Queen City Nerve - May 29, 2024

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 13; MAY 29 - JUNE 11, 2024; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

THE

ROOSTER CROWS NEWS:

Block Love Charlotte expands with new Day Services Center pg. 6

Reshaping downtown Gastonia’s music scene

By Pat Moran

FOOD & DRINK:

Taylor Redd breaks barriers in the spirits industry

pg. 16

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@Q UEEN CI T Y N ERV E W W W.Q CN ERV E.COM PUBLISHER JUSTIN LAFRANCOIS

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF RYAN PITKIN

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DIGITAL MANAGER RAYNE ANTRIM

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STAFF WRITERS PAT MORAN

pmoran@qcnerve.com ANNIE KEOUGH

akeough@qcnerve.com DEZANII LEWIS

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ART DIRECTOR AIDEN SIOBHAN

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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS & OPINION

4 The West Midlands Master by Sam Spencer

Charlotte FC coach Dean Smith talks wine, snakes and clean sheets

6 Building the Block Love Family by Ryan Pitkin New day services center allows the Block Love Charlotte team to expand services

ARTS

8 Saving the World Through Spoken Word

by Michaela Catoe A Poet Named Superman builds a legacy in the Queen City

10 Lifeline: Ten Cool Things To Do in Two Weeks

MUSIC

12 The Rooster Crows at Midnight by Pat Moran The venue and musician at the heart of Gastonia’s growing nightlife scene 14 Soundwave

FOOD & DRINK

16 A Smooth Finish by Dezanii Lewis

LIFESTYLE

18 Puzzles 21 Horoscope 22 Savage Love

Thanks to our contributors: Grant Baldwin, Sam Spencer, Michaela Catoe, Bekah Whilden, Malcolm Beamon, Dave Parrish, Gregory Moore, Justin Higuchi, Ralph Arvesen and Dan Savage.

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Taylor Redd looks to take Redd Rose Vodka to the next level

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

THE WEST MIDLANDS MASTER Charlotte FC coach Dean Smith talks wine, snakes and clean sheets

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BY SAM SPENCER

On May 25, after his team drew Philadelphia conceded a lot less goals this year than at the same Union in a scoreless game at home, Charlotte FC point.” fullback Nathan Byrne showered, put on his street Malanda has a point. Charlotte FC allowed 52 clothes and made a swift departure from the team goals in each of its first two seasons, or an average locker room with two bottles of wine under his of 1.53 goals per match; this year Charlotte is arms. The English defender walked through a scrum allowing significantly fewer goals, averaging .87 per of press and photographers that was so entertained match. Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina leads by the sight that no one bothered to catch it on film. the league with seven clean sheets in 15 matches.

It’s a scene that wouldn’t have made sense before Kahlina, Malanda and center back Andrew Privett Dean Smith took over as Charlotte FC head coach in — who was playing as a midfielder for Penn State December. Smith’s love of wine, especially from Italy just 18 months ago — have earned MLS “Team of (“Toscana, Tuscany”), manifests itself in one of the the Matchday” honors for their defensive work this 53-year-old’s new traditions as Charlotte FC head year. coach: clean sheet wine for the back line.

It’s a significant shift for a club with a reputation The new coach made a promise early on in the for weak defense. With Charlotte’s starting back line season that he would give out wine as gifts to his and goalkeeper unchanged from last year, it’s hard defenders and goalkeepers whenever they earned not to see the new head coach — a former center a clean sheet, keeping the other team scoreless. back himself — as one of the catalysts for the However, Byrne had told members of the media change. earlier in the week that Smith was “behind on his payments” after the defense had held other teams Growing up in the West Midlands scoreless for the entire month of May. Smith was born on March 19, 1971 in West “I’m going out and getting a crate of wine,” Smith Bromwich, 7 miles outside of Birmingham. His told us later that day, and he finally delivered a crate family were all supporters of Aston Villa, the biggest of wine to the squad that weekend, making Byrne’s football club in Britain’s second city, and Smith’s exit all the more comical. father Ron was a steward at Villa Park.

After 15 matches in 2024’s campaign — almost Smith grew up with his mother Hilary and brother half a season — Charlotte FC fans and players have David just three train stops away from the stadium, a lot of good news to drink to. Charlotte leads Major which still holds a special place in his heart.

League Soccer with the fewest goals allowed of any “[My] favorite place [I’ve played or coached] is team (13), and is on track to have their best season Villa Park,” said Smith. “Visiting Wembley is great as ever despite losing three of its four highest-paid well … but Villa Park is the ground.” forwards. The club has spent most of the season Smith described a childhood playing with the solidly in playoff position. other kids in the neighborhood; since he was 6, he “[Coach Smith] has really good advice for us,” always wanted to be a footballer. said center back Adilson Malanda, the club’s star “Like all my best friends, we were brought up defensive player. “With his experience, he [helps] by our mums,” said Smith. “My dad was out at six us a lot … as a defensive line we are really happy in the morning and back at six at night … I would that he’s here because we can see already we’ve probably credit all our athletic development by just

DEAN SMITH, FORMER CHESS CHAMPION, CURRENT CHARLOTTE FC HEAD COACH.

being boys, just being kids playing street football.”

Smith attended Dartmouth High School and played football for the school team. As a youngster he tried to play midfield, but told Paul Marston of the Evening Mail & Sports Argus that he “got a nosebleed every time I crossed the half-way line” in a 1993 interview. Smith would end up a center back.

After playing for his school league and a youth stint at Newcastle United, Smith started his professional career at Walsall, just 10 miles north of his family home. After playing with the under-18 squad, he had an unexpected first team debut at 17 years old on Feb. 11, 1989 in front of 14,203 fans in Sunderland, 200 miles from Birmingham.

Though Smith didn’t know he would be playing with the top squad, John Barnwell, his coach at the time, had called Smith’s parents and family to make sure they were in the stands for his debut.

Though he would play 165 more matches for Walsall, Smith said his debut on the first team at Walsall was the most memorable moment of his playing career.

“I didn’t expect to play, I played and we won three-nil,” said Smith. “It set me up on my career, and it was the only place I wanted to be then. There’s other games you can remember, but that was the main one for me.”

Debuts hold a special place in Smith’s heart, and he’s worked the lessons from his time playing into

PHOTO BY SAM SPENCER

his approach as coach.

“When Tyger [Smalls] was playing against New England, I wanted him to make sure he told his mom and dad he was starting,” said Smith. “I think it’s really important, it’s a big thing for all kids, and I think it’s an important thing that they can share with their families as well. I still try and make sure the goodness that John Barnwell did for me, I try and pass on to other players and make sure their families are a part of their debut.”

When Smith broke into the first team at Walsall, he was surrounded by veteran players, including many who played for their national teams.

“There are a lot of players who I was fortunate enough to play with when I was younger in my career who probably helped guide me a little bit,” said Smith. “I certainly learned a lot from them just training with them every day.”

After a couple years with the club, Smith was named captain at Walsall in the summer of 1993 despite being just 22 years old. He had “tried out” for the role of captain the season before, wearing the armband for three matches while the previous captain served a suspension; Walsall won all three games under the young skipper.

“Responsibility tends to drive me on,” the young Smith told Marston in 1993. “Being competitive is what my game is about, and I like to think I am getting through to the other players. But really,

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE when a match starts, you need 11 ‘captains’ on the pitch, all doing their job.”

Smith’s time as a captain for multiple teams influenced how he identifies players for the role.

“With all the captains I choose, I think it’s ones that I think can go in and create other leaders rather than followers,” said Smith. “It’s the person first; what’s his mentality, what’s his drive, what are his standards?”

In his playing days, Smith had multiple nicknames befitting a captain: “Deano,” “Smudge,” a common moniker for Brits named Smith; “Ginge” due to the bright red hair of his youth; and “Goughy” (rhymes with “coffee”) based on his resemblance to another player.

“We had a Scottish center back who used to play alongside me, and he thought I looked like a famous Rangers, Tottenham, and Scotland player named Richard Gough,” said Smith. “So they called me ‘Goughy’ after Richard Gough.”

Smith left Walsall after his first season as captain, but assumed that role at his future clubs.

Deano runs with the Bulls

against Scarborough [in a previous match]. Enough said. See you soon, Smudge,” Smith wrote in Hereford United’s March 25, 1995 program.

Smith went to Leyton Orient right after a time of financial turmoil for the club. The club had been in such bad financial straits that Orient’s owner put the club up for sale — assets and obligations — for only five pounds.

During one of our conversations, I handed Smith a program from one of his matches with Orient. It included the referee’s notes for the match, in which Smith had been written up for committing a foul.

Smith remembered the match immediately.

“This was a cup game, wasn’t it?” he asked rhetorically, knowing the answer was yes. “I got sent off … if it was the cup game in the second round we won after extra time, yeah, I got sent off.”

While that red card was one of many for Smith in the fall of 1998, his stint at Orient would be the longest of his career. He appeared in 239 matches for the Greater London club and had 32 goals as captain and the designated kicker for penalties.

The loquacious Smith always has a turn of phrase ready, so it’s no surprise you can find his words in many of the souvenir programs from his playing days. Leyton Orient programs featured a column

PHOTO B JESSE BOYKIN KIMMEL

Continued on page 20

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Smith didn’t want to leave Walsall, but the club was in dire financial straits — a recurring theme for many of the clubs in the second, third and fourth tier of English football.

“The chairman told me if you don’t go, we might go bust,” said Smith.

With a transfer fee of £80,000, Smith was a record signing for the Bulls of Hereford United FC. “I will always be their record signing,” Smith told us; the original club dissolved in 2014.

At Hereford, Smith had 26 goals in 146 appearances across all competitions — significantly more than his two goals for Walsall.

You can also see increasing confidence on display in Smith’s writings at the time. As captain, he had a “Living Room Gossip” column in Hereford’s program that he signed with the sobriquet “Smudge,” and he wasn’t afraid to brag, concluding one column with a shout out to himself.

“Before I go I just [thought] I would like to mention my brace DEAN SMITH (FAR LEFT) ON SIGNING DAY.

called “Pearls from Dean.”

Eventually, Smith would take over as manager at “They were transcribed from conversations, I quite Walsall, where his playing career started, and then enjoyed doing it,” Smith told us when asked about Brentford. the “Pearls from Dean” column. “When I first started After establishing Brentford as a force in the playing at Walsall, I used to do a column in the local EFL Championship — England’s second tier and a sports paper every weekend, again transcribed from league Smith feels is equivalent to MLS — Smith conversation, and I used to quite enjoy doing them.” became the manager at his most beloved club, When I handed Smith a February 2002 Leyton Aston Villa. There, he made his biggest mark as a Orient program opened to “Pearls from Dean,” his coach to date, leading Villa to promotion from the eyes lit up.

