Wood Pussy (And Other Musings)

I swear this is nowhere near as dirty as it sounds.

Last week we were enjoying a family game night with a round of Junior Scrabble. Since anything worth playing is worth winning, we had to get out the dictionary because Chris was challenging a word that I had played. I could have used the online dictionary to prove to see if the word that I had made up was going to pass muster, but I have a thing for old school Miriam-Webster edition that I have had since middle school.  I just like scanning the pages and seeing what other new and interesting words I stumble across on the wandering path that may or may not lead to my intended destination. 

That is when I saw the heading on page 1,361. That is the magical page that begins with “womanlike” and ends with “wood pussy”. Naturally I had to read the definition so I can immediately begin to insert this into my daily vernacular.

wood pussy n (circa 1899): SKUNK

Quickly forgetting that my son is only eight years old, I read the definition out loud. Naturally, Chris and I laughed as if we were the grade school aged members of the room but Ivan did not even bat an eye. I had barely finished reading the definition before Ivan inquired “So, wait… we’re actually going to the Albino Wood Pussy Music Festival next weekend?”

I have a couple of thoughts on this…

First and foremost, will my Father of the Year trophy be mailed to me or will someone hand deliver it?

Secondly, where in the world did this name come from? If skunks actually bore any resemblance to cats then, maybe it would work? Also, did you know that “polecat” is another feline-related nickname of the skunk? Did you have any idea that skunks were once classified as part of the weasel family before genetic research earned them classification as their own unique group? How about the fact that I am obviously such a nerd that casually stumbling across the word “wood pussy” during a game of Junior Scrabble leads me to research skunks on the Interwebs?

Finally, and most importantly, let us return to the significance of Ivan’s question. Yes, we most definitely are going to the Albino Skunk, Wood Pussy, and Polecat Music Festival this weekend.  At this point, it is as celebrated a date in our household as Thanksgiving, Christmas and our wedding anniversary. 

A quick search of this blog brought to my attention that this will be the fifth Skunk Fest in a row that I have used this forum to tell you about the best music festival in our area. So, after telling you to go see “LiveHumans Making Music”, getting all sorts of excited about “Spring Skunk 2.0” and even offering a “Quick Note From A Cripple” when I was incapacitated from shoulder surgery and pain pills, what more could I possibly tell you about The Albino Skunk Music Festival?

Well, since Zeigler is always adding, building and making Skunk Fest bigger, there are a few things, actually.

For starters, this fall’s Skunk Fest will not just feature The Community Tap serving delicious craft beer from under one little tent. Instead, they are going all out with a full-blown beer garden. Seven breweries will share their love of craft beer under one tent and keep your taste buds entertained for the duration of the three-day performance.

How about a bike ride? This year Zeigler brings you Tour De Skunk. Provided you do not spend too much time at the beer garden Friday night, you might feel good enough to go on one of two Skunk bike rides on Saturday morning. The “short” ride is a 13 miler to Campbell’s covered bridge and the real athletes among you can take the 34 mile trip to the 1820 Poinsett Bridge. Proceeds go to Brown Bird’s Dave Lamb who is battling leukemia. 

I will no doubt contribute to the fundraiser but I will do so from the comfort and safety of the beer garden. Take lots of pictures, folks. We will keep an eye on the kegs.

Finally, the festival is about music. Lake Street Dive and Seven Handle Circus have absolutely owned the Skunk Stage in years past and I am stoked that they will both make their Skunk appearances on Saturday night. That alone makes Saturday the can’t-miss night of the festival. Actually, from the time Tonight’s Noise opens up at 3:15 on Thursday, on through Sons of Bill, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Darby Wilcox, The Ragbirds and Lonesome River Band Friday night, the whole festival is just three can’t-miss nights in a row.

I guess this is why we go to Skunk Fest every year. 

Make this weekend about albino skunks, wood pussies, polecats or whatever weird double entendre gets your motor running. As long as that motor runs out to Greer for the “greatest show on dirt”, you will be a happy camper. 

Now for a brief moment of shameless self promotion… hey Anderson, folks – this week’s issue of The Upstate Be will contain an article on Skunk Fest written by yours truly. For more Skunk news and less juvenile skunk nicknames, pick it up and get the whole story of Skunk Fest. 

Can I get a “FEST-A-VUUULLLLL!!!!!!”?

Read More

Carolina BrewHaHa

I hate it when you guys have fun without us.

