three-headed puppy could become the hound of hell in Good Boy Cerberus.

More: $20 and up; April 23, 6 p.m.; Historic Elmwood Pinewood Cemetery, 700 W. 6th St.; joedance.org/ events-1

Jaki Shelton Green, ninth Poet Laureate of North Carolina (2018), was the first African American and third woman to be appointed as the NC Poet Laureate, and was reappointed in 2021 for a second term by Gov. Roy Cooper. For Juneteenth 2020, she released her first poetry album, The River Speaks of Thirst. In celebration of National Poetry Month, Green will read her soul-stirring poetry, participate in a one-on-one interview moderated by Ohavia Phillips, engage in a Q&A session with the audience and provide invaluable tips and tools for fellow poets.

More: $9; April 27, 2 p.m.; Gantt Center, 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

FRI 4/29 FAMILY VIDEO, WAKING APRIL, XOXOK

FAMILY VIDEO Promotional photo

4/29

In February, Queen City Nerve premiered Family Video’s gloriously glitchy video for their Valentine’s Day single “The Image.” The abrasive electro-funk groove, in which squealing synths and loud guitars tangle, evoked the ’80s, and not in a nostalgic The Breakfast Club way. “The Image” serves as reminder that the Reagan era jump-started the goosestep towards fascism that characterizes today’s conservative movement. Shades is the full-length follow-up to Family Video’s dystopian dance track.

To celebrate their album’s release, the band shares a bill with indie synth-poppers Waking April and the enigmatically soulful XOXOK. More: $7-$10; April 29, 8 p.m.; Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.; petrasbar.com

SAT 4/30 BRIGHTFIRE FESTIVAL

BRIGHTFIRE FESTIVAL Photo by Alice Kelso

4/30

AN EVENING WITH JOE BOB BRIGGS

In 1982, journalist John Bloom concocted alter ego Joe Bob Briggs for a cult movie review column that lampooned exploitation tropes while showing genuine affection for trash cinema. Briggs became a hit movie host on The Movie Channel, TNT and streaming service Shudder. (Full disclosure: As a low-budget 1990s filmmaker, I got a big boost when Joe Bob published a favorable review of my bulimic bloodsucker opus Vampire Trailer Park.)

Now Bloom/Briggs presents How Rednecks Saved Hollywood, a comedy routine/film critique that dissects America’s love/hate relationship with moonshiners, Daisy Dukes, and chainsaw-wielding cannibals.

More: $35-$45; April 30, 8 p.m.; Dowd Center Theatre, 120 S. Main St., Monroe; independentpicturehouse.org

JOE BOB BRIGGS Wikimedia Commons

4/30

MON 5/2 A CELEBRATION OF CHRIS GARGES

Chris Garges, who died on Feb. 22, was much more than The Spongetones’ drummer and owner of Old House Studio. He was a tireless advocate for Charlotte music who pushed for more diversity and less segregation in the city’s scene. “A lot of the people who go see punk bands don’t always go out to see folk or bluegrass bands, and a lot of people supporting hip-hop don’t go out to see metal shows,” Garges told Queen City Nerve, but he aimed to fix that. He is honored with performances by Temperance League, Bunky Moon, The Spongetones and more More: $25; May 2, 7:45 p.m.; Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St.; neighborhoodtheatre.com

CHRIS GARGES Courtesy of Chris Garges

5/2

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Beltane, which roughly translates as “bright fire,” is the Celtic May Day festival. Going back to the fourth century C.E., the festival marked the beginning of summer, and featured brave souls dancing and leaping over large fires. Spearheaded by founder and executive artistic director of New Music Charlotte Elizabeth Kowalski, Brightfire arts and music fest is fully produced and performed by women. It celebrates the enchantment of Beltane traditions, with performances by Space Ballet, Hey Richard and others that emphasize music, dance, fire and flowers. Kick up your heels and celebrate life, hope and renewal.

More: $10-$50; April 30, 4:30 p.m.; Historic Rural Hill, 4431 Neck Road.; cabarrusartscouncil.org

SAT 4/30

MUSIC FEATURE

Avalon Recorders in the historic music town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to rerecord a few tunes with the benefit of studio polish and an experienced producer.

It’s the first step for two talented and intuitive Black musicians who want to bring something novel to the rock market. Cope Fiend plan to bring their invigorating sound to an appreciative audience.

“I’d love to hit the college circuit because I think

BY PAT MORAN a lot of kids connect to what we’re saying,” Johnson says. “I feel like it’s fresh and new.”

The insistent guitar line is slurring, slinky and duo Cope Fiend, coupling Johnson’s songwriting and If Cope Fiend does succeed in reaching a wide somewhat sinister. The fretwork threads through inimical sound with Young’s musicality. audience, they will have done it the old-fashioned Randi Johnson’s double-tracked vocals, which “The name Cope Fiend sparks from [Young] and way, becoming an “overnight success” after decades duel as much as harmonize. As her voices enfold, I talking on the phone — we’re just trying to get of hard work. entwine and diverge, Johnson navigates unwanted through this,” Johnson says. “We’re obsessed with attention, dodging the male gaze like bullets: “Stop coping, getting through it and getting to the other Motor City inspiration, Queen City watching me / Do your own thing / I’m not here to side of whatever it is.” please /Your curiosity … Give me attention / But only “It’s perseverance,” Young says. “This is the time woodshedding Johnson grew up in Detroit until she was 10 when I ask…” to change old habits.”

Johnson’s emotional landscape exists in tandem A few weeks after my impromptu front porch years old, when she moved with her mother and with a suggested reality — impressionist brush listening session with Young, Johnson flies into brother to Virginia. Music was always around her, strokes evoking a street scene, one that Johnson can Charlotte. After a few days sorting through the Johnson recalls. She didn’t know life without it.

“We grew up when Michael Jackson was manage and even transcend. voluminous material Johnson has written and moonwalking across the stage, and Prince was “Cross the street / Carry my feet / Floating cross recorded on her own, Cope Fiend heads to East doing splits,” Johnson says. “Cyndi Lauper and David concrete / Floating through sky…”

The song, “Sunight,” nods to female post-punk pioneers — artists like The Slits, The Raincoats and Jarboe who deserve to be better known. And yet it’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard.

I’m walking past Marlon Young’s Plaza Midwood house on a Sunday evening when he calls me up to listen to Johnson’s low-fi home recording. Young is enthusiastic as he plays the track on his phone.

“I like the juxtaposition of the lyrics’ symbolism with the upbeat energy of punk music,” Young says.

“She’s clear and her voice resonates, as well as the guitar sound.”

