August SouthPark 2023

It seems like every day, I get a news release (or several) from Live Nation or another concert promoter alerting me to shows — big and small — coming to Charlotte. One of our most popular online stories this year is a roundup of outdoor music festivals in North Carolina. And folks flocked to Symphony Park this spring for the new SouthPark After Five concert series. The pandemic, for the most part, is well behind us, but there is still pent-up demand for that communal experience of hearing a live artist or band.

Charlotte sometimes gets a bad rap for not having a great music scene. But, as Daniel Coston writes in our cover feature (page 87), music in the Queen City is alive and well. Since the 1990s, Coston has photographed musicians from The Beach Boys to the Carolina Chocolate Drops to the Avett Brothers (he’s shot the Avetts 50 or 60 times, he figures). He’s also written several books about the local music scene. We hope the feature, conceived and produced by Whitley Adkins and photographed by Olly Yung, will provide some visual inspiration to get out there and go see a show.

There’s no shortage of megastar artists headed to Charlotte, too. We list a few on our annual Fall Arts Preview (page 69), written by contributor Page Leggett. (If theater, comedy or dance is more your thing, we’ve got you covered as well.)

As Daniel writes, “If the love of music is a journey, so is discovering the places that celebrate the music.”

See you at the show. SP

IN THIS ISSUE:

1 — Home by the river at Palmetto Bluff (page 98)

2 — Artist Matthew Steele in his home studio (page 55)

3 — Custom grasscloth wallpaper by Sunday Social Club at Rally, a stylish new pickleball venue in Lower South End, (page 22)

4 — Behind the scenes at Neighborhood Theatre (page 87)

5 — Patterson Kitchen + Bar at Hotel Hartness, a new boutique hotel in Greenville, S.C. (page 117)

What’s on your summer playlist? Here’s what our staff and contributors are listening to right now.

Sarah Fligel, marketing specialist: Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s version)

Amanda Lea, contributor: anything by Surfaces — “Wave of You,” “Sunday Best,” “Come With Me.” Its just bright, uplifting music that helps me go with the summer flow.

Daniel Coston, contributor: 1. “Star Sign” by Teenage Fanclub — a great song for getting in the car, hitting the road and dreaming of what comes next. 2. “Yellow Roses” by Heron, a beautifully earnest folk group from England, circa 1970 — the quiet side of summer, recorded live in a field on a summer day, no less. 3. The Beach Boys — Of course, this band goes perfectly with summer. Along with their hits, and 1966 album Pet Sounds, I recommend all of their albums from 1965 to 1974. 4. Dance band music of the 1920s and ’30s — that era between Tin Pan Alley and Big Band, when leaders like Paul Whiteman and Duke Ellington changed the world.

Ben Kinney, publisher: the new Teskey Brothers album, The Winding Way

Cindy Poovey, advertising account executive: Luke Combs

BLVD.

22 | sports

Rally, a new pickleball venue — and a whole lot more — opens in Lower South End.

26 | interiors

Designer Praj Hagargi’s bedroom is an homage to her late grandmother.

30 | pets

Christi Busch loves dogs and cooking — two passions that led to the creation of a handcrafted pet-food company, For the Love of Dutch.

36 | art

The Vault provides a glimpse into four private collections of African American ephemera and works by Black artists.

40 | music

Two North Carolina brothers bond over a shared love of music.

44 | around town

What’s new and coming soon in Charlotte

50 | happenings

August calendar of events

DEPARTMENTS

55 | art of the state

Matthew Steele celebrates the beauty of the manufactured world through sculpture.

61 | simple life

In defense of dark night skies

65 | bookshelf

Notable new releases

137 | swirl

Parties, fundraisers and events around Charlotte

144 | gallery

Carolina Fine Art makes shopping for art easy and accessible — and you can meet the artists behind the works.

ABOUT THE COVER:

House of Funk at Middle C Jazz. Photograph by Olly Yung;

production by Whitley Adkins

FEATURES

69 | Fall arts preview

20+ shows, concerts and cultural experiences worth seeing this fall

87 | The sounds of life produced and styled by Whitley Adkins photographs by Olly Yung | written by Daniel Coston Hear and now: Music venues to find your groove in Charlotte.

98 | Cottage by the coast by Cathy Martin photographs by Mary Britton Senseney

A Charlotte couple embraces Lowcountry living with a functional and stylish cottage in Bluffton, South Carolina.

110 | The summer scene photographs by Richard Israel Photo feature: Even when it’s sticky-hot humid, Charlotteans love to find an excuse for a summertime outing.

TRAVEL

117 | Right at home by Cathy Martin

Hotel Hartness in Greenville, South Carolina, is a soothing, splendid retreat for a weekend getaway.

121 | Germany’s sunny side by Michael J. Solender

Southwest Germany delights visitors at every turn with storybook villages, palatial gardens, Swabian kitchens and wine country.

Heather Bryant, PA-C, Jonathan Kulbersh, MD, Courtney Whitley, FNP-C, Amanda Piligian, PA-C

1230 West Morehead St., Suite 308 Charlotte, NC 28208 704-523-6987 southparkmagazine.com

Ben Kinney Publisher publisher@southparkmagazine.com

Cathy Martin Editor editor@southparkmagazine.com

Sharon Smith Assistant Editor sharon@southparkmagazine.com

Andie Rose Creative Director

Alyssa Kennedy Art Director alyssamagazines@gmail.com

Miranda Glyder Graphic Designer Whitley Adkins Style Editor Caroline Boulware Intern

Contributing Editor David Mildenberg

Contributing Writers

Michelle Boudin, Krisha Chachra, Daniel Coston, Jim Dodson, Audrey Knaack, Amanda Lea, Page Leggett, Liza Roberts, Michael J. Solender

Contributing Photographers

Daniel Coston, Heather Ison, Richard Israel, Mary Britton Senseney, Olly Yung

Contributing Illustrator Gerry O’Neill

ADVERTISING

Jane Rodewald Sales Manager 704-621-9198 jane@southparkmagazine.com

Cindy Poovey Account Executive 704-497-2220 cindy@southparkmagazine.com

Scott Leonard Audience Development Specialist 704-996-6426

Sarah Fligel Marketing Specialist

Brad Beard Graphic Designer

Letters to the editorial staff: editor@southparkmagazine.com

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Facebook: southparkmagazine

Twitter: SouthParkMag

Owners

Jack Andrews, Frank Daniels III, Lee Dirks, David Woronoff in memoriam Frank Daniels Jr.

David Woronoff President david@thepilot.com

Bringing it home since 1960

Harris Teeter is proud to support more than 500 local businesses with 1,500 plus products in our stores from Charleston, South Carolina to Bethesda, Maryland. We share in your passion to buy local, and when you do, you’re not only buying from them but supporting your community as well. After all, that’s what Home Town spirit is all about!

Find these and many more Home Town brands at your local Harris Teeter

CHAPTER

Dads’ Day Out

Four months of planning and prepping might not sound like a lot. But for three guys who like to live in the moment, it was quite a feat. And it was so worth it. Not just for the fish they caught, either. All the new inside jokes they’ll share all but guarantee a Dads’ Day Out Part Two.

blvd.

people, places, things

SO BERRY NICE

The new Booze Berry Sour at Little Mama’s takes advantage of one of summer’s sweetest crops: blueberries. Made with Empress 1908 gin, blueberry simple syrup, lavender simple syrup, lemon juice and egg white and garnished with fresh blueberries, it’s one of several new seasonal cocktails on the menu at the Italian-American hot spot. See what else is new around town on page 44. SP

Play and stay

COME FOR THE PICKLEBALL, STAY FOR THE CRAFT COCKTAILS, BURRATA BOARDS AND BRICKOVEN PIZZA. RALLY, A PICKLEBALL VENUE — AND A WHOLE LOT MORE — DEBUTS IN SOUTH END.

by Cathy Martin

Pickleball courts are everywhere in Charlotte, from public parks to country clubs. But where can you get a hazelnut-pesto pizza, Aperol spritz or rosemary-vanilla latte while hanging out with friends between games?

“We really wanted to bring something new to the sport,” says Barrett Worthington, co-founder of Rally, a pickleball venue that opened in June in Lower South End. Worthington and Meg Charity, a pro pickleball player, sought to create an upscale environment for active millennials and others to play the game, accompanied by chef-driven food, craft cocktails and specialty coffee.

“We both have a tennis background but instantly fell in love with the very social aspect of the game,” Worthington says, citing pickleball’s low threshold to entry. Games typically only last about eight minutes, it’s easy for players to rotate in and out, and the sport is extremely spectator-friendly.

Rally was five years in the making, according to the founders, who previously ran a business hosting pickleball events and festivals. No detail was overlooked in designing the 1.9-acre venue, which has two cocktail bars, a restaurant, a coffee bar, ping pong tables and eight pickleball courts. The founders view the LoSo Rally as a flagship for the brand and anticipate opening more U.S. locations in the next few years. Here’s a look around.

THE SPACE

Designed by Washington, D.C.-based Lumber & Light with Charlotte architecture firm Redline Design Group, Rally sprawls across a large corner lot and includes more than 27,000 square feet of indoor space. Each pickleball court (four indoor, four outdoor) has a dedicated lounge area and server.

Following the LoSo aesthetic, there’s an industrial vibe; warmer elements like white oak hardwoods, rattan pendants, area rugs and fresh greenery soften the space. Other stylish details include vibrant murals with a Queen Charlotte motif by J.D. Deardourff, custom grasscloth wallpaper, and a punchy coral-and-aqua court paint scheme designed in the Netherlands.

There are plenty of comfortable spaces for relaxing, whether you’re playing pickleball, watching others, or meeting friends for coffee, happy hour or a bite to eat. The Annex bar, in a separate building that also houses a private event space, has a sophisticated, cocktail-lounge vibe with an open kitchen and a spillover patio for catching the action on the outdoor courts.

THE FOOD

Rally is a communal space, so much of the food is communal as well, says Executive Chef Cory Chunn. Expect Neapolitan pizzas, tacos, boards and kebabs along with salads, bowls and handhelds.

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“All of our food is meant to be interactive and fun,” says Chunn, a former chef at La Belle Helene. There are refreshing cool treats, like fresh fruit pops — Chunn and his wife previously owned a popsicle business — and liege waffle cinnamon ice cream sandwiches.

The cocktail program was developed by Boston mixologist Jackson Cannon with an emphasis on “light, citrusy and refreshing,” Cannon says. For example, the Double Bounce, Rally’s take on the traditional espresso martini, is made with a custom vodka blend, coconut water and soda and served over ice in a Collins glass. Syrups and orgeats are made in-house, and premium mocktails are a key part of the menu.

Rally teamed with Nightswim Coffee to develop a menu of traditional espresso and coffee drinks complemented by seasonal flavors like honey lavender and pineapple ginger matcha.

THE PICKLEBALL

Courts can be reserved in 90-minute blocks starting at $72 for outdoor courts and $84 for indoor courts, with a 12-person maximum per court. Rally also offers classes, competitive and leisure leagues, and a corporate wellness program, according to director of pickleball Jim Kucera.

There’s Rally Rookies, a one-hour beginner class, and Pickle Pump, a fast-paced workout supplement with drills where players will “hit as many balls as we possibly can,” says Kucera, a former tennis pro who came to the Queen City via Charlottesville, Va.

Wednesdays at 6 p.m., Rally hosts a social on the outdoor courts with up to 32 players rotating in and out of games. “A big part of pickleball culture is just show up and work yourself into the court,” Kucera says. “That’s sort of the spirit of this.” SP

THE DETAILS

Rally is located at 101 Southside Dr. and is open seven days a week. Court reservations open online five days in advance. Rates start at $72 for outdoor courts and $84 for indoor courts; prices include equipment rentals. Afternoon and evening rates are higher. No reservations are required to dine or drink at Rally’s bars, café and coffee bar. rallypickleball.com

Clockwise from top left: Rally founders Meg Charity and Barrett Worthington; the entrance to Rally; a Neapolitan pizza; one of two on-site cocktail bars

Ode to love

DESIGNER PRAJ HAGARGI’S BEDROOM IS AN HOMAGE TO HER LATE GRANDMOTHER.

by Krisha Chachra | photographs by Heather Ison

After a decade working in information technology, Prajwal “Praj” Hagargi felt the call to step outside her comfort zone. Decorating and styling rooms has always been a passion of hers, so in 2016 she decided to pursue an online degree at San Francisco-based The Interior Design Institute. After two years, she achieved Council for Interior Design Accreditation.

Revira Interiors, previously Contrast Interior Design, is a combination of her daughter’s names, Reeva and Ira. Praj was just getting started on her new path as a business owner and a designer when the pandemic hit.

For the chandelier, Praj chose a design called Aspra designed by Julie Neill for Visual Comfort. The pattern and glass leaves mimic the clustered flowers in the Thibaut wallpaper and petal shapes in the carpet.

“My family gave me the courage to continue,” Praj says. “Since everyone was home in 2020, people started to look at their spaces differently.” She took on small projects and experienced the challenges of supply-chain issues and designing virtually. “I learned a lot during that time,” she says.

When visiting the homes of her clients, Praj likes to observe the colors, patterns and textures already in place and evaluate what is important to the client. However, in 2023, she decided to work on a project that was important to her. Her grandmother who lived in Karnataka, India, had recently passed and left Praj her antique armoire. “I share a spiritual connection with my grandmother and just wanted to honor her by creating a beautiful space for her armoire,” Praj says. She decided to redesign her own bedroom in her Weddington home and called the project “Ode to Love.”

An intimate connection

Praj started with elements inspired by her grandmother. “In many cultures, the willow tree is a sacred symbol for strength and

stability,” she explains. “My grandmother was a nurturing, grounded person and could withstand any challenge. I found the Thibaut Anna French Willow Tree nonwoven wallpaper in sky blue — it was perfect.”

After stripping the cream armoire and painting it gray, Praj incorporated a patterned fabric with the same design, pleating it and using a flat sash rod to keep it flush behind the glass.

