Queen City Nerve - May 15, 2024

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 12; MAY 15 - MAY 28, 2024; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

BREAKING CAMP UNC Charlotte Palestine solidarity encampment stirs free speech debate

By Annie Keough Arts:

Food:

pg. 6

pg. 10

‘The Girls We Sent Away’ explores an oft-overlooked history

Bites on 7th highlights Black culinary ventures in Charlotte

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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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DIGITAL MANAGER RAYNE ANTRIM

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STAFF WRITERS PAT MORAN

pmoran@qcnerve.com ANNIE KEOUGH

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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS & OPINION

4 Breaking Camp by Annie Keough

UNC Charlotte Palestine solidarity encampment stirs free speech debate

ARTS & CULTURE

6 The Forgotten Girls by Ryan Pitkin

Meagan Church’s new book explores the oft-overlooked history of the Baby Scoop Era 7 Lifeline: Ten Cool Things To Do in Two Weeks

MUSIC

8 Subterranean Rage by Pat Moran

Subvertigo’s shoegaze metal is not as angry as it sounds 9 Soundwave

FOOD & DRINK

10 Block Party Bites by Dezanii Lewis

Eat Black Charlotte expands on food festival with Bites on Seventh

LIFESTYLE

Thanks to our contributors: Grant Baldwin, Aerin Spruill, Dezanii Lewis, Danny Ruhland, Effie Horvath and Dan Savage.

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12 Puzzles 13 Aerin It Out by Aerin Spruill 13 Horoscope 14 Savage Love

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

BREAKING CAMP UNC Charlotte Palestine solidarity encampment stirs free speech debate

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BY ANNIE KEOUGH

Throughout history, college campuses have been a breeding ground for political and anti-war protests. The protests against the Vietnam War, South African apartheid and in support of the Central American Peace and Solidarity movement on college campuses have directed divestment, boycott and sanction movements that led to US policy change.

For Tina Shull, director of public history at UNC Charlotte, the recent wave of protests against Israel’s military actions in Palestine is a chance to see history playing out in real time.

“I think that’s the most beautiful thing about this moment and about this movement is that students are pointing to and drawing upon a longer history of student-led activism critiquing not only US politics but the impacts of US foreign policy and war,” she said.

And yet, Shull struggled with the decision to use her name while speaking to Queen City Nerve for this story about a growing protest movement at her university.

Citing fear of retaliation against faculty who come out in support of students’ right to protest following a recent crackdown on student-led protest encampments at UNC Charlotte and across the country, Shull emphasized that she would speak on the record only as an individual citizen and not as a representative of the university.

Shull was one of more than 160 faculty members who signed an open letter to UNC Charlotte Chancellor Sharon Gaber on Monday, May 6, hours after Gaber signed off on police action against a student protest encampment that had been set up on UNC Charlotte’s campus in April.

Since April 22nd, student organizers have demanded the university and UNC system as a whole “disclose, divest, defend and declare” — disclose institutional expenditures, divest from companies and projects with ties to Israel and declare the military actions occurring in Gaza a genocide.

On April 29, student protesters set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in the quad outside of the

College of Health and Human Services and Cato College of Education on campus. The students were met with continuous efforts to counteract or shut down the site by administration and counterprotestors.

“The school has responded by constant threats of arrest and suspension if we do not comply with their arbitrary rules,” a student representative told Queen City Nerve.

On May 1, sprinklers were turned on for nearly six hours at the original site of the encampment, flooding the area and forcing organizers to move elsewhere on campus.

Organizers relocated the encampment to the quad in front of the Fretwell and Cato buildings, where they were met with counter-protestors including some with right-wing student organization Turning Point US, who set up American flags around the encampment.

Then, with little warning, campus police raided and broke down the encampment in the early morning hours of May 6.

Shull said she believed the university’s strategic timing in taking down the camp in the early morning hours on the day before a march was scheduled to occur on campus was the extension of a long-cultivated culture of fear and retaliation that aimed to intimidate any student or faculty member who considered getting involved in the protest.

The raid

Student representatives from the solidarity encampment met with university administration to present their demands on May 5.

In a six page packet, administration provided answers to an incomplete copy of the student’s demands they had obtained before the meeting, barring students from voicing their latest individual demands, according to a spokesperson from the encampment and UNC Charlotte graduate who was present at the meeting.

According to the spokesperson, who did not wish to identify themself for fear of retribution, university

A RALLY HELD AT THE UNC CHARLOTTE ENCAMPMENT BEFORE IT WAS RAIDED.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE

“What began as peaceful protesting has leadership claimed during the meeting that they had no interest in shutting the encampment down. transitioned over the past several days to At 6:20 a.m. the next morning, the 14th day of intentionally and repeatedly violating University the student-led protest, campus police aided by policy, despite repeated warnings by our CMPD raided and disassembled the encampment, Demonstration Activity Resource Team and other leading to the arrest of one student.

University personnel,” the email stated.

“Violations were highlighted verbally and in According to a post from the encampment’s official Instagram feed (@unccencampment), writing, and exhaustive efforts were made to authorities gave the students two verbal warnings encourage protestors to exercise their right to free speech in a manner that respects the rights of those within three minutes before starting the raid.

“Many students and community members did not protesting to do their work and pursue their not have enough time to gather their things before education.” they were forced to leave or face the threat of arrest,” Those efforts included seven pages of what the the post read. “One student was detained and the encampment spokesperson described as “arbitrary policies denoting that everything we have been rest were forced to disperse.”

The university’s student-run newspaper Niner doing was a violation of policy, which we [had] not Times published two videos and additional photos received before.” that showed around 20 campus police officers That warning was given to protesters at 9 a.m. on dismantling tents and supplies and one student May 6. Organizers believe it came in response to a being taken away with their hands zip-tied behind rally they had planned on campus for May 7. their back.

“It really seems like the [switch was flipped] Gaber announced the removal of the encampment yesterday after our meeting,” the spokesperson in a university-wide email sent after the raid on May 7. said during the May 7 rally. “So [the raid] genuinely

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE caught us completely off guard because it was disclosed to us that that was not the option they would be taking.”

Gaber said the protesters’ tents, fencing, displays and other structures violated University Policy 601.6, Scheduling University Facilities, and University Policy 601.9, Sales, Solicitations, Distribution of Materials and Campus Displays.

“These actions are not free speech,” the statement said, “…they disrupt campus operations and pose a threat to campus safety.”

The students and allies at the encampment had taken part in prayer, presentations, encampment meetings and wellness checks, along with two peaceful marches held without incident. Nonparticipating students roaming campus amid exam week did not seem to experience any major disruptions due to the encampment during Queen City Nerve’s visit.

Faculty members respond

In a letter shared with protesters on May 6, administration warned that “any disruptive

behavior outside of [the] designated location will be considered trespassing and may result in immediate disciplinary action.”

The designated area for “non-march protest activities” is limited to the 49th Acre student tailgate facility, located behind a parking lot on the opposite side of campus. One protester said the relocation was insulting and would have pushed protesters out of sight.

The letter said disciplinary actions may include suspension and expulsion up to criminal charges for students and non-university members.

Multiple faculty members reached out to Queen City Nerve expressing their concern that the letter served as a warning to them not to get involved in the issue or voice support for student protesters.

In another letter signed by more than 160 faculty members and sent to Gaber after the raid, signers clarified that they did not consider themselves a homogenous group, nor did they all agree politically.

They then wrote, “What we do all agree on is the importance of peaceful demonstration to a functioning democracy and to the ideals and concrete realities of institutions of higher education.