Championship back into the Premier League, where “It’s a good full page really, innit?” said Smith. the team has played ever since.

“Wow, that’s a blast from the past. Same haircut as At Villa, he had the chance to develop Jack well.”

Grealish, who later joined Premier League champions Manchester City on a £100-million transfer fee, at the time the record fee for a British Goughy the gaffer When Smith left Orient, his playing career took player.

After coaching stints at Norwich City and Leicester him to Sheffield Wednesday, then Port Vale. Smith hung up his boots in 2005 after 13 matches with City that saw both teams relegated from the Premier Port Vale to go back to Orient as a youth coach, and League, Smith attended his first Charlotte FC match shortly thereafter as assistant manager under his and quickly became the club’s top candidate for the head coaching job at the end of the team’s second former teammate Martin Ling.

Ling got Smith to make the transition by calling season.

The first time we ever spoke with Dean Smith one him up after a Vale match and saying, “Listen, I’ve on one, he had just been introduced as Charlotte just watched you, your legs are going, come and be FC’s third head coach. He was impressed by how far my youth team coach.” the club had come in only two years and felt a real warmth at the club despite its young age and new facilities.

“I think every club I’ve worked for, I’ve invested totally into it,” Smith told us in December. “I think it helps that I’ve been involved in this game for 36 years as a player and a coach … We have to become successful, but consistent as well.”

Though Charlotte FC is Smith’s first coaching job outside of England, he was already well acquainted with the Carolinas. His son Jamie started playing college soccer in Gaffney, South Carolina in 2017 before going on to play for NC State, USL League Two’s Asheville City SC, and most recently USL League One’s Greenville Triumph.

However, despite many previous trips to Asheville and Charlotte, the Carolinas can still surprise the gaffer.

“Just walking down the greenway and seeing snakes, I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’” said Smith when asked about the differences between Charlotte and England. “I know there are snakes here, but they seem to cross my path all the time … [one time] I was walking down the greenway and had three snakes cross my path.”

Smith told Queen City Nerve he’s added an app to his phone to help identify the snakes he encounters.

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

BUILDING THE BLOCK LOVE FAMILY New day services center allows the Block Love Charlotte team to expand services

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BY RYAN PITKIN

Deborah Phillips knows what it’s like to need help.

There was a time in her past when Phillips was forced to flee a domestic violence situation with her son and her dog, all of whom slept in a van for a few nights until they could find a room that would accept the pet.

Then there was the time when she was facing eviction and a local church promised to put her up, only to then stop answering phone calls when she needed to take them up on the offer. In that case, a cousin stepped up at the last minute and paid enough back rent to keep her and her kids housed.

These experiences helped turn Phillips, founder of Block Love Charlotte, into the crusading warrior she is today, always willing to help a neighbor in need.

“It’s like, if there’s a need, I just want to meet that need. I can’t see someone having a need and somebody telling them no,” she explains. “I’ve been there and it’s hurtful.”

Phillips is sitting in Susan’s Reading Corner, a nook tucked away at the Block Love Charlotte Day Services Center, which celebrated its grand opening on April 20. The corner is named for Susan Dillehay, a member of the Block Love family who was tragically stabbed to death in Uptown in March.

“I tell everybody, anybody that we serve, even if it’s just for a day, that’s family,” says Phillips. “We’re hoping everything that we do seals a bond or a connection. But those that we lost, that’s another thing, people don’t get to see that side.”

Though Phillips and the Block Love team moved into the space on North Graham Street in the summer of 2022, this spring’s grand opening marked a new chapter for the organization, which began as a meal service for people struggling with homelessness and has over time become an organization that offers wrap-around services.

Now members of the Block Love family can drop

by the center for free grocery giveaways, request clothing items, access the internet, take part in workforce development, seek help in the search for housing, access health care during Care Ring’s regular mobile unit visits, and access services from a number of other partner organizations.

“We’ve always had that need to express to people that we do more than just serve meals,” says Phillips.

“I know what they see on our social media, but it’s not always easy to convey to people that we do more than meals, we do more than tents and sleeping bags. Just about everything that we’re now providing in this space, we have been providing in the streets … Being in this space and knowing that now it is tangible, they can actually visibly see it.”

Phillips began Block Love Charlotte as a weekly dinner service on “The Block” at Phifer Avenue between North College and North Tryon streets in Uptown in 2018. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with services for folks struggling with homelessness drying up, Phillips and her team began visiting The Block nightly.

As they became more in tune with the needs of the community, they began offering more than food, providing folks with everything from needed

DEBORAH PHILLIPS IN HER NEW DAY SERVICES CENTER

PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN

daily hygiene items to clothing, tents and any number of other necessities.

They’ve also partnered with government agencies and other nonprofits around the city to help with urgent housing needs, either saving people from evictions or working to find them emergency housing in a motel or similar place in a time of desperation.

Jonathan Goggins is one Block Love family member who has gone from client to part-time employee. He helps Phillips during nightly meal service and with biweekly grocery giveaways at the

Day Services Center, among other things.

After falling victim to multiple robberies including a home invasion at his former home in Grier Heights, Goggins packed up and left. With an abandonment on his housing record, however, it was nearly impossible to find a new place for rent.

He found himself hanging out at Tent City, a large encampment that sprang up along 12th Street near the Urban Ministry Center during the pandemic, though he says he never slept there.

Nevertheless, without a consistent place to stay, Goggins hopped at the chance to join the dozens of people living along 12th Street who were moved into a motel near the airport in February 2021.

That’s where he met Phillips, who was brought on to run operations at the hotel.

“She basically got to a point where she was coming out of her own pocket to pay for everything,” Goggins remembers. “That really took me back, because normally when you’re dealing with a nonprofit, if they run out of funding, they just run out of funding. They’re not coming out of their own pocket to do nothing. She’s different.”

Over the last three years, Phillips has helped Goggins access health care as he fights glioblastoma,

COMPUTERS INSIDE BLOCK LOVE’S NEW DAY SERVICES CENTER.

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

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shallow water. We need to bring that up, because at anyone’s situation, struggle, the end of the day, we’ve still got bills to pay, which or whatever they might feel judged or stigmatized by isn’t included in this restricted funding. elsewhere.

“If I got somebody that says, ‘Hey, I’ve seen some helped him stay employed after he was fired from For her, it’s all about folks sleeping outside in Rock Hill. I don’t know Family Dollar for accepting a $100 bill.

Finally, she helped him secure stable housing at what to do with them. Mom’s got this baby. I hear continuing to build the Block The Gaston at North End, an apartment complex run them crying,’ I can’t tell them no. With unrestricted Love family.

“We want to make it a

by Inlivian at the former site of Dillehay Courts, in funds, I can at least put them in a room until I can walking distance to Block Love’s new Day Services get connected to resources in Rock Hill or Cabarrus community environment,” County or Gaston County,” she continued. “But we’re she says. “I don’t like hearing Center.

“Even if it wasn’t for the money, I’d still work here,” so low on unrestricted funds. Right now, it’s at the ‘they, them, those people.’

It’s not ‘those people.’ It’s us Goggins says of Block Love Charlotte. “[Phillips] has point where it’s heartbreaking.”

On June 9, Block Love Charlotte will host one … Why would you not help more of a grassroots mentality. She has the same heart that I do. I love that about her. She’s always of its most beloved fundraisers: the annual BLC us? It’s not always rainbows giving, regardless of what’s going on, always giving.” Community Car Show, which will see dozens of and perfect endings. You In order to continue giving, however, Block souped up luxury cars on display in the parking lot might not even get a thank you, or you may get a thank Love Charlotte needs to be on the receiving end of the Day Services Center.

The event will also feature food trucks, games for you one day and cussed out sometimes. After opening the new Day Services Center, the organization set its eyes on expansion, children, vendor tents from partnering agencies and the next. But be there, show up for somebody. We do that with hopes to raise $500,000 to help renovate organizations and more.

“We make it family-oriented,” says Phillip. “Not consistently.” the suite next to the center, where they can host more immersive programming like workforce saying other car shows don’t, but trust me, I have sat Visit blockloveclt.org to development, audio and visual media training, and in that hot sun and baked with nothing to do. No, learn more about Block Love you’re going to have things to do.” a barber shop that would offer free haircuts as well Be it during events or on a random weekday Charlotte and its upcoming car as an academy for aspiring stylists, among other INSIDE THE NEW DAY SERVICES CENTER afternoon, Phillips emphasizes that the Day Services show. ideas.

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM At the time of this writing, Charlotte City Council Center is meant to be a safe space, regardless of has proposed a $230,000 allocation for Block Love Charlotte to be included in its Fiscal Year 2025 budget, which would match its FY 2024 funding.

Because it was not included in the budget originally proposed by the city manager but rather recommended as an addendum after the fact, council will still need to vote on the recommendation at a special meeting on May 30 before voting to approve the full budget in June.

While the city funding is helpful, Phillips points out that it is restricted to line items listed in the organization’s budget request, which means it can’t be used on bills for the center or emergency operations needed outside of the city, when the organization is called on to help folks in desperate situations outside of Charlotte city limits.

“When we see how fast we’re rolling through these dollars, some days I get nervous,” says Phillips. “Our unrestricted funds bucket right now looks like a wading pool; it’s very COMMUNITY MEMBERS SHOP AROUND DURING BLOCK LOVE CHARLOTTE’S BIWEEKLY FREE GROCERY GIVEAWAY.

ARTS FEATURE

SAVING THE WORLD THROUGH SPOKEN WORD A Poet Named Superman builds a legacy in the Queen City

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BY MICHAELA CATOE

A spoken-word artist who never anticipated being an artist, Greg Murray, also known as A Poet Named Superman, did not have a typical introduction to poetry.

A native of Neptune, New Jersey, Murray began to dabble in the medium while spending time with his college friends in 2006. A combination of the “diverse crew” and “friends to lovers” tropes, as he described them, the group’s mix of eclectic personalities was a catalyst for fueling artistic endeavors.

At some point, the girls started writing poems about the guys, prompting the guys to reciprocate. It went on for about a month or so, but Murray wasn’t participating yet.

“I’m just sitting here like Michael Jackson in Thriller eating my popcorn,” Murray said.

