Queen City Nerve - February 21, 2024

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 6; FEBRUARY 21 - MARCH 5, 2024; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

PRIMARY

COLORS

A guide to the first round of 2024 elections

By Ryan Pitkin & Annie Keough

Music:

Food:

The Bleus goes live

Culture and coffee on Central Avenue

pg. 10

pg. 11

2024 Upcoming Special Issues Charlotte residents and visitors look to Queen City Nerve for what’s happening in CLT

Reach a niche readership and Charlotte newcomers with advertisements in our annual Charlotte guides

March 6 • SPRING GUIDE

Charlotte’s annual guide to spring events around the Queen City. Complete with nearly 100 event listings and outdoorsy local content, this is our first big issue of the year!

Summertime in the city feels real pretty with this guide on just about everything to do with another 100 events listed, and a focus on content we’ve all been waiting for during these cold months.

June 12 • SUMMER GUIDE April 3 • CLT BEER ISSUE With all the focus on the local beer and brewing scene, our annual Beer Issue is booze-centric and catered to introducing you to the people that impact the local beer world.

As Charlotte’s only dedicated local music news source, it wouldn’t be right to not publish a paper specifically on what is happening in Charlotte music. Find new tunes and grooves in our annual release.

July 10 • CLT MUSIC ISSUE

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April 17 • 4:20 ISSUE

We don’t recommend using the actual paper to roll anything up with, but you can enjoy the cannabis-centric content while you do with approved papers. A lot of research is put in here.

Inclusivity in the CLT rings free in our annual Pride Guide focused on the annual Charlotte Pride festival & parade with all of our content focused on telling the stories of the queer community in the city.

August 7 • PRIDE GUIDE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS & OPINION

4 Primary Colors by Ryan Pitkin & Annie Keough A guide to the first round of the 2024 elections

6 Lifeline: Ten Cool Things To Do in Two Weeks 7 Soundwave

ARTS & CULTURE

8 Oh! The Stories You’ll Hear! by Pat Moran

Julie McElmurry boosts Charlotte’s soaring storytelling scene

MUSIC

10 We’ll Do It Live by Ryan Pitkin

Now backed by live instrumentalists, The Bleus set to release new EP

FOOD & DRINK

11 A Tale of Two Coffee Shops by Nellie Shortreed

Central Avenue is home to two establishments honoring the cultural roots of the coffee bean

LIFESTYLE

Thanks to our contributors: Nellie Shortreed, Grant Baldwin, Aerin Spruill, Angel Butler, Antje Naumann, and Dan Savage.

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12 Puzzles 13 The Seeker/Horoscope 14 Savage Love

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

PRIMARY COLORS

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A guide to the first round of 2024 elections

NC ATTORNEY GENERAL Satana Deberry (D) Before taking office as Durham County DA in 2019, Satana Deberry served as a criminal defense attorney in her hometown of Hamlet, on general counsel for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and as executive director of the nonprofit North Carolina Housing Coalition. (satanadeberryfornc.com) MICHAEL MORGAN

COURTESY OF CAMPAIGN

Josh Stein (D) As North Carolina’s Attorney General and a state

BY RYAN PITKIN & ANNIE KEOUGH Senator before that, Josh Stein has confronted large Ready or not, we have reached the 2024 election immigration reform, health care, education and childcare. corporations in fights over rape kit backlogs, opioid season. While most of the mainstream media coverage (maginnis4congress.org) settlements, coal ash cleanup and teen vaping, among has been focused on the big fight at the top of the ticket other issues. He has been endorsed by outgoing Gov. Roy in November — and make no mistake, it’s a big one — Jeff Gregory (R) Cooper. (joshstein.org) Running on a platform of “God, Family, Country,” Jeff the presidential primaries have already proven to be less than suspenseful.

Gregory believes that all lives begin at conception and Yet there are many races statewide and locally that that the 12-week abortion ban in North Carolina is too deserve your attention, which is why we’ve compiled this pro-choice. He’s also expressed his desire for America list of all the contested races on the ballot in Mecklenburg to close its border for five years, among other extremist County this primary season — from the US House of beliefs. (tinyurl.com/JeffGregoryCongress) Representatives to the county board of commissioners.

Early voting for the statewide primaries began on Feb. Lillian Joseph (R) Having worked as Guardian ad Litem district 15 and will end on Saturday, March 2, with Election Day scheduled for the Tuesday, March 5. administrator for 14 years, Lillian Joseph believes that Election Day Polls are open from 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. “illegal immigration is destroying America, but it will COURTESY OF CAMPAIGN In a partisan primary, voters affiliated with a political keep Democrats in power forever” — also known as the JOSH STEIN party may only vote their party’s ballot and may not Great Replacement Theory pushed by white nationalists vote in another party’s primary. Unaffiliated voters may everywhere. (lillianjoseph.com) Dale R. Folwell (R) choose any one political party’s ballot.

In 2017, Dale Folwell became the first Republican If you don’t see your specific district or party on the list Tim Moore (R) treasurer in North Carolina in 141 years, then was reVacating the NC House Speaker position after nine elected in 2020. His platform includes crime and public below, that likely means there are no contested primary races within that district or party this March. We will be years in the position, Tim Moore entered the race for safety (addressing “deadly fentanyl at our borders” and back in the fall with more in-depth election coverage in District 14 in the US House following the approval of enforcing the death penalty, as well as school choice, cost the lead-up to the general election on Nov. 5. maps drawn by his party that provided him a safer path of living and government transparency. (dalefolwell.com) To learn more about voting precincts and districts, who to get elected. A lawsuit was filed against Moore in June will be on your specific ballot, early voting locations and 2023 that alleged the House Speaker lured the plaintiff’s Mark Robinson (R) hours, and other valuable information, visit the Mecklenburg wife into an affair using his political influence and did One of the most extreme front-running gubernatorial County Board of Elections website at vote.mecknc.gov and/or the same to other women. That lawsuit was “resolved” candidates NC has seen in some time, Mark Robinson has the NC Board of Elections website at ncsbe.gov. shortly after it was filed, and though Moore denied all called survivors of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas allegations therein, little to no details are known about High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, “spoiled, angry, the resolution. (timmoorenc.com) know it all CHILDREN,”“spoiled little bastards,” and “media US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES prosti-tots,” while also claiming that Harvey Weinstein DISTRICT 14 and Bill Cosby were victims of a left-wing plot to destroy NC GOVERNOR them. More recently, he has voiced his desire to resurrect Pam Genant (D) the disastrous House Bill 2, stating that trans people As a nurse and a US Army officer serving during Michael R. Morgan (D) Michael Morgan stepped down from his seat as should be put in jail for using the restroom. And those Operation Desert Storm, Pam Genant says she has “learned to commit to a mission and see it through to NC Supreme Court Justice in September 2023 and are just a few of his many, many extreme statements. completion.” Her website includes 16 issues she feels announced his campaign for governor the same month. (markrobinsonfornc.com) Elected in November 2016 to be an associate justice of the passionately about. (pamgenant.com) Other candidates for governor include Garry Foxx (D), Supreme Court of North Carolina, he is the only person Marcus W. Williams (D), Chrelle Booker (D), Bill Graham in the history of North Carolina to have served in four Brendan K. Maginnis (D) (R), Mike Ross (L), and Shannon W. Bray (L).

A US Marine Corp veteran with experience in small different judgeships. His platform focuses on education, business ownership, financial planning, and political health care, gun violence and criminal justice reform. campaigns, Brendan Maginnis says he brings a practical (morganforgovernor.com) approach to problem-solving. His platform centers

Tim Dunn (D) After graduating from the UNC Chapel Hill and Campbell University School of Law, Tim Dunn joined the Marine Corps and served as a US Marine prosecutor, staff judge advocate, instructor, ANGLICO executive/ fire support officer, civil affairs officer, and chief of staff.

In his civilian law practice, Dunn has concentrated on civil, criminal and military litigation in state, federal and military courts. (dunnfornc.com) Jeff Jackson (D) Having been drawn out of his current congressional district, US Rep. Jeff Jackson announced in October 2023 that he would run for NC Attorney General. Jackson called the newly drawn districts that have forced him out of Congress “blatant political corruption by a small group of politicians” and outlined his plan “to fight for North Carolina families, guarding them from consumer fraud, keeping kids safe online, combating the opioid epidemic, and protecting clean air and water.” (jeffjacksonnc.com)

NC SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SEAT 6 Allison Riggs (D) Appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to fill Justice Michael Morgan’s seat in September 2023, Allison Riggs is now running for her first full term. Before sitting on the NC Supreme Court, Riggs sat on the NC Court of Appeals, and previously served as the co-executive director for programs and chief counsel for voting rights at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, during which time she argued before the US Supreme Court in multiple landmark redistricting cases. (riggsforourcourts.com)

ALLISON RIGGS

COURTESY OF CAMPAIGN

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

Lucille Puckett (D) Coming off an unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2023, longtime anti-violence advocate Lucille Puckett’s campaign for state senate is fueled by the motto: “The Lora Christine Cubbage (D) world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but Lora Cubbage says it was during her countless hours by those who watch and do NOTHING.” (facebook.com/ behind a barber chair when “she realized that she had a LucillePuckett4CharlotteMayor) higher calling to serve in a space that would allow her to affect societal change and impact top policymakers Caleb Theodros (D) and leaders.” After pursuing her law degree she has since Theodros chairs the Charlotte Equitable Development served as an assistant district attorney, assistant attorney Commission and the Black Political Caucus. His main general, district court judge and as Superior Court judge. focuses are on education, economic development and (cubbage4ncsupreme.com) mental health. (calebnc.com)

NC STATE SENATE DISTRICT 42

LORA CUBBAGE

COURTESY OF CAMPAIGN

NC COURT OF APPEALS JUDGE SEAT 15

Kendrick Cunningham (D) Cunningham’s approach to politics is encapsulated by his Next Step Framework, a blueprint meant to guide Charlotte’s communities to healing from systematic disenfranchisement.

