Rolling Stone - USA (2020-02)

February 2020 Rolling Stone 67

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Mac McCaughan, who runs the Durham-based

Merge Records. “[Now] the thing is, there are

just so many great bands.”

NEW ROOTS

Rootsy groups like Chapel

Hill’s Mandolin Orange and

Raleigh’s American Aquarium

are long-standing local draws.

But country and folk no longer

run the game: The area is now

a wellspring of hip-hop talent,

from Rapsody to Lord Fess to

Young Bull.

FESTIVAL EXPRESS

Visit the area in September,

during Raleigh’s Hopscotch

Music Festival, which features

a mix of prominent local talent and major

national acts such as Big Boi and St. Vincent.

Then, stick around a week for the Interna-

tional Bluegrass Music Association’s yearly

conference. JONATHAN BERNSTEIN

J

UST A FEW MONTHS after they moved to

Durham in 2013, Nick Sanborn and Ame-

lia Meath of the electro-pop duo Sylvan

Esso played their first-ever proper show there,

at the Pinhook. “I thought maybe 30 friends

would show up,” says Sanborn. But one of the

Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area’s influential

college radio stations had started playing

the group’s “Hey Mami,” so when Sylvan Esso

took the stage, they looked out at a sold-out

crowd of 250. “It was my first moment of ‘I

can’t believe how cool this place is,’ ” Sanborn

says. The Triangle, as it’s called, has become

a hotbed of independent music, with artists

from all over the country flocking to the area,

driven by its cheap rents and ample service

jobs, transforming a relatively insular scene

into a thriving musical renaissance, from

dance music in Chapel Hill to hip-hop and

Americana in Raleigh to indie rock in Durham.

“Fifteen years ago, there were, like, six people

here,” says singer-songwriter Tift Merritt.

“Now, there’s a whole community.” “A lot of

the same drivers of the music scene are still

the same: great college radio, great record

stores, college students,” adds Superchunk’s

THE CAT’S

CRADLE

This small, divey

two-floor spot is

beloved among

road vets: “We’ve

played, like, 15

times at the

Cradle alone,”

says Wye Oak’s

Andy Stack.

HOT DESTINATION

LISBON, PORTUGAL

When Madonna

visited Lisbon, she

made sure to swing

through the old-

school Alfama dis-

trict to catch some

fado (Portuguese

for “fate”) — the im-

passioned acoustic

ballads known as the

Lisbon version of the

blues. She wound up

living there for three

years, and the fado-

inspired “Crave”

popped up on her

Madame X album.

“In Alfama, you’ll

hear people singing

and playing fado

music everywhere,”

she said, calling

the sound “glorious

and inspiring.” If

you follow her to

Alfama, the trick is

avoiding the touristy

spots. “If everything

is directed at you,

like, ‘Come in,’ it’s

not an interesting

fado house,” says

new-generation fado

singer Carminho.

“But if you go to

a fado house and

don’t understand

everything, you are

in a good one.” At

the intimate, homey

Tejo Bar (a Madonna

fave), be prepared to

stand wherever you

find space and even

grab one of its avail-

able instruments to

play along. What-

ever you do, don’t

clap; in respect to

the older residents

in the building,

rubbing hands is the

preferred method

of applause. (If you

can’t get in, try the

similarly intimate

and authentic Tasca

do Chico.) Carminho

also recommends

more upscale fado

haunts like Mesa De

Frades, a converted

chapel with first-rate

Portuguese dishes,

and the larger O Faia

restaurant.

But fado is only

part of what Lisbon

has to offer. In

search of indie rock?

Check out Incóg-

nito, where Win

Butler recently spun

a DJ set. The cozy

Musicbox devotes

entire nights to live

hip-hop. The annual

NOS Alive festival,

Lisbon’s answer

to Bonnaroo, will

feature Taylor Swift,

Billie Eilish, Khalid,

and others this July.

And in an example

of the ways the

country has caught

up with modern

culture since its

1974 revolution, Lis-

bon’s decades-old

dance-music scene

is finally flourishing.

“People here dance

more than in a lot of

other cities,” says

DJ, producer, and

label owner Branko.

“They start dancing

and they don’t stop

until it’s time to

leave the club.” At

spots like the funky

warehouse B.Leza

and the roomier,

multilevel Lux Frágil,

partiers are some-

times treated to an

Afro-Portuguese

EDM blend that

reflects the city’s

mingling commu-

nities, courtesy of

local stars like Nidia.

“The drum patterns

are more complicat-

ed — it’s a poly-

rhythmic approach

to dance,” says

Branko. “You don’t

have that steady

four-to-the-floor

pattern. It’s about

importing ancestral

patterns, rhythms,

and melodies, and

jamming all that into

a club sound.” In one

of the city’s most

exciting develop-

ments, acts like

Pedro Mafama and

Madonna favorite

Dino d’Santiago are

mixing EDM and hip-

hop with fado. “The

concept of fado is

about to change,”

says Branko. “Now

the fun begins.”

DAVID BROWNE

The Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill triangle has become a hotbed

of independent music, and the rest of the industry is taking note

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

Northampton, MA

The college town is home

to a major underground

rock revival, thanks in part

to Carinae, a Velvets-

influenced psych band

with three lead singers

giving off big harmonies,

and huge, winding riffs.

Santa Fe, NM

Long an artist hideout,

the city is home to one

of the coolest venues in

the country: Meow Wolf,

a mind-bending space in-

side a huge immersive art

house funded by a local,

George R.R. Martin.

Boise, ID

This once-sleepy Western

capital has become a big

stop for rock bands. “I’m

not sure people give it the

respect it deserves,” says

Dennis Brennan, head of

touring at Q Prime, which

reps Metallica and others.

Madison, WI

Both Paul McCartney and

Lizzo played here in 2019,

which promoters saw as a

sign of its rising status. It’s

home to punk rock with

a political edge and fun,

laid-back music clubs like

the High Noon Saloon.

Small Cities, Big Scenes

Left: Local

heroes Sex Police

at Cat’s Cradle

in 2018. Below:

The Green Light,

a speakeasy

hidden behind

a bookcase, in

Raleigh.

Killer

Venue