Queen City Nerve - September 8, 2021

2⁰21 Fall Arts Guide

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 21; SEPTEMBER 8 - SEPTEMBER 21, 2021; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

A RETURN TO THE STAGE

NEWS: GROWING PAINS ON MONROE ROAD PG. 4

FOOD: BARVECUE’S MEAT SUBSTITUTE GOES NATIONAL PG. 18

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

NEWS& OPINION ARTS& CULTURE PUBLISHER

JUSTIN LAFRANCOIS jl afra n co i s @ q cn er ve.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RYAN PITKIN rpi tk i n @ q cn e r ve. c om

ART DIRECTOR

JAYME JOHNSON jjo h n s o n @ q cn e r ve.com

DIGITAL EDITOR

KARIE SIMMONS ks i m mo n s @ q cn er ve.com

STAFF WRITER

PAT MORAN pm o ra n @ q cn er ve . com

AD SALES EXECUTIVE RENN WILSON r wi l s o n @ q cn e r ve . com

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MUSIC

8 FALL ARTS GUIDE 2021 A return to the stage 10 LIFELINE: 10 COOL THINGS TO DO IN TWO WEEKS 12 BEST OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES ON THE CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL 14 NOT A FAIRY TALE BY RYAN PITKIN

The mythical tale of Ogres was a long time coming

16 SOUNDWAVE

18 FOOD& DRINK LIFESTYLE

RAISING THE BAR BY PAT MORAN Local startup’s vegan barbecue goes national

20 PUZZLES 21 THE SEEKER BY KATIE GRANT 21 HOROSCOPE 22 SAVAGE LOVE 23 STRANGE FACTS

THANKS TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS: PAT MORAN, GRANT BALDWIN, MITCHELL KEARNEY, CODY BARNETT, JORDAN ALLEN, APRIL FRIEDLINE, DICK CLARK MISES, KATIE GRANT, AND DAN SAVAGE.

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2⁰21 Fall Arts Guide A RETURN TO THE STAGE

NEWS: GROWING PAINS ON MONROE ROAD PG. 4

@QUEENCIT Y N E RVE W W W.QCNERVE .C OM

4 GROWING PAINS BY KARIE SIMMONS Plans for new Monroe Road Streetscape rankle existing business owners

FOOD: BARVECUE’S MEAT SUBSTITUTE GOES NATIONAL PG. 18

COVER DESIGN BY: JAYME JOHNSON

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NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

GROWING PAINS

Plans for new Monroe Road Streetscape rankle existing business owners

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BY KARIE SIMMONS

City of Charlotte planners are altering their vision for 10-foot-wide bike and pedestrian paths on Monroe Road after hearing feedback from some Oakhurst businesses and property owners in recent weeks.

The paths, which would include additional 8-footwide planting strips separating the bike paths from the roadway, were planned for both sides of Monroe Road from Wendover Road to Ross Moore Avenue and Eaton Road. The city would need to purchase private property in order to construct the amenities, which would total 18 feet on each side of the street, and in some cases that meant buying up valuable parking spaces fronting Monroe Road.

But it won’t be a simple handshake deal for Waters Incorporated, which owns Oakhurst Commerce Centre, a multi-building business park anchored by Common Market, Iron Tribe Fitness and PPG Paints.

The latest version of the project would take 19 parking spaces from the property while promising to replace two when construction is complete.

However, Waters Incorporated Vice President Gerri Fewster argued that losing so many spaces will make parking difficult for visitors and hurt businesses like Common Market, whose strong customer base relies on convenience.

Fewster also serves as Waters’ director of commercial property management and said Common Market was a big draw for the company purchasing Oakhurst Commerce Centre. Its reputation as a community meeting place has helped bring in new tenants like MoveStudio, she said.

“We have a real good thing going on there,” Fewster said. “It’s very nice for the neighborhood and this will, in supposedly doing something good for the neighborhood, destroy our property and Common Market is just one of the businesses.”

Graham Worth, owner of Common Market Oakhurst, has been vocal about the need for a creative compromise, one that doesn’t affect his bottom line.

which is why it’s backing Common Market.

“An improvement project that makes it difficult to access our businesses is counterproductive,” said Kathy Hill, chair of MoRA. “We’re confident that the city and the businesses along Monroe can find acceptable solutions to challenges like this one.”

At MoRA’s request, the city hosted a meeting on Aug. 25 at Common Market.

City staff explained the Monroe Road Streetscape project, answered questions and absorbed feedback from business owners and residents.

“I’m glad you’re putting energy into Oakhurst. ­It needed a hug,” Common Market employee Roger Raymer said.

“But if you can do this without negatively PHOTO BY KARIE SIMMONS VERONICA WALLACE SPEAKS TO CONCERNED CITIZENS AT COMMON MARKET. impacting the businesses, everyone will be happy. I’m pretty damn sure.”

Worth reached out to MoRA, a community “It’s the 19 most convenient spots, it’s not like Veronica Wallace, Charlotte’s engineering and they’re taking spots from the back,” Worth said, “and organization that’s short for Monroe Road project management division manager, assured the Advocates, to coordinate a conversation with the our whole business is built on convenience.” design can be retrofitted to fit the space if it stays within City staff are currently revising the design based city. MoRA typically advocates for improvements budget and doesn’t require moving utility poles. on feedback and do not yet know how many parking like bike paths, walkability and beautification, but it also strives for an economically vibrant community, spaces will be impacted in the new version.

Story continued on page 6

Stakeholders feel left out

The multi-use path is just one part of the city’s $13.38 million Monroe Road Streetscape project, which aims to make the corridor more walkable and improve greenway connections. Other improvements include new pedestrian crossings, signals and bus stop enhancements.

The city aims to start construction in late 2022 and finish late 2024, which seems soon for stakeholders like Worth and Waters Inc., who claim to have only recently learned about the impact of the project on their businesses.

According to the Monroe Road Streetscape project website, the city held six public engagement opportunities from October 2016 through June 2021. Worth attended the first meeting, but described it only as a “think tank” and said he hadn’t heard anything concrete about the project until this past June.

Waters Inc. was informed around the same time via a postcard sent to its other Monroe Road property, The Mini Storage Center.

“We were never notified, legally, by letter, anything,” Fewster said. “They’ve been working on this for a couple years and their website says they’ve talked with everyone. We weren’t talked to and we have two properties there.”

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NEWS & OPINION FEATURE Worth’s main issue with the path, aside from losing parking and the potential impact on his business, is the principle. He said the city required 43 additional spaces when he opened in May 2017, which Common Market paid to add to the property, and now the project aims to take more than a dozen away.

He also questioned if Common Market would be violating its use permit if it operates without the necessary parking spots and told city planners Aug. 25 he feels like his concerns have fallen on deaf ears.

“We didn’t know,” Wallace responded. “It’s not an excuse, but it’s a reason.”

Constraints create domino effect

The multi-use path is a good idea in theory, Worth said, but does Oakhurst even need it? And does the need justify the impact?

Worth wondered who’s really biking and walking along Monroe Road, emphasizing that the majority of his business comes from customers who drive.

He estimates about 15% of people walk or bike to Common Market on the weekends and “pretty much no one” on the weekdays.

“Who is even going to come up here and use this?” Worth asked. “The idea of the project is wellintended, but who are you really trying to service here?”

“The irony of this is we are the business that would benefit from this the most,” he continued.

“But the damage that would be done from losing the spaces outweighs any benefit.”

Fewster said parking at Oakhurst Commerce

Centre is already tight thanks to the popularity of Common Market. Turnover tends to be slow and most cars stay parked for an hour in front of Bohemian Stylehouse, Carolina Pediatric Therapy, MoveStudio, Sweet Spot Studio and others.

Those problems are compounded by what Waters Inc. promised to CleanWave, a laundromat opening next to Common Market.

Fewster said the laundromat’s lease stipulates a certain number of parking spaces out front, which would leave Common Market with hardly any and create a domino effect of customers parking in front of other tenants.

“It would be terrible,” Fewster said. “I would not be able to re-lease the space if Common Market left because of the parking requirements. THESE PARKING SPACES WOULD BE DEMOLISHED FOR A NEW BIKE PATH. PHOTO BY KARIE SIMMONS Nobody’s going to go in there with one or two spaces in front and that’s it for that size property.” they’re heading back to the drawing board. the city simply make the path winding to “Based on the feedback heard at the meeting, accommodate what’s already there. the project team is currently looking at options to “We’re a funky neighborhood,” she said. “We Finding a compromise alter the design to retain parking spots and create don’t mind if you have to go around something or Worth said the city offered compensation for spaces lost, but because he’s not the property owner a path for pedestrians and bicyclists to travel along it’s not quite straight. We like that.” he “wouldn’t get a dime.” Instead, Common Market Monroe Road comfortably,” King wrote in an email.

KSIMMONS@QCNERVE.COM Liz Millsaps Haigler, co-chair of Oakhurst and Waters Inc. want city planners to come back Community Neighborhood Association, suggested with a design that mitigates the impact.

“I’m sure they’re diligently trying to figure out something to appease us, appease the Common Market and our tenants and also do the project for the rest of Monroe Road,” Fewster said.

Project manager Natalie King told Queen City Nerve that Common Market is important to the city’s vision because it would draw surrounding residents to utilize the multi-use path.

However, based on feedback, planners now understand the ability to easily park also draws people to the popular bottle shop and deli, so

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‘Wicked’

This Broadway sensation tells the story of what happened in the Land of Oz long before Dorothy dropped in, when a young witch born with emeraldgreen skin meets a bubbly blonde witch. Their initial rivalry turns into friendship until the world starts calling one “good” and the other “wicked.”

More: Sept. 8–Oct. 3, times vary; $39–$139; Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd.; blumenthalarts.org

Opera Carolina: ‘I Dream’

A new version of the original 2018 musical drama that tells the story of Coretta and Martin Luther King, Jr., who led the movement that changed a nation.

More: Sept. 16–19, times vary; $22–$157; Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; operacarolina.org

Fall Arts Guide A return to the stage

It remains a precarious times for arts locally and across the country. As performers, venues and organizers continue to grapple with what safety precautions and protocols to put in place, we’d like to point you to some events that will still be going on throughout the fall, but with one stipulation: Get vaccinated, for God’s sake. Take all necessary precautions and attend events at your own risk. Continue to mask up indoors and keep your distance, and enjoy some autumnal art shows.

visual artists, a diverse and authentic selection of Latin American food and handmade crafts. The interactive street festival environment features activities for the whole family.

More: Sept. 18–19, times vary; $25; Symphony Park, 4400 Sharon Road; tinyurl.com/LatAmFestCLT

patio and rooftop beer garden.