His platform centers housing for all and the reduction of violent crime rates. (kendrickcunningham.com)

Nicole Sidman (D) Sidman is a former lawyer, high school teacher and campaign manager for Christy Clark’s successful bid as state representative. Sidman’s top priorities are protecting democracy, reproductive freedom, gun safety and education. (nicolefornc.com)

Blake Van Leer (D) “Mecklenburg County is growing massively and we need to use modern strategic solutions to help our communities, educators, health systems and local businesses,” reads Blake Van Leer’s website. “We need to plan for downstream problems vs. reacting to them.” (vanleernc.com)

NC HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISTRICT 106

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 2

Vermanno Bowman (D) Vermanno Bowman supports universal health care, Vilma D. Leake (D) enacting policies with climate change in mind, affordable Vilma Leake has served as a commissioner since 2008 housing and enacting term limits in the North Carolina and before that was a CMS Board of Education member General Assembly. (vermannobowmanfornc.com) for 11 years. (bocc.mecknc.gov/vilma-d-leake)

Stacie McGinn (R) As the head of legislation and public policy for the Republican Women of Greater Charlotte, McGinn partnered with renowned right-wing extremist group Moms for Liberty to petition in support of the Parent’s Bill of Rights. (staciemcginnfornc.com)

Carla Cunningham (D) Carla Cunningham graduated from Central Piedmont Community College with her Licensed Practical Nurse Diploma, serving the community in health care for over 30 years. She was first elected to the NC General Assembly in 2012. (carlacunninghamnchouse.com)

Charles Osborne (D) As a former CMPD violent crimes investigator, Osborne advocates for more funding and resources for law enforcement. He also supports incorporating trades and skill training in education and economic development for small businesses. (osborne4meck.com)

MECKLENBURG BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AT-LARGE (3 SEATS AVAILABLE)

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 3

George Dunlap (D) George Dunlap is running for his seventh consecutive Leigh Altman (D) term as chair since his election in 2008. Prior to his Leigh Altman has worked as a public interest attorney election, Dunlap served 14 years on the CMS Board of for 17 years and is seeking re-election for her third term Education as District 3 representative and continues to on the Board of Commissioners. (leighaltman.com) advocate for public school education. (vote4dunlap.com)

Patricia (Pat) Cotham (D) In her sixth term on the Board of Commissioners, Cotham believes in creating more jobs and being active in the community, including as an advocate for our neighbors struggling with homelessness. Pat supported almost all of the seats in her precinct to Democrat and is her daughter, Tricia Cotham, when Tricia made the now working toward the final one. (lisajewelnc.com) unprecedented switch to the Republican Party, publicly commenting that the current Democratic Party is “not the NC HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Democratic Party I grew up in.” (patcotham.org)

DISTRICT 105

Arthur Griffin, Jr. (D) Griffin is a First Ward native and former CharlotteYolanda “Yo” Holmes (D) Mecklenburg Board of Education member. His key issues Yolanda Holmes is a former Department of include education, affordable housing, recreation and Defense employee and current family and community economic development. (griffin4mecklenburgcounty.com) engagement office worker with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Her platform centers equity in women’s pay, education and health. (yolondaholmes4nc.com)

Felicia R. Thompkins (D) Thompkins’ platform centers quality healthcare, implementing legislation to ensure seniors pay lower taxes on home ownership, and providing accessible resources and services to children in foster care before aging out of the system. (vote4feliciathompkins.com) INFO@QCNERVE.COM

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Robert E. Bruns (D) Former CEO of Skyla Credit Union, Robert Bruns is a pro-choice, LGBTQ+ ally who believes in competitive pay for teachers and law enforcement. (robertbruns.com)

Yvette Townsend-Ingram (D) Yvette Townsend-Ingram says she’s “got skin in the game and receipts,” running on a platform to improve wrap-around services for families, addressing food insecurity, accelerating the Minority, Women and Small Business Program and enacting better communication of county services. (voteyvette4meck.com)

Jaime Daniell (R) Small business owner Jaime Daniell pledges to fight for Mecklenburg County families and small businesses, lower taxes, and invest in schools. Daniell says she is pro-Constitution, pro-life and pro-law enforcement. (jaimedaniell.com)

Chris Freeman (R) NC HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES For 17 years, Chris Freeman has served as a district court DISTRICT 98 judge and assistant district attorney in Rockingham and Caswell counties. He claims a “steadfast commitment to conservative Beth Gardner Helfrich (D) judicial philosophy.” (chrisfreemanforjudge.com) Helfrich is a former teacher and current business owner that says she stands for good governance, strong public Hunter Murphy (R) education, safe and healthy families and responsible In 2020, the NC Supreme Court ordered the censure growth. (bethhelfrichnc.com) of Appeals Court Judge Hunter Murphy for enabling a “toxic work environment” after Murphy was found to Lisa Jewel (D) be bullying and harassing his coworkers and exhibiting Former chair of Democratic Precinct 127 in Davidson, a “pattern of making lewd or sexually inappropriate current vice chair of Democrats of North Mecklenburg and remarks in the workplace,” according to the NC Supreme voting member of the Democratic North Carolina State Court’s order. (facebook.com/HunterMurphyforJudge) Executive Committee, Lisa Jewel says she helped flip

NC STATE SENATE DISTRICT 41

Terry Lansdell (D) Landsdell is executive director of BikeWalkNC and a current Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning commissioner.

Before that, he worked with Clean Air Carolina and has extensive experience with nonprofits including work with Trips for Kids and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. (bikewalknc.org/board-of-directors)

SPEED PAINT SHOWDOWN

DASH RIPPINGTON (ODDITIES & CURIOSITIES EXPO) Courtesy of O&E Expo

2/24-2/25

Instagram-account-turned-advocacy-organization ArtintheQC hosts this creative battle royale in collaboration with Talking Walls mural festival. Eight local artists will have just 30 minutes to start and finish a painting on a 16-by-20-inch canvas. The top four artists based on audience votes will move onto a final round with fresh canvases. All 12 artworks will be available for silent auction bidding, with music from DJ BLACKASTHECOSMOS, free portraits from photographer Dionna Bright, free caricatures from Lo’Vonia Parks and local vendors.

More: $15; Feb. 25, 2-6 p.m.; Lenny Boy Brewing, 3000 S. Tryon St.; artintheqc.com

SOUTHBOUND LIVE: CHARLOTTE FORWARD

APE PISS, COMPLAINT CLUB, BLACK BOUQUET, JESUS IS THE PATH TO If you’ve been in Charlotte for any respectable HEAVEN

I AM QUEEN: CHARLOTTE

ODDITIES & CURIOSITIES EXPO

ALKALINE TRIO, DRUG CHURCH, WORRIERS

amount of time, you’re likely familiar with the work of Tommy Tomlinson. The veteran journalist currently hosts SouthBound, a podcast from local NPR affiliate WFAE that features conversations with notable Southerners from all walks of life — from artists and athletes to preachers and politicians — in hopes of answering an unanswerable question: What is the South? The live Charlotte Forward episodes look to the QC’s future with help from guests: Sil Ganzó, Dr. Crystal Hill, and John Searby.

More: $7.50-$10; Feb 22, 7-8:30 p.m.; WFAE Center for Civic and Community Engagement, 301 E. 7th St.; wfae.org

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LOW GROVES W/ ZACH KING

With folksy roots enveloped by droning soundscapes, Low Groves tiptoes the lines of traditional folk and indie rock while exploring themes of longing and loss. Fellow indie-folk singer/songwriter Zach King, a Concord native, delivers a well-thought-out culmination of sounds, lyricism, and melodies that leave the listener with a quiet sense of intimacy, wonder and silent understanding. The show will be held in collaboration with the Innovation Barn, so bring your ratty T-shirts that may not be up to snuff for thrift shops to resell but can be upcycled for some other use.

