Mic Check
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Phil Pucci and Pullover Go Sunny Side Up on ‘Forever’
Phil Pucci is a happy guy, but that hasn’t always been the case. The former front man and guitarist for Charlotte bands Serfs and Melt, and promoter for the cutting-edge music festival Reverb Fest from 2014 to 2017, has never been a rock ‘n’ roll wild man, but the music…
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Weekend in Music Photos: Ben Folds, Violent Femmes, KISS
Ben Folds & Violent Femmes CMCU Ampitheatre; Aug. 8, 2019 As Ben Folds himself said, one of his songs that’s getting the most attention these days only has two words. “Moscow Mitch” was performed only a few songs into the night’s set, but was a definite highlight for its simplistic…
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Madison Lucas Attacks Self-Doubt with Modern Moxie Debut
As a college student living in the dorms of Coastal Carolina University near Myrtle Beach, Madison Lucas used to wait until her roommates would leave the room, then lock herself in the dorm closet with her guitar and her MacBook to record songs. Most of those songs would become The…
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Alfred Sergel Marches to his Own Beat
Alfred Sergel was driving home from a Charlotte jazz show in 2015, feeling stuck in his career, when he had an epiphany. “I started thinking about other drummers, like Brian Blade or Peter Erskine that, that are composers and band leaders,” the 47-year-old drummer remembers. “I thought, what would it…
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ReeCee Raps Builds Budding Career, Stomps Out Domestic Violence
It took five years for Shauna Respass to fully realize she needed to get out. Respass had been living in an abusive relationship in Kansas City, Missouri, from the time she was 19 years old until she was nearing 24, then one day she made a decision that would not…
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Anthony Hamilton is Home to Drop Soul on SHOUT!
Anthony Hamilton’s gravel-voiced country soul has music writers reaching for their cookbooks instead of their thesauruses. Down-home cooking metaphors — from chicken bones on the table to Coca-Cola warming in the sunlight — abound in descriptions of his sound. These interpretations circle the target, but leave it to Hamilton to…
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Local Producer Axnt Reintroduces Himself with ‘Double Image’
In 2017, Aaron Bell came back from Moogfest, the annual multi-day arts, tech and electronic music festival held in Durham, as inspired as he’d ever been. The Charlotte-based DJ/producer, who performs as AXNT, got right to work on a new project that he wanted to make “the loudest, the hardest,…
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Former Pullman Strike Sideman Takes the Lead with Wes & the Railroaders
Music doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective, according to Wes Hamilton. The 33-year-old guitarist and songwriter should know. Growing up in a musical family in Shelby, he fell in love with the gonzo boogie of Commander Cody and the workingman’s honky tonk of Johnny Paycheck and Moe Bandy,…
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Lee McCorkle Goes Experimental with The Electronic Park
Lee McCorkle is no stranger to alternative music. He’s spent a significant part of his life performing as Leisure McCorkle, touring and performing indie music as a solo act and as part of a band. At this point in his career, however, he’s ready to leave his life as Leisure,…
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McColl Alumnus Pamela Z Returns to Sound Off
The first time Pamela Z was at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation, the whole world came tumbling down. She remembers beginning her stint as artist-in-residence at the contemporary art space in September 2001 when two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. “It…
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Leone’s Debut EP is the Throwback We All Needed
Growing up in Orangeburg, South Carolina, D’Amontae Breland hated the music his mom played around the house. Or at least he thought he did. But somewhere in his subconscious, his mom’s ’70s soul and funk records were making an impact on him, and that all comes out when Breland becomes…
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Kyle Petty in the Driver’s Seat After Resurrecting Music Career
Growing up as the son of legendary NASCAR driver Richard “The King” Petty, it was expected that Kyle Petty would learn some tricks of his old man’s trade. While he put those tricks to good use during his own racing career, another passion he picked up at the track —…
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Time Sawyer Adventures to Neighborhood Theatre
When I reviewed Time Sawyer’s great album Disguise the Limit five years ago, my then-editor had some constructive criticism for the North Carolina-based folk band: “Great band but they’ve got to lose that name.” I countered that the alt-folk rock combo’s punning moniker is actually quite clever. The “Sawyer”…
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No Anger Control Ponders Maturity Amid ‘Lessons of Mass Destruction’
With a median age of 43, the members of No Anger Control skew a little older than the popular perception of a punk band, but Tiff Badger doesn’t give a shit. In fact, the foursome’s maturity is a sign of strength, she says. “The older you get, and the more…
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Mic Check: Indira Andrade Finds Her Place
She learned the basics on an acoustic, joined her first band with an electric, then picked up a bass and decided it was just right. You could call Indira Andrade the Goldilocks of Guitars, except her locks are usually red. You can definitely call her a kickass bassist for…
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Mic Check: ‘Torture Jazz’ Band Skewed Collective to Release Second EP
When most people think of starting a band, they try to solidify an outfit and set it in stone, as switching out members in a lineup too often would normally be cause for concern about the stability of the band. But Skewed Collective operates on a revolving door basis, constantly…
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