Queen City Nerve - April 5, 2023

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 10; APRIL 5 - APRIL 18, 2023; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

ARTS: Divine Barrel mixes arts and craft beer. pg. 6 MUSIC: N.C. Brewers & Music Fest returns for 11th iteration. pg. 10

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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS & OPINION

4 Death by Distribution? by Taylor Knopf

Advocates say proposal to punish drug dealers more harshly will increase overdoses

ARTS & CULTURE

6 Arts & Crafts by Ryan Pitkin Divine Barrel is one of many breweries uplifting the local arts scene 8 Lifeline: Ten Cool Things To Do in Two Weeks

MUSIC

10 A Festival on a Hill by Pat Moran NC Brewers & Music Festival returns to Huntersville 12 Special Advertising Section 14 Soundwave

FOOD & DRINK

16 Femme-entation by Karie Simmons The women behind the beer of Birdsong Brewing Co.

LIFESTYLE

Thanks to our contributors: Grant Baldwin, Katie Grant, Taylor Knopf, Matt Cosper, Hugo van Gelderen and Dan Savage.

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18 Puzzles 20 The Seeker by Katie Grant 21 Horoscope 22 Savage Love

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

DEATH BY DISTRIBUTION? Advocates say proposal to punish drug dealers more harshly will increase overdoses

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BY TAYLOR KNOPF, NC HEALTH NEWS

With drug overdoses and deaths increasing in North Carolina, as they have in many parts of the country, a bill to strengthen penalties for illegal drug distribution is quickly moving through the state legislature.

Senate Republicans introduced Senate Bill 189 in early March during a news conference where lawmakers were surrounded by law enforcement and families who have lost loved ones to drug overdoses. Some North Carolina sheriffs and prosecutors say they need this bill to impose higher penalties and lengthier prison sentences on people who distribute fentanyl — the potent synthetic opioid that’s been added to many street drugs in recent years.

“Incarceration should also be used as a tool to help stop people from distributing, selling fentanyl and other drugs. And putting criminals who distribute fentanyl behind bars will help to disrupt the supply of fentanyl and send a clear message that this kind of behavior will be unacceptable,” said bill sponsor Sen. Michael Lazzara (R-Jacksonville) during a legislative committee meeting.

The bill sailed through the Senate with unanimous support and is awaiting a committee hearing in the state House of Representatives.

But some substance use experts say this approach to a public health crisis will likely cost more lives.

“This law feels like death by 1,000 paper cuts, because they’re all minor changes — all of which are harmful and none of which we have any reason to believe actually reduces the harms of the drug supply in our community,” said Jennifer Carroll, a substance use researcher and assistant professor of anthropology at North Carolina State University.

As the drug overdose epidemic has steadily worsened over the past decade, state lawmakers have tried several approaches in attempts to curb the problem — from legalizing syringe exchanges to funding addiction treatment to harsher penalties for drug distribution. In 2019, lawmakers passed a “death by distribution” law that allows prosecutors to charge someone with second-degree murder

if they sell drugs to someone who then dies of an overdose.

Senate Bill 189 would essentially strengthen the state’s death by distribution law. Advocates for people who use drugs say these types of laws only disrupt the drug supply, which creates more potential for overdoses. Additionally, with seconddegree murder charges on the line, advocates say people using drugs will be hesitant to call for emergency services if someone overdoses.

“Funds desperately needed to bolster public health in vulnerable, and often overlooked, communities are instead funneled to outdated and fruitless tactics that do nothing to save lives,” reads a statement issued by the North Carolina Survivors Union, a community-led statewide harm reduction organization of people impacted by drug use.

Harm reduction organizations aim to reduce the negative effects of drug use by providing sterile injection and drug use supplies, testing for hepatitis C and HIV, providing an opioid overdose reversal drug called naloxone, and other supplies and resources to people in active substance use.

punished,” Lee said while at the state legislature supporting Senate Bill 189. “Because otherwise it just becomes a revolving door. It becomes very expensive for the state of North Carolina. Also it’s just the right thing to do. These people have problems.”

Lee said people in his area of the state need to be able to get help locally instead of being forced by lack of options to travel hours away to the Triangle area.

But Lee and many other prosecutors draw a firm distinction between people using drugs and drug dealers.

“For those people out there selling drugs, I have no sympathy for them, because they are basically profiting off of others’ misery,” Lee said. “I’ve not been hesitant about prosecuting an individual for second-degree murder, where they cause the death of someone by selling drugs to them.”

Advocates for people who use drugs say the line between dealer and user isn’t so clear cut. Some people who use drugs will sell enough drugs to support their own drug habit or to supply just their friends or family members with drugs.

People who use drugs are encouraged, for safety reasons, not to use drugs alone. So if someone has supplied drugs to someone they are using with, and that person overdoses, those folks are going to hesitate to call for help — for fear of being charged with second-degree murder, advocates say.

Good Samaritan Law

People are always encouraged to call for help in the event of an overdose. And a 2015 update to the state’s 2013 Good Samaritan Law provides limited immunity from certain drug possession charges if someone calls 911 during a medical emergency.

Senate Bill 189 sponsors say they still want people to call for help, and the bill would add possession of up to 1 gram of fentanyl to the Good Samaritan Law protections in North Carolina.

But advocates have long said the state’s Good Samaritan Law doesn’t go far enough. There are questions as to whether the victim of the overdose or others at the scene of an overdose would receive the same limited legal protections from arrest or prosecution if someone called for help.

“It’s really hard for folks to want to put themselves at risk for any type of engagement with law enforcement,” said Ainsley Bryce, executive director of Holler Harm Reduction in Madison County.

Bryce said that there were 17 overdoses reported to Holler Harm Reduction in the first two weeks of March. People at only two of those incidents called 911 for help because they didn’t have naloxone available.

“That’s 15 people who were just not willing to interact with law enforcement because they were afraid of arrest,” she said.

“These laws don’t offer protections, and they’re

Drug dealer vs. drug user

In his 36 years as a prosecutor, Ernie Lee said he’s seen some of the same people cycle in and out of jails and prisons and continue to use drugs. Now he’s seeing multiple generations of people in the same families using drugs and getting arrested.

Lee is the district attorney for Sampson, Duplin, Jones and Onslow counties — rural counties in eastern North Carolina with few treatment options for mental health and substance use issues.

“There has to be punishment, but I also wish there could be IN FY 2021-22, THERE WERE 46 DEATH BY DISTRIBUTION CASES FILED BY DISTRICT ATTORNEYS STATEWIDE. more treatment while you’re being

ADOBESTOCK

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

Closure for families

epidemics in the past and have taken seemingly radical but effective strategies to reduce deaths, get people into treatment and weaken their illegal drug markets.

Carroll said the United States has been using a criminal justice approach to drug use for decades and it’s not working.

“If it was going to help, it would have helped by now,” she said. “They are basically positing a … strategy for reducing overdose that is ignorant and wrong.”

“It would be really, really great if the same energy went into things that we actually know reduces deaths — that we actually know keeps young people safe,” Carroll said, “and that we actually know brings people out of crisis if they are living with substance use disorder.”

This article first appeared on North Carolina Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. North Carolina Health News is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit, statewide news organization dedicated to covering all things health care in North Carolina. Visit NCHN at northcarolinahealthnews.org.

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District Attorney Lee told senators gathered in not even necessarily being followed by the letter,” a committee in March about a case he prosecuted she added. “We still have those being arrested for in 2016 after a woman in his county came to him paraphernalia that they should be covered under. So and asked him to charge the person who sold the I can’t imagine adding a law like this to the books, drugs that killed her loved one. North Carolina has had a form of a second-degree murder charge on the what that’s going to look like for our folks.” books for drug distribution since the 1980s.

“I worked for the Onslow County sheriff at that What the data shows time and we were able to bring charges against an North Carolina’s death by distribution law individual after extensive investigation to prosecute — which the latest legislative proposal seeks to that case,” he said, “And he was convicted of secondstrengthen — was passed in 2019 and went into degree murder. And so I’m very passionate about effect Jan. 1, 2020. this.

In 2019, law enforcement agencies and district “I have people calling me continuously: What attorneys said they needed the death by distribution can you do to help my son? What can you do to help laws to put dealers behind bars and curb drug my daughter? What do you do to help my family?” overdoses in the community. Advocates, including Lee said.

Carroll, told lawmakers at the time that death by The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association also distribution laws would decrease 911 calls during an released a statement supporting Senate Bill 189, overdose and would lead to a more unstable illegal saying it would protect law enforcement officers drug market and more fentanyl entering the drug and the public. supply.

“I thank the committee for standing up for At the time, no one could have predicted a supporting the families today and families across global pandemic, which substance use experts and North Carolina [who] have lost family members people on the ground said also greatly disrupted the to these overdoses and fentanyl poisoning,” drug supply and increased overdoses. Whatever the Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page told one combination of factors, fentanyl-involved overdose senate committee. who have lost someone to overdose, and I don’t deaths have only climbed since 2019.

Carroll, along with researchers Brandon The number of overdose deaths in which Morrissey and Taleed El-Sabawi, surveyed North know anybody who’s gunning for vengeance on the fentanyl was detected more than doubled from Carolina prosecutors to better understand their person who provided the drugs in the first place.

1,490 in 2019 to 3,062 in 2022, according to the reasons for pursuing death by distribution cases, That’s not really a top priority. I think the top priority North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. also known as drug-induced homicides. NC Health is ensuring that there’s safety available if that person The NC Department of Health and Human News reviewed their findings, which are in the peer is looking for it.”