More: $12-$15; March 1, 7:30 p.m.; Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St.; eveningmuse.com

If you like preserved specimens, want to learn taxidermy or enjoy watching performers slide swords down their throats, the Oddities & Curiosities Expo is likely already on your radar. Husband-andwife combo Tony and Michelle Cozzaglio started the expo in 2017 in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a way to showcase the truly strange and utterly out-there. After turning out 1,000 people for their inaugural event, the couple took their show on the road, hitting eight cities in 2018 then adding a Charlotte-area stop in 2019. Find a range of national and local artists who specialize in all things weird, from animal bones to handcrafted oddities.

More: $12 and up; Feb. 24-25, times vary; Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S College St.; odditiesandcuriositiesexpo.com

Ape Piss has range. Rapper Favel of the Charlotte hip-hop foursome winds his grainy flow through cloudy, cooing vocals and narcotic dream-pop on “flea” and turns combative amid quizzical klezmerstyle synths on “Acid.” Synth-trash quintet Complaint Club proudly proclaims “loud yelling and noises” as its wheelhouse. Raleigh’s Black Bouquet threads impassioned vocals through a thicket of spidery guitars on “No More Blood.” Jordan Hoban as Jesus is the Path to Heaven delivers stripped down ruminations on religious trauma amid tantalizing glimpses of transcendent beauty.

More: $12; Feb. 28, 9 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.; snugrock.com

HELLFIRE 76, DIGITAL DOLLS, PHYSICAL\\DIGITAL

Hellfire 76 headlines The Rooster’s Leap Year Punk Rock Show. The demonic duo’s gargantuan riffs rumble like Godzilla emerging from the deep, but those satanic lyrics skewer real-world targets. With slow burner “Endless Isolation,” Charlotte’s Digital Dolls ride a sinister crab-walking groove to a heartrending crescendo. Queen City combo Physical\\ Digital kicks off its latest single “Twisty” with ramshackle Replacements-style shouting before the folk-inflected ramble swerves off the road and collides with a hardcore concrete abutment.

More: $12-$15; Feb. 29, 8 p.m.; The Rooster, 334 W. Main Ave., Gastonia; theroostergastonia.com

You may have caught a previous iteration of I am Queen: Charlotte, Epoch Tribe’s storytelling stage production that elevates the real-life narratives of Black women in the Queen City, but the beautiful thing about Hannah Hasan’s approach is that she keeps things fresh. The March show features a whole new class of Queens sharing the ways that they show up for their communities, their families and themselves — with music and movement thrown in to add to the vibe. Inspiring, powerful, uplifting and sometimes humbling, their stories and experiences add richness and depth to our world.

More: $24.50 and up; March 3, 7 p.m.; Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

MATT SKIBA OF ALKALINE TRIO Photo by Antje Naumann

3/3

CLT DONUT FESTIVAL

Billed as “the ultimate cheat day,” this festival not only showcases the delicious round treat for which it’s named but other sweet pastries from some of Charlotte’s best bakeries: Fleming Simply Devine Sweets, Milkbread, Beyond Amazing Donuts, Carolina Donut Diva, Manolo’s Bakery, Molly Minis, Bake Morh Sweets, Small Cakes Utopia, The C-Sweet and more. Proceeds benefit Save a Nut, which carries on in the fight against testicular cancer, one the most common cancers for males between the ages of 15-34. Oh, and did we mention there are beverages involved? Choose between mimosas, bloody marys, seltzers, Suffolk Punch brews, canned cocktails and nonalcoholic options.

More: $30-$40; March 3, 1 p.m.; Norfolk Hall, 2905 Griffith Ave.; elevatelifestyle.com

BILL NACE, ZODIAC LOVERS, AMY Veteran Chicago punk-rockers Alkaline Trio boasts BAGWELL, LILIYA ZALEVSKA a crime-scene grit missing from mall-punk contemporaries like Blink 182 — which frontman Matt Skiba perplexingly joined from 2015 to 2017.

With latest LP Blood, Hair and Eyeballs, the trio, beloved for balancing the mosh pit and the morgue, turns horror-punk sensibilities to topics like growing older in a world gone mad. The Worriers’ melodic punk rock provides a solid setting for Brooklyn songwriter Lauren Denitzio’s sharp-eyed ruminative lyrics. Albany, New York post-hardcore trio Drug Church trades in jagged riffs, shouted vocals and boundless energy.

More: $47; March 3, 7:30 p.m.; The Fillmore, 820 Hamilton St.; fillmorenc.com

Petra’s hosts a night of music, versifying and art headlined by Philadelphia-based visual artist and experimental guitarist Bill Nace. From coruscating queasy drones to baroque gamelan-like flourishes that recall prog-rock keyboardists like Patrick Moraz, Nace pulls strummed, plucked, picked and tapped guitars into the 22nd century. Launching in 2018 with the lush and clangorous “My Life in the Bush of Real People,” Casey Malone’s Zodiac Lovers confound expectations with uncanny and swooning alt-pop.

Local poet Amy Bagwell and printmaker and digital photographer Liliya Zalevskaya round out the bill.

More: $9; March 5, 7 p.m.; Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.; petrasbar.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21

FUNK/JAM BANDS The Futch Brothers (Goldie’s) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Katrina Brown (3102 VisArt) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE Pierre Bensusan (Stage Door Theater) OPEN MIC Open Mic Night feat.The Smokin J’s (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

SATURDAY, MARCH 2

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Ace Monroe w/ Aurora’s Hope (Evening Muse) Mouthbreather w/ Hazing Over, For Your Health, Fault Union, Harm (The Milestone) WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28 Late Bloomer w/ Jenny Besetzt, QUAD (Petra’s) ROCK/PUNK/METAL COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Loverghost w/ Not Yer Baby, Momophobia, Between Lucy Kaplansky (Stage Door Theater) Two Trees (The Milestone) JAZZ/BLUES Tyrant w/ Dysplacer, Night Attack, Neverfall (Skylark Queen City Blues Festival (Bojangles Coliseum) Social Club) Justin Lee Schultz (Middle C Jazz) Ape Piss w/ Jesus Is the Path to Heaven, Black HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Bouquet (Snug Harbor) Phaze Gawd w/ Jay Storm, Collective Insanity, SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Raddre (Snug Harbor) Burdette Duo (Goldie’s) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Charlotte Symphony: Rhapsody in Blue (Belk Theater) Chrisette Michele (Neighborhood Theatre) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE JAZZ/BLUES Tornillo (The Underground) Emanuel Wynter (Middle C Jazz) Enrique Iglesias w/ Pitbull, Ricky Martin (Spectrum Center) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ FUNK/JAM BANDS Kyle Hume w/ Kylie Odetta (Amos’ Southend) Akita w/ Sons of Paradise (Visulite Theatre) Beats @ Birdsong (Birdsong Brewing) SUNDAY, MARCH 3 JP Saxe (The Underground) ROCK/PUNK/METAL OPEN MIC Alkaline Trio (The Fillmore) Singer/Songwriter Open Mic (The Rooster) Escuela Grind w/ Capra, Overturn, Violent Life Open Mic Night (Starlight on 22nd) Violent Death (The Milestone) THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29 JAZZ/BLUES ROCK/PUNK/METAL Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Auroras Hope w/ Once Below Joy, Hunter Cross, The Steve Oliver (Middle C Jazz) White Horse (The Milestone) EXPERIMENTAL/MIXED-GENRE/FESTIVAL Hellfire 76 w/ Digital Dolls and Physical\\Digital (Petra’s) Doc 101: Celebrating Doc Watson’s Birthday Monsoon w/ Modern Moxie (Snug Harbor) (Neighborhood Theatre) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Passion Place presents: This Is History (Petra’s) Night Lovell (The Underground) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Bezz Believe w/ Krash Minati (The Rooster) Kolton Moore & the Clever Few w/ Jordan Nix POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ (Visulite Theatre) Hazy Sunday (Petra’s) FUNK/JAM BANDS FUNK/JAM BANDS Shana Blake’s Musical Menagerie (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) Pocket Strange w/ Late Night Special, Babe Honey FRIDAY, MARCH 1 (Amos’ Southend) ROCK/PUNK/METAL COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Cole Chaney w/ Abby Hamilton (Visulite Theatre) Sultry w/ DSHK, Junk (The Milestone) MONDAY, MARCH 4 Paul Thorn & Steve Poltz (Neighborhood Theatre) ROCK/PUNK/METAL JAZZ/BLUES Wastoid w/ Psyop, Squeamish, Young Death God Jacob Webb (Middle C Jazz) (The Milestone) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Miranda & the Beat w/ Comino (Snug Harbor) Jon Langston (Coyote Joe’s) VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL Larry Fleet (The Fillmore) SOUNDWAVE LISTING.