It soon became clear that he was more than a passive observer, however. During one sharing session, both sides realized Murray was playing the role of double agent. He had been editing for both sides, leading to both poems incorporating phrasing that originated from him.

“And they were just like, well now you’ve got to write a poem,” Murray said.

Despite initial hesitation, Murray penned his inaugural poem, “First Is the Worst.” He views it as a triple entendre, symbolizing the reluctance to start, the burdens of leadership and the childhood taunts directed at those who lead.

Something connected for Murray, who continued to compose poetry for five years before stepping into the realm of spoken word. From childhood tales of soaring across the living room to playful teasing of his “superhero complex,” his chosen alias reflected his admiration of his favorite superhero. As his poetry evolved from hobby to passion, allowing

him to distinguish between his craft and personal identity, he eventually became A Poet Named Superman.

“A friend came up to me and told me ‘You’ve got to have a stage name,’” Murray said, “‘What you’re speaking about, people are going to think they know Greg.’”

DARREN ‘JAZ’ VINCENT, OWNER OF RED@28TH.

What is a poet?

A poet is described by Merriam-Webster as “one who writes poems : a maker of verses.” For Murray, however, the title goes deeper and should only be used to describe those who take the craft seriously.

“You are a person being bold enough to express your feelings, thoughts and experiences with other people. There is a responsibility that comes with that,” Murray said, “People trust you enough to be inspired by what you’re saying.” “...Yes, with great power comes great responsibility, but with great responsibility comes great worry — worry of your impact, worry of your strength, worry of opinions, worry of your own ability…” - from “Hakuna Matata,” by A Poet Named Superman Murray deeply values the craft, and credits it with saving his life, giving him purpose and allowing him to travel, meet and build relationships.

Neptune is a small city near the Jersey Shore, an hour south of staple destination cities like New York City, Philadelphia and Atlantic City. As of 2022, the population was less than 5,000.

“There are people who have never been outside of this small town because it’s comfortable for them,” Murray explained of his hometown. “Their idea of making it is becoming Homecoming King — very small-minded.”

Small-minded was never a term that could be

PHOTO COURTESY OF DARREN VINCENT

used to describe Murray, however. His mom knew as “She built her life up in order to help people,” much, and when she saw him begin to act and think Murray said. “She was the sweetest woman in the in a small-minded way, she did what she could to world. If it wasn’t for her and what she did with her push him out of the nest called Neptune. life, I wouldn’t be living the life that I am now.”

“She handed me a pamphlet and told me to apply for the Disney College Program,” Murray said. “She Red@28th becomes a second home definitely wasn’t asking, she was telling.”

At that time, the multicultural literary lounge He was accepted into the program and moved to was located at the corner of North Davidson Street Orlando, Florida, where he frequented a local cafe’s and East 28th streets, hence the name. Now located open mic night. on East Boulevard in the former People’s Market “I only had two poems, but they were hitting,” space in Dilworth, Red@28th remains a one-of-aMurray said. kind establishment for the Queen City.

After a car accident in 2010, Murray moved Owner Darren “Jaz” Vincent has consistently home. What was intended to be a two-month engaged Charlotte’s creative community even stay unexpectedly stretched into two years. While before opening his venue. He launched the Charlotte reflecting on his situation, he spoke to his cousin Literary Festival in hopes of attracting non-readers Sharon, who at the time resided in the Charlotte and converting them. suburb of Davidson.

After a conversation with his son, he decided “She told me, ‘Come to Charlotte. The cost of to create an appealing space for people who don’t living is cheaper, it’s a growing city and they have typically read. Thus, Red@28th was born. a poetry scene. I think you’ll really thrive here,’” “It’s an alternative to the club or the bar, a place Murray recalled. where you can socialize,” Vincent said. “Your home In 2016, not even five years after he finally made away from home.” the move to Charlotte, his sister passed away.

Meanwhile, as Murray settled into Charlotte, he Around the time of her passing, he created a poetry recalls not being received well. mixtape called The SuperTape, which featured artists “I built a name for myself in Jersey so much that I he’d met and collaborated with while in Charlotte. came here and I was a little over confident,” Murray He dedicated The SuperTape to Sharon. said.

ARTS FEATURE He wanted to establish a welcoming environment for aspiring or newly arrived poets in the city after observing how existing venues demanded a certain level of skill before being noticed.

“I felt like there had to be a space where it didn’t matter what your skill set was,” Murray said, “You just needed a place to get something off of your chest,” Murray said.

He shopped the idea around in 2015, including Red@28th, where some friends had taken him the very night he moved to Charlotte in 2012. As with the other owners Murray spoke with, Vincent wasn’t interested.

“I’d tried something similar years before, but it didn’t work,” Vincent said. “I didn’t feel like Red@28th was ready.”

Murray was not deterred. He already had a presence at Red@28th alongside his friend DJ Bezzie Beatz. As Murray stood behind the booth with him, he witnessed the DJ fully immersed in his craft, deeply connected with the music.

“I was the type of person that never liked to talk on the mic,” Beatz said.

Eventually, Murray began to do the speaking for him, and Bezzie Beatz and A Poet Named Superman became an emcee/DJ duo that naturally fused together.

“He would know what to say before I dropped a song,” Beatz said.

Celebrating eight years

After celebrating Release Therapy’s eight-year anniversary in February 2024, Murray reflected on its unexpected longevity. He recalled how he had initially envisioned that it would eventually be taken over or personalized.

“I didn’t realize it was a part of the purpose of me being here,” Murray says. “The idea was to create a safe space for adults to be able to express themselves and not be judged.”

Jalisa Gomez, known by her stage name Rapunzel, discovered Release Therapy after relocating to PHOTO BY MALCOLM BEAMON A POET NAMED SUPERMAN PERFORMS AT RELEASE THERAPY. Charlotte in November 2023. She expressed an immediate connection thanks to the palpable personal story that she hadn’t shared publicly.

While it was still virtual in 2020, Murray and positive energy in the room.

Everyone respected her request, which only fellow artists used Release Therapy as an outlet “There were no judgemental people, there was cemented her feeling of security in a space that to express and examine their feelings about the no animosity,” Gomez said. “It was a mutual space cultivates an atmosphere for community — murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and it’s been a long time since I felt that type of way.” sometimes even feeling like family in a room full of and the response from the community around the The next time she attended, she performed a strangers. country, including Charlotte. poem about a very sensitive topic. She asked that no Release Therapy remains a sanctuary for all, a Poets engaged in virtual battles, rallying support one in the crowd record the performance, as it was a status it has upheld for nearly a decade, though it through audience donations to contribute to a has encountered unexpected challenges along the GoFundMe for Floyd’s family. way.

The virtual events sometimes got disrupted by After the celebration of the fourth anniversary trolls who had no intention of performing, but once in 2020, the world shut down due to the COVID-19 again, Murray was not deterred. After all, he had pandemic. Murray lost both of his jobs and went built Release Therapy from the ground up, and only back home to New Jersey. He recalls thinking he could tear it down from there.

Release Therapy was over, but he very quickly “What people choose to do with it is not on me, I realized people still needed a space. know what it’s here for,” Murray said.

“People I met in Charlotte were texting me like “Let it remind you, that you should celebrate ‘Yo, what are we doing with Release Therapy? I need your victories, however grand or minuscule … Let it,’” Murray said. it remind you that building a legacy don’t mean you Using Instagram Live as a platform, Murray get to choose how people remember you … and brough Release Therapy back virtually, expanding all of this is okay.” - from “Death of A Poet Named the open mic to include participants from across the Superman,” by A Poet Named Superman nation.

During one session, Brandon Leake, the first A Poet Named Superman can be found every spoken-word artist to win America’s Got Talent, Wednesday at Red@28th for the SuperFriends Writer’s joined and over time developed a friendship with Workshop at 7 p.m. and the Release Therapy Open Murray. Later, in February 2023, Leake made a Mic at 8:30 p.m. ($5 cover) and select Sundays at surprise appearance at Release Therapy, just before Dandelion Market for The Garden Party ($10 cover). A the seventh anniversary, after it had returned to in- Poet Named Superman will also headline The Rooftop person. at Royal Tot event on June 4 at 6 p.m.

PHOTO BY MALCOLM BEAMON

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

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ATTENDEES AT A RECENT RELEASE THERAPY SHOW.

They worked together for about three years before Murray presented the idea of Release Therapy to Vincent once again, a weekly open mic event for spoken word poets in Charlotte.

Vincent recalls looking into Murray’s eyes and knowing he was ready.

“I needed someone who was creative and willing to get dirty to make this thing work,” Vincent said.

“He came around at the right time.”

THUR

FRI 5/30

THE BONESHAKERS

Led by world-renowned guitarist Randy Jacobs, The Boneshakers launched in 1997 as a duo featuring Jacobs’ Was (Not Was) bandmate, the late, great R&B vocalist Sweetpea Atkinson. The band has gone through a number of iterations since, including bringing on sax queen Mindi Abair in 2017, with whom they went on to win eight Independent Blues Awards including Artist of the Year and an Independent Music Award for Best Blues Song Fan Award for “Pretty Good For A Girl” featuring Joe Bonamassa. Vocal dynamo Jenny Langer is now behind the mic alongside Jacobs, releasing One Foot In the Groove in 2022, which according to Blues Matters Magazine “is an album that every blues, funk, and soul music lover needs in their collection.”

More: $28-$35; May 30, 7 p.m.; Middle C Jazz Club, 300 S. Brevard St.; middlecjazz.com

BEN FOLDS Photo by Justin Higuchi

6/4

SAT

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MELODY & MAYHEM

TUES 6/1

In recent months, we’ve reported on the ways that Charlotte Symphony has been working to bring classical music to new audiences, but a lesser known organization called Phoenix Down RPG is on a similar mission with a specific focus on the gamer crowd. Blending classical with nerdy chic to tell timeless stories through music and break the molds of traditional experience, the ensemble of oboe, clarinet, viola and cello players will be on hand to provide a live score for a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament set to take place at Camp North End’s Ford Building. It’s $10 for gamers who want to participate, with all money save for transaction fees going into the prize pool.

More: $10 to play, free to attend; June 1, noon-10 p.m.; Ford Building, Camp North End, 300 Camp Road; tinyurl.com/MelodyAndMayhem

BEN FOLDS

5/31

‘VAMPIRE TRAILER PARK’ SCREENING

A boozy detective and a spacy psychic medium investigate a trashy Florida trailer park where someone has been slowly knocking off the aging inhabitants in this 1991 thriller. The murderous, money-grubbing property managers of the trailer park want their elderly tenants dead and gone, but they aren’t executing their killing spree as quickly as they’d like. That when an 18th-century bulimic vampire played by Queen City Nerve’s own Pat Moran joins the deadly festivities, binging and purging his way through the trailer park tenants.

