“The best way to describe it is if you took the Rolling Stones, and you had Hendrix and they had the Black Crowes and they had Zeppelin all mixed together, with more of a blues feel to it, and a little bit of chocolate around it for sweetener,” says local guitarist Justin Fox of his […]
Grant Britt
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In musical impersonations
As zillions of frustrated musicians can attest, a lot of people don’t want to hear original music until enough people have heard it, and given it the seal of approval. Until you gain that approval rating, you may find your public throwing crap at you or staying away in droves. So unless you’ve got the […]
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In adolescent fancys
In the ’60s–in your teenage angst–when you knew that the establishment, your parents and everybody else older than you was out to get you, you just went out to the garage, turned your amp up to 11 and screamed your little adolescent lungs out. That spirit still lives on today in Raleigh’s The Loners. Guitarist […]
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In Carolina traditions
“Your gladiator heart doesn’t seem to want to let you leave the field,” The Connells sing on “Gladiator Heart,” from their 2001 release Old School Dropouts. The sentiment is an appropriate one for the band, who has been one of the Triangle’s most steadfast workhouses, persevering in a field where casualties are stacked like cordwood. […]
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In boogie woogie
Big Joe and the Dynaflos play jump blues the way it’s ‘spozed to be–big, loud and bodacious. But this is no bunch of trendy retro re-creators. Big Joe Maher was belting out the blues from behind his drum kit long before there was a swing craze. “I was here before they came, and I’m here […]
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Fiyo on the Eno
A giant crawfish clings to the wall between a guitar and a trombone, looking somewhat dazed by the reflections from the disco ball that hangs over the dance floor near the stage. A long strip of corrugated tin that looks like a rub-board laid on its side adorns the front of the bar. Along the […]
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In SRV channeling
Lil’ Dave Stuart is the Triad’s Stevie Ray Vaughan clone. Though he’s from the part of Florida that produced Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, Stuart seems to have gotten infected by the Texas guitar flu. But what makes Stuart interesting is that although he could fill up a set with SRV, he places just enough traces […]
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Music spotlight
We had been hunting down across the river in Fort Worth, and we were walking back from being over there and there was this barbecue joint, a black barbecue joint way out on the west side there that we were coming back to through the woods. And I heard ‘Honey Hush’ coming across that field, […]
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In barely country
Seeing Bobby Bare Jr. perform is like watching Joe Cocker in his early years–you know it’s gonna spin out of control and come to a bad end, but it’s so goddam impressive and moving you can’t take your eyes off it. His daddy, Bare Sr. is a country music legend, famous for hits including “Detroit […]
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In knockout blues
Jimbo Mathus is through zipping squirrels. The ex-Zipper frontman says there’s no chance the band will ever get back together. “I enjoyed it. I don’t mean to short-change it–it’s given me a lot of benefits, and we did some good music,” he says. “We really entertained a lot of people. But it’s a thing that’s […]
