TMP alternative held at the Evening Muse Sat evening - Jan 30th 2010

Saturday nights Tosco Music Party (TMP) was canceled by its CPCC host due to very inclement Charlotte weather and Icy roads in the area. Taking advantage of what seemed a poor situation, several of the artists who had traveled to town and were scheduled to perform at the TMP got together with other folks close to the TMP event and came up with a win-win solution. They put on an alternate show at the Evening Muse!

Reed Waddle, Caleb Hawley, Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade, and Rebecca Loebe comprised the line-up for the revised early show.

Read on for the rest of the story and photos..

Cheers,

Monty

Tosco House Party - Feb 2009

Providing a safe environment where musicians are encouraged to reach within themselves to explore their talents, given an opportunity to try new material on a live audience, afforded a platform to introduce themselves to a new city, or simply a box to stand on from which to showcase their individuality - all of this is embedded in the formula that is known as the Tosco House Party. It's been said over and over that you never know what you'll see the first Wednesday of each month as John Tosco welcomes these folks into his "living room" and this month was no exception.

Several folks joined the party for the first time. South Africa native Justin Taylor is an impressive singer/songwriter whom we were fortunate enough to hear sing a couple of different tunes. Carey Marshall also joined us for the first time at a THP night. Carey sang a beautiful ballad while caressing the ivories of the piano. Since she is newly relocated to Charlotte I hope we get to see her again real soon. And a first for me was seeing the extremely talented Ben Hernandez just tear it up on a harmonica while serenading us with his powerful voice.

Of course another benefit of the THP is being able to watch the young budding musicians of Charlotte continue to gain confidence and explore their talents. I continue to be impressed with the songwriting of Charlotte Parrot, a local high school sophomore. Isaac Strap of the band Moses Cherry reached way down deep to entertain us with a great rendition of a 1920's era blues tune - I didn't catch the name, but perhaps he can post a comment here to share it with us?? :-)

Another cool night at the Tosco House Party - its really comfortable in John's "living room" at the Evening Muse. First Wednesday of each month - hope to see you there.

Photos from the show can be seen here.

Cheers,

Monty

Panthers Fail; gogoPilot Prevails

Panther fans had high hopes for this past weekend and the excitement level was at a fever pitch as the Panthers started their game against the Cardinals. After a great start, the downhill slide was nothing short of slow agonizing torture as our QB fumbled and bumbled the past 5 months of our lives as the post season ended as quickly as it began in our very first game. Jake Delhomme is not very popular with the fans we were with at the Sanctuary bar in NoDa.

In a valiant attempt to recover our dignity if not our Charlotte pride, Jeff Williams and the remaining gogoPilot band members put on a free show at The Evening Muse. With the occasional defiant Panther cheer met with a tirade of verbal abuse and disgust, the gogoPilot team rocked on through the night and led us toward a brighter future - or a new day whichever comes first.....

For me it was a new day which will lead to another day and so on and so forth. Such is the life of a sports fan. There's always another day, another season.

Thanks to the members of gogoPilot for jammin' when the chips were down.

Here's a link to a few photos of the show.

Cheers,

Monty

Sam Thacker Band

I'll say it right up front - This is one damned fine rock band! Four guys - one sound - sweet transitions.

The lead guitarist is Michael Westbrook who in an effortless style coaxes sweet music from his instrument of choice. I'll bet he's Jonesin' bad when he's not playing. Jonathan McAdow keeps time and sets the tempo on the Drums. Mike Reddick is the beat. I was going to say he plays Bass, but it's more accurate to describe him as being the bass. When the song calls for a thump, Mike produces a thump that would raise excitement in a school girl.. (I mean that in a good way you pervs!! lol)

Lastly, I was introduced on this night to a very fine lead singer who has the entire package. A great sounding powerful voice with significant range, excellent timing, and the projection of energy that people look for in today's rock musicians.

