SHE PERSISTS: Cellist Shana Tucker returns for Come Hear NC concert series

  Cellist and singer-songwriter Shana Tucker will perform live this Thursday night with the “She Persists” exhibition as part of Cameron Art Museum’s Come Hear NC concert series celebrating North Carolina. Starting at 6 p.m., the concert is free with museum admission. Back in 2019, Tucker explained how “songwriters are called to do something that much of the world can’t do, which is to put … Continue reading SHE PERSISTS: Cellist Shana Tucker returns for Come Hear NC concert series

LOOK TO LEME: Leme Nolan will perform at Long Leaf Park this Saturday

  “Music is powerful and can reach billions, no matter the genre,” singer Lemetrius “Leme” Nolan told encore back in January 2020. Nolan’s own style varies and includes jazz, gospel, country, funk, soul and R&B. She hones her grasp of each, as heard during her gospel number “Standing in Your Glory” or country track “The Smell of Freedom.” “I don’t just fit into one genre … Continue reading LOOK TO LEME: Leme Nolan will perform at Long Leaf Park this Saturday

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN: Tours lost but music is still found, Billy Strings

  This week was supposed to bring us three nights of Billy Strings at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater. Well … you know the rest. For folks who originally purchased those tickets online, they were automatically refunded upon cancellation. Refunds for tickets purchased at either Redix locations became available on July 12. While there’s no word yet on when Strings and other 2020 acts will be rebooked … Continue reading UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN: Tours lost but music is still found, Billy Strings

IN SHORT, PART 2: ‘Whirligigs at Night’ screens Wednesday with Tarheel Shorties

  Folk artist Vollis Simpson’s kinetic sculptures called “whirligigs” in Wilson, North Carolina, are the subject of William “Bill” Howard’s documentary short “Whirligigs at Night.” Part of Cucalorus’s virtual Tarheel Shorties Film Festival this week, August 25-27, “Whirligigs at Night” will screen in Wednesday’s Playing with Portraits block starting at 8 p.m. According to the filmmaker, Wilson Whirligigs are now calling cards of sorts for … Continue reading IN SHORT, PART 2: ‘Whirligigs at Night’ screens Wednesday with Tarheel Shorties

IN SHORT, PART 1: Wilmington filmmaker’s short will screen at Tarheel Shorties Film Festival

  Filmed at an old-timey barbershop in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, “Long Drive to Yadkin” is familiar to me in many ways. I’m originally from Mount Airy, NC and this barbershop and town are both very reminiscent of the timeless Main Street and Floyd’s Barbershop I know. “I am well aware of Floyd’s Barbershop up there [in Mount Airy] and even thought of that as a … Continue reading IN SHORT, PART 1: Wilmington filmmaker’s short will screen at Tarheel Shorties Film Festival

SHARING SONGS: Jesse Stockton releases new album ‘Papoose’

  While it’s not rare for me to sit and listen to an album from start to finish, it’s not often I get lost in the stories, sonnets and sonics of a record. Last week Jesse Stockton dropped his latest release, “Papoose,” an indie-folk-rock collection from the last 17 years. From its opening track “All Twisted Up,” which shakes (perhaps playfully kicks) you awake with … Continue reading SHARING SONGS: Jesse Stockton releases new album ‘Papoose’

REMEMBER HAIRCUTS? Lotus releases new album, music video

  Remember that time, Wilmington, when Lotus came to Greenfield Lake Amphitheater in 2016 and we danced and laughed and danced some more? Remember live music unfettered by screens or buffer times? Remember the good ol’ days? Well, Pepperidge Farm remembers … (You’re welcome, “Family Guy” fans.) Anyway, Lotus has released another fun instrumental number called “Bjorn Gets A Haircut” (haircuts, sigh…) with an official … Continue reading REMEMBER HAIRCUTS? Lotus releases new album, music video

RIDE THE WAHINE WAVE: The Wahine Classic returns August 15-16, moves to Carolina Beach

  While the COVID wave has crashed and thrashed a lot of summer events, North Carolina’s Wahine Classic will resurface this weekend, August 15-16, with female surfers of all ages competing as amateurs, professionals and teenie-wahines. Event organizer Jo Pickett had to change the location of the competition this year because of pandemic. Normally hosted at Wrightsville Beach, town management couldn’t give the go-ahead for … Continue reading RIDE THE WAHINE WAVE: The Wahine Classic returns August 15-16, moves to Carolina Beach

LIVESTREAM LAUGHS: Trae Crowder and his wellRED friends will cut up this Friday in ‘Cornteen Comedy’

  encore interviewed the “Liberal Redneck” comedian Trae Crowder back in 2018 before his wellRED comedy tour’s stopover at the Wilson Center. Dubbed the “Liberal Redneck” in his viral YouTube series, he uses his comedy, persona, platform and thick-as-molasses Tennessee accent to explain his progressive stance on social justice issues like Black Lives Matter. At the time, he told us he was tickled to visit … Continue reading LIVESTREAM LAUGHS: Trae Crowder and his wellRED friends will cut up this Friday in ‘Cornteen Comedy’

ROLLERCOASTER RIFFS: Zodiac Panthers release a new single ‘666 Feet Away From My Love’

  Before COVID-19 made haircuts a nonessential activity, Angela “Angie” Yeagher and her husband Johnny were often found together at her salon Angie’s Records & Hair attached to Reggie’s 42nd Street Tavern. She could be found cutting hair or dying it fantastical colors—including my own aqua locks last summer—while Johnny would play the role of in-house DJ, spinning from the record store’s collection, and offering … Continue reading ROLLERCOASTER RIFFS: Zodiac Panthers release a new single ‘666 Feet Away From My Love’