Silly, strange and splattered with sanguine vomit, Vampire Trailer Park is one of the most original and unique shot-on-video films of the 1990s. Moran will be in attendance for a Q&A just before he unfortunately departs Charlotte and our paper for a new life chapter in Asheville.

More: Free; May 31, 7-11 p.m.; VisArt Video, 3104 Eastway Drive; visartvideo.org

THE BONESHAKERS Promotional photo

5/30

WED 6/4

ONGOING 6/5 6/5 - 6/29

SAMARA JOY

CHARLOTTE SQUAWKS 19: GO PLUCK YOURSELF!

Originally from Greensboro, Ben Folds has become a generational talent as a singer, songwriter and pianist over the last three decades. Fronting Ben Folds Five through much of the ’90s (and again during their reunion from 2011-’13), he’s also released a number of solo albums, including his latest, What Matters Most, which dropped in June 2023. Having taught himself to play piano by listening to Elton John and Billy Joel on the radio and learning their songs by ear, Folds is now known for stretching the bounds of how rock and pop are perceived by performing with symphony orchestras, a cappella groups and other uncommon collaborators. The NC Music Hall of Fame inductee released his memoir, A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons, in 2019.

More: $30.50 and up; June 4, 8 p.m.; Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

Sol Kitchen, a local Black- and veteran-owned live music production and promotion company that centers BIPOC artists and emerging talent, is launching a Black Music Month Series in partnership with Blumenthal Arts, hosting a number of shows throughout what they’re calling the “Summer of Sol.” Shows kick off on June 1, highlighting Grammy Award winners like R&B newcomer Susan Carol at Evening Muse, jazz vocalist Samara Joy at Belk Theater and rapper-turned R&B singer Eric Roberson at the Knight, with more scheduled through the end of August. Described as rich and velvety yet precociously refined, Samara Joy’s voice has not only earned her fans like Anita Baker and Regina King but garnered millions of likes on TikTok, making her perhaps the first Gen Z jazz singing star.

More: $30 and up; June 5, 7:30 p.m.; Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

WFAE’s Mike Collins returns to host Charlotte’s best satirical show for the 19th time, featuring musical numbers that poke fun at politics, pop culture, sports and all things Charlotte. Written by attorney Brian Kahn, who had dreams of being the next Weird Al Yankovich before becoming a commercial litigator, the show serves as the perfect “fiscal year in review” for news-obsessed folks like us — while featuring some of the city’s most outright talented performers. We expect to see David Tepper throwing drinks while singing songs about sports gambling and Chick-fil-A traffic. We’re just hoping nobody brings up Pizza Baby. We’ve heard those two words enough this year.

More: $24.50 and up; June 5-29, times vary; Booth Playhouse, 430 S. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

ONGOING6/7 - 6/9 SAT TASTE OF CHARLOTTE

TASTE OF CHARLOTTE Courtesy of Taste of Charlotte

6/7-6/9

6/9

AFRICAN AMERICAN BOOK FESTIVAL

The African American Book Festival was built to give the cemented and newly emerging authors, bookstores and publishers of Black culture a platform to spread the messages that are embedded in the pages of their iconography. Held at a site that means so much to Charlotte’s local Black community, attendees can expect author and publisher exhibits, author discussions and book signings, entertainment, networking and door prizes. Books available at this second annual fest will be suitable to all ages with genres including fiction, poetry, nonfiction, memoirs, self-help and spiritual offerings. Support your favorite authors, meet them face to face, get pictures, buy books at discounted prices, network with professionals and celebrate Black literary culture.

More: Free; June 8, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Second Ward High School Gymnasium, 710 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.; tinyurl.com/CLTAfAmBookFest

SUN

TUES 6/9

FRXSH: CHARLOTTE’S DISCOVERY SHOWCASE

ARTIST LUSTSICKPUPPY

6/8

6/11

“This place is a nightmare let’s burn it all down and dance on the ashes as the world crumbles.” So read the Instagram post announcing the summer tour for NYC-based rapper, painter, make-up artist and model LustSickPuppy’s debut full-length album, Carousel From Hell. Tomasyn Hayes, whose artwork has been described as “impulsive, convoluted, and chaotic,” says they hadn’t put much thought into the name they chose to perform under as a “genreless” musician; it was already their Instagram handle. Micco Caporale described their music as “a perfect marriage between club-kid uncanniness and Juggalo attitude” that contained elements of breakcore, hip-hop, and nu metal. One thing you’re guaranteed if you attend Snug Harbor on this Tuesday evening: You will get a show to remember.

More: $19.50; June 11, 9 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228

In 2020, local R&B singer Jason Jet opened Grindhaus Studios to serve as a creative oasis for Charlotte creatives. As Grindhaus continues in that mission, Jet’s work has expanded to go beyond the walls of the studios. His FRXSH gigs serve as “the flyest open mic party in the Queen City,” with DJ Fannie Mae spinning for 10 new Charlotte artists worth familiarizing yourself with. Also check for a headlining performance from emerging WinstonSalem artist Flower In Bloom, a rising star in the R&B and neo-soul music scenes. Their music is a distinctive fusion of vintage R&B beats and contemporary production elements, with FIB’s soulful and emotional vocals serving as the cherry on top.

More: $8; June 9, 8 p.m.; Neighborhood Theatre, Gordon St.; snugrock.com 511 E. 36th St.; neighborhoodtheatre.com

AFRICAN AMERICAN BOOK FESTIVAL Courtesy of Virginia Business Expo Corp.

LUSTSICKPUPPY Promotional photo

6/11

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FRXSH: FLOWER IN BLOOM Photo by Bosha novART

Taste of Charlotte returns to Uptown with three days of entertainment, activities and all the food you could possibly sample. Highlights out of this year’s food vendors include the four returning 2023 People’s Choice award winners: STIR, whose salmon cakes one Best of the Taste last year; Tupelo Honey, awarded Best Entree for their shrimp & grits; State of Confusion, whose Peruvian lucuma ice cream was recognized as Most Unique Dish in 2023; and Piada Italian Street Food, honored with the Most Healthy award for their veggie avocado piada. Once you’re full, grab a wine slushie from the Wine Cellar Stage or check out any one of the dozens of performers and musicians set to perform on the main stage throughout the weekend.

More: Free to attend; June 7-9, times vary; South Tryon Street, Uptown Charlotte; tasteofcharlotte. com

6/8

MUSIC FEATURE

THE ROOSTER CROWS AT MIDNIGHT The venue and musician at the heart of Gastonia’s growing nightlife scene

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BY PAT MORAN

From the lasting to the ephemeral, the significant He believes the supportive and eclectic to the slight, Gastonia has made many contributions atmosphere the open mic provides is due to its host, to American music. While there is a vast gulf in powerful singer-songwriter and Gastonia resident impact and delivery between “A Mill Mother’s Jade Moore, a mother of two and professional fullLament,” the heartrending mission statement by time musician since 2015. murdered labor activist and pioneering protest “When I brought Jade Moore in to host, it turned balladeer Ella Mae Wiggins, and “Break Stuff,” the in to what it is now,” Carpenter says. “Having her high energy nu-metal anthem sung by Limp Bizkit steer the ship has been the ultimate blessing.” frontman Fred Durst, the two musicians share one For her part, Moore acknowledges the accolade thing: They’re both Gastonians, and they’re not the but demurs. only inhabitants of the Spindle City who’ve made “I attribute the success of Gastonia’s creative their mark in music and culture. scene to the artists,” Moore says. “It’s a plentiful Raspberries guitarist Wally Bryson and early scene here.”

1960s rock ‘n’ roll singer Diane Ray (Diane Peoples She says Freeman’s Pub, which closed in April after Waldrop) also hail from the Gaston County seat, and 15 years of service, was instrumental in bringing Gastonia bands past and present include rampaging the music scene and artists together. Freeman’s three-chord renegades Van Huskins, folk-garage hosted an Original Songwriters’ Night, which drew punks The Menders, Southern hip-hop rockers Ogres local artists like Shannon Lee, Shane Combs, Kevin and many more. Despite the former mill town’s Marshall, Robert Johnson Jr. and Kennon Knight. musical enrichment, however, there has been little “That was where that seed was planted,” Moore sign of Gastonia’s bustling, burgeoning and creative says. When the Original Songwriters’ Night was musical community in the city’s downtown — until discontinued, Gaston Pour House picked up the recently. torch and hosted an open mic on Wednesday nights.

In the past few years, Gastonia’s quaint and When that event ceased, downtown Gastonia went historic downtown has become a destination for live through a live music dry spell, Moore says. music and nightlife. At the center of an organicallyHappily, The Rooster launched its open mic as grown scene that may soon rival the less-corporate soon as Carpenter opened his venue in 2022. Moore heyday of Charlotte’s NoDa and Plaza Midwood is had a reunion of sorts with the people she used to the 175-seat capacity bar and live entertainment play with at the Pour House open mic as they all venue The Rooster. A key ingredient in The Rooster’s came out to The Rooster to hit the stage. growing popularity is the venue’s eclectic Singer“You could see how happy everybody was to be Songwriter Open Mic, held every Wednesday night like a big family again,” Moore says. from 7 p.m. to midnight.

In summoning memories of Gastonia’s music “We’ve got people that come from Charlotte, scene, Moore acknowledges that she’s heavily Asheville, Rockingham, Mooresville, even Greenville, involved in the city’s scene but emphasizes that it is South Carolina,” says The Rooster’s owner Michael in no way hers alone.

Carpenter. “People come to our open mic just to do “It was here when I got here, and I’m just 15 minutes on our stage.” swimming through it,” she says.

They come, he says, because they’ve heard about Michael Carpenter’s downtown the vibe the event has created.

“It’s a community on Wednesday nights,” roost In 2019, Michael Carpenter owned and ran a Carpenter says.

THE ROOSTER IN ITS INFANCY.

successful vending machine business but he felt bored and unfulfilled. He and his wife had been avid concertgoers for a long time and they started kicking around the idea of opening a live music venue in downtown Gastonia.

In the meantime, Carpenter had gotten involved with the business communities of Gastonia and Gaston County. He appreciated that everyone seemed to be working hard to make their community thrive.

