RTP-area local music and culture

[chris.clemmons AT juno.com]

"I'm gonna come right out and say it. The local music scene around
here sort of stinks.  Sure, there's the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro that
gets the bulk of the area's good tours, Local 506 down the street in
Chapel Hill to take care of the smaller acts, and I suppose Lincoln
Theatre in downtown Raleigh has its moments. But where are our great
local bands? There was buzz in the '90s that Chapel Hill was to be the
next Seattle."

There are so many things wrong with those few statements, and many of
you have done an excellent job pointing it out.  I kinda gotta hand it
to Valerie for sticking her neck out on a.m.c-h after writing them.
Just a few personal thoughts:

Cat's Cradle, Local 506, Lincoln, sure.  And I miss Kings terribly.
But there's also the Cave, Duke Coffeehouse, the Pour House, Sadlack's
(come on Raleigh people, I've seen and played some of the best shows
of my life at Sadlack's!), Slim's, Downtown Event Center, Broad Street
Cafe, lately Jack Sprat's (which I can't admit to having been to
yet)... I could of course go on.

Note: none of these places is in Cary.

"Where are our great local bands?"  I can't even begin to touch that.
This area is so incredibly rich with talent -- and not just the
homogenous "Seattle Sound" kind of talent -- it's embarassing.  I'm
admittedly not so in touch with what's happening in Raleigh these
days, but it sure seems to me that the Durham and Chapel Hill "scenes"
are thriving, thriving, thriving.  And buzz be damned, plenty of
musicians move here from other parts of the country to make their art/
noise/what-have-you, and for good reason.

May I also suggest that Valerie read/link to the Diversions blog:
http://apps.dailytarheel.com/blogs/dive/.

I know I'm preaching to the choir.  But music is a big reason why I
live here.  And it's a big reason why I live in Chapel Hill and not
Cary.   CAC