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ROCK/PUNK/METAL Sammy Rae & The Friends w/ We the Commas (Neighborhood Theatre) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Annie Haden (Goldie’s) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 Gladys Knight (Ovens Auditorium) ROCK/PUNK/METAL Ahmir w/ Doughboy Ke, Marzae, BLE DLO (Snug Harbor) Twin Temple (The Underground) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Dollar Signs w/ Dim Wizard, Distracted Eyes (Petra’s) Beats @ Birdsong (Birdsong Brewing) Junior Astronomers w/ Pretty Baby, Flannelmouth LANY (THe Fillmore) (Snug Harbor) JAZZ/BLUES Run Engine w/ GoGo Pilot, Vit DeBacco (Starlight on 22nd) Selwyn Birchwood (Middle C Jazz) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA OPEN MIC Lilly Hiatt w/ Reverends (Evening Muse) Singer/Songwriter Open Mic (The Rooster) Hailey Whitters (Neighborhood Theatre) THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B ROCK/PUNK/METAL Aasher with Suna and Wulf (Evening Muse) Physique w/ Mutant Strain, Militar, Scaretactic, Junk POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ (The Milestone) Peekaboo (Blackbox Theater) Juice w/ Shallow Alcove (Visulite Theatre) Digital Noir w/ DJ Spider, DJ Arachne, DJ Squeaky FUNK/JAM BANDS (The Milestone) Shana Blake’s Musical Menagerie (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) JAZZ/BLUES JULIA. w/ Swansgate, Wag (Snug Harbor) Rez Abbasi Quartet (Stage Door Theater) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Chris Botti (Knight Theater) Gena Chambers Rock’n ’80s Dance Party (Middle C Jazz) Norman Brown (Middle C Jazz) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC FUNK/JAM BANDS Jason Hausman & Sunshone Still (Evening Muse) The Coconut Groove Band (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) Ryan & Woody (Goldie’s) Bad Daddies (Visulite Theatre) CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Lauren Daigle (Spectrum Center) The String Queens (Booth Playhouse) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23 Celestial Company (Birdsong Brewing) ROCK/PUNK/METAL Big Head Todd and The Monsters (Knight Theater) EXPERIMENTAL/MIXED-GENRE/FESTIVAL The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Slay Together Fest (The Rooster) Lamont Landers (Evening Muse) SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 Two Door Cinema Club (The Fillmore) ROCK/PUNK/METAL Heirloom w/ Candescent, Surfaced, Chained, Alpha Mike Strauss Band (Free Range Brewing) Strain (The Milestone) Mike Viola w/ Brian Dunne (Neighborhood Theatre) Madi Diaz w/ Olivia Barton (Neighborhood Theatre) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Seemless Vision w/ Fear Illusion, Pathologic, Flesh Ray Greene (Stage Door Theater) Gate (The Rooster) Babytron (The Fillmore) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Stitchy C w/ Kyng Rash, Don Ru, Austin Davys, Blak Kaivon (Blackbox Theater) Bart, J. Lee, King Nyne, DJ Dewey Decibel (The Milestone) Shadow Play (Crown Station) JAZZ/BLUES Deep Fried Disco (Snug Harbor) Diana Krall (Belk Theater) JAZZ/BLUES Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Rez Abbasi Quartet (Stage Door Theater) Jason Jackson (Middle C Jazz) Norman Brown (Middle C Jazz) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Davisson Brothers Band (Amos’ Southend) Rodney Crowell w/ Jedd Hughes (Booth Playhouse) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Corey Smith (Coyote Joe’s) Allison & Jake w/ Jonathan Birchfield (Goldie’s) Carolina Down Boys (Tommy’s Pub) MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26 SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC JAZZ/BLUES Club ’90s: 2000s Night (The Underground) The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s) FUNK/JAM BANDS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27 Satellite Dog w/ Jacoozy (Evening Muse) ROCK/PUNK/METAL The Hardcore Lounge (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) Red Rocking Chair (Comet Grill)

Remington Cartee w/ Tennessee Love Connection (The Rooster) Lord Nelson w/ Red Dress Amy, Charles Latham & The Borrowed Band (Snug Harbor) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Eric Bellinger (The Underground) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Low Groves w/ Zach King (Evening Muse) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Charlotte Symphony: Rhapsody in Blue (Belk Theater)

ARTS FEATURE

OH! THE STORIES YOU’LL HEAR! Julie McElmurry boosts Charlotte’s soaring storytelling scene

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BY PAT MORAN

A teacher remembers that one bratty, boundaryThen there’s Charlotte Storytellers, which is testing kid who finally got their comeuppance approaching a decade of stories, having launched on a school trip. An older man recalls his first job in February 2015 and still meeting regularly at Edge at a rural hotel and how he lent an overly helpful City Brewery in the East Forest neighborhood. That hand to a thankful thief. Another man recounts his esteemed gathering focuses on workshopping and supernatural trans-dimensional encounter in a hotel honing the presentation of stories by first-timers, room. amateurs and pros.

This is just a surface sampling of the pieces of And for those who want to learn, Comedy Arts time and memory that make up people’s personal Theater of Charlotte (CATCh) hosts a regular sixCOURTESY OF STOM stories — stories being shared on a rainy January week storytelling class at its location on South JULIE MCELMURRY (THIRD FROM RIGHT, TOP) HOSTS A STORY TELLER OPEN MIC EVENT. night within the cozy confines of Common Market Boulevard, culminating in a student showcase at the After graduating, she worked at Hostelling “I would run around the campground Oakwold. same venue. unsupervised and have new combinations of kids International Boston before spending a belated gap Julie McElmurry is the producer of Story Teller Add the city’s countless open mics that welcome every few days because families would come year working at Bruegger’s Bagels in Asheville and Open Mic, which meets on the last Saturday of storytellers among their mix of performers, comics camping,” McElmurry remembers. “It was like Lord Boston, crashing on a friend’s couch in Berkeley, every other month at Common Market. McElmurry and musicians, and Charlotte is bursting at the California and traveling to Europe. She has since of The Flies without the bad parts.” encourages people to place their names in a white seams with stories to be told and heard.

For a stretch of four to five years during that time, visited 23 countries. cowboy hat and reminds them to keep their stories That said, storytelling is a pastime as old as early McElmurry then worked at the YMCA Youth McElmurry remembers making the hour-and-a-half between three and five minutes. humans who first gathered around a fire pit. We’re trip to the International Storytelling Center Festival Emergency Shelter in Hartford, Connecticut, before “I’ve only [recently] started using a timer,” sentient beings that take stimuli, experiences and becoming a campus minister at Wake Forest in Jonesborough, Tennessee.

McElmurry tells me a few days later. Already she can memory, then craft it all into a narrative every day.

“I was aware that … there were professional University. She spent 11 years at Wake while tell it has given the (mostly) amateur storytellers a A story is how we navigate and make sense of the storytellers, and [that] people traveled from all over spending her summers earning master’s degrees helpful guardrail, a reminder to each that their story world. in Religion and Religious Education from Fordham the country to come hear them,” she says. should be winding down. “That’s the most I want to “[Storytelling] helps us all feel a lot less alone,” When she was 16, McElmurry’s parents agreed to University in New York City and Franciscan Studies do to shape a story.”

McElmurry explains. “[Stories] take us on this let her apprentice for the summer with Maine-based at St. Bonaventure University in western New York.

Meanwhile, storytelling events like the ones adventure to … places we’re probably never going During those summers, many of McElmurry’s professional storyteller Jackson Gilman. McElmurry McElmurry organizes are seeing a renaissance in to go, but we’re able to feel like we’re part of it traveled from town to town through Maine with roommates were nuns. While all of her travels and Charlotte. because we’re relating to this other human …

Gilman, handing out flyers, setting up chairs at adventures had cultivated her love for storytelling, it Once Upon a Trauma Storytelling features a mix describing their highs, lows and struggles, dusting was these women who inspired her the most. venues and selling tickets at the door. of the harrowing and healing, which “transform(s) themselves off and getting back up again.”

“I had so many times laughing and hearing [their] Gilman told stories, sang and played guitar. isolating pain into connective power.” Initially “It was like a one-man vaudeville show,” stories that I … wanted to capture some of [them],” held at 3102 VisArt, Once Upon a Trauma recently From vaudeville to film school McElmurry says. A volunteer gig visiting Jesuit McElmurry says. presented a program of Black voices in honor of McElmurry grew up at the Adventure Trail McElmurry attended North Carolina State priests in nursing homes cemented that notion.

Black History Month at NoDa’s Free Range Brewing. Campground, a business owned by her parents “[One priest] had been a vaudeville performer,” University, where she earned a degree in Parks, Epoch Tribe has been at the forefront of outside of Cherokee in Jackson County. An extrovert McElmurry says. “He said he and his partner would Recreation & Tourism Management with a minor in Charlotte’s storytelling scene for years, hosting at an early age, McElmurry’s earliest memories International Studies. While at college, McElmurry hang out in the rafters above a show and try to write events that center untold narratives in small and include welcoming visiting campers’ kids and planned cultural programs with international down jokes from Jimmy Durante.” large productions ranging from co-founder Hannah showing them around the camp’s facilities, which By 2015, she had moved to Charlotte, where she students including parties and dances with students Hasan’s Muddy Turtle Talks to I am Queen: Charlotte, included a swimming pool, a playground and hiking saw a Facebook ad offering a $1,000 grant to film from around the world. scheduled to take place at Belk Theater on March 3. trails.