He believes he’s never heard a guitar sound anything like the sound on the track. When Young gets bowled over by a song it carries weight. He’s been part of Charlotte’s music scene since the mid1990s, playing drums with bands including Latino Chrome, Moonburn, Interstellars and Hardcore Lounge, and lately he’s been honing his production and recording chops.

Detroit native Johnson currently lives back in her hometown, but she is also a distinctive singersongwriter who enriched the Charlotte music scene. Through the 2010s, Johnson developed her distinctive acoustic guitar-based Motor City grunge sound at open mics throughout the Queen City.

Johnson and Young crossed paths back in those days, and have kept in contact. Starting in the winter RANDI JOHNSON (LEFT) AND MARLON YOUNG PERFORM TOGETHER AT A POP-UP IN CHARLOTTE. of 2021, they began collaborating as dynamic rock

THE BEST OF FIENDS

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Cope Fiend crafts a soundtrack for survival

Bowie made a huge impression on me because they looked different from who I was seeing on TV and listening to.”

Johnson’s first instrument was an electric bass, then she switched to an electric guitar. She moved to Charlotte in 2007, and played her first open mic at The Evening Muse the following year.

By this time, she had switched to an acoustic guitar because it was more portable and practical.

With her black Taylor acoustic, Johnson became a fixture on Charlotte’s thriving open mic scene, playing venues like Comet Grill, Common Market’s since demolished South End location, Rhino Market & Deli on Morehead Street and more.

“I love distortion, guitars and the general look and sound of collapse, a driving beat and lyrics that need to be honest,” Johnson says of her sound. “If it’s not what I’m feeling, it’s difficult to express.”

Young was born in Charlotte, but by fourth grade he had moved with his mother to Atlanta.

Thanks to college radio there, and his own eclectic tastes, Young grew enamored with soul, classic and current psychedelic rock, and the moody yet propulsive post-punk grooves of Joy Division. In 1989, after graduating high school, Young came

PHOTO BY MARY MASSIE

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MUSIC FEATURE back to the Queen City to attend the UNC Charlotte.

He later met musician Jason Herring, current leader of Charlotte band The Mystery Plan and founder of record label 10mm Omega Recordings.

At the time, Herring was in a psychedelic shoegaze outfit called Moonburn. Young helped out on harmonies and was a roadie for the band. In 1996, Herring left Moonburn and formed alternative rock band Latino Chrome. After picking up a pair of hand drums he found at Herring’s apartment, Young joined the group as its drummer. Three months later, Young played his first gig onstage at The Double Door Inn. Latino Chrome saw local success but eventually splintered. After briefly reforming Moonburn, Herring and Young launched one of Charlotte’s best-loved and most fondly remembered bands, The Interstellars, in 1999. Joining Young on drums and Herring on vocals and keyboards was guitarist and producer Paul Jensen, bassist Patch Hanna, keyboardist Dave Puryear and saxophonist David Walen. In the meantime, Young had met Danielle Lotito. Their son, Elijah Marlon Young, was born in 2000, and the couple married in 2001. With a family to raise, Young left The Interstellars to work at Charlotte-based background music company Muzak.

“I was an audio architect,” Young says, “a glorified DJ for retail stores.” Young and Lotito split up in 2006, but both continue to raise their son. That year, Young started playing with Hardcore Lounge, an eclectic pop rock band founded by brothers Wesley and Chris Johnson, scions of a musical family that counts country pioneers The Johnson Family Singers among its forbears. Young continues to play with the group.

Concurrently, Randi Johnson’s traction in her music career was hampered by her struggles with mental illness. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after having long struggled with depression. She took medication for it, but didn’t want to depend on drugs to feel better.

“I most definitely coped by playing music,” Johnson says. At one point she was playing four or five open mics a week. She had a stint with a corporate job, but it didn’t last, and she was forced to move into her van. Her saving grace throughout those tumultuous times proved to be music.

“I found it most useful to me to stay in motion, stay in contact with my friends and not to isolate myself,” Johnson says. She also strives to stay in good company with people with good energy. She counts Young as one of those supportive people.

A rendezvous of fiends

In 2018, Young launched the musical outfit Occam’s Portal. That’s also when he met Johnson.

The two credit producer, performer and multiinstrumentalist Geoffrey Edwards, who DJs as Jah Freedom, with bringing the two together. “[Edwards] called me,” Young says. “He said, ‘It’s time for you to meet Randi because she is a rocker, and I think you’ll understand her vibe.’”

It turns out Edwards was right. Young caught Johnson’s set at an open mic at Rhino Market and saw a kinship between Johnson’s soulful grooves and the music he loves.

Even after meeting, Johnson’s and Young’s busy schedules precluded them playing together much. They played twice together, Johnson says, the first gig being a fundraiser at the now-shuttered Bold Missy Brewery. “[Then] we did a rehearsal at my house, and that was for the Behailu Academy,” Johnson remembers.

“Musically [Young was] the drummer I always prayed for secretly in my heart.”

When weather got bad, and Johnson needed more shelter than her van could provide, she knew she could rely on Young for a place to stay.

Ultimately, Johnson felt constrained and stagnant in Charlotte and decided to move on. In May 2020, she packed up her van and headed north.

She lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, for some time, delivering food with Doordash while still living in her van, but left after the police shooting of Jacob Blake. She needed to go to a safer place and in August 2020, her hometown of Detroit beckoned.

Young and Johnson kept in touch, texting on a monthly basis. Then shortly after Christmas 2021, Young had put Occam’s Portal on hiatus and was quarantining at home when Johnson began sending songs — lots of them.

“I got this [message] with song files from Randi, and I said, ‘What the hell is this?’”Young says. “I was just listening to these tracks, and they got me off my couch.”

Johnson had further distilled her sound with the acquisition of a new guitar.

“It’s an acoustic electric, so you could add distortion to it,” Johnson says. “It’s an Epiphone. I think it’s the [model] Frank Black played in The Pixies.”

Young, who likes to call Cope Fiend’s music “shoe blaze,” was blown away by Johnson’s songs and their emotional power to touch listeners. “It felt like it was the perfect time for re-connectivity, and especially after going through all this COVID,” he says.

Young made a pitch to Johnson: He said the songs needed to sound better, and therefore needed to be rerecorded. He knew just the place to do it.

Johnson agreed.

“[I said,] ‘I’m going to be very delicate with [them] because this is our sound,’” Young says. “I’ve always been under other people’s umbrellas, playing with other bands. I’m like, ‘This is ours, so let’s treat it right. It deserves the very best.’”

In short order, Cope Fiend booked studio time in one of America’s most famous music cities.

