Goin'
Mobile
The
Chapel Hill Connection
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Yes, the day finally came when I had a legal driver's license *and* my own auto (with FM and cassette). As is often the case in rural, agricultural communities, it was when I was 16. This made it possible for me to easily make it to guitar lessons without relying on anyone else, which I immediately took up. It also gave me means to travel beyond the boundaries of the swingin' Lexington County, SC scene, and into the big city of Columbia: the state capital and home of the University of South Carolina which is home to WUSC-FM.
I learned about a gathering place, which while essentially a bar, was technically a café, and therefore, fair game for those of us who were not yet legal drinking age (at the time, it was 18). People with politically left inclinations made up the clientele, and several nights a week, and every weekend, there was live music. 18 Bluff Road was not the easiest place in the world to find, but I did find it within 3 months of my adventures in driving. I knew it had to be the coolest place on earth when I finally found it, for on the outside, breaking through the concrete blocks, was a mural of the Incredible Hulk! This was the location of the Grass Roots Organizing Workshop and it's supporting venture, G.R.O.W. café.
Old burned-out hippies, young idealistic radical college students, concerned environmentalists, gay/lesbian/bi/transgendered people, as well as a host of artists, musicians, and other creatively-inspired people frequented the café. Yes, djs from WUSC would frequent the café, so I got to meet and hang out with them, too. There were also visits by politicians, including certain senators, representatives, and the mayor, particularly if there was a popular acoustic act billed, or if there was something of environmental or racial import and they wanted to reach out to the left side of town for votes. At any rate, once I found G.R.O.W., it became an instant hang-out, thanks to my newly acquired mobility.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has long enjoyed a reputation for liberal political activism. G.R.O.W. had large annual protests against nuclear power, since South Carolina is essentially the nation's nuclear dumping ground, as well as the source of plutonium used to make atom bombs, which is manufactured at the Savannah River Plant in Aiken. 1983 brought a group of student activists from UNC-CH who wanted to take part in the Savannah River Plant action that year. Poor planning on their part resulted in their arrest and indictment on federal trespassing charges (the 'infamous' SRP 6), and rather than spending a summer week in SC, the legal process forced them to relocate for several months to SC. By the time they were free to leave, however, they had settled somewhat, so they stayed awhile longer.
Eventually, however, they came to political odds with the driving force of G.R.O.W., and as the group split up, a faction returned to Chapel Hill. I had close ties to that faction. I came up to visit a couple of times, and while no one in the group who came to Chapel Hill was a musician, they had contacts with musicians. I brought my guitar on every visit, and took part in some of the most phenomenal jam sessions of my life. It was as if something vital and stimulating came out of the ground that affected everyone in the area. Columbia, SC was getting old, for me, and since I discovered the seething hotbed of musical activity that was(is) Chapel Hill, there was no doubt where I would be headed next.
I made a total of three visits to Chapel Hill over a year before I moved. Naturally I found the college station, WXYC, on the first visit, and in my brief listening I ascertained, at the very least, it was comparable to WUSC. I also learned that the local NPR station, WUNC, had what I considered an excellent format, with good diversity in programming: They had a show called "Back porch Music" on the weekend, and several other acoustic music blocks, with Celtic and other folk music. The NPR station in Columbia was almost entirely classical in contrast.
In April 1985 I moved to Chapel Hill. I did return to Columbia for a year, from October 1985 - 1986: in hindsight, the purpose of that move was to help me develop appreciation for how wonderful Chapel Hill really is. In October 1986 I moved back to Chapel Hill, where I would stay for the next 13+ years.
Chapel Hill is all about music and education, the two things that mean more to me than just about anything else; it therefore follows that within 2 years, Fall 1988, I would be enrolled at UNC-CH.
In Fall 1989, with almost 4 years listening experience logged for WXYC, and 12 years total "alternative" non-commercial educational radio listenership collected between my ears, I interviewed to be a dj at WXYC. The process was known to be a grueling proposition. I actually made the cut in my first attempt, but the initiation rite of the 2am - 6am shift was non-negotiable, and in major conflict with that 8am German class I had 4 days a week (and which, incidentally, I loved and wouldn't dream of forfeiting). So I was encouraged to return when my schedule would allow me to pull that monstrous 4 hour graveyard shift.
One of the coolest things about WXYC is that it is on air 24/7. Virtually no other student-run college station is capable of maintaining such a schedule. That graveyard shift initiation rite helps ensure that--a fact I knew and appreciated from the start. It meant that I would have to remain a mere listener for what turned out to be quite a few years, but all the free tickets I won by being a regular listener more than made up for any loss on my part!
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