The SeaWeedz: Press

"I love your CD and we'll be playing many cuts from it in the future."

Randy Clemens
Qantum of Myrtle Beach, LLC
Program Director, WQSD
The Sound 107.1
Production Director, WQSD/WGTR/WWXM
Myrtle Beach, SC
http://www.thesound1071.com/


"I still have the SeaWeedz CD in my player. I can't figure it out but there is something special about those tracks ..I just need to know if they translate to people outside of Myrtle Beach. I think for sure a couple will."

Summer James
Hollywood Spokesmodel
http://summerjames.voice123.com/
http://www.spokesmodel.com/summer/

"WOW!!! I'd love to get a copy. Thanks a million!"

Ed Piotrowski
Chief Meteorologist
WPDE Television
Tales is written, performed, recorded and mastered by Eli Weed, the Grand Strand's answer to nobody's question.

Entertainment
Posted on Fri, Sep. 15, 2006email thisprint thisreprint or license this
FROM THE MUSIC SCENE
Rock of ages
Experience an asset to local musicians
Compiled By Mary Erskine and Sara Potts
The Sun News

Courtesy photo
Eli Weed (second from left) as part of the hair band Hyjynx in the 1980s.The No. 1 record on the U.S. album charts belongs to a 65-year-old Bob Dylan. Some of the top-grossing music tours of the summer are artists ranging in age from 48 to 65, including Madonna and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Despite up-and-coming musicians climbing the charts and taking the music world by storm, the true test of an artist is longevity. Dylan, Mick Jagger, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, even Madonna, have shown their staying power and proved they are still relevant in today's music scene.

It's evidence of a new age of rock. An older age, that is, and one that's not just for the rich and famous. Plenty of older Grand Strand musicians have been rocking for decades, and are still members of a thriving music scene with regular gigs, jam sessions and CD releases.

Here's what you didn't know about some of the Strand's older rockers.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eli Weed

Age | 45

Years playing music | 40

Currently | Working on "Tales of the Strand Vol. II" and playing with Southern Blue

On the Web | www.seaweedz.com and www.southernbluerocks.com

Career highlights | Beginning with piano lessons at age 5, Weed has made a long career out of music, including playing with band Rude Lucy, based in Columbia.

"We tried to make ourselves stand out from other bands. We tried to come up with a gimmick to remember our shows," he said. The gimmick for Rude Lucy? A live snake brought out onstage during a rendition of Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle."

On his upcoming CD, Weed plays all the instruments - including keyboards, harmonica and guitar.

Youth vs. experience | "When you're a full-time musician, the pressure's really on," he said. Weed encourages musicians to get a day job, and pursue music as a hobby. "You'll enjoy it more. I enjoy it more now."

Concert to pay for surgery
HOB employee's wife will receive funds for multiple transplants
By Steve Palisin
The Sun News
House of Blues Myrtle Beach will have a fundraiser for the wife of its sound engineer, Billy Allen. Funds raised through the Josita Allen Benefit Concert, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at House of Blues, will help offset the 38-year-old Conway woman's medical expenses as she awaits pancreas and kidney transplants.

The organizers and host might call their night of music banding together for a good cause.

Two local bands - Black Label and Southern Blue - which play country and Southern rock, respectively, will perform.

Billy Allen, also the sound engineer for Black Label, said his wife of 16 years has coped with diabetes since age 5, and that her condition has turned more severe since a stroke in 2001, leaving her legally blind. He said the transplants Josita is waiting for are estimated collectively to exceed $200,000, with none covered by health insurance.

With his involvement in a music group and venue, Billy thought in September, "This is a no-brainer. Why don't we just throw a concert?"

Billy said House of Blues and all the sponsors, including WYAK-FM "K-County"103.1, "have gone above and beyond" anything he and Josita expected in the effort.

Preparing for a special concert brings a higher level of pressure, Billy concluded.

"Most of the time, you're not putting together" such an event, he said. "This time, we're the driving force behind it."

He said seeing such an affair develop from other than the performer's side has sown in him "a lot more respect for event coordinators."

The repertoire of songs doesn't change so much for a benefit show, according to Billy, however, "The concert overall feels different than the standard concert. It's a higher purpose."

Black Label, like Southern Blue and House of Blues, has been involved with fundraisers for other reasons through the years.

"The guys are always happy to help out and give back to the community for a good cause," Billy said.

Local House of Blues marketing coordinator Nicole Romeo said this concert stands out "especially because it hits so close to home" with an employee.

Eli Weed, who plays bass and sings with Southern Blue, counts at least 10 fundraisers they've played in his two years since joining the foursome.

