VOLUME 3, ISSUE 23; OCTOBER 6 - OCTOBER 19, 2021; WWW.QCNERVE.COM
CARLA AARON-LOPEZ APPLIES HER VISION TO TALKING WALLS MURAL FEST BY RYAN PITKIN
News: JACOBO
STRIMLING SPOTLIGHTS ‘CHARLOTEANOS’ PG. 4
Music: SACRED SOUL
GIVES VOICE TO EASTERN NC GOSPEL PG. 12
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
NEWS& OPINION PUBLISHER
JUSTIN LAFRANCOIS jl afra n co i s @ q cn er ve.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RYAN PITKIN rpitk i n @ q cn e r ve. c om
ART DIRECTOR
JAYME JOHNSON jjo h n s o n @ q cn er ve . com
DIGITAL EDITOR
KARIE SIMMONS ks i mmo 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 wil s o n @ q cn e r ve . com
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TO PLACE AN ADVERTISEMENT EMAIL INFO@QCNERVE.COM QUE E N CIT Y N ERVE WELC O M E S SU BM I S SI ONS OF A LL K IN D S . PLE A S E S EN D SU BMI S SI ONS OR STO RY PITC H E S TO IN FO @ QC NE RV E .C OM . QUE E N CIT Y N ERVE IS PU B LI SH E D E V E RY OTHE R W ED N E S DAY BY N E RVE M ED IA PRO D U CTIO N S LLC . QUE E N C I T Y N E RVE I S LO CAT E D I N A DV E N T C OWO RKI N G AT 93 3 LOUI SE AVE N U E , C H A RLOT T E , NC , 282 04 . FI R ST I S SU E O F Q U E E N C I T Y N E RVE F RE E . E AC H A D D I T I O NA L I S S U E $ 5.
ARTS& CULTURE MUSIC
6 LIFELINE: 10 COOL THINGS TO DO IN TWO WEEKS 8 THESE WALLS WILL TALK BY RYAN PITKIN
Carla Aaron-Lopez applies her vision to Talking Walls mural fest
10 GIMME SHELTER BY CECILIA WHALEN The story behind the shelter art along the new CATS Gold Line 12 KEEPERS OF THE FLAME BY PAT MORAN ‘Sacred Soul’ celebrates musical praise in its rawest, most vital form 15 SOUNDWAVE
16 FOOD& DRINK LIFESTYLE
RAISING THE BAR BY KARIE SIMMONS Devin McDaniel spearheads a new start for Derita Dairy Bar & Grill
18 PUZZLES 20 THE SEEKER BY KATIE GRANT 20 HOROSCOPE 22 SAVAGE LOVE
THANKS TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS: PAT MORAN, JACOBO STRIMLING, DALIA RAZO, CECILIA WHALEN, GRANT BALDWIN, BRIAN TWITTY, ANDREA ORR, BREONNA COLLIER, OWLEY, JOHN OAKES, ZOE VAN BUREN, AARON GREENHOOD, TIM DUFFY, KATIE GRANT, AND DAN SAVAGE.
CARLA AARON-LOPEZ APPLIES HER VISION TO TALKING WALLS MURAL FEST BY RYAN PITKIN
News: JACOBO
STRIMLING SPOTLIGHTS ‘CHARLOTEANOS’ PG. 4
Music: SACRED SOUL
GIVES VOICE TO EASTERN NC GOSPEL PG. 12
@QUEENCIT Y N E RVE W W W.QCNERVE .C OM
4 MORE THAN A MONTH BY JACOBO STRIMLING, DALIA RAZO, RYAN PITKIN Jacobo Strimling highlights local Hispanic population with ‘Charloteanos’
COVER PHOTO BY: GRANT BALDWIN COVER DESIGN BY: JAYME JOHNSON
NEWS & OPINION FEATURE
MORE THAN A MONTH Jacobo Strimling highlights local Hispanic population with ‘Charloteanos’
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BY JACOBO STRIMLING, DALIA RAZO, RYAN PITKIN
While Hispanic Heritage Month has been observed since it was expanded from a week into a 30-day period between Sept. 15-Oct. 15 in 1988, folks like Jacobo Strimling are aware that stories within the Hispanic and Latinx communities deserve the spotlight year-round. That’s especially true in a city like Charlotte that’s seen explosive growth of the Hispanic population in recent decades. As a local journalist working for Spanishlanguage publications since 2003, Strimling has long been telling the stories of Charlotte’s LatinAmerican residents. It’s a passion he plans to continue with his latest project, Charloteanos, a series of artistic portraits and essays highlighting the work of leaders within Charlotte’s Latinx community — business owners, artists, activists and lesser known residents who act as advocates in their own ways. For the first installment, Strimling chose one of his colleagues, longtime local Hispanic reporter Rafael Prieto, known mostly for his work with the Spanish-language print publication Mi Gente. You can find Strimling’s essay and portrait of Prieto to the right, along with an English translation done by Dalia Razo. Visit qcnerve.com over the next year to see how Strimling’s Charloteanos project unfolds, as we plan to publish each essay in both languages along with the artwork every other week. We did get a glance at Strimling’s list of honorees, handwritten on a piece of paper he carries in his pocket, while discussing this new partnership, and we’re excited to see some of the well-known and less recognizable names brought to the forefront as Charloteanos. RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM
RAFAEL PRIETO, CHARLOTEANO, GUERRERO DEL PERIODISMO BY JACOBO STRIMLING
Con su pluma y su voz, Rafael Prieto ha luchado por la comunidad inmigrante de Charlotte, por ya dos décadas. Orgulloso de sus raíces, difunde además la cultura latina entre los que vivimos en la ciudad a través de centenares de eventos, y por supuesto, con la publicación de numerosas historias. Llegó como periodista por primera vez en 1993, tiempos en los que en la ciudad en realidad no se generaban noticias, y los hispanos eran “algo extraño”. Aún más que extraño, el servicio informativo en el que trabajaba, “Canal de Noticias NBC”, se transmitía desde la Ciudad Reina a gran parte de Latinoamérica, sin que los charloteanos lo pudieran ver. El ‘Mijito’, como muchos lo llaman en reciprocidad a su cariñoso saludo, recuerda Charlotte como una ciudad “muy conservadora” donde no se hablaba español y estaban “todas las iglesias del mundo”. En su memoria también está el haber asistido a una de las primeras ediciones del Festival Latinoamericano, “algo muy pequeño en los predios del CPCC”, la primera publicación en español “El Boletín de la Coalición”, y la primera emisión radial en español. Su segunda aventura en la Ciudad Reina comenzó en 2001 tras años en Miami como periodista en importantes medios, como Telemundo, Univision. com y Televisa. Una relación sentimental lo trajo de vuelta, y que en su historia queda como “el naufragio más horrible del mundo”, pero también como el impulso para involucrarse a fondo con la comunidad hispana de las Carolinas, que en ese entonces empezó a ser víctima del racismo que se estaba desarrollando en el país. Tras el desastre sentimental, “por primera vez no salí corriendo”, recuerda. Ante similares experiencias en Los Ángeles y Nueva York, ciudades donde también fue reportero de noticias, decidió huir del despecho. “En esta ocasión, me quedé porque encontré a la comunidad hispana muy débil, muy vulnerable”, afirma. Fungía como corresponsal de la agencia de noticias EFE en Carolina del Norte y Carolina del Sur, y cubría para el resto del mundo incidentes de
xenofobia provocados por los ataques del 9-11. “La gente comenzó a ver mal a los extranjeros, y las victimas lógicas eran los hispanos” recuerda. Comenzó a desarrollar importantes vínculos con las principales organizaciones latinas del estado, y con ello a evidenciar en los medios escritos los abusos e injusticias que sufrían los trabajadores inmigrantes La reticencia por trabajar en los medios locales en español, “porque no cumplían con mis estándares”, se deslió, y asumió el papel de director editorial del semanario ‘Mi Gente’, función que le permitió, además de comunicar los sucesos, abogar por los derechos de la comunidad inmigrante. “Era un deber estar luchando por gente que no tenía ninguna protección”, asevera al darse la implementación del 287g, el programa de colaboración del alguacil local con ICE (Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas), y que hizo de Charlotte un centro de atención a nivel nacional. Con el apoyo de la periodista Patricia Ortiz, semana a semana dio seguimiento a la maquinaria de deportaciones, “los números eran altísimos”, y en varias ocasiones encaró al entonces sheriff de Mecklenburg, Jim Pendergraph con datos reales sobre la efectividad de expulsar “criminales” del país. “En la primera conferencia de prensa de Pendergraph, junto con la congresista Sue Myrick, sobre el 287g, se jactaron de haber deportado 1,000 bandidos. Nosotros dimos a conocer que de ellos sólo 31 eran realmente criminales, habían cometido ‘Aggravated Felonies’, el resto había sido detenido por infracciones de tráfico, o delitos menores”, rememora como un ejemplo de su lucha y compromiso con la comunidad indocumentada, y de la influencia que sembró en sus colegas de los medios en inglés. “Mi Gente reclama una Reforma Migratoria integral que legalice a los indocumentados” se leía en cada portada de la publicación. A diferencia de otros impresos en español, que principalmente presentaban cosas positivas, o bien reflejaban a una comunidad que hacía negocios, o bien llenaban con noticias internacionales, el
periódico ‘Mi Gente’, bajo la dirección de Rafael Prieto, comenzó a tratar el fondo de los problemas de los latinos radicados en Estados Unidos, y a publicar las denuncias comunitarias. Fortaleció en gran forma la cobertura de las noticias locales, sobre todo en los rubros de Inmigración y Policiales, sin descuidar los asuntos de salud y servicios públicos. En materia deportiva, en el “periódico que piensa en ti”, se publicaron por primera vez en español crónicas de los equipos Panthers de Carolina y el entonces Bobcats de Charlotte, y las carreras de NASCAR. Pero más importante aún hizo ver al público en general otras caras de la migración a los Estados Unidos. “No era un periódico, era una causa” afirma con orgullo sobre los tiempos en los que descargaba su pasión en “La Bitácora’ semanal. Su servicio a la comunidad fue reconocido, primeramente, con los primeros Premios José Martí a la Excelencia en Publicaciones que la Asociación Nacional de Publicaciones Hispanas (NAHP) otorgó a un periódico de Carolina del Norte, y en seguida, con el liderazgo que cultivó entre los reporteros hispanos de la región. Sumando a su causa social, el periodista charloteano cofundó, en 2015, el Comité de Fiesta Patrias y Tradiciones de Charlotte, para celebrar las independencias de los países iberoamericanos, entre otros eventos, y con el objetivo de que los latinos radicados en las Carolinas tengan un sentido de recuerdo de identidad nacional, de su cultura y de sus raíces, y que esos sentimientos se transmitan a las nuevas generaciones. Indudable figura de la historia de la comunidad latina de Charlotte, Rafael Prieto nos ha dejado memorias imborrables. Ha sido el cronista, pero también el protagonista. Su lucha sigue y su huella permanece entre todos los que hemos tenido la dicha que nos llame ‘mijo’ o ‘mijita’.