“They were doing a great job bringing in manufacturing and other industries, [but] the question I kept asking myself was, ‘Why isn’t there anything for people to do?’” Carpenter took the plunge, sold his old business and bought a building built in 1915 by the B.H. Parker Cotton Company to store cotton before loading it onto trains.

After delays including the city’s shutdown due to COVID-19, The Rooster opened on Oct. 19, 2022, and one of its inaugural events was the Carolina Headbangers Ball. Carpenter, an avowed metal fan, was thrilled that the event was a runaway success, but he has striven for an eclectic, billing philosophy for the club. As a result, The Rooster has hosted gallery shows, stand-up comedy, jazz, hip-hop, country, rock ‘n’ roll, and singer-songwriter sets.

“A lot of people have this perception that we’re a metal bar,” Carpenter says. “It’s not true. We just do more metal than anything else because that’s what people come to.”

Carpenter says it’s a challenge to book something that will bring people out on weekdays. That challenge was met and surmounted with the Wednesday night Singer-Songwriter Open Mic.

COURTESY OF MICHAEL CARPENTER

Moore first became aware of the event when she ran into the original host Cody Carpenter, a friend of her then-husband.

Moore didn’t follow up on the open mic until 2023, by which time her marriage had ended. She reconnected with Carpenter, who introduced her to Carpenter. Moore started coming to open mics at The Rooster on Wednesdays when she didn’t have her own shows and wasn’t traveling to out-of-town gigs. “[The Rooster] started to shift focus,” Moore says.

“Cody left, and Michael asked me to take on the open mic.”

Moore agreed as long as she could get one Wednesday off each month to go camping. Though Carpenter agreed, it hasn’t come to fruition. The open mics are just too good to miss.

“I still haven’t taken a single Wednesday off,” Moore says.

For the open mic, the club keeps a full time sound technician on staff and frequently has photographers at the event to take photos of every act. Outside of keyboards, the club also has a full backline. Such care and attention to detail ensures that acts will look and sound as good as possible.

“It’s a sweet space,” Moore says.

Jade Moore’s lifetime of music

“I’ve always been a musician” Moore says. “I always wrote, played and sang.”

Moore’s road to The Rooster and beyond has been marked by undeniable talent and hardship.

A Navy brat, she was born in Tennessee, where she lived for just two weeks before her family bounced

MUSIC FEATURE

money, you’re not going to qualify for government assistance,” Moore says. “We were backed into a to Virginia, then Gastonia, then Mint Hill, then corner and homeless, and music saved us. It allowed Charlotte, then back to Gastonia. Growing up in a me to spend every day with my boy.”

In 2015, Moore’s first year as a full-time musician, mobile household, Moore took refuge behind her she made $12,000. Over the next two years she grandmother’s Yamaha baby grand piano. At age 5, quadrupled her income. By the time she accepted she taught herself to play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy the hosting gig for The Rooster’s open mic, she had (Symphony No. 9)” by ear.

In addition to piano lessons, which she hated, a daughter, Mira James, with her then-husband. The and singing in school pageants, which she enjoyed, divorced mother of two now has a successful solo Moore began writing songs. Nowadays she calls career playing covers locally and regionally, plus most of her original compositions “diary songs” originals primarily at open mic, which leaves her because they immortalize moments in her life time during the day to raise Mason Lee and Mira James. marked by intense emotions.

“Those three-hour, in the corner, me [playing] “This Drink” falls into that category. A Neil Young gigs, they paid the bills,” Moore says. collaboration with songwriter Wil Putt, the tune Recently, her songwriting has undergone a begins amid plangent guitar, tingling and hissing transformation. hi-hats and rolling gospel piano. Moore’s lilting “My priority has shifted from these diary songs fluttering alto couches a razor-sharp edge: … to empowering music,” she says. “It’s the most “I lose myself in my regrets/ And chain-smoke all my cigarettes/ To blow away the pain of yesterday...” impressive music I’ve ever written — instrumentally The tune gallops to a ferocious rocking crescendo, and vocally. The noise that is coming out of me is and Moore’s commanding vocal intensifies to a hair- some shit that I want others to hear.”

Moore says the open mic, which has showcased raising pitch as she celebrates her older-yet-wiser her older original and confessional material, may be triumph over betrayal: “I’ll pour another glass of wine/ And play your lies the springboard for these new empowering songs. If back through my mind/ And smile a crooked smile as I so, the downtown Gastonia scene may be the ideal place for Moore to debut something new. say … Goodbye, goodbye...”

JADE MOORE PERFORMS ONSTAGE.

PHOTO BY GREGOPY MOORE

Recorded in 2020, “This Drink” remains Moore’s only released single to date.

“Music fell into my lap as a career,” Moore says.

Pregnant at 19 with her first child, Mason Lee, Moore befriended another teenage mother who worked at a since-closed Matthews bar called Beantown Tavern. There, Moore met and began singing with local musician Kelly Mullen. Soon Moore was playing and singing cover songs with Mullen, traveling to gigs ranging from Virginia to South Carolina on weekends and still holding down an office job on weekdays. “[Mullen] taught me everything I know,” Moore says, “How to work the crowd, run a show, market yourself to venues and keep people entertained.”

Moore took a break to have her son, then went back to gigging. One day, she discovered that her mother, who is an addict, was taking cocaine while watching her son.

Moore took the boy, left the family home and stayed wherever people would welcome her. She quit her day job and jumped into playing music full-time because she couldn’t afford child care.

Instead, Moore paid caretakers to watch her son in the evening while she played shows. “[Department of Social Services] will tell you to just quit your job, because if you make any MICHAEL CARPENTER AND HIS WIFE CHRISTY AT THE ROOSTER.

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

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“We had hundreds of people in downtown Gastonia, Maternal nurturing is very much a thing. Every time and we got to showcase all the different things you an artist is on that stage, I take the time to speak to everybody. I try to encourage everyone. I put a full can do.”

A subsequent spring crawl was also successful, band behind people, and I’ve watched all these … and the businesses are planning to continue to do a relationships and communities build. My goal is for the artists to achieve their wildest dreams.” spring and fall crawls.

Carpenter echoes Moore’s sentiments.

“I really do believe that the rising tide lifts all “We’re not the place that’s going to book big ships,” Carpenter says.

The Singer-Songwriter Open Mic is going from national tours. We’re a springboard for local artists strength to strength, he says, because Moore imbues to hone their craft, integrate in the community, work out whatever kinks they have in their sets, it with a sense of legitimacy.

“Putting her name on the open mic sent a then tour the nation or the world and inspire the message to the artist community that we’re for real,” next generation of artists to pursue a career in the Downtown turnaround arts,” Carpenter says. “I want people to walk off my Carpenter says.

Last fall, at Carpenter’s urging, Gastonia’s nightlife Moore feels the quality she brings to the open mic stage feeling like a rock star.” establishments collaborated on the downtown’s Moore’s and Carpenter’s headspace is echoed in is quite different. first bar crawl. It was wildly successful.

The Rooster itself. When Carpenter asked Kathleen “I [bring] camaraderie,” she says.

“I’m a mom.

“Everybody killed it that night,” Carpenter says.

Finch and the Charlotte Street Art Collaborative to paint a mural for the venue’s stage, he encouraged them to do whatever they wanted, but he had one small request. He asked the artists to include a lyric from The Rush song “Spirit of the Radio” at the front of the stage: “For the words of the prophets are written on the studio wall...”

The lyric criticizes the commoditization of art while tipping a cap to Simon and Garfunkel, Carpenter says.

“It’s a statement that The Rooster is not corporate.

This is a place for artists,” he says.

A less subtle sign of that dedication, evidence that Carpenter is motivated by a higher artistic calling, is right above the bar’s register. It could also apply to Moore and downtown Gastonia.

There, a familiar-looking picture of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as the Blues Brothers is labeled with a quote in cut-and-paste letters: “We’re on a COURTESY OF MICHAEL CARPENTER mission from god.”

WEDNESDAY, MAY 29

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Cassettiquette w/ Pierce Alexander, Local Nomad (Snug Harbor) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Beats @ Birdsong (Birdsong Brewing) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Amy Broome Duo (Goldie’s) Charles Esten (Neighborhood Theatre) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Orville Peck (Skyla Amphitheatre) Gunna (Bojangles Coliseum) David Taylor & the Tallboys w/ Slow Parade, FUNK/JAM BANDS Featherpocket (Snug Harbor) Manic Society w/ Kallisto, Ratking (Evening JAZZ/BLUES Muse) Vincent Ingala (Middle C Jazz) COVER BANDS COVER BANDS Justin Varnes Plays Chick Corea (Middle C Jazz) Chris Taylor & the Rumor w/ Luther & Sarj OPEN MIC (Goldie’s) Singer/Songwriter Open Mic (The Rooster) Scandal w/ Magic 8 Count (The Rooster) Songwriters Circle & Variety Open Mic (Starlight on 22nd) SATURDAY, JUNE 1

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Microwave w/ Origami Angel, Heart Attack ROCK/PUNK/METAL Man, Carpool Tunnel (Amos’ Southend) Nosey Neighbor w/ Leaving Echoes, Digital Andrew Thelston Band w/ Bald Brothers Dolls, Lamps Required (The Rooster) (Goldie’s) Sunforger w/ Adam Cope, Academy Order, Swae Pixies w/ Modest Mouse, Cat Power (PNC Music (Snug Harbor) Pavilion) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Condado w/ Dovecage, Icarus Airline (Snug Nashville’s Class of ‘24 (Coyote Joe’s) Harbor) Courtney Patton w/ Chance Stanley (Evening POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Muse) DannyLux (Blackbox Theater) Palmetto Drive w/ Nate Randall (Goldie’s) Club ‘90s-2000s Night (The Underground) War Hippies (Neighborhood Theatre) Dreamhouse feat. Summy, DJ B3dh3ad, DJ JAZZ/BLUES Extraa, Godsgreatestgift (The Milestone) The Boneshakers (Middle C Jazz) JAZZ/BLUES CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Menastree w/ Anemoia (Evening Muse) No Strings Attached: Live Orchestral Rendition Vincent Ingala (Middle C Jazz) of ‘Dr. Dre: 2021’ (The Fillmore) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA FUNK/JAM BANDS Kelsey Waldon w/ Nat Myers (Neighborhood Neil Carter (Comet Grill) Theatre) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC FUNK/JAM BANDS Laura Thurston (Birdsong Brewing) Bullfrog Moon (Primal Brewery) MIXED-GENRE/EXPERIMENTAL/FESTIVAL Fat Waffle w/ Funkwondo, Javier Pizzaro (Starlight on 22nd) Lil Skritt & The Broken Heart Repairmen w/ Eric!