Services’ Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan review process.

Data Dashboard shows a decrease in reported law Two-thirds of survey respondents reported What will help? enforcement overdose reversals across the state having charged someone with a drug-induced Advocates for people who use drugs want to since 2018. While not all counties have reported homicide in the past. Respondents indicated that see the same energy and money put toward public their law enforcement reversal data to the state, two of the highest-rated reasons for bringing health solutions that have been shown to reduce those that did show a decrease over time. death by distribution charges were “justice for the overdose deaths.

In the fiscal year spanning from 2019–’20, there deceased” and “justice or closure will be obtained “It is time for lawmakers to recognize the were 10 death by distribution cases filed by district for the family of the deceased.” Carroll added that failings of the Drug War and come to the realization attorneys statewide, according to data collected by the respondents were less confident that death by that we cannot punish our way out of the overdose the NC Administrative Office of the Courts. In 2020– distribution cases would stop overdoses. crisis,” reads the statement from the Urban Survivors ’21 there were 35 death by distribution cases, and in “We found that one point prosecutors really Union.

2021–’22, there were 46 cases.

“Instead, we must prioritize a communityagree on is that these laws will bring some sort of A review of the data from the Administrative closure to the family,” Carroll said. “That is not a valid informed, culturally competent and evidenceOffice of the Courts shows that Harnett County use of prosecution.” based approach to finally address this public health prosecuted the most over the three-year span, with In Madison County, Bryce said she knows many crisis,” the Union added. “That means investing in 11 total cases. That county has seen a 142% increase local residents who have lost loved ones to overdose accessible, humane drug treatment, funding harm in overdose deaths from 2018 to 2021, according who do not want closure in this way. reduction strategies and passing a stronger Good to state data. The latest available rate of overdose “Who’s gonna feel better that their son-in-law’s Samaritan Law that aligns with the problems facing deaths in Harnett was 52.2 per 100,000 people, suddenly arrested for murder after they’ve lost their North Carolinians today.” while the statewide rate of overdose death is 38.5 daughter?” Bryce said. “I know a lot of folks locally Other countries have dealt with drug overdose per 100,000 people.

ARTS FEATURE

ARTS & CRAFTS

Divine Barrel is one of many breweries uplifting the local arts scene

And that doesn’t just mean the big guys, the corporate community, but also small and mediumsized businesses as well, like Divine Barrel,” Olin said.

“Their willingness to take that piece of art and put it on a beer can that gets distributed around the Carolinas … it was just this sweet spot where it was like, ugh, this is that collaboration that we’ve been looking for with the Divine Barrel folks. It just came after years of exploring and keeping our eyes and ears open for the right concept.”

BY RYAN PITKIN

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Divine intervention Sunlight gleamed in through the open garage door as people packed into Divine Barrel Brewing Co. just as the sun prepared to set on March 23. Still, the lights were dimmed enough to make things dramatic in the corner of the taproom where owner Gavin Toth prepared to make his major unveiling.

Following a speech from local artist Shefalee Patel, leader of the creative collective Namaste Artists Charlotte, Toth pulled back on a rope, dropping a curtain and exposing a brightly colored 12-by-8-foot mural depicting two blank, dancing human figures backed up by a beautiful but chaotic mosaic of neon colors.

The crowd of nearly 100 art patrons applauded wildly before DJ Pawan dropped a track that sounded like a mix of traditional Indian music, hip-hop and electronic dance music, with Patel leading her collective — 15 of whom participated in creating the newly unveiled mural — in a traditional dance.

For Charlotte Is Creative cofounder Matt Olin, the scene was exactly what he originally envisioned for Drop Series, an event series that commissions artists for large-scale murals before then turning those same murals into beer can designs to be distributed throughout the Carolinas by Divine Barrel.

“This is a really cool way to say, ‘Alright we’re going to create this really dramatic, theatrical vibe event where we’re literally going to drop a curtain to reveal a brand new mural,’” Olin told Queen City Nerve. “As a guy from the theatre world, I just love the drama around that.”

The March party was the second Drop Series, which launched in November as a quarterly event, beginning with a mural from three artists associated with the #BeattiesFordStrong movement: Ricky Singh, Ty McBride and Danyelle Ray. At Drop Series Vol. 2: Bollywood, Beer & Art, cans of Divine Barrel’s new brew, Drop Series Vol. 1: Going Together, were stacked on the bar while glasses of the Berliner weisse-style ale with blood orange, guava and pineapple flowed from the taps all night.

The cans depict a triptych featuring each artist’s panel from the mural, including the artists’respective Instagram handles, the #BeattiesFordStrong mural and a QR code that allows drinkers to learn more about the movement as well as the Drop Series.

For Olin, the partnership with Divine Barrel, which will distribute the cans in locations all around North and South Carolina, is the perfect intersection of his organization’s two top missions: compensation for local artists mixed with innovative exposure.

“One of the cornerstone ideologies of Charlotte Is Creative is championing collaboration between the creative community and the business community.

Speaking with Queen City Nerve on the patio of Divine Barrel shortly before the most recent unveiling, artist Ricky Singh said the partnership with Divine Barrel was a natural progression. Toth and the Charlotte Is Creative team had already been supportive of the #BeattiesFordStrong movement, but this gave a chance to expand it out from activations on the west side to put it in front of a new NoDa audience.

“It’s exciting to see a dream that I’ve had for quite some time actually come to life,” Singh said of the partnership. “I feel like it was one of my first thoughts or conversations I might have had with Gavin years ago. ‘What if?’”

DJ PAWAN PLAYS AT THE MARCH 23 DROP SERIES VOL. 2: BOLLYWOOD, BEER & ART SHOW.

Toth himself may not remember that exact conversation, but he does have evidence that it took place. While going through his phone one day in early April, after the brewery had already hosted two Drop Series events, he came across a message in his Notes app: “Beer is art, mural project with can releases.”

According to Toth, it has been part of Divine Barrel’s mission since opening in 2018 to invite collaboration with Charlotte creatives. The brewery hosts a rotating display of local artists, curated by Matt Alvis with Art Cart NoDa and Tough Ass Crew, as well as regular events that spotlight local talent, from a “yarn bombing” by local fiber artist Pam Imhof to the series of OneBand concerts that invite musicians of all experience levels to get onstage and perform together, often for the first time.

“I think [art and craft brewing] go hand-inhand, when you look at how a lot of galleries that keep closing, now some are starting to emerge again, but people need to continue to take these opportunities in these larger spaces,” Toth said.

“Breweries can be galleries for everybody.”

The brewery also hosts the NoDaHood Market, which features local artisanal entrepreneurs to sell their wares. The last event featured more than 100 vendors, a NoDaHood record.

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

ARTS FEATURE “Making those connections is so key, because just like beer, we gotta sell it to make money, and artists love their craft, and they probably want to make their money off of it eventually, too.”

Toth emphasized that Divine Barrel does not take any cut from art sold during Alvis’ rotating exhibits at the brewery.

“We want them to be successful, too,” he said.

“They’re a small business.”

Giving artists space

A MURAL CREATED BY NAMASTE ARTISTS CHARLOTTE HANGS IN DIVINE BARREL BREWING.

about the community and how we feel about these collaborations between the creative community and the business community,” Olin said. “We’re going to continue championing this and the more this can be happening the better.”

The diversity question

It’s a well-known fact that the craft beer scene has a problem with diversity, an issue that Ricky Singh acknowledged during the Drop Series Vol. 2 event. For him, it’s an opportunity to push his message in front of a new audience. #BeattiesFordStrong was created in response to a mass shooting that took four lives during a Juneteenth celebration on Beatties Ford Road in 2020 — not just to memorialize the victims but to push back against the media narrative that the Beatties Ford corridor is nothing more than a collection of crime-ridden neighborhoods.

“There’s a notion of a negative connotation that goes with the words Beatties Ford Road or the west side often, as much as there’s such a positive history and present that is there, and I think projects like this that uplift the west side and continue to show a spotlight that the west side is a big part of Charlotte history. This opportunity to have cans in stores around the state, I’m hoping people will Google

Beatties Ford Road and will find all the positives that are going on in the west side,” Singh said. “My hope is that it spreads and that people see the west side as a place of growth, historical value; we have a sense of pride.”

Fellow #BeattiesFordStrong artist Ty McBride agreed.

“It’s a good way to get the appreciation of the message on both sides,” she said. “We can’t preach the same thing to the same group of people over and over. We all need to support each other so that it kind of bridges the gap and I feel like art can be that bridge. So that’s what we’re here to do.”

For Toth, the hope is that events like Drop Series not only expose artists like Singh and McBride to new audiences but bring a more diverse crowd into Divine Barrel.

“We want everyone to know that Divine Barrel is open to everyone regardless of ethnicity, anything, sexual orientation, you name it, as long as you’re just happy to be here,” Toth said.

“With the Drop Series you’re seeing a mixing of cultures, too, where yeah you’re bringing people who may not have been to Divine Barrel or a brewery before, but also the cool thing is when the new can comes out with the old mural right as we drop the new mural, you’re seeing artists who may not have

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

met each other, may not run in the same cultural circles, meeting each other and mixing together and sharing ideas, and that’s really what it’s all about.”

Olin agreed, pointing out that the mix of creatives that attended Drop Series Vol. 2 were not the type of crowd you’d see on any given Sunday at a Charlotte brewery.

