When I started Local Lunch in the beginning of 2008, I have to admit… I didn’t know jack about local music. I knew we had a show called The Local Beat and that our Double Barrel Benefit 5 was going to feature 8 local acts, but that was essentially it. So there I was, half way through January and still struggling to find something that made my show different from all of the other WKNC DJs, and all I knew was that my shift was set in the middle of lunch time, I was hungry, and I needed to plug some of the acts from DBB5. In a nutshell, that is basically how Local Lunch was born.
So now I had a locally themed show, but I still didn’t know anything about local music. I asked myself, “What is the best way to learn about the local scene?”; and knew that I had to get in to going to local venues and seeing local acts. Thankfully, DBB5 had 8 local bands who I had been spinning and enjoying for a month. Another long drawn out story later, I was having a great time watching a band called The Future Kings of Nowhere (FKON). And thus how I fell in love with local music and renewed my interest in music in general.
FKON went on to become one of my favorite bands in 2008, and that is why I encourage everyone to go out and explore the local music scene. If you are like how I was, and don’t know who to go see or where to go to catch great local bands at; I suggest you check out the WKNC Rock Report. Or find your favorite band for 2009 by attending WKNC’s Double Barrel Benefit 6 on Friday and Saturday, February 6th & 7th.
I was once told that “Some of the greatest experiences of life where to be had in places far from home”. I hope you will discover, like I did, that such a saying is untrue because of the experiences to be had at some place down the street, rockin’ out with bands from down the street.