He said the concert Saturday also strikes a chord with the group because its lead singer and backup guitarist, Jeffrey Allen Edwards, rebounded from leukemia a few years ago.

"He's been one of Duke Medical Center's comeback stories," Weed said. "So we're conscious of trying to help the community in any way possible."

Contact STEVE PALISIN

at 444-1764 or spalisin@thesunnews.com.

SATURDAY

Oyster roast

Spud's Waterfront Dining in Murrells Inlet will host the fourth annual Murrells Inlet Oyster Roast Fundraiser on Saturday.

The event will include entertainment by Wendell Matthews and the Low Tide Bandits, Eli Weed, Rick Mariner and more, as well as a plethora of food.

MB acts join benefit concert
By Steve Palisin
A number of Myrtle Beach-area acts have been confirmed for the Fall Benefit Bash.

Funds raised from the daylong series of concerts Nov. 17 at the Carolina Entertainment Complex in Marion will go to families of the seven S.C. college students who perished Sunday in a beach-house blaze in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., as well as victims of the southern California wildfires, said John Gallo, a Complex partner.

Tickets are $7 with a voucher printed from www.clubtnt.net and presented at the gate, or $10 at the gate. Grounds open at 10 a.m., and music will last from 11 a.m. to about 11 p.m., Gallo said. Each act will play for 45 minutes.

Direct Relief International, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based charity will handle disbursement of all donations to victims, Complex officials said.

Confirmed acts for the bash, as of late this morning, include Flick It, SAVAS, Southern Blue and Sqwearl, all of Myrtle Beach, and Gabbie Rae of Conway.

Other artists in the lineup are: Changeface of Lexington, N.C.; Crow Jayne and DOW, both of Florence; Examining Emma of Newberry; Jeffrey Gunnells of Coward, south of Florence; Pro Logic 13 of Bluffton; Sent by Ravens of Lamar, west of Florence; Slapbox of Columbia; South Creek of Chapel Hill, N.C.; Suhgarim of Darlington; and Twisted Motive of Rockingham.

For more information, call 843-431-9008.

Read the full story Saturday in The Sun News.

Posted on Sat, Nov. 03, 2007reprint or license print email Digg it del.icio.us AIM MB bands in concert for fire victims' families
By Steve Palisin - The Sun News
Four Myrtle Beach-area acts have been confirmed for a series of concerts Nov. 17 aimed at raising money for families of the seven students who died in the Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., house fire.

The daylong Fall Benefit Bash at at the Carolina Entertainment Complex in Marion is a joint effort with Slammers the Roc Bar of Florence. It arose initially as a fundraising initiative for victims of the California wildfires, and it will still help them as well, said John Gallo, a complex partner.

"We had already started it, then the Ocean Isle fire happened," he said.

The 16 acts volunteering their time represent country, heavy metal, pop, rock and Southern rock styles.

"So there's a good variety," Gallo said.

Local acts for the bash, as of Friday, include Flick It, SAVAS, Southern Blue and Sqwearl, all of Myrtle Beach, and 9-year-old "Gabbie Rae" Trial of Conway.

Brandy Childers, the complex's production office manager, said proceeds for aid in California will go to Direct Relief International in Santa Barbara. Better Business Bureau data from July show the nonprofit met all of its 20 standards for charity accountability. Direct Relief also will be asked about handling funds for the college students' families, Childers said.

Jeffrey Allen Edwards, lead singer for Southern Blue, remembers the outpouring of community support to offset medical expenses after his diagnosis with leukemia in 2003.

"We look forward to any opportunities to give back," he said. "Affecting people's lives and helping out is what it's all about."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you go
What | Fall Benefit Bash concert

When | Grounds will open at 10 a.m. Nov. 17, and music lasts from 11 a.m. to about 11 p.m.

Where | Carolina Entertainment Complex, Marion

Admission | Tickets are $7 with a voucher printed from www.clubtnt.net and presented at the gate, or $10 at the gate.



Contact STEVE PALISIN at 444-1764 or spalisin@thesunnews.com.