Making music at Muscle Shoals

Called “the hit recording capital of the world” by music fans and local boosters, Muscle Shoals owes its reputation to Fame Recording Studio, where artists such as Aretha Franklin, Mac Davis and Duane Allman recorded hit songs.

But Cope Fiend did not record at Fame. Instead, Young called his friend, former Charlotte resident Charles Holloman. Holloman had cemented himself within the Queen City music scene through his recording studio, Charles Holloman Productions.

Artists ranging from Anthony Hamilton to Andy the Doorbum have recorded at CHP. The industry in Charlotte was changing, however, and Holloman was looking for new vistas. In 2017, he bought East Avalon Recorders in Muscle Shoals. The studio had opened in 1977, and did brisk business until it closed in 1989.

“The studio remains virtually like it was when it opened [in 1977],” Holloman says. “It’s a nice little capsule.”

In Charlotte, CHP went offline in March 2017, and Holloman moved all the equipment to East Avalon Recorders. Though it was hard for Holloman to leave Charlotte, a city he had seen come so far since he launched CHP in 1993, he was drawn to the mythology of Muscle Shoals, a legend that he found to be grounded in reality.

The acceptance and warmth of the Muscle Shoals community reinforced the wisdom of making the move. On top of that, Contour Airlines offers direct one-hour flights from Charlotte to Muscle Shoals, and the Northwest Alabama Regional Airport is about 300 yards from Holloman’s studio.

He says his initial interest in Cope Fiend stems from his relationship with Young.

“Marlon and I go back a long way, and we have made some great music and memories together.”

When Young said he wanted to record at East Avalon Recorders, Holloman readily said yes, but when he heard Cope Fiend’s music, his enthusiasm grew by leaps and bounds.

“When I heard the songs and [Johnson’s] talent, I was over the moon excited,’ Holloman says. “[It was] raw energy — what music is supposed to be. I was in love from the first chord.”

In mid-March, Johnson flew into Charlotte and

stayed at Young’s house for a few days before Cope Fiend boarded the flight to Alabama. In that time, she recorded a new song, “Ebb and Flow” on Young’s Alesis USB-MIDI keyboard controller. Johnson says she fell in love with that particular piece of equipment.

When Johnson and Young arrived at East Avalon Recorders, Holloman pulled all the files from Johnson’s computer. Over the course of the three-day session, the artists listened to every track with Holloman, who co-produced. The producers ended up selecting two songs to receive the highend production sheen, “Sunight” and “Ebb & Flow.”

Holloman played bass on “Sunight,” while musician Jonathan Goodman contributed bass to “Ebb & Flow.”

A lot of the studio work centered on getting the sound right for Johnson’s Danelectro baritone guitar, Young says. It’s an important component of Cope Fiend’s sound.

With Young back in Charlotte, and Johnson in Detroit, the two bandmates pronounce themselves pleased with the direction their two songs have gone. Now it’s time to concentrate on more material.

“Nobody really knows who we are, unless we already know them,” Young says. “We decided to go ahead and master these tracks, [and then] get them ready as a demo or a possible EP.” A full-length album is also a distinct possibility. “We’ve already confirmed where we’re going and who’s helping to produce the rest of the record,” Young says.

More songs will be needed to facilitate Cope Fiend’s production and playing plans. As for how future songs from Cope Fiend will come together, Johnson says the playing and division of labor is all mood-based, depending on what feels right.

“We complement each other. We spark each other’s vibe,” Young says.

Johnson says she’s anxious to perform the songs live and play to audiences.

“That’s where I feel alive, on the stage,” she says.

“I’m so thankful for Marlon because he really did reinvigorate my spirit. I don’t know if I told him, but I was low. I was like, ‘What am I going to do without music?’”

“We’re in the season of newness, spring and summer,” Young says. He feels the timing is perfect to launch a band that stretches boundaries.

As for Johnson, she hopes people listening to the tunes will come away with a sense of happiness and joy.

“All the songs are made in love, so I’m hoping that’s what they take from it,” she says.

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC

Todrick Hall (The Underground) Maude Latour w/ Syd Burnham (Neighborhood Theatre) James Hype (World Nightclub)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Modest Mouse (CMCU Amphitheatre) Mutant Strain w/Tetanus, Percolator, Uncle Jerz (The Milestone)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Latto (The Underground) A-Plus w/ El Da Sensei, Spaceman Jones & the Motherships (Snug Harbor)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Tom Russell (Neighborhood Theatre)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Jim Brock & Jeremy Shaw (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

THURSDAY, APRIL 21 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The Band Camino w/ flor, Hastings (The Fillmore) CBDB (Neighborhood Theatre) Ink Swell w/ Orange Doors, True Lilith (Skylark Social Club) Juan Wauters w/ Sinners & Saints, Top Achiever (Snug Harbor)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B/BLUES

DOAP Hip-Hop Open Mic (Crown Station) Saba (The Underground)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Andrew Scotchie w/ Logan Fritz (Evening Muse) Carolina Songwriters In the Round feat. Tracy Simpson, Raymond Franklin, Cindy Nunn, Bill Noonan (Petra’s)

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Michelle Renee, Gena Chambers, Jasmine Hinton (Middle C Jazz)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Travis Denning (Coyote Joe’s) Vandoliers w/ Sam Morrow (Evening Muse) Time Sawyer w/ David Taylor & the Tallboys (Neighborhood Theatre)

FUNK/JAM BANDS/EXPERIMENTAL

Hipgnostic w/ The Get Right Band (Evening Muse) Coughing Dove w/ Rex Darling, Okapi, Dylan Gilbert (Petra’s) Josh Daniel’s Grateful Band (Grateful Dead tribute) w/ Into the Fog (Visulite Theatre)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC Yugo w/ Levvy, Blue Motel (Petra’s)

SATURDAY, APRIL 23 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Goldpark w/ Thompson Springs (Evening Muse) Banshee Tree w/ Jackson Fig (Evening Muse) Arch Enemy w/ Behemoth (The Fillmore) Fractured Frames w/ And I Become Death, Annabel Lee, S’Efforcer (The Milestone) We Rise To Fall w/ In Dying Eyes and TV Moms (Skylark Social Club) ZETA w/ Patois Counselors, La Brava (Snug Harbor) Occult Fracture w/ Appalachian Death Trap, Olive Dares The Darkness (Tommy’s Pub) Shot Thru the Heart (Bon Jovi tribute)

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Charlotte Symphony: Sibelius Symphony No. 2 (Knight Theater) Eric Darius (Middle C Jazz)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Jonathan Birchfield (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Greg Steinfeld (Primal Brewery) Madison Cunningham (Visulite Theatre)