ARTS FEATURE

Taking people on a journey

One such impactful everyday narrative appears in Heck’s award-winning short Junkin’- A Redemption Story. Here, the filmmaker turns his camera on his father to document the elder Heck’s lifelong battle with alcoholism, depression and hoarding, and the path he found to recovery.

Junkin’, which is available free on YouTube, saw its Charlotte premiere in February at Noda Art House. The screening was presented by Charlotte Unconventional Film School, and the documentary short lists McElmurry in the credits for her support.

Heck touches on the dark subject matter that courses through some stories, harrowing themes and moments that inform Junkin’, my encounter with a notorious serial killer and topics that arise at Once Upon a Trauma. Although Heck believes all stories deserve to be heard, he feels some should be preceded by the courtesy of trigger warnings.

“You should absolutely be able to share a story as long as you’re not saying something with the intent of hurting someone else,” he says.

Similarly, McElmurry says any story can be conveyed in a million different ways, and that storytellers should read the room.

“My preference is that everyone leaves [the open mic] feeling better than when they came in,” she says.

While she has included a story about someone encountering their friend’s torturer in one of her documentaries, McElmurry prefers that people leave her event “feeling lighthearted and less alone in the world.”

“You’re taking people on a journey when you tell a story, so don’t harm other people as they’re giving you the gift of listening to you,” she says.

That said, McElmurry thinks the most interesting part of Story Telling Open Mic happens when there aren’t any stories being told at all.

“The most important thing that happens is people talking to each other and connecting during the intermission and after the show,” she says. “It’s bringing people together.”

To illustrate her point, McElmurry recalls living in Boston at age 22 and being taken with a statue of Eliot Morison on Commonwealth Avenue. The statue depicts the military historian sitting on a boulder wearing a baseball cap.

“It’s a very modern-looking statue, and it says; ‘Dream dreams, then write them down. Aye, but live them first,’” McElmurry says.

In effect, it’s living that unleashes and informs stories, she says: “People got to live a little.”

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

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trick to incapacitate young men and relied on his It was 1976 in the suburbs of Chicago. I was 16 construction business to bury his victim’s bodies.

We do a couple more takes where I tell the story years old, and somehow Harvey, a middle-aged a documentary. She immediately thought of the man, had talked me into getting into his unmarked in slightly different ways.

Heck was one of the first people McElmurry sisters and nuns she had befriended. work van. recruited to attend Charlotte Unconventional Film She already owned a camcorder, so she Googled Harvey told me that in his spare time, he “How do you make a documentary.” Eight weeks entertained sick children in the hospital while School. He was a teacher as well as a student there, instructing one of the school’s classes. Heck, who later, she completed her first film, which she dressed as a clown. showed to a small audience in Charlotte. She’s gone Harvey also mentioned that he owned a launched his production company Perz Media in on to make seven documentaries, four of which are construction company, and that he might have a 2021, got involved in Charlotte’s storytelling scene about women in religious orders. good-paying job for a kid like me. He even confessed around the same time as McElmurry.

“I started going six or seven years ago … to Realizing she needed more training in her field, that he loved performing magic tricks.

Charlotte Storytellers,” Heck says. “Originally it was McElmurry looked into a documentary filmmaking I asked if he could do one for me, but Harvey class that cost $2,000. She decided the money could be demurred. He didn’t have any of his props, including at The Third Place coffee shop, which was in the better spent funding an affordable workshop program. a trick pair of handcuffs. “Maybe I can show you one basement of a church.”

He remembers the meetings as group-led “I thought, ‘What if I found other people like me later,” he said. efforts, which included interactive games as well as that wanted to learn,” McElmurry says. “Then, all It’s 2024, and I’m telling my story on camera those people could chip in and pay for [teachers], for documentary filmmaker and storyteller Andy workshopping sessions for stories.

“I’ve always had this inclination to entertain and I could go to film school for free.”

Heck at his office space at Charlotte Art League.

So, in 2017 McElmurry created the Charlotte Charlotte-based Wisconsin native Heck is a friend people,” Heck offers. “But I never saw myself as the Unconventional Film School. By 2019, the school and colleague of McElmurry. He had heard me tell type of person who is going to get onstage and act had held over 150 workshops, many led by film my true 1970s tale at a Story Teller Open Mic in fall in a play, or tell comedy.”

Instead he turned to documentary filmmaking, industry professionals.

2023. where he can perfect the story he wants to tell. He Meanwhile, McElmurry’s interest in hearing and Heck thought then that it could make a good telling stories, whether in person or on film, led her to documentary, but it just needed shaping. For sees a similar opportunity with storytelling.

“As I get further into my filmmaking career and Charlotte Storytellers. She started attending sessions instance, when I told the story live, Heck felt I should storytelling, I’m learning more about the power regularly in 2017, but when the group went on hiatus have built suspense. and resumed sessions post-COVID, she didn’t return.

For the camera, Heck suggests I withhold of stories, not just [the] grandiose [ones], but the By that time, she had launched her own event.

Harvey’s identity until the end the story, allowing everyday stories that everyone has,” Heck says.

“It was the summer of 2021, where COVID had an audience to piece together the clues until they “Often I share a film or a story, and I meet somebody been going on a long time, and I missed live events,” realized that “Harvey” actually turned out to be … telling me how they connected with the story McElmurry says. “I asked myself, ‘What is the easiest Chicago’s killer clown, serial murderer John Wayne because of something that had happened in their possible thing that I could put on?’”

Gacy — a disturbed man who used his handcuff past.”

She had been listening to storytelling podcasts like The Moth and Risk, which inspired her to produce a storytelling open mic.

“I didn’t have to do a whole lot to prepare,” McElmurry says. “I just had to get the word out and invite people.”

Common Market Oakwold’s Roger Raymer got onboard. The weekend after Thanksgiving 2021, Story Teller Open Mic held its first show. McElmurry deliberately chose “story teller” over the compound word “storyteller” because she feels the latter is jargon and therefore exclusive.

“I’m willing to butcher the language to make [the open mic] as welcoming as possible,” McElmurry says. The event’s first iteration was so successful that a second was scheduled. Eventually McElmurry and Raymer decided on a show on the last Saturday of every other month.

“I think that every month is too frequent,” McElmurry says. “You want something to be a little bit rare and precious for people to prioritize it.”

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN A STORY TELLER OPEN MIC EVENT AT COMMON MARKET OAKWOLD.

MUSIC FEATURE

WE’LL DO IT LIVE Now backed by live instrumentalists, The Bleus set to release new project

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BY RYAN PITKIN

Noli (whom she calls K Noli, pronounced Canoli) and Drum Smoke being an impromptu collaborative gig at The Frame, a photo studio and creative space on Monroe Road in southeast Charlotte.

The trio adapted “Honey” to be played on live instruments rather than a backing track and were happy with the results, so they continued performing it.

“Every time we played [‘Honey’], it got more and more elegant, more elevated, and so we were like, ‘Alright, we need to record this,’” she recalled.

THE BLEUS During that time, the group played a show at The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, for which they brought on a guitarist and improvised a new song out of thin air.

“K Noli was playing something on the piano, and my friend Jalen was playing the guitar, and it was so creepy, and I just started singing this song,” Henderson recalled. “Eventually we just kept doing it over and over again because it felt so good to sing. It felt good for them to play. It was like this big release of energy.”

That song became “Patience,” which wraps Forgive Me and now The Bleus’ live shows as well.

“Now people know it because if you come to my shows, that’s the song at the end,” Henderson said. “That’s the one that kicks everybody in the ass because it’s just very powerful.”

On the inside of Makayla Henderson’s right arm is Henderson said performing with a live band has a tattoo made up of 12 straight lines — four crossing reinvigorated her love for making music. the bicep, four crossing the forearm, then four more “The connection that we have … when we get moving vertically across the ditch, connecting the together in this mode, it’s like an atmosphere that first eight like a bridge. we create, and unbeknownst to us, it changes While the symbolism of a bridge is somewhat every time because of the way that we’re feeling PHOTO BY ANGEL BUTLER fitting for how Henderson sees the tattoo, she likes in the moment; sometimes we’re feeling creepier, original, which is actually pretty slow. It’s super to think of it more as a grid. sometimes we feel sexier,” she said. “It literally just jazzy. And then one time we started bouncing back “It’s like the intersections of life, right?” she goes wherever it wants to go.” and forth from doing super upbeat jazz to very explained, showing me the tattoo while we sat in wine-and-dine — strolling-with-your-wife type of Waterbean Coffee at the Metropolitan on a February A journey in music jazz — and it just keeps bouncing back and forth, afternoon. “We’re on a grid, if you will, and we’re just The daughter of a touring drummer, Henderson oscillating. So I really love that.” all pinging on and bouncing into each other, and it’s grew up in a musical household, regularly finding The improvisational nature of the group has really interesting and really fun.” new inspiration through her family. transformed the way Henderson looks at making music.