By Timothy C. Davis
Staff Writer
I may have strayed in this fine town 'cause there's a wild parade that never hits the ground
Don't be afraid, child, in this...this fine town
I watched the world go 'round from a tiki bar where the girls go down
I watched the world, world go 'round

CHORUS: No matter where you're from, or who you are
The good times come on Ocean Boulevard

Tee-shirts, piercings fake tattoos, many hennas you can choose
Low-ride jeans, bikini tops, foot-long hot-dogs, candy shops

Mother Fletcher was good to you,
The Freaky Tiki was an all-out zoo
Cops on bicycles allow the show
You'd best not try them or downtown you'll go

-From "Ocean Boulevard" by the SeaWeedz

It's a tranquil scene, really. It's one of the last few days of winter, temperate even, and young couples, walking hand-in-hand, duck into and come out of shops on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, pointing out racy cheap beachwear stretched tight over mannequins and airbrushed memorabilia of all types. A police car skronks its siren at a young man who's idling his moped on the sidewalk, then calmly smiles and waves the teen off. Timeshare vendors spit their time-burnished sales pitches at indifferent ears. The smell of fried food and cigarette smoke lingers in the air.

On the next block, a large plot of upturned soil, once trod upon by generations of thrill-seekers, stands vacant. Once the home to the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park, it now stands as Myrtle Beach's biggest pile of high-priced dirt, awaiting whatever plans the Burroughs & Chapin company - mixed business and residential, it is said - has for it.

Meanwhile, a nearby building that once housed scores of spring breakers, 708 North Ocean Boulevard, has been split up into a few different beachwear stores, offering to slake your thirst for Myrtle Beach T-shirts and commemorative drink cozies, provided you didn't stop a block before or can't wait to make it another before purchasing your keepsakes.

The area on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach where the Freaky Tiki used to be has been turned into a mini mart and a beachwear store.
-Photo by Scott Smallin, Staff Photographer.The building in question was once home to one of the more storied local nightclubs of recent memory, a nightclub that became both famous and infamous for different reasons. It was called the Freaky Tiki, and it became legendary, along with its neighbor Mother Fletcher's, for catering to the spring break crowd and all the debauchery that young people on leave from school thrive on. Foam parties were a regular occurrence, as were wet T-shirt contests.
Which is where the trouble began.

On Jan. 31, 2006, Judge Stanton Cross said the Freaky Tiki must remain closed because it was a public nuisance that encouraged lewd and illegal behavior among its patrons. The Freaky Tiki joined the similarly-shuttered Club Baja, Club Static and the Shark Club as clubs shut down by the city, mostly for obscenity violations of the Hanes-and-H2O variety. The previous fall, Cross had issued a temporary injunction against the Freaky Tiki after a court hearing in which Myrtle Beach officials said the club's wet T-shirt contests violated the city's adult-entertainment laws. In court hearings, business owners near the site also complained of fights and vandalism from club patrons after the club closed (despite the fact that, after shutting down for the night, clubs have little to no control over where their customers go, and that such claims are of dubious legal standing).

Freaky Tiki owners Joe Amendola and Allen Dickenson were forced to shutter their club for good. A nightspot known throughout the whole East Coast - and this is more or less before the MySpace Generation - was no more.

And yet, the Tiki torch was not to be permanently extinguished, as you'll find out.

Rather, it was passed.

A NEW LEASE ON LIFE

Located beside strip club Thee Dollhouse, The Tiki at The Afterdeck bears only passing resemblance to the old club. Amendola is a consultant on the project, says Jeff Martin, who, along with Tripp Coan and Larry Frakes, is the one with his name on the lease with Michael Peters, who owns Thee Dollhouse franchises in Myrtle Beach and Florida. The Afterdeck location offers the Tiki name a new lease on life. A two-year lease, says Martin.

Sara Lehtonen and Riki-Leigh Johnson dance in a bamboo cage at Tiki at The Afterdeck on March 13.
-Photo by Matt Silfer for Weekly Surge.Anyone who ever visited a nightclub - a happening nightclub - knows that memories can be made at such a place. (They can also be forgotten, rather quickly sometimes). There's glamour. There's girls and guys. There's bright lights, and bass-heavy beats, and usually a fair amount of booty.
The new Tiki, it seems, is no different. Entering, you hear the familiar dance-floor classics - 50 Cent, Kanye West, DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat" - but in an utterly new, open-air environment. Enter the establishment, as we did on the club's Grand Opening last Thursday (March 13) evening, and you walk down a thin hallway lined with tropical plants and aluminum beer tubs. This opens up into a larger room. To your left, there is a large, recessed dance floor with the requisite lights and disco ball, as well as bamboo dancing cages for whenever the mood (or the booze) hits. This is overlooked by a large stage, which on this night was set up with a drum kit, behind which is a large bank of TV screens, showing videos of most of the artists playing over the sound system. To your right is a heated, open-air bar area with tables and upholstered, animal-print bar stools and tables done up in jungle-y zebra stripes. A huge Tiki icon with piercing green eyes belches smoke every couple of minutes, standing sentry over the proceedings. Walk straight ahead, and you have a porch area overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the two Tikis isn't immediately apparent. There's a small staircase leading upstairs, where the Tiki ceases to be something you often see in Myrtle Beach, and more like something you'd see in Miami - or at least Miami filtered through Myrtle Beach. There are futon-like, mosquito-netted beds lining a large blue fountain, which is surrounded on all sides by a wood railing. There are black-tableclothed tables with votive candles atop them. There is warm, blood-orange colored recess lighting. There is a tented bar offering more high-end mixed drinks than the multi-use bars located downstairs. Behind and above this is yet a third deck, also laid out with tables and painted a pearly white, and which stretches to the back of the building, providing a unobstructed view of the Waterway.