I'm telling ya'll - this band is everything you want to hear if you like hard driving rock you can listen to and understand the words. Ballads that will cause you to loose your thoughts in the song. A beat that will have you bobbin', weavin' and tapping your foot. Go out to their Myspace page and listen to what they have posted. I'll also tell you they sound even better in person. Sam's voice is something you need to hear live to truly appreciate. I put their CD in my Rockford Fosgate system and it sounded sweet - but live is, well live...

I've posted some photos of the performance. CLICK HERE. I think you can see the intensity in Sam's singing within the photos - as well as his sincerity in the ballads. "Picture worth a thousand words" is apparent in this case.

An outstanding show!

Cheers,

Monty

Matt Hattfield - Cement Stars

NoDa's December Gallery Crawl is special for me as I and a few other Charlotte photographers provided the gallery artwork at The Evening Muse. I hope you get the opportunity to drop by The Muse this month and look at the photographs on display - An eclectic collection from five different photographers.

A favorite local singer/songwriter of mine - Matt Hatfield - who had been a member of the Full Grown Band for several years took the stage first. It was good to catch up with Matt and a special treat for us was the arrival of his Full Grown collaborator - Angie Rikard. Matt did convince Angie to join him for a couple of tunes. (photos from Matt's show)

Following Matt were a couple of local Charlotte brothers who perform as "Cement Stars". They have a unique, electronically enhanced sound. As a band who are new to me, I found them intriguing as they brought their drums and bass in a box. They also brought a couple of guitars and a metal box looking thing that produced a sound like keyboards when played. I liked their resultant sound - you can check them out on their MySpace page too. (photos from the Cement Stars set)

Hope ya'll have a great week and enjoy getting ready for Christmas!!

Cheers,

Monty

Death On Two Wheels

Catchy title huh? Yeah - That's what I thought when I saw it was the name of a band that was playing the late show at The Evening Muse this past Friday night. But at the suggestion of our friends at TripleSBooking, we hung around well past our normal "head home" time so we could see this new talent out of Atlanta. As usual, good recommendations are followed by a good musical set.

Death On Two Wheels have a great ole' rock-n-roll sound led by the raspy, gravelly voice of their lead singer - who stays in tune and on key - and has the ability to smoothly transition to a soulful ballad.

To listen to some of their tunes, checkout their MySpace page.

To see photos from their show use this link.

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

Asylum Street Spankers

Thursday night featured the Asylum Street Spankers at The Evening Muse. Avery unique group of musicians who are extremely entertaining in the musical style as well as lyrical content. FUN is the word that describes this show.

In looking at their myspace page I saw that they are from the Austin, TX area and are pretty much fully booked through the remainder of the year. After seeing their show I can see why and I have several friends I will be calling to be sure they are aware of the upcoming visit by the Asylum Street Spankers. Its a show I know they will not want to miss.

I had fun taking photos of the show as the band was having a good time as well - it shows on their faces. Intense musical performance coupled with intense fun! I hope you enjoy the photos too! They can be viewed at this link.

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

April 3rd: The Near Misses, Jeff Black, & Sun Domingo

I'm a little tardy in posting the blog entries from early April - had to run off to vacation and some underwater photography. Better late than never?

Thursday night, April 3rd, The Evening Muse hosted a very good line-up of musicians. First up was The Near Misses. This is a group of ladies that I had heard of before, but had never seen perform live. Their performance on this night matched what I had heard of them in that they sang in a well blended harmony of four talented female singers. But not only can they sing, they perform their instruments with the same melodious harmony. This comes together in a sound that is a joy to listen to. I picked up their CD entitled "Marigold", which was produced by Joe Kuhlmann and the band. A very nice addition to the musical collection.


Next up was a gentleman I had never heard before - Jeff Black. Now Jeff has a following! There were people who had come from as far away as Virginia - with one friend of Jeffs taking a detour in his travels from Melbourne Australia - (Collin). It did not take long to understand why Jeff would have such a following. He is a troubadour - in the very definition of the term. A talented singer, songwriter and musician I was very lucky to have caught his show.

The late show on this cold evening was a band I have heard and photographed before. Atlanta' Sun Domingo was back in town and is a must see for me. They gave quite a performance even though the weather and late time kept the attendance down from what it normally is when they play the Muse. Jason, Edge and Nathan all had a pretty good time putting on this show. I can't wait for their CD to become available - which should be very soon.

