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I know it’s a Tuesday night, but c’mon, you know you don’t hit the sack until 11pm or so. Even if you show up for an hour, you’ll be doing your part to help out our neighbors in Haiti.
There’ll be great original, local music, high energy DJ’s, fantastic artists at work and a silent auction of DMP photographs from shows past.
Hope to see you there.
Early morning, February 1, 2010, as I stood in-between the driving lanes of Elm Street alongside hundreds of others anticipating the opening of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, I felt awestruck.
photo credit: Dan Routh Photography
It may have been the combination of moving words from Doctor Franklin McCain, Senator Kay Hagen and a host of other speakers. Or it may have been an emotional release brought on by the lack of sleep I endured to be downtown at eight o’clock in the morning (not my usual modus operandi). The simple truth of the matter, though, is that an integral part of History — not just Black History, or American History, but Human History — had unfolded less than a block from where we all stood.
Exactly fifty years had passed since that day, and about two decades had passed since the Center & Museum was originally commissioned. I remember, even as an adolescent, being concerned about the future of the historic site. It really is something in which every resident of Greensboro (especially those native to the city like myself) can find pride…and it honestly brought a few tears to my eyes.
So, on February 1, 1960, four seemingly ordinary Greensboro residents were inspired to do the extraordinary. In recent weeks, I’ve wondered how many other “ordinary” North Carolinians have proven themselves capable of extraordinary feats. I began searching for icons in the world of music whose origins can be found in the Tarheel State.
I ended up finding a long, long list of musicians all born here in North Carolina. An abridged list (very abridged) is as follows:
John Coltrane (b. Hamlet, NC, 9/23/26–7/17/67)
photo by vanveen1967
Thelonius Monk (b. Rocky Mount, NC, 10/10/17–2/17/82
photo by Ben Pearce
Maceo Parker (b. Kinston, NC, 2/14/43
photo by dimervansanten
Nina Simone (b. Tryon, NC, 2/21/33–4/21/03)
Shirley Caesar (b. Durham, NC, 10/13/38
photo by Brendan Hoffman
George Clinton (b. Kannapolis, NC, 10/22/41)
photo by Pix Gremlin
Roberta Flack (b. Black Mountain, NC, 2/10/37)
photo by Sweeping Zen
Ben E. King (b. Henderson, NC, 9/28/38)
photo by Live at J&R
Max Roach (b. Township of Newland (Pasquotank County), NC, 1/10/24–8/16/07)
photo by lieberkater
The list grew to be far more extensive than I had imagined. In the world of Jazz alone, there were a great number of influential figures born, raised, or educated in North Carolina. I can only imagine what names and faces I might be able to add to this list — whether it’s five, ten or twenty years from now, or maybe even five, ten or twenty months from now!
(Information gathered from the following sites: North Carolina Jazz Musicians, Wikipedia)
Photo by Elizabeth Lemon
North Elementary (John Harrison on right), from Chapel Hill, followed The Good Graces out of Atlanta and dished out a healthy dose of sweet, textured pop rock at The Green Bean last night.
Photo by Elizabeth Lemon
Chris Jackson belted out another tune for Citified, closing a great night of live music in downtown Greensboro.
William Dawson of The Alcazar Hotel brought high energy to The Green Burro for the October Dotmatrix show.
To see more of Julie’s work, check out her blog.
Josh Johnson’s one man band, Pinche Gringo, gets backup from Liza Jane on maracas and Jimmy Brad on guitar.
Hearing the blues Pinco Gringo style.
To see more of Julie’s work, check her blog
The Alcazar Hotel performs October 29, 2009 at the Green burro. Members from left to right: Edward Stanley-guitar, Steve Newton-drums, William Dawson-vocals and Adam Dodds-bass.
William Dawson serenades Julie Welch.
Check out more of Michael Dunn’s work on his blog
Josh Johnson in his one man band, Pincho Gringo, perform at The Green Burro on October 29, 2009.
An audience member gets comfortable as he takes in the garage/blues sounds.
To see more of Michael Dunn’s work, check out his blog.
This will be another brief post. For a more detailed account of the night’s performances, check out Nash Roberts’s take on the evening. Also, for the newbies, here’s our promo entrance page to sign up for an account with Amiestreet and receive free money to support our local artists.
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In June of 2009, the dotmatrix project hit another milestone. It was our first opportunity to feature three performances in a single evening. We were pleased to showcase three singer/songwriters all local to Greensboro, NC.