Now, I admit we are having a pretty outstanding time of our own right now but come Saturday we are going to be just a wee-bit jealous. Even though we would not trade our current plans for anything in the world, Upstate beer drinkers are going to have a damn good time of their own  (that is, of course, those of you that plan on attending BewHaHa).

You see, if you are going to BrewHaHa this Saturday then you are in for a treat. Anderson, South Carolina’s first ever craft beer festival will feature the delicious nectar of more than 20 craft breweries, tasty offerings from Anderson’s best restaurants and great live music. If you are in town why would you want to be anywhere else?  And please don’t say “the Clemson game” because they are playing S.C. State which does not really count…

To be honest, we’ve been looking forward to BrewHaHa for months. Our intent was to help out with our friends from Quest Brewing Company and catch up with a ton of friends from Anderson that we just do not get to see enough of anymore. Then we realized that I am incapable of reading a calendar and that I scheduled a separate trip that conflicts with BrewHaHa.

Whoops.

Good planning has never been my strong suit so I guess I should be used to mishaps like this. At any rate, I am just a bit dismayed that I will not be able to see what my favorite breweries are bringing to town for this event. From Quest in Greenville to Oskar Blues in Brevard and Founders Brewing Company from Michigan, some of my favorite breweries on Earth are going to be in attendance.

It is not just the beer I was excited about either; no visit to Anderson is complete for us without a trip to Summa Joe’s. Conveniently, they will be at BrewHaHa and even though I do not know what they are making, I can guarantee that it will be delicious. Also, Uptown Lounge has put together a great little menu that features some of the local breweries’ beers cooked into the food they are serving up. You need a little sustenance to compliment a day of beer drinking and I have little doubt that Summa Joe’s and Uptown are going to satisfy that need in spades.

Finally, since you cannot drink beer and eat good food in silence, BrewHaHa is bringing in four bands to entertain your earholes while you get your festival on. Local favorites TJ Lazer, Sam Anderson, and Peartree Music Company are all taking the stage but the special treat is the lovely Darby Wilcox. Although Darby is an Anderson native she has only returned to town for one performance in that last whole-bunch-of years. She is a great talent, one of our dear friends, and with her band The Peep Show puts on a show that should never be missed.

So, get your tickets and get your butts to BrewHaHa. The event itself should be motivation enough but just in case you need more of a reason, do it for us. Take lots of pics, tell us all about it, and let us live vicariously through you. We will do the same and swap stories later…

Read More

Hoppy IPA Day

I honestly do not know who declared that today is National IPA Day. I could probably look around the interwebs for a bit and find out if this is government-recognized national holiday or just something a bunch of beer geeks dreamt up in their mom’s basement. It really does not matter though… I am celebrating and I don’t care why.

When it comes to beer I want India Pale Ale, the hoppier the better. Pale ales, stouts, and porters are all delicious and have their own special places in my diet but ultimately I want hops, hops, and more hops. So if somebody has declared today as the day to recognize my favorite style of beer then I am all in. I am typing this at 10 AM… Is it too early to get this party started?

First a bit of history… The IPA is a great example of the old proverb about necessity being the mother of invention.  In the 1700’s British beer drinkers were wetting their whistles to their standard ales. Since England was a world power and had men all over the world, really important supplies like beer had to be shipped to whatever new land thirsty Brits were claiming as their own. 

India posed a problem though: It was too far away for the beer to travel without spoiling. Since it is a scientific fact that it is impossible to take over faraway nations without a good beer in hand this was a major dilemma. Science came to the rescue, though and it was soon discovered that hops had a preservative effect on the beers England was shipping to its men in India. More hops were added to the brew and it traveled safely to India without spoiling. 

The imperialists were free to conquer India with a good buzz and all was right in the world once more. That is, unless you were a native of India, but I suppose that is another matter altogether. The point is that eventually beer drinkers in England took notice and decided that even though they did not give a flip about preservative effects, the hopped up beer tasted delicious. The IPA became a hit and (thankfully) became a fixture in the beer world for centuries to come. 

Does anyone else want to drink a good IPA and conquer something right now, or is it just me?

Anyway, our actual IPA Day celebration kicks off at The Community Tap for their IPA Day tasting. I have no idea what those guys will have featured for this celebration but I know I am excited about it. It starts at 5:00 which means we will be there around 4:45ish because you just cannot be too early for a tasting at TCT. 

From there we head over to Quest Brewing Company for their new Thursday night concert series. Quest’s Ellida IPA is a great beer and I would be satisfied just having that as my celebratory beverage on this great day. However, there is a limited supply of Ellida that was aged in a freshly dumped Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrel and I am pretty sure that this will have the majority of my attention as long as it lasts.