SUNDAY, APRIL 24 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Rat Poison w/ Severed by Dawn, Party Flip, Candescent (The Milestone)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B/BLUES

Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Yeat (The Underground)

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

Sam Fribush Organ Trio w/ Charlie Hunter, Calvin Napper (Middle C Jazz)

TUESDAY, APRIL 26 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening (Ovens Auditorium) Trinity of Terror Tour feat. Black Veil Brides, Motionless in White, Ice Nine Kills (The Fillmore) Shannon & the Clams w/ Josephine Network (Neighborhood Theatre)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Bilmuri w/ OBLVYN, Aim High (Amos’ Southend) Cosmic Jam (Crown Station) Lost Cargo: Tiki Social Party (Petra’s)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Shannon Lee w/ Katie Oates, AP Rodgers (Tommy’s Pub)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong (The Fillmore) TV Moms w/ Evergone, Monachopsis, Dead Senate (The Fillmore)

FUNK/JAM BANDS

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

MONDAY, APRIL 25

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Uptown Swagga Band (Crown Station)

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Ridgeway w/ Prize Horse, Fake Eyes (The Milestone)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B/BLUES

Lucky Daye (Neighborhood Theatre)

OPEN MIC

Find Your Muse Open Mic feat. Joe McGovern (Evening Muse)

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

The Conn/Davis Jazz Duo (Crown Station) The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B/BLUES Mad Lion (Crown Station)

Will Overman w/ Elonzo Wesley (Evening Muse) Jim Brock & Jeremy Shaw (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B/BLUES

Mndsgn w/ Cyanca, The Rare Pleasures, Contour (Snug Harbor)

THURSDAY, APRIL 28 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Gang of Youths (The Underground) Some Kind of Nightmare w/ Canyon (The Milestone) Modern Moxie w/ Monsoon, Dreamboat (Petra’s) Journey (Spectrum Center)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

DOAP Hip-Hop Open Mic (Crown Station)

River Whyless w/ ALexa Rose (Visulite Theatre)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC

Litz w/ The Sweet Lie (Heist Brewery & Barrel Arts)

FRIDAY, APRIL 22

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ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Jackyl w/ Silver Tongue Devils (Amos’ Southend) Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) The Veldt w/ Candy Coffins, The Mystery Plan, Anchor Detail (The Milestone) Run Engine (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) 7th Grade Girl Fight w/ Hey Richard, Condado (Tommy’s Pub)

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Charlotte Symphony: Sibelius Symphony No. 2 (Knight Theater) Paula Atherton (Middle C Jazz)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B/BLUES Big K.R.I.T. (The Fillmore) Two Feet (The Underground)

BIG K.R.I.T. WILL PERFORM AT THE FILLMORE ON APRIL 22.

PHOTO BY JULIAN ENRIQUEZ

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL 5th & York (Middle C Jazz)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Josh Morningstar w/ Clint Grant (Amos’ Southend) Indigo Girls (The Fillmore)

FUNK/JAM BANDS/EXPERIMENTAL

Joshua Cotterino w/ Adam Cope, Abyss Sister, DJ Shrimp (Snug Harbor)

CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS

Zach Williams w/ Anne Wilson (Ovens Auditorium)

FRIDAY, APRIL 29 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Blackwater Drowning w/ For Those Who Can See (The Milestone) Angel Du$t w/ Spiritual Cramp, Webbed Wing (Snug Harbor) It’s Snakes w/ Space Daddy & The Galactic Go-Go’s, Them Pants, Kadey Ballard (Tommy’s Pub)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B/BLUES

The Bill Miller Band (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Brian Kelley (Coyotoe Joe’s) Lukas Nelson w/ Promise of the Real (The Fillmore) Cruz Contreras w/ Justin Fedor (Neighborhood Theatre) Town Mountain w/ Miles Miller (Visulite Theatre)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Jxdn (Amos’ Southend) Shadow Play (Crown Station) Family Video w/ Waking April, XOXOK (Petra’s)

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

Noel & Maria present Notes From Middle C Live (Middle C Jazz)

SATURDAY, APRIL 30 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Houndmouth (Neighborhood Theatre) Heathensun w/ Preppen Barium and Fear Until Fury (Skylark Social Club) Chris Reed & the Bad Kids (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) DOZR w/ Phaze Gawd, Anchor Detail, The Local Odyssey (Tommy’s Pub) Enrage (Rage Against the Machine tribute) (Amos’ Southend)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Digital Noir w/ DJ Spyder (The Milestone) Eazybaked (SERJ)

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

Noel & Maria present Notes From Middle C Live (Middle C Jazz)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

MONDAY, MAY 2 LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE

Koffee (The Underground)

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

The Conn/Davis Jazz Duo (Crown Station) The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session

TUESDAY, MAY 3

Joey Lavaleee (Primal Brewery)

SUNDAY, MAY 1

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The Regrettes (The Underground)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Diane Durrett w/ Soul Suga (Neighborhood Theatre)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Khruangbin (CMCU Amphitheatre) Local H w/ Rookie (Evening Muse) Dying Fetus (The Underground) Great Wide Hip w/ Earth That Was, Harriet Rip, Bhava (The Milestone)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Hazy Sunday (Petra’s)

Cosmic Jam (Crown Station)

VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING.

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Jacob Collier (The Fillmore) FLLS Album Release w/ Royal City Lif, Nadia Nympho, Side Note, & SWVNN (Petra’s) Jasmyn Milan w/ Mara Robbin, See Bird Go (Snug Harbor)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Caroline Spence w/ Brooke Annibale (Evening Muse) Jimmy Buffett (PNC Music Pavilion)

APR-MAY 2022 WED, APR 20

Rob Christensen w Paul Baeza THUR, APR 21

Andrew Scotchie & Logan Fritz "Songs & Stories Acoustic Tour" FRI, APR 22

Hipgnostic and The Get Right Band Vandoliers + Sam Morrow S A T, A P R 2 3

Banshee Tree with Jackson Fig

Will Overman with Elonzo Wesley FRI, APR 29

Bop or Flop music-comedy podcast S A T, A P R 3 0

Caroline Spence True North Album Release with Brooke Annibale S U N , M AY 1

Gavin Matts: Progression with Carlton Charles Wilcoxson

MON, APR 25

Find Your Muse Open Mic featuring Joe McGovern! eveningmuse.com

T U E , M AY 3

Local H with Rookie (Show #1)

3 3 2 7 n d av i d s o n s t, c h a r l o t t e n c

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Goldpark W/ Thompson Springs

WED, APR 27

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

THE CROWNTOWN LOUNGE New cannabis consumption lounge features infused mocktails, slushies and soft serve

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BY NIKOLAI MATHER

Most small businesses experience their biggest rush during the holiday season from November through December. But for Michael Sims, co-owner and co-founder of Crowntown Cannabis, there’s one day out of the year more hectic than Black Friday: 4/20.