She pulled the sky color from the wallpaper and used it throughout the room, applying a textured grass-cloth wallpaper on the remaining walls and painting the borders of the double tray ceiling a soft blue. She used the Adra by Schumacher block print with similar colors for the end trim on the draperies. “It’s a nod to the block print I saw on my grandmother’s saris,” Praj says.

To introduce warm tones, Praj chose an Aster design from Stark Carpet with a velvety feel. The fabric on the rose-colored ottoman is repeated on the striped settee pillows and blue headboard trim. “All these details connect the same space through texture, color or print,” Praj says. “I think my grandmother would be proud of the harmony created in this room.” SP

The Adra by Schumacher block-print trim on the draperies is a nod to Praj’s grandmother’s saris. The designer carried the flower motif from the draperies and pillows to the side tables by changing the hardware to a flower knob. The antique armoire, right, was the inspiration for the room design.

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Bone appétit

CHRISTI BUSCH LOVES DOGS AND COOKING — TWO PASSIONS THAT LED HER TO CREATE FOR THE LOVE OF DUTCH, A STARTUP MAKING HANDCRAFTED MEALS FOR PUPS.

by Amanda Lea

About 15 years ago, Christi Busch’s beloved 2-year-old basset hound, Dutch, started experiencing some medical issues. Dutch’s veterinarian recommended a combination of medication and special kibble for his kidney problems. Since Busch understood this would likely be a lifelong condition, she decided to explore additional options to help provide her pup some relief.

Busch took Dutch to a holistic vet to learn more. The vet recommended changing his food to a raw diet, and briefly incorporating Chinese herbs with his meals. Busch noticed an immediate improvement in Dutch’s overall health and energy level, plus his coat was softer and shinier.

Dutch passed away just a few years ago, but Busch says he lived a long and healthy life. “He and Lucy, our other basset hound, defied their breed’s life expectancy, and I’ll be the first to tell you that a wholesome approach to food transformed their health,” Busch says. “Dutch’s experience was eye-opening in how changing his food could have such an impact on his overall health.”

Starting from scratch

In 2019, after years of working in risk management for a large corporation, Busch decided she was ready for a life change. Since her experience with Dutch’s diet, Busch had been cooking her dogs’ meals from scratch. When she left her corporate job, Busch had the idea to sell the fresh-made food to fellow health-minded dog owners. She talked with several holistic veterinarians in the Charlotte area and gathered feedback on what they look for in fresh food for their patients.

Busch, who was already a certified Reiki practitioner, earned her Canine Nutrition Certification from the Academy of Natural Health Science, a licensed private vocational school in New Jersey. In December 2019, she launched For the Love of Dutch, a handcrafted dog-food business in honor of the pup who inspired it all.

Though it was still a relatively small industry, Busch wanted to set her products apart from bigger, national

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brands that were making and selling fresh dog food. She decided to focus on what was important to her: locally sourced and environmentally sustainable ingredients, made with love, to help dogs thrive.

Busch says all the protein used in For the Love of Dutch dog food is from grass-fed and humanely treated animals raised on North and South Carolina farms. The produce is organic, sourced from farms Busch has personally visited and where she has developed close relationships with the farmers.

For the Love of Dutch meals feature various proteins (beef, pork and poultry) and seasonal produce, such as sweet potatoes and peas. One of the most popular seasonal flavors is “Lucy’s Thankful Feast,” a Thanksgivinginspired nosh-up that includes turkey, cranberries, green beans and butternut squash.

Busch develops meal combinations based on nourishing foods that dogs enjoy eating, as well as recipes that sound appealing to their owners.

“Some of the flavor offerings come down to marketing,” Busch says. “The humans are the ones purchasing the meals, so the ingredients and combinations have to sound good to them, too.”

Each small-batch meal meets the standards of the Association of American Feed Control Officials, a nonprofit organization that sets standards for animal feeds and pet foods. To help pups meet their nutritional needs, each meal includes natural vitamin and mineral supplements like fish oil and flaxseed oil.

“For the Love of Dutch nourishes your pet in a natural way,” Busch says. “Every choice we make is driven to

IT’S FALL Y’ALL

boost their health, wellness and vitality, which feeds not only their stomachs but also their sweet souls.”

Busch started out making the meals in her own kitchen for family and friends, but the business quickly outgrew the space. She now leases a commercial kitchen space at The City Kitch in west Charlotte and employs two chefs to help with meal preparation and a courier to help with deliveries.

The fully cooked, ready-to-serve dog food can be ordered online in 16-ounce or 56-ounce resealable bags. Each order is delivered within Charlotte and surrounding areas on Thursday afternoons via air-conditioned delivery vans that keep the food chilled. Customers leave their own coolers by the door to ensure food stays chilled upon delivery. Since the food is made with human-grade ingredients and no preservatives, Busch says it should be stored in the refrigerator and consumed within five days.

Exploring paws-ibilities

Though Busch’s dogs have passed on, she says her heart stays full being able to help others care for their pups.

“One of the most rewarding parts of this business is hearing feedback from clients,” Busch says. “It just means so much to know a picky eater has come to love our meals, or a dog with GI issues is able to eat again. People are happy their dogs are thriving, and that makes this job 100% worth it.”

One of the most treasured compliments Busch has received so far is from Sam Hart, the acclaimed chef-owner of Charlotte’s Counter- restaurant, who told her the meats and ingredients she uses are among the best available.

“She purchases better ingredients than 80% of restaurants,” Hart says.

As For the Love of Dutch continues to grow, Busch is open to the possibility of expanding into additional markets. “It would be nice to open some satellite kitchens in different cities,” Busch says. “We’re open to options, as long as we remain dedicated to our philosophy of providing sustainably minded, locally sourced food to help pups thrive.” SP

Plastic Surgery

Dermatology

Cosmetics

Micro-needling/

Culture keepers

THE VAULT PROVIDES A GLIMPSE INTO FOUR PRIVATE COLLECTIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN EPHEMERA AND WORKS BY BLACK ARTISTS.

by Audrey Knaack

An invitation to visit someone’s home fosters two kinds of relationships: intimate time spent with the homeowners, and intimate time spent among their belongings. Four Charlotte couples have been sharing their art collections with guests for years, as they have adorned their homes with beautiful, and, often, powerful capsules of Black history and art from significant 20th- and 21st-century artists.

With the vision of guest curator Jessica Gaynelle Moss, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, these private collections are brought into the public eye like never before. Enter:

The Vault

The exhibition, which opened on July 1, unlocks the privilege of stepping into the homes — and impressive collections — of Judy and Patrick Diamond, Nina and James Jackson, Christy and Quincy Lee, and Cheryse and Christopher Terry. With Moss’ direction, each couple adds a personal flair to the space their art occupies.

According to Moss, even the way visitors enter this sacred space

is intentional. “One entrance to the exhibit is institutional, the other has a curved entry, which feels like a doorway with a portal you are entering, like a home space.” Much of the work here has never been publicly viewed or acknowledged, which allows for multiple ways to experience and appreciate the collectors’ custodial outlook toward preserving Black art.

An entryway of faces greets visitors upon walking into the exhibition. About half of these portraits, photographs and masks are displayed in a bedroom at Christy and Quincy Lee’s house — much to the delight of their guests, Quincy Lee says. Many works in the couple’s collection are by North Carolina-based artists, including Juan Logan, Antoine Williams and Bryan M. Wilson. One prized piece, a mixed-media work titled “Water” by J. Stacey Utley, speaks to challenging stereotypes by showing what water means to Black culture. “Water for Black people, there’s a positive and a negative,” Lee explains. “It’s really positive because we think of baptism and church. That’s registered here. … But it also speaks to how we got here in America,” he adds, noting the work’s reference to the Middle Passage.

TERRY PHOTO BY SANCHO SMALLS; LEE PHOTO BY BREONNA

T. COLLIER

 Christy and Quincy Lee

Cheryse and Christopher Terry 

“You see Katrina, the boats, the people saying ‘Help’ on the rooftops. So it speaks to all those different things.”

Patrick and Judy Diamond’s collection stands out with black-andwhite photographs and prints, sculptures, and artisan-made crafts. Items from the Diamonds’ collection have been displayed at museums across the United States, but many of the works presented in this exhibition have never been viewed publicly. “None of this belongs to us — it’s in our care,” Judy Diamond says, speaking to one of the most important themes of the exhibition. Judy and Patrick, who have been married for nearly 50 years, collected their first sculptures as newlyweds in Tanzania. Two sculptures purchased from Maya Angelou’s estate, part of her sculpture garden in Winston-Salem, are displayed alongside these. Other items on view include works by Elizabeth Catlett, Nellie Ashford and Hale Woodruff, plus South Carolina sweetgrass baskets the couple have acquired over the last 15-20 years.

Around the corner is an air of Christmas cheer. Nina and James Jackson didn’t plan to start a collection when they began purchasing festive Black Santa Clauses and angels for their Christmas trees and mantels — they simply wanted decorations that represented who they were. Near the beginning of their marriage, two days before

Christmas, the couple went out to purchase holiday decorations. “None of the Santas or the angels were attracting me, and I didn’t understand why,” Nina Jackson recalls. “I realized that I was kind of into something different. I wanted a tree that was reflective of us in our marriage, and there wasn’t a Black Santa.” With Moss’ urging, through this exhibition the Jacksons bring an uncommon tradition into the spotlight.

The final installation brings Cheryse and Christopher Terry’s living room to life. The vignette looks like it’s straight out of a movie, with hundreds of Ebony and other magazine covers on the walls alongside records, more than 30 Afro picks, and sleek midcentury-modern furniture, including an iconic, boomerang-shaped Noguchi coffee table and a Charles Eames lounge chair. Cheryse Terry, a native Charlottean, reflects on how being adopted instilled a love for taking care of things, such as the couple’s art. “Just as my mom saw the value of me, being adopted, I see the value in things that should be kept and repurposed.” SP

Discover The Vault at Mint Museum Uptown, on view through September 17.

COURTESY THE MINT MUSEUM; JACKSON PHOTO BY DAREMEN J.; DIAMOND

PHOTO BY CAREY J. KING

Judy and Patrick Diamond 

 Nina and James Jackson

Sibling revelry

TWO NORTH CAROLINA BROTHERS BOND OVER A SHARED LOVE FOR MUSIC.

by Michelle Boudin

Just a few days after their father died from cancer in 2017, Matt and Michael Susong had an impromptu jam session upstairs at their parents’ house, in their dad’s old music room.

“I had just gotten a piano, and I was working on this song,” Michael recalls. “And we were grooving, and the harmonies were good. We realized our voices clicked well. We came up with the chorus right there.”

His older brother Matt adds, “I remember mom sitting there watching us, and it was so fun. It was such a moment of clarity, realizing this is a special thing to be able to write a song together.”

Growing up in High Point, music was always a part of the brothers’ lives. The two men credit their father, who they say passed along his passion to his sons. Matt sang with the church choir, was part of an a cappella group in college and sang with a band after graduation. Michael toured with a band in college and later played regular gigs while living in L.A.

But the brothers rarely played together. Matt, 42, moved to Charlotte after college and now lives in SouthPark with his wife and two children. A technology manager at TIAA, he spends weekends as the frontman for the local band To Better Waters. Michael, 40, works with a marketing agency and lives in Winston-Salem with his fiance.

“Matt and I never were able to cross paths musically,” Michael says. “We lived in different places and had different tastes, so it wasn’t until Covid that Matt started sending me some songs. We had talked when my dad passed away about how we could try to strengthen our relationship and do music that we both love.”

Matt says losing their dad made them realize they should stop put-

ting off the things they’d always talked about doing. “Our dad lived a full life, but he had a lot of plans, things he still wanted to do. [Losing him] really started us on the path of seizing a bit of the present.”

The two realized they could use technology to create music together, even while living in different cities. The result is the brother’s third collaboration, an EP titled we are in this together, which is available on most streaming platforms. Matt did most of the songwriting and vocals. Michael added the synthesizer and other instruments. They worked together online, often over Zoom, to perfect the sound.

“It’s a true collaboration — it’s hard to remember who added what at this point,” Michael says.

They describe their new album as “indie folk pop with some electronic influence.” While they’re proud of the music they’ve created, the brothers say they’re even more excited about how the process of making it strengthened their relationship.

“My wife asked me who my best friend was, and I said Michael,” Matt says, admitting that wasn’t always the case.

Michael agrees putting the album together reinforced their bond. “Throughout this process, we were in constant communication. This has absolutely helped build that relationship,” he says.

Now that their work is available for the world to hear, they’re hoping people will listen to it. And while they don’t have any formal gigs lined up, both are hoping they’ll get the chance to perform the new songs together in front of a crowd.

“I believe in the songs more than ones we’ve written in the past,” Matt says. “They are more personal… When you really believe in what you’ve created, then you want other people to listen to it.” SP

Brothers Michael Susong, left, and Matt Susong, created an EP, we are in this together, working from their separate homes in Winston-Salem and Charlotte.

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congrats

We know it’s good, and now there’s more proof: Steak 48 was named the top-rated steakhouse in the state by Yelp based on several factors, including ratings and the volume of reviews. In burger news, The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar (The Big Squeal, #6) and Living Kitchen (Fire & Brimstone Burger, #32) made Yelp’s list of the top 100 hamburgers in the U.S.

