By DAN ARMONAITIS
As the Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs prepare to kick off the Carolina Revue, group co-founder Kendra Bragg Harding is fully aware that the concert, which will be held on Friday, Feb. 28 at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, is much bigger than any one band on the bill.
“This is something none of us could have ever made happen on our own, so we’re super grateful to be involved,” Harding said.
A part of the Second Stage at SMA series held in the auditorium’s downstairs arena, the Carolina Revue will showcase two bands from South Carolina (Remedy 58 of Greer and Strange Bird of Spartanburg) along with two from North Carolina (the Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs of Winston-Salem and Vagabond Crowe of Hendersonville).
The concert was organized by Brian Wagner of Coda Frequencies, a Spartanburg-based music management and promotions company.
“I think Brian did an excellent job of finding bands that were different enough that the audience isn’t going to be like, ‘OK, another one of these bands,’ but similar enough with our style or our vibe that there’s still cohesion,” Harding said. “We’re all doing something a little different but not in a way that’s weird or awkward.”
Led by Kendra and her husband Zack Harding, who will be backed at the concert by drummer Wayne Redden and bassist Cole Laughter, the Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs offer what Kendra calls a “folk fusion” sound.
“You’ll hear some rootsy bluegrass kind of influence, but you’ll also hear a funk jam on banjo,” said Kendra, who added that she and her husband are big Grateful Dead fans and are also inspired by artists ranging from Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to Sarah Jarosz and Punch Brothers.
Bassist Joel Green of Remedy 58, which will close the concert, said he, too, is looking forward to performing at the Carolina Revue.
“One of the things we’re stoked about is being able to play a show where we can showcase our original music and not have to play 90 percent covers,” said Green, who is joined in Remedy 58 by lifelong friend Tipton Jones-Boiter on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards and by Mark Eshenbaugh on drums.
Remedy 58, which was formerly known as DysFUNKshun, recently released an eight-song album called “Year One: A.D.”
“We’re kind of on the bluesy soul end of things,” said Green, who used to play in the Seattle-based post-hardcore outfit Emery. “I’d put us in the same kind of vein as, like, Gov’t Mule or Marcus King. Our songs are really heartfelt, and they come from a real place.”
Singer-songwriter Mitch Stewart, who fronts Vagabond Crowe, said being able to play a venue as historic as the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, which opened in 1951, is a rare treat for a band that typically plays gigs at local bars and breweries.
“I remember my dad talking about (the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium) when I was growing up because he went and saw some of the southern rock bands that played there back in his day in the ’70s and ’80s,” Stewart said. “And Brian’s talked about Neil Young and Bob Dylan having come through there.
“Even though we’re not going to be on the same stage as those guys, I think it’s a big honor just to be playing in the same building where they played.”
Vagabond Crowe, which will take the stage just before Remedy 58, is rounded out by Paula Woods on vocals, Brent Fluery on drums, Joel Carson on lead guitar/harmonica and newest member Chad Jordan on bass.
“We’ve got two new original songs that we’re going to be pulling out at the Carolina Revue, which are kind of a showcase of the direction that Vagabond Crowe is going in,” Stewart said. “It’s a little bit heavier, giving more room for Joel’s electric lead. We’re sort of getting away from the Americana stuff that we’ve been doing and going more in a folk-rock direction with kind of a bluesy southern rock mix.”
While Strange Bird, which will take the stage after the Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs, sometimes plays as a full band, it will appear at the Carolina Revue as a duo composed of singer-songwriters PJ Teague and Annie Perez.
“I would describe what we do as kind of raw indie rock,” Teague said. “That might be too simple, but we try to have some variety in our music. We have a few songs that are piano-based, and we have some that are guitar-based.”
Teague said his primary influences are The Beatles and Elliott Smith while Perez is a big fan of such groups as Nirvana and Fleetwood Mac.
Like everyone else involved in the Carolina Revue, Teague is excited to have the opportunity to play inside the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium.
“It’s a staple of the Spartanburg downtown area,” Teague said. “I feel like anybody who’s a resident or has spent a good bit of time in Spartanburg is aware of that venue. It’s obviously a multi-purpose facility so you don’t always see a focus on music there, but that just makes it even more special that we can be a part of this thing.”
Wagner said he hopes to bring more Carolina Revue concerts to the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in the future.
“This is something I’ve always dreamed about doing,” he said. “I want the Carolina Revue to become a local mainstay where we rotate different bands in and out. The acts from South Carolina can change and the acts from North Carolina can change, but you’ll know that it’s going to be good no matter who’s playing.”