In this way, we are opposed to preemptive decisions by university or college administrations to use local or state police forces to evict peaceful demonstrators.

“We acknowledge that universities can limit,

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

interconnectedness of global justice movements to build solidarity across borders,” UNC Charlotte alumna Noor Sanjak said at the press conference.

Protesters have since called on university administration to drop all charges and overturn all suspensions related to the Gaza solidarity encampment.

One student turned themselves into Mecklenburg County Jail on May 12 after UNC Charlotte pressed criminal charges against them. The student has since been released.

What comes next

UNC Charlotte encampment group continues to grow in supporters. Along with the letter of support from faculty, the local Housing Justice Coalition CLT (HJC) has voiced its public support for the student protesters, as has the Working People’s Association.

“We are steadfast in declaring that the peaceful expression of ideals embodied by the UNCC Gaza solidarity encampment not only remain, but go unmolested by police, security, or any militarized force,” read a statement from HJC. “We implore the UNCC administration to meet with its own students and heed the wishes/demands of UNCC students expressed in the UNCC Student Government Administration Resolution.”

About 200 people gathered in Uptown’s Romare Bearden Park on May 11 to show support for Palestine and the local student organizers who had their camp taken down, marching from the park into the center of the city in a show of solidarity.

At the time of this writing, UNC Charlotte administration hasn’t responded to the letter from faculty or calls from protesters to drop charges and reverse suspensions against some of them.

For their part, the students leading the protests at UNC Charlotte are well aware of their place in history, taking into context all that Shull described about past student movements.

“We’re here picking up the baton that generations before us passed along,” the encampment’s spokesperson said at the May 7 rally. “It poses an interesting question when UNCC upholds that they maintain a policy of institutional neutrality. I really, genuinely [would] just like to see the culture of this university change.”

With UNC Charlotte’s 2023-2024 classes ended, the student and community-led encampment’s future is tentative, the spokesperson alluded.

“We are still working on [the next move for us],” the spokesperson said. “Definitely still fighting for our demands here at the university … We’ll see.”

AKEOUGH@QCNERVE.COM

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MARCHERS PRAY DURING A MAY 11 RALLY IN UPTOWN THAT FOLLOWED THE ENCAMPMENT RAID.

through just and transparent methods, reasonable restrictions on time, place, and manner of protest and assembly,” the letter continued. “We do not, however, think that a university should ever prevent students, faculty, or staff from gathering or protesting.”

On the evening that the march was planned, four UNC Charlotte police vehicles were stationed around the location of the former encampment, with the sprinklers on and signs to deter people from entering the lawn.

During the protest, one student announced they received an email from administration informing them that they had been suspended. The student who had been arrested during the morning raid was once again detained for trespassing after attempting to join the protest on campus grounds.

Students and community members gathered in front of the Charlotte Arrest Processing center for a press conference on May 8, joined by members of Charlotte United for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace Charlotte, to protest the oppressive stance the university had taken against its student protesters.

“This was an unnecessarily violent response to a peaceful student-led movement, whose purpose was to educate their peers and the wider community about the genocide in Gaza, and to emphasize the

ARTS FEATURE

THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS

Meagan Church’s new book explores the oft-overlooked history of the Baby Scoop Era

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BY RYAN PITKIN

Meagan Church remembers being with her dad in a video rental store as a child in the late -1980s when he ran into an old high school friend. Being a small town in rural Indiana, meeting someone her dad once knew but she didn’t was not a common occurrence.

“When I asked him who she was, he said that they went to school together, but they didn’t graduate together because, ‘In that time, if a woman got pregnant, she was sent away and she couldn’t graduate. Let’s put it that way,’” Church recalled.

“That little bit of information stuck with me over the years.”

Church’s father was referring to the Baby Scoop Era, an oft-forgotten period in US history, starting after the end of World War II and ending around 1972, when countless girls and women experiencing premarital pregnancies were sent off to maternity homes. There they would carry out their pregnancy to term, only to then be in some cases forced or pressured to give the baby up for adoption.

Released in March, Church’s new book, The Girls We Sent Away, tells the tale of one such young girl, Lorraine, growing up in a Charlotte suburb in the ’60s with her eyes on valedictorian status when an unplanned pregnancy rips her from her family and finds her sent away to a home for unwed mothers.

We caught up with Church following the book’s release to discuss the inspirations behind it and what she’s learned from readers during her subsequent book tours.

Queen City Nerve: Your new book is located in Charlotte, in a neighborhood called Sunnymede. I assume that’s fictional?

Meagan Church: Sunnymede is actually the name of the neighborhood [where my family] lived in South Bend, Indiana. In my mind, I thought of it

more as the Shannon Park neighborhood that exists here in Charlotte because in The Girls We Sent Away, the proximity to Charlotte, plus the fact that it has a neighborhood pool and when the houses were built in that time frame. So it’s loosely inspired by Shannon Park, but the name itself was inspired by our old neighborhood in South Indiana.

Your debut novel, The Last Carolina Girl, took place partly on the North Carolina coast and partly in your current hometown of Matthews.

How did you decided on that?

With the first book, I thought that I would set it in Indiana because I started work on it shortly after we moved here and Indiana was a landscape I knew best. The inspiration behind that one, because it’s a story that has to do with forced sterilization and eugenics, I discovered that a great-aunt of mine had been sterilized by the state of Indiana when she was around 12 years old. With that being the state that sterilized her, I thought that would be the setting.

But my first bit of research showed me North Carolina’s history and specifically Mecklenburg County’s history with sterilization. That was when I knew the story needed to be set in North Carolina, which really I did myself a favor because North Carolina has so much beauty, and by setting it here, nature was able to become a character within the book.

Then as far as with The Girls We Sent Away, I decided on Charlotte, but the maternity home itself, the location is never defined. I did that for a couple of reasons, partly because I didn’t want any maternity home to come to me and say, “That was not what we did, that wasn’t how we operated,” because they really did operate in a variety of ways. But I also wanted the reader to have a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty, just like the girls in the book had.

MEAGAN CHURCH

What is it about historical fiction that attracts you?

Honestly, historical fiction is the genre that my publisher chooses for me because my stories have so far happened to be set in the past. To me, it’s more about exploring women’s stories and voices throughout time, which could even include contemporary stories moving forward. It was just with the inspiration of my aunt’s sterilization that it had to be set in in the past. Then when I found out about the practice of maternity homes, especially in the ‘60s, in the time period that my parents were graduating high school, again, it happened to fall in that historical timeline.

I find these ideas or these bits of history or information that start to get under my skin. The more I read about it and research and the more it irritates me, that’s when I know that I have a story idea. I don’t worry so much about what the time period it is, it’s more of who the character of that story is.

Did you localize your research in terms of finding maternity homes like these in the Charlotte area?

Honestly, because I knew the maternity home would not be set here in Charlotte, I didn’t worry about that. I do know that The Florence Crittenton Home existed here, and I believe still exists to some degree. Now, Florence Crittenton, just to be clear, had a mission of keeping mother and baby together.

I don’t want to imply in any way that they practiced in the way that’s represented within the book.

But I did enough research and listened to enough women’s stories of what they endured in those sorts

PROMOTIONAL PHOTO

of facilities that I didn’t necessarily dig into one specifically. It’s more of just an all-encompassing conglomeration of different experiences that women had.

Your two books are similar in the sense of a young girl coming of age and being yanked out of her idyllic world and forced into a strange place against her will and having to adapt to that. Does that come from some personal experience?