Phil "D.J. QP" Jackson, a 27-year-old Murrells Inlet resident and the former resident DJ at The Afterdeck and now a part time DJ at the Tiki, says that "I am sure the vibe will be pretty much the same. Every time I walked into that building (The Afterdeck) prior to the merge it would remind me of the Tiki, and now we have the old Tiki décor, too. Basically, it's the same old Tiki with a bigger and better venue to house it. The foam will still be falling."



Jeff Martin, stands in front of the pool on March 13 at Tiki at The Afterdeck.
-Photo by Matt Silfer for Weekly SurgeA TALE OF TWO CLUBS
Co-owner Martin - also the co-owner of teen club Club Karma, located in the old Shark Club location on Ocean Boulevard - says putting the new Tiki together took less work than you'd expect but more than you might realize upon first laying eyes upon it.

"It wasn't major renovation - a lot of it was cosmetic," he says. "We put in a new sound system and lights and furniture and paint, but the layout in some ways was already there - the challenge was how to best utilize it, and make sure everything flowed - the lights, the sound, all that sort of thing. It's such a big place - I believe the fire code limit's around 1,800 - that you want to have that thread running through everything, and I think we do. We've got a few more things we want to do too, especially with the outdoor seating area."

Brittany Marshall, a 23-year-old Myrtle Beach resident, says of the old Freaky Tiki that "just by it being located on the strip you got to meet a lot of interesting people...It was the first club I ever went to," although she hopes the new Tiki will be "a little more upscale, and a little less beach-trashy."

As Marshall notes, proximity to the ocean was a major draw for the old Freaky Tiki, Martin says he thinks the new location near Restaurant Row will allow the club to garner a new group of patrons while still retaining some of the old ones.

"Where the Tiki used to be on Ocean Boulevard, you had a lot of transients. Here we've got a nice central location - all the college kids that stay in Cherry Grove and North Myrtle Beach have a pretty convenient drive, as do people even in the south part of Myrtle Beach - and there's just a different atmosphere.

"We looked at the place a while back," Martin continues. "And at the time, thought it was too big. Tripp came into the Afterdeck a few years back, before he was with us, and renovated the deck area and put a couple hundred thousand dollars into it."

Overlooking the pool and the futons at Tiki at The Afterdeck.
-Photo by Matt Silfer for Weekly Surge.Martin says that after some initial misgivings, they saw a chance to put an established name on an established location, garnering the new club concept two separate streams of word-of-mouth advertising for the price of one. The Afterdeck, which opened in 1980, got its start as an outdoor bar attached to a restaurant called Dominic's. The interior of The Afterdeck has remained pretty much the way it was in its live music heyday during the '80s and early '90s, when it hosted acts such as Drivin' 'N' Cryin', Matthew Sweet, Hootie and the Blowfish, Widespread Panic, and others.
"When we were putting it together, we knew we wanted to get The Afterdeck name in there. If we have a radio advertisement and just say 'The Tiki' and the address, it's not as effective to locals or people coming from out of town if you mention The Afterdeck name, which resonates with people. It's been here for a while, and people know where it is.

"We're not trying to mooch off of the name of the old Tiki," he says. "It's a brand new place, a new version. Like with The Afterdeck name, we have a right to it based on our investors and the like, and it's a name that resonates with people. Some people in town will take a name without having any claim to it other than inhabiting the same building.

"People might come for the name, but I think once they see what we've done here, they're going to have a good time, and want to come back again, whether it's next week or when they're down here again on vacation a year later."

And yet, it can't be discounted that The Tiki's Myspace.com page advertises that "The Tiki Returns" - how can you return if you've never been somewhere else? - and that last Thursday's Afterdeck sign welcomed folks into "The New Tiki." A video connected to the club's most recent Myspace.com message touts the Tiki as the wildest place for spring break and includes footage of girls in bikinis grinding on each other. To boot, the club's logo is almost exactly the same as the old location's, with the notable exception of the word "Freaky." Martin says the omission isn't an accident.