For Henderson, a local hip-hop and neo-soul Her mother bought her a piano while her father put There’ s a certain freshness to the music in knowing artist who performs as The Bleus, those pings are her on to a mix of artists ranging from James Brown that every performance — and even the recording what keep her moving through cities and scenes, to Jimi Hendrix to Tracy Chapman. She learned to of Forgive Me, I Need That! — is one take from one adding new members to her tribe and creating new harmonize by downloading songs from LimeWire and moment in time and the next time will be different. sounds through connection and collaboration. singing them at the kitchen desk with her older sister, The experience has freed up her lyrical process.

From the time when she left the rural towns who eventually introduced her to hip-hop.

Rather than spend time listening to tracks by producers where she grew up in Bear Creek and Siler City to She moved from Winston-Salem to Charlotte in and trying to see how she can fit her own feelings attend Winston-Salem State University, where she 2014, launching The Indigo Music Collective, with onto an existing beat, she is able to have a deeper first found a creative circle she fit into, to when she which she performed as Bleu. When some members collaboration with the musicians she works with. arrived in Charlotte and subsequently formed the of the collective began branching out into other “I feel like, before, I tried to plan everything as far Indigo Music Collective, The Bleus has always fed off fields, Henderson focused more on her solo career, Don’t call it a jam band as, if I said this word on this beat, I needed to say of the vibes of human connection. rebranding as The Bleus.

Despite that experience with “Patience,” “I feel like for each point in your life, you gain Her music as a solo performer could be described Henderson insists the group has never actually it on that beat every time or whatever, and now it’s just like we’re free-flowing,” she said. tribe members, because you might grow apart from as a mix of hip-hop and R&B with heavy Latin and taken part in a jam session, per se, only improvised “I think that’s one of the things that not only people, but there are certain connections within those reggae inspirations — dance music with a dose of rehearsals and performances. makes me different from my past self but different times where you really make people like your family,” conscious lyricism and spirituality.

The second track on Forgive Me, I Need That!, she said. “So through all the different stages of my life, She released her debut EP, In the Backseat Kissing titled “Three Damn Days,” has gone through multiple from other artists; a lot of them kind of restrict there are people who are truly family to me.”

God, in 2019, with single “Honey” becoming a transitions since the EP was recorded, said Henderson. themselves to only playing it the same way because that’s what the fans want, which is annoying. At Now for the first time, that family has taken the standout from that four-track project.

The dreamlike song is about … well, dreams. form of a band, with The Bleus transitioning from solo She followed that up in 2021 with the release of Written by Henderson seven years ago, the song this point I’m trying to break that habit forcefully, because you don’t have a choice. I love [my fans] hip-hop act to a three-piece jazz-R&B outfit. Their new “Sumn Like This,” a dance track featuring vocals from discusses the struggle of wanting the person of still, and I appreciate their support, but this is our project, Forgive Me, I Need That!, is set to drop on Feb. 22. Jamaican-American Charlotte artist Likkle Slave. With your dreams to exist in real life, then having to come music and this is what we want to do and you’re With Henderson on vocals over King Noli’s keys the backing of Canadian DJ and producer BAMBii, the to terms with the fact that they don’t exist in that either going to love it or you’re going to hate it, but and Drum Smoke’s drums, the three-track EP blends single exceeded 60,000 streams, delivering The Bleus’ perfect embodiment — or perhaps at all. it’s going to make you feel something.” the sounds of funk, alternative R&B and pop built on sound to an international audience.

The group’s experience with performing the song a foundation of improvisational jazz.

Then things began to shift sonically for The Bleus, is indicative of the elusive nature of its content.

The Bleus performs with Wild Recluse and Tecoby The group will headline a show at Petra’s on who happened upon some opportunities to perform “The past two times that we’ve played it, we’ve Hines at Petra’s on March 13. Visit petrasbar.com for March 13 with Charlotte multidisciplinary artist and with live musicians while out performing in Charlotte. changed the sound of it completely,” Henderson soul singer Wild Recluse and local lyricist Tecoby She remembers the first show with King explained. “It doesn’t even sound at all like the more info.

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM Hines rounding out the bill.

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

A TALE OF TWO COFFEE SHOPS

Central Avenue is home to two establishments honoring the cultural roots of the coffee bean

BY NELLIE SHORTREED

Arabica and robusta coffees

Most commercial coffee production is based on two plant species, Coffea arabica L. (arabica coffee) and C. canephora (robusta coffee). All species within the genus Coffea are of tropical African origin.

The natural population of C. arabica are restricted to the montane forests of southwestern Ethiopia.

Documentation of the first domestication of arabica coffee in Ethiopia is uncertain, though legend credits the discovery to a goat herder named Kaldi who noticed that his goats would run and dance through the night after eating coffee beans.

The earliest written evidence of coffee cultivation in Yemen appeared in the 12th century.

Arabica coffee is cultivated at medium-to-high altitudes in equatorial regions or low to medium altitudes further from the equator, due to the average daily temperatures being colder. Cooler climates typically make for better cup qualities of arabica coffees, but if the weather is too cold, it can kill the plant entirely.

Robusta coffee requires warm and humid climates and are typically found in tropical lowlands and foothills.

Coffee ceremonies

Coffee rituals are performed all around the world and are often a source of connection with those in the community.

In Ethiopia, a Habesha ceremony is performed three times a day. A cultural custom in Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Habesha coffee ceremony is a routine of serving coffee while gathering with relatives, neighbors and friends over a spread of loose grass and small yellow flowers. Traditionally, the ceremony is performed by the woman of the household and is considered to be a great honor.

To start, a person roasts the green coffee beans over an open flame in a pan, then grinds the roasted

Haraz Coffee House and Abugida Ethiopian Cafe

Haraz Coffee House owner Hamzah Nasser is a first-generation immigrant from Yemen who built his company as a way to honor his family’s heritage.

Haraz specializes in traditional Yemeni coffee and bites, using organic, sun-dried coffee beans from the Haraz Mountains in Yemen’s lower West Coast region.

Haraz serves a variety of traditional Yemeni-inspired coffee, lattes and teas as well as Turkish coffee by the pot. The establishment also offers a variety of pastries such as tiramisu coffee cake, Istanbul cheesecake, Turkish mosaic cakes and stuffed round croissants.

“I never expected this much support from the Charlotte community, especially from the Plaza Midwood community,” said Saeed Saleh, who

ABUGIDA ETHIOPIAN CAFE

PHOTO CREDIT

opened Haraz Coffee House’s first Charlotte location at 1204 Central Ave. “I see people coming from Greensboro, I see people coming from as far as Raleigh just for a visit to try out a new, traditional type of coffee. It’s something unique to the city and it’s amazing to see how many different types of ethnicities, different types of nationalities coming to one place over a cup of coffee.”

About 1.4 miles east of Haraz Coffee House at 3007 Central Ave. is Abugida Ethiopian Cafe & Restaurant. The small, standalone establishment offers Ethiopian teas and coffee, including a coffee ceremony, with a variety of authentic Ethiopian dishes made from scratch, including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free items.

Abugida’s coffee ceremony is more relaxed than the traditional Habesha ceremony, but still follows customary routing in honor of its cultural significance.

For example, Abugida’s ceremony is accompanied by burning incense. The smoke from the incense not only adds an aromatic experience but is said to carry bad spirits away. The coffee is accompanied by a dish of sugar to sweeten it up, if desired, and we recommend getting an order of sambusa (meat or lentil) if you’re feeling hungry. “[You’re] supposed to sit down and enjoy your moment and have that coffee because that’s what we do back home,” said Yodite Mengesha, Abugida’s owner. “When we have coffee, people are sitting, having conversation. It could be for like three minutes, four minutes, but you just sit down and enjoy that moment.”

Ethiopian coffee can be hard to find, but there are other options beyond Abugida in Charlotte, including Nile Ethiopian Restaurant & Grocery, Red Sea Grocery and Queen Sheba.

There are not many Yemeni coffee places in Charlotte, but Charlotte City Council recently approved the lease for a new establishment called Qamaria in the JW Clay parking deck in University City.

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Separated by just 70 miles despite being located on separate continents, Ethiopia and Yemen are known not only as the home of some of the most popular coffee beans in the world, they are considered the birthplace of all coffee.

Steeped in centuries-old traditions and influenced by unique climates, these two countries have continued to influence the way people cultivate, brew and serve coffee around the world.

Ethiopian and Yemeni coffees boast distinct flavor profiles that have captivated people since the bean was discovered in Ethiopia sometime around the 12th century. From the fruity, floral notes of Ethiopian coffee to the deep, earthy undertones of Yemeni brews, each sip savors the rich history and culture of its respective home country.

Along Charlotte’s Central Avenue corridor, considered one of the most diverse areas in the city, coffee connoisseurs can now find examples of both within just over a mile of one another.

Located at each end of Plaza Midwood — one technically in Elizabeth and the other in Country Club Heights — these two coffee shops provide an opportunity for Charlotte residents to experience coffee the way it’s been served for hundreds of years.

Traditional Turkish coffee shop Haraz Coffee House opened its first location in Dearborn, Michigan in April 2021 and has rapidly expanded since, opening locations in six states across the country. The newest location celebrated its grand opening on Central Avenue in Plaza Midwood in February.