Quest will also feature local guitar prodigy Marcus King making Quest’s third attempt to stage a performance outdoors without getting rained out. Performances were moved indoors due to showers on the grand opening and Darby Wilcox lasted all of two and a half songs last Thursday before a monsoon nearly swept her away. We worked pretty damn hard building that stage in time for the grand opening and it would be really nice to see someone actually perform on it... here’s hoping tonight is the night.

Also, Neue Southern Food Truck will be in the parking lot slinging their delicious fare. I am still dreaming about their BLT that I devoured on Sunday and cannot wait to see what they are serving up for dinner tonight. 

A tasting, a brewery, a concert and great food… yeah, I would say we have a good day ahead of us. This is going to be fun. Happy IPA Day, folks!

Read More

Spring Skunk In Pictures...

I am far too tired from Skunk Fest to write about Skunk Fest. So here's some pictures of another amazing weekend at the Skunk Farm. Many thanks to Zeigler and everybody that chips in to help bring this festival to life. Well done guys!

Read More

Dan Manor

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.

Read More

Skunk Fest 2012 Recap

I am actually not sure if recap is an accurate term.  For those of you that attended The Albino Skunk Music Festival, I doubt I can tell you anything you do not already know. On the other hand, if you missed it then I would be kind of jerk to rub in your face just how awesome the festival was and how vacant and empty your weekend must have been doing whatever it was you were doing besides attending Skunk Fest.

Okay, so do not think of this as rubbing it in but rather a celebration of the first time we were able to camp all three nights and not miss one second of Skunky fun.

Music, music, music… where to begin?  If you were to hand me a recording of the entire three days of Skunk Fest musical goodness there would not be one band I would even be tempted to fast forward through.  Glynn Zeigler does a phenomenal job of finding and reaching out to bands all over the country that fit the Skunk Fest spirit.  Actually, check that.  Thanks to I Draw Slow “driving here all the way from Ireland” the Skunk Fest is officially an international event if it was not already.

Read More

A Quick Note From A Cripple...

A week ago I had shoulder surgery. A "minor procedure" turned into an unexpected repair of a torn rotator cuff and a torn bicep.  I now sit here cursing as I type one handed and squint at the screen through a haze of pain medications.

In short... I am going to keep this short...

The Albino Skunk Music Festival is happening in Greer this weekend.  Chris and I will be there selling Big Daddy's Hot Sauce right next to the good people of The Community Tap and Dark Corner Distillery.  This is an awesome music festival right here in the Upstate and if I can make it for three days of festival fun in my condition then you have absolutely no excuse not to be there.

It took me about 45 minutes to type all that. I am going to take a nap while you watch this movie and click on the above links.  We look forward to seeing you this weekend.

Read More

12 in 2012

One of the best things about my “jobs” is the variety of people I meet.  Customers in the construction industry are always unique, the staff and clientele at Summa Joe’s are beyond amazing and my Mr. Mom adventures always lead me to something new and different. 

Enter Daniel McCord.

I met Daniel at The Community Tap where he is a part time beer slinger.  He loves good beer just a bit more than most anyone you know and he is tailor made for this position. Like myself though, he cannot be defined by his part time job regardless of how cool it is.  He is a former Michelin engineer turned language teacher, beer connoisseur, blogger, kickass t-shirt maker and most importantly – artist. 

Read More

We Are Going Out On A Thursday!

For a couple of people that have a blog about all the cool stuff there is to find in the Upstate, we really do not get out enough.  Half our life is dedicated to a six-year-old and the remaining time is limited by Chris’s call schedule at the hospital, evenings I work, financial constraints and any number of other responsibilities we have as we try to play the part of “grown-ups”.   As a result we see a lot of concerts and events come and go without getting to be a part of it.  

In a world without responsibilities our past weekend would have involved any number of adventures.  There was a benefit concert at The Artistry in Greenville we wanted to check out, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel performed two shows in Athens, and our friends Sons of Seuss performed in Anderson.  I would have been thrilled to have attended even one of these shows but time, money, energy, and responsibility decided that none were in the cards for us. 

Not this week. Not these kids. We are going out tomorrow.