More: Sept. 25, noon–11 p.m.; free; The Chamber

by Wooden Robot Brewery, 416 E. 36th St., Suite 100; tinyurl.com/AstroPopCLT

Potters Market at the Mint

An opportunity to see high-quality ceramic work by 60 of the top potters in North Carolina and interact with the artists. There will also be pottery demonstrations, live music, food concessions and a beer garden, as well as free access to the Mint Museum galleries.

More: Sept. 25, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; $15; Mint Museum around the world. The sounds of big band music Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road; mintmuseum.org drift across Freedom Park’s lake whose still surface reflects the lights strung from Camelot exhibit tents. Trey Kennedy: The Are You For Real?

There are talented artists throughout the park, and you’ll be sure to find a piece to adorn your walls at Tour The comedian and musician first emerged as a star home.

More: Sept. 24–26, times vary; Free; Freedom Park, on the Vine app but is best known today for his funny sketches and viral videos on TikTok and YouTube.

1908 East Blvd.; festivalinthepark.org More: Oct. 1, 7 & 9:30 p.m.; $30–$99; McGlohon Theater, 345 N. College St.; blumenthalarts.org

Mad About Modern Home Astro Pop Mural + Music Festival Tour This free art and music extravaganza will have live-

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John Leslie Impressionist

Charlotte’s only midpainted murals, live music, food trucks, vendors and century modern home more throughout Wooden Robot Brewery’s NoDa tour is back but will be virtual for the second year in a row, featuring 360-degree tours of four homes in Selwyn Park, Wynwood, Spring Valley and East Providence Estates neighborhoods, plus ‘I DREAM’ one along the Catawba PHOTO BY MITCHELL KEARNEY River.

Sept. 23–Oct. 22; $25; online; Breck: American More: charlottemuseum.org

Anchored by The Mint Museum’s 2016 acquisition of John Leslie Breck’s canvas, “Suzanne HoschedéMonet Sewing,” this exhibition includes approximately 70 of Breck’s finest works, drawn from public and private collections as well as the illustrious Terra Foundation collection. Many of the works in the exhibition have not been on public view in more than a century.

More: Sept. 18–Jan. 2; Prices vary; Mint Museum Uptown, 500 S. Tryon St.; mintmuseum.org

Latin American Festival

Theo Von

The stand-up comedian and podcaster from southern Louisiana started as a contestant on MTV’s Road Rules and The Challenge before delving into game show hosting and acting. He’s been on Inside Amy Schumer and Why? with Hannibal Buress. In 2006, he had the most downloaded online clips on Last Comic Standing.

More: Sept. 24, 8 p.m.; $25–$49; Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

Festival in the Park

North Carolina’s oldest Latin American cultural event Since 1964, Festival in the Park has brought music, returns for its 31st year, with live performances, art and good times to Charlotteans and visitors from

Connect with free virtual arts, science, and history experiences for all ages.

CULTURE

BLOCKS

Find upcoming events at ArtsAndScience.org/CultureBlocks

Randy Rainbow: Pink Glasses Tour

humor and “doing the most and the least at the Isaac Julien: Lina Bo Bardi–A The two-time Emmy-nominated singer, writer, same damn time.”

Marvellous Entanglement comedian and musical satirist will bring his most More: Oct. 16, 8 p.m.; $29–$79; Belk Theater, 130 A tribute to legendary Italian-Brazilian viral video song parodies to life onstage, and perform N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org architect Lina Bo Bardi by the British artist and brand new original songs, with help filmmaker Isaac Julien. In this ninefrom Broadway musicians. screen film installation, Julien examines More: Oct. 2, 8 p.m.; $35–$175; Bo Bardi’s life and work through Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; dramatic enactments of her words and blumenthalarts.org ideas performed amid her most prized

Hosted by WBTV’s Molly Grantham and NFL’s Kurt Coleman, DWTS of Charlotte pairs Queen City business and society “movers and shakers” with professional ballroom dancers. The event raises money for the Pink House, which provides uplift and supportive services to people with breast cancer.

More: Nov. 6, 7 p.m.; $125; Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

buildings.

More: Oct. 30–Feb. 27; Prices vary; Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, 420 S. ‘RENT’: 25th Anniversary Farewell Tour Tryon St.; bechtler.org Dancers will perform a new work, A touring production of Jonathan Larson’s Tony Then, Now, Forever, set to music Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, RENT.

by Philip Glass performed by the Kings Drive Art Walk More: Nov. 9–14, times vary; $25–$99.50; Belk Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.

Originally planned by Festival in the Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org Also on the bill is Val Caniparoli’s Park organizers as a spring event to help Ibsen’s House, while former artistic break up the monotony between their YAM 2021 Fall Ball: The Queen is Back director Salvatore Aiello’s The big annual to-do, COVID had other plans, A night of dancing, signature cocktails, food and Rite of Spring will return with reso the Art Walk is coming to Halloween CHARLOTTE BALLET WILL CELEBRATE 50 YEARS formalwear. A silent art auction funds tours of PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLOTTE BALLET imagined designs. weekend, which opens up opportunities More: Oct. 7–9, 7:30 p.m.; $25– for spookiness (and candy?) on the Little the Mint Museum for CMS students throughout the year. $96; Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.

Sugar Creek Greenway.

Talking Walls org More: Oct. 30–31, times vary; free; Little Sugar Creek More: Nov. 20, 7 p.m.; prices vary; Mint Museum The citywide public art and mural festival returns Greenway, 600 S. Kings Drive; festivalinthepark.org Uptown, 500 S. Tryon St.; mintmuseum.org with a whole new roster of artists who will spend ‘Potted Potter – The Unauthorized a week creating masterpieces to add to Charlotte’s Harry Experience’ growing mural collection.

Two-time Olivier Award-nominated actors Daniel More: Oct. 18–24, times and locations vary; free; Clarkson and Jefferson Turner run through all seven talkingwallscharlotte.com Harry Potter books, plus a game of Quidditch, in 70 hilarious minutes.

Charlotte Symphony: ‘The Nightmare More: Oct. 15–17, times vary; $25–$99; Booth Before Christmas’ Playhouse, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas plays on a large screen while the Charlotte Symphony Jean Tinguely: A Life in Motion orchestra brings the film’s rambunctious, colorful Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) was a Swiss sculptor score to life. best known for his mechanical sculptures, officially More: Oct. 22–23, 7:30 p.m.; prices vary; Belk known as “metamatics,” that extended the Dada Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; charlottesymphony.org tradition into the later part of the 20th century. In Tedeschi Trucks Sturgill Simpson Melissa Etheridge Fireside Live addition to being one of the most important and Container / Contained: Phil Freelon forward-thinking European artists to emerge in the latter half of the 20th century, Tinguely was also the Design Strategies for Telling Africanpartner of Niki de Saint Phalle, a close friend of the American Stories Bechtler family and the artist who created the iconic The late North Carolina architect Philip G. Freelon “Le Grand Oiseau de Feu sur l’Arche” on the Bechtler (1953-2019) had a remarkable career over four Mavis Staples Margo Price LeAnn Rimes JOHNNYSWIM Museum’s entrance plaza. decades designing public buildings with his firm More: Opens Oct. 16; Prices vary; Bechtler Museum The Freelon Group and later as design director of Modern Art, 420 S. Tryon St.; bechtler.org with Perkins + Will North Carolina. This exhibition critically examines Freelon’s work, with a focus Balsam Range Shovels & Rope The Milk Carton Kids We Banjo 3 Heather McMahon: The Farewell Tour on projects that foreground African-American Insta-famous actress, podcaster and comedian communities and identities.

Heather McMahon is known for her self-deprecating More: Oct. 29–Jan.17; Prices vary; Harvey B. Gantt Center, 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

Charlotte Ballet: 50th Anniversary Celebration

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Dancing with the Stars of Charlotte for the Pink House

and many more performers!

THU-SAT09_16 - 09_18 SCHULER KING

When they tell a comedian to kill ‘em or slay the audience, it’s just a figure of speech, but for Sumter, S.C. native Schuler King, the expression has added resonance. Graduating from the University of South Carolina with a degree in media arts, he went on to graduate from Gupton Jones Mortuary College with a degree in mortuary science. He’s likely the only comedian/funeral director on the comedy circuit. When he isn’t performing at comedy clubs, he works as a licensed funeral director and embalmer at his family’s funeral business in South Carolina.

More: $25; Sept. 16–18, various times; Comedy Zone Charlotte, 900 NC Music Factory Blvd.; cltcomedyzone.com

RAYE ZARAGOZA Photo courtesy of Raye Zaragoza

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As a Japanese-American, Mexican, Indigenous woman, Zaragoza spent much of her early life trying to assimilate with the world around her — until she decided, “Fuck that shit.” A purveyor of feminist anthems and fearless protest folk music, Zaragoza has released Fight For You, a protestdriven debut in which the artist focuses on finding her voice as a woman of color. Anchored by brisk, compelling melodies, her songs celebrate the power of embracing your own identity, particularly in a society that often seems intent on erasing you. It’s a potent message from an incendiary artist.

More: Free; Sept. 9, 6 p.m.; Camp North End; 300 Camp Road; camp.nc/events

Before being derailed by COVID, The Black Crowes were supposed to stop off at PNC pavilion in July 2020. It was part of their reunion tour for that summer, marking the 30th anniversary of their debut album Shake Your Money Maker, featuring the Crowes’ biggest hit, a blistering cover of Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle.” The rock and soul revivalist band launched in the mid-1980s by brothers Chris and Rich Robinson plan to play that album in its entirety, along with popular cuts like “Morning Song” and “Evergreen”.

More: $11 and up; Sept. 10, 8 p.m.; PNC Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd.; charlottemusicpavilion.com

“With every opportunity, [Howell is] using her craft to tell a story in the way that only Maria Howell can,” wrote Queen City Nerve contributor Greg Jarrell in our 2021 Music Issue. Howell, a gifted performer from Gastonia, may be the hardest-working woman in Charlotte showbiz. She acts on the side, appearing in movies like The Color Purple and Hidden Figures.

An aficionado and master of the Great American Songbook, Howell joins pianist and frequent collaborator Noel Freidline, saxophonist Ziad Rabie, bassist Ron and drummer Alfred Sergel IV for the reopening of the Jazz at the Bechtler series.

More: $20; Sept. 10, 6 p.m. & 8:15 p.m.; Bechtler Museum of Modern Art; 420 S. Tryon St.; bechtler.org

Progressive alternative four-piece Phantom Friends has drawn comparisons to bands as disparate as The Allman Brothers and Foo Fighters. Their eclecticism was built-in from the band’s beginning in 2016.