Just down the street, Abugida Ethiopian Cafe & Restaurant has been serving authentic Ethiopian cuisines and carrying out Ethiopian coffee ceremonies for Charlotteans since 2016.

We visited both to learn more about the cultural significance of their respective coffees, chat with the owners and check out what menu items are worth checking out.

beans in a mortar and pestle. The coffee grounds are put into a vessel containing boiling water, which is left over an open flame for a few minutes until the water and grounds are well-mixed.

The grounds are then brewed three times and poured into handleless cups from a height of 1 foot without stopping until each cup is full. Some people add sugar, salt or butter to their coffee, depending on their preference, which can change based on what region they live in or originally come from.

The coffee is also accompanied by a small snack such as popcorn, peanuts or ambasha, a slightly sweet Ethiopian and Eritrean celebration bread.

The ceremony is usually performed three times a day, the third being a bestowment of blessing.

A transformation of the spirit is said to take place throughout the day if all coffee ceremonies are held, leading to the completion of ‘Abol’ (first round), ‘Tona’ (second round) and ‘Baraka’ (third round).

In Turkey, coffee ceremonies, which originated in the 16th century, can be held in or out of the home. What makes Turkish coffee rituals unique is not where it is performed, rather how it is prepared.

Turkish coffee typically has a strong, aromatic kick due to the use of unfiltered grounds. When prepared properly, a thick layer of foam rests on top.

The Turkish coffee ceremony involves grinding freshly roasted coffee beans into a fine powder. The grounds are then mixed with sugar and cold water in a cezves, a small pot typically made of brass or copper with a long handle and pouring lip, before being boiled.

The coffee is served unfiltered, the grounds adding body and a bolder flavor. Once it is finished, it is common practice to turn the cup over the saucer, allowing the remaining grinds to settle on it so the host/hostess may interpret their fortune, similar to the reading of tea leaves in other cultures.

LIFESTYLE

HOROSCOPE

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FEB. 28 - Mar. 5

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

AERIN IT OUT THE MAN, THE MYTHOS, THE LEGEND

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Put that restless Arian surge to good use this week by preparing your winter-weary home for spring. Also, be more flexible about accepting a workplace change.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Stop being the woolgathering Lamb and start turning that dream project into a reality. You have the ideas, drive and charisma to persuade others to follow your lead, so do it.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Your well-known ability to be patient is challenged as you wait for more news about a promising opportunity that could lead you down a new career path.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) You’ve scored some big successes. But remember that all hard-working When you overhear your favorite larger-than- there,” with a tone of curiosity mixed with Ferdinands and Ferdinandas need some time to restore life barber telling someone, “OMG! It’s going to be skepticism. Oh, hell yeah, let’s get weird. their energies and refresh their spirits.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A setback in your travel plans could prove to be a blessing in disguise. Use this extra time to help close a growing gap between you and a family member.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You’re gaining a stronger done, you turn your head (not too quick) and listen. head-to-toe, sky-high platforms and sporting mental image of what you’re trying to achieve. Now I lifted my heavy head, keeping my platinum- booty-length ponytail extension to compliment look for the facts that will help get this to develop from a concept into a solid proposal. blonde tresses dangling in the wash bowl, craning his already drool-worth silver fox coif as promised.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Don’t let a sudden sense of separation between you and your partner go unchallenged. It’s important to make a strong effort to clear things up.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Some of you eager-to-please “What party is Arthur talking about?” I asked for a hug, shielding my lackluster costume before Moon Children might want to delay some decisions until midweek, when you can again think more with your head my hairapist, desperately. She laughed at my being shuffled to the only proper entrance for a latethan your heart. enthusiasm and told me everyone was getting comer: general admission.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Use the information you recently received to make some long-deferred changes regarding a personal situation. Also, continue to exercise financial restraint.

The walls vibrated and the magnetic energy spilled LEO (July 23 to August 22) A new business venture seems dolled up to travel back in time for a Club Mythos to offer everything you’ve been looking for. But be careful reunion scheduled for Friday night at Blackbox out of the entryway, pulling me closer as if I was being that this rosy picture doesn’t betray traces of red ink Theater on East Sugar Creek Road. sucked into a wormhole. I took a deep breath and under the surface.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) That new responsibility you’re now considering could lead to many opportunities. But be sure you have all the facts before you agree to take it on.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) A volatile situation needs the kind of thoughtful and considerate care you can provide right now. There’ll be plenty of time later to analyze what might have gone wrong.

Andy Kastanas brings us back in time at Blackbox Theater

BY AERIN SPRUILL

the party of the century!” while getting your hair

my neck in his direction to eavesdrop.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) A friend might try LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Your loyalty to a to advise you against a potentially risky move. Ultimately, friend in a tough situation earns you respect from the the decision is yours, but hear them out before you decide. people you care about. Those who criticize you don’t understand what friendship is all about.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You might feel justified in demanding an apology, but it might be wiser SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Your strong to settle things so that today’s adversary doesn’t become work ethic is rewarded with the kind of challenging tomorrow’s enemy. opportunity you love to tackle. Now go ahead and celebrate with family and/or close friends.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Good news: Expect a more positive aspect to dominate your SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A legal personal and professional lives. In addition, someone matter you thought had finally been resolved could close to you seeks your counsel. require a second look. But don’t make any moves yet without consulting your lawyer.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) A disappointment can turn into a learning experience. Now, CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Taking charge at least, you know what not to do. Meanwhile, expect is what you like to do, and since you do it so well, expect more options to open up. to be asked to lead a special group. This could open up an exciting new vista for you.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) What goes around comes around as a friend from the past returns a AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) An important favor. Don’t be timid about accepting it with good grace. matter might wind up being entrusted to you for You deserve it. handling. The responsibility is heavy, but you’ll have support from people who are able and eager to help.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Your spiritual strength helps you deal with a family member’s problem. Expect PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Avoid getting lost in some difficulties, but stay with it until it’s ultimately your thoughts early on in the week. Stay grounded until resolved. the week’s end, when the aspects will give you a stroke of luck that can spur powerful action.

BORN THIS WEEK: You can observe people and situations with absolute honesty. You’d be a fine social worker, BORN THIS WEEK: You always try to do the right thing psychoanalyst or member of the clergy.

— and for the right reasons. No wonder people have come to depend on you.

The first figure I saw was Arthur! Clad in leather

I squeezed my trench coat closed as I embraced him

As an old soul who revels in the gritty edges of stepped through the door. Surrounded by furries, fairies nightlife, this sounded like the closest I’d ever come to and leather daddies, it was easy to dance like no one taking a time machine to the jealousy-inducing stories was watching — because no one was. of “the good ‘ol days” referenced, but never explained, A giant screen hung behind the stage set by nostalgia-bonding old heads. Heart be still. I saved displaying a montage of retro Mythos fliers, vintage my 1,000 questions for Google and Instagram. film, and memories of partygoers past wearing Color me ignorant, but am I the only one who everything from baby tees to themed costumes. didn’t know Andy Kastanas, renowned restaurateur It was a moment akin to the iconic whoosh in a and co-owner of Soul Gastrolounge, not only time travel cult classic: strobe lights surrounding you, moonlights as a DJ but is touted as the Godfather a tingly sensation in your arm hairs, and soundwave of the EDM scene in Charlotte?! And, Mythos, distortion bending around your heart palpitating to the which ran the corner of 6th and College Streets in bass. It was a sensory overload in the best way possible. the heart(beat) of Uptown from 1993-2004, was Bites from the Soul Gastrolounge food truck, his brainchild! Sorry, not sorry, The Imperial and seltzers, vapes, and the rare cellphone provided whatever it was before could never. the ultimate juxtaposition to the relics of rave At 9:31 pm last Friday, thirty minutes post- photography and syncopated synthesizers, snapping reunion kick-off, I accepted the fact that I’d be me back to reality, only to note that I’d been doubleadventuring to Blackbox alone to witness a slice fisting drinks while transfixed for two hours! of history and that I’d be learning what nightlife If there was ever an occasion where the only response dreams deferred feels like today. I bought my ticket to FOMO interrogations was simply, “You had to be there,” and searched my closet for the perfect ’90s rave this was it. Suddenly, the old heads reflecting on, “What meets Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century-inspired outfit. a time to be alive” made total sense. The collective “Is there a rave going on at Blackbox tonight?” consciousness that was will never be, and yet, for one my Uber driver asked as we settled in. As if it wasn’t night only, the “myth”was real again. awkward enough, now I’d pegged him as a serial If you missed this one and the one last December, killer because I was confused about how he knew?! here’s your silver lining: The boss himself, Andy Kastanas, I averted my gaze, noticing my chainmail bra teases a monthly series of upcoming events that act as jingling over my leather harness. Duh. I giggled, oded to past nightlife delights. Here’s to hoping they embarrassed, “Yeah, something like it.” To which will inspire nightlife owners to take notes from the past. he responded, “You never know what’s happening INFO@QCNERVE.COM

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES SUDOKU

BY LINDA THISTLE

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

1. GEOGRAPHY: What is the capital of Canada?

2. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What was the first animal to be cloned?