Until next time...

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

The Musicians Portfolio

Audioform

Musicians Portfolio

The late show at The Evening Muse on Saturday night featured one of Charlotte's more unique sounds, blending Soul, Funk, Rhythm and Jazz into a very appealing eclectic sound - that group is called Audioform.

The band is made up of: Joe Smalls (Bass); Keith Whatley (Guitar); Tony McCullough (Alto Sax); Antonio Diaz (Percussions); Travis Calvert (Tenor Sax); Audi Jones (Drums); Joey Rayfield (Trombone).

I'll share with you the first words I said to my wife when the show ended - "That's the best drummer I have heard in a very long time". She agreed. She thought it was the best collection of musicians we had heard in a long time and I had to agree. It was the most entertaining, as well as musically pleasing, set I have witnessed in a very long time. I will look to see this group of very talented musicians again. Hats off to Joe and Leah for hosting this Charlotte band in their house, The Evening Muse.

Photos of the show can be seen via this link.

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

gogoPilot

Charlotte's very own gogoPilot performed the early show at The Evening Muse Saturday night to a fairly full house. This staple of the Charlotte music scene seems to bring out the music fans whenever they perform and this night was no exception.

The band performed songs from both Armageddon Lullabies as well as their new album - Manana, Mon Frere. Jeff has definitely continued his tradition of powerful lyrics telling lifes varied stories and sharing the power of balance with the audience - along with a few smiles! We were also fortunate enough to have Reeve Coobs join the band tonight, completing the ensemble.

The band is made up of: Jeff Williams (lead vocals and guitar); Chris Ravenscroft (Guitar); Matt Mangum (Bass); Tom Stanfel (Drums); Reeve Coobs (keyboards, guitar, and harmonious vocals).

Photo's from the show can be found at this link.

Cheers,

Monty Chandler

Quickstep John

Philadelphia's Quickstep John performed at The Evening Muse Saturday night. They are on tour promoting their new album - "The Multiple Personalities of Last Week and Next Year". Yes it's a mouthful - and the sound is an earful as well. The group, led by Craig Whitaker who writes for the band, performs very strong melodic lyrics that catch the imagination and take you for a ride. I'm glad we were there to see them and to pick up a copy of the CD.

Here's a link to the photo's from the show.

Cheers,

Monty

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

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

The Guy Forsyth Band

Guy Forsyth Band

I had the pleasure of seeing a very good band from Austin Texas for the first time last night at The Evening Muse. This three piece band delivered an energetic performance filled with ballads, rock, blues, a minor country twist and a little humor. Guy Forsyth plays a smooth guitar, a bluesy harp and a pretty mean saw - yes I said saw, as in hand saw that cuts wood!!

Guy is joined on the drums by Rob Hooper who provides excellent rythym and a touch of harmonious vocal soul to Guys powerful voice.

It was a pleasure being entertained by this group of guys from Texas - a pleasant surprise at the Evening Muse on this cold Saturday night.

Link to the photo's. Link to Guy Forsyth.

Cheers,

Monty

http://www.montychandler.com/

http://www.montychandler.com/Musicians.htm

Jennifer Daniels

Well it's been a while since I've been able to get out to The Evening Muse. But as I read the email from Joe and Leah about the weekends show I really couldn't pass on seeing Jennifer Daniels. I've missed her the last two times and wasn't going to miss her again.

Once again Jennifer played to a full house and she did not dissappoint. Perhaps it was due to being almost home after being on the road a lot this summer, but she displayed a great sense of connection with the audience and was truly at ease as she shared some new tunes and then led into a set which included just about everything on her CD "Summer Filled Sky". This 90 minute set was truly enjoyable as she shared the breadth and depth of her songwriting through the strength, passion, and exhuberant joy of her voice.