NEWS & OPINION FEATURE RAFAEL PRIETO, CHARLOTEANO, WARRIOR OF JOURNALISM
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TRANSLATED BY DALIA RAZO
not spoken and “all the world’s churches” were found. Attending one of the first editions of the Latin American Festival is also in his memory, “something very small on the properties of CPCC,” along with the first Spanish publication El Boletín de la Coalición, and the first Spanish radio transmission. His second adventure in Charlotte began in 2001 after working for years in Miami as a journalist for important mediums and platforms such as Telemundo, Univision. com and Televisa. A sentimental RAFAEL PRIETO relationship brought ARTWORK BY JACOBO STRIMLING him back and ended up being “the world’s With his pen and voice, Rafael Prieto has most horrible shipwreck,” as he calls it, but also fought for Charlotte’s immigrant community for two decades now. Proud of his roots, he also inspired the impulse to become thoroughly involved spreads Latin-American culture among those of in the Carolinas’ Hispanic community, which back us who live in the city through hundreds of events then began to fall victim to racism bubbling to the and, of course, with the publication of numerous surface around the nation. Following that sentimental disaster, “for the stories. first time I did not run,” he remembers. Upon similar He arrived as a journalist for the first time in 1993, a time in which news was not really experiences in Los Angeles and New York, cities in generated in the city, and Hispanics were which he was also a news reporter, he decided to run from spite. “something strange.” “This time I stayed because I found the Hispanic Even more than strange, the informative service in which he worked, “Canal de Noticias community very weak, very vulnerable,” he affirms. He served as correspondent for the news agency NBC,” was transmitted from the Queen City to a EFE in North and South Carolina, and covered wide swath of Latin America, without Charlotteans xenophobic incidents caused by the 9-11 attacks for being able to watch it. The “Mijito,” as many call him in reciprocity to the rest of the world. “People began to see foreigners badly, and the his affectionate greeting, remembers Charlotte as a “very conservative” city where Spanish was logical victims were Hispanics,” he remembers.
He began to develop important ties with the main Latin-American organizations in the state and, through those connections, evince in written media the abuses and injustices that immigrant workers suffered. His reticence to work in the Spanish local media, “because they did not abide by my standards,” unraveled itself and he took on the role of editorial director of the weekly publication Mi Gente, a function that allowed him to both communicate events and advocate for the rights of the immigrant community. “It was a duty to be fighting for people who had no protection,” he asserts upon the implementation of 287g, the collaboration program between the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which put Charlotte in a spotlight at a national level. With the support of journalist Patricia Ortiz, week after week he followed up on the machinery of deportations — “the numbers were extremely high” — and several times confronted then Sheriff Jim Pendergraph with real facts on the effectiveness of expelling “criminals” from the country. “In Pendergraph’s first press conference, along with congresswoman Sue Myrick, on 287g, they boasted about having deported 1,000 bandits,” he recalls. “We revealed that only 31 of them were truly criminals, they had committed aggravated felonies, the rest had been detained for traffic infractions or minor felonies.” It was just one example of his fight and commitment to the undocumented community and on the influence he spread to his colleagues in the English-speaking media. “Mi Gente demands an integral immigration reform to legalize the undocumented,” the cover of the publication read. Compared to other printouts in Spanish, which mainly displayed positive things, reflected the business community, or were filled with international news, the newspaper Mi Gente, under the direction of Rafael Prieto, began to address the
depths of issues that Latin Americans residing in the United States faced. The paper published the community’s true complaints. Prieto significantly strengthened the coverage of local news, especially in the areas of immigration and police reports, without neglecting the areas of health and public services. In sports matters, in the “newspaper that thinks of you” (Mi Gente’s slogan), chronicles in Spanish were published for the first time on the Carolina Panthers, the Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets), and NASCAR races. But even more importantly, Prieto made the general public see other faces of the United States immigration. “It was not a newspaper, it was a cause,” he affirms proudly of the times in which he unloaded his passion in the weekly La Bitácora column. His community service was recognized initially with José Martí award for Excellence in Publications from the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP), the first such recognition for a North Carolina newspaper. He also served as a leader among Hispanic reporters of the region. Adding to his social cause, the Charloteano journalist co-founded in 2015 the Committee of Patriotic Festivities and Traditions of Charlotte, to celebrate the independence of Ibero-American countries. He also held other events with the objective of giving a sense of national identity to Latin Americans residing in the Carolinas, to remember their culture and roots, and for those sentiments to be transmitted to newer generations. Undoubtedly a figure of the history of Charlotte’s Latin American community, Rafael Prieto has left us unforgettable memories. He has been the chronicler, but also the protagonist. His fight continues and his mark remains among all of us who have had the good fortune of having him call us “mijo” or “mijita.” INFO@QCNERVE.COM
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GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY
Queer Society Charlotte presents Give My Regards to Broadway, a zany, sexy tribute to the Broadway musical, hosted by Miss All-Star International Icon Supreme Brianna La’Shawn McCoy. The show features live vocals by Tallulah Van Dank, presumably then lip-synched by performers such as Dandy Van Dank, Marty McGuy and KingPerkaSexxx. Funky Latin rhythms will be supplied by Don Javi. Now we can definitely say that show tunes are a real drag. More: Free; Oct. 8, 8 p.m.; Common Market - Plaza Midwood, 2007 Commonwealth Ave.; tinyurl.com/ RegardsToBroadway
HOLA CHARLOTTE Publicity photo
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In 2007, Colombian immigrant Ana Lucia Divins, who had survived a kidnapping by a militant Marxist group in her homeland to come to America at age 25, partnered with children’s author and educator Irania Patterson to form Criss Cross Mangosauce. The name of Divins and Patterson’s entertainment and education project is a bilingual mix of cultures — the Latin mango colliding with the American schoolroom term for sitting cross-legged (crisscross applesauce). For this outdoor performance, the duo use a combo of bilingual stories (Spanish/English), music, toys, puppets and games to interact with their audience. More: Free; Oct. 9, 11 a.m.; Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Rd.; mintmuseum.org
The largest Hispanic heritage celebration in the Queen City, Hola Charlotte highlights Latin America in all its diversity, celebrating the heritage of 15 Latin-American countries including Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and more are represented, each nation displaying authentic items and musical instruments. The event also spotlights LatinAmerican cultural and dance performances, music from acclaimed Latinx bands and artists, and family activities designed to share traditions with new generations. More: Free; Oct. 9, noon; Tryon Street from Stonewall Street to 4th Street; holacharlottefestival.com
As a singer-songwriter, Arsena Schroeder has earned acclaim for her soulful pop. As a promoter, she spearheads Dear Soul Music Co., which helps independent artists self-promote. The company also presents the Unplugged+Live Concert Series, one of the most eclectic local events outside I-485. The outdoor show highlights Nashville-based neo-soul/ R&B band Oracle Blue and Columbia, SC’s Katera, whose original tunes span pop, R&B, rock and soul. More: Free; Oct. 9, 5 p.m.; Veterans Park, 201 Huntersville-Concord Road, Huntersville; arsenamusic.com
Shot in spare, black-and-white documentary style, this 1964 feature by director Michael Roemer focuses on fresh and natural performances. The delicately-judged, slice-of-life drama concerns Alabama railroad worker Duff, played by Hogan’s Heroes regular Ivan Dixon, who falls in love with schoolteacher Josey, played by jazz vocalist, songwriter and actress Abbey Lincoln. The couple’s burgeoning relationship is tested by rampant racism and Duff’s own family dysfunction. More: Free-$9; Oct. 10, 2 p.m.; Gantt Center; 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org
BILINGUAL STORIES AND MUSIC
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ARSENA SCHROEDER Photo by Andrea Orr/LevelUpCLT
CRISS CROSS MANGOSAUCE Publicity photo
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HOLA CHARLOTTE
UNPLUGGED AND LIVE: HUNTERSVILLE EDITION
CLASSIC BLACK CINEMA: ‘NOTHING BUT A MAN’
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As singer-songwriter and performance artist Andy the Doorbum, Andy Fenstermaker is a unique phenomenon. The self-styled weirdo from Gastonia began working and, for a brief spell, living at The Milestone, eventually transitioning to performer. With his solo acoustic set, he sings in a gruff baritone pitched midway between hardscrabble folk and Gregorian chant. Concurrently, Fenstermaker had also developed his performance art, a conflation of myth, risk and ritual. More: $7; Oct. 10, 8 p.m.; The Milestone; 3400 Tuckaseegee Road; themilestone.club
Charlotte’s queen of neo soul shook up the city’s music scene back in 2017 with her hit “New Phone, Who Dis?” She followed that up with a series of unexpected turns. She cleared the high bar she set for herself with the emotional summer jam “Patti Mayonnaise,” which touches on childhood nostalgia as well as the pain of losing a parent. The track earned her “Best Song” in Queen City Nerve’s inaugural Best in the Nest in 2019. Last month’s release, “Dancing Dirty,” is a heartfelt slice of pop R&B perfection. More: $15; Oct. 15, 8 p.m.; Neighborhood Theatre; 511 E 36th St.; neighborhoodtheatre.com
Local H, an iconic alt-rock duo known for their blistering live shows and for pioneering the twopiece band set-up, is at the top of their game more than two decades after they first burst onto the music scene. Frontman Scott Lucas — who covers both guitar and bass through an extra pick up in his guitar — and drummer Ryan Harding have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, as evidenced by the second show The Evening Muse added to accommodate the duo’s fans. More: $15-$20; Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.; Evening Muse; 3227 N. Davidson St.; eveningmuse.com
Daughter to super-celebrities Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith took a successful stab at pop stardom at age 9, scoring a platinum hit and a contract with Roc Nation. She quickly turned away from Top 40 accessibility for Soundcloud electrobeats. Then, steering clear of that option, she incorporated acoustic instruments into her music, crafting songs that are more organic, substantial and raw. Her latest album, 2019’s Willow, illustrates yet another new direction — this time a vision quest of psychedelic soul and hazy dream pop. More: $35; Oct. 17, 7 p.m.; The Underground; 820 Hamilton St.; fillmorenc.com
ANDY THE DOORBUM, JORDAN ZAINDO, SWEET DREAM, INK SWELL
LOCAL H Photo by John Oakes
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CHARLOTTE FILM FESTIVAL
The 13th Charlotte Film Festival takes place in person Oct. 13-17 at Ayrsley Grand Cinemas 14. Kicking off the fest is a screening of the film The Humans, written and directed by Stephen Karam, based on his Tony Award-winning play. As three generations of a Pennsylvania family gather to celebrate Thanksgiving at an apartment in lower Manhattan, darkness falls outside, eerie things begin to go bump in the night and the group’s deepest fears are laid bare. The festival will screen over 100 additional films, both short and feature-length, from around the world. More: Prices and times vary; Oct. 13-17; Ayrsley Grand Cinemas 14, 9110 Kings Parade Blvd.; charlottefilmfestival.org
CYANCA Photo by Breonna Collier
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ARTS FEATURE
THESE WALLS WILL TALK
exhibitions in 2021, including the Local/Street popup show and collaborative It Takes a Village exhibit, both at Mint Museum; as well as the JOY exhibit at Elder Gallery. Earlier in the year, Guzzie approached AaronLopez about potentially taking her spot as chair of
Aaron-Lopez explained how she made Talking Walls a part of her CMS curriculum. It was clear she already understood what the festival was all about. “I really always knew I was crafting that role for someone else,” Guzzie tells Queen City Nerve. “Carla proved herself as that person through her passion
Connecting communities with murals
Carla Aaron-Lopez applies her vision to Talking Walls mural festival
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BY RYAN PITKIN
It’s important to have goals to work toward, and as Carla Aaron-Lopez’s experience shows us, you don’t always have to know what the goals really mean. While earning two master’s degrees at the Savannah College of Arts and Design in Atlanta, Aaron-Lopez always told herself and others she wanted to run an art department, she just didn’t know what that meant yet. “I used to tell all my friends in Atlanta, ‘One day I want to have my own art department,’ but I never framed what that meant,” she recalls. “Does that mean at an agency? At an institution? What does that mean? I never defined what that meant.” Upon returning to her hometown of Charlotte in 2013, Aaron-Lopez got connected with leaders in Charlotte’s underground arts scene — folks like Dammit Wesley at blkmarktclt, where she now has a studio; and Sam Guzzie, founder of the META mural residency and one of the lead organizers behind the fledgling Talking Walls mural festival. She kept her goals vague while she built connections in Charlotte. “I always start with the underground, hands down,” she says. “Whoever is running the underground of the city, those are the people you want to work with first. Find them. Identify them. Get to know them. Do not have an end goal in the very beginning, because if you have an end goal in the beginning, people smell it, they go away. Nah, I don’t want you to go away. I want to get to know you. I want to understand how you work. I want to understand who you are because I only want to work with high-value people, and those come in different bodies.” She slowly began to build her name in Charlotte, working as a full-time arts teacher but also making her own moves in the scene. She curated multiple
work can be found — NoDa, Plaza Midwood, South End — to neighborhoods in east and west Charlotte where she says art can play a role in telling the rich and diverse history that too often goes ignored in Charlotte.
