I can safely say that last Friday was my favorite Local Beat we have ever had. The guests on the show were wonderfully knowledgeable and entertaining, and the three hours we shared were exceptionally insightful into our local music scene. In case you missed it, I had a “roundtable” of sorts in which I invited several prominent members of the local music community onto the program to talk about the music in the area and their involvement. We chatted about everything from our favorite and least favorite local venues and bands to the history and future of our music scene.

First in was Betsy Harris, one of the most notable and certainly the most prolific local music photographers in the area.  Betsy was a fantastic guest who shared plenty about her role in the local music community, her work as a photographer, and several fun stories about her experiences in the past several years. Be sure to check out Betsy’s Fotki and Youtube for some sweet local multimedia content. Also, below are some of Betsy’s favorite photographs that she has graciously shared with us:

Jamie McFarlane of SWASO 12/13/10. © temples of grey (betsy harris)

Hugh Swaso of SWASO 12/13/10. © temples of grey (betsy harris)

Midtown Dickens’ Kym Dawson 2/6/10. © temples of grey (betsy harris)

Midtown Dickens’ Catherine Edgerton 2/6/10. © temples of grey (betsy harris)

Spider Bags 2/6/10. © temples of grey (betsy harris)

Don Dixon 8/28/08. © temples of grey (betsy harris)

Carter Gaj of Max Indian 10/3/09. © temples of grey (betsy harris)

Ingrid Stenzel of BUS 6/8/07. © temples of grey (betsy harris)

Karen Mann of Mann’s World also joined me on the show for about an hour.  Karen is one of the most prominent, if not the most prominent, local music blogger in our area and having her on the program was a special treat. Karen and I talked about her history in the area and her role within the music of our region. Karen was a fabulous interviewee and had plenty to say, all of it proving to be noteworthy and captivating about her dedication to the music and her blog. Karen is also having a special Mann’s World day party during Hopscotch on September 11th. Check out the flier below:

One of my favorite journalists in the area, Bryan Reed, made an appearance as well. Bryan is well known for his contributions to Shuffle Magazine where he is Assistant Editor and also the Independent Weekly where he covers local and national music. He was fun, witty, and full of knowledge on music scenes outside the Triangle region.

Linnie Green, the new editor of Diversions at the Daily Tar Heel, got quite a bit of crap from me for going to NC State’s rival school, but after I settled down and matured a little, she gave us some interesting insight into how Diversions works and what priorities they have with local music.

The mastermind behind NBC 17′s Music.MyNC was also a guest that evening. Jake is another extraordinary blogger in the area and also heads the live Sessions for Music.MyNC. I talked with Jake about how the Sessions came to be what it is and his thoughts about his contributions to the music.

Take a listen to the entire evening below, broken up into three parts:

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Tonight, the Local Beat will be a who’s-who in the local music scene. As you well know, the Local Beat is mostly dedicated to local bands and musicians who are well documented by fantastic bloggers, great deejays, newspaper writers, event organizers, photographers, and more. Tonight, you are going to have a chance to meet some of these dedicated chroniclers of the local scene as I have invited several on for what is the first in a series of the Local Beat’s “Roundtable.”

Throughout the evening, Karen Mann, Betsy Harris, Bryan Reed, Linnie Green, Jake Seaton, and hopefully several more prominent local music raconteurs will be sitting down as we chat about their services to our music scene and relate anecdotes and stories. In addition, they will be choosing the local music we will be playing throughout the show.

Among many things, Karen Mann is one of the most notable bloggers in the region with her personal music blog, Mann’s World, which is a treasure trove of videos, photographs, news stories, album reviews and more.
Related Links
Mann’s World
Vimeo
Twitter
Flickr

Betsy Harris (aka Temples of Grey) is one of the most recognizable local music photographers in the region.  I swear I see her at every single show I attend.
Related Links
Fotki
Youtube
Twitter
MySpace

Jake Seaton is the mind and body behind Music.MyNC.com who is famous for their live sessions with local bands and for breaking almost every important story about North Carolina music.

Bryan Reed is a writer for Shuffle Magazine, the Independent Weekly, and seemingly countless others.

Linnie Green is the new editor for Diversions of the Daily Tar Heel.