Put on a bill to play a Common Market South End showcase, Richie Gaiser enlisted close friends Matt Wilson, Dominic Birckbickler and Dave Wilson to throw together an ad hoc band that drew on influences ranging from funk to ’80s hair metal.

More: $10; Sept. 11, 10 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.; snugrock.com

RAYE ZARAGOZA

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MARIA HOWELL Photo by April Friedline

SCHULER KING Photo courtesy of Comedy Zone

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THE BLACK CROWES

MARIA HOWELL

THE PHANTOM FRIENDS, OCEANIC, FAMILY VIDEO

THE BLACK CROWES Photo by Dick Clark Mises

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CLASSIC BLACK CINEMA SERIES: ‘GREASED LIGHTNING’

“Richard Pryor isn’t very funny in Greased Lightning,” The New York Times proclaimed upon the release of this 1977 Pryor vehicle. As a backhanded compliment, NYT goes on to praise Pryor’s dramatic performance.

Pryor, an irreverent comic genius, plays it straight in the true story of Wendell Scott, America’s first AfricanAmerican NASCAR driver. In the 1950s-’60s period piece, Pryor gives a subtly dramatic performance of a man who hides his intelligence, a survival instinct amid the casual racism that surrounds him.

More: Free ($9 for non-members); Sept. 12, 2 p.m.; Gantt Center; 551 S Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

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Boasting a star-studded lineup of five Charlotte Symphony Orchestra musicians, the ensemble presents a hardly classical sonic voyage consisting of pieces by an eclectic mix of living composers: Daniel Bernard Roumain, Caroline Shaw, Kronodigger, KinanAzmeh, Gabriella Frank, Missy Mazzoli and Jessie Montgomery. This showcase of unclassifiable instrumental music encompasses soaring solo violin, interlocking duets, stirring ostinato trios, lilting string quartets and bristling EDM soundtracks.

More: $15; Sept. 15, 8 p.m.; Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E 36th St.; neighborhoodtheatre.com

“You should listen to us/Because we read a few things/On the internet/And that’s just as good/As a doctorate.” This paean to the death waltz between American exceptionalism and the Dunning-Kruger effect comes courtesy of Charleston’s Sexbruise? The satirical pop band combines improvisation, electronic music, killer hooks and audience participation in their high-energy shows. In the single and video “WDHTV,” the band employs impeccable musicianship to deliver a blistering takedown of all the idiots prolonging COVID with their irresponsible actions.

More: $10; Sept. 19, 7 p.m.; Heist Brewery and Barrel Arts; 1030 Woodward Ave.; heistbrewery.com

At the age of 14, Justin Rivera, performing as J.I the Prince of New York, competed on Lifetime’s 2016 music competition series The Rap Game. He didn’t win, but he learned to change his rapid-flow style to a sweet and melodic template on which he spins tales of young love and loss on the streets.

Flash forward to 2019 when his outstanding single “Need Me” broke 100 million streams on Spotify. In December 2020, his EP Hood Life Crisis Vol. 3 became his first effort to hit the Billboard charts.

More: $22.50; Sept. 19, 7 p.m.; Underground, 820 Hamilton St.; fillmorenc.com

CHARLOTTE’S HARDLY CLASSICAL ENSEMBLE

SEXBRUISE?

‘GREASED LIGHTNING’ Still from film

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J.I THE PRINCE OF NEW YORK

SEXBRUISE? Press Photo

WEEKEND

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JOHN LESLIE BRECK: AMERICAN IMPRESSIONIST

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Anchored by The Mint Museum’s 2016 acquisition of John Leslie Breck’s canvas, “Suzanne HoschedéMonet Sewing,” this exhibition includes approximately 70 of Breck’s finest works, drawn from public and private collections as well as the illustrious Terra Foundation collection. Many of the works in the exhibition have not been on public view in more than a century.

More: Free; Sept. 18 & 19, 1 p.m.; Mint Museum Uptown, 500 South Tryon St.; mintmuseum.org

‘WOMAN IN A GARDEN’ Artwork by John Leslie Breck

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J.I THE PRINCE OF NEW YORK Press photo

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POWERED BY

KINGS MOUNTAIN GREENWAY TRAIL

SEVEN OAKS PRESERVE TRAIL

This trail is ADA-compliant, allowing more folks to get out and enjoy some of the historic aspects of Kings Mountain, NC. The trailhead is accessible from downtown via sidewalk, and connects to three extra miles of trails beyond the five trails that are officially designated Carolina Thread Trail.

This one is hard to beat in terms of just outright natural beauty, as the natural-surface trail meanders along the shoreline of Lake Wylie and is located on 78 acres of preserved land managed by the Catawba Lands Conservancy. The trail connects to Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens for a five-mile loop.

DISTANCE: 5 miles, one way TRAILHEAD: 807 S. Battleground Avenue, Kings Mountain, NC

DISTANCE: 2.6 miles, one way; 4.52 miles, loop TRAILHEAD: 6900 S. New Hope Road, Belmont, NC

CATAWBA INDIAN NATION GREENWAY TRAIL There are three trails on this reservation that connect to each other. Our recommended route: Start at the Cultural Center Trail or the Yehasuri Trail, which will bring you down to the river after a half-mile. The trail features interpretive signage about the importance of the land to the tribe’s culture, as well as a Catawba dwelling, a bark house, dugout trees, story circle and active archeological dig. Take a left when you reach the river to get to the Catawba Indian Nation Greenway Trail.

DISTANCE: 2.5 miles, one way TRAILHEAD: 992 Avenue of the Nations, Rock Hill, SC

TWELVE MILE CREEK TRAIL Start your journey at Walnut Creek Park in Lancaster, SC, and head north on the natural-surface path and across a bevy of bridges and boardwalks before ending at a 170-foot suspension bridge that marks the border with North Carolina near Charlotte.

The bridge will eventually connect the trail to the Twelve Mile Creek Greenway in Waxhaw, continuing the trail.

DISTANCE: 3.7 miles, one way TRAILHEAD: 10521 Walnut Creek Parkway, Lancaster, SC

This trail traces the Catawba River near Charlotte, specifically the rocky outcroppings that are home to the largest known population of rocky shoals spider lilies, listed as a national species of concern and designated as endangered in some places. Most of this trail is within 10 feet of the Catawba’s banks, making for a fragrant walk in the summer and beautiful walk year-round.

DISTANCE: 1.5 miles, one way TRAILHEAD: 2051 Park Drive, Catawba, SC

LANDSFORD CANAL TRAIL

CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL 10 Best Trails for Outdoor Activities in Charlotte on the Carolina Thread Trail

Our series of articles and informational graphics about getting outside in the Charlotte area to be active on the Carolina Thread Trail network and Catawba River is presented in partnership with local orthopedic-care provider OrthoCarolina.

A NOTE FROM CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL DIRECTOR BRET BARONAK “I’m fortunate to be in the unique position in which the results of my professional work greatly benefit my personal life. Outside of the office, you will often find me hiking or cycling on the many trails in the region. The success of our work at Carolina Thread Trail, in conjunction with our partners, creates even more opportunities to enjoy all of the benefits that are bestowed upon us through trails. An ever-growing network enhances our relationship to the environment and each other, and allows us to connect internally within ourselves. The interest in trails over the past few years has been phenomenal. It’s a wonderful display to see people discovering or re-discovering the outdoors. Communities across the region are all pulling in the same direction in the realization how profound an affect trails have on quality of life.”

NOTABLE PLANTS & TREES OF THE CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL NETWORK by staff biologist Sean Bloom

BEECH TREE

Considered both a shade and ornamental tree, the Beech Tree grows between 50-70 feet tall with a spread around 40 feet. It provides edible, hard, brown beech nuts and a golden bronze fall color.

BLOODROOT

Bloodroot is an herbaceous perennial flower that grows to about a foot tall and blooms white flowers in March and April in shady, moist conditions.

OrthoCarolina Tip: “Make sure to properly fuel for your outdoor adventure. Carbs are your friend for high-intensity activities like mountain biking and trail running.

Underfueling can lead to feeling fatigued, sore and weak more quickly.”

CARDINAL FLOWER

Cardinal flowers are red perennials that bloom May through October. Cardinal flowers rely on hummingbirds for pollination and over-picking can create scarcity in certain areas.

WHITE OAK TREE

White Oaks grow between 50-80 feet tall with an equal width span at full maturity. White Oaks produce acorns and red or burgundy tree cover in the fall months.

SYCAMORE TREE

Sycamores are large, deciduous trees that grow between 100-130 feet tall. Two unique identifying features of Sycamore Trees are thin bark that gives off a patchy look, and round seed balls or pods containing tufts of seeds.

WOODLAND SUNFLOWER

Woodland sunflowers are miniature sunflowers that grow in sunny, dry conditions between June and September. The bright yellow flowering is tough to miss on the local trails.

MUSIC FEATURE

well as with the “abrasize jazz” trio Brut Beat. He’s While their most recent coworking experience also played in punk bands 2013 Wolves and The may have brought the crew together in its most Luciferean Agenda, among others.

As Ogres, the band members have put together official manifestation, one could argue that Ogres all their diverse areas of expertise to craft a mashup has been in the works for decades.

Each of the members share childhood stories of genres that changes as the tracks do with one another from growing up in Gaston County The mythical tale of Ogres together, namely in Mount Holly, where they all ‘What Gaston County sounds like’ was a long time coming gathered at the pool every summer as kids. Aswell Each Ogres track starts with a loop. Aswell creates and Blackwood are brothers. Bennett and Aswell were a beat — maybe just the drums, but oftentimes with

BY RYAN PITKIN classmates, as were Childers and Blackwood. at least one guitar worked in — and loops it for two Childers was the first person to record Aswell to three minutes. He sends that off to Childers, who Despite its location just over the Gaston County playing drums when the latter was 11 years old. writes lyrics based on how the track hits him. border, closer to Charlotte than more popular spots like The two even still remember an especially physical, Once Aswell gets it back, he teams with Crowders Mountain or Kings mountains, most Queen tense game of backyard basketball.

Blackwood and Bennett to create a more complete City residents are not familiar with Cramer Mountain.

That may be due to its exclusivity, as it’s not a tourist venue like others in the area. The mountain is home to Cramer Mountain Club, a country club that caters to some of the more affluent folks living in and around Cramerton, a town of less than 5,000 people on the banks of the South Fork Catawba River.

It was in the club that local musician and restaurateur Scott Blackwood opened Khakis and brought on his brother Justin Aswell and longtime friend Robert Childers to work there. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the trio found themselves in what they now call a “bizarre” situation, dealing with the “Gaston County rich” who weren’t interested in taking orders from any government or health official.