CARLA AARON-LOPEZ IN BLKMRKTCLT, WHERE SHE KEEPS A STUDIO. PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN
the Talking Walls festival committee. That’s when the goal that Aaron-Lopez had held onto for years began to come into focus and build into a vision. “When she asked me if I wanted to take on her position, that was what I thought of: I finally get my own art department,” Aaron-Lopez says. “From there I began to think about all of the possibilities that Talking Walls can become in the future.” Launched in 2018 by artists with the Southern Tiger Collective, Guzzie took the lead role in 2019. The festival is a week-long event that commissions murals from a mix of artists representing local, national and international street art culture. In its first three years, more than 50 artists have made their mark on the city, creating more than 40 murals across Charlotte. Talking Walls 2021 begins on Oct. 18 and will feature some artists from other cities and countries, but will focus more on local artists due to difficulties in setting up travel accommodations during the ongoing pandemic. Guzzie says she began to consider AaronLopez as her potential replacement from the moment of their first conversation, during which
and her work, plain and simple, and she accepted the responsibility humbly, and one that I know is not light to take on.” In her new role, Aaron-Lopez hopes to spread the influence of Talking Walls from Uptown and the fringe neighborhoods where much of the past
We meet Aaron-Lopez on a Wednesday afternoon outside of blkmrktclt’s studios in Camp North End. She’s winding down after a day of teaching, drinking a tallboy of Miller Lite and mixing it up with her neighbors at dupp&swat. Mother, artist, teacher, mentor, curator, Aaron-Lopez keeps a strict schedule as a matter of self care. Weekdays she devotes fully to work: mornings and afternoons are strictly for her students (“They need my presence there because they cuss me out when I’m absent.”), evenings are spent at the studio with her art and artist cohorts, weekends are spent on self and family. “I gotta chill out on the weekend in order to be in a good mindset to continue to serve people, because that’s really what I’m doing is I’m serving people,” she says. When we meet, she has recently opened the JOY exhibit, which wrapped up her 2021 exhibition season as a curator. She is now fully focused on Talking Walls. Her first order of business upon taking the chair position was to expand the Talking Walls board, with an eye on diversity and inclusion.
BRITISH ARTIST PREF AT WORK DURING TALKING WALLS 2019. PHOTO BY OWLEY
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ARTS FEATURE
neighborhoods are the aware of the history of the area because he’s from ones doing the murals, that area … There are a lot of artists in town who that helps build a are producing high-quality works that are from here For her, that’s a purposeful sense of community for or from neighboring areas like Rock Hill. They know mission that goes beyond simply residents in the face of about Charlotte. They’ve been here for as long as we making sure people of color have gentrification. have.” representation. “A lot of people Following a tragic mass shooting that took four “I’m like any other regular see murals in their lives during a Juneteenth celebration in 2020, Carla person,” she explains, “I’m like neighborhood as the Aaron-Lopez was part of a team of artists who came ‘Yeah, I want all my friends to sign that gentrification together to paint murals along the corridor. be on it,’ but that might not be a is coming,” she says. Since then, more have popped up, including a good idea. I need people of action “What a lot of people River of Life mural paying homage to icons of the and I need to see people for who don’t realize is that the West End, painted by Abel Jackson, who’s been they are, and if that’s the case I’m deals, the plans have brought on to participate in Talking Walls 2021. looking at several different kinds already happened. When “No one has tagged them, no one has touched of people and not just one specific you do see the murals, them,” Aaron-Lopez says of the new murals on group to work with.” please don’t feel like you Beatties Ford Road. “So I learned instantly, people The board today is made up TAYLOR MCCLURE PAINTS AT THE METROPOLITAN DURING TALKING WALLS 2019. are no longer welcome want the same murals that they see in South of 14 artists and organizers; some PHOTO BY BRIAN “BT” TWITTY within your space. I think End, that they see in NoDa, that they see in Plaza like Mike Wirth and Arko have actively pursuing more Midwood; they want those murals on their side of “A lot of Black and brown people see murals and been involved since the festival’s artists of color across town. Every time I teach about street art, I have to founding. Others such as Irisol Gonzalez and street art as a form of graffiti, graffiti being defined the board is one way to truly stay connected to a answer my students when they say, ‘Why isn’t this in Makayla Binter have been brought on to help build as illegal,” Aaron-Lopez explains. “When something neighborhood.” our neighborhoods?’ I don’t have the answer for you. is illegal, then it’s also associated with other illegal connections in their communities. She points to Jamil Steele, who along with “I fully understand as a person of action that it’s Aaron-Lopez refers to an experience she had acts. Street art is not necessarily an illegal act. It is if fellow local artist Stacy Utley has been working on going to take time to build out into these areas,” she over the summer in which she helped Gonzalez you didn’t ask nobody to do what you did, but when a public revitalization project at Five Points Plaza continues. “I’m not a fan of gentrification either, but complete a mural at Compare Foods on North you build a relationship with businesses — if you across from Johnson C. Smith University in the I know I’ll sleep fine at night if I had a hand in not Sharon Amity Road in east Charlotte. Community walk to them and say, ‘I want to make this space Historic West End. only helping people recognize the history of a space, members weren’t used to seeing muralists working beautiful. Can we create some sort of beautification “[Steele] has been given a wonderful gift to but adding to the beauty of a neighborhood.” in their neighborhood, but they showed up — not process and I will give you this painting at the end of paint one of the Corridors of Opportunity that the RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM just to help during community paint day, but in it?’ a lot of people begin to lean into it.” city of Charlotte has been talking about for quite On the other hand, people sometimes a while. That means a lot,” she says. “He’s very well more concrete ways, too. “They would refill her cooler with ice, they recognize murals as a harbinger would ask her if she wanted something to drink, of gentrification itself. The cycle she would translate for me, ‘There are people who is a recognizable one: Artists with want to know if you want something to eat and low to moderate incomes move they’re going to run in the grocery store and buy you into an area due to the affordable food,’” she recalls. “So we know that the community rent, they create murals and will take care of artists if the community knows other projects because that’s just that you’re creating something beautiful that is what they do, the area becomes a reflection of them, or something that you can cool and hip due in part to all identify with. I’m here for it, I do think it needs to the beautification carried out by the artists, developers seize on happen.” the popularity and build the area up, rents increase, the artists are Street art and gentrification Of course, some communities hold more priced out along with longtime nuanced views of street art. In already gentrified residents of the area, and the cycle neighborhoods like NoDa and South End, new starts again somewhere new. For Aaron-Lopez, that’s a murals are sometimes celebrated, other times taken simplified way of looking at it. for granted. In underserved communities they can After all, developers gon’ develop, be viewed in not such a positive light. Elders in the Black community especially especially in a city growing as carry their own conclusions about what street art quickly as Charlotte. Murals aren’t ATLANTA ARTIST NEKA KING WILL PARTICIPATE IN TALKING WALLS 2021. displacing people, she points represents. PHOTO COURTESY OF TALKING WALLS out, but if artists from those
ARTS FEATURE
GIMME SHELTER
The story behind the shelter art along the new CATS Gold Line BY CECILIA WHALEN
The following article is part of a paid partnership with CATS highlighting projects such as the newly opened CityLYNX Gold Line track stretching from the Elizabeth neighborhood in east Charlotte to the Historic West End. If you take the CATS CityLYNX Gold Line on its new extended path, which opened on Aug. 30, you’ll travel past a secret garden, through a time machine and into a world of historical beauty. Queen City Nerve spoke to the four artists who were handpicked to develop three distinctive visions for the Gold Line’s transit shelters, creating original art for each new stop in the Elizabeth neighborhood, Uptown, and Historic West End.