Jolo Winery is loving the praise and having fun with the shock value of its latest award: Best of Show Rosé, judged by the American Fine Wine Society. Judge Sunny Fraser remarked, “When a wine from North Carolina is the Best in Show, it is reminiscent of a Judgment of Paris moment. There are no preconceived ideas in a blind tasting; you’re just judging what’s in the glass.” As the Pilot Mountain winery posted on its Instagram, “The wine doesn’t lie!”

relax

Eastover has two new med spas offering a range of spa, skin care and medical aesthetics procedures: SkinSpirit is open in the same shopping center with Laura Park Designs and The Buttercup. 1041 Providence Rd. skinspirit.com. Synergy

Face + Body opened along Randolph Road behind the OrthoCarolina Surgery Center. 3820 Randolph Heights Dr., Ste. 150. feelsynergy.com

featured cocktail

 Lead bartender Shaneka Slaughter at North Italia in South End created this Negroni Speziati as part of a new Summer Sips cocktail menu. It’s made with Italian gin, Tuscan spices, Campari, lemon and grapefruit oil and will be available through Sept. 4. 1414 S Tryon St., Suite 140. northitalia.com

 Legion Brewing SouthPark has 12 new items on the summer menu. We’re eyeing the Marinated Tomato and Cucumber Salad, which looks perfect for the season. Also on the summer menu: Heirloom Tomato Pizza and a Crab Melt on sourdough bread with a side of jalapeno aioli. 5610 Carnegie Blvd. legionbrewing.com

Synergy Face + Body

Legion Brewing SouthPark

Negroni Speziati at North Italia

TRAIL REACH FOR THE

Try a taste of the Trail, Charlotte!

Trailbound Hazy Pale Ale is the newest addition to the Highland Brewing line-up. With notes of citrus and soft melon, this modern hazy ale goes wherever your trail leads. Try it in Charlotte or hike on over to the brewery in Asheville!

coming soon

It’s time to welcome Puerta to Elizabeth. This Mexican food and spirits restaurant is the fourth dining concept in the neighborhood from 1957 Hospitality (The Crunkleton, Rosemont Market and Wine Bar, Cheat’s Cheesesteak Parlor). Look for it at the corner of 7th Street and Pecan Avenue. puertaclt.com

The sign is out at Capital Tacos, coming soon to Cotswold Village behind Bath & Body Works. The Tex-Mex spot has restaurants across the Southeast. capitaltacos.com

Babe & Butcher, the go-to charcuterie shop based in Camp North End, is coming to Park Road Shopping Center this fall, near the Bruegger’s Bagels. babeandbutcher.com

The Dresslers, of Rare Roots Hospitality, are extra busy this summer: Plans are underway to open Joan’s Bakery and Deli, steps from Dressler’s at Metropolitan this fall. The bakery is an homage to Jon’s mother, known for her cheesecake and carrot cake. This comes as Dogwood Southern Table in SouthPark is closing this summer after a nine-year run. rarerootshospitality.com

SupperClub aims for a late summer opening in South End. Co-owner Brad Byrd says SupperClub will focus on its food and drink offerings, with games like duckpin bowling and billiards adding an extra level of entertainment. Expect an eclectic decor — part Studio 54, part French bistro. 3521 Dewitt Ln. gotosupperclub.com

L’Ostrica will open in phases over the next several months in Montford, starting with a chef’s market featuring a curated, house-made mix of pastas, sauces, salads, dips, soups, sandwiches and sweets. Later this fall, look for a restaurant featuring tasting menus. The concept is led by owners Eric Ferguson, former executive chef at Stagioni and Good Food, and Cat Carter. lostricaclt.com

now open

Crumbl is taking orders at Cotswold Village in the former Ann’s Hallmark space. Crumbl’s fresh-baked cookie menu rotates weekly with a choice of six flavors, including milk chocolate chip, cowboy cookie and brownie sundae. Curbside and delivery are available. 116 S. Sharon Amity Rd. crumblcookies.com

Fresh off a grand opening celebration, The Revelry by Best Impressions Caterers is ready to entertain you. At 23,000 square feet, this Camp North End event space can accommodate gatherings of 250-1,200 people. Features include a full kitchen, multiple suites and green room spaces to get ready, and an interior brick archway. 701 Keswick Ave., #110. therevelryclt.com

Dram & Draught made its South End debut with plenty of live music and drinks to go around. The bar with an upscale-yet-relaxed vibe first opened in Raleigh in 2016 and serves more than 300 whiskeys, craft cocktails and lots of N.C. draft beer. 1220 S. Tryon St., Ste 300. dramanddraught.com

farewell

Charlotte’s oldest restaurant, Green’s Lunch, closed its doors at the end of June after announcing the property had been sold. The uptown fixture known for its hot dogs and (short!) barstools opened in 1926.

Joan’s Bakery and Deli

Rendering of L’Ostrica

Dram & Draught

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Garden party

Monday Night Brewing’s entry into Charlotte’s burgeoning craft brew scene brings an outdoor focus.

by Michael J. Solender

Monday nights on the town in South End recently got a bit more social. So did the rest of the week, with the opening of Monday Night Brewing’s new Garden Co. taproom just off the Rail Trail at South Tryon and Rampart streets.

Monday Night Brewing Garden Co. — so christened as the taproom boasts more than an acre of green space — has gobs of outdoor seating, a lush lawn, canopied patio bar and dog-friendly environs to enjoy the nearly two dozen craft brews on tap alongside handcrafted Neapolitan pizzas.

“We’ve had our eye on the Charlotte market for quite some time,” says Jeff Heck, co-founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Monday Night Brewing. “It’s a growing and vibrant city and accessible to our home base. This neighborhood and physical location is also special and is a big driver behind why we opened here.”

Charlotte becomes MNB’s fifth location since their Atlanta launch in 2013. Heck says the brewery’s origins come from hosting years of backyard brew parties and get-togethers at his Midtown Atlanta backyard. Today, MNB has a second location in the Big Peach and taprooms in Nashville, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala.

Queen City beer enthusiasts will find an oversized main taproom fronted by the huge outdoor lawn. Inside, there are plenty of conversation areas, two massive woodburning Italian pizza ovens cranking out thin-crusted, slightly charred pies (try the Peppadew, with caramelized onions, piquante peppers, sausage and buffalo mozzarella).

The beer? All handcrafted in Atlanta and trucked up Interstate 85 weekly. Bestsellers include Dr. Robot, a blackberry-lemon sour; Taco Tuesday, a crisp Mexican-style lager; and Prague Fog, a toasty dark Czech lager. MNB also features handcrafted cocktails with their own proprietary spirits, wine and soft drinks.

Come for the fellowship and corn hole, stay for the beer and pizza. 2217 S. Tryon St., mondaynightbrewing.com SP

CONCERTS + EVENTS

Carolina Panthers Fan Fest

Aug. 2

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for this ultimate pep rally kicking off the 2023 football season. On-field performances begin at 6 p.m., followed by a practice. The celebration concludes with a fireworks and laser show at 9:15 p.m. Tickets are $5; proceeds benefit Carolina Panthers Charities. panthers.com

Jazz at the Garden

Aug. 5 | 6-8 p.m.

Head to Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont for an evening of Latin jazz with Gino Castillo & the Cuban Cowboys. Beer, wine and snacks will be available for purchase. Tickets are $45; members receive a 20% discount. dsbg.com

August HAPPENINGS

Jason Aldean: Highway Desperado Tour

Aug. 10 | 7:30 p.m.

Enjoy an evening at PNC Music Pavilion for “the party heard around the world.” Tickets start at $41. livenation.com

Lyle Lovett at Knight Theater

Aug. 10 | 8 p.m.

The Texas-based singer, composer and actor has shaped American music with his 14 albums. Lovett blends elements of country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel and blues. Tickets start at $39.50. carolinatix.org

Mary Chapin Carpenter at Knight Theater

Aug. 11 | 8 p.m.

Hear five-time Grammy Award-winner Mary Chapin Carpenter share hits including “Passionate Kisses,” “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her” and more. Tickets start at $45. carolinatix.org

Charlotte Pride Festival & Parade

Aug. 19-20

One of Charlotte’s largest annual parades and the area’s largest LGBTQ Pride event returns with a multiday festival. The parade takes place uptown Aug. 20, rain or shine. Expect local vendors, live music and the Charlotte Pride Drag Pageant. charlottepride.org

Bark in the Ballpark

Aug. 25 | 1:05 p.m.

Bring your pup to watch the Charlotte Knights minor-league baseball team take on the Memphis Redbirds. Other upcoming Bark in the Ballpark dates are Sept. 6 and 13 at Truist Field. milb.com

MUSEUMS + GALLERIES

Mint 2 Move Cultural Dance Night

Aug. 4 | 7:30 -11:30 p.m.

Experience art through dance. Take a lesson and groove to salsa, cha cha, bachata, line dancing, Afro-beats and more. $10.50 for members, $14 for nonmembers. mintmuseum.org

The Ballad of Bella Noches at Elder Gallery through Sept. 9

Celebrate the stories and experiences of African American nightlife and entertainment in the South through Afro-Surrealism. Artist Dammit Wesley explores “social nostalgia” of the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s through paintings and 3-D interactive pieces. eldergalleryclt.com

— compiled by Caroline Boulware

Scan the QR code on your mobile device to view our online events calendar — updated weekly — at southparkmagazine.com.

Charlotte Pride Festival & Parade

Dammit Wesley

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Inspired by industry

MATTHEW STEELE CELEBRATES THE BEAUTY OF THE MANUFACTURED WORLD THROUGH SCULPTURE.

by Liza Roberts

Infrastructure inspires Charlotte artist Matthew Steele. Bridges, highways, architecture and other physical manifestations of technology demonstrate to him the lengths human beings will go to “transcend the greatest obstacles we know.” With honed precision, Steele’s work explores the elegance, complexity and rigor of such industrial and manmade structures,

the labor that made them, and the life they each contain. The still rotors of a turbine become a thrumming work of abstract beauty when Steele makes them of wood and copper. He allows them to hang alone, the promise of movement in every blade. Steele’s scaffold-like towers of walnut merge to create a geometric, jagged skyline, but with an irregular, tendriled base: Are they putting down roots? Are these structures not built, but alive?

Mirrored Turbine, 2022, walnut, copper rod, 23-gauge nails, 84 x 84 x 4 inches

“There is desire in a highway,” Steele says. “There is triumph in a bridge.”

Steele moved to Charlotte in 2012 for a McColl Center residency and has made the city his home. “I’ve always been interested in the manufactured world,” he says. “I came from a super small town in Indiana. I knew the feeling I had when I would go to a city or a large industrial space, and just how alien it felt. I think I’m still narrowing in on that feeling.”

In 2015, Steele became an artist-in-residence at Goodyear Arts, a nonprofit arts program and collective. This allowed him to further explore that feeling and its embodiment in his work, which has been exhibited and collected internationally. Two years later, Steele and his wife, Susan Jedrzejewski, an associate at Hodges Taylor Gallery and a former co-director of Goodyear Arts, bought a home with a

2,000-square-foot walk-out basement that serves as Steele’s studio. This is where he makes the work that fuels his creativity. “There’s something incredible about waking up and making something,” Steele says, “of walking downstairs and turning on the table saw.” At the end of the day, Steele says, nothing can compare to the satisfaction of that kind of work: “Something can exist that didn’t exist that morning.”

Most of the time, that something is made of wood, and usually, that wood is walnut. It’s the wood he first learned to use many years ago when his father brought home a huge supply, and still, no other wood compares. “It’s pretty forgiving,” Steele says. “It has a quality that feels special. I’ve created the deepest relationship with walnut.”

It’s this richly colored, earthy-scented material that forms the work inspired by steel buttresses, by engine components, by in-

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LYDIA BITTNER-BAIRD, COURTESY OF HODGES TAYLOR

Noir no.2, 2023, wal-nut, 23-gauge nails, 47 x 73 x 4 inches

Sundowning , 2021, machine drawing / pen on black Stonehenge, 92 x 50 inches

Dr. Shane Mackey

dustrial infrastructure. To Steele, that paradox points to a larger message. “I remember a thought I had in college about people in the world that we build,” he says. “It’s so easy for us to think of us as separate from nature, but we make our beehives, and we make our own beaver dams. We’re just animals.”

In Charlotte, Steele is making his mark. Last year, he received an Emerging Creators Fellowship from the Arts & Science Council, and he is currently working on a major piece of city-funded public art that will anchor a streetscape project on J.W. Clay Boulevard in University City, about 2 miles from his studio.

Making public art, which has kept him busy in recent years, is the realization of a long-held goal. In 2019, after a series of rejections for proposals he’d submitted for public art commissions, Steele decided to make a work of art to please himself. “I just thought, Nothing is working. I’m just going to make whatever I want.” He took the form of the Greek statue The Winged Victory of Samothrace as inspiration and “depicted that idealized sculpture as this sort of grim, dark oil-covered mess.” The resulting (Nothing is Working) Victory is a metal form that recalls the iconic sculpture’s shape but is built using intersecting pieces of metal, held up on a wooden trestle. The process taught him to make organic, volumetric shapes he hadn’t been able to create before. A few weeks later, Steele got a call to make his first piece

of public art — one that called on his newfound skill.

Guaranteed funding, a larger scale, a public audience and a sense of permanence make these commissions particularly prized. But the making of a piece of public art can become weighed down in procedure — paperwork and correspondence and engineering — that can remove an artist from the creative process. “It’s a tricky transition,” Steele says. “You’re using new materials on a completely different scale.”

Schematic depictions of Fabric, the piece he’s currently working on for the City of Charlotte, clearly share the elegance, energy and story of his studio work. Before submitting his proposal for the commission, Steele researched the industrial history of the area and became inspired by the early-1900s textile mills of the NoDa neighborhood. “I found old photos from the archives, images of factory rooms with thousands of spools of thread,” he says. “I just couldn’t get over the visual, all of these threads coming through.”

He began to experiment with steel rods and developed the design for what will become a 10-foot-tall, 6-ton piece of steel rods. Slated to be installed in 2026, the piece will be a sort of pyramid of rebar, where slivers of daylight will shift with the movement of a viewer.

“Public art is really, really exciting,” he says. “You get to do something you wouldn’t do any other way.” SP

Rendering of Fabric, a city-funded work slated for installation in University City in 2026.