“Being at the country club during the start of it, it was a hotbed for a lot of alt, right-wing takes on a lot of shit,” recalls Aswell. “It was pretty intense.”

“People [were] screaming at you for wearing your mask at work, which you have to do, but they’re mad PHOTO BY CODY BENNETT about it,” Childers continues, shaking his head. Though OGRES (FROM LEFT) JUSTIN ASWELL, ROBERT CHILDERS, CODY BENNETT, SCOTT BLACKWOOD never proven, he’s convinced his own bout of COVID-19 When I meet with the four guys in the open- instrumental around Childers’ lyrics. Of course, this came at the hands of one of the club’s members. air dining room at Miguel’s Restaurant on Little cycle sometimes has to repeat itself a few times And yet, the group of longtime friends couldn’t Rock Road, close to the Gaston County border, the before it’s complete, says Aswell. be happier with what came out of the otherwise bonds they have built over years of friendship are “There are times when [Robert] will give me stuff hellish experience: Ogres, their genre-bending clear. Their musical connections, on the other hand, and by the time I’m done with it he listens and says, punk, hip-hop, Southern rock experiment. would only be apparent to those who have paid ‘Oh shit, I gotta re-record my parts. I was singing to “We’re serving [club members], and in our close attention to each of their careers. that other stuff,’” he explains. “He needs to reinterpret leisure time writing these subversive songs that Aswell is best known around the city as a producer his stylings to match the new instrumental.” are coming out of our experiences with people who and DJ, building his name at hip-hop and b-boy “Which is a great, true form of collaboration that think we’re their fucking servant,” Childers says. events like Knocturnal. Blackwood built his rep as a I really dig,” Childers continues.

“That’s all in there, and the project probably would promoter and manager, though he’s also a producer, What comes out is a mashup of all the influences not have happened had it not been for that.” most recently working with Aswell on a freestyle the group has grown up with and performed in their Since finishing their first track in September production series called Brotherly Love. Bennett is respective projects. “Proletariat Gate Guard” has 2020, the group has brought on guitarist Cody best known as the bassist for once-popular Charlotte a dance vibe reminiscent of Beck, while Childers’ Bennett, and will play their first live show together Southern rock band Swamp da Wamp.

Americana roots are apparent in “Gone To Harlow.” at Snug Harbor on Sept. 18 alongside Telepathetics, Childers’ resume is familiar to folks in all corners According to Childers, the band’s sound goes back Adam Cope and Duke Massive. They say they have of Charlotte’s music scenes. He’s played drums to those days at the Mount Holly community pool. two projects worth of material ready to go, and hope to with his father in David Childers & the Serpents, as “When we were kids we would make mixtapes and release one of them in October.

NOT A FAIRY TALE

Pg. 14 SEP 8 - SEP 21, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

Old friends make a new sound

trade them amongst each other, and it was like a circle of dudes in Mount Holly that would do that,” Childers recalls. “And I feel like this band is one of those mixtapes coming to life. It is everything that we’ve been growing up on and listening to coming out.”

One connecting theme throughout is the hip-hop influence, though no single song could necessarily be labeled as such. Childers says that’s another product of the small Gaston County town.

“In Mount Holly, cypher culture, be it drum battling to rap battles, it was like something you grew up doing, it was everywhere,” he says. “It was at all the parks and basketball courts. It was multiracial and there were different groups that would rap together, and there would be battles. It was just how we grew up, and it was a natural thing.”

He insists that, though no one would call him a rapper, it’s always been present in his music.

“I make the hip-hop that comes out of being a weird-ass dude from Mount Holly that’s always grown up going to punk rock shows and loves Wu Tang Clan,” he says. “I was definitely very much inspired by that no matter what. I’ve always lyrically and vocally approached it like a hip-hop song while still singing and being punk rock with it.”

“It’s what Gaston County sounds like,” explains Blackwood.

MUSIC FEATURE Angst and opportunity

Another theme running through the Ogres tracks is apparent both in the lyrics and production: angst.

Though not uncommon in Childers’ songs with past bands, the regular references to life and death are hard to ignore in light of the pandemic that underscored the band’s formation.

In “Proletariat Gate Guard,” Childers ends with the lyrics, “Maybe God ain’t real, maybe death is nothing, maybe everything we’ve been told’s a lie.”

In “Fences,” which Childers says was inspired by his experience at the country club, he repeats the refrain, “Stay alive ‘til we end up dead.” He wrote the song while fighting off his own COVID infection.

In a less terrifying way, COVID also influenced the sound of Ogres. Unable to play his regular DJ gigs around the city, Aswell decided to pick up a bass guitar his friend had lent him. It was his first time playing guitar since he was a child. The riffs he came up with were the foundation for what would become Ogres.

“I was like, ‘Oh shit, I kinda remember how to play this thing, that’s cool,’ and then I just started making instrumentals,” Aswell recalls. “Maybe even the first one I played for Robert, he was like, ‘Oh hell

yeah, I’ll kill this.’”

The team is comfortable with their process at this point and has been releasing singles weekly in the lead-up to their Sept. 18 show (visit qcnerve.com on Sept. 9 to check out their latest premiere there).

Childers is preparing for what will be a rare firsttime musical experience as front man.

“I fronted Luciferean Agenda, but I mean, I had an instrument. Now it’s just me stomping around,” he says.

Still, he’s excited to share what he and his longtime pals have been working on. “Ogres is a garage band, a punk band that uses MPCs, electronic devices, turntables and samples while still being a punk band that has live instrumentation. We will bring the same energy as a punk rock show or a hip-hop show, where it’s hype.”

Despite their wide range of musical backgrounds and busy schedules, all four members agree that Ogres will be the priority moving forward.

“We’re all pretty diversified with our artistic endeavors, but I think when we all get together, it’s pretty clear that the synergy of all of us getting in the same lane has proven to be very rewarding and exciting and just feels like it’s got a good amount of potential to it, too,” Aswell says. “This is the focal thing now.”

And so after the show, it’s back to the kitchen (just not the country club kitchen).

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MUSIC SOUNDWAVE

SEPTEMBER 8 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Maroon 5 (PNC Music Pavilion) Maroon 5 became one of the biggest pop bands of the 2000s by specializing in modern blue-eyed soul.

NO FUTURE Residency: DJ Fat Keith Richards, iRa evRywhR (Snug Harbor) Charlotte-based iRa evRywhR crafts genre-bending anthems that bolster hip-hop with sunshine pop.

The Bright Light Social Hour, Lo Talker (Visulite Theatre) Texas combo The Bright Light Social Hour conjure a bold new version of psychedelia.

SEPTEMBER 9 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

In The Whale, Hellfire Choir (Snug Harbor) Denver, Colorado’s In The Whale craft dirty, aggressive and surprisingly lighthearted rock ‘n’ roll.

Lizzie No, Raye Zaragoza (Camp North End) Raye Zaragoza trades in uncompromising feminist anthems and protest folk.

Alamo Black, Warpath (The Milestone) Denver, Colorado’s Warpath serve up slabs of stoner doom rock with precision and volume.

Sirsy, Hustle Souls (Evening Muse) Sirsy is a rock and soul duo with lots of pop sensibility and just the right amount of sass.

Red Clay Strays (US National Whitewater Center) This Alabama rock’n’roll band cites influences including Johnny Cash and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Hayes Carl, Travis Linville (Visulite Theatre) Americana dynamo Carl crafts songs that put him into the thick of life.

Pg. 16 SEP 8 - SEP 21, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Gena Chambers (Middle C Jazz) Gena Chambers performs the music of Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Tina Turner.

SEPTEMBER 10 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The Get Right Band, Sami Raye and Friends (Camp North End) Brooklyn-based music collective Sammy Rae & The Friends draws on classic rock, folk, and funk.

The Black Crowes (PNC Music Pavilion) The rock and soul revivalist band plays their debut album Shake Your Money Maker in its entirety.

Motel Glory, Van Huskins, Ryan Lockhart (Petra’s) Rock Hill’s Motel Glory create gloriously shambolic rock ‘n roll.

Seven Day Haze, Frute, No Business Mountain (Neighborhood Theatre) Frute blurs the lines between funk, bluegrass, jam, jazz and Americana.

Violent Life Violent Death, Gobei (Snug Harbor) Since forming in 2016, Charlotte metallic hardcore bruisers Violent Life Violent Death have been prolific.

Demon Waffle, The Emotron, MC Homeless, Sunday Boxing (The Milestone) A diverse bill ranging from Eastern Tennessee ska/ punk to garage-rock/proto-punk.

Tall Tall Trees (US National Whitewater Center) Mike Savino performs as a “one-man psychedelic indie-folk orchestra”.

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Maria Howell (Bechtler Museum) The reopening of the Jazz at the Bechtler series.

Trumpet Summit (Stage Door Theater) A meeting of musical masters, returns to the Jazz Room.

Dean Yates (Middle C Jazz) Yates lays down velvety grooves.

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Town Mountain, Chatham Rabbits (Visulite Theatre) Town Mountain has earned raves for its driving sound and honky-tonk edge.

Andrew Duhon, Oh Jeremiah (Evening Muse) Duhon is a songwriter from New Orleans who’s been compared to John Prine and Jim Croce.

Lyn Avenue, Nathan Davis (Evening Muse) Lyn Avenue is a Savannah, Georgia, country/ Americana act that crafts compelling story-songs.

SEPTEMBER 11

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Rachel Baiman (US National Whitewater Center) Baiman draws on old-time string music, but she’s also adept at soul, blues, pop and rock.

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Consider the Source (Heist Brewery) Prog rock and jazz is steeped in Indian and Middle

Eastern styles.

Bakalao Stars, Tumbao, DJ Nick Martin (Petra’s) NC Rock en Espanol veterans celebrate the release of their latest EP with a tropical-themed party.

Reflexions: Dark Wave & New Wave Dance Night (Tommy’s Pub) DJ Velvetine & DJ Marvin Lynch spin tunes for your inner goth kid and new-wave revivalists.

Dr. Bacon, Pluto Gang (Visulite Theatre) Dr. Bacon is a six-piece touring Appalachian funk, bluegrass and rock band.

By George, Dropping Plates (Evening Muse)

By George’s concept album tells a story about the post-millennial journey from birth to death.

Kill the Imposter, Savage Empire, Mafia, The Silencing Machine (The Milestone) Charlotte’s industrial/hardcore quartet The Silencing Machine rubs shoulders with the Queen City’s modern metal quintet Savage Empire.

The Phantom Friends, Oceanic, Family Video (Snug Harbor) Phantom Friends has drawn comparisons to bands as disparate as The Allman Brothers and Foo Fighters.