“It’s always busy,” he said.

This year, it’ll only get busier. As Crowntown Cannabis celebrates four years in business, the team has several new projects on the horizon including mobile dispensaries, and a line of cannabis-infused ice creams and slushies that they will serve from their fourth location: Charlotte’s first cannabis consumption lounge.

The lounge, located in the former NoDa Yoga space above Cabo Fish Taco, will be a bar-like shop where CBD and Delta 8 devotees can consume their favorite cannabis-infused products.

“I wanted to give the Charlotte scene a little something different,” Sims said.

There is no shortage of bars, breweries and alcohol-forward hangouts in Charlotte. But if you don’t drink, enjoying Charlotte’s nightlife can sometimes be a challenge.

Enter the Crowntown Cannabis lounge.

In the daytime, the building will function as a shop for curious customers. In the evening, it will sell a blend of mocktails, food and cannabis products for onsite consumption.

“I wanted to emulate that [bar] setting, but instead where people can safely enjoy cannabis and each other’s company,” he said.

It would be the first place in Charlotte to do so.

Though it’s an ambitious project, Crowntown is used to playing the role of pioneer.

Four 4/20s ago, then operating as Charlotte

CBD, launched its sales website, then opened its first location on Central Avenue, one of the city’s first cannabinoid dispensaries.

The move was a risk for Sims, who had previously worked in towing and bail bonds, but it’s a risk that appears to have paid off: The business has evolved dramatically over the past four years. They’ve added non-CBD products to their inventory, including Delta 8, which he said now accounts for around 80% of his sales.

The founders trademarked a new name in 2021 and have opened two new locations — one in Concord and another in Columbia, South Carolina.

They’ve experimented with similarly enterprising ventures, most recently by installing Crowntown Cannabis vending machines in bars throughout the Charlotte area.

It’s become something of a tradition for the company to announce its newest projects on April 20, and 2022 is no different.

Sims and his team will provide a sneak peek of their new cannabis lounge on April 20. The lounge will be open for passersby to sample cannabisinfused slushies.

Crowntown plans to move forward with a soft opening by May 20.

The hope is to introduce cannabis-infused slushies and soft serve in time for summer. Though the project is still in the works, Sims has already heard a lot of support from customers throughout the Charlotte area.

“It’s bittersweet to see that much support and love,” he said. “You realize that Charlotte’s needed this all along.”

RENDERINGS OF THE NEW CROWNTOWN CANNABIS CONSUMPTION LOUNGE.

Crowntown Cannabis blows through obstacles

Though Crowntown is a force in Charlotte’s cannabis scene, its viability is tested every day.

“It’s a humbling place to be in, but it’s also very uncertain,” Sims said. “It doesn’t leave for very much rest or sleep.”

There are a multitude of factors complicating Sims’ ability to run a cannabis business. Financial management can be a challenge; bank accounts and company cards are often subject to arbitrary cancellation because the business sells hemp products. Shopify, a small-business purchasing

COURTESY OF CROWNTOWN CANNABIS

platform, recently banned sales on cannibinoids, blocking cannabis businesses like Crowntown from accepting credit cards and debit cards.

These restrictions inevitably force many businesses to use cash — a move that leaves them vulnerable to theft.

“We’re one of the few that still have processing,” Sims said.

Crowntown Cannabis itself is on its “third or fourth” bank, according to Sims, after facing legal roadblocks with others.

Even the basic building blocks of business — like establishing an online presence or renting

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

Pg. 17 APR 20 - MAY 3, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM

a brick-and-mortar storefront — present daily challenges. Many property owners have refused to lease to the business despite their steady success.

“Google always blocks us and bans us, Facebook and Instagram always ban us,” he said. “It’s a day-today thing. Literally from places to rent to legitimate banking to credit card processing to just getting bank funding, none of that is accessible to us.”

Sims currently retains several lawyers to help ensure that his business remains lawful in the state of North Carolina. He also contributes to cannabis lobbying and business associations, including the nascent Southeastern Cannabis Retailers Association.

The hope is that by putting some of the business’ profits toward legal protection, Crowntown can keep its doors open.

“We pay so much money just to exist,” Sims said.

“It’s hard to exist.”

The elephant in the room is, of course, the legality of his product.

Though North Carolina currently allows the sale

and consumption of cannabis products like Delta 8 and CBD, there remains a stunning lack of federal protection for those drugs.

As we cover in this week’s news story on page 4, those feeble state protections could soon expire.

The 2018 Farm Bill enabled people like Sims to start producing and selling cannabis products.

Now, with the bill reaching its sunset on June 30, there is potential for hemp derivatives like Delta 8 to once again be classified as illegal.

So even on the cusp of a new business opportunity during the most lucrative week of the year, it’s a problem lingering on Sims’ mind.

“There are all these things I should be celebrating,” he said. “But ultimately, I realize that at any moment, with a stroke of a pen, or a change in election results, my business could be completely gone overnight.”

Even though these problems have plagued Crowntown from the beginning, Sims is determined to keep growing.

“When the Farm Bill passed, I told my wife, ‘This [business] is either gonna make us rich or land me in prison,’” he said. “So far, neither one has happened.”

THE LOUNGE WILL BE LOCATED ABOVE CABO FISH TACO IN NODA.

A safe alternative

It’s difficult to understand what would drive someone to work within such a legal gray area. But for Sims, it’s simple.

“I didn’t find this business, it found me,” he said.

Sims was impacted by alcoholism at a young age when his father died due to complications from drinking.

To him, cannabis represented a safe alternative to alcohol and other recreational drugs.

“A lot of older and younger adults are looking for social environments that don’t necessarily center around alcohol,” he said.

He hopes that opening an alcohol-free cannabis consumption lounge will provide a sorely-needed respite in nightlife for those in recovery from alcoholism and other sober people.

At lounge, folks can enjoy open-mic nights, DJ sets, and a social atmosphere without pressure to drink.

Still, cannabis represents more than just a recreational drug to the folks at Crowntown. They have watched firsthand how it can change lives for the better — alleviating pain from chemotherapy

treatments, settling anxiety, and transforming how users connection with their community.

And for those reasons, the drug’s criminalization continues to baffle the Crowntown Cannabis team.