Telophase no. 1, 2022, oak and 23-gauge nails, 24 x 24 x 72 inches

PHOTOGRAPH BY LYDIA BITTNER-BAIRD, COURTESY OF HODGES TAYLOR; RENDERING COURTESY MATTHEW STEELE

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August books

NOTABLE NEW RELEASES

compiled by Sally Brewster

Sun House by David James Duncan

A random bolt from a DC-8 falls from the sky, killing a child and throwing the faith of a young Jesuit into crisis. A boy’s mother dies on his fifth birthday, sparking a lifetime of repressed anger that he unleashes once a year in reckless duels with Fate, God or Power, who let the coincidence happen. A young woman on a run in Seattle experiences a shooting-star moment that pierces her with a love that will eventually help heal the Jesuit, the angry young man and innumerable others. The journeys of this unintentional menagerie carry them to the healing lands of Montana and a newly founded community, where nothing seems less likely than the soul-filling delight a troupe of spiritual refugees, urban sophisticates, road-weary musicians and local cowboys begin to find in each other’s company. This stunning novel, set amid the gorgeous landscapes of the American West, illuminates the contemporary world through the prisms of Eastern wisdom, cast-off ecstatic religious ideals, and the unpredictable, expansive yearnings of the human heart.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart.

Western Alliances by Wilton Barnhardt

Wilton Barnhardt’s Western Alliances is a vivid portrait of a wealthy family set against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis. This laugh-out-loud, darkly funny novel follows the Costa family — whose members are every bit as richly absurd as the characters in HBO’s Succession. Salvador Costa, the patriarch, runs one of Wall Street’s biggest banks the summer before everything collapses; Roberto and Rachel, his two children, have never worked a day in their lives; and Lena, his ex-wife, is a scheming hypochondriac. Part travelogue, part epic family drama, the novel follows Roberto and Rachel across Europe as the two dilettantes come to terms with their father’s choices and the repercussions of his actions.

Oozing with his signature satire and biting wit, Barnhardt invites readers on a literary romp from an elegant Paris apartment to a hilariously-inept London hotel, from ancient churches and crypts to gleaming Mediterranean coasts as two grown-up rich kids are forced to come of age at last.

Peach Seed by Anita Gail Jones

On a routine trip to the Piggly Wiggly in Albany, Ga., widower Fletcher Dukes smells a familiar perfume, then sees a tall woman the color of papershell pecans with a strawberry birthmark on the nape of her neck. He knows immediately that she is his lost love, Altovise Benson. Their bond, built on county fairs, sit-ins and marches, once seemed a sure and forever thing. But their marriage plans were disrupted when the police turned a peaceful protest violent. Before Altovise fled the South, Fletcher gave her a peach seed monkey with diamond eyes. As we learn via harrowing flashbacks, an enslaved ancestor on the coast of South Carolina carved the first peach seed, a talisman that, ever since, each father has gifted his son on his 13th birthday. Giving one to Altovise initiated a break

in tradition, irrevocably shaping the lives of generations of Dukes. Recently, Fletcher has made do on his 7 acres with his daughter Florida’s check-ins, his drop biscuits, and his faithful dog. But as he begins to reckon with long-ago choices, he finds he isn’t the only one burdened with unspoken truths.

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo Flor has a gift: She can predict, to the day, when someone will die. When she decides she wants a living wake — a party to bring her family and community together to celebrate the long life she’s led — her sisters are surprised. Has Flor foreseen her own death, or someone else’s? Does she have other motives? She refuses to tell her three sisters. But Flor isn’t the only person with secrets: Her sisters are hiding things, too. And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their own. Spanning the three days prior to the wake, Family Lore traces the lives of each of the Marte women, weaving together past and present, Santo Domingo and New York City. Told with Elizabeth Acevedo’s inimitable and incandescent voice, this is an indelible portrait of sisters and cousins, aunts and nieces — one family’s journey through their history, helping them better navigate all that is to come. SP

Sally Brewster is the proprietor of Park Road Books. 4139 Park Rd., parkroadbooks.com.

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Let there be darkness

IN DEFENSE OF DARK NIGHT SKIES

by Jim Dodson

During a business trip to a remote part of New Zealand last winter, I was reminded of the staggering beauty of the night. Stepping out of my bungalow just after midnight, the stars of the Southern Hemisphere took my breath away. There were untold millions of them arching overhead, blazing like white diamonds on black velvet.

Because it was summer down under, there were also vivid sounds of calling night birds and insects murmuring in the fields and forests around me. I sat down on a wooden rocking chair and just listened for the better part of an hour, a perfect bedtime lullaby that reminded me of my daily wake-up routine back home in North Carolina.

Well before sunrise most days, I take my coffee outside to sit beneath a grove of old trees and wait for the first songbird to herald the breaking day. Save for an occasional passing train or distant siren that briefly mars the silence, it’s the stillest part of any day, the perfect moment to think, meditate, pray or just be.

I’ve captured the first birdsong many times on my handy Cornell Lab Merlin Bird app. In my neck of the suburban woods, it’s usually a Carolina wren or eastern towhee that breaks the serenity of pre-dawn. Sometimes it’s the northern cardinal or melodious song sparrow who takes lead solo. Every now and then, a great horned owl or brown thrasher cues the chorus. Whichever one starts, as sure as night is dark, a chorus of a dozen or more birds soon join the songfest, including gray catbirds, mourning doves and American crows.

I never tire of this avian awakening, finding a sense of true gratitude for my tiny spot on Earth as a new day begins.

And yet, I worry.

Last year, a report from National Audubon on the state of birds reported that the U.S. and Canada have lost 3 billion birds over the past half-century. The same report notes that half of America’s bird populations are in decline, prompting more than one expert to declare that we are already in the early throes of the Earth’s sixth mass extinction.

Global warming, loss of natural habitat, various forms of pollution and the fact that the night is no longer as dark as it used be are cited as primary contributing factors to the decline of thousands of species of birds, insects, reptiles and mammals, roughly half of which hunt, mate, feed and travel by night. Disappearing forests accelerate this decline.

Historian Jill Lepore echoes similar concerns in a recent New Yorker essay titled “What We Owe Our Trees.”

“Even if you haven’t been to the woods lately, you probably know that the forest is disappearing. In the past 10,000 years, the Earth has lost about a third of its forests, which wouldn’t be so worrying if it weren’t for the fact that almost all that loss has happened in the past 300 years or so. As much forest has been lost in the past hundred years as in the 9,000 before. With the forest go the worlds within those woods, each habitat and dwelling place, a universe within each rotting log, a galaxy within a pine cone. And, unlike earlier losses of

forests, owing to ice and fire, volcanoes, comets and earthquakes — actuarially acts of God — nearly all the destruction in the past three centuries has been done deliberately, by people, actuarially at fault: cutting down trees to harvest wood, plant crops and graze animals.”

So what is an ordinary, suburban nature-lover and bird nut to do? That depends, I suppose, partly, at least, how you grew up.

I sometimes joke that I grew up in darkness. I had the privilege to grow up in a succession of sleepy Southern towns, following my dad’s itinerant newspaper career. From the coast of Mississippi to the Carolinas, Yeats’ proverbial “The Stolen Child,” with an imagination fired by nature, I explored woods and creeks, bringing home frogs and injured birds. The rule was, I had to be home by “full” darkness. Many an evening, I lingered in the twilight just to watch the fireflies come out and listen for the sounds of crickets, bullfrogs and night birds. In those days, the streetlights in these quiet rural towns were few.

I’m not speaking, mind you, of the metaphorical darkness showcased by everything from the Bible’s rich imagery of light and darkness (good and evil) to cable TV’s endless news loops of crime and disaster. There’s a perfectly good reason why depression is rightly called a “dark night of the soul.” Anyone who has experienced it might be forgiven for believing that the world is coming apart at the seams.

The first thing I did when my wife and I moved back to my hometown neighborhood seven years ago was plant 20 trees around the property. Today in summer, our house sits in a grove of beautiful

trees. Our neighborhood’s giant oaks, maples and poplar trees still arch like druid elders throughout, providing home to a rich variety of birds and insects. They also give us welcome shade in summer and showcase the stars on winter nights.

Turning down the lights at night strikes me as one small but sensible act of kindness to nature, encouraging the living world around us to rest, so moths and other nighttime creatures can pollinate plants, fertilizing the start of the world’s food chain.

In her lovely spiritual memoir, Learning to Walk in the Dark, theologian Barbara Brown Taylor points out that most of the monsters we fear in the dark are simply phantoms we create in our anxious, sleep-deprived minds.

“I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light,” she writes. “Things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light.”

I was reminded of this fact one morning at the start of summer while awaiting my woodland wake-up call. Savoring the pre-dawn stillness beneath the trees, I suddenly realized that the fireflies had returned, magical messengers of hope that would be nowhere without the night.

As August passes over us and the days grow shorter, the darkness grows.

I say, bring it on, dear neighbors, and sleep well. SP

Jim Dodson is a New York Times bestselling author in Greensboro.

FALL ARTS PREVIEW

Firsts, seconds and a trilogy

20 SHOWS, CONCERTS AND CULTURAL EXPERIENCES WORTH SEEING THIS FALL

by Page Leggett

The next five months offer a cultural bonanza — a social smorgasbord! — for Charlotteans. We’ll be treated to a couple of firsts — a world premiere by an award-winning South African choreographer at Charlotte Ballet, for one. Several shows and events — To Kill A Mockingbird with Richard Thomas and the Charlotte International Arts Festival — are back for a second time, by popular demand. And one exciting, three-act trilogy that was a recent Broadway darling is getting its Southeastern premiere in the Queen City — and you’ll need to get tickets early. This fall, there are oh-so-many reasons to buy tickets in advance. Heck, with performers as exciting as Queen Bey herself, you may not even mind paying all those extra “convenience” fees from the cursed Ticketmaster.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHEW MURPHY

MJ The Musical

August

To Kill A Mockingbird, Aug. 1-6

It’s back, and Richard Thomas is returning as everyone’s favorite fictional father: the gentle, wise Atticus Finch. Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin adapted Harper Lee’s timeless, Pulitzer Prizewinning classic. With direction by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, this version of To Kill A Mockingbird — part of Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Broadway Lights Series — is already considered “a landmark production” (Rolling Stone). Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St. Tickets start at $25. carolinatix.org

American Aquarium, presented by MAXX Music, Aug. 3

Frontman and songwriter B.J. Barham may remind you of Jason Isbell — and not just because they both got kicked out of their own bands (or had their bandmates up and leave) when their out-of-control drinking started impacting their performances. Both are now sober, and both talk openly about their self-destructive drinking days. And both Americana/alt-country/folk-rockers write poetically about the state of being human. The title song from the band’s most recent album, Chicamacomico, is a heartbreaking ode to the child Barham and his wife lost when she suffered a miscarriage. (“I’ll never pretend to know what you’re going through/But you ain’t the only one who lost something that day/Honey, I lost him, too.”) Barham says he hopes the album “serves as a salve to anyone who has experienced … loss.” The Raleigh resident and Reidsville native puts on a raucous live show, with plenty of laughs, even as he bares

his soul. Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St. Tickets start at $20, plus fees. neighborhoodtheatre.com

A Doll’s House, Part 2, presented by Charlotte Conservatory Theatre, Aug. 3-13

Lucas Hnath’s 2017 play picks up where Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 original ends. The theme running through the original is a woman’s desire for liberation, or at least for a marriage of equals. Although main character Nora had limited choices in the 1800s, she does — with an emphatic slam of a door — flee her home, husband and children at the end of A Doll’s House. In Part 2, she returns home, but not to make amends. Frances Dell Bendert, an actor affiliated with Charlotte Conservatory, notes in a blog about the sequel that “the conversation about gender equality and marriage is still raw and urgent.” We can rejoice that the three-and-a-half-hour run time of Ibsen’s original has been edited to under two hours in the sequel. The Broadway production, starring Laurie Metcalf and Chris Cooper, was nominated for eight Tony Awards, including Best Play. This version features some of Charlotte’s best-known thespians, including director Matt Cosper and actors Kellee Stall (Nora) and Gina Stewart. Van Every Theatre at the Mint Museum, 2730 Randolph Rd. Tickets are $35. carolinatix.org

Beyoncé, Renaissance World Tour, Aug. 9

She’s performed at Coachella. She wowed at the 2013 Super Bowl Halftime Show. She serenaded Barack and Michelle Obama at his 2009 Inaugural Ball. And now, Beyonce Knowles brings her star power to Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. The 200 million records

American Aquarium, presented by MAXX Music

she’s sold, the 32 Grammy Awards she’s won and the 30 top-10 singles all speak to her status as an international phenomenon. The singer/ actor/entrepreneur is more than one of the top entertainers in the world. She’s a pop culture icon. All hail the queen! Bank of America Stadium, 800 S. Mint St. Ticket prices, starting at about $225, may fluctuate. ticketmaster.com

September

Queen City Comedy Experience, presented by Blumenthal Performing Arts, Sept. 6-10

The laughs are back! This year’s lineup is strong. Yuk it up at Hyprov: Improv Under Hypnosis Starring Colin Mochrie and Asad Mecci (Sept. 8 at Knight Theater), Shawn Wayans (Sept. 8-9 at The Comedy Zone), Chris Tucker (Sept. 9 at Belk Theater), a live version of the Small Town Murder podcast (Sept. 9 at Knight Theater) and many more local and national acts. We’re especially excited for Capitol Fools (Sept. 7 at Knight Theater). After Washington, D.C.’s premier political satire troupe, The Capitol Steps, called it quits after a 40-year run, some cast members and a co-writer picked up where the old group left off. The sketch comedy is fast-paced, smart, topical, over-the-top and skewers Dems and the GOP with equal fervor. (If you’re too young to know how the Capitol Steps got their name, Google John Jenrette, a U.S. representative from the Myrtle Beach area.) Various locations and pricing. carolinatix.org

Charlotte International Arts Festival, presented by Blumenthal Performing Arts, Sep. 15-Oct. 1

The second annual celebration of imaginative visual and performing arts from around the world and right here at home takes over uptown and extends to Ballantyne’s Backyard. With more than 200 attractions, this festival is filled with live performances, art installations and food from around the globe. CIAF is so big it even contains two other festivals, the Festival of India and The Latin American Festival, under its umbrella. Learn more about all the happenings, most free and some ticketed, at charlotteartsfest.com.