He added that Divine Barrel has the potential to be the bridge that McBride referenced, seeing as how it’s placed directly on the border of NoDa and the rest of east Charlotte — home to Charlotte’s most diverse neighborhoods.

“That’s really where I get excited about the drop,” he said. “When you see the Namaste Charlotte community came together and saw their work on the wall, they saw themselves reflected in that work, and it was just an opportunity to gather around art in a place that’s kind of like a fault line for different communities in Charlotte and to allow for those collisions, that intersection, those conversations to happen. It’s super intentional and we’re just so gratified to see it actually happening and it’s working.”

All it took was a little flair for the dramatic.

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

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Divine Barrel is far from the only local brewery that is engaging with the local arts scene. In NoDa alone, which long ago began a transition from arts district to “entertainment district” (read: bars), breweries have been creating space for artists pushed out of shuttered or repurposed galleries.

On April 29, The Chamber by Wooden Robot will host its second annual Astro Pop Mural + Music Festival, a popular event that features a slew of local artists live-painting large-scale murals along with live music, food trucks and beer. The event, organized by local artist and Wooden Robot employee Brett “TWOKAT” Toukatly, was well-attended during its inaugural iteration in 2021, but had to be postponed in October 2022.

“It’s important that Wooden Robot keeps the culture of art and music alive in a neighborhood they’re new to,” TWOKAT told Queen City Nerve in 2021. “I wanted to put them on the map in NoDa’s eyes as someone who is supportive of the arts scene.

“I wanted to make sure this is about what NoDa’s been for so long,” he continued. “There’s been a lot of changes and a lot of new construction, but I like to think the reason people are coming here is because it’s been the arts and music district.”

Elsewhere in Charlotte, Protagonist Beer will host the SXSE23 festival (South by South End) on the same weekend, organizing a three-day event from April 27-29 that will include film screenings, a comedy night and a music festival.

For Olin and Charlotte Is Creative co-founder Tim Miner, who launched their organization with the sole goal of connecting the local arts scene to the local business community, breweries make a natural venue to host those connections.

“We’ve been rallying around this idea of craft beer as creativity for years, so this idea of using their taprooms, their physical brick-and-mortar space to be a place where creativity and artistry is celebrated, that’s just so aligned with how we feel

SAT 4/8

TUE-SUN 4/11 - 4/16

GROOVE 8, DJHAYTCH4NOW, FUZZ INTERNATIONAL NOIR: ‘MEMORIES JAXX OF MURDER’

GROOVE 8 Courtesy of Tosco Music

Even if you think you’ve never heard Groove 8, you probably have. Drawing on ’70s jazz funk and ’90s U.K. acid jazz, Groove 8 has been producing its celebratory instrumental fusion of funk, soul and R&B since 2008. The band’s syncopated rhythms are centered on a heavy-hitting horn section that has included both Adrian Crutchfield and Joey Hayfield, both of whom toured with Prince as part of the New Power Generation. The restless DJHaytch4Now dabbles in everything from R&B hip-hop bop to lo-fi background beats. Wilmington hip-hop artist Fuzz Jaxx fills the bill.

More: $7; April 8, 8 p.m.; Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.; petrasbar.com

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4/8

Before garnering Oscar acclaim with Parasite, Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho helped to catch a serial killer. His 2003 flick Memories of Murder is based on a notorious string of South Korean killings in the late 1980s. This gritty and intense procedural, which follows three investigators who are hopelessly in over their heads, is laced with coalblack humor. It rekindled interest in the cold case — so much so that the culprit was identified in 2019.

A post-screening discussion with UNC Charlotte Film Studies Lecturer Sam Shapiro follows the April 16 screening.

More: $8; April 11-16, times vary; Independent Picture House, 4237 Raleigh St.; independentpicturehouse.org

JOHN COLTRANE, ‘MILES & COLETRANE: BLUE (.)’

Photo by Hugo van Gelderen

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TUE-SUN 4/11 - 4/16

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ACTION SERIES

‘INTO THE WOODS’

OPENING CELEBRATION: SEEING ‘MILES & COLTRANE: BLUE (.)’

An enriching character study and a riveting play, STARS

On April 1, Goodyear Arts kicked off a month of experimental performances featuring artists ranging from XOXO dramaturge Matt Cosper to dancefloor therapists/terrorists Sinetology. The second night of the series features dance and capoeira practitioner Reba Bowens; poet, Blaxploitation aficionado and latter-day Gullah griot De’Angleo Dia; figurative illustrator Lee Herrera; experimental jazz saxophonist Brent Bagwell; poet and mixed media artist Amy Bagwell; Queen City Nerve’s 2022 Best in the Nest singer-songwriter Kadey Ballard; Ruth Stone Poetry Prize-winning wordsmith Erin Rose Coffin; plus Nathan Matthews, Bo White, Renee Cloud, Xavia Margrith-Miles and more.

More: Free; April 7, 9 p.m.; Goodyear Arts, 301 Camp Road; goodyeararts.com

A humorous, humane and wondrous pastiche of a fistful of Perrault and Brothers Grimm fairy tales, Stephen Sondheim’s and James Lapine’s modern classic Into the Woods took Broadway by storm in 1987. The strength of Into The Woods has always been that Sondheim and Lapine embrace the contradiction and weirdness of fairy tales — supposedly comforting stories where children are orphaned, stepsisters mutilated and grannies devoured. This stunning revival comes with much of its Broadway cast intact, including Montego Glover as The Witch, Stephanie J. Block as The Baker’s Wife and Gavin Creel as Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf.

More: $35 and up; April 11-16, times vary; Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

“I remember the first time I saw the stars,” wrote fantasist Beth Revis. “I thought they changed everything. I thought they changed me.”Hedy Fischer and Randy Shull have sifted through the firmament of contemporary North American art, amassing a game-changing collection that champions diverse voices in the arts while foregrounding social justice issues. Seeing Stars: Works from the Fischer/Shull Collection of Contemporary Art includes paintings, sculpture, photography and mixed-media pieces from Sanford Biggers, Kehinde Wiley, Simone Leigh and more. The opening celebration includes music and remarks by Seeing Stars curator Dexter Wimberly.

More: Free; April 13, 6 p.m.; Gantt Center, 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

THUR-SUN 4/13 - 4/16 Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.) is also a musical rumination on creativity and its human costs. Quentin Talley’s On Q Productions, which premiered Miles & Coltrane: Blue (.) in Charlotte in 2008, revives the production, which depicts the personal and professional relationship between the two jazz legends — titans whose brilliant collaborations, including the legendary albums Round About Midnight and Kind of Blue, reshaped the boundaries of music and popular culture. This musical biography blends award winning actors, musicians and poets.

More: $28 and up; April 13-16, times vary; Booth Playhouse, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

SCIENCE ON THE ROCKS Courtesy of Discovery Place

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SCIENCE ON THE ROCKS

EXHIBIT OPENING: CAPTURED IN CARTOONS

Discovery Place Science’s monthly after-hours, adults-only social event offers an evening of cocktails, animal encounters, science shows and hands-on lab experiences in a kids-free environment. Patrons can check out exhibits like Top Secret: License to Spy, which features activities based on a James Bond-style exotic locations and high-tech gadgetry. Guests can also add on tickets to the IMAX presentation Planetarium: Edge of Darkness, which explores our solar system with a spectacular flight through the cliffs of comet 67P, breathtaking close-ups of Ceres and Pluto, and the first-ever look at a dwarf binary planet.

More: $18-22; April 14, 6 p.m.; Discovery Place Science, 301 N. Tryon St.; science.discoveryplace.org

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SUN4/16

When the GOP-controlled N.C. legislature overrode Gov. Cooper’s veto of their gun bill a day after another school shooting, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Kevin Siers depicted N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger, House Speaker Tim Moore and a hooded “Gun Lobby” grim reaper as “The 3 Branches of NC Government.” This exhibit, titled Captured in Cartoons, puts Siers’ spotlight on the GOP’s ghoulish enabling of the wholesale slaughter of our state’s children in the context of centuries of cartooning, where visitors can explore cartoons from throughout Charlotte’s history. The opening celebration includes a conversation with Siers.

More: $5; April 15, 2 p.m.; Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Drive; charlottemuseum.org

KADEY BALLARD Photo by Matt Cospeer

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TUE4/18

CLASSIC BLACK CINEMA SERIES: ‘THE KRISTINE LESCHPER, NINA REYSER, WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL’ KARAOKE

SEEING STARS Artwork by Kehinde Wiley

4/13

Under the moniker Mothers, Kristine Leschper released coiling idiosyncratic songs that draw on the stark, skeletal sounds of post-punk and contemporary freak folk. Under her own name, she’s shifted to percussion, synthesizers, strings and fluttering woodwinds to craft baroque compositions that recall 1970s experimental rockers Henry Cow. Drawing on her background in contemporary classical composition, Nina Ryser’s experimental pop draws on lush synths, vocals and electronics.

Karaoke tills a post-punk/dance field similar to Leschper’s Mothers, but with a playful streak that nods to 1980s new wavers The Waitresses.

More: $17.30; April 18, 9 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.; snugrock.com

‘THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL’ Film poster

4/16

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In this 1959 dystopian drama, a coal miner (charismatic Harry Belafonte) emerges from a cave-in to find all the buildings still standing after a nuclear holocaust, with nary another soul in sight.

When Belafonte travels to an eerily abandoned New York City, the plot turns into a lethal love triangle between him and two other survivors: a luminous Inger Stevens and a bigoted Mel Ferrer. Racism rears its ugly head as Belafonte and Ferrer stalk and battle each other in the steel canyons of Manhattan.