So all through college, I was always fascinated with coming-of-age stories, which both of these fall within that category. I think a lot of times that’s part of the journey within a coming-of-age story. But the other thing is that both of these stories are really a search for home and an understanding of what that is. Me moving here to the South, while that was my own decision and we had autonomy and agency, over these past nine years, I have been asking myself that question of, “What is home? Where does home actually exist?”

While I did not have the experience like my main characters of being forced out of my home, I think it comes through in my fiction that that’s just been part of my journey over the last years is questioning home.

Visit qcnerve.com to read the full-length Q&A with Meagan Church, in which she goes more in-depth into her choices behind The Girls We Sent Away, from the inclusion of the Space Race to finally feeling comfortable calling herself a feminist.

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

CAMP NORTH END STUDIO CRAWL

HELLFIRE 76 Promotional photo

5/16

BLANKSTATE., SENECA BURNS, MOVING BOXES, AUSTIN ROYALE

With bright coiling guitars, engaging melodies and heartfelt vocals, Charlotte three-piece blankstate. balances lyrical gravitas with the infectious joy of music-making on tracks like the winsome “Jasper Never Cries.” On masterful tunes like “Weedle,” the Queen City’s Seneca Burns employs a smart-ass pop punk template to issue a moving manifesto of hope, pain and defiance. Charging tempos, ringing guitars and Sophie Biancofiore’s arching everywoman vocals propel Raleigh combo Moving Boxes’ hardcore-infused punk pop. Mustering the hard charging attack of Bad Brains, Durham rappersongwriter Austin “Royale” Copeland entwines hiphop with hardcore.

More: $12-15; May 15, 7:30 p.m.; Amos’ Southend, 1423 S. Tryon St.; amossouthend.com

BONGFOOT, HELLFIRE 76, REGENCE

Formerly known as Girls Rock Charlotte, it;s now been a decade that We Rock Charlotte has worked not so quietly to inspire young people through music, arts and social justice, putting out a number of student albums put together by the young musicians who learn their craft at the organization’s Optimist Park home, but they host visual arts and music workshops for Charlotteans of all ages. They’re celebrating 10 years of that work with a block party of sorts, including a gear sale at the We Rock Charlotte house on East 22nd Street followed by a concert across the street at Starlight featuring We Rock founder Krystle Baller’s band HEY RICHARD and Channeling Granny.

More: Free, donations encouraged; May 19, noon-3 p.m.; We Rock Charlotte, 423 E. 22nd St.; werockclt.org

SATURDAYS ON STITT

LET’S TALK ABOUT IT

Opened last October, the Ella Scarborough A great follow-up to Keenan Scott II’s Thoughts of Community Resource Center serves as a one-stop A Colored Man, which ends its Three Bone Theatre shop for county services including Medicaid, food run at The Arts Factory on May 18, this Wednesday and nutrition services, child support services, Night Live event features playwright Michael Garcia veterans services, job searches, free mental health leading a discussion on tackling the issues that counseling and more. Beginning this month, the impact the mental well-being of the community team at the Ella Scarborough Center want to put through theatrical expression. Experience select the community back in “community resource center” monologues from Garcia’s stage play, Stuff Inside My by hosting a monthly Saturdays on Stitt event Head, as well as new monologues from Garcia that featuring food, fun and fellowship. Get to know your are related to the theme of mental and emotional neighbors, including staff and community partners wellness in the Black community. working inside the center at this family-friendly More: Free; May 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Harvey B. Gantt event.

Center for African-American Arts + Culture, 551 S. More: Free; May 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Tryon St.; eveningmuse.com Ella Scarborough Community Resource Center, 430 Stitt Road; dcr.mecknc.gov/crc/ebs ALEXA JENSON, JOE MCGOVERN, SAM

JUNGLE JAZZ: A SOLO EXHIBIT BY RATHAGOD

Known better by his artist name Rathagod, local avant garde painter Rajuma Bey confronts themes of racial stereotypes, cultural taboos, and black representation in the media, with his thoughtprovoking imagery. Drawing inspiration from his upbringing in an Afrocentric household, Bey fuses street art, cultural references and social commentary into his works as a way to capture the dynamic energy of Black American city life, often employing chaotic markings and bold caricatures to help spread his message.

More: Free; May 18, 7-10 p.m.; Hart Witzen Gallery, 2422 N. Tryon St.; facebook.com/HartWitzenGallery

ALEXA JENSON Photo by Danny Ruhland

5/24

MARIAH VAN KLEEF, BORIS & THE JOY, RYAN LOCKHART

Riding a wordless incantation that sighs like a wavering breeze, Mariah van Kleef’s elemental, Middle Eastern-grooving “Saraswati” unsheathes a sawtooth edge in the Charlotte singer-songwriter’s vocals. The song imprints like a jarring dream, an afterimage burned onto the waking world. With Boris & the Joy, guitarist for raucous, gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello Boris Pelekh turns to hushed and confessional emo folk. With his Straightjacket Blues Revisited LP, gravel-voiced hardscrabble folk artist Ryan Lockhart spins perceptive tales about small towns, missed chances and the grave site that awaits us all.

More: $8; May 26, 7 p.m.; Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.; petrasbar.com

PRINCESS GOES

On Princess Goes’ single “Jetpack,” pulsing BRASCO synthesizers and elastic bowing bass enwrap Michael On Alexa Jenson’s breathtaking single “Daylight,” C. Hall’s smooth ethereal croon: “Swapped out blood the Charlotte singer-songwriter’s supple voice for metal/ We were waiting for the mechanism/ We ranges from powerful declaration to free-falling were waiting for the flying car/ We were promised alt-country lilt. Amid jangling guitars and rolling on TV...” Yes, Michael C. Hall from TV’s Dexter makes keyboards, Jenson’s vocals cradle your emotions and melodic and experimental music with keyboardist command your attention. On his LP Dancing on the Matt Katz-Bohen and drummer Peter Yanowitz. The Decks, North Carolina-based Joe McGovern crafts avant-indie trio’s “Blur” blends Bowie, EDM beats, cinematic alternative folk-pop with a hard-rock the melancholic monumental grandeur of Utravox’s spine. On the exuberant “IFTV” he even throws hip- “Vienna” and the warmth of U2’s “With or Without hop beats into the genre-bending mix. Accompanied You.” On an art-rock spreadsheet, this would seem a by his rippling liquid guitar, Queen City alt-country pretentious mess, but intuitively, it works. troubadour Sam Brasco lends his honeyed vocals to More: $25-30; May 27, 8 p.m.; Visulite Theatre, storytelling songs that expose raw emotions.

1615 Elizabeth Ave.; visulite.com More: $15-18; May 24, 7:30 p.m.; Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St.; eveningmuse.com

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Guitar-driven power rock holds sway at The Milestone. Double kick drums and runaway locomotive guitars propel Boone’s Bongfoot.

Mixing stoner metal and 1970s Southern rock, the Appalachian thrash trio depicts cops and generals stampeding over the titular longhairs on “Kill the Hippies.” Similarly, Charlotte’s Hellfire 76 marshals incendiary blues rock riffs and lumbering stegosaurus beats to skewer holy hypocrites with mock blasphemous lyrics: “Heaven’s angels dance with the devil/ Will the preacher see through the eye of a needle?” With tracks like “Sweet Words & Bee Stings,” Queen City four-piece Regence fuses marauding guitars and impassioned vocals.