He says his vision of a swankier-yet-still-swinging Tiki promises surprises aplenty (on Thursday, acrobats and a live drummer playing along with the D.J.) no matter the night, in an effort to draw both the local crowd and visitors, without being known as catering to one over the other.

For instance, the old Freaky Tiki boasted porn icon Ron Jeremy on a regular basis. Martin says celebrities will have their place at the new Tiki, although you might only find out about it after your pal sends you an urgent "be here...now" text message.

"We're not averse to having in, say, a celebrity on a given night and not promoting it," he says. "Just having the person show up and watch people freak out. We've got a lot of things planned - we've got some MTV celebrities coming in, for bike week we have Skid Row playing, and we have a performance with Mini-KISS scheduled, and Jim Rose, who is doing a new reality show type of thing, will host a talent competition here over a week's time.

"Nothing's worse than going to a club and see

ing the same sort of thing over and over. Obviously, those things that are successful you're going to want to keep, but we always want to keep it fresh, where you're wondering what's going to happen next."

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

As you've probably gleaned, the new Tiki partnership is trying to distance itself from the old problems faced by the Freaky Tiki. Part of distancing itself, it seems, comes from physically distancing itself from the old controversy. Tiki at The Afterdeck, unlike the Freaky Tiki of old, is not located in Myrtle Beach city limits, instead nestled into the unincorporated area of Horry County between Myrtle Beach and Briarcliffe Acres.

So it appears to be out of sight, out of mind for our fair city.

An opening night crowd upstairs at Tiki at The Afterdeck on March 13.
-Photo by Matt Silfer for Weekly Surge.When reached for comment, Mark Kruea, Public Information Officer for the City of Myrtle Beach, says that since "the new location isn't in the city...I really don't have anything to add."
Martin insists the new Tiki won't be up to old tricks, anyway.

"We're not going to have naked people running around in here," he says, jokingly adding that if that's what people want, they need only walk next door to Thee Dollhouse. "But we will have dance competitions and things like that, more around when the Spring Break people get here."

But how strict is Horry County proper when it comes to nightclub policing?

Deputy Chief David Beaty of the Horry County Police Department says that enforcement of alcohol-related licensing falls under the jurisdiction of the S.C. Department of Revenue and the S.C. Law Enforcement Division. These two agencies, says Beaty, have the ability to exercise the options that can result in arrest or the suspension and revocation of alcohol licenses.

"If a nightclub is unable or unwilling to conduct its business in a lawful manner - or prevent illegal activities from occurring on the premises - then there exists the option of approaching the Solicitor's Office to have the business declared a nuisance," Beaty says.
According to Beaty, conditions and steps for building a nuisance case are contained in the S.C. Code of Laws and require collaboration between law enforcement and court officials. "Occasionally there are complaints which predominantly fall within our jurisdiction," Beaty continues, adding that the HCPD's role isn't of hunting down lawbreakers, but reactive in nature, either thanks to documented and reported criminal activity the department receives or in response to uncorroborated "word on the street."

"The Freaky Tiki club had a whole lot of other problems other than the wet T-shirt contests going on," says Johnny Morgan, Chief of Police for the Horry County Police Department. "Yes, there are regulations in place for such things in the county. One, you must have a special events permit if your business is not in the 'adult entertainment' industry. Most bars and clubs are not set up for this, and have to apply for the permit. Under state law, the nipple cannot be exposed and must be covered by paste or a latex covering. We require that the bar that holds a permit and is having a scheduled event to make sure the female parties do not expose that part of the breast. We have in the past, made several cases against female participants for such behavior."

In other words, if a nightclub adequately polices itself - which Martin promises the new Tiki has already and will continue to do - Horry County's not likely to come knockin', no matter how much the house is a'rockin.

"Creedence," a 29-year old Myrtle Beach resident and former radio deejay in Jacksonville, N.C. (of the "Bishop and Creedence Show" on 105.5 WXQR-FM) says that he's looking forward to seeing if The Tiki can combine the vibe of the old club with a new, forward-thinking attitude.

"The V. I. P. area was always a great place to hang while overlooking the old Freaky Tiki," he says. "Now, I'm not the 'club type,' but yet still felt comfortable drinking and partying there. I was always a big fan of the cages that shot air up from the bottom for all the girls with skirts on. I do hope they keep the overall 'theme' of the old club, however. It took Mother Fletcher's years and years to become legendary, but it seems that the Freaky Tiki gained that status in a relatively short time.