More: $7-$9; April 16, 2 p.m.; Gantt Center, 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

MUSIC FEATURE

A FESTIVAL ON A HILL NC Brewers & Music Festival returns to Huntersville

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BY PAT MORAN

On May 12, the North Carolina Brewers & Music Festival returns to Historic Rural Hill nature preserve in Huntersville. The two-day family-friendly event offers a curated lineup of over 40 breweries, allowing festivalgoers to camp out amid a landscape graced with hiking trails and Colonial-era farm buildings.

Tying into the outdoor, rain-or-shine activities is a carefully coordinated soundtrack for the beer fest; a lineup of nine artists and bands, many with North Carolina connections, are artfully chosen to complement and enhance the bucolic setting and the craft beers that festivalgoers will find on tap.

That means the bands chosen for the event fall into a loosely defined genre that Micah Davidson calls “grass roots-oriented indie-Americana.”

“I think we’ve stayed consistent with that genre,” says Davidson, founder and owner of Charlotte-based agency Midwood Entertainment, which curates and consults on venues, festivals and events. The 45-year-old former booking agent has been programming the North Carolina Brewers & Music Festival since it launched in 2010.

“Certainly, it’s a team effort,” Davidson says.

“We all get together and discuss ideas.”

At the end of the day, however, it’s Davidson who makes the decisions and picks the bands.

“For the North Carolina Brewers & Music Festival, the marketing is about the overall experience,” Davidson says. “So, the lineup … must be something that falls in line with the overall brand. It’s on a farm. It’s camping. So, bluegrass and indie Americana is really where I’d like to stay.”

This year marks the 11th iteration of the festival — the event was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s also a watershed for the festival — the year the NC Brewers & Music Fest decided to go bigger.

“This is the year we probably spent the most money,” Davidson says. May 12 marks the largest Friday night headliner the festival has ever booked: North Carolina-based Grammy

Award-winning progressive bluegrass group The Steep Canyon Rangers. Filling out the bill is a mix of local and regional favorites and Americana up-andcomers including Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, 49 Winchester, SUSTO, Lilly Hiatt, Kaitlin Butts, Time Sawyer, Kiely Connell and Paleface.

“For the people that aren’t super happy with the lineup, it’s my fault,” Davidson says. “For the people who absolutely love the lineup, it’s also my fault.”

The business of entertainment

Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Davidson went to the College of Charleston before “politely being asked

to leave,” Davidson says. Instead of going to class, he was throwing large parties and concerts at frat houses.

“I guess I was born to do events,” he says, laughing. After moving to Charlotte in 1999, Davidson started working as the general manager of The Double Door Inn, the storied but since demolished venue in Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood. He also became a booking agent. In 2009, Davidson met Jeff Fissel, who was then the executive director for Historic Rural Hill. Fissel was considering launching a beer festival and had some interest in booking The New Familiars, a Charlotte band that Davidson was managing, to play it. But Davidson got more involved than just booking his band; he and Fissel launched the North Carolina Brewers & Music Festival together in 2010.

In September 2015, Davidson started Midwood Entertainment with nine artists and two festivals.

As the business grew, Davidson moved away from being an agent and hired other agents. In the wake of the COVID pandemic, Midwood Entertainment shut down its talent agency division in 2021, now just focusing on event production and talent buying.

Davidson runs the company and organizes both

events: the NC Brewers & Music Festival as well as Tennessee’s Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion in September. Meanwhile, Monica Smith oversees the agency’s venue division, which programs for seven venues on the East Coast, as well as one in Colorado.

One venue, The Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount, Virginia, is an exception. There Davidson is the director of operations.

In the meantime, Davidson partnered with John Crawford of Codex Sound in Hickory. Amid the pandemic, Codex Sound famously launched the No Contact Concert Series, an online streaming concert experience. Codex Sound currently handles production for all Midwood Entertainment’s events in the southeast.

Crawford has been handling the production component of the NC Brewers & Music Festival since its founding. Davidson also partnered with Charles Willett, controller of NoDa Brewing Company.

Willett handles the beer component of the festival, including alcohol sales and coordinating with brewers for the festival’s beer tasting on Saturday.

In 2019, Davidson, Fissel, Crawford and Willett launched Five String Productions LLC, which bought 50% of the festival from Rural Hill. Five String Productions produces the event, while the farm, which owns half, helps produce it. Profits from the festival are split 50/50, with Rural Hill’s cut benefiting the historic property.

Making a festival sing

NC BREWERS & MUSIC FESTIVAL IN 2017

COURTESY OF NCBMF

Davidson remembers the very first NC Brewers & Music Fest only lasted one day on one single stage. It didn’t become a two-day event until three years later. This year, the festival’s music performances are spread out over Friday and Saturday, and camping runs Thursday through Sunday. The beer tasting still takes place on Saturday afternoon, with this year boasting more than 40 brewers, including NoDa Brewing Company, Cavendish Brewing Company, Protagonist Beer, Legion Brewing, Royal Bliss Brewing and more.

When it comes to booking the festival, Davidson begins looking for likely performers a few weeks after the previous year’s fest has wrapped.

“Starting around June 1, I start working on headliners for the following year,” Davidson says.

Starting with a blank slate, Davidson looks at other festivals’ lineups, as well as other lineups Midwood Entertainment puts together for other events and venues. While

MUSIC FEATURE

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first time he’s had the durable and popular act on one of his festivals.

“When we got the invite to play NC it’s financially and logistically advantageous for Brewers Fest, we were excited because we both the company and artists to book shows across knew they would be curating a great lineup of the spectrum of Midwood Entertainment ‘s events, artists we know and love,” says SUSTO’s Justin Davidson maintains diversity between the different Osbourne. “It’s been a couple years since we lineups. He also pays attention to what is going on in performed in the Charlotte area, and we’re the industry and talks to his agent friends. excited to be back.”

“There is always going to be an idea that For other acts on the bill, Davidson turned somebody else has that I might not have thought to his personal connections in the business — about,” Davidson says. ties that extend to local and regional favorite He also turns to Spotify, checking out the Time Sawyer.

Discover Weekly Playlist and Release Radar. One of “Not only have I known them for years his favorite things to do is go down the rabbit hole and years, but they also were an artist that of the “fans also like” section of any particular artist. was part of the [our] agency division,” says “It becomes a sort of a science, where after Davidson. you’ve dug in as long as I have, you just … know He has also booked Time Sawyer for the what you’re looking for,” Davidson says. upcoming Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion.

Despite his music business savvy and experience, COURTESY OF NCBMF The band’s frontman Sam Tayloe sees NC THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL FEATURES A LINEUP OF BEER FROM OVER 40 BREWERIES. Davidson insists he never books a festival according Brewers & Music Fest as an opportunity to “I said, ‘Great, if she’s got a buzz, then let’s throw “We’re going on 11 years,” Davidson says. “We to his personal taste. continue connecting with audiences. her on an event.

Let’s give her an opportunity to play are a true camping festival. We take all weekend, “Nobody is buying a ticket to come spend time “We are trying get closer to understanding the and to some extent we are more of a music festival with me,” he says. “I’m designing a lineup for the world every time we play, so hopefully that comes in front of a bigger crowd,’” he recalls.

Similarly, Kiely Connell came to Davidson’s that has a beer-tasting component.” people who want to come out and have a good through here at this festival,” Tayloe says. “It helps attention through another agent friend.

To that end, the festival showcases the music time, with the goal of selling tickets and creating to have so many other groups that we appreciate “I did my research on her, and she’s fantastic,” aspect most prominently in the event’s name and in experiences.” playing that weekend too. It’s always a team game.”

Davidson says. “I like having the opportunity to its marketing, he adds.

That said, Davidson also trusts his gut about A band that Davidson is particularly excited break an artist.

Whenever possible, I like to be able On a broader level, Davidson sees the fest as an what fits the fest and who within the event’s chosen to add to the team is 49 Winchester. Like the lever to look back and [know] that I knew about that opportunity for music lovers to unplug, unwind, and genre of indie-Americana is going to break big. action repeating rifle suggested by its name, the perhaps reconnect a little.

This year, Davidson knew the festival wanted band can pack a mighty kick, but more often this artist before anybody else.”

“I’m excited to play in one of my favorite states “There are a lot of things these days that seem to to go bigger on Friday night. With Steep Canyon tears-in-your-beer Americana/alt-country outfit again, especially at a festival that features local be pulling people apart,” Davidson says. “So I love to Rangers being from North Carolina and getting trades in yearning melodies, heartfelt harmonies hotter in the genre, the band was Davidson’s number and gentle nostalgia. Davidson predicts that the breweries,” Connell says. “I’ve been a fan of craft beer see these events where it doesn’t really matter what since I was old enough to drink.” anybody’s beliefs are. They’re all just coming to have one headliner choice. band will be the festival’s breakout artist.

However the festival’s performers play in front a good time together.”

As for booking Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway, “They are absolutely exploding,” he says. “I’ve Davidson says the decision was a no-brainer; Tuttle been a fan of those guys for a long time. During of Rural Hill’s crowd, Davidson seems content that PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM he’s crafted a diverse and satisfying bill, which does just won a Grammy and she’s red hot. the pandemic when me and the guys from Codex Tuttle herself is equally enthusiastic about Sound produced The No Contact Concert Series, 49 much to help differentiate t NC Brewers & Music Fest from other beer festivals. playing the festival.

