A chronicle of the Upstate South Carolina music community and beyond
By DAN ARMONAITIS Like many other musicians throughout the world, Mary Emma Norris has spent the past couple of weeks in isolation and unable to perform in public due to crowd-gathering restrictions related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It’s a far cry from how the month began. On March 1, Read More
By DAN ARMONAITIS Little Lesley & the Bloodshots were to have played gigs this weekend at Smiley’s Acoustic Cafe in Greenville and at Rockabilly Reckoning in Austell, Georgia. Instead, like other musicians throughout the world, their shows were canceled due to concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic. In the internet age, Read More
By DAN ARMONAITIS Downtown Spartanburg will be filled with music throughout the afternoon and evening on Saturday, March 14 as two major St. Patrick’s Day-themed events are held along Main Street. The 3rd annual Shenanigans on the Square will be presented by Delaney’s Irish Pub and Wild Wing Cafe from Read More
By DAN ARMONAITIS Sarah Shook has a reputation as a bit of a badass, and it’s a label that the North Carolina-based singer-songwriter warmly embraces. “By my estimation, nothing is more badass than having compassion for others,” Shook said. “And assuming that assessment is true, then, yes, I got badass Read More
By DAN ARMONAITIS Charleston-based singer-songwriter Matt Megrue hasn’t played The Radio Room since the Greenville music venue moved from North Pleasantburg Drive to its current location on Poinsett Highway in 2017, but he already knows what to expect when he performs there on Friday, March 6. “I saw Titus Adronicus Read More
By DAN ARMONAITIS While living in Savannah, Ga. for 13 years, Anna Chandler would often drive up U.S. Highway 17 to Charleston. Along the way, she’d pass through the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto Basin, a beautiful estuary better known as the ACE Basin. “That drive is my favorite to do Read More
By DAN ARMONAITIS As the Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs prepare to kick off the Carolina Revue, group co-founder Kendra Bragg Harding is fully aware that the concert, which will be held on Friday, Feb. 28 at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, is much bigger than any one band on the bill. Read More
By DAN ARMONAITIS When James Carter was growing up in the 1970s, there was a brief period in which one of his older brother’s bandmates came to stay at the Carter home in Detroit. Charles “Chazzy” Green, who would later play with Ray Parker Jr., brought with him a few Read More
By DAN ARMONAITIS As the frontman for Spartanburg-based progressive pop-rock outfit The Consumers, Joe Power has spent more than a decade crafting melodic songs that are sometimes edgy but almost always accessible. With his new band, Buffalohead, Power has a different mission. “My goal is to melt your face and Read More
By DAN ARMONAITIS Spartanburg-based singer-songwriter Shannon Ferguson has reinvented herself as Rhea Deléo and is poised to take her music career to a new level in 2020. “I chose the artist name Rhea Deléo because I have always resonated with the first name Rhea since I was a child, and Read More