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

Trumpet Summit (Stage Door Theater) A meeting of musical masters, returns to the Jazz Room.

Dean Yates (Middle C Jazz) Yates lays down velvety grooves.

RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Lil Baby, Lil Durk (PNC Music Pavilion) Lil Baby teamed up with Lil Durk for collaborative album The Voice of the Heroes.

SEPTEMBER 12

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

River Tramps, Mitchel Evan, Jason Cline (Petra’s) The River Tramps blend folk and pop, crafting tunes with harmony, gypsy jazz flourishes, and nuanced twang.

Reckless Kelly, Will Hoge (Neighborhood Theatre) Reckless Kelly play high-powered Americana.

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Dang Ol’ Reinhardt, T.C. Costello, The Whiskey Predicament, PK (Tommy’s Pub) Dang Ol’ Reinhardt is a Charlotte jazz-manouche trio.

Colony House (Underground) Colony House make driving, uplifting guitar-based rock.

Delirium Trio, Cosmic Collective (Evening Muse) Delirium Trio plays a mix of funk, jazz, and Afro beat.

SEPTEMBER 13 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Judas Priest (PNC Music Pavilion) British metal veterans celebrate 50 years of heaviness.

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL

The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s) A rotating crew of top jazz players pay tribute to Charlotte’s godfather of jazz.

SEPTEMBER 14 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The Runaway Grooms, Vintage Pistol (Evening Muse) Colorado’s the Runaway Grooms play a blend of Americana tones derived from Southern rock.

Ceschi Ramos, Dark Time Sunshine, Mic King, Psykof (The Milestone) Ceschi Ramos is a hip-hop musician based in New Haven, Connecticut.

RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Trippie Redd, Iann Dior, SoFayGo (CMCU Amphitheatre) Rapper Trippie Redd has developed a versatile style combining cloud rap, emo rap and trap.

SEPTEMBER 15 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Sunsquabi (Heist Brewery) Denver, Colorado trio Sunsquabi describes its music as an “electronic hydro-funk experience”.

NO FUTURE Residency: E.D.I.T.H., Mindvac, DJs Fat Keith Richards & Diet Mondrian (Snug Harbor) E.D.I.T.H.’s NC blackened crust punk meets Mindvac’s thrashy riffs, groovy licks and manic hits.

The High Divers (Evening Muse) South Carolina trio The High Divers are noted for their infectious raucous shows.

America Part Two, Come Clean, Jackson Fig (The Milestone) America Part Two uses its music to examine the experience of being a young adult in America today.

RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Jack Harlow, Babyface Ray, Mavi (Fillmore) Kentucky rapper Harlow examines the joys, stresses and boredom of youth with vulnerability and honesty.

SEPTEMBER 16 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Quiet Hollers, She Returns From War, Katy Guillen & The Drive (Evening Muse) Shape-shifting Kentucky group Quiet Hollers’ distinct brand of indie-rock connects with listeners.

Temperance League, The Penitentials (Snug Harbor) Temperance League is real rock — song-serving solos, locked-in-the-pocket drums, and a front man singing his heart out about life as it’s actually lived.

Between the Buried and Me (Underground) This thinking man’s metal outfit from Raleigh move seamlessly through death, prog, technical and math metal.

Thursday September 9 SIRSY and Hustle Souls SOUNDWAVE

MUSIC

Friday September 10

RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

Samoht (Neighborhood Theatre) R&B and neo-soul artist Samoht’s biggest influence is nature.

Empty, Vagrants, Heirloom (The Milestone) Duhon with Jeremiah Empty isAndrew a post hardcore band out of MyrtleOh Beach.

My Blue Hope, The Local Odyssey, Pretty Baby JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL (Petra’s)Friday September 10 Paul Taylor & Michael Lington (Middle C Jazz) The LocalLyn Odyssey weaves music into Nathan psychedelic Davis Two masterful, nationally established and worldAvenue with dreamscapes with a tinge of surf. renowned saxophonists.

Saturday September 11 RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

SEPTEMBER 18

Curt Keyz, Drina J (Visulite Theatre) By album George andchronicles Dropping Keyz’s latest Black Heart his life atPlates RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B the intersection of his Blackness and his faith in Christ.

Release 7 Year Anniversary (Petra’s) DJ Gary Wallace’s Birthday Bash.

Sunday September 12 Groove 8, Soelle, Menastree (Neighborhood Theatre) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Delirium Trio and Cosmic Collective Charlotte’s Groove 8 encapsulates a ’70s funk hybrid Lovers Leap (US National Whitewater Center) sound reminiscent of UK acid jazz groups of the ’90s.

Lovers Leap’s single “Walnut Tree” has earned critical Monday 13is wild. love for serving as a callSeptember to appreciate all that

Find Your Muse Open MIC

Phoebe Bridgers (CMCU Amphitheatre) L.A. singer songwriter Bridgers trades in dreamy, hook-filled indie pop.

Crown Of Thorns NYHC, Fading Signal, No Longer at Ease, Thieves in a Temple (Skylark Social Club) A heavy New York hardcore bill to get your fists pumping and your ears ringing.

Bad Idols, Aloha Broha, Sub Madonna, Ink Swell (The Milestone) Knoxville punk trio Bad Idols purvey a melodic brand of blistering thrash.

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Outlaw Music Festival (PNC Music Pavilion) The fest’s lineup features Willie Nelson, Govt. Mule, Sturgill Simpson and Margo Price.

Darcie Richardson, Kevin Loop (Tommy’s Pub) An evening featuring accomplished singer songwriters.

J.I. the Prince of New York (Underground) Rapper Justin Rivera has perfected a sweet and melodic style that spins tales of young love and loss on the streets.

SEPTEMBER 20 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Shred Flintstone, Tongues of Fire, Usually, Flat Out Insult (The Milestone) Shred Flintstone is a tight and dynamic rock band from New Jersey that claims it is simultaneously destroying and saving the planet.

VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING.

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Daddy’s Beemer, Hotel Fiction (Evening Muse) Charleston’s Daddy’s Beemer has established a brand COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA of indie slack-rock lifted by high-flying guitar.

The Runaway Grooms and Vintage Pistol Vincent Neil Emerson, Caleb Lee Hutchinson Digital Noir (The Milestone) (Evening Muse) DJ Spider spins a web of darkwave, goth rock and Wednesday September 15 Vincent Neil Emerson channels the straightforward bright and shiny new wave. truth-telling resonance of his songwriting Ogres, Telepathetics, Adam Cope, Duke Massive TheandHigh Divers (Trio) heroes.

(Snug Harbor) Robert Childers teams with Justin Aswell and brother ROCK/PUNK/METAL Thursday September 16 Scott Blackwood (see previous pages).

Between the Buried and Me (Underground) Hollers x She Returns FromSomething War w/ Katy Guillen Drive Went Wrong, Evergone, & StopThe Talking See Sept.Quiet 16 description.

(Skylark Social Club) The Offspring (The Fillmore) Charlotte DIY trio Something Went Wrong specializes Friday 17front man is You should feel safeSeptember seeing a band whose fast-paced wall of sound punk. a virologist who knowsNeil you gotta keep ‘em separated.

Vincent Emerson and CalebinLee Hutchinson Hey Richard!, StormWatchers, Lena Gray (Tommy’s Easy Honey, Deaf Andrews (Evening Muse) Pub) Easy Honey infuses its psychedelic-folk roots with East Friday Co-founded by Pachyderm Music Lab owner Krystle Coast surf rock. September 17 Honey with Deaf The DirtyEasy Low Down, The Sun God, Lil Skritt, Andrews Baller, Hey Richard! play uncompromising feminist hard rock.

Condado (The Milestone) The DirtySaturday Low Down, anSeptember alternative/pop-punk/post18 hardcoreDaddy's quintet from Charlotte, topswith the bill.Hotel Fiction COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Beemer Mutant Strain, Students of the Game, Lofidels, Dierks Bentley (PNC Music Pavilion) Tetanus, Distemper (Snug Harbor) Country chart-topper Bentley takes chances, releasing 19dels’ DIY Mutant Sunday Strain’s slime September punk collides with Lofi all bluegrass album Up on the Ridge in 2010.

Ivey with Dillon Warnek Anya Hinkle (US National Whitewater Center) bedroomJeremy pop.

Dead Reckoning, Haymaker, Altered Vision, Lilith Asheville songwriter Hinkle is praised as a burgeoning Rising (Skylark Social Club) force behind the Appalachian roots revival.

Tuesday September 21 Columbus, Georgia metal band Dead Reckoning Brian Dunne with Sarah Darling proclaims they’re fusing the many subgenres of metal.

JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL Dirty Flix, Soda City Riot (Tommy’s Pub) Paul Taylor & Michael Lington (Middle C Jazz) Wednesday 22 Columbia’s Soda City Riot areSeptember a loud and fast punkTwo masterful, nationally established and worldrock combo.

The Dead Tongues with Alexa Rose renowned saxophonists.

Sun-Dried Vibes (US National Whitewater Center) Sun-Dried Vibes is a popular, high energy four-piece reggae/rock group hailing from Charlotte.

Dozer, Ghost Town Remedy, Oh! You Pretty Things ROCK/PUNK/METAL (Petra’s) Sexbruise? (Heist Brewery) Heavy psych sounds from stoner rock band Dozer.

The Charleston satirical pop band combines

SEPTEMBER 17 Tuesday September 14

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RAP/HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B

SEPTEMBER 19

improvisation, electronic music and killer hooks.

SEPTEMBER 2021 thu septmeber 9

wed september 15

fri september 10

thu september 16

SIRSY & HUSTLE SOULS THE HIGH DIVERS (TRIO) ANDREW DUHON W/ OH JEREMIAH

W/ KATY GUILEN & THE DRIVE

LYN AVENUE

W/ NATHAN DAVIS

fri september 17

sat sep tember 11

BY GEORGE & DROPPING PLATES

sun september 12

DELIRIUM TRIO & COSMIC COLLECTIVE mon september 13

FIND YOUR MUSE OPEN MIC

tue september 14

THE RUNAWAY GROOMS & VINTAGE PISTOL eveningmuse.com

QUIET HOLLERS x SHE RETURNS FROM WAR VINCENT NEIL EMERSON & CALEB LEE HUTCHINSON fri september 17

EASY HONEY

W/ DEAF ANDREWS sat sep tember 18

DADDY’S BEEMER W/ HOTEL FICTION

sun september 19

JEREMY IVEY

W/ DILLON WARNEK wed september 21

BRIAN DUNNE W/ SARAH DARLING

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

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

Cooper’s expertise lies in industrial processes. He graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in engineering, and subsequently co-founded Valworx, a manufacturer and distributor of actuated valves and controls. After 25 years, he sold the company in 2017, intending to decompress for a while.