Charlotte Symphony Annual Gala and Concert: An Evening with Renee Fleming, Sept. 20

She’s been nominated for 18 Grammy Awards and won five. She began as an opera singer, but her crossover appeal has led to performances with Paul Simon, Sting, John Prine and — improbably — Lou “Walk on the Wild Side” Reed. Renee Fleming is one of the most celebrated singers of our time, and she’ll be joined on stage by the full Charlotte Symphony Orchestra for what’s sure to be a glorious night of music. CSO Conductor Laureate Christopher Warren-Green returns from across the pond

to lead. Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St. Single-ticket pricing not determined at press time. charlottesymphony.org

Leela James, presented by Blumenthal Performing Arts, Sept. 22

R&B singer-songwriter Leela James’ 2005 debut album, A Change Is Gonna Come, earned her a Soul Train Award nomination for Best R&B Soul Artist and a NAACP Award nomination for Outstanding New Artist. The album was a tribute to soul singers of the 1960s and ’70s, including Roberta Flack and Gladys Knight, who James cites as influences. Since then, she’s released seven LPs and had seven Top 20 R&B radio singles. Her ballad, “Fall For You,” is considered a modern classic of the genre and was certified gold in October. James has performed or recorded with James Brown, Maxwell, Moby and North Carolina’s own Fantasia. According to a music-obsessed friend of mine, “She’s one of those R&B veterans who has been around for years but never quite gotten mainstream recognition — not that it would even be a goal of hers. This will be a great show from a criminally underrated soul singer.” Knight Theater, 550 S. Tryon St. Tickets from $35. carolinatix.org

PHOTOGRAPH BY TIMOTHY WHITE

Teresa Hubbard/Alexander Birchler: Flora, The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Sept. 23, 2023 –Jan. 21, 2024

Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti is one of the most celebrated artists of the modern era, while virtually no one has heard of American sculptor Flora Mayo. But she studied — and had a romance — with Giacometti at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in the 1920s. Little was known about Mayo until Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler (husband/wife artists) found her son, now in his 80s, interviewed him and decided to bring her compelling biography to life. Their double-sided film installation seeks to elevate Mayo above the footnote status to which she had been consigned. Alongside the exhibition will be works from the museum’s permanent collection by artists (Alexander Calder, Joan Miró) associated with the academy where Giacometti and Mayo met. Organized by the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the exhibition was part of the Venice Biennale (a very big deal) in 2017. The Bechtler is the first museum in the Southeast to land it. Interesting aside: Hans Bechtler (Museum founder Andreas’ father) founded the Giacometti Foundation. Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, 420 S. Tryon St. Free with museum admission. bechtler.org

MJ The Musical, Sept. 27-Oct. 8

He first shot to fame as the youngest member of the Jackson Five. He’d go on to become a top-selling solo artist, a dancer extraordinaire and later, a reclusive figure who shared his home, called Neverland Ranch, with a chimp named Bubbles and three

children, including one named “Blanket.” But between those two eras, Michael Jackson was one the greatest entertainers to ever moonwalk across a stage. MJ isn’t a retrospective of his life and career, but a new musical centered around the making of the Gloved Ones’ 1992 Dangerous World Tour — one filled with illusions and special effects that grossed more than $100 million. Part of Blumenthal’s Broadway Lights Series, the show features more than 25 of the biggest hits by “The Man in the Mirror,” including “I’ll Be There,” “Thriller” and “Billie Jean.” Created by Tony Awardwinning Director/Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and twotime Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, MJ offers a rare look at a creative genius at the height of his powers. Before things got weird. Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St. Tickets start at $25. carolinatix.org

The War and Treaty, The Lovers Game Tour, Visulite Theatre, Sept. 27

The War And Treaty (the husband-and-wife team of Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter) has opened for Al Green, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell and John Legend. And the duo has collaborated with Dierks Bentley, Elvis Costello, Mumford & Sons, Sturgill Simpson and a host of others. It’s good to see them headlining. Their “voices … will stop you in your tracks,” according to Garden & Gun, and I think their fusion of soul, gospel, country and rock could, too. After their show, you may feel as if you’ve been to church — or an old-timey Southern tent revival, which is funny, considering the duo is from Albion, Mich. 1615 Elizabeth Ave. Tickets are $21 in advance, $26 day of show. visulite.com

Teresa Hubbard/Alexander Birchler: Flora

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY BECHTLER MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

October

Breaking Boundaries, presented by Charlotte Ballet, Oct. 5-28

Breaking Boundaries features an “unconventional masterpiece” by Ohad Naharin, best known for his “Minus 16,” which wowed Charlotte audiences in 2019. Naharin’s “Kamuyot” is a piece more than 50 minutes in length that has “no clear boundaries,” according to Batsheva Dance Company, which commissioned the piece. Apparently, connections will be woven between the dancers and the audience. Sounds interesting. The second piece is a world premiere by Mthuthuzeli November, an award-winning South African choreographer whose work includes a tribute to North Carolina’s own Nina Simone. Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Center for Dance, 701 N. Tryon St. Tickets start at $30. carolinatix.org

Nurse Blake: Shock Advised Tour, presented by Blumenthal Performing Arts, Oct. 11

Nurse Blake (Blake Lynch, RN) uses his experience as a nurse to create comedy events that celebrate the tireless work of modern-day Florence Nightingales and Greg Fockers. Blake tells candid stories from nursing school and his shifts at the bedside. His upbeat storytelling belies the often serious and scary incidents nurses encounter on the daily. After nursing school, Nurse Blake worked in a level 1 trauma center — the kind equipped to provide the highest level of care to critically ill or injured patients. While still in nursing school, he began creating Facebook videos about his work as a way to relieve stress. They went viral and led to his second career as a constantly touring comedian. (His current tour hits 100 cities.) Grab your favorite RN or LPN and join the fun. Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St. Tickets start at $36.50. carolinatix.org

VOCES8, Oct. 15

This a cappella octet from England recently recorded with Paul Simon on his new album, Seven Psalms, a 33-minute, acoustic composition. Founded in 2003, the Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble has an extensive — exhaustive, actually — repertoire that includes classical, jazz, their own arrangements, early English and European Renaissance music, traditional folk, and pop. Education is part of their mission — and how many singing groups have a mission? The VOCES8 Foundation, a vocal music education charity, reaches 40,000 young people every year. Sandra Levine Theatre at the Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement, Queens University of Charlotte, 2319 Wellesley Ave. Ticket prices were not determined at press time. carolinatix.org

November

The Lehman Trilogy, presented by Three Bone Theatre, Nov. 3-5, 9-12, 16-18

What a triumph to land this! The women of Three Bone are treating Charlotteans to the Southeastern premiere of the 2022 winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Play; six Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Play; and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Play. Written by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power and directed on Broadway by Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy is a three-act theatrical event that recounts the humble beginnings, outrageous successes (and excesses) and devastating collapse of a venerable financial institution — a collapse that would lead to, as you might recall, a global economic meltdown. Three Bone Theatre is only the second company in the country to produce The Lehman Trilogy since it closed on Broadway in 2022. Epic in scope (it spans 150 years) and length (three-and-a-half hours) but modest in cast size (three actors), the play follows the rise and stunning fall of three immigrant, investment-banking brothers while telling the story of American capitalism and its close companion — greed. The Arts Factory, 1545 W. Trade St. Ticket prices were not determined at press time. threebonetheatre.com

Jennifer Archibald’s HdrM, captured by Taylor Jones, part of Charlotte Ballet’s 2023 Innovative Works

Sunset Boulevard, presented by QC Concerts, Nov. 4-5

In her L.A. mansion, washed-up silent-screen star Norma Desmond dwells in the past. Screenwriter Joe Gillis, trying to escape debt collectors, stumbles into her reclusive world. Persuaded to work on a script Desmond is convinced will relaunch her career, Gillis is seduced by her wealth. He becomes her virtual prisoner until his love for another woman, a script editor, leads him to try to escape an increasingly paranoid Desmond … with tragic consequences. The 1950 movie directed by Billy Wilder is the source of the famous quote, “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” The musical adaptation features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber with a book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. QC Concerts’ version, performed concert-style without a set or costumes, will feature a cast of 25 along with a 40-piece orchestra on stage. This production marks QC Concerts’ first time performing at Booth Playhouse. Saturday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Booth Playhouse. Tickets from $18-$25. carolinatix.com

P!nk: The TRUSTFALL Tour, Nov. 12

With three Grammy Awards and 135 million records sold worldwide, the artist formerly known as Alecia Beth Moore has left her stamp on pop culture. She’s a gifted songwriter and singer, but what really has us excited about her Charlotte show are the thrilling acrobatics — P!nk was a competitive gymnast as a child — and theatrics her live performances are known for. She’s touring in support of her ninth studio album, TRUSTFALL, which has

Charles Basham, BLOSSOM AND SEED, 2023, Oil on Canvas, 36 x 39 7/8 inches

been lauded for its honest and vulnerable lyrics. Grouplove and Kidcutup will “Get the Party Started.” Spectrum Center, 333 E. Trade St. Ticket prices fluctuate. ticketmaster.com

December

Sarah Brightman: A Christmas Symphony, presented by Blumenthal Performing Arts, Dec. 3, 2023

Sarah Brightman, the first Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera on both West End and Broadway stages, brings her angelic voice and acclaimed holiday show to the Blumenthal. She’ll be joined by a choir and orchestra. If last year’s international tour is any indication, we can expect to hear “Coventry Carol,” “Ave Maria,” “Nessun dorma,” holiday standards and a couple of selections from Phantom. The world’s best-selling soprano has performed at such prestigious events as the Concert for Diana, The Kennedy Center Honors and the Barcelona and Beijing Olympics. This show won’t be quite that big, but it should be a spectacle. Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St. Tickets start at $45. carolinatix.org

Rosanne Cash, Dec. 8

Johnny’s eldest hasn’t performed in Charlotte, as far as we can recall, for a dozen years. The Grammy-winning Americana-country singer — who began her career in the 1980s singing pop songs such as “Seven Year Ache” — is a fantastic writer of songs and prose. Her memoir, Composed, from which she read the last time she played Charlotte, is a treasure. (The Chicago

Tribune called it “one of the best accounts of an American life you’ll likely ever read.”) Queens University’s Laura Kratt says, “She’s doing a seven-show run [for] the vinyl re-release of The Wheel, so it was a bit of a coup to get her.” I’ll say! She’ll be here with her band, which includes her husband, John Leventhal. Sandra Levine Theatre at the Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement, Queens University of Charlotte, 2319 Wellesley Ave. Ticket prices had not been determined at press time. carolinatix.org

Need A Little Christmas: A Holiday Musical Celebration, produced by Laura Little Theatricals, Dec. 8 – 21

We have high hopes for this one. Producer Laura Little comes to Charlotte with a theater pedigree. She co-produced Come From Away on Broadway, then in Toronto, London and Australia, plus the national tour. Her company’s Need A Little Christmas is a Radio City Music Hall-style show. “We’ve already cast the kick line,” she says. “And we’re using all local talent.” The holiday extravaganza includes professionally choreographed tap numbers, Santa’s workshop, a military tribute, international holiday customs and a live nativity conclusion. Featuring a cast of more than 45 performers and 450 costumes, Need A Little Christmas might become your new holiday tradition. Central Piedmont’s impressive Parr Center is worth a visit, and this is a great reason to go. Central Piedmont’s New Theater at The Parr Center, 1201 Elizabeth Ave. Tickets are $47 for adults, $40 for seniors and military and $31 for children under 13, and can be purchased online at needalittlechristmas.com or by calling the box office (704-330-6534) Mon. - Fri. between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

BONUS EVENT:

Cirque du Soleil: BAZZAR, Dec. 16 – Jan. 14

The famous human circus is back, this time with BAZZAR, an eclectic lab of creativity where a troupe of acrobats, contortionists, dancers and musicians create a whimsical, one-of-a-kind universe. And we’re all invited. (It’s good, family fun.) It’s equal parts artistry and acrobatics and promises to be dazzling, quirky and leave you wondering, “How’d they do that?” Under the Big Top at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 5555 Concord Pkwy. S., Concord. Tickets start at $46. cirquedusoleil.com/bazzar SP

When Premier Sotheby’s International Realty opened its first location in North Carolina at 5970 Fairview Road back in 2014, The Charlotte Observer declared the occasion as an endorsement of the city’s revival as a luxury real estate market. This esteemed real estate brokerage introduced the iconic luxury lineage of both the storied Sotheby’s auction house and the global Sotheby’s International Realty® brand to the Queen City. Today, by expanding its presence with a flagship location in the heart of SouthPark at 532 Governor Morrison Street, Suite C-110,

Premier Sotheby’s International Realty reaffirms its commitment by introducing elevated experiences where luxury real estate meets luxury retail.

“This new location promises to be transformative for buyers, sellers and our advisors as well,” says Kristine Newell, senior vice president of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. “As our presence in North Carolina has evolved and grown, we wished to make a statement with a jewel-box office designed by award-winning architects Shook Kelley.”

Jill Castle, managing broker for Premier Sotheby’s International Realty in Charlotte, recognizes the location’s value. “In this sophisticated space, our global real estate advisors can collaborate to lead and innovate the Charlotte market,” she says.

As an affiliate of Sotheby’s International Realty, it has a focus on fine wine, collectible automobiles, jewelry, watches, history, sports memorabilia and, of course, fine art. Premier Sotheby’s International Realty intends to showcase its relationship with the auction house with themed events

in the new space, which has been designed for large gatherings.

Celebrating its 40th year in business, Premier Sotheby’s International Realty continues to define the ultimate luxury real estate experience. With more than 1,400 exceptional global advisors throughout Florida and North Carolina, a number of whom were named to the 2023 RealTrends + Tom Ferry The Thousand and America’s Best Real Estate Professionals lists, Premier Sotheby’s International Realty delivered $8.8 billion in total sales volume in 2022.

