If my records are correct, I have not written one article on the local music scene since the start of March and, if I am being perfectly honest, that feels absolutely terrible. As making excuses for one’s failures is the American way, I will say that instead of writing anything at all during the last two months, my wife and I bought a house, half-gutted the basement, put what feels like 4,000 gallons of fresh paint on the walls, and now live in what still feels like a sea of boxes. All of that work was scheduled around maintaining our responsibilities at our own family business so, naturally, my time for writing anything went right out the window along with any free time to actually go to any shows.
Looking back at the recent Upstate concert calendars, I cannot help but feel a sense of remorse at some of the shows I missed while over the two months. I am personally ashamed that two shows that I would normally never miss under any circumstance – Little Stranger at The Radio Room and Reverend Horton Heat at Gottrocks – came and went without me even realizing it. I am pretty sure that is the first Little Stranger show I have ever missed in the Upstate and, while I have seen the Reverend more times than I can count in my lifetime, I still have not seen him enough. Local favorites like Brother Oliver and Vilai Harrington & the Hamptones would have been blasts but other obligations got in the way, of course.