More: $12; May 16, 8 p.m.; The Milestone, 3400 Tuckaseegee Road; themilestone.club

WE ROCK CHARLOTTE TURNS 10

Since opening in 2017, Camp North End has gradually built up and cultivated a diverse community of artists working in a range of mediums. For one night only, visitors will get an exclusive glimpse into the creative process of Charlotte’s top artists during the community’s first-ever studio crawl, which will provide a unique, behind-the-scenes opportunity to meet with and tour the studio spaces of participating artists while delving into an array of art from participating artists at BLK MRKT, Goodyear Arts collective, MacFly Fresh, Tent Studios and Good Postage as well as independent artists like Frankie Zombie.

More: Free; May 17, 6-9 p.m.; Camp North End, 300 Camp Road; camp.nc

MUSIC FEATURE

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SUBTERRANEAN RAGE

SUBVERTIGO

PHOTO BY EFFIE HORVATH

“Fun” is a strange yet fitting word to apply Subvertigo’s moody alt-rock with sharp metallic Subvertigo’s shoegaze metal edges. The band plays a set of new and old songs at Harbor on May 21. Singing along, with either “Pissed it all away, laying still years more/ Bassist Saunders was also a bedroom musician, is not as angry as it sounds Snug correct or incorrect lyrics, is encouraged. making beats that he rapped over while playing forgot what’s outside, traded for basement floors/

BY PAT MORAN A bedroom rotting, lungs filled with mold/ Smoke guitar.

A glimmering curtain of chiming guitars glides in Emerging from a multiplicity of In the summer of 2023, Vorne and Saunders permeating this hazy light...” like sudden rain. As sepulchral bass notes toll from music and bands Vorne says “1258” is the address of a crappy also moved into the University house. Meanwhile, deep within the earth, guitarist, lead singer and The four members of Subvertigo are friends, Rodriguez-Cue, who with O’Dell had graduated from apartment where he lived in Boston. songwriter Stephen Vorne launches into an anxious housemates and bandmates. Following each UNC Charlotte, moved to Chapel Hill to continue his “It’s about of living in that space, being poor and vocal: “The world’s moved on without us/ but can you musician’s path to the band provides a glimpse education. having love life and living issues,” Vorne says. keep yourself?/ This house of cards you stand on/ Will into how musicians connect, collaborate and “That’s when all the music making started,” The arrangement and the band’s inspired playing plunge in one small breath...” imbue the song with an austere beauty and sprightly cross-pollinate in Charlotte’s music scene. It’s like Rodriguez-Cue says.

The opening strains of “Frail” signposts Charlotte watching the city’s musical synapses firing.

It actually started earlier, in the spring of 2022, sense of exploration. That same balance permeates four-piece Subvertigo as a moody shoegaze outfit Growing up in Mooresville, Vorne was exposed to when Vorne, O’Dell and Rodriguez-Cue met at Snug all of Subvertigo’s oeuvre, and Vorne promises that cast in the image Disintegration-era The Cure. But punk, metal and alternative rock via skateboarding Harbor. Vorne pitched the concept of Subvertigo to more similarly challenging and engaging music will first impressions can deceive. videos. When his ambition of becoming a skater was the others, and they were intrigued. Meanwhile, be released before the end of the year.

Turning deftly on a dime, “Frail” tumbles into sidelined by a knee injury at age 12, he turned his Vorne had also started playing in Queen City “I want it to … have people think about things,” heavy metal’s sharp grinding gears. Vorne responds attention to music.

Vorne says. “If they’re paying attention to the lyrics, alternative metal band Cramped Casket. with a guttural roar.

Vorne, O’Dell, Rodriguez-Cue and Saunders also maybe [they’ll] think about different perspectives, While attending the Berklee College of Music “Fall off everything you stood upon/ Off everything in Boston in 2015, Vorne played in hardcore outfit indulge their lighter side with Rocks for Lizards, and if they’re listening to the music, then [they’ll] you’ve torn apart/ Another gold-plated lie...”

Inconvenience Store and pop-punk band Sounds & an alt-pop-rock combo fronted by singer-lyricist just rage along with it.”

It’s a disorienting moment. At first, “Frail” harkens Scenarios. Vorne dropped out from Berklee in 2017 Rayne Antrim (who is also Queen City Nerve’s digital Rodriguez-Cue hopes that people who see back to the shimmering cadences of Cocteau Twins. and returned to Charlotte.

Subvertigo play can also be inspired to make their manager).

Then, with a sudden whiplash turn, it embraces the From all this creative cross-pollination and music own music.

“I figured a music degree is not a good thing to go bludgeoning power of Black Sabbath.

Saunders says Subvertigo’s music touches a nerve making with multiple bands, Subvertigo emerged. into debt for,” Vorne says.

“Frail” is about the morality police, and [people] with listeners because it delves into the darker Vorne, O’Dell and Rodriguez-Cue began playing Guitarist Declan O’Dell grew up in California having a fragile worldview,” Vorne says via phone but moved to Charlotte when he was 14. While together every week, nurturing the chemistry that aspects of being human. As a consequence, playing from the house he shares with two of his bandmates. attending the UNC Charlotte, he befriended future turned Subvertigo into a serious enterprise. this moody music has exposed him to a growing, “It’s about moral grandstanding and the hypocrisy Subvertigo drummer Ricky Rodriguez-Cue, who Saunders came into the fold in August and the caring community. of people who do that sort of thing.”

“I’ve met so many cool people from playing grew up playing music but had never been in a band. band played it’s first show at a Halloween house The swirling, shape-shifting composition shows,” Saunders says. “I’ve met all these people Here is where musical tributaries and band party in Asheville in 2022. positions the listener as off balance as the moral bloodlines get complicated. Both O’Dell and who have become my best friends in such a short arbiters it targets. Like most good art, “Frail” is Rodriguez-Cue formed indie psych-rock band Wet Subvertigo defines itself time.”

In July 2023, Vertigo showcased its brand of protean enough to apply to several scenarios, but Basement Project. The dankly-named project, which That is the dichotomy that defines Subvertigo. it particularly serves as a fitting epitaph for Moms couples improvisation with the sashaying kick of shoegaze/hardcore/metal on the debut five-track Amid resonating stinging guitars, crawling bass for Liberty, the faux grassroots gang of bullies Southern ’80s alternative groups like Love Tractor, EP Define Yourself, engineered and produced by and drums that suggest something clattering in the who failed their own purity test when a seamy sex is currently on semi-hiatus, primarily because Atticus Lane. woodwork, there is the joy of discovery. Threading Fittingly, the EP opens with the band’s oldest through trenchant lyrics that grapple with the scandal went public. some band members play in other bands, including track, “1258,” written by Vorne four years before unbridgeable gulf between people, Subvertigo It’s also a Subvertigo fan favorite. When the band Charlotte alt-roots rockers Warp Street. plays the tune live, people love to sing along with “I like to think [Wet Basement Project] is ongoing,” he met his bandmates. Here, a haunted music box counter-intuitively connects people by letting them the chorus, Vorne says, but there’s one small hiccup. O’Dell says. “But we haven’t played in a hot minute.” melody harkens back to the Factory Records roster know they’re not alone.

“People get the lyrics to that one wrong,” says the Subvertigo’s very existence is a celebration of the In the meantime, Both O’Dell and Rodriguez- — particularly Joy Division — before exploding into Rodriguez-Cue’s rampaging drums, Saunders’ band’s bassist Ethan Saunders. members’ friendship, O’Dell says. In the company Cue moved into a house in the University City area “Yes,” Vorne says. “People think I’m saying ‘fuck’ where they composed and played music with their freight train bass and O’Dell’s and Vorne’s slurred of fellow musicians, a sympathetic community and legato guitar runs, while Vorne’s vocal leaps from a friends, even raging at the dying light is fun. but I’m saying ‘fall.’ I don’t have the heart to tell bedroom project Tiger Babies. rumination to a roar. He’s shouting into the void. them because they’re having so much fun.”

