Late bloomer: Local bassist in full flower


“This song was written before the USDA got their hands on organic standards!” announces the voice booming over the loudspeaker. It’s a Friday night in late April and the attention of the crowd gathered around the outdoor stage at Sylva’s Soul Infusion Bistro is centered on bass player Adam Bigelow.

“And we in no way endorse USDA organic standards!” Bigelow continues. “Buy local from someone you know! We support the Jackson County Farmer’s Market—because we’re for real!”

At six foot four, with a distinctive baritone voice and seemingly permanent smile, Adam Bigelow is one of Jackson County’s most recognizable local musicians. He may also be one of the busiest. Continue reading

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Post-rock post

This Saturday at Guadalupe Cafe in Sylva:

Lost Trail (from Raleigh) – minimalist post-rock

Tall Fields (from Highlands) – chilled-out, atmospheric electronica

Watch The Skies (of the Sylva diaspora) – heavy, harmonic post-rock

Note: Watch The Skies features Matt Heisler of Libianca, about whom you may have read in Quiet Magazine #4.

(Click the image at left to view the Facebook event.)

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Franklin is blowing up.

Pandora’s Box is now open, and the following glorious evils have issued forth:

Unawarewulves, Go Devils, and the Killbillies
at the Party Zone on Saturday, April 30th.

Crow vs. Hawk, Angela Faye Martin and Red Collar
at the Carl Slagle Memorial Building on Friday, May 21st.

Macon County represent!

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Back Street by black light: Absolem’s Hookah Spot

Sylva’s downtown nightlife, such as it is, runs along Main Street, while nearby Mill Street – often referred to, tellingly, as “Back Street,” and currently home to a cobbler, a frame shop, a laundry and a fishmonger – has tended to go dark after business hours. Passersby this spring might be more than a little surprised, then, to suddenly hear the thump of a bass drum or to spot a clutch of college students congregating in front of the matte-black storefront at 561 Mill Street.

Absolem’s Hookah Spot will open on Friday, April 22nd with performances by DJ Sevenstone and Duh!RockBoyz. Right now it’s early April, and I’m sitting on one of the Hookah Spot’s fluorescent-splattered couches talking to the proprietor, Emily Walker, under a blacklight. The nascent venue is a flurry of activity. Two volunteers are remodeling the unisex bathroom in the corner, while another fiddles with a digital camera, taking pictures for the Absolem’s website. Tattooist Robbie Crisp is on his way out the door, having just put the finishing touches on an eight-foot-tall mural of Clint Eastwood on the wall behind the new plywood stage.
Continue reading

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The Imperative yields to the compulsion

It’s three days before the first show, and Luke Webb is rummaging through a basket of percussion instruments. He hands one to each member of The Imperative—a Tibetan gong for bassist Adam Bigelow, a two-sided brass cocktail jigger for keyboardist Rachel Waterhouse—while Webb himself fingers a brightly decorated recorder.

And then the processional begins. As Bigelow and Waterhouse lock into a chiming, metallic beat and Webb rasps a hoarse drone on his recorder, the musicians pace slowly into the living room before taking up their primary instruments to begin their set.       Continue reading

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Photos 03-19-11: Slagle Building show

Jana Thompson has uploaded a boatload of photos from last weekend’s show at the Slagle Memorial Building in Franklin.

Pictured: Tall Fields, Eureka California, The Moon Ladder, Crow Vs. Hawk, Total War, Polecat Swagger, the Unawarewulves, and a bunch of Franklinites living it up.

Click here to view the album.

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Miking Mihrab @ Guadalupe Cafe, Sat. March 26

EMERGENCY SHOW!
Philly post-punkers Miking Mihrab needed a show on short notice, and they got one, at Guadalupe Cafe this Saturday. They’ll be there, with additional support to be determined.

The show is free and will start around 10pm.

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Unawarewulves, Crow vs. Hawk, Eureka California and Total War – Sat. March 19th at the Slagle Building in Franklin

How often do you have a reason to spend a Saturday night in Franklin?

This might be the best reason ever: two Franklin bands have taken the lead to make something happen by arranging a giant show at a local community building.

Get the full info from the Facebook event.

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Photo archives 01-14-05: Libianca and Maesta at House On Broad Street

Libianca, four on the floorOne of the features of the old quietzine.com was an archive of photos from shows in Sylva and nearby towns. We will periodically highlight a selection from this archive, beginning with this one, featuring Libianca and Maesta, two Sylva bands legendary for slightly different reasons.

Click here to view the gallery.

The pictured show took place at House On Broad Street, a residence in downtown Sylva inhabited by, among others, John Henry and Manuel of Libianca. For a glorious period of six months or so, they opened their living room to a variety of local and touring bands, incurring in the process a number of broken windows.
Continue reading

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Photos 03-12-11 – Eureka California, Reader, The Moon Ladder @ Guadalupe

Photos of Eureka California, Reader, and The Moon Ladder in a Facebook gallery from the lovely Mar Starr.

Click here to view the album.

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