Winchester was one of the bands we had on it.”

“North Carolina has always been such an He notes that the band recently announced important part of the roots music community,” that Luke Combs is taking them on tour with him to Tuttle says. “From the great Doc Watson to the Avett Europe this fall.

Brothers, I’ve found so much inspiration all across “I think [the festival is] a really cool showcase the state. I love any chance to come play music in of roots music in an area that we love visiting and North Carolina.” performing in,” says 49 Winchester’s Chase Chafin.

The great John Hyatt’s daughter Lilly has forged “It’s shaping up to be an awesome event all around.” a robust career with her unflinchingly honest songs Davidson cites two of the younger performers that are anchored in no-nonsense guitar-based on the festival bill as a result of paying attention to country rock. Davidson was eager to showcase her what’s going on in local music scenes. Rebellious at the NC Brewers & Music Fest. honky-tonk-imbued singer songwriter Kaitlin Butts “I like Lilly’s stuff quite a bit,” Davidson says. “I’ve recently played The Evening Muse, selling out the been a fan of hers for a good five or six years.” venue her very first time on stage. An agent friend While Davidson has booked Charleston-based told Davidson about Butts’ performance there.

SUSTO at some of his venues before, this will be the

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There are stories behind every beer in Charlotte Birdsong Brewing:

Birdsong is the largest majority female-owned brewery in Charlotte.

Their recipes are inspired by music and their beer is often named after songs.

Petty Thieves Brewing:

Built on secrets hiding in plain sight, Petty Thieves Brewing sits at a sacred crossroads on the city’s only true East-West boulevard and experiences the only known phenomenon of two consecutive daily sunsets. The brewery is rumored to hold secret meetings each astronomical conjunction in its Black Lodge.

Divine Barrel Brewing:

An unusually lovely, award-winning brewery, Divine Barrel is focused on supporting the arts and Charlotte community and being the most welcoming taproom for anyone to enjoy.

Town Brewing:

Within the first two years of being open, Town Brewing brought home back-toback gold medals from the Great American Beer Festival to Wesley Heights. Both awards were for Cruise to Nowhere, a session sour ale with mango, guava, passion fruit, blood orange and hibiscus.

Lost Worlds is known for its innovative beers and commitment to guest experience.

The taproom is open seven days a week and features six year-round brews, called Basecamp Beers, and a rotating selection of limited-release beers, called Adventure Series. Located in Cornelius, the biergarten is the perfect place to plot your next adventure.

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Lost Worlds Brewing:

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Pouya (The Fillmore) ROCK/PUNK/METAL Mary Mack w/ Kashh, Syh Gudda, Baby Cheef, Joose Joywave (The Underground) Lord, KRU, Itzdolph (The Rooster) Lofidels w/ Public Circuit, Spookystack, Boy A/C (The COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Milestone) NC Bluegrass Jam Night (Birdsong Brewing) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ JAZZ/BLUES TC Superstar w/ Leone & The Ascension, Babe Club Karen Briggs w/ Bobby Sparks (Middle C Jazz) (Snug Harbor) FUNK/JAM BANDS Igor and the Red Elvises (Neighborhood Theatre) FRIDAY, APRIL 7 OPEN MIC ROCK/PUNK/METAL Tosco Music Open Mic (Evening Muse) ANTiSEEN w/ Self Made Monsters, Hembree & the Open Mic Variety Show (Starlight on 22nd) Infidels (The Milestone) Donnie Doolittle w/ Spirit System, One of Nine (Snug Harbor) THURSDAY, APRIL 6 POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ ROCK/PUNK/METAL Party 101 w/ DJ Matt Bennett (The Underground) Hawthorne Heights (The Underground) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Kamikaze Zombie w/ Nemesis, Victim Complex, 11 Austin Meade w/ Dillan Dostal & the Mikele Buck to Midnight (The Milestone) Band (Amos’ Southend) Rosegarden Funeral Party w/ Dead Cool, Adam Cope Rachel Baiman w/ Heather Maloney (Evening Muse) (Snug Harbor)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Leo Kottke (Neighborhood Theatre) JAZZ/BLUES K Camp (The Underground) Maysa Leak (Middle C Jazz) R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Aretha Franklin tribute) (Knight HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Theater) Shame Gang w/ Devn, Lord Jah Monte Ogbon, POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Autumn Rainwater (Evening Muse) Thurston Howell (Amos’ Southend) R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Aretha Franklin tribute) (Knight Theater) Boulevards w/ Connor Kelly & The Time Warp, Taylor AP Williams (Snug Harbor) FUNK/JAM BANDS The Taylor Party (The Fillmore) Wolf! w/ Joe May (Heist Brewery) ACOUSTIC/SINGER-SONGWRITER Neal Carter (Birdsong Brewing) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA SATURDAY, APRIL 8 ROCK/PUNK/METAL Carolina Drivegrass (Primal Brewery) Mike Farris (Evening Muse) JAZZ/BLUES Aurora’s Hope w/ Jameson Tank, Sub-Vertigo Maysa Leak (Middle C Jazz) (Evening Muse) Groove 8 w/ Fuzz Jaxx, DJHaych4Now (Petra’s) Bob Fleming & the Cambria Iron Co. w/ The Silencing Machine, Shanked, Tiny City, Merit Badge, Ryan Lockhart, This Can’t Be Real (The Milestone) SUNDAY, APRIL 9 Angeles w/ Below 7 (The Rooster) ROCK/PUNK/METAL Of Good Nature w/ Sam Burchfield, Virginia Man, Blab School w/ Julian Calendar, Hey Richard (The Oceanic (Visulite Theatre) Milestone) The Reticent w/ Den of Wolves, Fault Union (The Milestone) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Masego (The Fillmore) Zae France (Neighborhood Theatre) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Dougie Poole w/ Coughing Dove, Riggings (Petra’s)

MONDAY, APRIL 10

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COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Scott Yoder w/ The Real Dolls, Rhinestone Pickup Truck, Hiram (The Milestone) JAZZ/BLUES Tommy Castro & the Painkillers (Neighborhood Theatre) The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s)

TUESDAY, APRIL 11

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Killswitch Engage (The Fillmore) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Jake Wesley Rogers (The Underground) ¡Bugalú! (Petra’s) FUNK/JAM BANDS Cosmic Jam Sessions (Crown Station) DONNIE DOOLITTLE JOINS SPIRIT SYSTEM AND ONE OF NINE AT SNUG HARBOR ON APRIL 7.

PHOTO BY JOSH ROB THOMAS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Queensrÿche (The Fillmore) A Life Worth Taking w/ The Cancellations, The Sour, Jackson Fig (The Milestone) JAZZ/BLUES Menastree w/ MoonShaker, SuspencefulMusicPlaying (Snug Harbor) OPEN MIC Carolina Waves Showcase and Open Mic (Evening Muse) Open Mic Variety Show (Starlight on 22nd)

THURSDAY, APRIL 13

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Fozzy (The Underground) Dirtybutt w/ Walt!, Mazerot, Fuckpxnk, Matty, Apolloislame, Lil Degen, Willows Grave, Quinn Rash (The Milestone) Young Mister w/ Bridal Party, La Brava (Petra’s) JAZZ/BLUES Colby Dobbs & Friends (Middle C Jazz) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Liz Hopkins w/ AZUL (Evening Muse) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Our Planet Live in Concert (Knight Theater)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Yugo w/ Wild Love, Take Lead (Snug Harbor)

FRIDAY, APRIL 14

SATURDAY, APRIL 15

ROCK/PUNK/METAL The Plot In You (The Underground) The Rush Experience (Rush tribute) (Amos’ Southend)

SUNDAY, APRIL16

ROCK/PUNK/METAL The Summer Set (Amos’ Southend) Troubleshoot w/ Sweet Anne Marie, Condition Oakland, Showalter (The Milestone) Dreamwell w/ The Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir, Demon Teeth, Subvertigo (The Milestone) The Lemon Twigs w/ Chris Stamey (Visulite Theatre) JAZZ/BLUES Dee Lucas w/ Gino Rosario, Shemaine (Middle C Jazz) FUNK/JAM BANDS Mike D & The Rhythm Kings (The Rooster) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Ruston Kelly (The Underground) CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS Jonathan McReynolds (Knight Theater)

MONDAY, APRIL 17

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Samia w/ Christian Lee Hutson (Visulite Theatre) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Wilder Woods (Neighborhood Theatre)

TUESDAY, APRIL 18

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Whitechapel (The Underground) The Wallflowers (Neighborhood Theatre) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Kristine Leschper w/ Nina Rysper, Karaoke (Snug Harbor) FUNK/JAM BANDS Cosmic Jam Sessions (Crown Station) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Alexandra Kay (Amos’ Southend)

VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING.

