Local Music News April 26 2006
A benefit for Darwin’s owner, prizes for Forsyth Central HS, Widespread Panic
Earlier this month, Darwin’s owner Kay Rowedder suffered a heart attack that hospitalized her for several days. Until that moment, she ran what many consider one of the best music venues in the area, a blues and jazz hot spot that Creative Loafing named Best OTP Music Club in 2003 and 2004.
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“She’s doing really well now, but she is uninsured, like most of us are,” says blues musician Liz Melendez, who adds that Rowedder is now recuperating at home. “The costs are going to be pretty high once all the bills come in.”
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To help pay her medical costs, Melendez and several others are throwing a benefit concert at Darwin’s on Sat., April 29. From 5 p.m. until close for $12, you can see performances by Andrew Black, Heaven Davis, Chris Duarte, Diane Durrett, Beau Hall, Mudcat and Melendez, as well as a big jam session. Other fundraising efforts, including a golf tournament this summer, are in the planning stages.
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“We all care about her and appreciate how hard she has worked to keep Darwin’s open in spite of the fact that so many other live music venues across the U.S. have fallen by the wayside,” wrote Melendez in an e-mail announcing the benefit. She says that Rowedder will be there, too. You can get more info at Darwin’s website, www.darwinsblues.com.
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It seems that not a week goes by without an area musician winning some kind of honor. Forsyth Central High School Drumline competed at the 2006 Percussion World Championships in Dayton, Ohio, from April 20-22. The crew captured eighth place in the Percussion Scholastic World category. True, it didn’t win, but being considered the eighth best drumline in the country is pretty good. Congratulations to Forsyth Central’s Drumline for a job well done. ... Also, respect due to Widespread Panic, whose Live at Myrtle Beach was named Live Album of the Year at the sixth annual Jammy Awards in New York City on April 20.
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This week’s featured concerts include a Thurs., April 27, CD release party at Smith’s Olde Bar for Southern rockers the Redbelly Band’s Petition to the Queen. Other acts on the bill are All the Saints and the Marsh. ... Soul diva Joi welcomes her new disc, Tennessee Slim Is the Bomb, during Sol Fusion’s Fri., April 28, party at Motion nightclub in Underground Atlanta.