“We got a lot of people still sitting behind bars for possession of these things. People of color have taken the largest brunt of the War on Drugs,” Sims said.

“It’s time. It’s 2022. We know not only that this plant is not harmful, but that it helps do what no one has done in the history of life on this planet. I literally watch miracles happen every day in my stores and otherwise from this plant.”

Though the future remains deeply uncertain, Sims won’t stop pushing forward with his plans.

“It feels like it’s almost angering law enforcement and policy makers and politicians. It seems like they were just kinda hoping that we’d have died out by now,” he laughed.

“Despite the odds being stacked against us, we’re all still making it and successfully selling it.”

NMATHER@QCNERVE.COM

COURTESY OF CROWNTOWN CANNABIS

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LIFESTYLE PUZZLES

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES SUDOKU

TRIVIA TEST

BY LINDA THISTLE

PLACE A NUMBER IN THE EMPTY BOXES IN SUCH A WAY THAT EACH ROW ACROSS, EACH COLUMN DOWN AND EACH SMALL 9-BOX SQUARE CONTAINS ALL OF THE NUMBERS ONE TO NINE. ©2022 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

CROSSWORD

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

1. U.S. PRESIDENTS: How many presidents have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

2. MOVIES: Which Disney character’s catchphrase is “To infinity and beyond!”?

3. GEOGRAPHY: How many permanently inhabited territories does the United States have?

4. MYTHOLOGY: What is the name of the Greek goddess of chance?

5. U.S. STATES: How many states call themselves commonwealths?

6. HISTORY: How many people worldwide were killed by the Black Death pandemic in the 1400s?

7. SCIENCE: What layer of air is closest to Earth in the atmosphere?

8. TELEVISION: Which animated TV comedy includes the fictional school Springfield Elementary?

9. ADVERTISING: A sales clerk named Lily promotes which company in advertisements?

10. LITERATURE: George Smiley is a character in which 1974 novel?

Pg. 19 APR 20 - MAY 3, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM

WWW.CANVASTATTOOS.COM

(980) 299-2588 3012 N. DAVIDSON STREET VOTED BEST TATTOO SHOP 2918 N. DAVIDSON STREET CHARLOTTE, NC 28205

2019 2020 2021

LIVING A LIFE OF E’S ©2022 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

THE SEEKER

CRAM SESSION A ‘fitness sampler’ to get fit for spring

BY KATIE GRANT

Alas, spring is here … sort of. April, a month that is traditionally revered as the bridge between seasons, is undoubtedly taking its sweet time to warm up.

As I write this on April 10, we are coming out of a weekend in which the average was on the cooler side of the spectrum — in the 50s with a nip in the air. Not ideal for an outdoor event, but I layered up anyway and spent my Saturday at the Charlotte Fitness Sampler, curated by The Beauty Boost.

Craving some seasonal sunshine, fresh air and social activity, the Fitness Sampler, hosted by Sugar Creek Brewing Company and CrossFit Mecklenburg, was the optimal solution. As one of the first 50 people to sign up, I got a swag bag to boot. Springtime score!

It was an ebb-and-flow style event, so it wasn’t necessary to register for each workout session. Each ticket included five 25-minute workouts back to back, all of which were sponsored by a number of various studios.

We were able to come and go as we pleased, which is the type of workout I can get down with!

The first workout was a warm-up: an energizing yoga flow led by Jennifer Busco, local healer, yoga teacher, wellness speaker, and creator/host of The Jennifer Jonnie Podcast.

I was definitely feeling the bottle of wine I drank the night prior (all alone), so I skipped the second workout — a CrossFit sampler by CrossFit Mecklenburg — and opted for a veggie dinner at Sugar Creek.

: Y C S E A I G R

Side note: If you’ve been homebound due to the pandemic and feel ready to explore, I recommend the full menu from Sugar Creek’s Belgian-inspired kitchen, which compliments their Trappist-style Belgian beers.

I honestly don’t remember their food having ever been so gratifying. It was hard to choose between their paninis, salads and small plates. But after learning they offer Warehouse Fitness each Thursday evening from 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., I will definitely be back for more.

Feeling satiated from my sandwich, I traded in one bar for a different kind of barre. Back at the warehouse, I hopped into a full-body, low-intensity workout with Pure Barre. It was like I never even skipped a beat.

All I can say is hellooo glutes! I’ve heard of yoga butt, but have you heard of “barre butt”? Apparently, it’s a thing, and after that workout, I may be halfway there.

Next in the lineup was a partner full-body workout with Volofit South End. I love their workouts because they offer a unique class every day, but I resent the location.

Isn’t South End oversaturated? Will someone please expand to east Charlotte? Bueller? Bueller?

The absolute last thing my booty needed was more toning, lifting and strengthening. Still, master fitness coach Adyana De La Torre-Brucker brought the pain. A day later, I still feel the burn.

Closing out an entire Saturday of fabulous fitness was a welcomed cool-down yoga flow with Charlotte Yoga and a guided meditation with Earth’s Farmacy.

Despite the chill vibes serving to wrap things up,

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

A BOOK BY PAMELA GRUNDY

te, rlot rolina a h a in C rth C o N

U Y T R E N O E T L REE C HIS TH BL ACK OF

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I may have found my workout limit over the weekend.

After five back-to-back workouts (minus one because, you know, sandwich life), my body was so beat I couldn’t fathom one more module. Not even a meditation — sigh.

On my way out and face-to-face with the boundaries of my fitness capabilities, my physical discomfort was soothed by a free demonstration with Stretch Lab Dilworth. I’ve noticed the sign driving through Dilworth many times and have been curious about their offerings, but have never stopped by.

After a brief intro session and restorative stretch, they have a new convert. We all know stretching feels good (duh), but it also helps to alleviate muscle tension and reduce pain. If you’re OK with people in your space, a Stretch Lab session will give you a deeper stretch than you could ever achieve on your own.

Suppose you missed this specific event but want to explore more local events centered on self-care. In that case, you’ll want to keep your eye on The Beauty Boost Charlotte (thebeautyboost.net).

Woman-owned, the company has created a community where women feel empowered, healthy and beautiful. They offer local events like the Fitness Sampler, retreats, empowerment workshops and socials. They even have membership options — I just haven’t gone that far.

Why, you ask? Well, I have commitment issues … and I’m cheap (but at least I’m honest).

qcnerve.com/legacy

AVAILABLE NOW PAPERBACK, EBOOK, FREE DIGITAL VERSION, SELECT LOCAL RETAILERS ndvye u r G er

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LIFESTYLE

APRIL 20 - 26

HOROSCOPE BORN THIS WEEK: You love music and nature.