"They must have been doing something right."

Main Story Archives 2007 Bettering Yourself Pt. 2 1/11/07 Pop Culture Calendar 1/18/07 Sip & the City 1/25/07 Put on your game face 2/1/07 Datings not dead... 2/8/07 Making of an Icon 2/15/07 The Real Broadway... 2/22/07 Whale Tales 3/1/07 Break Out (spring break) 3/8/07 Eat Me! I'm Irish 3/15/07 2007 Swimsuit Preview 3/22/07 Rebirth of Cool 3/29/07 Time to play hardball 4/5/07 Late Night Adult Cartoons 4/12/07 Mee the new Boss 4/19/07 Up for Debate 4/26/07 Five Decades of Webslinging 5/3/07 Made to Order... Born to be Riled... 5/17/07 Finding Your Wet Spot 5/24/07 Get your concert fix The New South... Mulling Over Modern Classics... Raising the Bar(s) 6/28/07 Echo 7 Strikes Back 7/5/07 Homegrown & summer fresh... 7/12/07 Summer of Love Revisited 7/19/07 White Stripes Rule... 7/26/07 Surge marks its 1st year 8/02/07 Losing our religion? 8/9/07 Home, home on the Strand Half price Drinks... 8/23/07 Here comes the rooster 8/30/07 Helping hands across the Strand 9/06/07 Wooing the college crowd... 9/13/07 Fabulous for Fall 5's 9/20/07 Up In Smoke... 9/27/07 Big E's Best Bets... 10/04/07 Fall Fashion... 10/11/07 Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC 10/18/07 Blood Brothers... 10/25/07 Uncommon Ground... 11/1/07 Fertile Myrtle: A New Baby Boom Hits Home 11/08/07 Battle Ground: CCU Arena... 11/15/07 Life's a Beach, Then You Buy 11/22/07 The Swing Set... Mothership Flips Re-ignition Switch 12/06/07 Broadcast At The Beach... 12/13/07 Last minute pop culture gifts The Future's So Bright...

Check out Blond Bombshell by the SeaWeedz on-line.

Published on 11/6/2008

By Clayton Stairs

cstairs@gtowntimes.com


Each fall, as the weather turns cooler, people along the coastal South know it is time to gather together for a long-standing tradition in this part of the country: The oyster roast.

They crowd around make-shift tables -- with holes cut in the center for shell disposal -- and chat while using an oyster knife to crack open (or shuck) clusters of oysters. Some people dip the delicacy in butter or hot sauce, but others devour them in their natural juices.

In Murrells Inlet, local restaurants like Nance's Cedar Hill Landing, Drunken Jack's, Creek Ratz and Spud's Waterfront Dining have kept this grand tradition alive. Many have found that an oyster roast is the perfect way for residents and visitors to unite for a worthy cause.

Murrells Inlet 2007 -- a revitalization group dedicated to helping make the inlet a wonderful place -- will hold its 5th Annual Oyster Roast fund-raiser Saturday, Nov. 15, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Proceeds will go to Murrells Inlet 2007 for ongoing projects in the inlet.

"I know the oyster roast is really popular with locals and tourists," Murrells Inlet 2007 Executive Director Jennifer Averette said. "We have people coming in every day who are looking forward to this annual event. I'm excited to be a part of it this year."

There is no admission charge to come listen to live music and enjoy the view of the creek, but all-you-can-eat oyster tickets are $25 in advance and $30 the day of the event. Oyster knives will be available for $2 each. Organizers say anyone interested in oyster tickets should purchase them in advance because supplies are limited.


Other choices

For those who are not oyster fans, there will be several other food options available, including hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken wings, chowder, clams, Murrells Inlet caviar and more -- each priced separately. There will also be beer and soft drinks available.

Participating restaurants include Dead Dog Saloon, Drunken Jack's, Creek Ratz, Divine Fish House, Bovine's and River City Cafe.

"Some people think all we have is oysters," Murrells Inlet 2007 Chair Whitney Hills said. "I want to encourage folks who are not oyster eaters to come out and join the fun."


'Give it a whirl'

Drunken Jack's Executive Chef Casey Blake says he and his staff are working hard to accommodate everyone who attends, no matter what their tastes.

"I look forward to seeing all the people having a good time -- enjoying the inlet, the oysters and everything else," Blake said. "Most of the people coming to eat oysters are really the oyster lovers, but we always get some people who haven't experienced oysters in their whole life."

Hills encourages people who have not tried oysters to "give it a whirl."