Local startup’s vegan “I wasn’t really planning on starting another barbecue goes national business,” Cooper says. But then, a series of chance encounters, all with vegetarians, kickstarted the

BY PAT MORAN next phase of Cooper’s life and career. Cooper himself has been a vegetarian for 30 years. “It’s for typical On Aug. 30, Barvecue, a Cornelius company reasons,” he offers, “initially for animal welfare and that makes wood-smoked plant-based barbecue, then for health and the environment.” announced their expansion into 360 Sprouts Farmers In summer 2017, a special education teacher Market locations. The move, which follows Barvecue’s announcement last winter that it will soon open the world’s largest plant-based smokehouse, marks the company’s national rollout into supermarkets.

“Sprouts has stores from California to the Carolinas,” says Barvecue CEO Lee Cooper. North Carolina boasts five outlets of the natural and organic grocery chain, with one on Ballancroft Parkway in south Charlotte’s Ballantyne neighborhood. In their freezer sections, each Sprouts location will carry Barvecue’s signature product, Pulled BVQ, vegan barbecue pork with the company’s original sauce, as well as Naked BVQ, a sauce-free version for customers who want to add their own sauce or seasonings. In addition to these products, Barvecue also makes two more variations, Chopped BVQ, a gluten-free version of Pulled BVQ with a slightly different texture, and a naked counterpart to Chopped BVQ. The Sprouts announcement is the result of BARVECUE’S PULLED BVQ SANDWICH. Cooper’s strategy for building the company’s reputation for its high-quality, good-tasting named Andy Werner started working with the youngest plant-based meat substitute: Improve it locally, and of Cooper’s two daughters, Ana, then aged 16. Werner scale it up nationally. The expansion wouldn’t be hit it off with Cooper’s wife Jeni, and the two women possible without Barvecue’s other massive milestone, decided to introduce their husbands to each other. the opening of the 10,000-square-foot Carolina Speaking on local podcast Paper Trails, Andy’s husband Smokehouse. The facility, which will come online in Zack remembers the meal the two couples shared when late September, will have the capacity to produce they first met for dinner — barbecued black bean the growing quantity of the brand’s meats needed to burgers. Right then and there, the vegetarian Werner cater to the company’s expanding clientele. knew he was going to hit it off with Lee Cooper.

“It’s the largest plant-based smokehouse in the Andy Werner has been a vegetarian since age world,” Cooper says. As Barvecue goes from strength 12. When the couple married, 34-year-old Zack did to strength in the plant-based food sector, filling the cooking, quickly mastering the art of vegetarian a niche for barbecue, much the way brands like and vegan cuisine. To be fair, he had a big head start.

Beyond and Impossible staked their claims in the After earning an undergraduate degree in food vegan burger market, the 58-year-old Cooper is science at Michigan State University, Zack Werner gratified. He’s also a bit surprised, primarily because subsequently graduated from the Culinary Institute he has no significant background in the food of Michigan. His career as a food scientist landed him industry.

RAISING THE BAR

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A gathering of vegetarians

positions in research and development, and food technology in Chicago and New York, when his thenfiancé, Andy, expressed her wish to attend graduate school at UNC Charlotte. While happenstance brought the Coopers and Werners together, mutual interests turned them into business partners. “[Zack] had the component that I didn’t have to start the business,” Cooper says. Drawing on Werner’s expertise in food science and Cooper’s background in manufacturing, the two men decided to launch a vegan barbecue company. It turned out that 2017 was an ideal time to get into the vegetarian/vegan field.

“The whole plant-based meat sector had been around for a while but it was really taking off,” Cooper says. Following vegetarian inroads like

fastest with flexitarians, people that are interested in putting plant-based options on their plate three or more times a week. “That’s where the huge growth is.”

Barbecue country

While the opportunity to grab the untapped plant-based barbecue market niche was motivation to develop Barvecue, there is also a cultural and emotional element. Growing up in the Carolinas, Cooper has fond memories of gatherings centered around barbecue, even if vegetarian options back then were few and far between. Cooper recounts a recent experience in Charlotte, when he and Jeni attended a vegan wine and cheese tasting at Tip Top Daily Market on The Plaza. After sampling products like Asheville-based Dare Vegan Cheese, the Coopers had dinner at Oh My Soul, the first fully vegan restaurant in nearby NoDa. “It was so strange because back in the ’80s and early ’90s [in Charlotte] there were no choices,” Cooper says. Now, his company offers a choice that was severely limited before Barvecue launched. In retrospect, Cooper feels it’s no accident that he and Werner focused their plantbased wizardry on barbecue.

“This is barbecue country,” Cooper says. The challenge was to get Barvecue’s texture and flavor right. After Werner rejected tofu as too soft and jackfruit as not nutritious enough, the company hit upon their current recipe, derived from whole soy beans from the Midwest and sweet potatoes from the Carolinas. Developing the sauce for Pulled BVQ proved particularly tricky for a North Carolina-based company.

“North Carolina is in these two different PHOTO BY JORDAN ALLEN major flavor profiles,” Cooper says. “It’s total vinegar in eastern North Carolina and its vinegar soy milk, oat milk, and plant-derived cheese into and tomato in the western part of the state.” grocery store’s dairy sections, Impossible Burger In the end, the company opted to go with neither and Beyond Burger upped the ante in refrigerated eastern nor western style for their sauce. Barbecue sections, bypassing vegetarian and vegan brands means different things to different people, Cooper like Boca Burger in popularity. maintains, particularly for a brand that is expanding Cooper says the plant-based sector has continued nationally with plans for global reach. Far more to expand exponentially in quality and market reach. important than measurements of vinegar or tomatoes A study by The Good Food Institute and the Plant to Barvecue’s flavor profile is the process of actually Based Foods Association shows plant-based retail smoking the plant-based meat in a smokehouse. sales reached $5 billion and grew 11% from 2019 to While flavoring agents like liquid smoke could be 2020, a growth rate five times that of total U.S. retail used, Cooper rejects this approach. “We’re defining food sales. Business and market consulting firm Grand barbecue as wood-smoked plant-based proteins.”

View Research places the global market for vegan It’s been standard practice to smoke animal proteins products in 2018 at $12.69 billion, and has projected for centuries, but where Barvecue is innovative is with a 9.6% expansion between 2019 and 2025. scale. The 10,000-square-foot Carolina Smokehouse “Consumers are driving the expansion,”Cooper says. will prepare wood-smoked vegan proteins at an He adds that the plant-based meat sector is growing unprecedented level. Construction on the new facility

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE began in January. It’s a process Cooper describes simply as “buying a big box and putting a food plant in it,” is a bit of an understatement.

The facility is a stone’s throw away from Barvecue’s current 4,000-square-foot facility. In fact, both new and old facilities are on Bailey Road in Cornelius. When the company opens the largest plant-based smokehouse in the world, it will keep its current facility as an innovation center, test kitchen and sales office. In fact, the innovation team is already at work on a new project. Currently, all four varieties of the Barvecue line are vegan, but only three are gluten-free. Pulled BVQ contains wheat, but Cooper says Barvecue is working to rectify this situation. Efforts are underway to have all of Barvecue’s varieties gluten free by early October.

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A growing market

Barvecue offers takeout at its current location, but there is no sit-down service. Soon after opening, Barvecue started offering its products at online vegan grocers like GTFO, It’s Vegan; VeganEssentials; and Vejii. The company soon expanded to brickand-mortar Charlotte retailers like Earth Fare, Mecklenburg County Market and Berrybrook Farm Natural Foods. From the beginning, Barvecue has targeted the food service market as well as the retail market. While Pulled BVQ with the company’s classic tomato-and-vinegar-based sauce is Barvecue’s most popular product, the food service industry required a more flexible product.

“When we started approaching food service outlets — a restaurant or a college dining room — they wanted multiple uses for the product,” Cooper says.

To that end, the company introduced its Naked products: lightly seasoned plant-based pork with no sauce.

“A restaurant may have their own barbecue sauce, and they want their own flavor profile.” Naked BVQ can be used for countless purposes, including tacos and burritos. “I’ve got a customer who uses it for sushi,” Cooper says.

After the Sprouts expansion, the next grocery store rollout will come in November with the addition of several Safeway Stores in the Pacific Northwest.

The company is also distributing its product to restaurants, both independent establishments and chains. College and university dining halls and food services are also on Barvecue’s radar. Elon University became the company’s customer on Earth Day 2021.

By the end of October, Barvecue will be in UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Wilmington, Lenoir-Rhyne University, High Point University and Washington State University.

“We’ve got 10 or 12 colleges that we’re rolling out into right now,” Cooper says. Expanding markets, new smokehouses and increased production require capital. Barvecue, which was self-funded during its first few years of operations, eventually turned to outside investors. The company completed a $2 million seed round with mission-driven investors in August 2020, and an additional $1 million was closed in February 2021. Those funds enabled the company to scale into national groceries and food service distribution, Cooper says.

If, as a consumer, you’re overjoyed by the increased quality and availability of exceptional plant-based products like Barvecue, thank the flexitarians, Cooper says. The number one reason flexitarians are putting plant-based options on their plate is health. The number two reason is concern for the environment, and number three is animal welfare.

“There’s a whole shift in the global food system as people pay attention to the health effects and the environment,” Cooper says.

Cooper finds reason to celebrate reports that younger people are turning to vegetarianism and veganism. (A College Pulse survey from 2019 finds that 14% of college students are vegetarian or vegan.) Washington State University, one of Barvecue’s newest customers, kicked off the school year with a barbecue event, Cooper says.

“With the barbecue they offered a plant-based option on the menu, and 25% of the students chose the plant-based options,” Cooper says. “That’s so cool it’s crazy.”

Often people wonder what they can do to improve their health or alleviate stress on the environment. The easiest, and often cheapest, thing anyone can do is to make a choice in what they eat, Cooper says. A food system shift is also necessary if we as a species hope to mitigate the effects of climate change. If a shift to plant-based proteins can reach a tipping point, we might see a reduction in the practice of factory farming and its detrimental effects on a warming planet.

If the trend toward plant-based menus, vegetarianism, veganism and flexitarianism continues, Cooper believes Barvecue could have lasting effects beyond plate and palate.

“North Carolina is the top hog-producing state in the country,” Cooper says. “We wanted to be a part of the changes taking place in that factory-farming sector.”

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE $2.50 SHAKES WEEKDAYS 2-4PM

ACE NO.3 BELMONT VILLAGE | CONCORD MILLS | MYERS PARK

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES SUDOKU

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

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. ©2020 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

1. TELEVISION: What is Yogi Bear’s home in the animated “The Yogi Bear Show”?

2. GAMES: How many answers are possible in the Magic 8-Ball game?

3. LITERATURE: What is the Grinch’s home in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”?

4. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What is a penny mostly made of?