Read More

The Avett Brothers on NYE: A Review (Sort Of)

The Avett Brothers

Saturday night Chris, Ivan and I celebrated the turning of the calendar at The Bi-Lo Center with The Avett Brothers.  I mean, technically we were “with” The Avett Brothers since we were in the same building but as we were at least 100 feet away from them I doubt they knew we were there. We will just have to call that one “their loss” and wish them better luck next year. Anyways…

First and foremost, let me say that The Avett Brothers put on an amazing live show.  This is the second time I have seen them live and they bring an energy to the stage that sets them apart from many live performances we have seen. Plenty of bands take the stage as if they are just doing their “job” and it always bleeds through in their music. It is refreshing to see a group that has achieved The Avett Brothers level of success still goes out and has a good time. 

With that being said, allow me to break down the highs and lows of the evening…

Read More

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Eve is a time for celebration. Generally we eat and drink in excess so we can make sure we wake up on New Year’s Day feeling sufficiently lousy. When done properly, this is a great way to start the year because you can virtually guarantee that every day of the New Year will be better than the first. Optimism shines like sunlight and we rest up to start conquering the world… on January 2^nd.

Read More

My Liver Needs A Vacation

Saturday I even drank enough to cross-dress.

The last several days have been almost entirely dedicated to fun, family, friends, and shenanigans. Thursday my wife Chris celebrated her 411^th birthday* and we have celebrated in style. We talked about spending her birthday or some part of the weekend in Asheville or Charleston but decided we could spend less money and have just as much fun right here at home.

Wednesday night we kicked off Birthday Eve with a quiet talk and a few cold beverages from Community Tap. We have been working so much lately that we were beginning to feel as if we were passing like two ships in the night. Even though I worked late Wednesday evening we still made time to cozy up on the couch with a Sierra Nevada Harvest, a Lagunitas Lucky 13 and the new Phosphorescent CD that I picked up at Horizon Records that afternoon. We talked more than we had in weeks, the beers were delicious and the CD was good enough to listen to twice in a row. Let the festivities begin…

Read More

“Cancer Benefit” Is An Oxymoron So Let’s Just Call It A Party

I never had the pleasure of meeting Scott Jenkins.  Worse yet, I only know about cholangiocarcinoma because it took Scott’s life.  Please allow me to apologize for these oversights and share some valuable information with you.

No matter how young, active or health conscious that we are, as humans we are fragile creatures.  At any given moment we can fall victim to a careless mishap or runaway train. In Scott’s world, that train came in the form of one of the rarest forms of cancer our bodies can buy.  One day he was alive and healthy with a wife and family that loved him dearly and the next day he was diagnosed with a terminal illness.  Shortly thereafter he left only memories with the people that loved him the most.

Read More

"See Live Humans Making Music"

If you have looked to the right at any time in the last few weeks, you have seen an ad for the Albino Skunk Music Festival.  Since I do not believe in ads for anything I do not believe in, I can assure you of this: The Albino Skunk Music Festival is something you need to check out. 

Music festivals are a beautiful thing. A good festival features a diverse musical selection, a laid back vacation-like atmosphere and a sense of community with total strangers you will rarely find anywhere else.  On the big stage Woodstock, Lollapalooza, and Bonaroo have made great headlines for music festivals over the years but are a little overblown for my tastes. I prefer to ignore pop culture and appreciate a music festival for what is should be: homegrown attractions centered around a true love for good music and the camaraderie amongst the people that appreciate it. 

Read More

Reedy River Concert Series

Reedy River Stage

I have to admit that it is disappointing to me how often people express total shock and disbelief when I tell them about the Reedy River Concert Series.  I am of the belief that if there is a venue that provides free entertainment in the heart of downtown Greenville at a beautiful outdoor amphitheatre then it is something that everyone should know about. 

Read More

A Bohemian Horizon

In case you do not know me that well, let me tell you a few things about myself: I love a good meal, a tasty beverage, and have a passion for music. To that end, I am always on the hunt for good restaurants, bars with a unique beer selection, and anywhere I can buy or listen to quality music. Therefore, it should go without saying that if I could find these things all under one roof, I would fall into a Zen-like trance.

Welcome to Bohemian Café and Horizon Records. 

Read More

Turn On The Radio Again

With the advent of iPods, satellite radio, and streaming music on our “smart” phones, there is not much reason to listen to the radio anymore. Why would we, after all, when mainstream radio would have you believe that Lady Gaga actually makes “music” or that Metallica or The Red Hot Chili Peppers are still relevant?

If you are as intolerant of the FM dial as I am (and have been for at least the last fifteen years) then you might want to check out WNCW. A public radio station broadcasting out of Spindale, NC, WNCW features an eclectic mix of rock, blues, folk, bluegrass, reggae, and just about everything else you will never hear on commercial radio. 

Read More