Maybe you assumed we’re the only ones thinking about the musical community we constructed in our youth. Perhaps you assumed our web of bands and venues and relationships was the only one to inspire a Web anthology and assorted reunions.
Now consider the unlikely musical incubator of Boone, N.C., which has inspired an eerily similar project focused on reassembling underground bands that played Appalachian State University between 1979 and 1990.
“Boone, located in the northwestern mountains of North Carolina, is home to Appalachian State University,” the proprietor of the Boone Music Archive site writes. “In 1979, ASU’s student population was roughly 10,000 which closely matched that of the town of Boone. … Slowly a local original music scene emerged. …
“This web site is an archive for the audio and visual record of the local original music scene for the period from 1979 to 1990. … More than 20 years later it has been possible to unearth a record of the music, people, and events. Demo recordings, board tapes, flyers, pictures, newspaper articles and personal accounts have all surfaced. There are also quite a few known artifacts that have not turned up yet but they will with your help.
“In April of 2007 there will be a reunion – an alt rock reunion for lack of a better term. There will be live music from some of the bands and a chance for people separated by time and circumstance to reconnect.”
And in an update, a second BMA reunion was scheduled for April 2009 at the Gamekeeper in Boone.
Ummmmmmmm … Wow! Sounds familiar. Check out everything from the Othermothers to G Force to the Dead Wives of Jerry Lee Lewis to Dionysian Tapestry to And Siamese Urbain.
I like the sound of some of these bands … Other ones, not so much … But it’s got me thinking again about the ingredients that go into a scene and what impels its participants to reassemble Humpty Dumpty many years later.
Oh! And can we grant Boone sister-city status?
BTW, check out the next town over where the kids bought beer: Blowing Rock!
It is our parallel universe. Have you found your “other” self Matthew?
>>Have you found your “other” self Matthew?
Kristen: Every time I try to call him, I get a busy signal!
>>”Every time I try to call him, I get a busy signal!”
Bizarro world!! Scary halloween!
Ray: Great footage from the Appalachian State University alumni mixer!
More Blowing Rock action …
PS: It’s funny how other cities’ scenes regard little ol’ us … I came across this YouTube video of an early-’90s Tucson band called the Sidewinders.
Check out this comment by “pearcactusjelly”: “San Diego may have had the Che Underground but we had the Sidewinders. They are legendary minstrels.”
Heh!
Is Pearcactus assuming that CHE is a band?? Where did Pear find out about CHE I wonder??
Wondering how you came to find this one video??
I propose a cultural exchange where we send some tapes, videos, carne asada and rolled tacos in exchange for some Carolina Red Sauce Barbeque.
>>Wondering how you came to find this one video??
Bruce: “Ego-surfing” references to Che Underground on Google, of course! 🙂
This one came up shortly after Wired.com profiled us … Before you know it, Murray the K was following us everywhere, and the hotel staff was cutting up our sheets for souvenirs!
I’m with Paul Kaufman on the BBQ sauce. I’ve also eaten my coleslaw with ketchup ever since a week in Winston-Salem a few years back.
Oh, man! Check out the 1984 shots of this band (“Three Hits”) playing Ziggy’s in Winston-Salem.
When I was down there on business, John Stees came to visit me. (He’s living in Raleigh-Durham.) And we were wandering around town that evening, trying to figure out what there was to do. And we ended up here, except it was too early to get in.
Staffed by white kids in rasta caps, lotsa vaguely hippie murals on the walls, kinda rambling outdoor-indoor layout … Ziggy’s is the Che Cafe of the Piedmont Triad!
Matt, please note that you, my friend, have managed to host a steadily attended online party on Che since the last time BMA posted any updates other than their reunion announcement. They promised updates 2 years ago and t-shirts last March. No esta aqui. I believe your dedication to this kind of project remains unique. Muchas gracias.
My house in Atlanta is about 5 hours from Boone, if we need a spy….
Boone is a very cool place, has hills with snow…And some people ski down them.
Actually has 3 ski resorts. I went once and it was fun. Short runs and you need to hit it after a storm or you are going down ice with 300 other yo yo’s.
Great find, Matt.
I’m not sure there is such a thing as an unlikely musical incubator. I’ve been thinking a lot about what it is that is necessary for a music scene to develop, and I think it only requires a good mix of kids and an influx of outsiders attracted to a magnet like a university or other cultural mecca.
Some other places with thriving scenes these days include Lawrence, Kansas; Newark, Delaware; Omaha, Nebraska; and Norman, Oklahoma.
Charlottesville,
Kansas City,
Austin
>>I’ve been thinking a lot about what it is that is necessary for a music scene to develop, and I think it only requires a good mix of kids and an influx of outsiders attracted to a magnet like a university or other cultural mecca.
Ray: Yup, definitely that. I’d venture that San Diego as we knew it was an interesting mix — ’cause it had the universities, it had a big influx of other populations, it had the military, it had Mexico right across the fence, it was a short drive from LA, it was the lowest point down and to the left where drifters could drift in the continental US …
So in some ways, we had the qualities you note turned up to “11.” Which actually made San Diego more tumultuous (and dangerous) than a lot of other scenes.
But there are all kinds of lovely permutations on the basic theme you describe. Boone seems a pretty neat example of university and tourism combining to stimulate some kids to creative efforts in a fairly isolated spot. (Other regions’ mileage varies, and it’s a LOT of fun to see how.)
College towns were certainly at an advantage, just because they were on the tour routes for key bands. My wife grew up in Grand Rapids, which lacks a major university … And they were frequently bypassed by bands whose appearance influenced local scenes elsewhere.
College towns almost always have cool music scenes. Providence has always had a hip bunch of local bands thanks to Brown and Rhode Island School of Design. (home of Talking Heads)
I was travelling somewhere in VA in the early ’90s and out of nowhere was this cool college town, bands, cafes, kids wearing Doc martins…Blacksburg maybe??
I think Matt is right about SD, late 70s. Kind of unique in its craziness in part due to Mexico, Navy/Marines, LA, Surf, etc…..
>>Providence has always had a hip bunch of local bands thanks to Brown and Rhode Island School of Design. (home of Talking Heads)
Bruce: I think I mentioned elsewhere that my RISD-alumnus neighbor went to school with the Talking Heads …
What about the famous city of Ann Arbor? We all know what went down there…
University of Michigan
Bands making music in the misty mountain town of Boone, NC, in the 1980s at Appalachian State University were hungry, aggressive, loud, funny and happily weird. Fear & Loathing, The Outer Limits, No Reason Why and others explored fresh punk rock territory. I sang for the Dead Wives of Jerry Lee Lewis. On the national scale, we were all fascinated with bands like Dinosaur Jr, Meat Puppets, fIREHOSE, Sonic Youth, Redd Kross, Husker Du, Mudhoney, Tar Babies, Fishbone, Das Damen and Soundgarden. Those are great memories of inventive rock music being the musical landscape to intellectual expansion, coming of age and good friendships. Those were happy, youthful times.