Archive for January, 2008

‘Jefferson, I Think We’re Lost…’

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

Jefferson Holt    If you happened to watch the 7 p.m. NBC17 newscast Tuesday night and caught Shirley Min’s story on water collection systems, you might have noticed a familiar face — if you are a big music fan like me.

That homeowner is none other than Jefferson Holt, the longtime manager of the band R.E.M. (1981 — 1996)

Holt now lives in Orange County and has family ties to the area as well.

Along with Bertis Down, Holt was a founding part of R.E.M. and worked as a lawyer, advisor and manager among other roles with the band. He is referenced in the song “Little America” from the second album “Reckoning.”

In the last part of the song you can catch the now-famous phrase “Jefferson, I think we’re lost…”

He is also “lawyer Jeff” in the song “Can’t Get There From Here.”

Now Holt is building a “green” home here in the Triangle.

Just an interesting footnote….

By the way, look for a confirmed R.E.M. tour stop at Walnut Creek planned for June 10 with Modest Mouse and The National.

In the meantime, the new R.E.M. album “Accelerate” is due in stores April 1.

Good Live Music Venues JoCo-Style

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

One of the good aspects of growth in our area has been the expansion of live music venues outside of just Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham. Venues now stretch out to the smaller areas such as Clayton. Check out this clip from the Flipside Cafe in downtown Clayton. Young Neil and The Damage Done tear it up at this coffee shop / gathering place. You can also find venues in Smithfield and the Cleveland community. Look closely at this Neil Young tribute band. That’s longtime Raleigh singer Jeff Hart channeling Young and Jon Shain on bass guitar. So as live music continues to decline in more metropolitan areas, it may be time to hit the suburbs.