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B (And Friends), Boy A/C (Petra’s) Susan Carol (Evening Muse) Alan Charmer w/ WITH HASTE!, Axnt (Petra’s) FRIDAY, MAY 31 COVER BANDS ROCK/PUNK/METAL Mishaps (Misfits tribute) w/Midnite Massacre, Stryper w/ Anthony Corder, The Voice of Tora The White Horse, Emporia (The Rooster) Tora (Amos’ Southend) Abbey Road Live (Visulite Theatre) Battle Beast (The Underground) The White Horse w/ Fault Reset, Blissful SUNDAY, JUNE 2 Thoughts (The Milestone) ROCK/PUNK/METAL POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Perseus w/ The Band Repent, Until They Bleed, Yetep (Blackbox Theater) Wither The Fallacy (The Rooster) Shadow Play (Crown Station) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Sexbruise? w/ Future Joy (Visulite Theatre) Hazy Sunday (Petra’s) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Bakalao Stars w/ Dorian Gris (Camp North End) Soul Sundays feat. Guy Nowchild (Starlight on FUNK/JAM BAND 22nd) Little Bird (Evening Muse) JAZZ/BLUES COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Randy Franklin (Comet Grill) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Crowe Boys (Evening Muse) Square Roots (Goldie’s)

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THURSDAY, MAY 30

CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS Gospel Sunday: The Praise and Worship After Party (Middle C Jazz) FUNK/JAM BANDS Celestial Company (Free Range Brewing)

MONDAY, JUNE 3

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Robert Earl Keen (Neighborhood Theatre) JAZZ/BLUES The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Charlotte Bluegrass Allstars (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

TUESDAY, JUNE 4

Lilith Rising w/ Fifty Flies, Solemn Shapes, Shadows Prevail (The Milestone) The Woggles w/ Pleasure House, Impending Joy (Snug Harbor) The Snozzberries (Visulite Theatre) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Paul Lover’s Influences & Originals (Comet Grill) Songwriter’s Roundtable feat. Steve Simpson (The Rooster) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA NC Bluegrass Jam Night (Birdsong Brewing) Watchhouse (Neighborhood Theatre) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Rob49 & Skilla Baby (The Fillmore) 21 Savage (PNC Music Pavilion) FUNK/JAM BANDS Shana Blake’s Musical Menagerie (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) Air Tropicali w/ Josh Daniel (Goldie’s) COVER BANDS The Voltage Brothers (Middle C Jazz)

FRIDAY, JUNE 7

ROCK/PUNK/METAL ROCK/PUNK/METAL The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Red Rocking Chair (Comet Grill) Parker Barrow w/ The Blue Footed Boobies The Bastard Suns w/ Dial Drive, Rothschild, This (Evening Muse) Island Earth (The Milestone) Tosser w/ Subvertigo, Jackson Fig, Bluegill (The Woody w/ Diet Lite, Late Bloomer (Snug Milestone) Harbor) X Ambassadors (The Underground) CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS Harvey Street Co. w/ Willingdon (Snug Harbor) Dale Watson & His Lone Stars w/ Trisha Gene Deaf Andrews w/ Fo Daniels, Weekend Friend Brady (Neighborhood Theatre) (Visulite Theatre) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Ben Folds (Belk Theater) Eric Roberson (Knight Theater) OPEN MIC POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Tosco Music Open Mic (Evening Muse) Dimension (Blackbox Theater) Open Mic Night feat. The Smokin J’s (Smokey Frequency 360 Presents Purple Reign (Starlight on 22nd) Joe’s Cafe & Bar) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA The Steel Woods (Amos’ Southend) WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5 Paul McDonald & The Mourning Doves w/ Kevin ROCK/PUNK/METAL Daniel & the Bottom Line (Camp North End) The Hails w/ Oceanic (Evening Muse) Brothers Osborne (Skyla Amphitheatre) Symphony X (The Underground) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Charlotte Symphony: Harry Potter & the Lisa De Novo & Friends (Goldie’s) Sorcerer’s Stone in Concert (Belk Theater) Josh Daniel w/ Jim Brock, Kerry Brooks (Smokey JAZZ/BLUES Joe’s Cafe & Bar) Peter White (Middle C Jazz) JAZZ/BLUES FUNK/JAM BANDS Samara Joy (Belk Theater) Scott Tournet & the Spark (Neighborhood The Mark Whitfield Duo (Middle C Jazz) Theatre) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ MIXED-GENRE/EXPERIMENTAL/FESTIVAL Beats @ Birdsong (Birdsong Brewing) Drumssmoke & The Papers w/ Top Achiever Niall Horan (PNC Music Pavilion) (Petra’s) MIXED-GENRE/EXPERIMENTAL/FESTIVAL COVER BANDS D. Sablu w/ Patois Counselors (Snug Harbor) Jam Garden w/ Simple Sole Duo (Goldie’s) OPEN MIC Singer/Songwriter Open Mic (The Rooster) SATURDAY, JUNE 8 Variety Open Mic (Starlight on 22nd) ROCK/PUNK/METAL Sweet Dream w/ Council Ring (Evening Muse) THURSDAY, JUNE 6 Summoner’s Circle w/ Wor, Reflect//Refine, ROCK/PUNK/METAL Violent End, Fault Union (The Milestone) Wheelright w/ Will Overman (Evening Muse) Swansgate w/ Echo Kid, HNY WLSN (Petra’s)

Pink Beds (Primal Brewery) Venus Invictus w/ Witness Marks, Shadows Prevail, Caelifera, Embering Effigy (The Rooster) Apostate w/ Chris Reed & The Bad Kids, Careless Romantic (Starlight on 22nd)

By George w/ Okey Dokey, Lemon’s (Visulite Theatre) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Laura Vinson Band w/ Rod Fiske (Goldie’s) JAZZ/BLUES Peter White (Middle C Jazz) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Maddix (Blackbox Theater) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE Grupo Firme (PNC Music Pavilion) FUNK/JAM BANDS Space Truck (Comet Grill) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Charlotte Symphony: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone in Concert (Belk Theater) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Fredo Bang & Kuttem Reese (The Underground) Moonlander w/ Brake, Tré Ahmad, Depreston (Neighborhood Theatre) [suspenceful music playing] w/ DaTrackAddict, 6 Cardinal, Rey Calidad (Snug Harbor) COVER BANDS ABACAB (Genesis tribute) (Amos’ Southend)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Charlotte Bluegrass Allstars (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

TUESDAY, JUNE 11

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Red Rocking Chair (Comet Grill) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Tank w/ Keri Hilson, Carl Thomas (Belk Theater) Bryson Tiller (Skyla Amphitheatre) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ LustSickPuppy w/ Uniity, DJ NPC (SnugHarbor) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Mike Strauss Trio (3102 VisArt) MIXED-GENRE/EXPERIMENTAL/FESTIVAL Lofidels w/ Blvck Hippie, Raddre (Petra’s) OPEN MIC Open Mic Night feat. The Smokin J’s (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING

21 SAVAGE WILL PERFORM AT PNC MUSIC PAVILION ON JUNE 6.

PHOTO BY RALPH ARVESEN

SUNDAY, JUNE 9

MONDAY, JUNE 10

JAZZ/BLUES The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s)

SEXBRUISE? WILL PERFORM AT VISULITE THEATRE ON MAY 31.

PHOTO BY DAVE PARRISH

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ROCK/PUNK/METAL Jiu-Jitsu w/ Wasted Space, Pale Hell, Survival Tactics (The Milestone) Cuzco w/ Hiding Places, BEX (Petra’s) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Jack Lawrence & Patrick Crouch (Free Range Brewing) Allison & Jake (Goldie’s) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Soul Sundays feat. Guy Nowchild (Starlight on 22nd) FRXSH: Charlotte Artist Discovery Showcase (Neighborhood Theatre) JAZZ/BLUES Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Brubeck Brothers Quartet (Middle C Jazz) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Kat Hasty & Maggie Antone (Amos’ Southend) The Wood Brothers (Knight Theater) COVER BANDS Ballantyne School of Music Summer Jam ‘24 (Visulite Theatre)

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

A SMOOTH FINISH Taylor Redd looks to take Redd Rose Vodka to the next level

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BY DEZANII LEWIS

Any entrepreneur will tell you about the hardships that come with building a business: seed funding, analyzing supply and demand, marketing and any number of other tasks. Taylor Redd, founder and creator of Redd Rose Vodka, has experienced all of these challenges with one added caveat: having to sell herself as a competent Black woman in a maledominated industry.

“I’ve been a mixologist for 11 years,” she said.

“One thing I recognize is the lack of women representation in the industry — and outside of that, even when it comes to the bar owners, the salesman, all of the places. Women dictate the cocktails, but they don’t support us.”

Redd launched Redd Rose Vodka, a strawberry lemon flavored vodka that can be consumed on its own or with a mixer, in 2018 and sold her first bottle in 2020, becoming the first and still only Black- and female-owned flavored vodka in the state of North Carolina.

“It feels like I’m supposed to be here,” she said. “It feels surreal. It feels like I am changing a narrative.

It feels like I’m doing exactly what I said I was going to do.”

Redd named the product after her grandmother, Rose Redd, an entrepreneur who sold goods at flea markets and eventually expanded to operate her own flea markets. Rose inspired Taylor to strike out in carving her own path in a male-dominated industry.

“Rose created a safe space for women,” Redd said. “She inspired entrepreneurs, she was a very tenacious woman in her industry. So in honor of my grandmother and her legacy, I wanted to create that safe space and create that change and drive that narrative inside the spirits industry.”

Channeling her grandmother, Redd aims to make a more inclusive space through her product. Infusing her vodka with strawberry lemon flavors, she strives to make her product more palatable in more ways than one.

She set out to create a vodka that was not only smooth and enjoyable when drunk straight but also versatile enough to enhance any cocktail. ”Vodka is the number one selling spirit in the world, but people stray away from vodka because they know it’s very harsh and abrasive,” she explained. “But when they taste Redd Rose, not only are you enjoying the flavor profile, but you are also getting a sip of a legacy. You are getting a sip of a story that you can relate to.

“Not only that, but in the world full of spirits, how many founders do you know?” she continued. “How many founders can you touch? How many founders can you have a conversation with? And how many of them are women?”

From one Queen City to the next

Redd, who refers to herself as a “mompreneur,” came from Cincinnati, Ohio, where she worked in the courthouse. She became burnt out with the legal field and had to make a decision.