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15

ROCK/PUNK/METAL blankstate. w/ Seneca Burns, Moving Boxes, Austin Royale (Amos’ Southend) Bodysnatcher w/ Spite (The Underground) Vorlust w/ Angel Massacre (The Milestone) Sum 41 (Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre) JAZZ/BLUES Jazz Nights at Canteen (Camp North End) Albert Cummings (Middle C Jazz) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Beats @ Birdsong (Birdsong Brewing) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Max Gomez (Evening Muse) IV & the Strange Band w/ Chase Killough (Neighborhood Theatre) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Delta Fire Duo (Goldie’s) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Tre Ahmad w/ Dhemo, Nia J (Snug Harbor) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE Aventura (Spectrum Center) OPEN MIC Singer/Songwriter Open Mic (The Rooster) Open Mic Night (Starlight on 22nd)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Krista Lynn Meadow w/ Ryan Trotti (Goldie’s) Avi Kaplan w/ Michael Alvarado (Neighborhood Theatre) Tim McGraw w/ Carly Pearce (Spectrum Center) JAZZ/BLUES Alex Bugnon (Middle C Jazz) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Bruce Hazel & John William Harrell w/ The Olde Guard, Wilde Green (Petra’s) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Hunxho (The Fillmore) COVER BANDS Sugar (System of a Down tribute) (The Rooster)

SATURDAY, MAY 18

MONDAY, MONDAY 20

ROCK/PUNK/METAL The Allman Betts Band w/ JD SIMO (Knight Theater) Soen (The Underground) Divide the Fall w/ Reign of Z, Forever We Roam, Lilith Rising (The Milestone) Zorn w/ Doltz, Scaretactic, Constant Mistake (Snug Harbor) JAZZ/BLUES The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Shanti Love (Thomas Street Tavern) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Charlotte Bluegrass Allstars (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

TUESDAY, MAY 21

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Red Rocking Chair (Comet Grill) Mephiskapheles w/ South Side Punx, Violent Life Violent Death, The Bleeps (The Milestone) Ringo Deathstarr w/ The Veldt, Subvertigo (Snug Harbor) CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS Caleb Gordon (Neighborhood Theatre) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC GleeClub: Charlottezown (VisArt Video) OPEN MIC Open Mic Night feat. The Smokin J’s (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 22

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Smash Into Pieces (The Underground) Hallpass w/ Noir Noir, The Phantom Friends (Snug Harbor) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Joëlle Jacobs & The Enthusiasts (Evening Muse) Lola Grace Duo (Goldie’s) Josh Daniel w/ Jim Brock, Kerry Brooks (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

THURSDAY, MAY 23

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Catalyst w/ F.A.T.E., Middle Earth, Corrupt, Faith, Junk (The Milestone) Grits & Greens (The Rooster) JAZZ/BLUES Willie Walker & Conversation Piece (Middle C Jazz) The Josué Estrada Band w/ The Friday Night Vibe Band (Petra’s) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Quentin Talley & The Soul Providers w/ Jonathan Brown (Evening Muse) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Joey Logano’s 2nd Annual Concert for Charity (Coyote Joe’s) Thirsty Horses w/ Johnathan Bichfield Duo (Goldie’s) Leo Kottke (Neighborhood Theatre) LATIN/WORLD/REGGAE Silvestre Dangond (Ovens Auditorium) FUNK/JAM BANDS Shana Blake’s Musical Menagerie (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) COVER BANDS Slowhand (Eric Clapton tribute) (Visulite Theatre)

FRIDAY, MAY 24

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Caitlin Krisko and The Broadcast w/ Mackenzie Roark (Camp North End) The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) The Steel Crows w/ High June (Evening Muse) Swingin’ Richards w/ Swing Theory (Goldie’s) Pretty Baby w/ Sidestep Dog, Pet Bug (Petra’s) Davis Family Band (The Rooster) The Coyotes w/ Juniper Avenue, Cigarettes @ Sunset (Snug Harbor) Civil Strife w/ The Half That Matters, The Odd Days (Tommy’s Pub) JAZZ/BLUES The Terence Young Project feat. Tia Durant (Middle C Jazz) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Alexa Jenson w/ Joe McGovern, Sam Brasko (Evening Muse) Phosphorescent (Neighborhood Theatre) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Minnesota (Blackbox Theater) Sidequest: A Lights Out, Foggy Dance Floor Rave (The Milestone) COVER BANDS Shotguns ‘n’ Roses w/ Barnstormers (Amos’ Southend) VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING, INCLUDING MAY 25-28.

Pg. 9 MAY 15 - MAY 28, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Cast Iron Filter (Evening Muse) Glom w/ The Forum (Evening Muse) Convictions & Confessions Of A Traitor w/ Detest The Throne, Fault Union, Esca (The Rooster) Bill George w/ Paper Wasps, The Local Odyssey THURSDAY, MAY 16 (Starlight on 22nd) ROCK/PUNK/METAL POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Bongfoot w/ Hellfire 76, Regence (The Milestone) Midnight Memories: 1D Night (The Fillmore) The Weeks w/ Carver Commodore (Visulite Theatre) Digital Noir Prom w/ DJ Spider & DJ 20th Century COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Boy (The Milestone) Jake Xerxes Fussell (Evening Muse) BeatFreaq w/ freaquency360: NC vs SC (Starlight on 22nd) Pecos & the Rooftops (Neighborhood Theatre) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Clarity Eley w/ Jed Harrelson, Willingdon (Petra’s) Vision Video w/ Tears for The Dying, Joshua Cotterino JAZZ/BLUES (Snug Harbor) Alex Bugnon (Middle C Jazz) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Bashfortheworld (The Underground) Chayce Beckham w/ Graham Barham (Coyote Joe’s) FUNK/JAM BANDS ShadowGrass (Neighborhood Theatre) Garden of Eden w/ Garrett Huffman (Goldie’s) CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL INTERACTIVE Charlotte Symphony: Holst’s The Planets (Belk Drum Circle with Kennon Knight (The Rooster) Theater) COVER BANDS FUNK/JAM BANDS Jay D. Jones: The Songs of Bobby Womack, Luther Big Fun w/ Randy Paul Duo (Goldie’s) Vandross and Teddy Pendergrass (Middle C Jazz) Clay Street Unit (Heist Brewery) Crystal Fountains (Primal Brewery) FRIDAY, MAY 17 The Jamie Trollinger Band (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) ROCK/PUNK/METAL HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Lil Skritt w/ Boom Unit Brass Band, Party Dad X Cast Iron Filter (Evening Muse) Lauren Murada (Snug Harbor) Todd Rundgren (Knight Theater) CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS Cursejar w/ Holy Figures, Navtec, Sesame (The Milestone) NF (Spectrum Center) Some Kind Of Nightmare w/ YEA(H) (Tommy’s Pub) COVER BANDS Justincase (Visulite Theatre) Eyes of the Nile (Iron Maiden tribute) w/ Ironside POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Inc. (Amos’ Southend) Papadosio (Blackbox Theater) Galloway and The Love-In (Evening Muse) SUNDAY, MAY 19 FUNK/JAM BANDS Florencia & the Feeling w/ Council Ring (Camp North End) ROCK/PUNK/METAL Sawyer Hill w/ Raue (Amos’ Southend) Keegan Federal & the Smoking Section (Smokey Buice w/ Dollhaver, Scrlett, Process//Sleep (The Joe’s Cafe & Bar) Milestone) Empire Strikes Bass w/ Moonshaker (Snug Harbor) Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown w/ Ace Monroe CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL (Neighborhood Theatre) Charlotte Symphony: Holst’s The Planets (Belk Theater) Hey RICHARD w/ Channeling Granny (Starlight on 22nd)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Hazy Sunday (Petra’s) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Soul Sundays feat. Guy Nowchild (Starlight on 22nd) JAZZ/BLUES Omari & the Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Luke Pascal Quartet (Camp North End) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC David Childers (Free Range Brewing) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Paul Cauthen (The Fillmore) Bourbon Sons Duo w/ Tommy Keys (Goldie’s) CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS Christian Anderson (Middle C Jazz) COVER BANDS Grateful Shred w/ Circles Around the Sun (The Underground)