MEET PREMIER SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY’S TEAM IN CHARLOTTE

THE SOUNDS OF LIFE

HEAR AND NOW: MUSIC VENUES TO FIND YOUR GROOVE IN CHARLOTTE.

production & styling by Whitley Adkins

photographs by Olly Yung

written by Daniel Coston

makeup by Josiah Reed

production assistant: Emily Mydosh

lighting assistant: Lola White

MIDDLE C JAZZ

Date night with cocktails at Charlotte’s house of jazz: Revisit old-school glam in this intimate and moody club, where you can experience the music up close and personal.

featuring House of Funk models: Ceara McKegney and Liam Newell represented by Marilyn’s Model and Talent Agency

Previous page and opposite: Ceara: Jonathan Simkhai dress, $645, Electric Picks earrings, $78, Staud bag, $195, all Thirty-One Jane; vintage acrylic bangles, stylist’s own Liam: Paisley & Gray jacket, $325, pants, $175, and shirt, $145, all Revolution Clothiers

If life is meant to be lived, then music is truly meant to be experienced live and in person: The feeling of sharing a show with old friends, plus a few new ones. The roar of the crowd — or the hushed anticipation of an intimate gathering. Watching your favorite musician for the 25th time, or your soon-to-be favorite musician for the first time.

As rich and diverse as the local music community has been, 2023 may be the year that gives you, the listener, the most opportunities to see live music in Charlotte. Postpandemic, venues are staying booked more than ever, and fans are here for it. Whether venturing out alone or with a group of friends, you’ll find plenty of homes for music throughout the Queen City.

As Charlotte has changed and grown, so too have the places to hear live music. Larger venues such as Bojangles Coliseum and Ovens Auditorium stay booked after nearly 70 years. AvidXchange Music Factory offers a host of opportunities, from a summer evening

GOLDIE’S

A mother-daughter lunch date-turneddance party at the newly opened Goldies’s in Lower South End, where you can grab a bite to eat and experience live music — rock, country and more — throughout the day.

models: Brooke Hawthorne Hall, represented by Directions USA, Model & Artist Management Agency, and Aubrey Gray

Brooke: vintage plaid shirt, $35, and vintage Levi’s cut-off denim shorts, $42, assorted bangles, $2-16, all from East 8th Vintage; vintage Bangora hat, $40, vintage Nocona cowgirl boots, $85, Collins of Texas vintage purse, $65, all from The Rat’s Nest

Aubrey: Pink Chicken skirt, $72, Rylee + Cru top, $53, American flag hat, $20, all from Coco Leto; Acme cowgirl boots, $85, The Rat’s Nest

show at Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre to The Fillmore Charlotte to The Underground.

But for the smaller, independent venues, survival has been much harder. Longtime fixtures such as the Double Door Inn and Tremont Music Hall have slipped away in recent years. Thankfully, venues like the legendary Milestone Club, Smokey Joe’s and Comet Grill allow guests to step back in time, creating an ongoing tapestry of sounds and experiences.

Another venue with a rich history is the Neighborhood Theatre, in the center of NoDa. Opened as a movie theater in 1945, the space later operated as a retail storefront and a church before becoming a live-music venue in 1997. Along with hosting legendary performances by Doc Watson, Kings Of Leon and others, the venue was the first home for the Avett Brothers’ famed New Year’s Eve shows, and can be seen in their “I And Love And You” video.

Special mention should also go to Joe Kuhlmann and the Evening Muse, which has been one of the region’s best listening rooms for more than 22 years. Both the Neighborhood Theatre and the Muse are bedrocks of NoDa, even as

featuring Scoot Pittman

NEIGHBORHOOD THEATRE

the surrounding area has seen transformational change. Go see your next favorite artist play at the Muse, then see them at the Neighborhood, before they sell out shows at the Music Factory.

Downtown, Middle C Jazz has quickly emerged as one of Charlotte’s most popular new venues. Described by General Manager Teddy Johnson as “the little venue that could,” Middle C found a way to survive, and now thrive, despite opening just months before the pandemic. Launched in fall 2019 by longtime promoter and Music With Friends entrepreneur Larry Farber, Middle C pivoted by airing shows via livestream. The concept proved popular: Though its doors have reopened, fans still have the option of watching shows online from the comfort of home. Whether you’re checking out songstress Maria Howell at one of her regular shows or a legend such as drummer Billy Cobham, Middle C offers plenty of room to breathe and a top-notch food and beverage outlet, Dressler’s Improv Kitchen.

featuring The Blue Dogs

This page: Hong Kong Vintage shirt and skirt, vintage belt and silver booties, all stylist’s own; Noelle Munoz Jewelry bracelet and earrings

model: Jessica Vargas Koontz, represented by Directions USA, Model & Artist Management Agency

Opposite: Hong Kong Vintage sequin skirt; Rank & Sugar utility shirt, stylist’s own

Gritty and real, The Neighborhood Theatre has hosted some of the region’s most beloved bands. Model Jessica Vargas Koontz hangs out with The Blue Dogs during sound check, later having her own ’80s-style Courtney Cox-Bruce Springsteen “Dancing in the Dark” moment.

AVID X CHANGE MUSIC FACTORY

backstage with The Robert Randolph Band

Big enough for mainstream acts but small enough to navigate, every venue at AvidExchange Music Factory has just the right amount of energy. Style Editor Whitley Adkins and artist Brooke Werhane Maples take us backstage at the Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre with the Robert Randolph Band during their summer tour with Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Ziggy Marley, Mavis Staples and others.

The rise of Middle C reflects a strong and diverse local jazz scene that has been steadily growing. JazzArts Charlotte has hosted monthly concerts since 2011 and now regularly sells out shows at Stage Door Theater, just blocks from Middle C. Monthly jazz performances at the Bechtler Museum and the Gantt Center also pack a crowd.

Wander down Elizabeth Avenue, and you’ll find monthly concerts by the Charlotte Folk Society at the Great Aunt Stella Center, which has survived in the shadow of downtown for more than 100 years. At the eastern end of Elizabeth Avenue, you’ll find the Visulite Theater, another venue that debuted decades ago as a movie theater.

In and around Plaza Midwood, you find Snug Harbor, Petra’s, Thirsty Beaver (which was world-famous long before Mick Jagger had a beer there), Tipsy Burro and Tommy’s Pub. Even Visart Video now offers a Tuesday night showcase, proving that there are still places, though perhaps unexpected, to listen to live music any night of the week.

A recent tour of Goldie’s, the newest live music venue in town, serves as a reminder there’s still room for growth in Charlotte’s music scene. Located in Lower South End, Goldie’s showcases a variety of local and regional musicians with nightly shows and stages throughout the venue. Want to hang out at the bar? Lounge on the back patio? Goldie’s has the spot for you, along with multiple menus (pizza, burgers, hot dogs) and cocktails to boot. Goldie’s joins other South End venues such as Amos’, The Gin Mill and The Music Yard.

The list of places to enjoy music in Charlotte goes on: PNC Music Pavilion, Coyote Joe’s, the Whitewater Center, Stooges Pub & Grub (in nearby Mint Hill). Numerous breweries and taprooms stretching from Lake Norman to Pineville offer live music as well.

For some, the journey of live music starts with one band, or a favorite hangout. Others frequent a host of venues, always searching for the next great discovery or that next great night of your life. If the love of music is a journey, so is discovering the places that celebrate the music. Go and find it, listen to the sounds of life, and enjoy. SP

Cottage by the coast

A CHARLOTTE COUPLE EMBRACES LOWCOUNTRY LIVING WITH A FUNCTIONAL AND STYLISH COTTAGE IN BLUFFTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, THAT CAN GROW WITH THEIR FAMILY.

by Cathy Martin | photographs by Mary Britton Senseney

Mark and Shelley McLean made frequent trips to Palmetto Bluff, the 20,000-acre Lowcountry community in Bluffton, South Carolina, as a nearby getaway from their busy lives in Charlotte. During the pandemic, they decided to put down roots.

“Palmetto Bluff is a special place for us,” Shelley says. “We love the natural beauty, the thoughtful design of the community, the vast array of amenities, the ability to build community with the other residents and its proximity to several other quaint southern towns.” The upscale residential community along the May River — with 32 miles of riverfront, lush maritime forests and salt marshes — is a short drive from Savannah, Ga., and Beaufort, S.C. “Mark is also from Florence, S.C., so being in the Lowcountry feels like home for him.”

VENDORS:

Architect: Erik Puljung with Hansen Architects, Savannah, Ga.

Builder: Heyward Pinckney with Pinckney Brothers, Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Interior Design: West Trade Interiors, Charlotte

Cabinetry: AWD, Savannah

Working with Hansen Architects in Savannah, and Pinckney Brothers, a custom homebuilder in Hilton Head, the couple chose a waterfront lot to develop a phased home plan where, eventually, multiple generations of family can comfortably gather as they progressively spend more time there.

“We both still work full time and are not ready to care for another full home,” Shelley says. “We wanted to de-

sign a home that was simple to live in today, and allowed for us to grow into as our family grows.”

Once plans were in place for the initial phase of construction, a cozy-but-elegant cottage with a spacious carriage house above a three-car garage, the couple brought in their trusted Charlotte designer, West Trade Interiors. Eight years ago, the mother-daughter duo of Hadley Quisenberry and Lisa Britt led the design of

their Charlotte home in the Montibello neighborhood. “They know our preferences, taste and style,” Shelley says. “The West Trade team possesses a keen eye for aesthetics, color schemes, furniture arrangement and overall space utilization. Their expertise and experience in interior design enabled them to create a home that truly reflects who we are and how we envisioned living in the space.”

“They are traditional and love color,” Hadley Quisenberry says. “He’s from the South. She was raised in Pittsburgh but has lovingly adopted all southern ways.”

Color abounds in the living room, where an oversized pink ottoman doubles as a coffee table and a pair of blue armchairs flank a floral-patterned sofa. The room adjoins the galley kitchen, which eventually will become a scullery in the next

phase of construction. “It’s petite, but it’s just cozy,” Quisenberry says. The custom cabinets are painted a soft green-gray, and the butcher-block countertops add warmth to the space. A Scumacher wallpaper with a floral motif adds a traditional feel that ties into the rest of the home’s decor, Quisenberry adds. The sunroom overlooking the water serves as the dining room, where a whitewashed table for

four can be extended to accommodate guests. Yellow-striped club chairs perform double-duty, as reading chairs for curling up with a book or as host and hostess seats at the table. A stained wood ceiling — Mark’s idea — warms the bright, sunny space.

Given the area’s temperate climate, the couple spend lots of time outdoors when staying at the

home. The porch, with a view of the river, is a natural extension of the living space. “We made the front porch a true living area, which they can use most of the year,” Quisenberry says.

“The long-term plan for our home is to enjoy the cottage and the simple living while we both continue working full-time,” Shelley says. “When we slow down and want to spend more time in the Lowcountry, we will consider phase two,” which will include a larger kitchen, a casual dining area, more bedrooms and a wraparound porch.

“Our children are grown, with the youngest in college,” Shelley adds. “We were ready to spend time out of Charlotte knowing we will never move away from our Charlotte community. Having our special place in the Lowcountry to share with our family and friends is the perfect balance to our lifestyle.” SP

Even when it’s sticky-hot humid, Charlotteans love to find an excuse for a summertime outing — even if it’s a short-lived one. We sent photographer Richard Israel out with one mission: Show us summer in the Queen City. He confirmed a few things we already suspected: Ice cream makes it better. So does a big, shady tree (thankfully, we have a few around here).

photographs by Richard Israel

Two scoops of relief: When it’s a daily serving of hot and humid with thunderstorms on the side, folks flock to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream at Park Road Shopping Center for some cool refreshment.

Strike up the band: Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, opposite, warms up at Symphony Park.

Shiny and new: Sycamore Brewing, right, glistens in the sun along the Rail Trail in South End.

Summer poppin’:

Somehow, it’s easier to forget how hot it is when there’s live music, friends and family. Symphony Park gives neighbors a place to hear the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra on a perfect summer evening.

Made for shade: Did you know that standing in the shade can feel 10-15-degrees cooler than standing in the sun? It’s easy to get active at Freedom Park, then cool down under an old oak tree, opposite.

Picnic perfect: Families and friends stake their spots for an evening filled with music and fireworks. Don’t forget the bubbles, top.

Right at home

HOTEL HARTNESS IN GREENVILLE, S.C., IS A SOOTHING, SPLENDID RETREAT FOR A WEEKEND GETAWAY.

by Cathy Martin

When a special home grows dear to you over time, it can be hard to let it go. As the children grew up and out, South Carolina’s Hartness family could have done just that. Instead, they developed a plan that would allow them to keep their beloved homestead — and share their special place with others.

Hotel Hartness, anchored by the family’s former home, is situated on a 449-acre tract of rolling hills and shady forests in Greenville, S.C., about 12 miles from downtown and a two-hour drive from Charlotte. Pat and Mary Lou Hartness, members of a prominent and philanthropic local family, lived in the home for decades. The family’s history in the area dates to 1940, when Pat’s father Tom Hartness purchased the Pepsi-Cola Bottling rights in Greenville and started a business that later evolved to industrial packaging.

Over the years, the family hosted gatherings and events on the property. Now, sharing it with others allows them to keep the hospitable tradition alive. That ethos extends to the staff, welcoming and attentive, who provide a level of service that’s becoming a rarity at similar-priced hotels.

The Great Room

The original home, a French chateau style-house built in 1979, primarily serves as a gracious lobby and cocktail bar. New additions house the hotel’s 74 guest rooms, a ballroom for up to 300 guests, a standalone spa and restaurant.

In the main house, original wood floors are intact, along with wood beams sourced from the property. The home’s former sitting room has been brightened by the addition of floor-to-ceiling windows, part of Atlanta designer Sims Patrick’s vision of bringing nature inside. A pair of oversized fireplaces, one refaced with more than 2,000 pounds of Italian marble, make a striking first impression. Art throughout the hotel is sourced from a local gallery, Art Houzze, and the majority of works are by local artists. Just outside, a beautifully manicured courtyard boasts plenty of seating for guests to unwind. While the hotel is still young, it’s easy to imagine a lush, verdant space here as the newly installed landscaping matures.

Across the courtyard is Patterson Kitchen + Bar, the hotel’s sleek and stylish restaurant with retractable walls for open-air dining and a patio with water views.