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ROCK/PUNK/METAL Dexter & the Moonrocks w/ Cigarettes @ Sunset (Amos’ Southend) Under the Rug w/ Basic Printer (Evening Muse) Built to Spill (The Underground) Gorod w/ Cognitive, Summoning the Lich, Flub, Krosis (The Milestone) Father John Misty (Neighborhood Theatre) The Chain (Fleetwood Mac tribute) (Visulite Theatre) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Chris Cagle (Coyote Joe’s) Daniel Jeffers (The Rooster) JAZZ/BLUES Marcus Anderson (Middle C Jazz) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Cannoli (Evening Muse) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC Skinny Puppy (The Fillmore) APE Audio Series (Starlight on 22nd) FUNK/JAM BANDS The Riff Raff (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Grits & Biscuits (The Underground) Shankai and the Gooney Tunes w/ Woody (Starlight on 22nd) JAZZ/BLUES Spyro Gyra (Middle C Jazz) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Robbie Fulks (Evening Muse) Elonzo Wesley (Primal Brewery) FUNK/JAM BANDS Eden Hill w/ Secret Formula Band (Evening Muse) Cosmic Collective w/ Stimulator Jones, Lemon City Trio (Snug Harbor) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Lucius w/ Danielle Ponder (Visulite Theatre) Digital Noir w/ DJ Price (The Milestone) CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS Brandon Lake (Ovens Auditorium)

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

A place where females thrive

FEMME-ENTATION The women behind the beer of Birdsong Brewing Co.

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BY KARIE SIMMONS

Prior to opening Birdsong Brewing, Tara Goulet was managing a local bakery while her husband was working in the corporate world. Both were ready for a change and turned to their friend, Goulet’s coworker at the bakery, Conor Robinson, who was learning how to homebrew.

The couple thought Charlotte was missing a small neighborhood brewery — Olde Mecklenburg Brewery was the only craft brewery in the city at the time — so they invited friends over to pitch a business plan and serve Robinson’s beer. That’s how Birdsong Brewing began.

With Robinson’s help, Birdsong Brewing opened in 2011 next door to NoDa Brewing’s original location on East 26th Street, where Seoul Food Meat Company is today.

Goulet said the initial idea for Birdsong was “a little taproom and to distribute some kegs to a handful of restaurants around the city.” That’s as far as they ever thought the business would go.

However, the brewery quickly outgrew its first

For more than a century, beer has been seasonal, small batch and limited release brews. overwhelmingly thought of as a masculine product Co-owned by husband and wife, Chris and Tara — made by men and for men — due in large part Goulet, Birdsong employs women in all stages of its to early marketing campaigns that portrayed beer production and distribution, including Mikala Pratt as the elixir of masculinity. and Andrea Frohlich, two brewers who make up half After Prohibition was repealed in the United of the brewery’s four-person production team.

States, beer was thought of as the “manly” In a mainly male-dominated industry, Birdsong alternative to the feminized cocktail. During World is flowing from a different tap.

War II, advertisers framed beer as a domestic comfort for which soldiers risked their lives.

Beer marketing in postwar America played into the strict gender roles of the 1950s by creating an image of beer as a man’s drink. Women were valued as promotional vehicles and over time have become increasingly sexualized in beer advertisements as the commercial beer industry uses heteronormative sex to sell beer to men.

Today, the masculinity of beer is so ingrained in our culture that it’s perceived as a social norm; men and beer just go hand-in-hand. But that wasn’t always the case. The vast majority of ancient brewers were actually women.

From the Sumerians to the Vikings to the Egyptians, women brewed ale —and later, beer — both for religious ceremonies and as a calorierich, staple beverage. Fermenting was a routine household task and some women sold their brews in the marketplace.

Men only replaced women as brewers once production breweries spread across the world and industrialization picked up — in other words, once money got involved. Since then, female brewers have been trying to get back into the industry they were pushed out of, often working harder than their male counterparts to prove themselves and be faced with less opportunities.

Birdsong Brewing Company, located along North Davidson Street in Charlotte’s Optimist Park neighborhood, is proof of what history has already told us: Women can make beer — good beer, including year-round favorites like Jalapeño Pale BIRDSONG BREWERS MIKALA PRATT (LEFT) AND ANDREA FROHLICH. Ale, Paradise City IPA and Rewind Lager along with

space and moved up the street to its current location at 1016 N. Davidson St. in 2016.

Goulet said they didn’t set out to hire women specifically, just whoever was the best fit for the job; in several instances those hires happened to be women. She said Birdsong’s first hire was a woman for the taproom and another as the brewery’s first salesperson, and it just kind of snowballed from there.

“I don’t know if we were attractive to women that were in the beer industry or interested in getting into the beer industry, but we definitely have just naturally, organically, been a brewery where females have just thrived,” Goulet said.

Prior to joining Birdsong three years ago, Frohlich got her start in the beer industry in Miami.

She said the scene there was dominated by men and she didn’t know any women working in production, which made it difficult to break in.

While bartending at a brewery, she created her own opportunities by voicing her interest in production and showing an eagerness to learn. She

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

While Pratt enjoys the people and the atmosphere at Birdsong, Frohlich’s passion lies in creating recipes and the scientific side of brewing.

“I find it fascinating, just the whole brewing process really. My favorite thing to do is just be out there,” Frohlich said, referring to the production area. “I call it my zen zone.”

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also networked with bartenders and breweries in her area, which opened some doors, but not many.

“I would volunteer to just be back there like washing kegs,” Frohlich said.

A few people helped Frohlich along the way and little by little she began to gain experience, Anyone can brew eventually assisting at the brewery and Frohlich and Pratt say people are surprised experimenting with recipes through homebrewing. to learn they’re brewers and not just bartenders, Frohlich ended up leaving Miami because which shows the stigma women face working in the there wasn’t enough room for her to grow in the brewing industry. industry and she wanted to get paid for her work.

“We need to normalize the fact that we can all Hiring breweries were looking for people with real make beer,” Frohlich said. “I wish that we could stop production experience, but no one was willing to the whole [shock] reaction of ‘Oh my god, you’re a offer her any. girl and you make beer?’”

“They didn’t specifically say male, but you’d wait “They give you the look and it’s just like, what a couple of weeks, and then they hire a guy with, did you want me to say? I’m just here to serve you like, 15 years experience,” Frohlich said. “No one was and to please you?” Pratt added. giving me any opportunities anymore so I had to “They see you and they already put you in this move on.” box, like this is probably what you just do and that’s When Frohlich moved to Charlotte, she took a the only thing,” Frohlich said. “It’s really annoying.” bartending job in the taproom at Birdsong Brewing, Women are often doubted for their strength though she made it clear in her interview that her and, due to the physical nature of modern-day craft ultimate goal was to work on the other side of brewing, are assumed to be less capable than their the glass. It wasn’t long before she was given the male counterparts. Frohlich said this stereotype, and opportunity to dip her toes in, splitting her time others, are breaking down as more women join the between bartending and production before fully PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN industry, put in the work and teach others.

MIKALA PRATT HOSES DOWN THE FLOOR AT BIRDSONG BREWING. transitioning to brewing.

Goulet said it’s important that people see that it Frohlich said she’s noticing a shift in the industry flavors of light roast, malt and a hint of toffee.

“They all share pretty much all of their can be done — women can make beer and operate and it’s becoming more normal to see a female Pratt recalled that they didn’t order the responsibilities back there other than brewing on a brewery at all levels. brewer, which helps show others the job is an option. ingredients they really wanted to use in time, so the big production system,” Goulet said.

“So it’s Goulet thinks it’s trending that way, at least in Such was the case for Pratt, who had never they had to make due with what was on hand.

Their Conor, Jack and Andrea taking turns on the big Charlotte.

She’s one of a handful of women owners worked in beer production prior to joining Birdsong main goal for the red ale was just to make it red. system and everybody has a chance to brew on in Charlotte’s brewery scene, including Suzie Ford at but liked the idea of a physical job that was also “I think we used like five different malts,” NoDa Brewing, Rachael Hudson at Pilot Brewing, and the pilot system that wants to, even outside of the creative.

Frohlich said. “That was quite a challenge because Sarah Brigham at Sycamore Brewing, all of whom “You definitely have to learn a lot of new things, production department.”

Conor was like, ‘It’s not gonna be red.’ And we’re like, are part of a husband-and-wife team. Hudson also Goulet explained that the big system is 30 and it’s definitely very physical what we do back ‘Well, watch.’” barrels and used for making Birdsong’s year-round serves as Pilot’s head brewer. there, but some women like that,” she said.

Frohlich and Pratt said they often get told by staples, plus seasonal and limited releases.

The pilot “It is a very community-oriented industry and With only bartending experience under her belt, people not in the brewing industry that their job is system is only a barrel and a half, so it’s used for oneI think it’s welcoming because of that, and I’m Pratt had to learn everything about the brewing cool and they’re so lucky.

While they agree and love off and experimental brews.

Birdsong releases a optimistic that the industry will continue to shift process on the job. She said Birdsong has been a what they do, they insist it’s not glamorous; there’s a new batch every week in the taproom on Thursdays, and be more inclusive,” Goulet said. welcoming environment and the other brewers lot of sweating, moving heavy hoses, squatting and which means the brewers are always testing out “The stereotype is that women can’t do the job, have been inviting. bending, burning yourself and being on your feet. new recipes. but it can be done and we’ve been really successful,” “I never felt like I was a burden to anybody. They “It’s like, 80% of brewing is cleaning,” Pratt said. she added. “I want those other breweries that might Frohlich has brewed a beer with oysters, called were all very willing to help and teach me everything and that’s how I got started,” Pratt said. “And here Clustershuck Oyster Stout, and another with popcorn “It’s not you come into work and you’re brewing all be not sure about bringing women on to see that it could be only good for you. You should try it.” we are, almost two years later and starting to brew.” called Chaise Lounge — a light and refreshing the time. There’s a lot that goes into it.”

Goulet gives the brewers credit for how hard cream ale with fruity, floral aromatics and a hint of To any women interested in brewing, Pratt and they work behind the scenes. toastiness from popcorn.

