If you ask me what sort of restaurant or club atmosphere I like the best, it’s almost always small, friendly, on the funky side, cozy if it’s indoors and low key for an outdoor spot.
Key West Crazy is my kind of place. Located on the waterfront in Little River, S.C. it
seats about a hundred people. [...]
If you missed Randall Bramblett opening for Bonnie Raitt this past October at the House of Blues or his headline act at the historic Train Depot in Myrtle Beach last spring, you’re in luck.
South By Southeast is bringing the uber-talented multi-instrumentalist and his legendary five-piece band back to the beach for another rockin’ party at [...]
DJ Throwdown 2010
Fans of Carolina R&B love this event. The 19th Annual DJ Throwdown in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. is bringing 60-plus deejays to Ocean Drive along with three of the hottest beach bands around: Band of Oz, Legends of Beach and the Fantastic Shakers.
The fun takes place March 4 - 6 at Duck’s Beach [...]
CD Picks: Carolina Grown
Cagle & Nash
Soul Complete
2009
Churchill-Nash Records
Genre: R&B
cagleandnash.com
If you’re not located in the Carolinas, you may not yet know about this Charlotte, N.C. duo, but Cagle & Nash are one of the best R&B acts around. Greg Cagle plays saxophone, guitar and sings lead vocals. Rick Nash plays a mean trumpet. Both are talented [...]
By Dariel Bendin
I would have written about this terrific event sooner, but I caught the granddaddy of colds on my trip to the Upstate and I’ve just now been able to get my thoughts together. Comments from guitarist Rickey Godfrey add a musician’s POV, so I’ve included as many as possible.
Taking place at [...]
By Dariel Bendin
I won’t say that music in Myrtle Beach died along with Jeff Roberts. But it took a hit and the whole community is feeling the pain.
Co-founder and director for Myrtle Beach’s nonprofit South By Southeast, Jeff has been working his butt off for years - keeping music in our schools, supporting our local [...]
Interview by Stoney Dennis
EG Kight on Koko Taylor
EG Kight, known as the “Georgia Songbird,” writes music that encompasses blues, jazz, country, southern rock, gospel, and funk. Early in her blues career, she was the only independent artist to have songs included on two Get the Blues! albums, both of which remained on the Billboard charts [...]
November is going to be a great month for music fans along the S.C. Grand Strand. If Carolina beach music is your bag, a special weekend of Carolina Beach Music Academy (CBMA) awards, live music and shag dancing is set for Nov. 11 - 15. For cutting edge rock with beautifully crafted lyrics, plan [...]
By Dariel Bendin
Freddy Mangum
1963 - 2009
We recently lost two musicians, one I knew personally and the other only by reputation. Both were significant artists and deserve mentioning here. Freddy Mangum, 46-year-old lead vocalist for Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs passed away unexpectedly on Oct. 7; and Johnny Jones, 73, Nashville blues guitarist and mentor [...]
Let me tell you about South By Southeast, and why I think it’s so critical to the Carolinas, especially to its native Myrtle Beach.
The group was formed in 2003 by a bunch of music lovers who believed there was more to music than the Top 40. According to their mission statement, their goal is “to [...]
By Dariel Bendin
When the Rolling Stones got in hot water with Myrtle Beach’s finest,
it was Jimmy Lathan who came to their rescue
Horry County native Jimmy Lathan doesn’t consider his job a job. It’s too much fun. He’s the live production engineer for Sea-Cruz, one of the most sought-after Carolina beach music groups in [...]
By Dariel Bendin
You simply can’t have a conversation about the most hottest vocal groups to come out of the New York scene without including Little Anthony and the Imperials. Lead singer Anthony Gourdine gave a voice to teenage passion and angst back in the fifties and continues to push the boundaries of contemporary R&B today.
Gourdine [...]
By Dariel Bendin
Singer/songwriter Verlon Thompson at South By Southeast in Myrtle Beach Aug. 8, 2009
“In the end, it’s about what you feel more than what you hear.”
As we talk, writer-picker-singer Verlon Thompson is at home just west of Nashville, Tenn. and I’m parked in my car outside a waterfront joint on the Intracoastal [...]
By Dariel Bendin
Woooo-ey! Lock up your silver and hide all the women and children and good-lookin’ dogs. Lord of the swamp, King Tyrone and his randy Graveyard Ramblers are blowing into town on July 22 for a romp through Papa’s Pizza Wings & Things.
Dickie and Dianne Spencer, owners of the otherwise reputable restaurant on the [...]