Patterson Kitchen + Bar

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRANDON BARRE & PAUL MEHAFFEY

Leather chairs and a wood-paneled ceiling add warmth to the airy, light-filled space. The menu, updated seasonally, reflects Southern and Italian influences. Start with the crab dip (Gruyere bechamel, bacon and peppadew jam), Southern grit cakes, or one of the daily specials — a delectable burrata with fresh summer peaches and fried basil, on my visit. But save room for the entrees: The duck cavatelli with homemade pasta and vegetables is a mainstay, and for good reason, along with the seared tuna with Napa cabbage, baby bok choy, jasmine rice and coconut curry. Finish your meal with gelato or panna cotta and house-made limoncello.

Back in the main house, Captain, a cozy cocktail bar housed in the home’s former kitchen and rec room, buzzes at happy hour. Walls are paneled with the home’s original rough-hewn, reclaimed barnwood, and a central fireplace divides the space, creating several intimate seating areas. Captain serves a small menu at lunch (salads, sandwiches, wraps) and dinner (a burger, steak frites) and is a nice spot for pre-dinner drinks, a simple meal or a nightcap. Peek around the corner, where you’ll find photos of famous musicians — John Denver, Willie Nelson and The Beach Boys, to name a few — who have performed on the property through the years.

The hotel is situated amid the idyllic community of Hartness, designed by renowned new-urbanism planner and designer Lew Oliver and providing access to a 180-acre nature preserve

Captain

with 15 miles of walking and biking trails, 14 ponds, and two creeks. Hop on a bike — they’re complimentary — and start exploring, from the shady pecan grove to a mammoth sawtooth oak to the gently curved paths leading to the “pretty place,” a creekside woodland dense with ferns, hostas and lace-cap hydrangeas. On a clear day, you can catch a glimpse of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the Grand Lawn, a community gathering spot. Or spend the afternoon by the hotel’s pool — it’s heated, for year-round use.

Spa H offers another reason to stay on-site during your visit. De-stressing begins upon arrival, with a welcome ritual incorporating the soothing scents of lavender, ylang ylang and lemongrass. There are six treatment rooms for massages, body wraps or facials. The spa’s signature Ageless Beauty Facial blends anti-aging serums, vitamins and light therapy for an ultra-relaxing, 80-minute escape. For the ultimate restful getaway, book one of the hotel’s 500-square-foot spa suites, with private balconies and soaking tubs.

From little flourishes like macarons upon arrival and inspiring quotes left on the pillow at turndown, Hotel Hartness delights in the details and hits all the marks for a peaceful, restorative weekend away. SP

Hotel Hartness is located at 120 Halston Ave, Greenville, S.C. The hotel is dog-friendly, and breakfast is included with your stay. The hotel is independently owned but managed by Hay Creek Hotels, a New Hampshire-based hospitality firm whose portfolio includes Charleston’s Zero George and 20 South Battery.

Spa H

Spa H

Hartness Premier Suite

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRANDON BARRE, COURTESY HOTEL HARTNESS

Germany’s sunny side

SOUTHWEST GERMANY DELIGHTS VISITORS AT EVERY TURN WITH STORYBOOK VILLAGES, PALATIAL GARDENS, SWABIAN KITCHENS AND WINE COUNTRY.

by Michael J. Solender

Touring Germany’s Baden-Württemberg is such a feast for the senses, visitors might be tempted to pack too much into their short vacations. There are deep rewards and surprising finds for those who move leisurely, though. German history, hospitality, sights and tastes are best savored like the fine wines of the region: slowly, enjoyed with good friends and with an eye toward discovery.

Known as BaWu, the German state of Baden-Württemberg lies in the southwest corner of the country bordering France and Switzerland and is known for abundant year-round sunshine. Punctuated with verdant vineyards on sloped hillsides, diminutive villages with layers of history, centuries of architectural splendor and hearty Swabian (historic Bavarian regional) cuisine, BaWu delivers an engaging German cultural experience.

Daily nonstop flights from Charlotte to Frankfurt offer a gateway to the region, where a sophisticated rail system allows for a car-

free holiday. Alternatively, renting a car offers travelers maximum flexibility and real-time spontaneity. Either way, establishing a base in Mannheim, Stuttgart or Heidelberg offers an easy approach to exploring the best of these cities while journeying on day trips to discover nearby jewels that await.

Heidelberg

A stroll through Heidelberg’s Old Town is a pleasure, as the pedestrian-friendly cobblestone streets offer fabulous people-watching along with small independent retailers, cafes, bistros and bars for exploring. There’s a youthful energy here, as nearly a quarter of Heidelberg’s 165,000 residents are students. Heidelberg University, internationally recognized and respected for the sciences, mathematics, medicine and economics, is home to 32,000 students, most of whom get around by bicycle, skateboard or scooter.

Heidelberg

Nab a Heidelberg guide with a city map and navigate through more than 40 historic points (churches, market squares, Baroquestyled houses and university buildings) stretching two dozen or so square blocks that front the south bank of the Neckar River, an important transportation thoroughfare and major tributary of the fabled Rhine River.

The Heidelberger Schloss and Slosgarten (Heidelberg castle and gardens) is an imposing medieval castle complex high above Old Town overlooking the Neckar. A short, steep funicular rail ride whisks visitors to the former residence of the Palatine Prince Electors of the House of Wittelsbach. The 400-year-old complex (nearly all of the original 13th-century structure was destroyed) is a ruins-in-restoration, operated by the state and offering spectacular city views and Instagram-worthy photo-ops.

At Heidelberg’s less-traveled north bank of the Neckar, the Philosophenweg (Philosopher’s walk) is a runner’s favorite. Named

more for amorous students who enjoyed undisturbed nature walks than any fabled scholars, the 1.2-mile path winds through a residential area.

Some say Heidelberg is best enjoyed from its “most beautiful side,” directly on the river. Private river cruises are available in a 1920s-era restored sloop through Riverboat Heidelberg. Co-owner-captain

Georg Bloss and his crew arrange for catered sailing excursions (with special Neckar Valley wines) that meander at a leisurely pace.

Back in town, enjoy Heidelberg’s coffee culture at any number of coffeehouses. Conditorei-Café Schafheutle is a favorite, with a loaded pastry case of tarts, cakes and strudels. Alternatively, grab a Schneeballen — the crispy “snowball cookie” that is peeled like an orange — at Diller Schneeballentraume.

Save room for dinner. Wirsthaus zum Nepomuk, a lively tavern only a stone’s throw from the famed Alte Brücke (Old Bridge), is homey, bustling and convivial. Hearty German fare, crisp lagers

Church of St. Dionysius in Esslingen am Neckar

and a prideful staff welcome all to this neighborhood fixture. Specialties include the “Heidelberg Cobblestone” (rump roast), pork loin with cream sauce, and an impossibly thin and crispy Wiener schnitzel.

Schwetzingen

This hamlet just 3.7 miles south of Heidelberg is home to Schwetzingen Palace, the summer home of the Palatine Elector Carl Theodor in the late 1700s, around the time of the American Revolution.

Spend a half-day exploring the baroque architecture, statuary, and formal French- and English-inspired gardens across the 200+ acre grounds. The garden mosque, bathhouse, Temple of Apollo and orangery are highlights.

Savor a slow lunch at a traditional (and massive, two-storied) brew pub: Brauhaus zum Ritter. Two giant copper vats in the entryway greet diners. Altbier, Hefeweizen, Dunkel and Pilsner are among the German-style beers brewed here. Sausages, spaetzle and flammkuchen (a German-style flatbread) anchor a huge pub-grub menu that does not disappoint.

Stuttgart

The largest city in BaWu, Stuttgart is also the wealthiest and most economically diverse. Often noted as the automotive capital and one of Germany’s most industrialized cities, Stuttgart is home to Porsche, Mercedes, Bosch and other leading manufacturers.

A visit to Stuttgarter Markthalle, the city’s expansive indoor food market, is a sensory treat. Revel among the sausage-makers, spice merchants, fishmongers, artisan chocolatiers and patisseries here, where Greek, Iranian, Indian, Italian and Moroccan foodstuffs compete for attention with traditional German fare.

An open-air farmers market along the adjacent plaza offers flowers and seasonal fruits and vegetables in the shadow of Stiftskirche, Stuttgart, an impressive Evangelical-Lutheran church dating back centuries.

Don’t sleep on Stuttgart’s viticultural charms. There are thousands of acres of vineyards in the region surrounding the city (and annual per capita wine consumption here is nearly double that of the national average at 40 liters per person). The city’s plentiful wine taverns are fun to explore, and the culinary scene finds chefs exploiting con-

BUGA 2023

Built upon the grounds of Spinelli Park, the former Post WWII U.S. military base in Mannheim, BUGA 2023 (Bundesgartenschau/National Garden Show) is a mash-up of a garden show, cultural exhibition and urban design showcase for sustainable living. More than 5,000 events and attractions, sporting activities and climate workshops are being held here through Oct. 8.

This national show attracts millions of global visitors and spans hundreds of acres, including the adjacent Luisenpark, home of the BUGA 1975 national show. There are 17 special gardens aligned with 17 United Nations goals surrounding climate change and sustainability.

BUGA 2023 is also part of Mannheim’s Northeast Green Corridor Project, connecting 568 acres of green areas and parks to the city center.

Half-timbered house in Esslingen am Neckar

nections between the local bounty and those of the grapes.

Take a short ride outside of town to Weingut Wohrwag, a microwinery where husband-and-wife team HannsPeter and Christin Wöhrwag produce varietals unfamiliar to most casual American consumers, such as Trollinger, a light-bodied red. Tastings are leisurely and informative, and the accessible wines are easy to drink and pair. HannsPeter worked with Robert Mondavi in the ’80s and is uncompromising in his production techniques, emphasizing quality and care above all else.

Besigheim

A more active and adventurous wine tour awaits an hour south in Besigheim, where small groups enjoy a covered wagon tour (think: a tractor-pulled, open-air bus) through one of Germany’s most scenic wine towns. One of the region’s largest winemakers, Felsengartenkellerei, hosts mobile tastings while slow-cruising area vineyards and parks.

The tour ends near the base of the hill leading to Sepulchral chapel Württemberg, the burial chamber/mausoleum King Wilhelm I built for his wife Katharina, who died young in 1819. The monument is inspired by the ancient Pantheon in Rome and Palladio’s Villa La Rotonda and is a study in classic architecture. Sweeping vistas of Stuttgart and the Neckar Valley below are visually arresting.

Nearby Restaurant Hirsch offers traditional Swabian fare. Can’t decide? Get a sampler plate with pork cheeks, spaetzle and

maultaschen, a ravioli filled with spiced beef, pork, or vegetables and cheese.

Esslingen

Esslingen is a tiny village that packs a mighty touring wallop, as this medieval wine-country town was spared during WWII bombings. There are many fine examples of half-timbered houses, a massive Gothic cathedral, cobbled streets and winding canals. The city is home to Kessler, the oldest producer of sparkling wine in Germany. Cellar tours include tastings and insight into the bottle-fermentation process that gives these sparklers their pop.

The city is far from undiscovered with 2 million visitors annually, though many come late in the season for the widely recognized Christmas markets. Marvel at the Church of St. Dionys, Old Town City Hall and the old Dominican Monastery Church with a licensed guide like Tom Hale of Esslingen City Tours to get the full backstory of this storied village.

Stay

Find a strategic and comfortable home base in Old Town Heidelberg at the Hip Hotel. Each room in this boutique property is named and styled after a global city like Paris, Gothenburg, Marrakech or Zermatt, and the hotel offers easy access to the best of the city and beyond. Stuttgart’s Park Inn by Radisson is in the heart of the city, central to major transportation hubs for navigating the region. SP

Arion Fountain at Schwetzingen Palace and Garden

Vineyards around the Neckar River

Senior living in the Charlotte area offers more choices than ever before. Whether you need a new approach to healthcare or a community to call home, these SouthPark partners provide opportunities for active, enriching lifestyles and comprehensive care and services tailored to what seniors need.

Allen Tate Realtors | The Barclay at SouthPark

Brightmore of South Charlotte | The Cypress of Charlotte

Patina | Sharon Towers | Trinity Oaks | Windsor Run

An exceptional lifestyle awaits

Sitting on 65 beautifully landscaped acres in the heart of SouthPark, The Cypress of Charlotte is the Queen City’s premier Life Plan Community. With the feel of a high-end resort, The Cypress offers residents a welcoming and vibrant community, sophisticated amenities, superior services, lush outdoor spaces and countless opportunities to connect with friends.

One of the best parts about living at The Cypress: stress-free home ownership. When you live here, you own your cottage or villa, yet none of the upkeep falls on your shoulders. You and your family enjoy the opportunity for equity and appreciation, while we take care of the maintenance. You won’t even have to change a light bulb!

The health and well-being of our residents is the top priority at The Cypress. Along with a comprehensive wellness program designed to fuel the ongoing fitness of the mind, body and spirit, every Cypress member — from the most independent to those requiring more advanced care — has access to the exceptional medical facilities and care on campus.

Our recently expanded Stewart Health Center offers short-term rehabilitative services, long-term care and memory care. The five-star rated, Medicare-certified facility features a new assisted-living neighborhood comprised exclusively of private rooms, as well as individual rooms for skilled nursing and memory care. Additional highlights include restaurant-style dining and a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center.

To live here is to love it here. Shouldn’t that be what home is all about? We invite you to visit The Cypress. It won’t take long to understand why it’s such a special place.

Call to schedule a tour and learn about the waitlist, as well as some exciting opportunities available now.

Here’s to living your best life

Nestled in the heart of SouthPark and home to more than 300 residents, the 28-acre Sharon Towers community recently opened The Deerwood, furthering our longstanding mission to help you get the most out of life, at any age or ability. We call it aging successfully. Which means our culture revolves around living life with vitality and being one’s best self.