Of course we did learn one special tidbit - Jeff is actually the "wild" one of this dyno-duo; but on stage Jennifer is able to fullfill this role to sate her alter-ego.. Not sure I really buy this one, but that was Jennifer's version of the truth tonight. :-)

The Evening Muse is a special place to listen to Jennifer as it affords her a setting to demonstrate a sound that is very close to her CD recording. Closing my eyes it was like I was at home listening - but I was able to watch the joy with which this pleasing music is produced. My hats off to Jennifer and Jeff for an amazing show. Thanks!

Until next time,

Monty

www.montychandler.com

Spottiswoode & His Enemies

http://www.montychandler.com/Musicians.htm

It's not often that I am truly pleasantly surprised when I hear a live act here in Charlotte. Either I know I'm going to see a talent developing or I know the group has developed and are going to be very good. Well on the night of the 19th of Nov '05, my plans changed just at the end. Beginning at 8 PM there were three acts I wanted to see, with a 4th being a group I had never heard of - ever.
So the story goes like this. I'm enjoying my 3rd beer and I'm talking to a guy in the audience about nothing really. He then asks if I'm at the Muse to see Spottiswoode. I said no, hadn't heard of them and I'd be heading over to the Double Door around 11:30 to catch the second set of the Nighthawks. This guy says, "no way man, you don't want to do that". He begins telling me of this band from New York City and that they're terrific. If I'd never heard them, I needed to hang around and listen. If I didn't agree it was the best decision of the night, he'd buy me another Corona.

Well, as I started with - It's not often that I am truly pleasantly surprised when I hear a group perform. The phrase "never say never" was coined for what I experienced. These guys are wonderful. A group of 7 musicians who are extremely talented musicians who play some fairly off the wall tunes with a jazzy, rock, blues, theatre mix of sound. At some points they sound like a band supporting a broadway play and with the blink of an eye they're a rock band grabbing at your heart and just as fast they turn to an earthy blues sound that makes you close your eyes, tap your foot, and start your head a bobbin'.

At their first break, I picked up one of their CD's entitled "building a road". A wonderful compilation of 17 beautifully mastered songs. Even my 20 year old son wanted a copy when he heard me playing it while I worked on these photo's (link to photo's of the show at top).

Check out their website - It's a pretty cool reflection of their creativity - very intriguing....

Do yourself a favor - listen to these guys. You'll be surprised..

Cheers,

Monty
www.montychandler.com

Michelle Malone

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Moanin' Michelle Malone did a live gig at The Evening Muse on Wednesday Oct 12th. Link to photo's above.. A packed house on a Wednesday night at The Muse is a good indication that something wonderful is about to happen. Those in attendance got a double wammy this night as Angie Rikard did the opening, followed by a very special, two-part session with Michelle. Half of her show was her, her guitars, and her harp. Then the fellas from a band they are considering jumped up on stage and the 5 of them let loose and some serious rock/blues music. Raising the roof at the Evening Muse!! A wonderful mid-week show!! Michelle's website link is: www.michellemalone.com


Cheers,

Monty
www.montychandler.com

Angie Rikard

http://www.montychandler.com/Musicians.htm

Angie Rikard performed at The Evening Muse on Wednesday night, 12 October 2005. An acoustic set as the opener for Michelle Malone. Angie set the stage for the night and certainly warmed up a full house at the Muse.

A diverse voice and talented singer/songwriter, Angie performed her expected eclectic blend showcasing her strong, smooth voice. Having seen her perform on two separate occasions now it's confirmed for me that this lady has talent, is very energetic, and is commited to her music. She's willing to take risks - demonstrating her versatility to her audience. I certainly look forward to my next opportunity to see her perform again and encourage you to keep an eye out for her performances in a venue near you..

Cheers,

Monty
www.montychandler.com

Heidi Schwartz

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Heidi Schwartz played the Evening Muse on July 20th, 2005. I just happened to be at the Muse that evening with my son and of course had my camera. Little did I know that we would be treated to a talented singer/songwriter's performance. Of course I should have expected that from the Muse. Further research also showed that Heidi is also a talented artist. You can see more of her work at her website, www.heidischwartz.com . It's worth a visit.

Cheers,

Monty
www.montychandler.com