JAZZ/BLUES Jazz Nights at Canteen (Camp North End) Emanuel Wynter (Middle C Jazz) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Beats @ Birdsong (Bordsong Brewing) OPEN MIC Singer/Songwriter Open Mic (The Rooster) Open Mic Night (Starlight on 22nd)

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

BLOCK PARTY BITES Eat Black Charlotte expands on food festival with Bites on Seventh

Pg. 10 MAY 15 - MAY 28, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

BY DEZANII LEWIS

Eat Black Charlotte started as a simple hashtag Even with the new additions, good food is still in 2020, a way for local foodies to better highlight the foundation for Bites on Seventh, with attendees Black food businesses in Charlotte, but like any good traversing food tents and sampling curated bites social media campaign, it eventually grew into and beverages. something more.

At the time of this writing, more than 10 food The Eat Black Charlotte Food & Culture Festival vendors are confirmed for the event, with more was launched originally as a way to wrap up the expected to join before June 1. Patrons can expect Eat Black Charlotte Week, a weeklong event that to see Charmed Cuisine, FunOhCakes, Jhase Made encouraged residents around the city to support the Lemonade, Ms. Didi’s Caribbean Kitchen, So Icy area’s Black-owned restaurants.

(Philly Water Ice), Q’s Culinary Cart, Ve-Go Food Now four years in, the Eat Black Charlotte team Truck, Boujee Soul Food, Jazzy Cheesecakes, Ever continues to evolve the yearly event, turning the Eat Real Empanadas, and various vendors located in The Black Charlotte Food & Culture Festival into Bites on Market at 7th Street.

Seventh, an all-day festival that adds some culture Queen City Nerve spoke to one of the vendors, to the mix, with live music and entertainment Chef Lavonna Quick of Boujee Soul Food, to get her planned throughout the day, bringing more of a thoughts on Eat Black Charlotte and the impact of block party vibe to the festivities. the coming festival.

“It’s beautiful to see something that started as a hashtag in 2020 grow into a cultural movement,” Succeeding despite adversity said Eat Black Charlotte co-founder Erique Berry.

Chef Quick established her love for cooking as a “We were super intentional with how we designed teenager. Her stepmother only cooked dinner on the festival this year. We prioritized the commuter Sundays, leaving Quick to cook for herself and her parking experience, partnered with Charlotte brothers during the week.

Mecklenburg Library for literacy programs and “I had to learn how to cook,” she said. “I used to leveled up the entertainment factor.” look on recipes with books and things like that, and North Carolina comedian Tim Shropshire I realized that I like building recipes.” will emcee this year’s event, plus live musical Things took a tough turn for Quick at 17, however, performances by Salisbury’s own 5-year-old rap as she ran into trouble and was sentenced to five sensation Savannah “VanVan” McConneaughey, years in prison.

Charlotte’s Ray Singleton, educational programs for Doing her best to find the good in a bad situation, children, and more.

Quick continued to cultivate her passion despite her Scheduled for June 1 from 2-7 p.m. and expected lack of access to ingredients and the like. to attract more than 3,000 people to Uptown, “I was incarcerated when I was a teenager and the event will span multiple blocks of First Ward that’s when I really, really felt my passion,” she said. including Victoria Yards (209 E. 7th St.), WFAE’s “I was there for five years, and my family used to Center for Community and Civic Engagement (301 E. send me books and things like that. I used to tear all 7th St.), and The Market at 7th Street (224 E. 7th St.). the recipes out of the books and just imagine doing “The added entertainment and performances this my own recipes or whatnot.” year will set the vibe,” said Cory Wilkins, cofounder of When she was released at 23 years old, it was Eat Black Charlotte. “You’ll get good food and it will tough to find work. Her criminal background and also be a festival where you’ll want to hang out all tattoos made her unhirable in the corporate world, day while celebrating some of the best Black-owned but she found her professional home in the kitchen, restaurants in the city.” starting as a dishwasher and moving up to line cook.

CHEF LAVONNA QUICK

Quick has now worked in the culinary industry for about 15 years, helping to open a number of restaurants including Stoke Charlotte in the remodeled Marriott Center City. She’s also worked at Angeline’s, Merchant & Trade, Indaco and others.

Her goal was always to open her own business, however, and she accomplished that in 2021 with the launch of Quick’s Catering, which expanded to become Boujee Soul Food in 2022.

The following year she hit the road in the Boujee Soul Food truck, then continued to grow, offering an expanded menu out of The City Kitch in west Charlotte.

Quick said she named her business after her niece.

“She was a different child,” Quick said. “She liked things done a certain way. I called her ‘Boujee.’ She was more on the fancy end.”

The food, however, keeps things casual, billed as “fine fusion soul food.” The menu features favorites like the oxtail hash, collard greens and lobster wontons, wings, cod fish sandwiches, the Southernstyle sweet tea fried chicken sandwich, braised oxtail sliders and more.

With all the experience she’s cooked up in the culinary industry during her time in Charlotte – Quick says she’s been here all her life – she’s had a front row seat to the changes in the area and she’s happy to be part of that.

As for her past, it’s not worth dwelling on, she insists. In fact, there are more goals she’s focused on in the future, including opening a brick-and-mortar

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOUJEE SOUL FOOD

space for Boujee Soul Food, so she will continue to look forward.

“My goal is to own an official restaurant so that [I can hire] people who, like me, that was incarcerated and having a hard time finding jobs,” she said. “I want to hire felons, misdemeanors, things like that, when I do open a restaurant.”

With the way she has climbed the ladder of the local culinary industry and quickly expanded her own business in Charlotte, it seems just a matter of time before she’s there.

Preparing for the festivities

Chef Quick did bring her food truck to Eat Black Charlotte’s festival last year, though she had just gotten the truck rolling at the time. This will be her first year as a featured vendor and she’s excited to participate.

“I feel like it’s going to be a lot of fun,” she told Queen City Nerve. “I think it’s amazing that a lot of food trucks and people – the Black community – can come together and do something like that, and with a lot of food critics.”

As with other food festivals highlighting Black food in Charlotte such as the BayHaven Food and Wine festival, Eat Black Charlotte was born out of a desire to showcase Black culinary artists in Charlotte who often go overlooked.

This was a sentiment that Quick was familiar with.

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

lot of people didn’t get work [in the culinary field].

It’s just growing.”

In late April, Quick and the Boujee Soul Food team sold out of their selections at the CLT Got Soul festival in Ballantyne, hosted by the South Charlotte chapter of African-American cultural organization Jack and Jill of America, Inc. Having seen the impact of such events, Chef Quick said she hopes to see more opportunities to platform Black culinary artists as the scene continues to grow.

