I was in middle school when I started giving up on
“mainstream” sources of new music. It
was then that I realized that every radio station on the dial played the same
40-50 songs in constant rotation. I also
learned that my friends’ older brothers were a great resource for music that
you just were not going to hear on MTV or Rock 101. I remember going to
friends’ houses armed with 90 minute Maxell cassettes ready to make a copy of
anybody I had never heard of.
As I ventured off the beaten musical path of my peers I
discovered that Social Distortion blew my 10-year-old mind, Camper van Beethoven was
completely different, and the Dead Milkmen… well, they had a funny name, I
suppose.
With age and technology my means of discovering new music
expanded over the years. In addition to
sharing music with friends that I knew, the Internet allowed me to share with
people I would never meet. More
significant to my development, however, was the live concert. I do not mean the
mega-show at the Bi-Lo Center or any other venue named after a grocery chain,
bank, or cell-phone provider. I mean the
band you have never heard of playing in a smoky room in front of a crowd of
less than 100 people. This is musical
discovery and it has fueled my musical appetite for almost 20 years.
I remember sneaking into The Handlebar to see Cake when I
was 17 years old. This was when The
Handlebar was (way) on the West End and Cake could not fill a room the size of
my den. In college I was always drawn to
a live performance even though most of what was available at the time was
mediocre (at best) cover bands playing songs I did not like enough to hear the
original versions of. It was not until I
lived in Indianapolis that I discovered a legitimate, local music scene that
could satisfy my hunger for new music.
The biggest thing I missed about Indianapolis when I returned
to South Carolina 10 years ago was the ability to see a different live band at
a different venue 6 or 7 nights a week.
I remember paying a $2 cover at The Patio on Monday just because the beers
were cheap and a band was on stage.
Sure, a lot of these bands stunk but many made my Monday way more
enjoyable than network television ever could have.
Now I find myself in
downtown Greenville and again have access to plenty of live music venues just a
short walk away (including the “new” Handlebar which I promise to only enter
honestly now that I am well past legal age).
However, parenthood and other responsibilities that come with the aging
process preclude us from walking out the door at every whim to see what may or
may not be good. The times of going to
see a band we have never heard of just because we can are gone and we have to
go back to doing a little research first.
This is where Dan Manor comes in… it is the title of the
article so you had to assume I would get to it eventually…
Dan Manor is the brainchild of Daniel McCord. If you are a
frequent reader of this site you will recognize his name as our friend,
neighbor, creator of the 12in2012 project, and the guy that introduced us to GeorgeThroop. Daniel is a photographer and
filmmaker and has his finger on the pulse of just about all the good music that
comes out of (and even through) the Upstate.
Dan Manor started as the name of Daniel’s house. I am not sure how palatial a home has to be
to qualify as a “manor” but my hunch is that he has taken some creative liberties
with the official definition.
Regardless, it is a cozy establishment with a great screened-in porch
which usually serves as the center of musical festivities. On any given night of the week you are likely
to find somebody with a guitar or even a full band setting up shop on the Dan
Manor porch.
This is where Daniel does what he does best. He puts his passion for film and music
together in a setting he calls home. He
hosts friends, local musicians and even bands passing through town to play a
song or a set on his porch. He films
their art, adds his own and shares it with all of us that were not lucky to see
the performance first hand.
Actually, these days, performances are no longer confined to
the Dan Manor porch. Armed with his
video camera and knack for knowing where the good stuff is going down, Daniel
now shoots as many videos away from home as he does on his porch.
Regardless of where the performances are filmed, this is the
website to visit to learn about local music. Click on Dan Manor right now and you will find an excess of local and
regional artists performing in the most personal and intimate of settings. Daniel captures the essence of who the performers
are and their passion for what they do.
For many of these artists this website is the perfect introduction
before seeing them live and in person at your favorite local music venue such
as The Handlebar, Smiley’s, Velo Fellow, or countless other Greenville hotspots.
Dan Manor features local and regional artists but is anything
but a promotional website. You do not visit Dan Manor to see when the next cool
show is because there is no calendar of events.
You do not visit Dan Manor and feel like you missed some great concert
because Daniel shares it as if you were there.
Dan Manor is driven solely by the love for Greenville’s musical talent
and the desire to share that talent with the community.
It is simple, it is honest, and maybe most importantly, it
is nearly anonymous. Daniel stays behind
the camera and shares what he enjoys and asks nothing in return for anyone
involved. It is up to you to remember
the name of the bands you like and make the effort to find out where you might
see them for yourself. He makes the
introduction but you have to do the legwork from there and you can rest
assured, it will be worth the effort.
Dan Manor provides a unique window to the Upstate music
scene. Once you look through this window and like what you see, we suspect you
will be inspired to walk through a few more doors. Enjoy the trip and make sure
you thank Daniel when you see him along the way.
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