Despite the fact that I work at UNC, I sometimes forget that college campuses (campi?) are the coolest places in the world. I'll chalk it up to the fact that I spend a lot of time in an office and much too much time in front of a computer monitor (even if it is a 20" Apple Cinema Display) -- I lose sight of all the university has to offer: guest lecturers, cheap (or even free) live music sets, workshops, etc..

Originally, I wanted to write a long rant here about how I miss school, especially when reading the journals of Jason Lundberg and Dickie Cronkite (See their links on the left. I'm too lazy right now to write the code to set up links here.). I get a little nostaglic about all those opportunities the student lifestyle has to offer. Anyway, I just don't have the energy to get into those original thoughts...so I'll just mention this:

On the way back from a quick jaunt to lunch on Franklin Street today, I realized that the Thurdsay Music on the Terrace event was in full swing. The first set, some student band, had finished up and the second was about to start, warming up on the porch of the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence (otherwise known, thankfully and acronymically, as the JCUE). Turns out the main attraction was Southern Culture on the Skids. I'd heard of them but never listened to any of their stuff.

SCOTS (their acronym) has been around for about 20 years and is a Chapel Hill band that actually may have a wider international following than local. I stuck around for about 30 minutes of their high-energy Southern-hillbilly blues-funk-rock music. Good, infectious stuff...

So, I should realize that one doesn't necessarily have to be a student to get some of the benefits of living near/working on a university campus. Still, you guys - Dickie and Jason - suck out all the marrow from that campus bone before you get enervating day jobs...

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Some info from the Southern Culture on the Skids website :

SCOTS can't help but be a walking, talking storybook of Southern folkways. Formed in 1985 in Chapel Hill, NC, where Miller earned an art degree at UNC, SCOTS debuted with an EP (Voodoo Beach Party). They've subsequently released seven long players: Southern Culture on the Skids (1986), Too Much Pork for Just One Fork (1990), For Lovers Only (1992), Ditch Diggin' (1994), Dirt Track Date (1995), Plastic Seat Sweat (1997) and Liquored Up and Lacquered Down (2000). Now comes Mojo Box!


Raised in Henderson, NC, Miller comes by his countrified credentials honestly, as his father ran a mobile-home factory. He also spent part of his childhood in California, which explains how high-reverb surf guitar and Creedence Clearwater Revival's swamp-rock became audible influences in his writing and playing. Drummer Dave Hartman and bassist Mary Huff are old friends who grew up in Roanoke, Virginia.