Welcome to The Deerwood

The Deerwood, which opened in November 2022, marks the entrance to our urban campus and features 42 state-of-the-art independent-living apartments with five floor plans ranging from 1,000 to 2,158 square feet. Amenities include a large community room, catering kitchen, two common outdoor terraces, a meeting room, extra storage space, garage parking under the building, and package delivery lockers in the lobby. Embodying the metropolitan feel of SouthPark, the design of The Deerwood apartments fully embraces open-concept living that fits today’s informal lifestyle. Every unit includes a private balcony or terrace as well as floor-to-ceiling windows for an abundance of natural light and maximized views. Kitchens are spacious and modern with stainless-steel appliances and quartz countertops. Meanwhile, earthy hues, clean lines and fashion-forward fabrics set the tone for the common areas on all five floors.

“It’s more than I hoped it would be,” says new resident Stanley Tucker, who relocated from westside Manhattan to return to his Charlotte roots. In addition to the spaciousness of his new apartment, he appreciates the vibrant lifestyle and friendly neighbors that have welcomed him home.

Senior living in the heart of SouthPark

Upbeat, stylish living is not all that The Deerwood offers its residents. The new building is very much a part of the campus, enjoying all the dining, healthcare and recreational amenities that Sharon Towers has to offer, but it also serves as a gateway to the restaurants, shopping and cultural attractions of SouthPark.

“There’s something for everyone here in terms of not only living space, but also lifestyle,” says Ann Marie Ladis, Sharon Towers’ director of sales and marketing. “Our five-star, Medicare-certified Weisiger Health Center provides round-the-clock, comprehensive nursing care for residents who need it. Meanwhile, our residents and the surrounding community enjoy the new Anne O. Moffat Park, designed with an eye toward connecting our campus to the greater community.”

It’s a new day at Sharon Towers, with even more changes happening now and on the horizon including new dining venues, additional amenity spaces and a new wellness clinic. Contact us to learn more or to arrange a personalized tour to witness our transformation yourself.

Life is BRIGHT at Brightmore of South Charlotte

Brightmore of South Charlotte is a rental senior-living community near Ballantyne that provides a vibrant retirement lifestyle.

Currently undergoing renovations to Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Support, the community that you know and love is making some exciting changes for resident and family enjoyment. New furniture, fixtures and finishes — paired with a vivid, new color palate — will bring a fresh, colorful look to our campus.

At Brightmore, we put the “active” in “active retirement lifestyle.” We offer a thoughtful, dynamic approach to retirement living, with on-site amenities that combine Southern elegance with a relaxing, home-like atmosphere.

Our programs focus on whole-person wellness for a life rich in experience, daily exercise opportunities and a social calendar filled with opportunities. The INSPIRE wellness and life-enrichment programs are designed to meet the emotional, social, intellectual, spiritual and physical needs of each resident.

When it comes to dining, Brightmore provides multiple options for residents to choose from. Every meal is prepared on-site and served restaurant-style, allowing residents to indulge in the venue and menu they prefer — from formal dining to casual pub-style meals to a lighter fare from Brightmore’s own fresh market.

At Brightmore, our team is here to help you live on the bright side, with services and amenities all included in one monthly rental fee. Schedule a visit today and discover elevated independent living at its best.

Retirement living to the fullest

We invite you to become a resident of The Barclay at SouthPark and embrace the joy of life. We provide our residents with an array of engaging activities, so they can thrive in retirement and feel their best in all areas of wellness — the key to a longer, happier life, according to The National Institute on Aging.

Resident Maxey Sanderson knows this firsthand. Spending his career in finance, he never knew he had a knack for creativity. “I’d never had the time to play,” he says. “Now I have the opportunity to do that.”

During a watercolor class, Sanderson painted a print of Layla, his beloved Shih Tzu, for his annual Christmas card. It drew the admiration of other residents, and before long, he received requests to paint pictures of their pets too. Staying engaged and interested in the world around him has helped Sanderson cope with the loss of his wife and maintain a positive outlook.

“Painting is something that occupies my mind,” he says. “It gives me a chance to be creative.” Another plus: Having a lovely watercolor of Layla on the cover of a greeting card enables Sanderson to send the positive vibes he’s found at The Barclay out into the world.

Should their healthcare needs change in the future, residents at The Barclay can take comfort knowing they have priority access to Briar Creek Health Center. There, a full spectrum of care is offered, including assisted living, memory-support services, skilled nursing and Medicare-certified short-term rehabilitation.

The Barclay at SouthPark believes in retirement living to the fullest. It’s not just a place to live, but a place to love. Visit BarclayatSouthpark.com to learn more and schedule a tour today!

M.D., Chief Health Officer

Better primary care, a better aging experience

Louise Brooks is nearly 70. She’s brilliant with color and uses it to guide her customers’ decisions regarding window treatments and blinds. At home, she’s often cooking — baked chicken, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and mac and cheese — for her hungry grandchildren. Louise is active and values her time. We see that often at Patina, and Louise is no exception.

Patina is primary care exclusively for adults 65+. We improve care experiences through a dedicated team that stays with patients over time and really understands their values, goals and preferences.

It’s a very personalized approach built around each individual. Every patient’s care team includes a primary care practitioner (PCP) and Patina Health Champion, who coordinates appointments, answers questions, helps with medication refills, and more.

We bring care to you rather than via physical office visits. We do that through video, online chat, mobile app, phone and in-person visits at home, when needed. No more time wasted driving, parking and waiting.

Patina is, as Louise says, “glorious” and stands apart from her previous PCP, who was not really listening to her concerns about possible cardiac issues. Then she found Patina. “They are involved and interested and genuine,” she says. “Their response time is unbelievable.” By listening to Louise and understanding her concerns, Patina offers ideas about her diet and helps her stay on top of her heart health, for example. She sums it up: “They hear me when I speak. I’ve never been this happy with my healthcare.”

Patina is designed specifically for older adults. We’re welcoming new patients and our services are available at no additional cost through most Medicare Advantage plans in the Charlotte area. Learn more at patinahealth.com or call 800.936.8142. We’d love to meet you!

Simplify your life, enhance your lifestyle

At Trinity Oaks, we offer a carefree lifestyle that is catered to you. Between our community fitness center, indoor heated pool and spa, card and game room, and library — along with transportation to a variety of off-site activities — there is never a dull moment. From the moment you walk in, you’ll be captivated by the warmth and friendliness that characterize this vibrant, full-service retirement-living community.

We help our residents tailor a lifestyle that suits them — fast-paced or completely relaxed. Choose from a variety of residential options, including thoughtfully designed two-bedroom, two-bath cottages with custom features like fireplaces, dens, screened porches and sunrooms. Consider one of our four apartment floor plans ranging from 520 to nearly 1,000 square feet of open space. Enjoy the convenience that apartment living offers under one roof, which includes an abundance of activities, socials, clubs and a 24-hour reception desk.

No matter what size dwelling you opt for on our 50-acre campus, amenities such as housekeeping, lawn maintenance, interior and exterior upkeep, and around-the-clock security allow you to enjoy your new worry-free lifestyle.

Along with your maintenance-free apartment or cottage comes support to enrich your life, as well as care if your needs change. Access to continuing care — assisted-living, skilled-care nursing and rehabilitation — means you can enjoy all the possibilities that life has to offer without being anxious about the future.

Trinity Oaks is in Salisbury — a welcoming community of 36,000 with a beautiful downtown historic district. With cultural opportunities unparalleled in a town its size, including a symphony orchestra and several award-winning community theaters, Salisbury offers the best of small-town living.

Come discover for yourself. Trinity Oaks will change the way you think about senior living.

Stunning new homes for VIBRANT SENIOR LIVING

At Windsor Run,® Southeast Charlotte’s premier senior living community, you’ll find everything you need to live the carefree lifestyle you’ve worked hard for and deserve. Now, even more apartment homes in two brand-new residence buildings are available for reservation.

Always Stylish, Always Maintenance Free

Fullwood Ridge and Crestdale Court feature 188 beautiful apartment homes in eight stunning new styles. As part of your predictable Monthly Service Package, all home repairs and maintenance come included, making worries a thing of the past.

Vibrant Living Means Amenities Galore

Your brand-new apartment home will be just steps from dozens of convenient amenities and services including:

• A pub and restaurant, ideal for gathering with your neighbors and friends

• A fitness studio with pickleball courts and multi-purpose classrooms

Strength in Numbers

Windsor Run is managed by Erickson Senior Living,® a national network of continuing care retirement communities with 40 years of experience. Here, you’ll choose a life of financial stability, care and connection, and healthy peace of mind Call

swirl

A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas

Springtime in Paris

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

April 21

The Bechtler was filled with the magic of Paris for this year’s black-tie gala as patrons celebrated the museum’s collection during a memorable evening. photographs by Daniel Coston

Vivi Bechtler-Smith and Natascha Bechtler Luis Machicao

Margaret and John Switzer

Noi Vong and Irina Toshkova

Hunter and Joy Widener

Lee Kennelly and Liz Hilliard

Ingrid Vandebosch-Gordon, Jeff Gordon, Michlene and Stephen Healy

Felipe Gonzalez Edmiston and Tom Fisher

Michael and Neely Verano

William and Jan Cook

Donna and Bob Lilien

Jesse Knight and Joye Blount

Emerich and Cate Gutter

Lynn and Brian Good

Bobby Wildermuth, robertbobbyart.com

swirl

A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas

Derby Days

presented by Mint Museum Auxiliary

May 6

The hats. The clothes. The tradition. The annual Derby Days event returned to Mint Museum Randolph for a day of fun in the sun.

photographs by Daniel Coston

Kayla Jones and Aaron Burgin

Sydney Niles and Devin Patel

Avery Hunter and Christine Mazzullo

Bill and Dulcinea Kimery

Victoria Gamrod and Alexandra Higgins

Elliot Szutz and Ashley Welch

Karen Lopez, Karen Francis and Fatiha Fatene

Marissa Peduto and Karina Mevs

Rob and Megan Peterson

SaraLynn Phipps and Cassandra Bertheaume

swirl

A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas

Charlotte Hope Gala

benefiting JDRF of Central Carolinas

April 22

Between dinner and dancing at The Westin in uptown, patrons raised more than $2 million to fight Type 1 diabetes.

photographs by Daniel Coston

Tina and Ryan Barnes

Amanda and Donnie Malpass Katie and Chris Pendergrast

Michael and Kelly Wilson

Kent and Caroline Lamm

Rhyne and Sara Anne Cannon

Amanda and Michael Troutman

Jenn and Brian Patnode

Heather Dooley and Holly Wilder

Alison and Jason Bitting

Dr. Eric Eskioglu and Lauren Speas

Mark and Amy Schaefer

Leigh Hicks, Patricia Quattlebaum and Jackie Jones

Don’t Settle for Ordinary

swirl

A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas

Charlotte Gem Preservation Awards

Charlotte Museum of History

May 11

After some axe-throwing fun, moonshine tastings and live performances, the night concluded with an awards ceremony to recognize notable historic-preservation and restoration projects. Former Mayor Anthony Foxx received the inaugural Charlotte Gem award for his work on equity and transportation issues.

photographs by Joshua Komer

Aldersgate is proud to set new standards in senior living and strives to foster diverse, caring communities where everyone has voice and value. Come see why Aldersgate is right for you. As a premier non-profit Life Plan Community, our expansive campus has it all: hundreds of acres of nature, bocce ball, an urban farm, wood shop, indoor pool and spa, six dining venues (2 with full-service bars), a dog park, fitness center with daily exercise classes, and more! Live your best authentic life with us.

Bob Stickler, Anthony Foxx, Terri White and Randy Renick Cynthia Forbes

swirl

A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas

Tea Time in the Garden

Wing Haven

May 7

Mothers, daughters and good friends dressed up to enjoy tea and refreshments with the garden as a lovely backdrop at this annual event. photographs by Daniel Coston

Caroline and Amanda Roth Charlotte and Kerry Nadeau

Beverly Hance, Lindsay and Evelyn McCullough

Nell and Allison Merriman

Susan Evans and Ian Kutner

Kara, Isabel and Sofia Franco

THE ARTISTS’ PLACE

CAROLINA FINE ART IN COTSWOLD VILLAGE MAKES SHOPPING FOR ART EASY AND ACCESSIBLE, WITH AN ADDED ATTRACTION: YOU MIGHT JUST MEET THE ARTIST WHOSE WORK YOU ADMIRE.

by Sharon Smith |

For many, the shopping center at the corner of Randolph and Sharon Amity Roads is an all-in-one place to grab groceries or get a haircut. Now, you can also pick out a painting or piece of pottery to take home.

Carolina Fine Art opened its doors less than two years ago with a business model unlike most galleries. It’s operated by local creatives whose artwork fills the space. The gallery relocated from Dilworth to Cotswold in November. The idea: Visitors get the chance to connect with artists and learn the backstory about what inspires their work and process.

Founder Amy Murphy Curlis says it’s a meaningful way to support local artists, both emerging and established. “Sure, you want a beautiful painting that is the perfect size for your wall … but we think you should also want to know the story behind the painting and meet the artist who created it,” she says.

Her inspiration to open the gallery came from anchor artist Terry Thirion, from whom Murphy Curlis bought her first original

painting in Charlotte years ago. Her own travels also framed the decision. “When my husband and I travel, we always check out the local art galleries and love to meet the local artists in that community,” she says. On one trip, they met an artist-proprietor in a little gallery in San Antonio and walked away thinking Charlotte needed something similar. “We think Carolina Fine Art has a bit of that same character … but it’s definitely more Charlotte-style.”

Carolina Fine Art features about a dozen artists, from Manuela Strada, known for her abstract landscapes, to John Komisin, who paints familiar cityscapes. And they have a story to share. SP

The gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. It hosts monthly art shows and events, including a Sip & Shop on the first Friday of each month in partnership with The Butler’s Pantry. Learn more at carolinafineart.com.

photographs by Caroline Boulware

Shawn Curlis and Amy Murphy Curlis

At ElizAbEth bruns, wE ’ vE bEEn rEgistEring bridEs for ovEr 70 yEArs.

Let us help and guide you every step of the way.

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