Jukebox The Ghost

Last night a very exciting band called "Jukebox The Ghost" performed at The Evening Muse here in Charlotte. This is a band not to miss if you want to experience a musically rewarding evening which will lift your spirits and enhance your mood for the rest of the night afterwards. These guys have a sound which is a cross between Queen and Barenakedladies - with the energy of KISS! I'd encourage you to check their schedule and try like hell to see them.

I had a blast photographing them and then doing the post processing listening to their CD entitled - "Let Live & Let Ghosts". An excellent recording that had me tapping my feet again. Songs will be on my IPod soon.

Here's the link to the photo's.

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

Michael Reno Harrell

Michael Reno Harrell

Legendary Americana singer/songwriter Michael Reno Harrell brought his down home southern roots style of Americana folk music to the Evening Muse Saturday night, the 23rd of February.

Michaels storytelling, both in song and in setting up his music made for an entertaining and relaxing evening at The Muse. Story after story - and song after song - sharing the life experiences of Michael Reno Harrell reminded this photographer of the comfort brought by family, friends and our southern traditions.

Quoting Michael, "You don't order grits, they come when you say eggs".

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

Rick Spreitzer & Richard Buckner

Being a fan of Richard Buckner for the past 4 years or so, I had put his appearance at The Evening Muse this month on my Calendar quite some time ago. My plan was to go to the late show and catch his performance. A recent new friend named Laurie Koster ,who publishes a weekly synopsis of upcoming shows in Charlotte every Wednesday, - you should sign up for it if you live around here as she has the scoop on everyone who's going to be in town - suggested that I get to The Muse a little early and see a friend of hers named Rick Spreitzer as well.

So now having my interest peaked I left the house a bit earlier and got to the Muse just in time to catch Ricks' performance. His tunes are folk in nature with well thought out lyrics which have a sense of humor and tell a story - the kind of songs that are fun to listen too especially when accompanied by a smooth guitar and a booming vocal compliment. Rick is a regular around the Charlotte area, so if you get a chance to hear him you'll be glad you did. Photo's of his show can be found at this link.

Richard Buckner was true to form - with one major exception. I didn't recognize him at all! He cut his hair and has grown a full beard since I had seen him last. Of course once he started to play and sing I recognized him in a heartbeat. His unique take on Americana music and lyrics that reflect a well traveled songwriter - actually poet - are easily recognized. He has continued to delve into unique compositions of his music and tantalizing bridging between songs. It was hard to get an applause in - but the crowd on this night managed - as Richard blended and tranisitioned from one song to the next with his unique vision and techniques on the guitar.

Photo's from the show are at this link - I've even included a couple of photo's from back in 2004 that highlight what I meant about a change in appearance.

I hope you enjoy the images from these two great shows as much I enjoyed taking them and listening to the music.

Have a great Valentines Day!!

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

Sun Domingo

Perhaps you've heard of Sun Domingo? From the packed house showing at The Evening Muse thursday night I thought I was the only person in Charlotte that had not. One certainty is that I won't soon forget them. Wow - that's a word that might sum up my thoughts after listening to them for an hour. This three piece rock band out of Atlanta is a class act. Their sound includes ballads, a touch of blues, a little 70's rock style and some blistering hot rock n roll mixed throughout the set.

The band members include Jason Powers on Bass and lead vocals; Edger Groves on a smoking lead guitar; and one of the better drummers I've seen in a quite a while - Nathan Lathouse, who also provides some smooth backup vocals.

"A Song In Your Name" is one of their tunes that is sure to be a hit. It was certainly one of my favorites on the night. To hear it for yourself, visit their Myspace page and listen to a sampling of this bands talent.

The photos from their show can be found HERE - a link from my Musicians Gallery. The show was hot - hope you can see that within the images.

Cheers everyone,

Monty Chandler

Wormsloew

Before sitting down to write this I needed to get something straight in my head. Everywhere I read in recent local writing about this performance in Charlotte, the bands name was spelled Woemsloew. I couldn't figure out what this meant. I did google searches and tried to find out to no avail. Could it be that someone made a typo and everyone in Charlotte copied it?? Well I found the bands Myspace site and the correct spelling became apparent. I verified it by looking at the website of other bookings the band has for the coming month. So with my curiosity sated I return from my digression and share with you a few thoughts and images from the session at the Muse.

Wormsloew performed the late show at The Evening Muse on Thursday night, closing for Sun Domingo. They are a very good rock band out of Savannah Georgia featuring two lead guitars which enables them to do some pretty awesome melding of high fevor lead guitar work resulting in some heart pounding, foot stomping rock-n-roll. The band is made up of drummer Joseph Wilson who also provides some very good backup vocals, Chad Norris on the Bass, Steve Gerard on a loud and proud Lead Guitar and backup vocals, and finally the lead singer Andrew Gill who also plays lead guitar. The four of these guys come together very well producing a sound which reminds me of the good ole days in the 70's when rock-n-roll was truly sweet (or I was younger, whatever).

Images of the Wormsloew show can be found HERE!!

Cheers guys...

Monty Chandler

Musicians Gallery

Ali Marcus

Here's a heads up for all you music fans - a wonderful singer/songwriter out of Seattle who plays a cool harmonica in addition to a melodious acoustic - her name is: Ali Marcus

I had the good fortune this past Thursday evening of deciding that watching "Lost" on TV just wasn't the thing to do, so I headed down to The Evening Muse to listen to a little music.

I got there a little early so I ordered a beer and looked around. I saw a lady in the corner with her nose in what I thought was a book. As I approached her I noticed she she was also sitting next to a small suitcase with some T-Shirts and CD's around so I guessed that this might be Ali. I walked up to her and introduced myself. She was reviewing lyrics, not reading a book. She chuckled as she said it was something that she should have down earlier, but that didn't happen so now was the time. Her soft voice, her self-confidence and the ease with which she struck up a conversation struck me as - well not odd - but a little unique I guess. Those of you who know me know that I'm not a small person and just my size tends to initimidate people. Not Ali - she was cool with the short conversation as well as with my request to take a few photo's of her show. In fact her response was something like - "Do what you want to". I chuckled at that.

As she took the stage and went right into her first song it was quickly apparent that as a songwriter she was not made up of a simple bit of poetry but rather a somewhat complex set of intellectually derived lyrics that deserved a little concentration on my part. Additionally she played tunes that were downright humorous if you followed along. I soon found myself tapping my foot along to the beat.

Needless to say I spent the $12 on her new CD titled "The Other Side". Folks, there's not a bad song on this CD. It sounds great!! She has a few of the tunes available on her website as well. Have a listen - you'll enjoy it. You should also note that in addition to the singing and playing of the instruments on the CD, she wrote the songs and also produced the CD. I found that impressive. Pick yourself up a copy of this album. It's available online - and it's $12 - a great value for what you'll get.

So, instead of watching "Lost" I saw a great show and found another young talent to keep my eye on in the future. I know I'll be hearing of this young lady in the future.

Links to the images of the show are here.. Check her out.

Until next time,

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

Malcolm Holcombe

Malcolm Holcombe

North Carolina native singer/songwriter Malcolm Holcombe performed at The Evening Muse Saturday night, the 2nd of February, to a full house of loyal followers of his trade. Malcolm performed is his usual gritty down-to-earth tones, playing his guitar feverishy, and sharing stories and perspectives along the way with the audience.

Malcolm sang several of his new songs from the recently released CD "Gamblin' House" - which of course promted me to purchase a copy as there are several songs which were just pure poetry.

Images of the show can be found here. Hope you enjoy them. As always, please leave a comment if you'd like to share a thought or opinion.

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

My Musician Gallery