3. LITERATURE: In the children’s book series “The Bobbsey Twins,” what are the names of the two sets of twins?

4. CHEMISTRY: What is the symbol for the chemical element platinum?

5. MUSIC: What is the title of Elvis Presley’s first commercial single?

6. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What is the first U.S. national park?

7. MEDICAL: What is a common name for xerosis?

8. FOOD & DRINK: What is a sommelier?

9. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the first president to visit all 50 states?

10. HISTORY: What were the principal powers of the Axis in WWII?

CROSSWORD

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. ©2024 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

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RULING PARTY

©2024 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

SAVAGE LOVE

SMASH BUTTON The truth will set you free

I am invited to a (gay) sex party. When invited for dinner you bring a bottle of wine, but what is the proper etiquette for a sex party? Come but he can’t stand being not “enough.” He is afraid showered and douched, I guess. What else? Do I that I will resent him if he doesn’t agree to non- bring something for the host?

NEWBY AT SEX PARTY monogamy. Which I don’t. But if we divorce so I can feel fulfilled, that will destroy him. I don’t think he A host gift is a thoughtful idea, NASP, but slipping your believes I would choose non-monogamy or kink host a little cash — paper towels are way more expensive over him. And I really don’t want to leave him or than they used to be — may be a better idea. lose my lover. I cannot choose between them. I “I usually ask for a £5 tip to cover the costs of food, soft need them both. My heart is BREAKING. Help. drinks and hard drinks I provide at the parties I run,” said BROKENHEARTED AND SEEKING INSIGHTFUL COUNSEL Ali Bushell, author of The Sex Party Handbook. “Even if the I’m sorry about your heart but I can’t with your host of NASP’s first sex party doesn’t ask for money, being willing to tip the host $10 or so is always appreciated. It’s problem.

The mail this week — the mail for weeks — has especially appreciated when the guest acknowledges the been nothing but letters from long-married straight time and effort that went into making the event happen people thinking about cheating or already cheating and mentions that they’re grateful.”

While Bushell makes alcohol available at the parties or desperately trying to renegotiate monogamous he hosts at his home in London, not all sex party hosts commitments they made decades ago or desperately serve booze. “Bringing alcohol isn’t a terrible idea,” said pretending that’s what they’re doing, e.g., they’re Bushell, “but NASP needs to bear in mind some people going through the motions of discussing ethical nonmight prefer the party to be dry. So, if he’s thinking of monogamy in the hopes of legitimizing the non-ethical bringing a six-pack of beer or bottle of wine to share, non-monogamy they’re already practicing. best to check with the host about whether that would be I don’t mean to come across as unsympathetic, BASIC, welcome.” but you’ve been smashing your pussy down on the selfAnd big ups to arriving very recently douched and destruct button for a while now. You didn’t get the answer very freshly showered. Also, don’t wear cologne, put you wanted from your husband — permission to fuck your phone away, be polite when you decline to play other men — and instead of countering his ultimatum with someone, be just as polite to someone who declines (“No fucking around with other men or it’s over”) with to play with you, get on PrEP (prevents HIV infection), an ultimatum of your own (“Permission to fuck around look into DoxyPEP (offers some protection against other with other men or it’s over”), you went out and started sexually transmitted infections), and maybe consider fucking around with other men. You may not have been using condoms (they offer excellent protection against consciously aware that you were smashing your pussy HIV and other STIs). down on the self-destruct button, but you either knew Ali Bushell’s The Sex Party Handbook is available on or should have known you were setting something in Amazon.

When he’s not hosing sex parties, Bushell hosts motion that would blow up your marriage. the The Healers Guild, a podcast for people seeking or This is all going to come out. Your husband is going to offering healing. find out about your lover and then you’re going to find

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BY DAN SAVAGE

My heart is breaking and it’s my own fault.

I started cheating on my husband of 29 years, casually at first — making out, getting groped, no penetrative sex — and then I met a man and we just clicked. I caught feelings and we started to have an intense, kinky and very sexual and emotional relationship.

I love my husband. We are extremely compatible in so many ways, except this one: I am kinky and poly whereas he is vanilla and monogamous.

Even though I haven’t disclosed my cheating to him, we have been talking about my desire to be non-monogamous. He knows I’m kinkier than he is, although I can’t disclose how I came to know I need BDSM in my life. I have also discovered that I am bisexual, but not biromantic. Because of this, my husband has moved on monogamy and agreed to be a little monogamish; he consents to me exploring sexual encounters with women, primarily because he guiltily admits that he finds it a non-threatening turn-on since I am not romantically attracted to women.

I have presented to my husband that I WANT to be non-monogamous and that I am capable of polyamory. He hasn’t consented. Even though he says he doesn’t want to say no or hold me back from exploring my sexuality, he says if I were to issue an ultimatum, we would get divorced. So, this is basically his ultimatum. Meanwhile, my lover and I have recognized that the struggles in our relationship stem from the fact that I am cheating on my husband. It raises doubts for my lover about whether I am deceiving him, since I am obviously capable of deceit. I hate this. When I ask him what he wants, my lover says he wants me not to hate myself so much. And so, we have decided to “pause” our affair until I can figure out how to get right with my husband and be able to be ethnically non-monogamous.

Adding to my heartbreak: I NEED both these relationships. My husband can only flex so far in the kink direction. He cannot be the dominant partner I need. I’ve told him this, more or less.

And he takes it as saying that without that he is nothing, which is not true. He is almost everything,

people smash their hands/mouths/pussies/dicks down on the self-destruct button and wind up destroying their marriages. Sometimes that’s what they want. But sometimes the marriage survives the explosion and something new and beautiful is built on the rubble.

Maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones. But there’s only one way to find out.

Alright, I dug through the mail and looking for questions that aren’t about cheating or negotiating nonmonogamy or embracing polyamory and managed to find a few…

out whether your husband’s threat to divorce was serious.

Threatening to divorce someone you love is easy, actually divorcing someone you love is hard. And divorce is a long, drawn-out process and your husband will have time to reconsider his decision before it’s final.

But only the truth can free you from the miserable corner you’ve painted yourself into. And while it’s going to be unpleasant, telling the truth — the messy, painful truth — is the only way you out. Sometimes married

without shortchanging his need to reconnect emotionally first?

DOWN TO BUSINESS

You can’t.

I’m a 28-year-old woman in Australia. I am talking to a very hot dominant man in his forties that I met on Reddit who’s in my area. He constantly gives me extremely explicit tasks that he wants photos of, including writing his initials on me each day. I have verified his ID — I know his real name and he is who he says he is — but other than the fact that he’s married and very private about his life, I don’t know much about him. I’m enjoying having a regular (constant!) D/s dynamic in my life but I’m worried these photos would ruin me if they got out. But I’m enjoying our online play so much I’ve stopped talking to people on dating apps because his play is more fun for me. It’s hard to find hot kinky people that are normal/hot IRL in my area. Advice please?

PERSONAL IMAGES COMPLICATE SITUATION

The risk you’re running — losing control of your photos — is not some ancillary risk that you can mitigate or eliminate while still enjoying this connection. Your entire relationship with this man consists of taking the pictures he orders you to and then sending them to him.

You want this sexy dominant man to have power over you — you’re turned on by the thought of him having power over you — and these photos are the power he has over you. You aren’t sending these photos to get the sex, PICS, the sending of the photos is the sex.

Now, sex is never risk-free — there’s no such things as entirely safe sex — but sane people do what they can to mitigate risks. Gay men take PrEP so they can enjoy PIB without having to worry about the risk of contracting HIV while straight women use birth control so they can enjoy PIV without having to worry about the risk of contracting fetuses. But the only way to eliminate the risk here is for you to stop sending these photos — to abstain from sending more photos — but that also eliminates everything that’s pleasurable about this connection.

That said, PICS, the fact that know this man’s name — and that you know he’s married — does provide you with some protection. If this man were to post your photos online because you wanted to end the relationship, you have legal recourse — revenge porn is a crime in Australia — and so the risks here are shared and that will hopefully motivate him to keep your photos on a secure and unhackable server and not do anything stupid or I have a lover and we are long-distance. I’d like vindictive when you move on to a hot Dom you can see to spend the limited time we have in person doing IRL. physical activities — getting intimate — but he Got problems? Everyone does! Send your question to takes a long time to warm up and needs to spend a lot of time talking first. If we had all the time in the mailbox@savage.love; podcasts, columns and more at world, that wouldn’t be a problem, but we usually Savage.Love. only see each other on business trips that take us to each other’s cities. Can we cut to the chase

PUZZLE ANSWERS

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1. Ottawa.

2. A sheep.

3. Nan, Bert, Flossie and Freddie.

4. Pt. 5. “That’s All Right.”

Trivia Answers

6. Yellowstone National Park.

7. Dry skin.

8. Wine expert.

9. Richard Nixon.

10. Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan.

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