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The Gold Line’s secret garden in Elizabeth
Four shelters in the Elizabeth neighborhood shine translucent pink, green, and blue, with interweaving black and silver curves surrounding a centerpiece. Artist Amy Cheng, whose work experience spans from New York City to Beijing (including a stint as a McColl Center resident in Charlotte), engaged Elizabeth residents to create a piece that reflects and compliments their community. Cheng opened up her artistic process to Elizabeth neighbors early on. She began her piece, titled “World Within Worlds,” with an idea to explore the difference between external and internal space, contrasting the neighborhood’s proximity to the bustling uptown with its quaint, calmer community feel. However, she found her inspirations changed fairly rapidly after CATS Art in Transit held a community meeting for the neighborhood residents. Cheng asked the meeting participants to describe what they would connect with in her work: “I asked them to give me five words that came to mind about their neighborhood in three minutes,”
scenes from Tryon Street, with inscribed messages lamenting the death of pets, one expressing the boredom of being “pent up in the sanatorium,” and others simply writing home to check in. Fascinated by these postcards’ ability to capture a single moment in time, Hirschfield and Ishii decided to expand and enhance several from the collection to develop their transit shelters. “The idea is if you could walk through the glass, you could walk back in time,” Hirschfield said. ARTWORK BY JIM HIRSCHFIELD AND SONYA ISHII AT THE GOLD LINE GATEWAY STATION. They chose postcards PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN that would reflect a historical counterpart she told Queen City Nerve. they discovered an archive of Charlotte postcards to each stop; thus, most Many residents gave words like “friendly” and from the early-1800s into the 1950s. images correspond directly to the area in which they “community-oriented.” Aesthetically speaking, The images they found depicted locations such are placed. many also mentioned the word “trees,” inspiring as Charlotte’s old Southern Railroad Depot and Cheng’s branch-like curvy designs, as well as her depictions of leaves. The centerpiece of the shelters also emerged out of these conversations. Cheng learned that neighborhood residents still held the memory of a rose garden that’s been gone for more than half a century. “A few decades ago, they had a very large rose garden,” Cheng said. “The city decided to cut a road through it, just plowed it up. They didn’t save any seeds, no clippings – it was traumatic, and they’re still mourning this.” Sunnyside Rose Garden featured nearly 5,000 bushes stretching from Sunnyside Avenue to 7th Street. It was planted in 1931 and demolished in 1969. In homage, Cheng placed a large rose in the middle of the Sunnysdie Avenue shelter, signifying the precious lost garden.
Traveling through time in Uptown
Jim Hirschfield and Sonya Ishii’s designs for 10 Gold Line shelters along Trade Street in Uptown serve as portals into Charlotte’s past. Hirschfield, a professor of art at UNC Chapel Hill; and Ishii, an instructor at Chapel Hill Community Clay Studio, began their collaboration at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Main branch in Uptown, where
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ARTS FEATURE On the side of each shelter is also a message taken from a postcard, an image which Hirschfield describes as “ghostly” because it is faded against the glass. He hopes passengers might attempt to decipher the letters while waiting for the streetcar, though he warns, “It’s a puzzle when you start reading it.” These “shelter-portals,” as the artists call them, also hold another hint to Charlotte’s history and identity: Each artwork is decorated with a design in gold, signifying Charlotte’s role as the first gold rush site in the nation, as well as its historical mints and current banking industry.
Paying homage to Black history on the West End
Spread along eight shelters on West Trade Street and Beatties Ford Road in the Historic West End, artist George Bates’ designs provide visual intrigue from multiple perspectives. If you glance at a shelter from across the tracks, you’ll see large, vibrantly colored figures dancing and communicating with one another. Up close, the
Heights and Biddleville neighborhoods, two historically Black communities in Historic West End. From these conversations, as well as his archival research, Bates discovered an endless supply of histories and images, particularly highlighting Charlotte’s Black history. “There’s a lot to ARTWORK BY GEORGE BATES AT A STATION IN THE WESLEY HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD. unpack, if you want to PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN take the time,” Bates said large figures are made up of hundreds of smaller of his piece, which depicts ones, each one revealing its own story. local legends with reference info on the sides of each The title of the piece, “The Worth of That, is That shelter. “Even those don’t do the references justice,” Which It Contains and That is This, and This With Thee he acknowledges, due to the deep history of the Remains,” comes from a Shakespearean sonnet that area. Bates found referenced in a 1954 Johnson C. Smith Bates’ work includes allusions to the historic University (JCSU) yearbook during his research. Excelsior Club on Beatties Ford Road, North Carolina JCSU, located off one of the new Gold Line stops, barbecue, the flora and fauna of the area, and was one of Bates’ most important resources. The so much more. Looking more closely, you might university’s archives provided historical context for discover recurring imagery of lamps and light, a the many conversations Bates had in the Wesley
reference to JCSU’s “Sit Lux” motto, meaning “Let There Be Light.” A keen eye might also encounter an image of two people having lunch. Bates connects this image to a story from Dorothy Counts-Scoggins, the first Black student to integrate Charlotte public schools. Counts-Scoggins endured the wrath of a white mob on her first day of school at Harding High School in 1957. Years later, one student apologized for his behavior towards her. The two shared lunch and eventually reconciled. All four artists expressed immense gratitude to the Charlotte community for the help and input they received to create their respective works. Bates said his goal was to reveal something to those facing a wait. “What art provides is a moment of thoughtful reflection,” he said. It’s a moment we could all use in today’s world, so we suggest the next time you find yourself at a Gold Line stop you put your phone down and take in what these four artists have created. There’s no question you’ll feel something, and you might even learn something. INFO@QCNERVE.COM
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MUSIC FEATURE KEEPERS OF THE FLAME
participants. The album includes two tunes by Dedicated Men of Zion, as well as contributions by 10 other eastern North Carolina performers — each keeping the flame of the Tar Heel State’s unvarnished and primal, yet protean, gospel alive in their own way. “To me, eastern North Carolina sacred soul is ‘Sacred Soul’ celebrates a little rawer, a little more quartet singing-based,” musical praise in its rawest, says Bruce Watson, who co-produced the album most vital form with Duffy, and whose Memphis-based label Bible & Tire Recording Co. is releasing the album. BY PAT MORAN Watson, who is also a co-owner and in-house producer for revered Oxford, Mississippi-based “This is my favorite part of the song,” intones roots music label Fat Possum Records, compares the Anthony Daniels. “Where I sing these words.” music on Sacred Soul to gospel groups in Memphis, The sentiment, enfolded by a slinky blues guitar riff and a loping R&B groove, comes right as he reaches the middle of the song “Can’t Turn Me Around” by Daniels’ band Dedicated Men of Zion. Daniels’ declaration, connecting intimately and one-on-one with the listener, exemplifies the direct power and emotion of the Dedicated Men’s music, and the genre that the group is a part of. “We’re calling [the genre] sacred soul,” Tim Duffy says. Duffy is founder of Hillsboroughbased Music Maker Foundation, a nonprofit that preserves the traditional music of the South by supporting the musicians who make it. The foundation achieves it goals by giving music makers material help with necessities like housing and medical access, plus tour support for gigs and outreach that exposes the region’s musical JOHNNY RAY DANIELS (IN RED) RECORDS A TRACK FOR ‘SACRED SOUL.’ treasures to new audiences. Duffy’s latest project, produced in conjunction with Bible adding that eastern NC groups eschew the smooth and Tire Recording Co. founder Bruce Watson, is a horns favored in Memphis for a more direct vocalcompilation album of raw and vital gospel — or centered sound. sacred soul — from eastern North Carolina. “I hear a little more country in [Eastern NC Entitled Sacred Soul of North Carolina, the gospel], and also you hear a little funk influence as album drops Oct. 15. Recorded in eight days at a well.” makeshift studio in a former drug store in Fountain, Though forging their own path, Dedicated Men NC, the collection is proceeded by an identically of Zion hold traditions in common with the other titled 30-minute documentary, scheduled for an performers on the compilation, including Johnny Oct. 5 release. Ray Daniels, Big James Barrett & The Golden The film documents the recording session in the Jubilees, The Johnsonaires, Little Willie & The tiny town, located about 18 miles west of Greenville Fantastic Spiritualaires, Marvin Earle “Blind Butch” and home to just 435 people. It includes interviews Cox, Big Walt & The Faithful Jordanaires, female with and insights from many of the project’s
Kadesha Daniels, Andrea Edwards, Christy Moody and Tinisha Weaver. Though a septet, Faith & Harmony draws on the regional gospel quartet style exemplified by The Glorifying Vines Sisters. Characterized by entwining polyphonic vocals, the style was first popularized in the 1930s by Kinston, NC, group Mitchell’s Christian Singers, although The Vines Sisters’ version of the style is a Family, church and rock ‘n’ roll The Greenville-based Dedicated Men of Zion more rough-hewn and urgent. Championed by legendary record producer was formed in 2014 by four singers — Anthony Daniels, Antoine Daniels, Marcus Sugg and Dexter John Hammond, who supported the careers of Billie Weaver — all of whom are related by blood or Holiday, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and others, marriage. The family connection threads through Mitchell’s Christian Singers eventually traveled to the album. Every performer on the collection New York in 1938 to play Carnegie Hall. KeAmber Daniels stresses that her group is a relation or friend to one of two eastern NC performs just as readily at secular venues as they do at sacred ones — Faith & Harmony are booked at The Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival in Oriental, NC, Oct. 8-10 — but the group will always recognize its roots in the church. “It’s in your bones,” KeAmber says. Likewise, church and singing in harmony are inextricably entwined for Dedicated Men of Zion. In the band’s official bio, Anthony Daniels claims that his mother would call the children inside every day after school, make them turn off the television and insist that the children sing and speak in harmony until bedtime. Growing up, Alice Vines also found church and harmony interconnected. “We got together singing in churches,” Alice says. The group launched in Farmville, NC, in 1958, but it took a few years before the Vines sisters branched out from PHOTO BY ZOE VAN BUREN playing churches to singing in secular spaces. While they did, the Glorifying Vines Sisters cut families: the Daniels, led by patriarch, performer five albums and numerous singles. Alice remembers and Anthony Daniels’ father Johnny Ray Daniels; that the songs “There’s a Blessing Over the Hill” and and the Vines, who claim as matriarch Alice Vines, singer and manager of The Glorifying Vines Sisters. “We Will Work Till Jesus Comes” were regional hits. “We made good money off of them,” she recalls. “I grew up in the church and started singing Attrition took its toll on the group, which initially at a very young age, listening to my grandma [Alice, and] the Vines Sisters,” says Faith & Harmony consisted of six singers. Two sisters have passed away over the years member KeAmber Daniels. “We would travel with and now just four remain, Alice says. them.” Though sacred soul retains the elemental, Faith & Harmony is comprised of six people, stripped-down building blocks of early gospel, the two sets of sisters who are either daughters or genre should not be considered an archaeological nieces of Anthony Daniels. That includes Anthony artifact, unchanged and preserved in amber ever Daniels’ daughter KeAmber, Alexandria Suggs,
vocal septet Faith & Harmony and all-female gospel quartet The Glorifying Vines Sisters. All of these performers grew up learning how to sing in eastern NC’s Black churches, and all have kept their faith and love of music intact in the face of racist oppression.
