5 facts that might surprise you about Charlotte’s music scene
Whether you have to make tough choices every weekend about which live show to see, or you’re one of the people still saying, “There’s nothing to do in Charlotte” (BTW, you’re wrong), you’ll be interested in what went on at The Evening Muse last Thursday.
WFAE taped “Charlotte Talks” at the NoDa music venue, with host Mike Collins talking to a panel of local music folks: Gregg McCraw, owner of Maxx Music, who books artists into many local venues; Jeff Hahne, music editor of Creative Loafing; and James Willamor, founder and executive director of the non-profit Croquet Records.
Local band Sinners & Saints provided the music. You can listen to the show here.
Here are some things you may not know about the local music scene.
People are passionate about local music.
The Evening Muse was packed for the event and many people were turned away.
Standing room only at the Evening Muse for a special taping of @CharlotteTalks on local music @WFAE pic.twitter.com/hcvHF1g8s6
— April D. Bethea (@AprilBethea) April 2, 2015
Charlotte’s music scene is stronger than it ever was.
Both Jeff Hahne and Gregg McCraw agree that the local music scene is in better health than it was five or 10 years ago. I can attest to the fact that even two years ago I was driving to Asheville or the Triangle to see bands and now I’m able to save the gas money and see them here. McCraw says he’s had more sell-out shows at the end of last year and beginning of this year than ever before.
The reason may surprise you.
McCraw describes music acquisition today as being in a “state of disruption.” Meaning that the old way of discovering new music, which was radio, is being replaced by digital streaming. Think Pandora, Spotify, etc.
Why does that matter to Charlotte? Since we have a dearth of independently owned radio stations, which, in other cities, introduce listeners to new music, digital streaming serves that role here and makes agents more willing to give Charlotte a try.
Hahne suggested that since people aren’t buying CDs, the memory of a live show is something kind of tangible to hold onto.
Also, it doesn’t hurt concert attendance that there are simply more people in Charlotte than there used to be, and, specifically, more younger people.
It used to be a hub for country music.
In the early 1900s, Charlotte rivaled Nashville, but when Nashville built the Grand Ole Opry, Charlotte retired its country music ambition. Probably a good thing for us, because that’s allowed a wider variety of genres to start to flourish here, from Americana to death metal to electronic music. On the flip side, there aren’t too many local country artists anymore.
(After taping ended an audience member intriguingly called Charlotte out on its lack of an Insane Clown Posse scene. Take that as you will.)
There are some great local bands.
Case in point, the band of the evening, Sinners and Saints. If you haven’t seen them, you’ve been missing out on a whole lot of fun. Like this song from a different night at The Evening Muse:
Photo: Charlotte Observer archives
This story was originally published April 6, 2015 at 1:26 PM.