According to Eat Black Charlotte, Bites on Seventh “is poised to expand its impact to cities across the nation,” so Quick may soon get her wish.

“When I first started, you didn’t see too many Black people with power in the kitchen,” she said.

“Mainly if you saw them, they weren’t on a level that you would see other chefs — [Black people] were just a cook, or a dishwasher, or a food runner. But now there’s a lot of [Black] chefs out here. There’s a lot of Black chefs out here that’s actually showing what they’re capable of and that they’re able to do things just like everyone else is.”

Though Quick said she felt that the Black culinary scene is growing as a whole, she also said it needs events like Bites on Seventh to keep that growth Bites on Seventh will take place at multiple locations going. along East 7th Street in Uptown’s First Ward on June 1 “The culinary field in Charlotte is actually where from 2-7 p.m. Learn more at bitesfoodfestival.com. the Black culinary field is really growing” she said.

“It’s growing, and I feel like it’s important because a INFO@QCNERVE.COM

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOUJEE SOUL FOOD

Pg. 11 MAY 15 - MAY 28, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

A FEW BOUJEE SOUL FOOD MENU OPTIONS.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

AREIN’ IT OUT

ELIZABETH’S SNEAKY LINK

HOROSCOPE

May 15 - 21

2024 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

May 22 - 28

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) That anxious feeling disappears with a reassuring gesture from a loved one. In addition, the weekend holds some pleasant surprises for the ever-adventurous Lamb.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) The cautious side of your usually adventurous nature stands you in good stead this week. Someone might, indeed, be trying to pull the wool over the Sheep’s eyes.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) A planetary lineup creates unsteadiness both on the job and in your private life.

BY AERIN SPRUILL Stay the course, and you’ll soon ride out the worst of the Tucked in the back of the Pecan Point shopping Don‘t Shy Away ($16) —Teremana Reposado, unsettling effects.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Planetary alignment still causes unsettling situations. Consider delaying matters that aren’t a priority until the weekend. Cheer up! The next such alignment isn’t until 2028.

New lounge Sneak is a hidden gem tucked into a corner of Pecan Point

Pg. 12 MAY 15 - MAY 28, 2024 - QCNERVE.COM

LIFESTYLE

center at the corner of East 7th Street and Pecan Avenue in Elizabeth, next to longtime tenant Bang Bang Burgers, now stands a new kid on the block.

What started as a deli bar concept, according to co-owner Jamil Whitlow, evolved into a highenergy, speakeasy-style lounge smartly dubbed Sneak.

Sneaky link (noun): A discreet invitation to meet up, often for romantic or intimate purposes, sent via text message or social media. There, now you (nor my editor) will have to Google it.

Whitlow, a veteran of the spirits industry, has over a decade of experience under his belt. He stands on business, poised to finally break the curse that has plagued that particular corner of Pecan Point for years.

“Cruella! Where‘s ya puppies?” Whitlow asked, playfully referencing my current marble cakeinspired hairstyle as he greeted me at the entrance of Sneak during its soft opening.

His jovial spirit and buoyant gait painted quite the juxtaposition to the man sitting across from me two months prior — the fatigued business owner collecting his composure between hurried meals and media interviews, successfully concealing the chaos that is re-construction, permits, zoning and licenses.

“We‘re not a speakeasy, we‘re a sneakeasy,” he explained. “A speakeasy is historically a hard place to find and if you do find [it], you gotta know someone that knows somebody to get there. Our place is not hard to find, but the concept itself is in the location off the beaten path that you‘re not anticipating for it to be.”

The parking lot was oddly full, and the revolving door triggered my anxiety that seating would be limited, but as fate would have it, two lone bar seats sat waiting for the boo and me.

Before taking it all in, we ordered drinks. For me, Quick Trip to the City ($16) with Old Forester 86, sour, and egg white plus a red wine float. For Whitlow,

Cointreau, spicy oleo, and carrot sour. Now I could turn my focus to the finished product: the interior design.

Soft touches of vibrant wall treatments, gold accents and tasteful lighting contrast the masculine hues of brown leather and moody accents, creating a cozy destination that visually appeals to everyone and feels bigger than it is.

Or, as Ryan Gosling‘s character aptly put it in Crazy, Stupid, Love, Sneak delivers the “perfect combination of sexy and cute.”

Ten minutes later, the standing room behind us was two patrons deep. My bitterness over the loss of neighborhood staples like OG Jackalope Jacks and Philosopher‘s Stone softened. I was, yet again, proven wrong that nightlifers couldn’t reimagine this particular intersection.

The energy reminded me of a Grateful Dead lyric hastily etched onto a restroom stall. At Sneak, “Once in a while, you can get shown the light in the strangest of places, if you look at it right.”

A little over a month later, Sneak feels like more than just a home away from my watering hole; it‘s been an escape from the monotony of nightlife. The fact that I can ‘forget‘ I ordered a Philly cheesesteak from Jersey Mike‘s a few doors away at lunch while sipping a nonalcoholic cocktail serendipitously named the Sneaky Link — $13, with Lyre‘s Blanco, Seedlip agave, Lyre‘s orange sec, and Guajillo árbol agave — serves as a testament to Whitlow‘s unique ability to curate experiences that breathe life into stale spaces.

So, what to expect?

-Bar bites, including fresh focaccia, snack mix and, if you really want to flex, D‘Artagnan caviar (for a Benjamin). But you can also order food from other local hot spots nearby.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Leave nothing to chance.

You need to get more involved in working out problems at home and on the job. Meanwhile, a Sagittarian offers romantic possibilities.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Family matters take precedence. Spend more time with those close to you.

A career move sounds promising, but ask for more facts before making a decision.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) A new relationship suddenly presents unexpected problems. Clear up all misunderstandings now to avoid more serious situations later.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Your watchword this week is “tact!” While honesty is, of course, the best policy, it’s best to temper your tendency toward bluntness with discretion.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) This is a good time to act on long-delayed projects, both personal and professional.

A new job prospect opens up some exciting possibilities.

Check it out.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Nothing pleases our Leos and Leonas more than knowing they’re admired, and this week, you’ll be overwhelmed with compliments. Enjoy the adulation. You earned it.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Those on-thejob changes continue to bring new challenges. In your personal life, be more flexible in dealing with a loved one who needs your help.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) You’re making progress in your dealings with a troubled loved one.

Continue to offer understanding and support. You’ll soon see positive results.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) A personal problem creates some concern at first, but your prompt attention helps to get things sorted out. Family and friends provide much-needed support.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Change is favored this week. You might want to reassess a situation that has become too demanding. Also, reconsider that job move you rejected earlier.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) A strong positive attitude helps disperse a cloud of negativism around you.

A friend reaches out to offer loving support when you need it the most.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) A loved one returns after a long separation. At work, a decision is made that could lead to the changes you hoped for. The next step is up to you.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A setback in an important relationship results from a misunderstanding. Forget the finger-pointing and take the first step to set things straight.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) This is a good time to set things straight in your personal relationships. Some decisions might be difficult but necessary if you’re to turn things around.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Keep an open mind about changes in your personal life. What seems unacceptable at first might prove to be otherwise when more facts begin to emerge.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Cupid rules the Capricorn Goat’s heart this week. It’s a good time to start a new romance or reaffirm your commitment to your current beloved.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) It’s a good time to start the healing process for bruised or broken relationships. There may be some resistance to a reconciliation, but don’t give up.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Travel and entertainment are favored for the rest of the month. You earned this good time. Enjoy it with friends and family members.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) During this period of change, the wise Pisces should avoid swimming in rough waters. Take time for things to settle before making a serious commitment.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Someone you’ve been close to reveals a secret that could put this relationship at risk. Consider the full impact of the admission before making a decision.