"You just don't know what your missing," Hills said. "I was one of those that didn't make that attempt until about five years after I moved here. When I was finally encouraged to try one, I absolutely loved it."


New this year

Two new features of this year's oyster roast are the addition of farm-raised clams donated by Livingston's Bulls Bay Seafood in McClellanville and oysters on the half shell served on ice. Blake says this will add variety for seafood enthusiasts.

This year, Hills says, they have two official Oyster Roast sponsors -- Lowcountry Companion and the Bee Hive Consignment Shop.

"Their generous donations are going to help us buy some of the things we couldn't just get outwardly donated this year," Hills said. "We certainly do appreciate those two businesses."


Entertainment

Once again, Singer/songwriter Wendell Matthews has invited several of his talented musician friends to jam with him during the event. They will perform acoustic and electric mixes of original and cover songs in the categories of Country and Classic Rock.

"We are winging it as usual, but it sounds so tight because these musicians are so good at improvising and they learn pretty quick," Matthews said. "Everyone gets a chance to sing lead. We are happy to do requests if we know it."

Musicians include Jody Creel of Drive South, Eli Weed of Southern Blue, Rick Mariner of Haywire Guitars, H.B. Beverly of H.B. Beverly Music and Danny Evans of The Necessary Band. There will also be some other special guests during the event.

"This is the only time during the year that we get together to jam," Matthews said. "We enjoy ourselves so much that we usually don't even have time to eat any oysters."


Projects

Murrells Inlet 2007, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was founded in 1997 with a 10-year goal of improving the inlet. Due to popular demand, they have extended their time limit indefinitely, but kept their name due to its familiarity in the community.

The Board of Directors has made possible -- through partnerships, donations and grants -- many improvement projects in the area. These projects include the Murrells Inlet Marshwalk, the Murrells Inlet Veteran's Pier, Morse Park Landing, bike lanes along Highway 17 Business, signs throughout the inlet and one of their latest projects, the Murrells Inlet Bike Bridge.

Ongoing projects include beautification of Highway 17 Business, working with Georgetown County to plan a new Murrells Inlet Community Center and extending the Murrells Inlet Veteran's Pier to include a fishing pier.

Chris Nance, owner of Nance Cedar Hill Landing Restaurant, has been a proud supporter of Murrells Inlet 2007 for several years. He urges everyone to come out for the 5th Annual Murrells Inlet Oyster Roast on Nov. 15.

"This group has done great things for the Murrells Inlet area," Nance said. "I'd like to urge people to take part in this special event and support Murrells Inlet 2007. Come out, see what the group is all about and maybe even get involved."

For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit the Murrells Inlet 2007 office at 4447 Highway 17 Business in Murrells Inlet, or call 843-357-2007.

Entertainment
Friday, Feb. 13, 2009
Songs from the heart
Steve Palisin - spalisin@thesunnews.com

In ``Silly Love Songs,'' with his former group, Wings, Paul McCartney sang:

``You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs. But I look around me, and I see it isn't so . . . Oh no . . .''

Whether that was his retort to critics in the mid-1970s, or reiterating his personal musical muse, the bass-playing former Beatle must've been right

Love songs keep right on lighting up the charts and radio dials, and our record players, audiocassettes, CD players and iPods.

Pick your style of music, from country to classical, from crooners to big band, from rock to reggae: Love is the common denominator in so many melodies.

They can be happy - ``Love Me Tender,'' ``I Do (Cherish You),'' ``Behind Closed Doors,'' ``Here and Now,'' and ``My Guy'' and ``My Girl.'' And sad - ``I Can't Make You Love Me,'' ``How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?'' ``Your Cheatin' Heart,'' ``When I Call Your Name,'' ``Careless Whisper'' and ``All By Myself.''

We asked local musicians what love songs have moved them the most, and why.

Here's a sampling of how across the map the answers went:


``My favorite love songs are ones that are simple and not too elaborate - leaving room for the lyrics and emotion of the song to really shine through. When I write songs, I try to follow that mantra as well. Two love songs that I really feel exemplify this are `By My Side' by Ben Harper and `Somebody' by Depeche Mode. Their strength lies not just in the lyrics, but in the way, they are conveyed by the performers.''

- Brian Roessler

Conway, president Carolina Organization of Area Songwriters, Troubadours And Lyricists


``Guitarist Charlie Snuggs and I, local musicians, were just comrades with mutual respect of our talents who knew each other for years. When one day we decided in 2000 to try to colaborate on an original song. I would write the words and he would write the music to our first penned song: `Ready for Your Love.' Well, in the process, we fell in love and lived the song we wrote. . . .