“I was working for the district court judge and I didn’t want to work for another judge, and I was trying to figure out, ‘Do I want to stay in Ohio? Do I want to leave?’” she recalled. “At the time, Ohio didn’t have a whole lot to offer, and I just wanted more.”

Ultimately, she decided to leave. Her contract ended on a Thursday and she had her car packed REDD ROSE VODKA LAUNCHED IN 2018. and ready to go by Monday. She went to Atlanta After a while, though Redd didn’t have a plan first because she had family in the area and lived there for a time when she was younger, but quickly when she originally set out for Charlotte, one began realized she didn’t like it there any more than Ohio to bloom. As a mixologist, she became acquainted with Jennifer Moxley, a project manager at Sunshine and didn’t want to raise her son in the area.

“I came to Charlotte on a wing and a prayer,” she Media Network whom she met in March 2020 while said, adding that she had no family or friends here. organizing an event that would in the end get “I had no plan when I came down here. I just packed canceled due to COVID-19.

Despite the unlucky circumstances behind their up and left.”

Unsurprisingly, she fell in love with the Queen meeting, the two stayed in touch.

“We connected on a friend level, which is what is City and decided to stay. She took a bartending common with my clients and I, because I only work course, became a mixologist, and got an apartment.

PHOTO COURTESY OF REDD ROSE VODKA

with people I believe in, so it’s easy for us to become friends beyond that,” Moxley said.

Redd had technically already launched Redd Rose Vodka when she met Moxley, though she hadn’t done much with it just yet. Moxley remembers being impressed with Redd Rose to the point that she was shocked she wasn’t further along in her business venture.

Redd told Moxley then that her goal then was to sell a few bottles, maybe a dozen, but Moxley urged her to aim higher. Redd increased the goal to 100, ultimately

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

PHOTO COURTESY OF REDD ROSE VODKA

DLEWIS@QCNERVE.COM

surpassing that by selling 130 that year. Redd Rose Vodka has seen steady growth since that time, and is now regularly sold out at local ABC stores.

“Taylor has built a national spirit brand against insurmountable odds and I’m so proud of her and her work,” Moxley said. “There’s still a long way to go but she’s celebrated in so many places as a pioneer.”

‘A long way to go’

After proving herself as a mixologist, Redd had a few options for where to go next. She said she landed on launching a spirit brand because she felt it could make a bigger impact on people’s lives.

“If I open a bar or restaurant, I can only touch the area that that bar or restaurant is,” she said. “If I have a flavored vodka, I can touch the world. It just is different than having a restaurant. I can really be that more dynamic and have more offerings with owning a physical spirit that’s on the shelf.”

To make that impact, Redd is on a constant search for investors. Moxley said that Redd has an additional hurdle because she has to find people to TAYLOR REDD WITH A BOTTLE OF REDD ROSE. invest not just in her product, but also in her.

“I sat in investor pitches with her and it’s disgusting how people talk to her,” Moxley said. “It’s like she is treated like this is a hobby, like it’s cute. We all hear these, ‘Oh, your little business’ comments.

She deserves investors at a multimillion dollar level for her company, not just because of the quality of the product that is a solution she identified in the market, but also because of the work she’s put in to get to this point against all odds in the industry.

“And she’s a mom on top of all of it,” Moxley continued.

Redd said that it has felt like an uphill battle to make people take her seriously as an independently owned company, but also feels that can be part of her appeal if people would just give her a chance.

So many of the known spirits companies were founded decades if not over a century ago and have become so corporatized that there is no face or personality to connect with.

“Conglomerates and major corporations own these brands and create them with no narrative, no story,” she said. “They just pump out brands.

They have the money for marketing. They shove the marketing down our throat. So of course, we go and buy it. But what if you could buy a brand that you know that you can actually believe in?”

Redd said that when she asks people why they

THE FIRST BOTTLE OF REDD ROSE SOLD IN 2020.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF REDD ROSE VODKA

are loyal to a given spirits brand, they often can’t even answer.

“They have no idea. And then I say, ‘Well, why would you drink Redd Rose?’ It’s because you know me and it’s because you believe in the story … I’m approachable,” she said, laughing. “Talk to me. Hey, invite me out. The bigger picture is, let’s conquer the world one step at a time.”

However, Moxley warns that Redd faces more than funding and brand recognition hurdles.

“It’s not just a personality sometimes with a founder,” Moxley said. “Sometimes it is an expectation because of systemic racism, sexism, classism and the intersectionality of all of it, that so many incredible people such as Taylor are expected to be humble and underestimated because there aren’t a lot of people who look like her doing it.

“Her barrier is something I see frequently with my clients who are predominantly women or minority entrepreneurs and experts,” she continued. “Other people aren’t recognizing the value and amplifying them the way they deserve. [Redd] didn’t just wake up one day and decide to do this. She’s literally a founder’s dream story — she was a mixologist who heard a problem in the customer base and created the solution.”

Despite the barriers, Redd has no plans of slowing down her dreams.

While she owns the Redd Rose recipe, Redd currently partners with a husband-and-wife duo who make the vodka from their independent distillery in Minnesota.

Her next goal is to buy her grandmother’s land back from the city of Cincinnati so she can develop her own distillery and/or distribution center and create jobs on the same property where her grandmother created jobs.

She added that she would have no intention of leaving Charlotte, however, as she would headquarter the brand here and hopefully create more jobs.

Moxley said she is ready for her friend to take off.

“I’m excited for her success and her growth and that one investor that sees her value,” she said.

Redd feels that she is just getting started. With more events being brainstormed and more flavors being concocted, she thinks her story will plant seeds for others to grow.

“It’s not easy being an entrepreneur,” Redd said.

“Especially when you don’t come from wealth. But there’s a way that you can make it happen, and you have to solely focus on that. If I can help one more person become a full-time entrepreneur, I am more than willing to do that. I’m not here to say it’s easy, but I’m here to say it’s worth it.”

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LIFESTYLE PUZZLES SUDOKU

BY LINDA THISTLE

PLACE A NUMBER IN THE EMPTY BOXES IN SUCH A WAY THAT EACH ROW ACROSS, EACH COLUMN DOWN AND EACH SMALL 9-BOX SQUARE CONTAINS ALL OF THE NUMBERS ONE TO NINE.

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

1. TELEVISION: What is the name of the community college in the sitcom “Community”?

2. GEOGRAPHY: Which two countries in South America are landlocked?

3. HISTORY: Where did the effective end of the Civil War take place?

4. U.S. STATES: Which state comes first alphabetically?

5. FOOD & DRINK: What is an affogato?

6. MOVIES: Which movie features the character Inigo Montoya?

7. ENTERTAINERS: What is singer/ songwriter Taylor Swift’s middle name?

8. ANATOMY: What is the smallest organ in the human body?

9. LITERATURE: Which fantasy novel (later made into an HBO series called “Game of Thrones”) features a place called Winterfell?

10. GEOLOGY: What is the most malleable metal?

CROSSWORD

©2024 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pg. 19 MAY 29 - JUNE 11, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

MISS SOUTH CAROLINA

©2024 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

THE WEST MIDLANDS MASTER Continued from page 5

Pg. 20 MAY 29 - JUNE 11, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

Mental health and missing pieces

director John Wilson, and Smith is in the process of When we asked Smith about the biggest lessons hiring a sports psychologist (Andrea Cannavacciuolo, from his playing career that he brings to his job as who was previously hired as Charlotte FC’s head coach, he listed emotional control, discipline and of mental performance, left the club when former head coach Christian Lattanzio was sacked). being respectful to the players.

“We all think [mental health] is a really important “I want to be a manager who I would have part, because as approachable as I am as a head wanted to be managed by,” said Smith. “I have to make tough decisions, but there can be a different coach, there will be some things that my staff or way you make those tough decisions and give it to players don’t want me to know,” said Smith. “I think that it is important that there’s somebody within the the players.”

Mental health was a focus for Charlotte FC in May, workplace that people can reach out to when they’re with the team releasing a video sharing the story having problems.”

Since taking over at Charlotte FC, Smith has of Caroline Love, a young fan who struggled with mental health challenges but persevered through overseen the departure of three offensive designated therapy and treatment despite adversity and players: Karol Świderski, Kamil Jóźwiak, and most recently Enzo Copetti. In their places, Charlotte suicidal ideation.

Caroline “went through a lot of problems that FC has signed winger Liel Abada for a transfer fee people do go through, and because people can’t see approaching $8 million, a record for the club, and he the disease of mental illness, it becomes a tough has elevated Patrick Agyemang into the striker role.

Additionally, Smith is still seeking an attacking thing to talk about,” said Smith during a May 23 press conference. “Sometimes we’re not aware of midfielder who can be a key piece.

“You have to build the foundations of keeping the impact we can have.” clean sheets and being tight defensively, I believe One major change on and off the pitch since Smith’s playing days is the focus on mental health that’s what helps you win football games,” said and managing stress. Smith told us that, in his Smith. “We’re still working on the top half of the time, players didn’t manage emotions or stress, and pitch, and we’ll keep working religiously on that, but we’ve got a good base at the moment because if the hazing was more prevalent.

“It was old school then. You had to get on with it,” opposition don’t score, you’re guaranteed a point.”

Smith told us that even though he played defense said Smith. “I remember the week before I made my for most of his career, his perspective from his debut [for Walsall] I got called up to train with the first team, I trained with them and then after that I playing days is most useful to attacking players. had to clean 24 sets of boots and do all the laundry.” “I actually feel I’m more capable of giving better Though the experience drove Smith to want to information to forwards,” said Smith. “I know what play for the first team even more, he added, “You defenders don’t like, so I can be telling forwards where center backs don’t want to go … I think the had to find your own ways of coping.”

For Charlotte FC players, there is a different small details are what I give to the defenders.”

“He gives us great advice,” said Agyemang. “I approach than the one Smith experienced in the ’90s. There are club staff who directly support try to take in as much information, and bother the players, including player engagement and welfare center backs as much as possible, and it’s all based

DEAN SMITH ON THE CHARLOTTE FC PITCH.

PHOTO BY BEKAH WHILDEN

on what I’m learning and what I’m getting told. I “He knows what he’s talking about,” said think he’s doing a really good job helping us.”

Agyemang. “He genuinely wants to see us learn and That advice is going to be important as Charlotte get better each and every day. That’s the thing that works to create chances and score more goals; stands out to me.” though Charlotte’s defense has had a great year, INFO@QCNERVE.COM only one team in MLS’s Eastern Conference has scored fewer goals than Charlotte as of press time.