BORN THIS WEEK: You are friendly and enjoy good BORN THIS WEEK: You have a sense of justice that company. You have a fine sense of business and are more sometimes makes you a mite too judgmental, but it also likely than not to succeed at whatever you choose to do. makes you a trusted and loyal friend.

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

1. GEOGRAPHY: Which European country has the largest population?

SUDOKU

BY LINDA THISTLE 2. TELEVISION: Which sitcom features a character named Ron Swanson?

3. SCIENCE: What are the three layers of the Earth?

4. MOVIES: Which 2001 movie has a famous “bend and snap” scene?

5. MONEY: What is a modern U.S. penny made of mostly?

6. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What is a common name for an animal in the Leporidae family?

7. LITERATURE: Which children’s book contains the line, “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast”?

8. ANATOMY: Where is the pinna located in the human body?

9. HISTORY: Who was the fourth president of the United States?

10. BUSINESS: What did Amazon sell exclusively when it started business PLACE A NUMBER IN THE EMPTY BOXES IN SUCH A WAY THAT EACH ROW in 1994?

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

CROSSWORD

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

CONT. FROM PAGE 12

-Seasoned bartenders executing seasonal menu changes.

-Invigorating beats that won‘t overshadow conversation but will pave the way for playlists highlighting local DJs. With all the commercial development in Elizabeth, Sneak stands to become the elevated living room and cocktail lounge meet-cute that Elizabeth never knew it needed.

P.S. When you find the throne in the hidden Room of Requirement, in all its golden opulence, let me know.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

INITIAL CONDITIONS

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Regaining the spark

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BY DAN SAVAGE

I’m a 40-year-old woman, he’s a 35-yearold man, we’ve been together for 15 years.

We met young, and I was his first serious partner. In the beginning, sex was fun, but I’ve never had an orgasm with anyone, ever.

We had a ton of other things in common and we stayed together because it mostly worked. Fifteen years later, I have two big issues: I can’t orgasm — that’s issue number one — and even if I could accept that, the sex I have with my partner is unsatisfying and has been for years. He’s a caring partner, but he’s not good in bed. My attempts to explain to him what gets me excited were ignored.

When he’s unsure, he gets quiet and retreats.

When I finally told him I couldn’t keep having unsatisfying sex, his self-esteem in bed was completely destroyed. Now we don’t have sex at all.

Neither of us wants to end the relationship.

We still cuddle, and we’re a great team. We have shared hobbies that take up 95% of our time (mountain sports), no kids (by choice), a decent income (finally!), and an otherwise rewarding life. We’ve also never demanded monogamy from each other but living in a small town in rural Canada makes seeking out others extremely complicated. I sometimes wonder if exploring my sexuality with someone else — maybe even a woman (I’m pretty sure I’m bi) — might help me get my playfulness back and inspire me to try again with my partner. We talk about these things very openly, so it wouldn’t be cheating. Has that ever worked?

About never having an orgasm: It’s not just him. Nothing I’ve ever tried — toys, masturbation, different toys, more masturbation, pot, alcohol, porn — has helped. I just can’t come. Arousal builds then abruptly ends before I come. People say, “Just masturbate more,” but I’ve been doing that

for years and nothing changes. I’m pretty frustrated and wondering if I should just give up. But if I break up with my partner over this and I can’t orgasm with the next person I fall for, what was the point of breaking up? Years ago, I had a super-hot summer fling with a very attractive guy — which my partner knew about and encouraged me to enjoy — and still zero orgasms. Am I just broken? Has anyone who never orgasmed finally achieved one? What worked?

SADNESS OVER THIS INABILITY RUINING ENTIRE DAYS

“Pleasure is why people are motivated to have sex,” said Dr. Lori Brotto, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of British Columbia.

“When pleasure is absent, it’s not surprising that motivation and desire fade.”

Now, it’s certainly possible to have a pleasurable sexual experience without coming — because of course it is — but if you never come and the sex isn’t very pleasurable and your partner doesn’t listen when you suggest ways to make sex slightly more pleasurable, sooner or later you’re gonna give up or blow up.

But even if you decide to give up on sex — at least for now, at least with your long-term partner — Dr. Brotto, who is also a sex researcher and sex therapist, doesn’t want you to give up on orgasms.

“Most people assigned female at birth who cannot reach orgasm during insertive vaginal sex — 80% of females — can reach orgasm on their own during clitoral stimulation,” said Dr. Brotto.

“SOTIRED mentions needing her mind to be very present, which is not only normal but required for high arousal and orgasm in females. Thus, having her mind ‘totally there’ is an excellent skill, and I’d encourage her to build on that.”

Now, Dr. Brotto isn’t just telling you to “masturbate more,” SOTIRED, she’s telling you not to give up.

“But if, despite experimenting with all types of stimulation and focusing her mind on sensations

PUZZLE ANSWERS

Trivia Answers

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Follow Dr. Lori Brotto on Threads and Twitter @ DrLoriBrotto. To learn more about her research, her public speaking, and her books, go to www.loribrotto. com.

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6. Rabbit or hare.

7. “Alice in Wonderland.”

8. Ear. 9. James Madison.

10. Books.

SAVAGE LOVE

in the present moment, SOTIRED still isn’t reaching orgasm during masturbation, more may be going on,” said Dr. Brotto. “I would want to rule out any physical causes like vulvo-vaginal pain, skin dermatoses, nerve damage from an injury, diabetes, or neurological issues. I’d also ask a physician to review the medications she’s on — and was on previously — to see whether there’s something pharmacological blocking climax.”

As for your partner, SOTIRED, Dr. Brotto thinks you should see a sex therapist.

“A good sex therapist can reframe ‘working on it’ in a pleasure-focused way,” said Dr. Brotto. “And a therapist could perhaps convey to SOTIRED’s partner that learning to give his partner pleasure will directly benefit him as well. And since many sex therapists offer virtual appointments, living in a small town is no problem.”

And now, at the risk of making myself deeply unpopular in the comment thread this week, I rise in defense of your dense partner.

If you pulled your punches when you tried to talk to him about your dissatisfaction … if you prioritized your male partner’s ego over advocating for your own pleasure because that’s what cis women are socialized to do … your partner may not have known you were this unhappy. If you were gentle and opaque, SOTIRED, if you said something like, “Things are great! But this [small change, vibe shift, sex act] would make things even better,” he may have come away from those conversations thinking, “Hey, things are great,” not because he’s an insensitive asshole, SOTIRED, but because he was socialized as a cis man. Many cis women (and most gay men) will find the tiniest criticism under a mountain of compliments (find it and obsess over it); many cis men (and some gay men) will entirely miss the mountain of criticism because they can’t take their eyes off the single, half-hearted compliment perched on top.

Being confronted by a deeply dissatisfied romantic partner — being told you suck at sex by the person you’ve been having sex with most of your adult life — won’t leave a scratch on a selfish asshole who couldn’t care less about his partner’s pleasure, SOTIRED, but it has the power to devastate a decent person who was too dense to hear what you were trying to say. So, the fact that your partner was hurt when you finally blew up is a good sign — which is a very long way of saying I agree with Dr. Brotto about seeing a sex therapist and giving your partner a chance to make the sex work.

And don’t lose hope — for yourself as an individual, SOTIRED, or for you and your partner as a couple.

1. Russia.

2. “Parks and Recreation.”

3. Crust, mantle and core.

4. “Legally Blonde.”

5. Zinc.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

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