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MUSIC FEATURE
A sense of place and race
Duffy says the Vines and Daniels families have most likely been in the same part of eastern NC for centuries. Enslaved people had arrived in the region by the late 1600s, entering the country through Charleston slave markets. Once families arrived in eastern NC, black or white, many never left. Some still live within a 40mile radius of the land where their ancestors lived and worked against their will 300 years ago. “The only place Blacks were allowed to gather was Sundays for church,” Duffy says. “That’s where everything starts for music up through today.” KeAmber Daniels echoes Duffy’s assertion that the Black church is the wellspring for much of popular music.
since the end of the 17th century. Johnny Ray Daniels briefly performed and recorded with rock and R&B group The Soul Twisters in the 1950s before devoting himself fully to gospel in the 1960s. Influences from Johnny Ray’s secular sabbatical can he heard on his contributions to Sacred Soul. His buoyant R&B-inflected shuffle “Glory” kicks off with a snaking guitar riff that wouldn’t seem out of place on The Rolling Stones’ 1968 country bluesinfluenced album Beggars Banquet. The call-and-response vocal line recalls the melody of countrified 1907 Christian hymn “Will the Circle be Unbroken,” popularized in 1972 by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The Glorifying Vines Sisters contribute one track to the album, and it too retains the raw power of eastern NC gospel while incorporating elements of funk and R&B. “Tell It All To Jesus” is a jaunty spiritual focused on the sisters’ swinging call-and-response vocals that gradually grow as hypnotic as an incantation. “We liked to sing a little rock ‘n’ roll,” Alice Vines says. On his Sacred Soul track “No Ways Tired,” Marvin Earle “Blind Butch” Cox draws on the R&B he listened to secretly while honing his musical style in the early 1960s at the segregated North Carolina School for the Blind in Raleigh. Riding atop funky electric piano, reminiscent of the keyboard sound heard on Michael McDonald-era recordings by The Doobie Brothers, Blind Butch’s GOSPEL SEPTET FAITH & HARMONY ARE FEATURED ON ‘SACRED SOUL.’ weathered vocals testify to the power of faith. “You can track it all back to [the church],” she “We have a sound that sets us apart from other says, “Most of the popular musicians were raised in places,” KeAmber Daniels says. “We take the music the church. When something is ingrained in you, it’s of our ancestors … and keep that tradition alive hard to get it out.” while, at the same time, we modernize it, putting Duffy posits that, in addition to informing R&B, our own spin on it.” Faith & Harmony’s two tracks on soul, rock ‘n’ roll and pop, primal Eastern Seaboard Sacred Soul balance tradition with harmony. gospel launched jazz as well. “Victory” is an acapella celebration of belief “[Gospel] is polyphonic music where people sing with swarming arching harmonies with more than in different voices and in different time [signatures] a touch of funk. at the same time,” Duffy says. “You could say early “We Will Work,” combines the group’s entwining jazz bands started from following those different harmonies with thundering bass and big pounding lines. Dixieland [a style of jazz] has five different drums that wouldn’t be out of place on a rock lines going in a song, breaking down all at once.” record. Yet, despite the music receiving the church’s blessing, eastern NC gospel and sacred soul
nearby Fountain, the hanging tree was long gone, but Freeman had carved a guitar out of wood from it. Duffy’s and Vines’ burgeoning friendship led to a professional relationship in which Duffy helped Freeman exhibit his guitars, hand-carved in myriad fantastic shapes, at the Greenville Museum of Art, less than 25 miles from his birthplace in eastern NC. Freeman Vines’ spiritual philosophy and art are featured in the book Hanging Tree Guitars, published by The Bitter Southerner in association with Duffy’s MMF in August 2020. Duffy, who is also a renown photographer, illustrated the volume with evocative and mysterious tintype images he shot — chosen to reflect the hand-crafted nature of Freeman’s work. Through Freeman, Duffy met his sister Alice, and through her became immersed in the music of the Glorifying Vines Sisters. Their songs became Duffy’s gateway to sacred soul. Though he has managed and helped the careers of many roots music performers, including Grammy and MacArthur award winner Rhiannon Giddens’ former Durham-based string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the world of eastern NC sacred soul was new to him and a revelation. He sent recordings of some of the music he heard to Bruce Watson. With Fat Possum, Watson had purchased the catalog rights of Memphisbased classic gospel label Designer Records and put out the compilation The Soul of Designer Records in September 2014. He continued to release other music from the label, and started keeping an eye out for raw, edgy gospel from the PHOTO BY AARON GREENHOOD 1960s and ’70s. Watson has known Duffy for at least sign. The county’s KKK also erected roadblocks on 20 years, and the two men have collaborated on Sundays so that Black church members had to drive record releases for several Music Maker artists, miles out of their way to avoid the Klan on their way the first project being an album for electric blues keyboardist, singer and songwriter Ironing Board to praise the Lord with song. In 1930, a white racist mob captured a Black Sam. Watson’s label Bible and Tire subsequently man named Oliver Moore, and hung him from a released an album by Dedicated Men of Zion in tree on Aspen Church Grove Road, where Wilson June 2020. The debut album from the eastern NC and Edgecombe counties meet. Every lynching is an gospel group, titled Can’t Turn Me Around, featured abomination, but this one was particularly brutal. reworked versions of songs from the D-Vine The white men kept the corpse suspended from the Spirituals gospel catalog. “I really got to know Anthony Daniels and all tree with a mule harness and shot Moore’s body 200 times. The vigilantes then left guns on a card table the guys in Dedicated Men of Zion,” Watson says. under the tree so anyone who wanted to could Then Duffy pitched Watson the idea for the Sacred Soul album, urging Watson to come record the drive up and shoot Moore’s mutilated body. By the time Duffy visited Freeman Vines in raw sounds of eastern NC. Duffy had purchased a developed under hellish conditions. In the 1950s and 60s, as the Civil Rights movement gained traction, a white supremacist backlash swept through North Carolina, which at one time claimed the largest Ku Klux Klan membership in the country. Pitt County, where many of eastern NC’s sacred soul artists resided, was a hotbed of Klan activity. When Duffy interviewed artist, luthier and Alice Vines’ brother Freeman Vines for a book on Freeman’s art and philosophy, Freeman Vines called nearby Greene County “the most terrible place in the world.” The KKK erected a “Welcome to North Carolina” sign at the Greene county line, and Duffy recalls speaking to Black gospel singers and musicians who grew up under the shadow of that
MUSIC FEATURE
“We did six or seven songs,” KeAmber says, “They said they would pick which ones would fit for the album the best.” former drug store in Fountain for Freeman Vines to use “We averaged two to three groups a day,” as a workshop, but there would be a few weeks before Watson says. “It was wham-bam, let’s record as Freeman moved in when the building would be vacant. much as we can.”
SACRED SOUL IS A BRAND OF GOSPEL THAT WAS CULTIVATED IN SMALL BLACK CHURCHES ACROSS EASTERN NC.
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No longer unsung
“Tim said, ‘Why don’t you just bring all your equipment and come down? We’ll spend a week recording,’” Watson remembers. Duffy contacted Alice Vines to line up the groups, drawn from the eastern NC gospel scene, that would be recorded. “Tim asked me to find some people,” says Alice, who is credited as talent director for the album. “I’ve sung with all of them. I’m friends with most of them. We all grew up together singing the same thing. I’ve been around.” With a slate of several performers and eight days to cut a record, Watson, Duffy and their crew put up sound blankets in the old building, now christened Music Maker East. “We showed up on a Sunday,” Watson says. “We set up all the gear, until everything sounded the way it should, and then on Monday morning we started.” The sessions began on February of 2020. KeAmber Daniels remembers going in for the recording of Faith & Harmony’s songs. After Duffy introduced the group to engineer Rick Caughron, the recording began, a process KeAmber says went smoothly.
mixing the record and working on the documentary. Watson says COVID took the pressure off of having a timeline to get the project done. “We took our time and really tried to make the best compilation [album] and documentary we could make,” he says. The result is a collection of music that crosses boundaries, blending profane blues, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and soul with the sacred gospel of the Black church. You can hear the weight of the ages in the voices of singers and community leaders like Alice Vines and Johnny Ray Daniels, yet there is a buoyancy, a surge of human emotion in these hymns, grooves and singalongs. Outside their pocket of eastern NC, many of these performers have gone unheard and unsung — until now. KeAmber Daniels says she’s overjoyed the project gave some of the older performers a chance to be heard. PHOTO BY TIM DUFFY “You know that they
While the audio crew was recording the various groups, another crew, including director of photography Cornelius Lewis, started shooting the documentary that augments and accompanies the album. In addition to filming each groups’ performances, the documentary crew also captured interviews with the performers themselves. KeAmber remembers that performers’ profiles were filmed after recording their songs. “They were done the same night right there, after things quieted down and most of the other people involved had left,” she says. “One or two of us would stay back and do the interview.” The interviews were followed by a quick photo shoot to capture portraits for the album’s art. “I have never seen such a large project come together in such a short amount of time,” KeAmber says. “They worked really hard [and] it was a good time.” Once all the performers were recorded, filmed and photographed, Duffy handed a hard drive with all the music to Watson. Watson went back to Memphis to mix and shape the album just as COVID swept through the country and shut it down. Watson and his Memphis crew spent most of 2020
wanted to sing and it was a passion of theirs, but they never had their music heard anywhere outside of Greenville or Farmville,” she says. “It was really nice for them to be heard by a different audience.” While the album may be a boon to some of the performers, increasing their profiles and introducing them to audiences not necessarily steeped in gospel, Alice Vines believes the music will endure regardless of exposure or lack thereof. Referencing the stark and emotional solo acapella edition of the hymn “Amazing Grace” by Melody Harper that closes Sacred Soul, Alice says people will always need music that heals and nurtures. “People when they get in trouble, the first thing they do is [find] a song that can lift every burden,” she says. “Certain songs are always going to be there because they touch the soul. They revive us and give us hope.” In that respect, Alice Vines, who is pastor of Believe in Jesus Ministry, a small church in Farmville, sees performing sacred soul as a form of ministry. “If I can sing a song that will touch somebody’s spirit, it makes me feel good,” she says. “I’m touching people. I really am.” INFO@QCNERVE.COM
MUSIC SOUNDWAVE
OCTOBER 15
ROCK/PUNK/METAL
Welcome to the Family Fest (The Milestone) Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Roman Candles w/ The Mystery Plan, BNDR (Petra’s) Jenny Besetzt w/ Wild Trees, Quad (Snug Harbor) Bahamas w/ Sam Weber (Visulite Theatre)
COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA
OCTOBER 6
ROCK/PUNK/METAL
Pet Bug w/ Late Bloomer, Holy Figures (Snug Harbor)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B JMSN (Neighborhood Theatre)
OCTOBER 7
ROCK/PUNK/METAL
Blacktop Mojo (Amos’ Southend) The Almas w/ Once Around, JanuaryKnife (The Milestone)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B
Barcerado w/ MonaLisa (Petra’s)
JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL
Brandon Stevens sings Lionel Richie and Brian McKnight (Middle C Jazz)
COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA
Parmalee & Niko Moon (Coyote Joe’s) Brit Drozda w/ Taylor Winchester (Evening Muse)
POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ
Thievery Corporation (Neighborhood Theatre)
OCTOBER 8
ROCK/PUNK/METAL
87 Nights w/ The New Creatures (Evening Muse) Hazing Over w/ For Your Health, The Callous Daoboys, Your Spirit Dies (The Milestone) Toad the Wet Sprocket w/ Stephen Kellogg (Neighborhood Theatre) Pullover w/ Spirit System, Buried In Roses (Petra’s)
COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA
Gregory Alan Isakov & Patty Griffin (Knight Theater) Craig Brown Band w/ The old North State, The Sammies (Snug Harbor)
JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL Sonny Emory (Middle C Jazz)
POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ
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Alicia Witt Album Release (Evening Muse) Gorgon City (World Nightclub)
OCTOBER 9
ROCK/PUNK/METAL Virginia Man w/ Connor Kelly & The Time Warp (Evening Muse) The Mongos w/ Tecoby Hines (Evening Muse) The Walbournes w/ The Body Bags & Whiskey Hell Child (The Milestone) The Reticent w/ Prosperity Gospel (Snug Harbor)
COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA
Paul Cathen w/ Dee White (Amos’ Southend) Jim Messina (Booth Playhouse) Lua Flora w/ Chris McGinnis, Elonzo Wesley (Petra’s)
Pryor & Lee (Coyote Joe’s) The Infamous Stringdusters (The Fillmore)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC James Blake (Belk Theater)
OCTOBER 10
OCTOBER 16
Sonny Emory (Middle C Jazz)
ROCK/PUNK/METAL
Mike Strauss Band (Comet Grill) Andy the Doorbum w/ Jordyn Zaino, Sweet Dream, Ink Swell (The Milestone)
JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL
Melissa Morgan sings Billie Holiday (The Jazz Room) Robyn Springer (Middle C Jazz)
COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA
Little Big Town (Ovens Auditorium) Willi Carlisle and The Resonant Rogues (Evening Muse) Scott Miller w/ David Childers (Neighborhood Theatre)
POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC Low Hum (Evening Muse)
Playboi Carti (Bojangles Coliseum)
JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL
Faye w/ Oceanic, Yugo (Petra’s) The Mike Strauss Band w/ Mucho Gumbo, Allan Kaplan (Snug Harbor)
LATIN/WORLD
Mon Laferte (The Fillmore)
ROCK/PUNK/METAL
Welcome to the Family Fest (The Milestone)
COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA
VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING.