5. GEOGRAPHY: What is the only country that borders the United Kingdom?

6. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What kind of creature is a mandrill?

7. MOVIES: Which rock group does The Dude hate in “The Big Lebowski”?

8. FOOD & DRINK: In which decade did the first Taco Bell open?

9. MUSIC: Which city is the setting for Eminem’s “8 Mile”?

10. AD SLOGANS: What product is advertised as being “good to the last drop”?

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Earns back, as losses 8 Study of vision 14 One who’s not stingy 20 Shrunken Asian lake 21 Disperse from a central point 22 Spacecraft segment 23 Will soon obtain U.K. citizenship?

25 Like Peru’s mountains 26 Revered Fr. nun, maybe 27 Motorist’s crime, for short 28 Soccer icon 30 “Phooey!”

31 “That louse just hatched a few hours ago”?

39 Aim at 42 Styling sites 43 Hilarity 44 Book after Song of Solomon 45 “To recap ...”

46 Swiss river 48 Hairy pollinator’s darting movement?

56 Hairstyle 57 On -- streak (lucky) 58 “Hamilton” composer -- -Manuel Miranda 59 Watch over 64 Partial mending of a paper cut?

70 Excited pointer’s cry 72 Diner 73 Pink pencil tip 74 Siblings who compose legal orders?

79 Spacek of film 80 Dude’s prom duds 81 “Now, Voyager” actress Chase 82 In -- (as first placed)

84 “My career as a tailor will start soon”?

95 Tee lead-in 96 Chris of tennis 97 Certain pizza chain logo 98 Depletes 101 Major road 103 4 p.m. social event, maybe 105 Interweave while wearing a lustrous Sir Lancelot costume?

109 Omelet need 110 Get up 111 Hockey hero Bobby 112 Historical unit 115 Headwear for Fred Astaire 117 Occupy a chair to apply Visine drops?

125 Invent 126 Like green bananas 127 Filthy place 128 Closet staple 129 Mini and midi 130 Orthodontic separators DOWN 1 Rally cheers 2 “QED” center 3 Costco unit 4 Suffix with schnozz 5 Kind of PC port 6 For each 7 Declined the offer 8 “Come --!” (“Get real!”)

9 NBAer Gasol 10 Blasting stuff 11 Debtor’s note 12 Mongrel 13 Get involved 14 Teeny 15 Sweetie pie

16 Tack (on) 17 Very sorry 18 Paige on a stage 19 Backpedal 24 Lookalike 29 High rollers?

31 End-of-workweek cry 32 Make whole 33 Moral tenet 34 Lacks life 35 Kimono belt 36 Swivel 37 Burial locale 38 Ugly fairy-tale figure 39 -- for tat 40 Silver-gray 41 “Norma --” 45 Less sure 46 Outranking 47 Fiddles with 49 Talking- -- (scoldings) 50 With 77-Down, well-drilling structure 51 Egypt and Syr., once 52 Conductance unit, once 53 Hallow 54 German indefinite article 55 See 113-Down 59 Mafioso John 60 “Yep” 61 Siri’s Amazon counterpart 62 Ticket info 63 Fishing boats 65 Asian ideal 66 “Addams Family” cousin 67 “Eh, so-so” 68 Determine beforehand 69 -- tai (drink) 71 Drying ovens

GET BACK TO DOING WHAT YOU LOVE.

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# YO U I M P R OV E D # YO U I M P R OV E D

YOUR CARE. YOUR WAY. | ORTHOCAROLINA.COM VISITING THE ISLE OF WIT ©2020 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

75 Ruling from a boxing ref 76 Ball swatter 77 See 50-Down 78 Actor Gilliam 83 Allow to flow again 85 Life jacket, e.g.

86 Himalayan humanoid 87 Fifty-fifty 88 Actress Polo 89 -- Mawr College 90 Hurly-burly 91 Epps of “House” 92 Fish feature 93 “Ltd.” cousin 94 Boot tip 98 Brief outline 99 Longhair cat 100 Filthy place 101 Horse’s kin 102 Monkey used in research 103 Fills with black gunk 104 Slip-ups 106 Fuming mad 107 Gunpowder stuff 108 Stabs 112 “Jane --” 113 With 55-Down, back-door access 114 Some cobras 116 Ugly fairy-tale figure 118 Signing stuff 119 Prefix with cycle or color 120 Holiday tree 121 Make a pick 122 Jay-Z’s genre 123 Ticket info 124 List abbr.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

THE SEEKER

THE PLANT SPIRIT EXPERIENCE

Charlotte’s Sacred Wild Woman wants plants to join the discourse

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BY KATIE GRANT

If you’ve been following along on my journey to self-betterment, you may recall a private oracle reading I explored in 2020 with LeAnne “Little Big Thunder” Feliciano, owner of Charlotte-based alt holistic health company Sacred Wild Woman.

LeAnne uses shamanic healing, spiritual regression, plant medicine, clairvoyance, clinical and transpersonal hypnosis, holistic healing arts, and spiritual coaching to help her clients find their true calling here on Earth. ​LeAnne is a qualified master hypnotherapist, a certified shamanic practitioner from Otter Dance School of Earth Medicine, an integrative healing arts practitioner from Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, and has a degree in occupational psychology. She uses these skills along with knowledge gained from her continued and relentless personal development work to help her clients regain their personal power and rekindle their inner light.

Though not necessarily easy, the Sacred Wild work is all about unleashing your truest self — liberated from the emotional, mental and physical traumas of life. And yes, the majority of us have had some sort of trauma in our lives. The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California at Berkeley reports that 60% of adults had difficult childhood experiences, including drawn-out divorces, violence and abuse. The effects of trauma are long-lasting, ranging from anxiety to posttraumatic stress disorder to physical illness.

In my most recent conversation with LeAnne, she was excited to share a new healing modality she will be offering beginning Sept. 19: The Plant Spirit Experience.

As we caught up, I learned LeAnne has been working passionately with plants for years and is eager to present this new opportunity to both existing and new clients.

It is through her experience with plants that she has come to understand they prefer to be communicated with as they were in ancient times. Her passion is to share with others the magic of working with the consciousness of plants, as well as to encourage others to form their own personal relationships with them.

LeAnne has studied with Pam Montgomery, herbalist

and author of Plant Spirit Healing: A Guide to Working with Plant Consciousness, along with Corinna Wood, founder of Southeast Wise Women and co-founder of Red Moon Herbs.

“The Plant Spirit Experience is an opportunity for participants to learn how to connect with the spirit of plants,” LeAnne described. “Plant Spirit Medicine and their consciousness have the ability to bring us back to our ancestral roots. By initiating a relationship with the plants we become aware of their life force and how we can create a partnership to manifest a balanced life. When treating plants with love and respect, they can help guide you toward the wisdom of your inner truth and open you up to a world of unimaginable, endless possibilities.”

During the four-week online course, LeAnne will introduce participants to Plant Spirit, Consciousness; the properties, history, and folklore of plants. She will guide participants through the five senses and sensory awareness, providing a deeper understanding of each participant’s abilities to communicate with plants. She will also guide students on how to create and effectively use an altar, while providing instruction on how to properly communicate with their chosen plant.

As participants round out the course, not only will they create a relationship with a plant but they will sit in ceremony with LeAnne to meet the spirit of Mugwort, a versatile and sacred herb, which ties in everything they will have learned during their four-week journey.

LeAnne is especially firm on one point: all plants can be effective and transformational, not just psychotropics like ayahuasca, the psychoactive brew that may come to mind at the mention of “plant medicine.” One of her goals is to spread awareness of the broader spectrum beyond just ayahuasca.

Plant Spirit medicine recognizes that plants have spirit and that spirit is the strongest medicine. Spirit can heal the deepest wounds of the heart and soul, which LeAnne realizes is vitally important right now. It is a well-known fact that, especially in the shadow of the pandemic, people around the world are collectively experiencing depression, anxiety, and stress. The Plant Spirit Experience provides a safe space for participants to dig deeper into their own inner knowing, to help relieve these symptoms.

Plant spirit shamanism essentially brings us back to our roots, when our ancestors were aware of and appreciated the unity of all of life, and treated plants with love and respect. The Plant Spirit Experience is designed to dissolve the barrier between humanity and nature, allowing a deeper connection with the life-giving property of plants.

Whether you are interested in delving into The Plant Spirit Experience for the first time or seeking to deepen your existing relationship with plant medicine, you can contact LeAnne on her website at sacredwildwoman.com. Be aware: Registration for The Plant Spirit Experience closes on Sept. 10.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

HOROSCOPE

SEP 8 - SEP 14

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) As tensions ease on the home front, you can once more focus on changes in the workplace. Early difficulties are soon worked out. Stability returns as adjustments are made.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) A new romance tests the unattached Bovine’s patience to the limit. But Venus still rules the Taurean heart, so expect to find yourself trying hard to make this relationship work.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) It’s a good time to consider home-related purchases. But shop around carefully for the best price — whether it’s a new house for the family or a new hose for the garden.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) A contentious family member seems intent on creating problems. Best advice: Avoid stepping in until you know more about the origins of this domestic disagreement.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) A recent job-related move proves far more successful than you could have imagined. Look for continued beneficial fallout. Even your critics have something nice to say.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Ease up and stop driving yourself to finish that project on a deadline that is no longer realistic. Your superiors will be open to requests for an extension. Ask for it.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) You should soon be hearing some positive feedback on that recent business move. An old family problem recurs, but this time you’ll know how to handle it better.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Some surprising statements shed light on the problem that caused that once-warm relationship to cool off.

Use this newly won knowledge to help turn things around.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Your spiritual side is especially strong at this time.

Let it guide you into deeper contemplation of aspects about yourself that you’d like to understand better.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Your merrier aspect continues to dominate and to attract folks who rarely see this side of you. Some serious new romancing could develop out of all this cheeriness.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) You’re always concerned about the well-being of others.

It’s time you put some of that concern into your own health situation, especially where it involves nutrition.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Just when you thought your life had finally stabilized, along comes another change that needs to be addressed.

Someone you trust can help you deal with it successfully.

BORN THIS WEEK: You have a sixth sense when it comes to finding people who need help long before they think of asking for it. And you’re right there to provide it.

