On a sweltering Monday evening, I met up with Sam Poley at Geer Street Garden to share a pint and some conversation. His first words to me were, “Can we sit outside? I’ve been cooped up inside all day.” We grabbed a couple of pints of Mother Earth Brewing’s Endless River kölsch and saddled up […]
Greg Barbera
Bio: Greg Barbera is a freelance writer living in Chapel Hill. He writes about automobiles for Chevy Culture, food for Chapelboro.com, and contributed to the upcoming second edition pressing of 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die.Link: http://www.thechestpains.blogspot.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/gregeboy
Posted inMusic
Asking a Carolina Hurricane what he listens to can be a real cold play
Although the weatherman called for 80 degrees today, the morning air had a bite. I switched from shorts to long pants, threw on a sweatshirt and headed to the RBC Center. The wardrobe switch was a smart one: Inside the arena, it was colddrafty, evenas a steady stream of frosty air hit the back of […]
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Reading comprehension
One of the requirements of being a new parent to the Durham Public School system–my 5-year-old son Spencer is a kindergartener at Creekside Elementary–is to read to your child a minimum of 20 minutes a night. Half the time, I let my son pick any book he wants and I read it to him, encouraging […]
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ACC junkie
The call came out of nowhere. “I’m in,” I said without having to think twice. “OK, cool,” said my neighbor. “Meet me in 10 minutes out front. I’ll honk the horn.” Ten minutes later, right on time, the horn honked. I slipped on my leather jacket, stuffed my wallet into my back pocket, topped off […]
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Race fever
Earlier this month I took the boys to the BMX races in Raleigh. I’d grown up going to the BMX races on fall weekends and had fond memories of bicycle motorcross that I wanted to share with my boys. Some of the best, longstanding friendships I forged growing up happened under the guise of BMX-ing. […]
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Everybody Is a Star
There’s probably not a band out there that hasn’t tossed a cover song into their repertoire, whether its an homage to some obscure band or a head nod to one of rock ‘n’ roll’s royalty that gives thanks and praise for inspiration. Early rockers like The Stones and Zeppelin co-opted many a blues song while […]
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Chris Lee
It’s hard to talk about Chris Lee without mentioning Ryan Adams. Both shot up through the N.C. music scene playing what’s most commonly referred to as alt-country: Adams with Whiskeytown and Lee (then known as A.C. Lee) with Pine State. Pine State owed more to GG Allin and punk rock than it did to country. […]
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Live Undead
Slayer is coming to town. That’s right, Slayer: The band with the pentagram/sword/goat’s head logo who, early on, took to satanic posturing to deliver the breakneck, malevolent music now known as speed metal or thrash. Forming in the L.A. suburb of Huntington Beach, Calif. in 1982, Slayer quickly won over fans of the newly birthed […]
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Staying Power
When Superchunk frontman Mac McCaughan sang “I’m working/But I’m not working for you” on their 1990 “hit,” “Slack Motherfucker,” nobody knew how prophetic it would be. Superchunk burst out of Chapel Hill, N.C., 12 years ago with a handful of pogo-inducing pop punk tunes and a do-it-yourself attitude–an ethic that has yet to be compromised. […]