OCTOBER 2021
Side Pony feat. Alice Wallace and Caitlin Cannon w/ The Two Tracks (The Evening Muse)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B
Benny the Butcher (The Fillmore)
LATIN/WORLD
Reinaldo Brahn Band (Middle C Jazz) Neoma w/ Nia J, Florecita (Snug Harbor)
OCTOBER 11
JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL
The Bill Hanna Legazy Jazz Session (Petra’s)
OCTOBER 12
ROCK/PUNK/METAL
Manchester Orchestra (The Fillmore) Black Stone Cherry (Neighborhood Theatre)
OCTOBER 13
ROCK/PUNK/METAL
The Lonely Ones (Amos’ Southend) Hey Revolver w/ Sunday Boxing, My Blue Hope (The Milestone) Thelma and the Sleaze w/ Pet Bug, Ogres (Snug Harbor)
COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA
Thunderstorm Artis (Evening Muse) Eilien Jewell (Neighborhood Theatre)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/FUNK/R&B Don Toliver (The Fillmore)
POP/ELECTRONIC/DANCE/DJ Dayglow (The Underground)
JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL
Joey Santo w/ The Sean Higgins Trio (Middle C Jazz)
OCTOBER 14
ROCK/PUNK/METAL
Rival Sons w/ Dorothy (The Underground) The Menders (acoustic) w/ Pacifico (Petra’s)
TUE OCTOBER 5
JACKIE VENSON
WED OCTOBER 6
TOSCO MUSIC OPEN MIC
BRIT DROZDA & TAYLOR WINCHESTER FRI OCTOBER 8
AN EVENING WITH ALICIA WITT ALBUM RELEASE SHOW
87 NIGHTS & THE NEW CREATURES SAT OCTOBER 9
W/ CONNOR KELLY & THE TIME WARP
THE MONGOS W/ TECOBY HINES
eveningmuse.com
SIDE PONY
(FEAT. ALICE WALLACE & CAITLIN CANNON) W/ THE TWO TRACKS MON OCTOBER 11
THU OCTOBER 7
VIRGINIA MAN
SUN OCTOBER 10
FIND YOUR MUSE OPEN MIC
WED OCTOBER 13
THUNDERSTORM ARTIS FRI OCTOBER 15
LOCAL H W/ RADKEY
SAT OCTOBER 16
WILLI CARLISLE & THE RESONANT ROGUES LOW HUM SUN OCTOBER 17
LIAM PURCELL & CANE MILL ROAD W/ MITCHEL EVAN
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
RAISING THE BAR
Pg. 16 AUG 26 - SEP 8, 2020 - QCNERVE.COM
Devin McDaniel spearheads a new start for Derita Dairy Bar & Grill
McDaniel and her business partner Jared Mackey purchased Derita Dairy Bar & Grill, a long-running and unassuming carry-out spot located across from the old Puckett’s Farm Equipment bar, in 2019. She admits it was a bit of a risk, as her experience is in marketing and advertising and she “didn’t know how to restaurant.” Despite that risk, and an unforeseen pandemic clamping down on the restaurant scene the following spring, McDaniel reopened Derita Dairy Bar on Juneteenth 2020. Her takeover turned out to be a big hit, not only in Derita, but with foodies from all over Charlotte,
Instagrams and they found us,” McDaniel said. And with Derita Dairy Bar’s walk-up, carry-out service seemingly designed for the restrictions put in place to curb the pandemic, the staff stood ready to serve the masses.
Trial and error
Although originally from Charlotte, McDaniel left the Queen City to study advertising at Howard University in Washington, D.C. After college, she worked in marketing for construction companies, BY KARIE SIMMONS then started her own consulting firm, Kamet Marketing Solutions. Kamet Devin McDaniel could have grabbed helps new businesses, small anything from her closet to put on the businesses and nonprofits day she met me, but I couldn’t ignore find the audience that the irony behind her choice: a Bob’s fits their unique identity Burgers T-shirt. and produces content that The animated FOX TV show about meets their objectives. a family who runs a hamburger Every time McDaniel restaurant is a lot like McDaniel’s daytakes on a new client, it’s to-day as owner of Derita Dairy Bar & like taking a crash course Grill in north Charlotte. in their industry, she said. “It’s small, you know your people, Derita Dairy Bar & Grill was it’s in the community, and like Bob, I fly not much different. by the seat of my pants, so I can relate,” Luckily, the restaurant’s McDaniel said, laughing. walk-up window made it We met on the morning of Sept. naturally COVID-friendly, 29, just as McDaniel was getting ready so McDaniel didn’t have to to open for the day. Her hair was pulled make changes to abide by back into a ponytail and tucked under social distancing or capacity a Black Power ball cap that, in shading restrictions. Instead, she her eyes, illuminated her smile. said the pandemic allowed We had time to chat, as she was her the opportunity to slow waiting for her chef to show up before down and “learn how to she could begin serving anyone — just restaurant” – to go through a new restaurant owner flying by the that trial-and-error period seat of her pants. any first-time business Despite these daily stresses, owner will experience at her considering McDaniel’s success during own pace. her short time running Derita Dairy Bar, “It was the little things. she has a lot to smile about. Like, we really wanted to The restaurant is located on West do hand-dipped corn dogs, Sugar Creek Road, the corridor that runs but that didn’t make the through the heart of the historic Derita cut because our fryer wasn’t PHOTO BY KARIE SIMMONS neighborhood, an old farming village DEVIN MCDANIEL SERVING UP LEMONADE. deep enough,” McDaniel said. turned suburb that has thus far not “You have to have a special fryer. Not a lot of people seen the same rate of development as other north be they influencers or simply hungry Charlotteans. know that.” Charlotte neighborhoods like NoDa and University McDaniel’s marketing expertise played a role The menu at Derita Dairy Bar & Grill is similar to City. in that, as her social media posts showcasing the the previous owner’s, but with some new options When driving on West Sugar Creek, the old brick burgers, crab fries, pineapple lemonade and ice and all fresh ingredients instead of frozen. Burgers facades of Derita seem to appear out of nowhere, cream sundaes helped boost Derita Dairy Bar’s come in single, double or triple patties and can be standing opposite the old railroad tracks that once platforms to reach a larger audience. customized with sauces and toppings. There are also made the neighborhood a central trade post for “People were home, they were looking at their wings, hand-breaded chicken, hot dogs, kielbasa, farmers throughout Mecklenburg County.
salads, nachos and fries that come in an array of styles: taco, buffalo chicken, Philly, chili cheese, cheddar bacon ranch, etc. McDaniel uses all-dairy ice cream to make her soft serve, creating over a dozen flavors of milkshakes and sundaes, like Chockanda Forever – chocolate ice cream with fudge brownies and Oreos, topped with whipped cream and Cocoa Pebbles. Customers love Derita Dairy Bar’s signature pineapple lemonade, as well as the “KiKi Palmer” (pineapple lemonade and sweet tea), but the restaurant’s top seller in the food category is their crab fries, which come with fresh crab meat, grilled peppers and onions and their seafood aioli sauce. It’s $15 for a small and $20 for a large. “It’s a little bit of luxury you can have in the middle of the day,” McDaniel said.
Rising to the challenge
When McDaniel took over Derita Dairy Bar, she tried to hold onto the previous owner’s prices as long as she could, but she was beginning to drown. Ingredient and supply shortages due to the pandemic forced ordering costs to go up and quantities to change. The styrofoam cups she uses for milkshakes have been hard to come by, and she now pays $40 for a case of ketchup packets that were once $16 – ketchup packets she hands to customers for free. She had to slightly increase her prices to stay in business, but purposely kept some menu items low so the community members who have known Derita Dairy Bar for years wouldn’t feel priced out. Customers can still get a grilled cheese for $3, a hot dog with toppings for $3.50, a BLT for $4.50, and a fried bologna sandwich for $5. “As the prices go up, we can still make sure you’re eating well,” McDaniel said. “We didn’t want to alienate the community.” Since McDaniel has only ever owned a restaurant in a pandemic, she doesn’t know what it’s like to not have to constantly pivot to avoid a crisis – whether that’s a labor shortage causing staffing issues or shipping delays affecting her ability to make her most popular items. She described herself as easy-going and a fast thinker. More than once, she’s had to make menu changes on the fly, but because her customers trust her, she’s able to keep them coming back. “My go-to saying is, ‘I would never sell you something wack,’” McDaniel said. “I hate telling people at the window what we don’t have. I hate disappointment. Instead, I’ll say, ‘Sorry, we’re all out of crab, but we have a delicious shrimp fry.’”