You would be an excellent environmentalist, as well as a fine singer or musician.

APRIL 27 - MAY 3

2022 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

BORN THIS WEEK: You can warm the coldest heart with your lyrical voice and bright smile. You find yourself at home, wherever you are.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) A sudden change LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) A financial ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Temper your typical LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Your gift for of plans could lead to a misunderstanding with crunch eases, but it’s still a good idea to keep a tight Aries urge to charge into a situation and demand creating order out of chaos will help you deal with a a friend or family member. Be ready to offer a full rein on what you spend for nonessentials. Education answers. Instead, let the Lamb’s gentler self emerge sudden rush of responsibilities that would threaten explanation of your decision. A past favor is returned. becomes a major focus as the week winds down. to deal with a problem that requires delicacy. someone less able to balance his or her priorities.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Expect pressure from those who want you to change your position on a matter of importance. However, the determined Bovine will be able to withstand the bullying and win out.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Recent encounters with stressful situations could require some restorative measures to get your energy levels back up. Talk to your doctor about a diet and exercise program.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) You are aware of what’s going on, so continue to stand by your earlier decision, no matter how persuasive the counterarguments might be. Money pressures soon will ease.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Congratulations. Your energy levels are coming right back up to normal -- just in time to help you tackle some worthwhile challenges and make some important choices.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) It’s time to stop SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21)

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) By all means, have SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December dwelling on past disappointments and move on to New connections follow changes on the job or in fun and enjoy your newly expanded social life. But 21) The sage Sagittarian should demand a other possibilities. By week’s end, you’ll be meeting your personal life. But keep your feelings reined in don’t forget that some people are depending on you full explanation of inconsistencies that might new people and making new plans for the future. until these relationships have a chance to develop. to keep promises that are very important to them. be cropping up in what had seemed to be a straightforward deal.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) A long-simmering CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Pay situation between co-workers threatens to heat up more attention to your aches and pains, but avoid CANCER (June 21 to July 22) You need to wait and could create problems with your work schedule. self-diagnoses. Seek professional advice to make patiently for an answer to a workplace problem and CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) A Best advice: Consult a supervisor on how to proceed. sure these problems won’t lead to something more not push for a decision. Remember: Time is on your conflict between obligations to family and to the job can create stressful problems. Best advice: Balance side. A financial matter needs closer attention. serious. your dual priorities so that one doesn’t outweigh the LEO (July 23 to August 22) You might have just other. learned that someone close to you is keeping a AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) You love LEO (July 23 to August 22) You now have secret. And, of course, the Cat’s curiosity has gone doing research and learning new things, so you’ll be information that can influence that decision you into overdrive. But be patient. All is revealed soon happy to know that education becomes a big part planned to make. But the clever Cat will consult a AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Don’t enough. of your life at this time, and for some time to come. trusted friend or family member before making a guess, speculate or gossip about that “mystery” situation at the workplace. Bide your time. An major move. explanation will be forthcoming very soon.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Don’t give up. PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Your Piscean The recognition citing the good work you recently penchant for doing things logically could be VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Good news: did will come through. Meanwhile, an opportunity challenged by an equally strong emotional reaction You’re finding that more doors are opening for you PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Boredom might opens up that can lead to a lot of traveling later on. to a new situation. Best advice: Keep the two factors to show what you can do, and you don’t even have to be creeping in and causing you to lose interest in

Pg. 21 APR 20 - MAY 3, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM

knock very hard to get the attention you’re seeking.

a repeat project. Deal with it by flipping over your usual routine and finding a new way to do an old task.

PG.19 PUZZLE ANSWERS

Trivia Answers Mariana Islands) 7. Troposphere 1. Four. Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, 4. Tyche 8. “The Simpsons” Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt 5. Four (Kentucky, Massachusetts, 9. AT&T 2. Buzz Lightyear, “Toy Story” Pennsylvania and Virginia) 10. “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” 3. Five (American Samoa, Puerto Rico, 6. Estimates range from 25 million to 200 U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Northern million

in balance.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

SAVAGE LOVE LOVE & LEASHES All tied up in knots

BY DAN SAVAGE

I’m a married gay man. I’m nervous about sending this question and my husband is afraid you might answer it. I’m a fairly vanilla guy, while my husband is into bondage. We’ve been able to make it work because he’s into a kind of bondage he calls “storage.” On “storage nights,” I put him in bondage and play video games while he “suffers.”

So far, so good. But I worry about accidentally killing him. Most often I put him in his sleepsack — picture a leather sleeping bag you can’t get out of — which is strapped to a bondage board on the floor by our couch. I play video games for a few hours with my feet up on him. Every half hour, I tighten the straps. Toward the end of the night, the straps are so tight he can’t move or even take a deep breath. If he doesn’t complain or ask to get out, he’s rewarded with a hand-job when I’m done.

We do this about twice a week. (We also have a leather straitjacket, but we use it a lot less often.)

I’m worried that he’s going to have an embolism or something because of the straps.

Some go over him and around the board, pressing him down to the board, others go around his body and cinch in. The straps aren’t tight at first. But for the last hour they’re fairly tight, and for the last 20 or 30 minutes they’re almost unbearably tight.

I never leave him alone. If it matters, he’s in his 40s, in great shape, normal blood pressure, etc. He didn’t want me to write, because he doesn’t want to find out it’s dangerous and have to stop. For the same reason, he doesn’t want to ask his doctor.

We’ve been doing this for 10 years and I haven’t killed him yet. Is there a chance I might? Can you ask a doc for me?

Pg. 22 APR 20 - MAY 3, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM

SEEKING ADVICE CONCERNING KINKY DANGERS

P.S. It feels crazy to say this, but “storage nights” are special couple time for us and an important part of our intimacy. I don’t want to give them up any more than he does.

“Hours-long bondage and restraint raises a few concerns,” said Dr. Seth Trueger and Dr. Ryan Marino, both doctors who specialize in emergency medical care.

(They read your question and shared their thoughts in an email they composed together.) “First, however long you’re tying someone up, having some sort of safeword

or action-equivalent alarm system of some kind seems prudent.”

If your husband is gagged when you store him, SACKD, a one-two-three pattern of grunts can be used in place of a safeword.

“For a mix of reasons, restraining people prone — on their belly — can be particularly dangerous,” said the docs. “We know this from both patient safety research and examples from law enforcement. That doesn’t mean tying people up on their backs is always safe but tying someone down on their belly is worse. There’s also a known link between unexpected deaths and compromising the airway and breathing.”

So, don’t strap your husband face-down on your bondage board, don’t put anything around his neck or otherwise restrict his air intake, and if you haven’t already agreed on a safeword and/or safegrunt and/or safegesture, settle on one and/or all now.