Frohlich say just go for it. After all, as history tells us, Brewing isn’t glamorous “It’s very physically challenging,” Goulet said. women were involved with beer in the past, so why “I was in the kitchen popping popcorn for like On a typical day at Birdsong Brewing, there are “People look at it as a unique industry to be in and a leave its future up to the men? eight hours,” she said. “It was so worth it.” four people working in production: Frohlich, Pratt, Last fall, Pratt and Frohlich collaborated on State unique job to have, but you know, let them come in Robinson and Jack Bannon.

KSIMMONS@QCNERVE.COM of Grace Red Ale, which was dark red in color with and do it for a day and see what they think.”

Pg. 18 APRIL 5 - APRIL 18, 2023 - QCNERVE.COM

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

1. AD SLOGANS: Which company was advertised with the slogan, “Think SUDOKU

BY LINDA THISTLE Outside the Bun”?

2. TELEVISION: Which TV show spawned the spinoff sitcom “Mama’s Family”?

3. U.S. CITIES: In which city would you find the USS Arizona Memorial?

4. ANATOMY: What are the bones that make up the spine known as?

5. GEOGRAPHY: What is the lowest point in the United States?

6. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What is the traditional material in a 40th anniversary gift?

7. MOVIES: What is the name of the tow truck in the animated movie “Cars”?

8. CURRENCY: Which former president is depicted on the U.S. $50 bill?

9. LANGUAGE: What does the texting acronym SMH mean?

10. LITERATURE: Where do WinniePLACE A NUMBER IN THE EMPTY BOXES IN SUCH A WAY THAT EACH ROW the-Pooh and his friends live?

ACROSS, EACH COLUMN DOWN AND EACH SMALL 9-BOX SQUARE CONTAINS ALL OF THE NUMBERS ONE TO NINE.

CROSSWORD

©2023 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

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HAVING FLITTING THOUGHTS

©2023 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pg. 19 APRIL 5 - APRIL 18, 2023- QCNERVE.COM

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

THE SEEKER

THIS ONE’S ON ME Brewing up plans for spring

BY KATIE GRANT

Pg. 20 APRIL 5 - APRIL 18, 2023 - QCNERVE.COM

Between warmer weather and March Madness, the Queen City has been pulsing with the urge to play outside.

Travel sites state this is one of the best times to visit our fair city before the humidity settles in. The question is, where should we venture once the weekend arrives but want to avoid traveling far? A brewery, naturally!

Charlotte’s local beer scene fuels the city’s heartbeat, and Birdsong Brewing in the Optimist Park neighborhood is a mainstay. One of Charlotte’s first breweries, it opened in 2011 when the city’s brewery culture was budding. The brewery proudly holds the title of the first solar-powered brewery in Charlotte! But while Charlotte is arguably an IPA town, what brought me to Birdsong recently is their late March Thursty Thursday release: Golden Brown.

Golden Brown is a whiskey barrel-aged American Strong Ale with honey, lemon and chamomile tea. The best flavors in a Hot Toddy to soothe your throat have

been instilled in a beer — just in time for allergy season!

Fun fact: The beer’s namesake was inspired by the song “Golden Brown” by The Stranglers, featured in a scene from Snatch (which was released the year I graduated, so I needed a refresh and YouTube’d it). It’s the scene where Brad Pitt’s bare-knuckle boxer character, Mickey O’Neil, knocks out Gorgeous George in a fight, putting the two folks who organized the fight (including pre-action star Jason Statham) between a rock and a hard place. But I digress.

Not a barrel-aged beer drinker? I also recommend the Jalapeño Pale Ale. The Birdsong team — womenled, as you know if you’ve been reading this paper front to back — starts by brewing Free Will Pale Ale and then adds fresh jalapeño peppers without the seeds so that you can enjoy the bright flavor of the jalapenos with a subtle kick.

And for my fellow bloody mary lovers, this one is for you: Open a can of Jalapeño Pale Ale, rim a glass with Falcon and Flash Jalapeño Pale Ale smoked sea salt, pour the beer into the glass, saving enough room to top with your favorite bloody mary mix, and serve with a citrus wedge and any other preferred bloody mary trimmings.

Falcon and Flash is a craft spice company in Charlotte focusing on small-batch blends, smoked sea salt and snacks. It’s a little early to consider the holidays, but you want to remember these folks when it’s time to start crossing names off your shopping list.

While visiting the North Davidson Street taproom earlier in March, I purchased a ticket to their Spring Oyster Roast on the March 25, which would have happened rain or shine. It was raining when I left the house, but the sun shone when I parked (happy spring!). I therefore spent the afternoon feeling overdressed in a hoodie and unprepared with no sunglasses.

My ticket covered two dozen oysters with lemon, crackers, cocktail sauce and hot sauce. While this standard array of condiments is typical to enhancing the oyster’s flavor, I can proudly share I have graduated to slurping the oysters straight off their shell. If vodka is within reach, I’m just as happy to shoot it.

A portion of the proceeds from the Spring Oyster Roast benefited the nonprofit Time Out Youth, whose mission it is to support LGBTQ+ youth by offering vital programs, fostering unconditional acceptance, and creating safe spaces for self-expression through

leadership, community support and advocacy.

Birdsong isn’t the only brewery strategically partnering with nonprofits. Hi-Wire Brewing recently hosted “Books and Buddies Book Swap,” supporting Billies Buddies Animal Rescue. The manageable $10 entry fee goes to the pups and allows book lovers to read up to three gently used books.

Besides feeding my obsession with oysters and books, I also am nurturing my infantile green thumb.

Did you know Hi-Wire also hosts a monthly plant swap?

It takes place on the last Wednesday of the month, allowing folks to grab a beer, meet new people and swap clippings.

This warm weather has even had me looking beyond the Queen City, as far as the Wilmington ale trail and beyond. Makai Brewing in Ocean Isle Beach is a coastal favorite and has just celebrated five years of brewing. It crafts various styles, so there’s something for everyone — even someone like me during my extended beer hiatus. Plus, they now offer yoga and beer on Sundays in the taproom. Beware of the price tag, though. At $20 per person, expensive even by city standards, you can expect a dizzying tab at the end of your afternoon outing.

All you have to do next is grab your bibliophile buddies, plant parents, fellow yogis or beach bums and “cheers” one another during this season of sunshine, new beginnings and many beer-fueled adventures.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

LIFESTYLE

april 5 - 11 ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Someone you relied

on might resist your request for help. Get the facts behind their decision before jumping to conclusions.

You might be in for a surprise.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) It’s a good time for the winter-weary Bovine to start plans for spring redecorating. Indulge in something super beautiful for your home. You deserve it.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) An inner conflict

might keep you from taking the first step toward healing an old wound. Seek the advice of a trusted friend for help in dealing with your uncertainty.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Change can bring

confusion. You need to take a strong stand to make sure your rights are respected despite all the fuss and fury going on around you.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Your financial situation continues to improve, although you still need to watch those expenses. Something from the past could affect a current situation.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Problems adjusting to a new job and unfamiliar surroundings might tempt you to give up. But hang in there -things get better in time.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Decision time is near. Talk out your doubts with trusted advisers. If your misgivings still outweigh your enthusiasm, it’s best to rethink the whole deal.

HOROSCOPE

BORN THIS WEEK: You are a caring person who

often puts your own needs aside to help others. You have a gift for cultivating beautiful gardens.

April 12 - 18

2023 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

BORN THIS WEEK: Although you like things

to go smoothly, you’re not shy about making waves when you believe the situation calls for it.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Change is still

dominant for Rams and Ewes, both in the workplace LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) This is a good SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) A and in their private lives. This is also a good time to week to step back and assess the facts that have situation has you puzzled. Be patient. The answers look at a possible relocation if that has been one of recently emerged, to see where they can be used to your advantage. Also, don’t hesitate to make you seek will soon come from a source very close to your goals. changes where necessary. the person at the center of your curiosity.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Doing things for others is what you do well. But don’t forget that SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Bovines thrive on the arts, so make some time for SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You should begin to experience some support from Your usually active social life is in super-high gear yourself to indulge your passion for music and those who now agree with your point of view. This through this week. Your hectic party-going pace artistic expression. should help counter the remaining objections from eases into a period of quiet time by the weekend. die-hard skeptics.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) While the Romantic CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) You Twin considers where to go for an upcoming SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) need to start narrowing down those several new vacation, the Practical Twin will start making travel Don’t let your aim be deflected by trivial matters as options that have come your way to just the two or plans now to take advantage of some great bargains. you try to resolve a confusing situation. Take time to three you really want to pursue. find and thoroughly assess the facts before making CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Your sensitive nature any decisions.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) It’s a wise helps you deal with a difficult emotional situation.

Water Bearer who nurtures a fading friendship back Be patient and continue to show your sincere CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) The to vibrant health. At work, a once-shelved idea is support wherever (and for whomever) it is needed. possibility of moving to another location has come suddenly being reconsidered. up. But, before you dismiss it as unworkable, it’s LEO (July 23 to August 22) You’re making progress worth checking out just in case it does have some PISCES (February 19 to March 20) You might feel as you move through some unfamiliar territory. And merit after all. swamped by a flood of work-related obligations, while there might be a misstep or two along the but the support of a trusted associate helps you get way, you’re heading in the right direction overall. AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) New Good luck. relationships, personal or work-related, show through each one successfully. mixed signals. Best to assume nothing. Let things VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Some good play themselves out until you have something news arrives -- and just in time to remind you substantive to work with. that you’re making progress. Perhaps things aren’t moving as quickly as you’d prefer, but they’re PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Your ability to progressing nevertheless. make needed changes without causing too much, if any, negative ripple effect comes in handy when dealing with a sensitive matter either on the job or in the family.

