18 The Tar Heel Thursday, July 18, 1935
-B10 VI Bpmf 1 I p-HW
'kapeiMUFs music
Staff Writer
When an MTV crew from the
music show "The Cutting Edge"
filmed here in Chapel Hill they
discovered a local music scene that
is preparing to rise to national
renown. That scene is preparing its
rise in some of the hottest clubs in
the Southeast. And it doesn't stop
there. Not only does new music of
the sort featured on MTV flourish
on this sound scene, but jazz, blue
grass, blues, reggae, traditional rock-n-roll,
swing, country well, you
want it, we got it. And we got it good.
We've got it in the clubs, the bars,
the restaurants, the fraternities, the
basements, the garages, on the front
porches of this musically crowded
stage. WeVe got it in the record
stores. WeVe got it on WXYC, one
of the top ten college radio stations
in the nation. WeVe got it as good,
maybe better, as any of the country's
other "happening" spots:
Athens,Ga., Atlanta, Minneapolis,
L.A. In fact, we've got it so good,
there's a general consensus in town
that the present musical outlet is
insufficient for the swell of talent in
TRIANGLE . S
)MS October 13. 1985
April 17. 1986 A J
February 1Z 1986 I
Lar Lubovitfcn
Dance Company
February 5, 1986
Tickets at The Union Box Office
A Carolina Union Program
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the area. But the talent keeps on
swelling. And the live music arenas
cater as best they can to some of the
highest quality music around.
Of course it hasn't always been this
way. Chapel Hill is coming out of
a musical vacuum brought about two
or three years ago by the closing of
some of the mainstays of the live
music scene. Oldtimers will tell you
about the legendary days of The
Station in Carrbor like us (Spagg's
spaghetti emporium is there now)
and a club last known as Pegasus,
which used to be where franklin
Center is. People just didn't seem to
believe all those "Live Music is
Better" bumper stickers and students
must have had lots of power boosters
and the like to keep their eardrums
amused.
But then, as now, Carolina had the
everpresent fraternity party. It was
here, amidst piles o' beer cans, the
fatal and deadly shards of smashed
bottles, the scattered comatose
baggers (as members of fraternities
are affectionately called by those
other, normal students), that live
music struggled to stay alive. There
were even those diehards who graced
scene flourishes with variety
parking lots in lieu of a stage.
And people listened; drunk and
dancing, they listened. When the
clubs reopened and Chapel Hill
started using its mellifluous mind,
and when the people came to the
clubs and paid money to get drunk
and dance, they got their money's
worth. Big name, national acts
discovered that this quiet college
community is, at heart, a music front
in the making and consequently
, added a stop here en route from' New
; York ,to .Atlanta. Even not-so-';
national acts were catapulted into the
limelight. As Jonathan Mudd, music :,
editor of the Triangle's Spectator
magazine puts it, "An area (pre
viously) with no sound of its own
is now fertile ground.
So we're back to business and the
business of music is variety loud,
electrifying, soft, blue, black as
varied as the places it fills.
Restaurants featuring live 'perfor-
mances in Chapel Hill don't generally
get too loud (no one should have to
yell with food in his mouth; it's rude), -but
they can get pretty hopping.
Papagayo's in NCNB Plaza is a
perfect example. Because their
music is featured on an inviting
outdoor patio (one of the few in
town), musicians are limited by local
noise ordinances. But this is one of
the restaurant's only restrictions.
Papagayo's performers crank out
anything from blues to folk music
to accoustic rock. One of the bar's
favorite duets, "Blues in Your
Shoes," rouses crowds to dancing
frenzies, sing-a-longs, and self
propelled percussion performances.
Jazz is not featured at Papagayo's,
but reggae groups will rock in from
time to time to fill out a varied menu
of live entertainment. All age groups
are welcome to eat, drink, and be
merry, but bring your ID (your
constant nightlife companion) so
they'll know what you can drink to
get merry and what you can't.
Another restaurant hosting a wide
variety of live music is Pyewacket,
located on West Franklin Street at
the Courtyard. The mellow, candlelit
ambiance of the place can be deceiv
ing. Jazz night features some of the
hottest, happening, now, wow musi
cians in town. Variety night runs the
entire music spectrum: blues, jazz,
swing, rock, folk and is usually
anything but mellow. Quiet, maybe,
but the live music at Pyewacket is
alive with diversity, talent, and
special touches. It is a great place to
see some regulars on the music scene
play alone or in a totally new and
different context. Only the decor is
a yuppie's idea of style; the music-is
finybody's and everybody's idea of
fun. .- y
And now the first on the three club
list ofoff-the-beaten-path, XA
addresses. The Cavern sits deep and
dark at 452 Vi West Franklin Street.
If you've ever seen a movie with a
dimly lit, smoke-filled pool hall
complete with hustlers, dart throw
ers, and the guy in the corner that
everyone knows; well, that's not
exactly the "Cave," but it comes
close. They've been serving beer,
handing out darts, and giving change
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for the pool tables for 22 years now.
They serve mostly older townspeople
who live and work here townies,
if you will. While the Cave isnt
exactly student oriented, the adven
terous undergrad can find some great
tunes here: accoustic, rock, some
jazz, country, blues; "a mixed bag,"
as the bar's booking agent, Meg
Rose, puts it. But dont go looking
for a dorm party good time. "They
(the students) have to appreciate us,
not us appreciate them," says Rose.
So leave that orientation group
behind, shoot some pool, and enjoy
the music. It's a different beat.
Hiding away at 405 XA West
Rosemary Street is a somewhat more
accesible "neighborhood bar,"
Rhythm Alley. Its beat is up; its
music, according to manager Judy
Hammond, is "alive and well." It is
a music club scene without the "club";
no dress-up parties, no pretentions.
This place is all about music.
Bluegrass, blues, jazz, rock, tradi
tional, and "new music" are all
featured in a familiar, welcoming
context. There is a slight tilt to the
traditional side but no one type of
tunes dominate the atmosphere of
Rhythm Alley. And no one age
either. Having already hosted some
underage shows, the club plans to try
a new schedule that may include a
permanent underage show. So find
the road that leads to Rhythm Alley
and listen, listen, listen. (Dance a lot,
too.)
Finally, the last folded-in music
spot, lounging on the Green at 112
Vi West Franklin Street at the "pizza
yogurt" connection is, of course, He's
Not Here. Who is he and why is he
gone? Maybe he just didn't want to
party. Maybe a slow, sunny after
noon there on what used to be grass
is his speed. Maybe he should leave
when He's Not Here hosts its weekly
band. Because the crowd, the bar,
the music is anything but slow.
Chapel Hill's favorite, and only, beer
garden can sure throw a music party.
Pay your cover and you're in for a
rock-n-roll evening. Wear sturuy
shoes for the typically Standing
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