“Another potential risk from tight restraints would be muscle breakdown potentially causing kidney damage and electrolyte issues (‘rhabdomyolysis’),” said the docs, “so platitudes like ‘stay hydrated,’ i.e., drink plenty of water before and after, is reasonable advice. And physical restraint plus ‘chemical restraint,’ i.e., sedation or intoxication, is a much more dangerous combination, so it’s probably safer to avoid anything like alcohol [when you play].”

It doesn’t sound like you’re doing rope bondage, SACKD, since sleepsacks and straitjackets designed for BDSM play are usually secured with leather straps, not ropes. But Dr. Trueger and Dr. Marino urge rope bondage fans to use quick-release knots. “If things go south, it’s easy for anyone to get flustered or start to panic, which does not make untying tight knots any easier,” added the docs. Safe and sane bondage tops know to keep a sturdy pair of safety scissors nearby for the same reasons.

As for your concerns about leather straps causing a potentially life-threatening pulmonary embolism…

“There is going to be some level of risk with immobility and restraint with things like blood clots,” said the docs, and blood clots can cause an embolism, and embolisms can kill. “But it’s doubtful that using straps instead of ropes would make a difference as far as clot/embolism risk, or that a short period of extra tightening — 30 minutes — would be riskier for clots or an embolism or anything other than bruising or other soft tissue injury from direct pressure.”

Long airline flights famously present a risk for embolism — all that time spent sitting on your ass — but flights of less than three hours “don’t raise the risk substantially,” said the docs, “and using straps has the added benefit of being a bit more straightforward to

release in a pinch.”

Be aware of the risks, mitigate them as best you can, and you don’t have to give up your storage nights.

“The way our brains work, we get lulled into feeling safe when we do risky things a lot,” said Dr. Trueger and Dr. Marino. “So, it’s important to not get comfortable and then get lax because nothing has gone wrong before.

Figure out good safety rules and stick to them. And pay special attention during times of escalation.”

So, when you’ve pulled the straps so tight your husband can barely move — during that last half hour — you should put the game pad down, SACKD, turn off the TV, and focus all your attention on your poor, miserable, suffering-just-the-way-he-likes-to-suffer bondage freak of a husband.

Follow Dr. Seth Trueger on Twitter @MDaware. Follow Dr. Ryan Marino on Twitter @RyanMarino.

I’m a 59-year-old, cis, het, kinky Dominant woman. I’ve been in the D/s lifestyle for about 10 years. Last year a younger man found me on Fetlife. We messaged and met for coffee. I was impressed with his maturity and self-awareness.

We’ve had a wonderful time meeting about every two weeks to play and explore. During that time we discovered that he really loves pegging. I’ve pegged him several times, and he’s told me he’s slightly addicted to the incredible orgasm he receives when being pegged. One of our D/s rules is that he ALWAYS has to ask permission to come.

No matter what we’re doing, he must ask. And he always has. However, the last time I pegged him with my vibrating dildo, I realized he was coming without permission. I said, “Bad boy, you didn’t ask permission!” He was stunned and responded, “What? Am I?”, and then shot an even bigger load.

We were talking afterwards, and he swears he didn’t know he was coming until I said something.

He says he didn’t feel like he was coming until a good five seconds later. Could this be due to prostate stimulation? I’ve never been particularly successful with prostate milking with other subs, so I don’t know. I have no concern that he disregarded our rules. He’s never been a brat in our dynamic. I’ve had other subs lose it without asking and apologize profusely while they’re coming.

(Which, I have to admit, I kind of love.) Any insight here?

like an orgasm, but like a big release of pre-ejaculate. It wasn’t until the orgasmic contractions kicked in and he started shooting that he could feel himself climaxing.

And since the prostate gland produces only 30% of seminal fluid released in a typical orgasm, he still had plenty left to shoot when those orgasmic contractions kicked in. But even if your sub didn’t come without your permission, MISTRESS, he’s still a bad boy and should be punished regardless.

I’m seeing a woman after nearly a decade of being mostly single. Everything is wonderful; she’s funny, intelligent, creative, ambitious, and challenges me constantly. The sex is phenomenal — I’m 50, but she makes me feel 20 years old.

She’s also into a fair amount of kink, whereas my sex life up until now has been fairly vanilla.

Aside from a couple of drunken threesomes in my bartending days, I’ve had a plain (but satisfying!) sex life. This new situation is very exciting, but also somewhat daunting. We have talked about a number of things — role play, bondage, choking, among others — and I really want to be as good a partner to her as I can be, but I really have no idea how to start. Two other complications: I’m not by my nature an aggressive or dominant person and I abhor violence directed at women. I recognize in my logical brain the difference between violence and consenting kink, but my lizard brain echoes with the voice of my grandmother and father. Any advice? Books, podcasts, etc., where an old dog can learn some new tricks?

BASIC DUDE SEEKS MENTORS

A few quick recommendations: Check out the Ask a Sub podcast, hosted by frequent Savage Lovecast guest Lina Dune, who is also the woman behind @AskaSub on Instagram. Lina conducts online courses for people who are just beginning to explore BDSM and you and your girlfriend might want to sign up for one. Love and Leashes is a charming romcom about a woman with no previous interest in BDSM who is inspired to explore BDSM after meeting a cute kinky boy at work. This South Korean film — with two mainstream pop stars playing the leads — shows two people negotiating a new relationship while at the same time negotiating kink thoughtfully, carefully, and intentionally. And finally, BDSM, I would recommend reading whatever erotica your new girlfriend enjoys and/ MY INEXPERIENCED SUB TOY’S RECENT EJACULATION SOMEWHAT or watching porn that works for her. Then — like the SUSS newbie female dominant in Love and Leashes, talk about it together, plan a scene, and take it slow. (Also, choking is Congrats, MISTRESS, you may have finally done it — dangerous. So, no choking or only symbolic choking, e.g., you may have milked a man’s prostate — but here’s how an open hand placed on or near the neck, no squeezing, you can tell for sure: Did that first wave of cum drool out of no pressure applied.) his dick? Prolonged stimulation of the prostate gland can sometimes cause the prostate to release seminal fluid.

Listen to Dan on the Savage Lovecast; follow Dan on But without the contractions that accompany an orgasm, Twitter @FakeDanSavage; columns, podcasts, books, merch “milked” seminal fluids don’t shoot out, they ooze out. If and more at savage.love; send questions to questions@ your sub was already leaking pre-ejaculate, the release savagelove.net of seminal fluids from his milked prostate wouldn’t feel

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