HOROSCOPE 2024 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

MAY 29 - JUNE 4

JUNE 5 - 11

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Your sense of adventure is energized by a challenge you’ve been hoping for. A loved one has some reservations, but can be persuaded to support your move.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) You’re buoyed by an exciting new venture that opens up more career possibilities. But you need to come down to earth occasionally to deal with home matters.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER Get our community reporting delivered straight to your inbox every Mon., Wed. & Fri.

UPCOMING SPECIAL ISSUES JUNE 12 | SUMMER GUIDE JULY 10 | CLT MUSIC ISSUE AUGUST 7 | PRIDE GUIDE SEPTEMBER 4 | FALL ARTS GUIDE OCTOBER 16 | HALLOWEEN GUIDE

Pg. 21 MAY 29 - JUNE 11, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Your recently unsettling TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) The week opens up a new period has passed. Move ahead with those plans you put period of opportunities, both personal and professional. on hold. An offer needs careful study before you decide to Spend the weekend with family and/or close friends. accept or reject it.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Aspects favor reasonable GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A career move could be risk-taking, as long as you feel prepared for the challenge in the works, but you might want to question facts of a new project. Your personal life also offers possibilities that recently came to light. A Libra emerges as a likely for change. romantic prospect.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Things ease up as tensions CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Tense moments in dissipate. Continue to reach out to those who need to be relationships ease up by week’s end. In the meantime, reassured that the upsets of the past are over and that be careful not to react in a way that will aggravate the everything is back to normal. situation.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Somebody loves you, and LEO (July 23 to August 22) Children or other kin present you know who this person is. While romantic aspects are problems that you need to deal with. Your strong favorable, it’s up to you whether the relationship goes protective nature reaches out to reassure them that all from static to ecstatic. will soon be well.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Educational aspects VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) You’ve earned the are strong this week for all Virgans — especially for right to enjoy some fun time with friends and family. children, who will benefit from after-school classes in Someone from your past remembers you with fondness. music, art or dance.

Expect a call.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) This is a favorable LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) You might feel period for Librans to get started on making those longthe urge to change your surroundings. If you’re not overdue lifestyle changes involving health, fitness and up to a major move, you could get the same effect by relationship matters. redecorating your home.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Things begin to SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Changes in your settle down in the workplace. But personal situations workplace could test your decision-making ability. Rely take on new importance as a loved one shares a matter on your self-confidence to help you make the right choice of great concern with you. at the right time.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) This is SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Resist a good time to reach out to new acquaintances and the urge to rush to judgment about friends who might reestablish contact with longtime friends who have appear to have let you down. You need to hear their sides earned your trust in past years. of the story before you act.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) You’re able to CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) The times favor assume more control over situations that seemed to be a change for the better in your private life. However, you getting out of hand recently. Take time to mend rifts with still might have some sticky wickets to deal with on the your mate. job. Stay alert.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Romantic aspects AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) A friendship are strong for senior Aquarians, who prove that getting could suddenly move from platonic to passionate. The older just means getting better at playing Cupid’s game. decision for any change in this situation is ultimately “Playmates” include Librans and Leos. yours to make. Consider it thoroughly.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Let your instincts guide PISCES (February 19 to March 20) You still might be you to a decision about a friend who makes a claim on reacting to a stunning revelation from a friend, but it’s your generous nature. Also, travel plans might need some time to move on. Travel offers a chance to bring someone adjusting. new into your life.

BORN THIS WEEK: You have a deep, spiritual side that BORN THIS WEEK: You’re a loyal friend. You enjoy singing you sometimes hide to let your more practical aspects and love the arts, especially when you find yourself show through. collecting beautiful things.

PUZZLE ANSWERS

5. Dessert of ice cream and coffee.

Trivia Answers 6. “The Princess Bride.”

1. Greendale Community 7. Alison.

College.

8. Pineal gland.

2. Bolivia and Paraguay.

3. Appomattox Court House, 9. “A Song of Ice and Fire.”

10. Gold.

Virginia.

4. Alabama.

LIFESTYLE

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

or a towel might do the trick — it might break through — but if it doesn’t, SPILLS, I would suggest making the silicone lube less handy. Keeping the water-soluble lube on top of your nightstand and the silicone lube in the drawer wouldn’t just add an extra step when he wants to use the silicone lube, it would require him to make a conscious decision that required him to think about what lube he was using.

P.S. Your letter made me think of gay men I’ve known and loved who took a hit of poppers, put the Let that sink in cap back on the bottle, and then opened their hand and dropped the bottle on the bed… even though

BY DAN SAVAGE it meant they wouldn’t be able to find the bottle five I’m frustrated. I’m transmasc and use time one of our elderly mothers walk into the minutes in the future when they wanted another hit silicone “attachments.” My partner is AMAB. living room and falls down. This is no longer because it was lost in the sheets.

Also relevant: We have very old hardwood just about lube. This is about a total disregard floors, non-laminated. For YEARS, I have for things that aren’t that difficult to manage, I’m a 42-year-old white cis woman. I own expressed frustrations about the careless and if I reach the point where I have to get a small business and I’ve been living on ways my partner handles silicone lube. pedantic and say, “I don’t feel comfortable credit cards since the pandemic. My business Multiple times, he has created dangerous with you handling silicone lube anymore,” it’s is struggling, and I may have to close it. The slippery spots on the floor by spilling it. Our a huge turnoff. Advice? thought of going back to work for someone SEXY PARTNER LACKS LISTENING SKILLS old hardwood floor absorbs it and it won’t else after being my own boss for so long is too come out. (I have slipped while getting out If your partner can’t be trusted to use the right sad. Here I am, in middle age, contemplating of bed because it’s now slippery there. Also, bankruptcy, and the possibility of losing mildly annoying, stains on sheets, blankets, lube for the right toy and/or the right lube for the everything. etc., including the brand-new sheets that we right act, SPILLS, and if your partner can’t manage When trying to find a silver lining, I began using a month ago. Also, even more to get the lube out of the bottle and onto a toy and/ remember I am not married and do not have frustrating, I have repeatedly pointed out or hole without getting the lube all over the floors children. I don’t even have nieces or nephews. that my (very expensive) silicone parts can and the sheets and the furniture and your moms, So, when I think about things from a different be damaged and have a shorter lifespan if then your partner shouldn’t be allowed to handle angle, I am free to start a totally different the lube. silicone is used directly on them.

You shouldn’t have to apply the lube every time life. In weighing my possible options, some I have gone to great lengths to make sure we you have sex — you shouldn’t have to do all lotional unexpected things have come to mind. Since I always have an assortment of silicone, hybrid was a teenager every woman I have ever been and water lubes, as well as non-lubricated labor in this relationship (forgive me) — but for with — every single one — has remarked on condoms that can be placed over my silicone your peace of mind and the safety of your elderly my oral sex talents. I don’t get bored or tired, dicks with the option to put silicone lube on mothers, SPILLS, you might wanna do it. and I seem to be better than most at reading Zooming out for a second… the outside. I have purchased cheap plastic There are really two different issues here. The subtle physical cues and responding correctly. trays to leave lubes on so excess lube doesn’t My current lover is an OB/GYN in her late run down the outside of the bottle. I have first is practical: Your partner is staining the sheets, sixties and has told me —over and over bought a few cheap towels that can be kept creating safety hazards and damaging expensive through the years — that the majority of nearby so lube bottles that are tossed don’t toys, some of which you acquired (and wear) more women do not ever experience the pleasure wind up on the sheets, couch, floor, etc. And for his enjoyment than yours. The second issue is I give her when I go down on her. And this symbolic: He’s not listening.

He’s not taking your yet he keeps putting the silicone lube directly woman had many lovers, men and women, onto silicone parts and being careless about concerns seriously, to say nothing of your sheets, and that makes inability — or his refusal — to do before I came along. spilling on the floor, bed, couch, etc.

I’ve never had a moral problem with sex I am at my wit’s end. The worst part is that something as simple as use the right lube or place work, but I can’t envision a life fulfilling the he is usually the one who handles cleaning the bottle on a tray or a towel despite your repeated fantasies of men. I have no interest in men floors and bedding, so he should definitely requests 10 times more upsetting.

Seeing as your partner was AMAB, and seeing at all. However, going down on women for understand this! I completely lost my libido cash sounds like the best job in the whole recently because he was about to put silicone as you used he/him pronouns when talking about entire universe. When I was a pervert lube directly on a new silicone vibrating him, I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess teenager, looking in the back of free papers butt plug and then accidentally spilled it on that he’s one of those dudes who has a hard time for colorfully worded personals for jerk-off thinking/reasoning/remembering when his dick the living room floor, which I immediately fodder (which is also where I first found you), scrubbed by hand. Suddenly, instead of is hard. Calling off sex when he can’t remember to I saw ads that men placed to give oral sex to feeling turned on, I was imagining the next use the right lube or set the bottle down on a tray

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women. Is there a market for this? I live in the San Francisco area. Should I just place an ad somewhere? Can I visit a resource center for sex workers to ask some basic questions about safety as a potential sex worker? Or are these questions moot because this — women servicing women for money — isn’t a thing and there’s no market?

SCREWED AFTER PANDEMIC HARMS INCOME CHANCES

People argue about why there are so few sex workers out there serving women exclusively. One reason frequently mentioned: Women are paid less than men and therefore don’t have the expendable income needed to pay for sex. (Other reasons: Women are socialized to feel less entitled to the sex they want; the negative consequences of sex — from pregnancy to STIs to sexual violence — disproportionately impact women, which makes women more risk-averse than men; women are likelier to have moral and/or political problems with sex work.) But while the pay gap remains a fact of life (and the orgasm gap remains a fact of life for straight women), it has narrowed significantly over the years.

One result of the growing economic clout of women: the closing of the infidelity gap. While we used to think women were less likely to cheat because women were better people — because they were better at honoring monogamous commitments — we now know women were more vulnerable. It was the devastating financial consequences of divorce that kept women from fucking around and not a lack of desire. But even as the infidelity gap has narrowed along with the pay gap, the paying-for-it gap doesn’t seem to have narrowed at all.

Which is a long way of saying … you’re gonna need a different backup plan, SAPHIC. And I have an idea: You’ve been dating a doctor for years — and going down on a doctor for years — so close your business, declare bankruptcy, and tell that doctor she’s gonna have to marry your ass if she wants to keep eating her pussy.

P.S. Really sorry about your business going under — that sucks.

Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love; or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/ askdan. Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love.

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