Randy Furches is a high-spirited, high energy person and performer. He kicked off the evening with a short set that showed off his love for all varieties of music. There was some Blues, some Folk, and a little bit of Hip-Hop. He brought along with him two musicians to accompany him during his set. Hank Johnson provided some extra flavor on guitar and on mandolin. King-Kev-O helped Randy finish his set off, bringing his own lyricism to the stage on “Cryogenics.”
ALBUM CREDITS
Recording Engineers: Don Ravon, Dan Bayer, Jerrod Smith
Mixing Engineers: Dan Bayer, Cesar Oviedo
Mastering Engineers: Cesar Oviedo
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Elizabeth Lemon
Morgan McPherson is a talented young performer who I believe has a long and prosperous career ahead of her. For this evening, she was accompanied by Ron May on bass and Strother Bullins on drums. The magic these guys brought to the stage can also be found on Morgan’s EP, Destiny Save Me, which was recently recorded in Nashville. It should be available soon. You can check out her myspace for more information on that.
ALBUM CREDITS
Recording Engineers: Don Ravon, Dan Bayer, Jerrod Smith
Mixing Engineers: Dan Bayer
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Doug Klesch
Kristen Leigh has done quite a bit of traveling as well, going as far as the West coast, to produce her music. Fortunately, for us, she still calls Greensboro home. When she’s not performing purely solo, Ueli Schweizer joins her on violin, as he did for us this evening. Sara Dickson, Kristen’s friend and tutor on piano, also accompanied the talented songwriter during the performance.
ALBUM CREDITS
Recording Engineers: Don Ravon, Dan Bayer, Jerrod Smith
Mixing Engineers: Don Ravon
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Matty Sheets
And one of DMP’s very own photographers, Doug Klesch, kicked off the evening by covering The Black Keys!
15 years since he last performed and you’d never know it.
I tried to make this post brief. For a more detailed account of the night’s performances, check out Nash Roberts’s take on the evening. Also, for the newbies, here’s our promo entrance page to sign up for an account with Amiestreet and receive free money to support our local artists.
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April 2009 marked the thirteenth show in the series and the one year anniversary of the dotmatrix project. This show was truly special. We had two exceptional performances that evening. Each expressing it’s own unique sound. Each featuring an incredibly talented female vocalist/pianist.
Photo by Mark Smith
Renee Mendoza (with vocals and on keyboard) and Brian Haran (on electric guitar) got married a while back and their band took a little hiatus. We were very proud to have gotten the chance to welcome them back to the stage in Greensboro, NC. Shawn Smith (on drums) and Mike Duehring (on bass) fill out out the other half of Filthybird.
Filthybird has been described as “loud, yet subtle and distinctly joyful rock.” They are, for all intents and purposes, a Psychedelic Folk Rock band. Their music is simultaneously mental and emotional. Their performance, I think, can best be described as “unfettered and electrifying.”
Photo by Mark Smith
Right now, you can check out their DMP set on AmieStreet. Be on the lookout for more great music from these guys. Get Filthybird!
Photo by Kevin Belton
ALBUM CREDITS
Recording Engineers: Don Ravon, Dan Bayer
Mixing Engineer: Don Ravon
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Kevin Belton
Photo by Mark Smith
Albina Savoy is a three-piece collaboration with Crystal Bright (primarily on keys), Barry Cantrell (on guitar), and Jon McLean (on double bass). The group also utilizes accordion, cello and the saw to create sweetly layered compositions. They opened the April DMP show with their sweet, soothing and dramatic style.
As Nash Roberts eloquently describes, much of their set included songs demonstrating “not only attention to melody, but striking lyricism.” A perfect example is Emeline, a song featuring Barry Cantrell on lead vocals. It whispers at the soul of the philosopher left to reflect on love and loss and the human experience.
Photos by Mark Smith
Unfortunately, their performance that evening was one of the last opportunities to hear Albina Savoy live. The three-piece is no longer performing together. However, as is the case with most musicians I know, that doesn’t mean Barry, Jon or Crystal won’t be making a splash elsewhere on the music scene. Be on the lookout for future projects. For now, you can enjoy some of their work together by checking out their live album on AmieStreet or Last.Fm.
Photo by Kevin Belton
ALBUM CREDITS
Recording Engineers: Don Ravon, Dan Bayer
Mixing Engineer: Dan Bayer
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Kevin Belton