By Dariel Bendin
This Charleston band has been partying for years. Their main job is to have fun … and when they have fun everyone has fun. The popular dance band includes six sing-from-the-gut vocalists and the horn section is nothing to sneeze about either.
Bass player Jack Tankersley and Mike Shuler (guitar/vocals) founded the [...]
By Dariel Bendin
When Odell Mickens calls me, he’s on the turnpike returning from Philadelphia, where he’s just played organ at the funeral of his friend’s sister. His friend is Earl Young, legendary drummer and owner of the Trammps, known around the world for their 80s hit “Disco Inferno.”
Mickens has played bass guitar for the renowned [...]
By Dariel Bendin
Daddy
For a Second Time (June 16, 2009)
Label: Cedar Creek Music
www.myspace.com/daddytheband
Genre: Americana/Alt-country
Well, today’s convoluted music news is that Daddy’s gonna be a daddy for a second time with For a Second Time, and if you understand what I’m talking about, then God love ya and log onto ReverbNation.com/DaddyTheBand PDQ because time’s running out to [...]
By Dariel Bendin
Summer’s barely here, but now’s the time to make your plans for the 2009 Charleston Beach Music & Shag Festival. I can tell you firsthand, this event is a blast. It’s being held again at the Citadel Alumni House (69 Hagood Street), which is a terrific venue and the band lineup is tops.
Thursday [...]
By Dariel Bendin
For June, South By Southeast is bringing us a roots-rock group that’s not quite a household name yet, except maybe throughout the upstate of South Carolina and North Carolina.
The Bad Popes are a popular five-piece group known for their own brand of Texas swing, their country leanings, their rockin’ roots and their folksy [...]
By Dariel Bendin
Various Artists
Ready To Party (2009)
www.khpmusic.com
Label: KHP Records
Genre: R&B
Ready To Party, the dance-driven offering from KHP Music features 14 tracks designed to get you on your feet and groovin’ to the music. This is the collection produced in conjunction with the National R&B DJ Association and released in time for Spring S.O.S., the ten-day [...]
By ‘Fessa’ John Hook
The Coachman and Four Club and Restaurant in Bennettsville was a beacon for Beach Music enthusiasts in the Golden Era from 1964 to 1974. It was more than the Temptations, the Four Tops, Smoky Robinson and the Miracles, Jr. Walker, the Tams, Jimmy Ruffin, Mary Wells and a host of other beach [...]
After talking, planning and working together for months, Andy Smith, Rick Lee and Jeff Scheible officially formed Green Dot Discs in March of this year.
Andy owns Green Dot Music, which until recently handled Wilmington band Jim Quick & Coastline. Rick Lee is a co-owner/keyboard player of Charlotte, N.C.-based Too Much Sylvia. Jeff Scheible owned [...]
The annual Cape Fear Blues Festival, number 14 this year, is set for July 24 - 26 in Wilmington, N.C. Events will include the Friday night blues cruise on the Henrietta III; a post-cruise blues party at The Rusty Nail; a daytime concert at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater; a sundown concert in downtown Wilmington at Water [...]
Buddy and Julie Miller
Written In Chalk (2009)
Label: New West Records
Genre: Americana, Roots
myspace.com/buddyandjuliemiller
A friend of mine in California just sent me the latest offering from husband and wife duo, Buddy and Julie Miller. First thing I did was pop it in the car’s CD player, and I’ve been listening to it for a couple days now. [...]
Okay, you Carolina folks are going to have one up on me here. I wasn’t in this neck of the beach in the eighties, so I didn’t recognize this group by name. I thought the Jumper Cables were, well, jumper cables.
Turns out they’re a rock trio that was based in Charleston featuring none other than [...]
New Band To Debut at Spanish Galleon • 8 p.m., April 25
Rick Strickland is a prolific, sometimes obsessed songwriter. He tells me he writes a song most every day. In fact, when he and wife, Gail, sat down to document his total tally of tunes, it came to some 2,500. “And some of them are [...]
I had a friend’s request on MySpace a couple weeks ago, a group named Bull City Syndicate. I’d never heard of them, so I went to their profile. What a great sound! Funky, soulful, strong vocals … tremendous horns. Not long after that, I get an email from JD Cash; they’re coming to Razzie’s at [...]
Beach Newz / Entertainment / Music / Nightlife/Entertainment / South Carolina Events / north myrtle beach
April 12, 2009 0It’s that time of year when over 10,000 shag dancers descend upon the Ocean Drive
section of North Myrtle Beach for ten full days of barbecue, beach time, silliness, catching up
with old friends, live music … and above all, shagging (and no, I’m not talking about the
British version, although I’m not discounting it either).
This year’s Society [...]