Pg. 21 APRIL 5 - APRIL 18, 2023- QCNERVE.COM

PUZZLE ANSWERS

1. Taco Bell.

2. “The Carol Burnett Show” 3. Honolulu, Hawaii (Pearl Harbor).

4. Vertebrae.

5. Death Valley, California.

Trivia Answers

6. Ruby.

7. Mater.

8. Ulysses Grant.

9. Shaking my head.

10. Hundred Acre Wood.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

SAVAGE LOVE

SISTER, WIFE Little miss understanding

Pg. 22 APRIL 5 - APRIL 18, 2023 - QCNERVE.COM

BY DAN SAVAGE

I married my high school girlfriend after college. We were happy, and the sex was fantastic.

Then she fell in love with a woman and came out — just to me — as bisexual or possibly a lesbian.

Our relationship somehow survived this tumult, and we decided to start a family. We are now in our 50s, our children are grown, and I have not had sex for approximately two decades. My wife long ago lost any desire for intimacy with me or anyone else. My sex drive is as strong as ever but limited to strictly solo activities. My wife remains mostly closeted in terms of not being out to her friends and family, with one exception: one of her sisters, who is single. My wife is overseas currently (for work), and we’ve been geographically separated for four years now.

That’s the background. I’m writing to you about the bizarre event that took place over the weekend: I was texting with my wife’s sister and out of the blue she writes that she has my wife’s permission to sleep with me. This was totally unexpected and caused a panic attack on my part.

It felt wrong. I was at a loss as to what to say. She assured me, still via text, that this was OK with my wife, and it would be a safe “sister-in-law with benefits” arrangement. She also has physical needs that are unmet, as she is single, so we’d be helping each other. My wife and I had discussed having an “open” marriage, with each of us seeking “girlfriends.” My wife has said she is OK with this, but I am not, as I fear having a girlfriend — I fear either of us having a girlfriend — could throw our home and family life into chaos and potentially result in divorce, which wouldn’t be fair to the children. Believing my sister-in-law actually had my wife’s permission to at least raise the subject, I went a bit down the road with her via text (things got explicit) and I experienced something I haven’t for 20 years: the elation of an imminent sexual encounter.

Of course, I needed reassurance that my wife was actually OK with this, so I asked her. Well, it seems there was a major misunderstanding. My wife was appalled, utterly so. According to my wife, her sister “joked” about sleeping with me

when the two of them were discussing the details of their relationships and their sexualities, and my wife only jokingly agreed. Now I feel guilty that I even considered having sex with my wife’s sister, to say nothing of the guilt I feel about the wedge this has driven into a close sisterly relationship. My wife doesn’t want to discuss this any further. I get that it is weird, especially if it were to be condoned by all parties. But I want to share more about how I feel with my wife. I don’t think she understands how depressing it is to feel that you’ll never be intimate with anyone ever again. That may not be a struggle for my wife, who says she feels no sexual urges at all, but it is for me. I’ve been told by both my wife and my sister-in-law to forget this conversation ever happened, so we can all move on. But I find I can’t move on. So, what do I do?

SEEKING INSIGHT SOMEWHERE

First, I’m not the Supreme Court. I can’t overrule your wife and order her to discuss something she refuses to discuss, SIS, much less order your wife to allow you — the husband she doesn’t wanna fuck — to go and fuck her sister, who, despite having raised the subject, to disastrous effect, also doesn’t want to discuss the matter further. If you need to talk about this at length with someone, SIS, confide in a friend and/or talk to a therapist.

Second, you haven’t had sex in 20 years, SIS, and it’s understandable that you entertained the first serious offer you’d gotten in decades. Your wife’s sister essentially offered a cheeseburger to a starving man. That you took a tiny little bite out of that cheeseburger before thinking to ask your vegan spouse if it was okay for you to have a cheeseburger … albeit a cheeseburger made with ground sister meat … isn’t something your wife should hold against you for the rest of your life, even if she’d rather not discuss it.

Third, you have your wife’s permission to fuck other women — even date other women — so long as you aren’t dating and/or fucking one of her relatives. So, instead of grieving the pussy you’re never gonna get again (your wife’s) or allowing yourself to obsess about the pussy you never should’ve been offered (your sisterin-law’s), SIS, I would encourage you to get some pussy that doesn’t share quite so much of its DNA with your

wife. Prioritizing stability when your kids were young was completely commendable, SIS, but your kids are grown now. And if you’re so starved for sex that you find yourself jumping at highly inappropriate offers — and “sisterin-law with benefits” more than meets that threshold —you would be well-advised to seek sex with a more appropriate potential partner than to wait for the next inappropriate offer that comes along. Yes, sex can create chaos. Hell, sometimes I think sex is chaos. But controlled chaos > uncontrolled chaos.

Fourth and finally, SIS, your wife tells you she’s asexual and does not experience desire … and while that may be true … there’s a chance it’s not. While asexuality is both real and valid and vice-versa, people have been known to lie to their spouses about important things no one should lie about. And maybe I’m old and jaded, and maybe I should keep my mouth shut, but I could see someone who married her cis male high school sweetheart before realizing she was maybe/probably/ most likely a lesbian claiming to be asexual — not just to get her off the hook of having to fuck her husband, whom she may actually love, but to spare her husband’s feelings.

It’s not that she doesn’t want to have sex with you, but that she doesn’t want to have sex with anyone. And that may be true. Your wife could be asexual. Or she could have a girlfriend on the other side of the world that you don’t know about.

P.S. Maybe I’m jaded and maybe my sample is skewed (definitely my sample is skewed), but something about the conversation your wife had with her sister — the disastrous conversation that led to this whole mess — has my spidey senses tingling. Seeing as your wife is asexual and decades into a loving but sexless marriage and she and her sister were close … she wouldn’t have much to say to her sister during a conversation about their relationships and their sexualities? Besides “still asexual,” and, “still married,” of course, but I can’t imagine those two statements would elicit the joke your sister-inlaw made and the misunderstanding it led to.

P.P.S. Now go get laid.

My hub and I enjoy your columns and it’s opened our minds about sex a lot. We recently gave each other the okay to try to fulfill our monogamish fantasies IRL but haven’t acted on them yet. But I did meet a guy online, who is also married, and we’ve been having the most incredible cybersex. It’s turned into regular chats, and we’ve talked about meeting up in person. Why am I feeling kind of guilty about this? The hub knows I’m fucking around online with this guy, and it even turns him on! I find myself thinking about this other guy all of the time. Should I end it? Or keep having fantastic orgasms without the hub?

WIFE AND NAUGHTY TEASE

guy online and IRL, if you get a good feeling from him after you meet up in person. New relationship energy (NRE), which is what you’re feeling for this guy, can be intense, but it’s always temporary; so, go ahead and enjoy it as long as it lasts. As for the guilt, well, people who do and enjoy things they’ve been told — for no legitimate reason — they’re not supposed to do or enjoy, e.g., gay sex, extramarital sex, kinky sex, seeing a sex worker, etc., they sometimes convince themselves that having the decency to feel bad about what they’ve done (at least during their refractory period) means they’re still good and moral people. I’m here from the future — I’m here from your future — to tell you that you don’t have to feel bad about what you’re doing with your husband’s permission, WANT, and to his delight. Unless feeling bad about it turns you on, of course, in which case you can enjoy that and enjoy feeling bad about that, too.

We splurge on a housecleaner a couple times a month while we’re at work. We always make sure to tidy up our personal items before she comes, but this week I accidentally left not one but two vibrators by the bathroom sink. I had forgotten to put them away after I washed them and I was in a rush! Total accident! When I returned home to a clean house, the vibes were neatly laid on the bathroom counter. I am not a person with shame around sex, but this made me feel so embarrassed!

She should not have had to see/touch those!

Should we apologize? If so, how to bring it up in a way that’s not awkward? Should we pay her extra for that session? I’m so embarrassed and don’t want her to feel demeaned.

VERY INTENSE BLUSHING-ENHANCED SITUATION

What does your housecleaner know now that she didn’t know before? Assuming she’s never spotted one of your sex toys before — an assumption I would classify as semi-reasonable (at best!) — she now knows, thanks to your shocking carelessness, that you have sex and that you, like millions of other adults (and surely one or two of her other clients), sometimes use sex toys. Even if she was shocked and mortified and disappointed in you, VIBES, I think you should follow your housekeeper’s lead; she didn’t make a big deal about it and you shouldn’t make a big deal about it. Just like your hole, VIBES, the memory hole is there to be used.

P.S. Once after we very specifically asked that our room not be made up during a week-long stay at a hotel, we came back after breakfast — on the very first morning we were there — to find the two dozen sex toys and fifty pounds of bondage gear we’d left strewn all over the room neatly arranged on the shelves of our walk-in closet. If we could look the little old Slovenian lady who cleaned our room in the eye every day for the rest of that week, you can look your housecleaner in the eye, too.

Seeing as you brought this question to me, WANT, Send your burning questions to mailbox@savage.love; and not a priest or an uptight monogamy fetishist posing as a couples’ counselor, I’m gonna go ahead and tell you podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love! what you wanted to hear: Keep fucking around with this

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S�a� t�e c�d� Pg. 23 APRIL 5 - APRIL 18, 2023- QCNERVE.COM