throwing down at the brickhouse
By Paul Grimshaw
For Weekly Surge
With one eye on storms looming off our coast, and the other eye on The Brickhouse Lounge, soundman and promoter Roddy McCarson (Eason, Black Label, Confliction, House of Blues, Ron Jon's) and David Atwater (Black Label) are finalizing preparations for the Carolina Throwdown set for 6 p.m., Saturday at the Surfside Beach venue. No, the Carolina Throwdown is not a football rivalry, or a rasslin' match, but the first in what McCarson and Atwater hope might be a monthly showcase of original music from local and regional bands. This first Throwdown will feature a variety of all-original rock 'n' roll. The lineup in order of appearance: Nick Andolora, Will Thomas, Havoc Din, Superswamp Heroes, Souls Harbor, and Echo 7.
But why a "Throwdown" and why now?
"There's not a venue for bands in Myrtle Beach that isn't really a restaurant that just decides to do bands," said McCarson, who understands the need for cover bands, but like many other old-school Myrtle Beach music industry types, laments the lost steam of the Grand Strand's original music scene that was in full bloom in the '90s. "There's not a place in Myrtle Beach for original music that's good - with a stage, lighting, P.A., sound engineer - a real venue where bands enjoy playing and where people enjoy seeing them." When asked about just two of the obvious exceptions; the former Sound Garden and the House of Blues, McCarson doesn't mince words making the case that neither venue fills the void in the way he hopes Carolina Throwdown will. "At The Sound Garden the P.A. was crap." (Spoken like a true soundman) "Bar-owners that do bands usually don't want to [or can't] spend money. The House of Blues does the Myrtle Beach Rocks thing, but bands go in there all intimidated, like little ants, and they don't make the venue their own. The closest thing that Myrtle Beach ever had was Ron Jon's, back in the day. We had a P.A. and had original, local and regional bands and smaller national acts all the time. But with the place being for sale and all the changes they were making they kind of got out of it." It should be noted that Ron Jon's still books live, local, original music but not at the same frequency it once did. The Tiki at The Afterdeck, Pirates' Cove, Island Bar and Grill, and Droopy's are also among the many venues which regularly book local and regional original music.
Superswamp Heroes. -Photo by Andy Sams.
"The idea was to put together a show that people would come to see to find out what's really going on around here," said McCarson. "There's a lot of really good bands in this town, and in Columbia, but nobody knows about them. There used to be a working circuit where bands would trade off shows. Bands from out of town would come to the beach and play with a local band and then visa-versa they'd go to Wilmington and Columbia and Charleston and get the favor returned. But that's subsided because there's no place to play."
"We're tooting our horn about doing this the right way. This will be a very diverse show. There's everything from acoustic to Top 40 rock, to Southern rock to new rock, like Echo 7, which only play together once a year. We're taking full production in. We're making a big deal about this with full P.A., lighting - we're going to record a live CD." Little Kids Rock, which is a national charity with local ties, puts musical instruments in classrooms and will be on-site accepting donations.
"A lot of these guys are not worried about making money - they just want to be heard. Souls Harbor have been road-dogs for the last five or six years and they're just now catching a break, Super Swamp Heroes have a brand new CD, Echo 7 had a run with a record deal, Will Thomas, from Charlottesville (Va.), he's up-and-coming. It's a fun day for all these bands to get together to say 'Here we are. Come check us out.'"
The Brickhouse Lounge is located at 510 U.S. 17 Business in Surfside Beach. The show is open to those 18 and older. There is a $5 cover charge.
coming next week
Full details will be forthcoming in next week's edition of Music Notes regarding the 7th annual Sept. 11 benefit concert at the Dead Dog Saloon in Murrells Inlet, which will feature 15 bands, free food, raffles and fundraising to benefit Horry and Georgetown County's firefighters and law enforcement agencies.
Have a thought, comment or newsworthy item for Weekly Surge Music Notes? Send an email to pgrimshaw@sc.rr.com.