SEP 15 - SEP 21

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Mars, your ruling

planet, helps you deal with career challenges in a way that reflects some of your own hidden strengths. This impresses some important decisionmakers.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Your strong Bovine will, combined with your romantic nature (you are ruled by Venus), helps turn a romance with a potential for problems into one with more-positive possibilities.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Mercury’s influence creates some unsettling moments, but nothing that you can’t live with. You’ll soon learn more about that major change that is about to be revealed.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Opportunities for you are like the phases of the Moon: constantly appearing and reappearing. So, cheer up. The opportunity you think you let slip by will be replaced by another.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) An opportunity that you hoped would open up for you remains closed. Stop wasting time scratching at it. Something else you’ll like will soon make itself apparent and accessible.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Congratulations. You’ll soon hear some positive feedback for all the hard work you recently put into a project. A Pisces could soon swim into your personal life.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Someone whose friendship you felt you had to write off will try to revive it. What you do is up to you. But don’t do it without giving it considerable thought.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) A jobrelated plan might need to be reworked to allow for changes. Lucky for you that Saturn remains a strong influence that can help you focus on getting it done right.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) This is a good time to move into areas of selfdiscovery. You might be surprised about who you really are and how you really relate to those around you.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Expect to confront someone who will make an unwelcome request. Stand by your resolve to do the right thing no matter what “persuasion” might be offered.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) A friendly competition could become more contentious than you expected. Take time out to discuss the reasons behind this unexpected change, and act accordingly.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) You have a wonderful mind for solving mysteries, so you should feel confident about solving the one developing very close to you. An unlikely source offers help.

BORN THIS WEEK: You’re a great host or hostess. You love being with people, and you’re very good about planning all sorts of social events that bring folks together.

2021 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

PG.19 PUZZLE ANSWERS

SAVAGE LOVE ON THE DOWN BLOW

When your partner taps out of the game

BY DAN SAVAGE

I’m a gay man. After a decade together and five years of marriage, my husband informed me he wasn’t really interested in sex anymore. That was a year ago and we haven’t had sex since. He told me I should leave him if regular sex was “really that important” to me, but if I chose to stay, I had to remain “faithful.” To him that means me not having sex with anyone else. I’m 35, he’s 38, and he doesn’t see his unilateral decision to end our sex life as him breaking faith with me. There’s also the issue of financial dependance. I am not dependent on him, he is dependent on me. I didn’t want to abandon him during a pandemic while he’s unemployed, so I stayed. Now he tells me he’s asexual and accuses me of being unsupportive of his sexual identity if I so much as mention missing sex. To make a long story short, three months ago I met a guy at work. We’re the only people on our floor currently coming into the office and we got to talking and it turned out he’s bisexual and married but open. I’ve been blowing him a couple of times a week for the last two months. He’s close to my age, and I really need this. We aren’t in the same department, so I don’t report to him, and he doesn’t report to me. He doesn’t reciprocate, but I don’t care. I wasn’t on Grindr and didn’t go looking for this. Do I need to feel bad about it?

Pg. 22 SEP 8 - SEP 21, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

CHEATING HOMO ON KNEES EATING DICK

So, your husband insists you honor the commitment you made to him (not to have other sex partners) but he’s released himself from the commitment he made to you (to be your sex partner) and invited you to divorce him if you didn’t like it. And you didn’t divorce him. You stayed.

Not because you wanna stay in this marriage, and not because you’re obligated to stay in this marriage to affirm his sexual identity, but because he’s unemployed and you don’t wanna turn him out on the street during a pandemic.

Okay.

You don’t need to feel bad about this — you don’t need to feel bad about the dick you’re eating at work — and if you’ve been reading my column for longer than a week, CHOKED, you knew I was gonna say that. So, you

wanted a permission slip and you’ve got it, signed and notarized. And now if you stop giving those hot non-recip blowjobs to the bisexual guy at the office, I’m gonna be pissed at you for wasting my time. So don’t let me down here, CHOKED. Keep eating that dick.

Of course, eating that dick isn’t a long-term solution to your problem, CHOKED, but that dick will make your life more bearable in the near-term. (It sounds like it has already.) But ultimately, CHOKED, you’re gonna have to counter your husband’s ridiculous ultimatum with a perfectly reasonable ultimatum of your own: He doesn’t have to be sexual with you — he never has to eat your dick ever again — but he can’t expect you to live a sexless life. Tell him you’re gonna seek dick elsewhere, CHOKED, and if he doesn’t like it, then he can leave.

Just wanted to commend you for your advice to “Having A Realistic Discussion On Needs” in last week’s column. I say this as someone who recently went through a similar — though blessedly temporary — situation with my girlfriend. The first time I lost my erection before I came, I was a little bummed, but my attitude was basically, “Dang, well, at least I made her come.” My girlfriend, however, had a mild-to-moderate freakout: Was everything OK? Was she doing something wrong? Was I not attracted to her anymore? Like HARDON’s partner, I also “got in my own head,” and the same thing kept happening. It got to the point where I was avoiding sex because I didn’t want to deal with the crisis-counseling session that would inevitably ensue if I couldn’t come again. After a few weeks of this I was finally able to get through to her that talking and obsessing about it was only making it worse. She backed off, I got to a point where I could relax again, and it wasn’t long before our happy, healthy, way-hotter-than-you’dexpect-from-a-couple-of-divorced-40-year-olds sex life picked up where it left off.

As you implied to HARDON, sometimes you just need to STFU and hope for the best. Guys being who we are, nothing sets our deep-seated insecurities ablaze like being pestered about our dick problems, no matter how well-meaning and sincere the pesterer is. We’re kind of like toddlers who suffer a minor boo-boo: If we see you frantically running toward us waving your hands and asking what’s wrong, we’re going to flip out. But if you don’t make a big deal out of it, we won’t either. Just wanted to share my straight-dude perspective and thank you for your level-headed response.

PLEASE END NEEDLESS INTERROGATIONS SPEEDILY

TRIVIA ANSWERS: 1. Jellystone Park 2. 20 3. Mount Crumpit

4. Zinc coated with copper 5. Ireland 6. A monkey 7. The Eagles

Thanks for sharing, PENIS. And while I sometimes feel like I should say, “Everybody doesn’t always need to come during sex,” I worry about some straight guys reading that and then giving even less of a shit about getting their female partners off than they already do. I don’t want to accidentally widen the orgasm gap; while more than 95% of straight men self-report that they always come during sex, according to the Archives of Sexual Behavior, only 65% of straight women said the same. We should all want our partners to get off and should make a goodfaith effort to get them off, but we shouldn’t make a huge deal out of it if our partner, every once in a while, for whatever reason, doesn’t get off.

I just read your reply to HARDON and I think you missed something. (I know, I know! Who am I to tell you anything?!?) I’m a mature woman who had a younger male lover for a while. Same scenario in that he was super fit, had stamina, was eager, etc. All was good — except that he had to finish himself off with a hard and furious handjob every time. I suggested that he go on a masturbation diet; stop jerking off every day and when he did masturbate, use props, e.g., wrap a cloth around his hand, grind against pillows, Fleshlight, whatever he could think of because I had the idea that the intense and hard hold he used when masturbating was the culprit. And I was vindicated! It took a few patient tries, but he got there!

SOMEONE IN TORONTO

Thank you for sharing, SIT, and I would’ve addressed the issue you raised — the issue you successfully addressed with your hot young man — if HARDON had mentioned something similar, i.e. her boyfriend using what I’ve long called the “death grip” to finish himself off. Dive into the Savage Love archives, SIT, and you’ll find

8. 1960s (1962) 9. Detroit 10. Maxwell House coffee

tons of advice for guys who used the death grip during masturbation and then couldn’t get off during partnered sex because the inside of a vagina, a mouth, or a butt doesn’t feel like the inside of a bony clenched fist. My advice for guys who suffer from death grip syndrome is the same as yours: Stop jacking off like that, use a lighter touch, get some lube and maybe a Fleshlight, and retrain the dick. It doesn’t work in all cases — some guys can’t come back, for other guys that’s just what their dick needs — but I’ve heard from plenty of men over the years who successfully retrained their dicks.

TO MY READERS: I had to file this column early due to the Labor Day holiday. But I want you to know that I’m furious about what happened in Texas last week (a law banning abortion went into effect) and what didn’t happen in the Supreme Court (the Trump-packed court didn’t block that law from going into effect, essentially nullifying Roe v. Wade). Texas’s new antiabortion law empowers individual citizens to sue anyone they suspect of having helped a woman get an abortion — doctors, clinic staffers, parents, anyone. Lend a friend some money to pay for an abortion? You could be sued. Drive a friend to a clinic?

You could be sued. If a lawsuit brought against you is successful, you could be ordered to pay the person who sued you $10,000 and reimburse their legal expenses; if you prevail in court, you get nothing — no damages, none of your legal expenses reimbursed. Women still have a constitutional right to an abortion in the United States, but abortion is effectively illegal now in Texas and will be soon in other states, as GOP legislators and governors drive a truck through the hole the Supreme Court just ripped open in Roe v. Wade. My advice to women and men in Texas: Stock up on morning after pills — available over the counter (for now) — and vote every last GOP motherfucker out of office.

Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage; mail@savagelove.net; savagelovecast.com

Pg. 23 SEP 8 - SEP 21, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

© 2021 King Features Synd., Inc.

King Features Weekly Service

• Christopher Havens, a high school dropout and convicted murderer, taught himself advanced mathematics and solved a decades-old math puzzle involving “continued fractions” while in prison. He then published his findings in an international advanced math journal in January 2020.

• The Grand Canyon is so big that it creates its own weather.

• In August 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates became the first professional team to have all nine players in the lineup be of Black or Latino descent.

• World War II German interrogator Hanns Scharff’s unusual techniques for extracting information — which included sharing his wife’s homemade baked goods, cracking jokes, unsupervised nature walks and afternoon tea — were so successful that the U.S. military later incorporated them into their own interrogation schools.

• The blood in that infamous “Psycho” shower scene was actually chocolate syrup.

• Because it turns yellow when fully ripe, the Persian lime is not commonly found in markets, as it gets confused for lemons, but is used for most commercial purposes.

• Hungarian composer Franz Liszt received so many requests for locks of his hair that he bought a dog and sent fur clippings instead.

• The Bible is the most commonly stolen book in the world.

• Pill bugs, also known as roly-polys, are not insects but rather crustaceans. They breathe through gills and are more closely related to shrimp and lobsters than other bugs.

• The moon is not round, but shaped like an egg.

• Brunettes are more likely than anyone else to become hooked on nicotine.

The high levels of the pigment melanin in their hair also make it difficult for the liver to metabolize the nicotine, keeping it in the system longer and making it easier to become addicted. *** Thought for the Day: “The vacation we often need is freedom from our own mind.” — Jack Adam Weber

September 6, 2021

By Lucie Winborne

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