``One day we came to the mutual decision to never let anything happen to that bond we shared, the music we made, we really believe God had his hand in.

``We decided not to be married or even be a couple, but to be the best of friends and committed our lives together to our music, as we still play today what passionately moves our heart to a greater love. . . .''


- Jaynie Trudell

Myrtle Beach


`` `Just the Way You Look Tonight' is one of my favorites. I love to play and sing that one. There's a interesting story behind this tune. I was teaching at University of Texas at Austin, and was hired by a future groom to be in his honeymoon suite after the newlyweds had been out for a carriage ride. Because it was the bride's favorite song, I was to perform that as soon as they walked in, which was fine. But they sat in the loveseat next to the piano, and as a few minutes progressed, I realized that I shouldn't be there! After about 20 minutes, they moved to the bedroom, but it seemed a lot longer, since I didn't have a clue as to what might transpire as the entwined couple on the loveseat became more and more smitten by this ``spell of love.'' Later, friends called me `Professor of Love.' ''

- Andrew Fowler

Myrtle Beach, accompanist and composer in residence, Carolina Master Chorale of Myrtle Beach


``My favorite love song is `Nessun Dorma' from the Puccini opera `Turandot.' It is the ultimate song of true love for me. For Christmas this past year, my daughter gave me a signed program of Luciano Pavorotti's performance of `Turandot' at the Metropolitan Opera. He only performed the role several times; however, he made the aria, `Nessun Dorma,' the most popular aria in the world of opera.''

- Brown Bradley

pianist and founder/artistic director of FPC Concerts in Myrtle Beach


``For pop songs, it's really about the lyrics. With a great tune and poignant lyrics, you can't lose. In that category, my first pick is Elton John's `Your Song' _ nobody has written finer lyrics than Bernie Taupin. Next would be Billy Joel's `Just the Way You Are.' Both of these songs have a true-to-life innocence that's really touching.


``Also high on my list, among innumerable Broadway tunes, is the Rodgers and Hart classic, `My Romance,' kind of for the same reason. The more grandiose elements of romance are so often highlighted in song, but this one talks about the simple, quiet elements that are truly romantic.


``Finally, classical musicians (and music buffs) would cite several great Romantic period works; something like Tchaikovsky's `Romeo and Juliet' would be an obvious choice. For me, music of the late composer Gustav Mahler really tops the list. His music is about love in all its aspects: love of nature, love of God, and the childlike innocence of human love.'' In particular, the third movement of Mahler's `Symphony No. 4' is thoroughly enrapturing.''

- Charles Jones Evans

music director/conductor, Long Bay Symphony


``There are so many love songs among jazz standards, it is hard to pick one. I really like `I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face,' from `My Fair Lady.' ''

- Arlin Strader

Conway, drummer, the Arlin Strader Jazz Trio


`` `Smoke Gets in Your Eyes': I used to listen to that ballad when I was a kid. It makes me think about my girlfriend and things going bad.''

Other favorites: ``I'm in the Mood for Love,'' ``All the Things You Are,'' ``Misty,'' ``Blue Moon'' and ``There Will Never Be Another You''

- Pierre Fignolle

Conway, a jazz pianist, and teacher at Maryville Elementary School in Georgetown


`` `These Arms of Mine' is my favorite. It's the song that I picked for my wedding. I'm a huge Otis Redding, old-school R&B guy. That was the first song he did at Atlantic Records. . . .

``And Sam Cooke: You can't go wrong with any of his stuff.''

Other favorites: ``Stand By Me'' and ``My Girl.''

- Mark Necessary

Surfside Beach area, singer and bassist with the Necessary Band


``My personal favorite love songs in some categories I came up with:

Hopeful love: `Pretty Woman' by Roy Orbison

New love: `Something' by George Harrison

Lustful love: `Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe' by Barry White

Unconditional love: `Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones

Love unrequited: `Layla' by Derek and the Dominos

Humorous love: `Whiskey Drinkin' Woman' by Nazareth

``I recorded a love song called `The World Before You,' my favorite, for my wife, Tammy.''

- Eli Weed

Myrtle Beach, singer and bassist with The SeaWeedz and Southern Blue


``I've written a couple of songs. For `I Love You with all of my Heart': I got the idea from my son. I was putting him to bed one night, and he hugged me around the neck and said, `I love you with all my heart. So I went downstairs. Once I had the hook line of that song, I started putting the words together, thinking of my wife and me, too. Everything kind of meshed in how we dealt with our relationship.''

- Jeffrey Allen Edwards

Myrtle Beach, lead vocalist/backup guitarist with Southern Blue