FOOD & DRINK FEATURE ‘This is me’
Through social media marketing and implementing online ordering, McDaniel has brought Derita Dairy Bar into modern times and met customers where they are: on their phones. She grew the business’s Instagram from scratch to over 4,500 followers by reaching out to local food bloggers and
A YELLOW-RICE ENTREE WITH CHICKEN TENDERS.
Pg. 17 AUG 26 - SEP 8, 2020 - QCNERVE.COM
social media influencers and inviting them to stop by. Users like @dailyspecialclt, @cltblackowned, @eatblkclt and @cltdesserts helped promote Derita Dairy Bar during the pandemic by sharing pictures of
DONUT FORGET THE SUNDAES. PHOTO COURTESY OF DDB&G
their food on Instagram and inspiring their followers to visit. One of the biggest boosts for the business was when Wynee Bermudez, aka @wyneesworld, posted a video of Derita Dairy Bar’s Double-It Burger with crab fries on TikTok. Shortly after, tons of people came and ordered the exact same thing. When she bought the unpretentious burger joint, McDaniel didn’t think she would be working there full-time, but she’s seen how her energy and social skills at the window and on social media are helping build relationships in the community, and that’s rewarding work, she said. “As far as marketing, I see the fruits of my labor more when they say, ‘I saw you on Instagram,’ or I PHOTO COURTESY OF DDB&G get recognized at the grocery store,” McDaniel said. “I never got that when I worked with construction companies.” And yet owning a restaurant is also tiring and stressful because, at the end of the day, all the responsibility falls on you, she said. She stays motivated by her desire to set a good example for her 11-year-old daughter, Marley. “That stress keeps you motivated,” McDaniel said. “You wake up early and you make sure things are done right because you have that stress.” She imagines that’s probably how Bob Belcher from Bob’s Burgers feels. Like Bob, she’s proud of her restaurant and loves to talk about it to anyone who will listen. Sometimes that embarrasses her daughter. She thinks Bob would be able to relate that, too. “This restaurant, it came from my hands. I built this,”McDaniel said. “I mean, it was already here, but I birthed it. This is me.” KSIMMONS@QCNERVE.COM
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Pg. 18 OCT 6 - OCT 19 - QCNERVE.COM
LIFESTYLE PUZZLES
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: Which actor portrayed Kevin Arnold in the 1980s-90s sitcom “The Wonder Years”? 2. MEDICAL: What is a more common name for rhinorrhea? 3. MUSIC: How many members are in the pop group ABBA? 4. MOVIES: Who directed “The Godfather” trilogy? 5. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What is the native country of the kiwi bird? 6. ENTERTAINERS: Which American singer/songwriter was born with the name Peter Gene Hernandez? 7. SCIENCE: What does a petrologist study? 8. GEOGRAPHY: The Cape of Good Hope lies at the tip of which continent? 9. PSYCHOLOGY: What fear is represented in the condition known as cynophobia? 10. LITERATURE: The novels “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn” are both set in which U.S. state?
CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Verbal quirk from the 43rd U.S. president 8 Actor Gabe 14 “Go ahead” hand gesture 20 Diplomatic agreement 21 “Stop already!” 22 Workweek ender 23 Disturb calm piccolo players? 26 Alley -27 Card game with melding 28 Chef Emeril 29 Rival of Bing 33 Singer Wilson with the 1977 hit “Telephone Man” 34 Diner patron 35 Most agile men of the cloth persevere? 42 Moreno of film 43 Goddess of dawn 44 -- Na Na 45 Noisy baby toys make an aspiring actress jump? 56 Hilo “hello” 57 Related to fat, in biochemistry 58 Neighbor of a Syrian 59 Tiny drink 60 Directive to Danno on “Hawaii Five-O” 62 French actor Delon 63 More sickly-looking buccaneers wander around? 71 Tiny bits 72 At minimum 73 Above, to poets 74 It links England and France
77 Retina part 79 Actor Romero 81 Shows where a few food-industry calves are hiding? 85 Rage 86 Suffix of sugars 87 Yale attendees 88 Threw away the most rigid filaments? 100 Salk vaccine target 101 “-- pronounce you ...” 102 Make certain 103 Add to a database 106 Munich’s state 109 Actor Romero 110 Doorkeeper’s purplish-red uniform ID? 115 River through the Carolinas 116 Devoted fan 117 “Let’s do this now” 118 Letter-shaped tracks in metalworking 119 Softhearted 120 Operating room knives DOWN 1 Enshrouds in haze 2 Remove a lasso from, e.g. 3 Mental torpor 4 “-- So Fine” (1963 hit) 5 Bank acct. earnings 6 Fr. nun, maybe 7 Former div. of Ford 8 More acute 9 Actor Aziz -10 Anson Williams’ role on “Happy Days”
11 Liza Minnelli’s half sister Lorna 12 Water, in Peru 13 Sabres’ gp. 14 In the recent past 15 Diane who played Helen in “Troy” 16 Hindu lutes 17 May 15, e.g. 18 Needlefishes 19 Wall Street market inits. 24 Exit incline 25 Lickable envelope part 30 Waist size 31 Actress Arcieri or Kenzle 32 Punta del --, Uruguay 34 To be, to Nero 36 Prof’s aides 37 Alien-seeking proj. 38 Recounted 39 Dot on an ocean map 40 Silverstein of kiddie lit 41 Comic actor Jacques 45 Filing tool 46 Inter -- (among others) 47 Summits 48 Splashes liquid on 49 -- torch (luau light) 50 Mimicker 51 Lovey stuff 52 Riverbed deposits 53 Old Russian autocrats 54 Opera tune 55 Hindu queen 60 Chewed leaf stimulant 61 Spoken exams 62 Give -- of approval 64 Fork point
GET BACK TO DOING WHAT YOU LOVE. # YO U I M P R OV E D Pg. 19 OCT 6 - OCT 19 - QCNERVE.COM
# YO U I M P R OV E D
YOUR CARE. YOUR WAY. | ORTHOCAROLINA.COM SEVEN THREE WAYS ©2020 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.
65 39-Down off Scotland 66 Series of gigs 67 Jazz legend Fitzgerald 68 Ask, as a question 69 Char 70 Blows it 74 Lit -- (univ. course) 75 Mr., in Berlin 76 Middle layer of the eye 77 Arizona city 78 Say to be so 79 -- terrier (Toto, e.g.) 80 “It’s nobody -- business” 82 Arty area of NYC 83 Doc for pets 84 K-12 89 Swimsuit brand 90 Certain wasp 91 Best-of-the-best groups 92 Merrill of old movies 93 Shift, as attention 94 Glossy paint 95 1957 Jimmy Dorsey hit 96 Mattress size 97 Mom’s sis 98 Saw things while asleep 99 Marsh plants 103 Pre- -- (replace) 104 Scottish turndowns 105 Neutrogena shampoo brand 106 Expressed, as a farewell 107 Lots 108 Blue dye 111 Comedy bit 112 -- loss 113 Rival of AOL 114 Misc. abbr.
LIFESTYLE COLUMN
THE SEEKER WOODS OVER WHISKEY
Forest bathing presents itself on a fifth anniversary
Pg. 20 OCT 6 - OCT 19 - QCNERVE.COM
BY KATIE GRANT
As one of the world’s leading cities in creativity, New York City is a remedy for the banal. While I don’t regret not paving a path in the Big Apple, it’s always refreshing to visit. The city that never sleeps also never disappoints, and I never leave uninspired. My husband and I booked tickets to see the Austinbased psych soul duo Black Pumas at Brooklyn Steel for our fifth wedding anniversary. From a traditional perspective, the fifth-anniversary gift is wood-themed, meant to represent solid roots and an enduring relationship. While New York City and Black Pumas have nothing to do with wood, our circumstances lent room for creativity. I’m a whiskey lover, so the first thing that came to mind aside from the physicality of wood, is spirits. Fun fact: It is estimated that wood is responsible for 60-75% of the taste of a finished whiskey. Another fun fact: Wood is one of the four raw ingredients in single-malt whiskey, along with barley, yeast and water. I arrived in New York mentally connecting the dots between our anniversary, whiskey and how I would down every old-man drink in the city within the parameters of one weekend. Before that could take place, what was supposed to be a quick trip to a coffee shop turned into a multi-day affair. It wasn’t quite the cafe but a palm-reading psychic next door that really derailed my plans, and quickly. A sign outside the coffee shop led me to a small psychic stall. I reasoned with myself for a moment, considering I had never had my palm read in New York City, so why not? It was only $20 for one palm, so I went for it. Coffee could wait. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m constantly questioning my career path, but that gets stale even to me. However, upon entering the psychic’s shop, it was clear it didn’t matter what I was interested in hearing. My advisor, who went by the name Honeybee, was very straightforward by stating she was not there to map out my life but to provide life coaching based on what she saw. Honeybee told me a little about her background, including that she had become a healer at 9 years old. We made small talk for a little while, then she took my right
palm into her hands. She placed it right-side-up on her circular table. Standing between us was a crystal ball, but her gaze stayed on my palm or within eye contact during our whole conversation. The accuracy of this statement carried such a weight I reevaluated my whiskey tour of NYC. Alcohol was a topic of discussion — not that I have a drinking problem — but that I drink to feel something different. With so much stress from work and school, it became clear I needed to shift my focus inward, toward mindfulness. Mindfulness was recommended for good reason. While I fret about the uncertainty of the future, mindfulness allows me to reclaim my attention and focus on the now. It has also been shown to lessen symptoms of anxiety and depression, both of which I started taking medication for this year. One suggestion from Honeybee included mindfulness paired with nature — walking meditations, forest bathing, quietly sitting outside without an electronic device. She also unabashedly pointed out that she would like to continue life-coaching me for the small fee of $1,700. I said I would think about it while quietly choking down a laugh. That’s more than my mortgage, so hard pass. My husband and I returned to Charlotte just in time for Flow Fest at the U.S. National Whitewater Center. The free event offered more than 50 yoga and meditation classes in an outdoor setting. Perfect for pairing mindfulness with nature, so why not give forest bathing a try? Free sounded much more appealing than paying a life coach who lived over 600 miles away. According to Global Wellness Institute, “Forest bathing and forest therapy (or shinrin-yoku) broadly mean taking in, in all of one’s senses, the forest atmosphere. Not simply a walk in the woods, it is the conscious and contemplative practice of being immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of the forest.” A form of mobile meditation under the canopy, forest bathing was developed in Japan during the 1980s, when the country made it part of its national health program. Researchers, primarily in Japan and South Korea, have established a growing body of scientific literature on the diverse health benefits. Whitewater’s Flow Fest proved to be the perfect fifth wedding anniversary after all — the ideal blend of wellness and mindfulness. Plus, we were able to incorporate the traditional theme of wood by practicing yoga immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of Charlotte’s canopy. The whiskey can wait. INFO@QCNERVE.COM
HOROSCOPE
OCT 6 - OCT 12
OCT 13 - OCT 19
ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Cosmic changes create a potential for disruptions in your travel plans. In the meantime, you might want to consider shifting your focus to another area of your life that needs attention. TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) It’s a good time for beauty-loving Bovines to enjoy something special for the senses. It will restore your spirit and return you to the workaday-world ready for the next challenge. GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) With your planetary ruler, Mercury, going retrograde, you might want to slow down the pace in pursuing some of your projects. Rushing things could be counterproductive. CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Tensions begin to ease in those once-testy relationships. This helps create a more positive aspect all around. Expect to hear news that could lead you to rethink a recent decision. LEO (July 23 to August 22) The pace of activity that had slowed last week now begins to pick up. This is good news for Leos and Leonas who have careerbuilding plans that need to be put into operation. VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Venus offers encouragement to romance-seeking Virgos who are ready to get up, get out and meet more people, one of whom could be that long-sought soul mate. LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) An ongoing problem with a co-worker might need to be sent to arbitration. Get all your facts together so that you have a solid base from which to make your argument. SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You are usually decisive about most matters. But you might want to defer your decision-making this week until you get more facts. Someone is holding out on you. SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) That quiet period is ending, and a new burst of activity creates some problems at the workplace. But things are soon resolved, and everything goes back to normal. CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Relationships could be either helpful or hurtful as you pursue your career goals. You might have to make some difficult choices depending on what your priorities are. AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) You might still have some doubts about a career move that could involve a lot of travel. If so, continue to check things out until you feel secure about making a decision. PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Love rules, as Venus continues to exercise her cosmic influence on both single and attached Pisces. New developments might cause you to change your travel plans. BORN THIS WEEK: You often think of others before you consider your own needs. You enjoy helping people and would make a fine teacher or caregiver.
ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Someone from your past could arrive with welcome news concerning your future. Meanwhile, avoid taking sides in a workplace confrontation until you have more facts to go on. TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) A decision about a relationship could have longer-lasting consequences than you might imagine, so be sure of your facts before you act. A trusted friend can help. GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A strained relationship could be restored with more personal contact between the two of you. Letting others act as your go-between only adds to the ongoing estrangement. CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Fresh facts could mean taking a new path toward a goal you’ve been hoping to reach. However, be sure all your questions are answered before you undertake to shift directions. LEO (July 23 to August 22) This is a good week for all you fine Felines to turn your attention to some important considerations, such as your health, your job situation and the status of important relationships. VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Avoid making a quick decision about a matter that needs more study. Keep your mind open for possibilities, even if they don’t seem plausible -- at least not yet. LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) You might welcome the emphasis on openness in relationships that mark this period. But it’s a good idea to avoid sharing personal secrets with people you hardly know. SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) There are still some questions that need to be asked and answered before you can feel confident enough to make a potentially life-changing decision. SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Some lingering effects from a now largely resolved workplace confrontation could make things difficult for you. Act on this before it becomes serious. CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) You feel you’re finally in control of your own life after months of making compromises and concessions you never felt comfortable with. Congratulations. AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) No sooner do you decide to pass on one job offer than another suddenly turns up. This one might not have everything you’re looking for, but it’s worth checking out. PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Congratulations. With Jupiter’s strong influence dominating this week, don’t be surprised to get some good news about a troubling financial matter. BORN THIS WEEK: You are usually kind and loving. But you can be highly critical of those who don’t measure up to your high standards.
2021 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.
PG.18 PUZZLE ANSWERS
Don’t JUST Recycle,
Recycle
right! ONLY RECYCLE THESE SIX ITEMS
Pg. 21 OCT 6 - OCT 19 - QCNERVE.COM
For Supporting Local
No Plastic Bags
LIFESTYLE COLUMN
PG.19 PUZZLE ANSWERS
SAVAGE LOVE PERMISSION TO PERV Quickies
BY DAN SAVAGE
Pg. 22 OCT 6 - OCT 19 - QCNERVE.COM
I’m a cis woman. I had a quasi-relationship with a man last year that only lasted a couple of months. The sex was great, and sexting was always a big part of our connection. Since the breakup, we’ve fluctuated between staying in touch and radio silence, sometimes going months without speaking. During our periods of contact, though, sexting always makes a comeback. It’s hot until the frustration of not actually being able to have sex with him sets in. (We live in different countries now.) My issue is, if it weren’t for the sexting (which he really pushes), I don’t think he would converse with me about life in general. And there are other ways I feel this dynamic is detrimental to my post-breakup life. For example, he is really into cuckolding. He wants to hear about the dates I go on, the other men I have sex with, how they fucked me, etc. It’s fun to tease him and make him jealous by texting him, especially while I’m out with other men, but I wind up feeling like my attention is divided between him and whoever I’m with, sometimes to a point where I can’t come with others because of how distracted I am (by him) and how disconnected I feel (from them).
ex and tell him you’re out on a date. You’ll get all the same enjoyment out of making him jealous — and he’ll get all the same enjoyment of his cuckold fantasies — without you being distracted during your actual dates. After many years of a fulfilling sex life, I’ve begun to embrace the perv side of my sexuality and couldn’t be happier! But I’m looking for a better term than “perv.” While accurate, that term seems to carry negative connotations. I’m looking for something that communicates the same thing while being sex positive. Any suggestions? POSITIVELY EXPLORING RHETORICAL VARIETY
I’ve always liked “perv,” an affectionate diminutive for “pervert,” and I consider it sex positive in the same spirit that “slut,” having been reclaimed, is considered sex positive by people who cheerfully and defiantly selfidentify as sluts. And since pretty much any word that communicates the same thing “perv” does in one catchy/ percussive syllable has similarly negative connotations — deev for deviant, dej for degenerate, debbies for debauchers/debauchees — this perv thinks you should embrace the term “perv,” PERV, instead of trying to come up with something new.
You’ve said that one way to get over a crush is to masturbate about it until it passes. I’m going on 2.5 years. I had surgery in 2019, and I’m still obsessed with my surgeon. I think it’s trauma bonding, as I had complications and had to have three follow-up surgeries, plus a ton of office visits. I know logically that he’s arrogant, overly MY EX’S SEXY SEXTS ARE GETTING EXHAUSTING, impressed with his own sense of humor, and just SORTA generally not my type. I haven’t seen him in a year, If you feel like your ex is just using you for sexts and but I still think about him all the time. Can you you don’t enjoy being used like that, MESSAGES, stop help? CAN’T UNDERSTAND THIS sexting with your ex. Maybe you’ll hear from him again after the sexting stops — maybe he’ll reach out now and If masturbating about your arrogant, unfunny then just to catch up — but even if you never hear from him again, that could be for the best. I mean, if you have and perhaps incompetent surgeon (three follow-up a hard time resisting his sext requests and sexting with surgeries?!?) hasn’t done the trick … maybe it’s time to him leaves you feeling frustrated (because you can’t fuck try masturbating about something and/or someone else? him) and prevents you from being in the moment (with (Or, even better, maybe talk with a therapist about this?) the guys you are fucking), you should probably block his You recently told a healthy and active 72-yearnumber. But if you enjoy sexting with your ex — you did say old man practicing orgasm denial that “multiple it’s fun for you, too — and you can reset your expectations studies have shown a link between frequent to avoid disappointment (if you stop expecting more ejaculation and a lower incidence of prostate from him than just sexts), go ahead and sext with him. cancer.” I’m a healthy and active 78-year-old man But don’t do it when you’re with someone else. Go out who began masturbating at age 10. I continue to on dates, enjoy your dates, fuck your dates. And the next masturbate as frequently as my body will allow, time you’re home alone and bored, MESSAGES, text your which is about every other day. Yet, I was recently
TRIVIA ANSWERS: 1. Fred Savage 2. Runny nose 3. Four
4. Francis Ford Coppola 5. New Zealand 6. Bruno Mars 7. Rocks
diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent a procedure that reamed out most of my prostate tissue. I am now back to masturbating, but not ejaculating. Still, a dry orgasm is better than no orgasm at all. So, studies may show one thing, but life can show you something completely different. TOTALLY WRONG ABOUT THAT
I’m sorry to hear about your prostate tissues, TWAT, and I’m glad to hear you’re able to enjoy the orgasms you’re still capable of having. But I gotta say — for the record — that I didn’t claim frequent ejaculation prevents prostate cancer. I cited studies showing a lower incidence of prostate cancer in men who masturbate regularly. “Lower incidence” ≠ “zero incidence.” You drew the short straw here, TWAT, and I’m sorry about that. But I can’t imagine you spent all those years masturbating solely for your prostate’s sake, TWAT, which means you still got something out of all those wet orgasms. It’s the same thing you’re getting out of the dry orgasms you’re enjoying now: pleasure. After reading the question asked by “The System Called Reciprocity,” the lesbian who wanted a man to do chores around the house in exchange for a handjobs or blowjobs, I had to write in. I’m not sure where she’s located, but if she’s on the South side of Chicago, I would be down for some light housework! Feel free to connect me to any of your readers for a deal like this! HELPING OUT THE DYKES AND MAKING NICE
8. Africa 9. Fear of dogs 10. Missouri
So long as ALPHA — the straight guy who likes to demean and degrade thicc gay boys he finds on Grindr — is upfront with these guys and tells them he’s straight and tells them he has no intention of ever hooking up with them IRL, then what he’s doing is okay, I guess. But if he’s not disclosing all those facts about himself, Dan, then he’s pretending to be something he’s not and that is not okay! Straight guys leading gay guys on for attention is repulsive. We’ve got enough problems out there without you giving straight guys permission to fuck with our heads! TOO PISSED FOR ACRONYMS
Grindr and other hookup apps are full of guys leading each other on — sometimes intentionally (not interested in hooking up IRL), sometimes unintentionally (circumstances and/or guy trouble can derail a wanted hookup). Everyone who gets on Grindr knows or soon realizes that not every chat or exchange of pics leads to sex. Like author and Grindr user Alexander Cheves said in that column: “We all enter Grindr chats willingly, and we should do so knowing that anyone we talk to may have no plans of following through with their promises to meet.” And in ALPHA’s case, I don’t think he’s leading anyone on. He seeks out gay guys who fantasize about masculine, domineering and unavailable straight jocks. He may be fucking with some guys’ heads, TPFA, but he’s only fucking with the heads of guys who get off on having their heads fucked with in exactly this way and by exactly his type. I mean, who better to fulfill the hot unavailable straight jock fantasy than the hot unavailable straight jock?
I don’t know where TSCR lives either, HOTDAMN, but even if I knew where she was, I’m not allowed to put my readers in touch with each other. (My lawyer has forbidden me to play matchmaker.) That said, HOTDAMN, Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage; listen to the there’s nothing I can do to prevent my readers from Savage Lovecsast at savage.love; mail@savagelove.net reaching out to each other in the comments.
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