Romantica & Carrie Rodriguez

As I have shared a couple of times in the past, there are those rare times when you go out to listen to a little music and get surprised by the gems you discover and the friends you make. Thursday night was another one of those nights for me.

The plan for me was to go see Sun Domingo perform the late show at The Evening Muse on this chilly Thursday night. In reading Laurie's calendar of events I saw that Carrie Rodriguez was doing the Early show. After reading a little about Carrie on her MySpace page I decided to drop by a little early to catch her show as well.

Now the head-turning starts. When I arrived, the Evening Muse was almost filled to capacity. There was not a female on stage, but rather a group of guys. As I ordered my beer I noticed that these guys sounded pretty damned good. After saying hello to a number of friends who had also came out on this "school night" I couldn't help but comment to myself and a few people around me that "these guys are pretty damned good". The songs were meaningful and not "fluffy". The lead singer for Romantica, Ben Kyle, had a strange accent coming through the mic. Later I learned he is Irish - specifically, Belfast and he has a few songs that tell stories of his youth. I spent the remainder of the hour mesmorized by these guys as their music told a different story in each song. I did make my way towards the front so I could get a couple of photos as well. So, my "gem" tonight was found in a group of guys I had no idea would even be playing - They are called Romantica and you should check them out! Here's the link to their MySpace page - you'll like what you hear..

Romantica is: Ben Kyle as lead singer and acoustic guitar; Luke Jacobs on Lead & Electric Slide Guitar; James Orvis on the drums; Tony Zaccardi on Bass

Through the Romantica show I learned that they and Carrie Rodriguez had been touring together a while and that this night was the last show of the tour.

The transition from the Romantica set to Carrie and her band was cool in that Carrie joined the Romanticas on stage for their last tune. After a quick change of musicians Carrie took the stage and showed why she is such a popular singer/songwriter/musician. This lady has it all. She plays multiple instruments and sings her own songs with a powerful voice that can achieve a variation of range.

Carrie was joined on the stage by Hans Holzen on lead guitar and Kyle Kegerreis on bass. Its been a long time since I have listened to a guitar player make a guitar sing like Hans does. Long soulful ballads on a lead guitar are not common, but Hans performed them with ease.

Needless to say, this early show was one of the best I have witnessed. The talent that took the stage on this night will not soon be forgotten and definitiely raised the bar. Not to mention that I added three CD's to my music collection.

Photos of Romantica can be seen via this link.

Photos of Carrie Rodriguez can be seen via this link.

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

Donna Duncan & Chris Cook

A couple of local rocker musicians took to the stage this Saturday night at The Evening Muse. A little different for The Muse to have Blues & Southern Rock on the same night, especially with the talent being local to the Charlotte area. Of special arrangement tonight was he fact that the band was the same for Donna's songs as it was for Chris. Personally I think that Donna got the better end of that deal as she got a great guitar player in Chris, while Chris lost some great female vocals singer when it was his set.

It has been quite some time since I've seen Donna. On this night she was in great shape, spirits and form. Here's a link to some photos of the show.

Cheers,

Monty

Matt Keating

The night following the biggest Presidential election in a generation is probably not the best night for an entertainer to take the stage following an open mic show in an environment that has a heavy democrat base, but Matt Keating did just that at The Evening Muse wednesday. Matt soldiered on to an almost empty house, eloquently performing his unique material both old and new.

Other than hearing a few tunes on his MySpace page, this was my first chance to hear Matt perform. I found his words both entertaining as well as engaging. His guitar playing is positively energizing. His politics - while encouraged by his daughter not to speak from the pulpit - were entertaining and consistent with the views of many. Being the winner is always easier.

I encourage you to go out and have a listen to Matt either in person (support live music!!) or at least on his MySpace page.

Here are a few photos from the show.

Cheers,

Monty

BitchSlap - an alterego

Peek-a-Boo

On a cool fall night in Charlotte where the crescent moon lingered low in the night sky the transgressions of halloween crepted through NoDa and the innocense of our youth were overtaken by their alter-egos at The Evening Muse.

The usually lilly-white all-american good-girl karma of The Near Misses based on a deep understanding of Southern Charm were transformed this Halloween night as their alter-ego took control and a collective group that goes by the name of "BitchSlap" emerged.

The group of five biatches are comprised of Shana Shewannit, Eva Shegonnadoit, Ari Shedonit, Lea Sheplanit, with Shebeatit on the drums.

The usually eloquent Shana transformed into a foul-mouth profanity spewing rocker - it was evident that Shewannit be a bad girl!

The young innocent guitar playing Ari experienced delusions of deprevation as she considered herself an escapee of the Amy Winehouse rehab program. Shedonit wasn't innocent at all.

The conservative Lea grew out flaming red hair that showed a flamboyant side as her pristine approach to life transformed as Sheplanit took over ready to rule the world!

A zombie from within the evils of the night - Shebeatit - took over the percussions of the evening ensuring vengance was hers.

And the scariest of all - a transformation of transformers; the leather of lace; the bad in the evil of the world; Eva Shegonnadoit donned her war machine armor and grabbed a glass missle of cervesa as she's gonna kick some ass tonight!

While the sound that emminated from these twisted sisters was also the alterego of the melody norm, it was a hillarious spoof all around. I hope the photos of the night tell the rest of the story as this unfolds but once a year - and Friday night was the night.

Cheers,

Monty Chandler