Mural pays tribute to North Carolina's varied musical heritage

The incomparable David Menconi recently wrote a feature on the mural at Chapel Hill's Pepper's Pizza that pays homage to the various musicians North Carolina has produced.

Just inside the restaurant's front door, a painted outline of the state with portraits of native North Carolina musicians takes up a large expanse of wall. Seventeen notable natives are there -- from Carrboro roots-rock madman Dexter Romweber to Tryon R&B singer Nina Simone, Kannapolis funk giant George Clinton to Newland jazz drummer Max Roach.

Scott Nurkin, who paints murals when he isn't playing drums for the band Birds of Avalon, has been working on the art piece since before Pepper's opened in its current Franklin Street location in 2007.

It remains a work in progress, with at least a dozen portraits to come. Nurkin has partly finished portraits of Dunn guitarist Link Wray and Chapel Hill blues woman Elizabeth Cotten in his studio. Ryan Adams, Kay Kyser, Charlie Poole and Shirley Caesar are also on the way. ...

Click here to see some photos of the mural.

Revisit the golden days of N.C. rock with Comboland Radio

Been humming an old dBs song but can't think of where to hear it? Or perhaps you've been discussing how great the Pressure Boys were and waxing nostalgiac? Or maybe you just really are in the mood for some Arrogance.

Comboland Radio is the place for you.

"Comboland" was a phrase used to describe the music "coming out of the Carolinas in the middle ‘80’s,"writes Comboland creator Michael Smith on his website. "There were so many great bands that should have got the big record deal and lots of radio airplay. I can’t do much about those big record deals but with Comboland Radio I can give those artists and the ones that followed an entire radio station! Here it is…. Comboland Radio! All day every day you can listen to this great music, much of it out of print and unavailable anywhere else!!"

Comboland offers R.E.M., The Connells, Dillon Fence, Corrosion of Conformity, Cry of Love, Mitch Easter, Johnny Quest and so many more.

"The idea to create Comboland is an example of something good coming from something bad," wrote Metro Magazine.

“The genesis of the idea is the death of David Enloe,” Smith explained during our phone chat. “He was the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of The Fabulous Knobs, along with Terry Anderson, Debra DeMilo and Jack Cornell. David and Terry met, I think, in junior high school. Terry may correct me on this, but I do know they’d been together for a long, long time. I didn’t know them well back in the day. I knew them a little. I did a lot of road case pushing for local bands so I could go see them without paying a cover.

Enloe passed away in November 2007. David Menconi wrote a fine obituary for Enloe, which is available online: www.newsobserver.com/105/story/796627.html. There’s also a great tribute to Enloe on MySpace:
http://profile.myspace.com/index .cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid
=288585688.

Smith was not aware of Enloe’s illness, however, so when the news of his death reached him, it set him to thinking.

“When I heard about David’s passing, I moped around for a while thinking how horrible it was, and then I went to the storage facility where I keep all my vinyl records and packed up all my Triangle-area bands and brought it home,” he recalled. “I started listening to it, just sort of reminiscing, and it hit me that this stuff was still really good. It was a shame that these bands didn’t make it big-time.

“I decided it was time to start digitizing all this music,” he said. “Once I’d digitized it, then I had to play it around the house a little bit, so I made the play list and stuck it in Winamp and played it through the stereo system. I have a little program that will actually seg the songs, similar to what you have on a radio station. “Well, the songs sounded great, so I thought I’d stick in some newer stuff by Don Dixon. Then I downloaded some newer stuff and started experimenting. All this music sounded really good together, so I decided to make a radio station out of it.”

(CD images from Comboland's website)

Quick hits: Musical bonanza

Pickler's latest will separate her from the country-music pack
"It's hard not to like Albemarle's Kellie Pickler, especially if you're from the Carolinas," says the Charlotte Observer.

"Pickler's down-home charm, unapologetic honesty and humor has helped the former 'American Idol' finalist establish herself as one of country music's rising young female stars. She picked up three CMT Music Awards earlier this year; she'll compete for New Artist of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards on Nov. 12; and her self-titled sophomore album hit stores Tuesday.

"Having recorded her gold-selling debut 'Small Town Girl' while touring with “American Idol,” Pickler took a larger role in crafting her follow-up: She co-wrote half the disc's tracks. ..."

North Carolina Music Hall of Fame ... in Kannapolis?
"What do Earl Scruggs, Thelonious Monk, and Shirley Caesar have in common? They are all Grammy Award Winning Musicians from the state of North Carolina. Earl Scruggs (Shelby), Thelonious Monk (Rocky Mount), along with fellow North Carolinians, John Coltrane (Hamlet) and Doc Watson (Deep Gap) have been honored with the Grammy lifetime achievement award. Shirley Caesar (Durham) has received 11 Grammy awards and 7 Dove Awards throughout her career as a gospel singer. In fact North Carolina has produced some of the finest musicians in the modern world, but surprisingly, very few people are aware of North Carolina’s rich musical heritage.

"North Carolinians have helped shape every category of the music world, from country to rap, indie to pop, and from big band to jug band," writes New Raleigh. "Nina Simone (Tryon), Tori Amos (Newton), Charlie Daniels (Wilmington), George Clinton (Kannapolis), and of course Andy Griffith (Mount Airy), all have received numerous awards for their various contributions to the field, yet where would a person go to be explore this history?

"Many people might believe that the young James Taylor was baptized in the ol’ well at UNC on the day of his birth, although he was actually born in Boston. Both he and Tift Merrit were born outside the state, but graduated from the University of North Carolina.

"But nowhere in the entire state are all of these musicians and their achievements showcased. Why doesn’t North Carolina have a Music History Museum? Also, why is North Carolina creating the NC Music Hall of Fame in Kannapolis? ..."

Dunn, N.C., and the Rock Hall of Fame connection

I knew my hometown of Dunn, N.C., was famous for a couple of reasons. One was native son General William C. Lee, the "Father of the Airborne." (We even have a yearly celebration to honor this "other" General Lee.)

I was somewhat surprised years later to realize that Jack Kerouac name-dropped Dunn in "On The Road."

But I was floored when I found out -- years after I had left the city -- that one of the founding fathers of rock and roll was a Dunn native. Link Wray, the man responsible for the power chord, is from my hometown. Wow.

The power chord, for better or worse, revolutionized rock music. And while Wray is not in the Rock Hall of Fame, his surf music contemporaries The Ventures were just announced as new inductees. The Ventures even covered some Wray songs back in the day.

It should also be noted that the Rock Hall of Fame website has a list of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.

Making the list? "Rumble," by Dunn's own Link Wray.

Here's to you, Mr. Wray.