Leaving a group meeting last week I had planned to meet with many of the members of NC's music scene to get a view of Charlotte's musical past. My plan was to question many of the members of Greensboro's music scene about any affiliation with Charlotte's music scene. What I found was astounding even if it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Of the people I questioned non appeared to have any information that particularly related to Charlotte. I heard stories about a dive in Greensboro called "Friday's" and a pizza joint called "New York Pizza" both of which were host to a myriad of bands from the seventies up through the late eighties. I heard about the culture surrounding UNC-Greensboro and how its student body helped to shape Greensboro's music scene. I learned about several Avant-Garde bands many of whom are still on the cutting edge of improvisational art. I even had the pleasure of playing with one, the F-Art Ensemble, who has been active since the early eighties.
While specifics surrounding the Charlotte area were sparse I found some good jumping off points. I was directed towards Bill Hanna who has been hosting an open Jazz Jam at the Double Door Inn (a bar in Charlotte) for almost twenty years. I also found out that the owner of Somewhere Else Tavern in Greensboro has thirty years of experience and contacts that could be to my advantage.
These developments are also exciting because it gives me an idea of the era in which my research could be the most useful. Because I am currently involved in North Carolina's Music scene, I figured recent history would be more fitting to my experience. The sources that I have begun to pool give me a better target for the information that I might actually be able to find; the experience also introduced me to a great target audience, musicians. Interest was very high among the musicians to whom I spoke. Hopefully I can start building a great base of study.
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