Two Gallants will perform at the Visulite Theatre this Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Saddle Creek Records.

TUESDAY, June 18

Ryan Cabrera w/ Jason Castro, Delesea  (The Evening Muse, $15)

The Neighborhood w/ The 1975 (Amos’ Southend, $14)

Pop-rocker Ryan Cabrera is back in the music mix. Recently released singles “Home” and “I See Love” are getting Cabrera fans excited for his highly anticipated follow-up album to his 2008 release “The Moon Under Water.” He’s now back out on the road and only months away from a new album. Check out our interview with Ryan here.

And just as represented in their band’s logo, The Neighbourhood is sure to turn Amos’ upside down with the smooth and mystifying alternative rock tracks from their latest release, “I Love You.”

“I love you, too” is the only acceptable response to hearing this album.

WEDNESDAY, June 19

Two Gallants w/ BRONCHO (The Visulite Theatre, $15)

Right out of Bonnaroo comes Two Gallants, the “Steady Rollin’” band from California has an eloquent mix of strong, cathartic lyricism with offbeat harmonies. After a five-year break, their latest album, “The Bloom and the Blight” brings together the troubles of their years apart in a raw and rampant fashion.

And supporters BRONCHO and their short and punching songs are sure to pump up the crowd.

THURSDAY, June 20

Disco Donnie presents Steve Aoki  (Label at the NC Music Factory, $35+)

Speaking of pumping up the crowd, high octane electronic dance musician Steve Aoki will crank up Label on Thursday night. Surely this show will be a rioting party from the California EDM producer. EDM enthusiasts are going to lose their minds, and probably lose some weight from the dancing.

FRIDAY, June 21

This huge lineup of prominent pop-indie stars from East Coast all goes down on Friday night. Psychedelic pop artist Shana Falana from Brooklyn looks to entrance the audience with her dreampop, and the rest (who are North Carolina natives) look to bring the rock with their own twists.

SATURDAY, June 22

Fourth Annual Uptown Charlotte Jazz Fest (The Uptown Amphitheatre at the NC Music Factory, $35-60)

The jazz party is still rolling on at the Uptown Amphitheatre, where night two of the Fourth Annual Uptown Charlotte Jazz Fest is looking to finish the two night party on a good note with musicians like Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum, Norman Brown and more. For more information, go to http://www.uptowncharlottejazzfest.com/.

“It’s not even about the money. It’s seeing who is there for dreams and who still cares about dreams,” said Ryan Hess, UNC Charlotte student. Photo courtesy of Ryan Hess.

Ryan Hess is a typical Charlotte 49er. A member of the Business Honors Program and University Honors Program, brother with the university chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma, supporter of Niner Nation Gold, previous Resident Advisor for the Department of Housing and Residence Life and an acting or previous member of countless organizations on campus, Hess has done it all. At least, he almost has.

What’s next for Hess is time spent studying abroad in Italy at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. He’s been accepted, he’s filling out the endless paperwork, but something is still missing. The next two months for Hess, in addition to the previous few months since his acceptance, will be dedicated to raising the funds to get him abroad.

After applying to dozens of scholarships, many of which did not pan out, Hess has started an online donation point through Rally.org, a website that allows individuals to create fundraisers and track donations.

“I got the idea in February. It was like, ‘Hey Ryan, maybe you should start a fundraiser.’ And I decided no, I hadn’t pulled out all the stops yet. I needed to do everything else, and then the scholarships weren’t working out. But I kept pushing it off and pushing it off,” said Hess. “But now, I’ve done too much and come too far to turn back.”

Italy and the university in Milan is what Hess considers a right fit for him. Not just the university or the country, he also feels a connection with the language in general.

“I studied French for two years. I studied Spanish for two years. And I just couldn’t connect to them. I was like, ‘eh.’ But then I studied Italian,” said Hess. “I love it, it’s just beautiful. And it doesn’t have to be practical. For once, I’m doing something because it makes me feel good.”

Hess has less than two months left before he needs to have his funds together. If all goes well, he will leave Sept. 1, after the Charlotte 49er’s first football game against the Campbell Camels, Hess happily says.

“I’m not expecting a lot, this is kind of like a Hail Mary. If it takes off and does well, then great but if it doesn’t, I will find a way. I’m pulling out every stop. I’ve applied for scholarships everyday, I’m trying everything. Every stack of paper in my backpack has to do with Italy,” said Hess.

To help Hess realize his dream, donate to his rally here. Tweet @NinerTimes using #HelpHessItaly2013 to share your thoughts on Hess’ story.

Brandon Kirkey and the Firecrackers performing at the Evening Muse. All photos by Patrick Bogans.

Brandon Kirkley and the Firecrackers (BKTF) are back at it again with their new EP, a little over a year after the release of their album, “Years.” The release show for the 4-song acoustic EP, “Timing,” brought Firecracker friends and fans from across the area to the Evening Muse for a intimate and groovy rock-pop performance.

Kirkley was energetic performing the more lively rock songs from “Years,” such as “Love, American Style” and “Come On.”

And since the EP is an acoustic release, Kirkley mixed in a few of the acoustic anthems including the lead song from the release, “Timing Is Everything.”

Kirkley was unmistakably appreciative of the support and turnout for the EP release, and fans radiated their enthusiasm for BKTF right back at him.

Check out photos from the release show below, and purchase the “Timing” acoustic EP on iTunes by clicking here.

Ryan Cabrera’s new single, “I See Love” is available on iTunes here. Photo courtesy of Promenade Music Entertainment.

After a brief hiatus since his last release, pop-rocker Ryan Cabrera is back in the music mix. Recently released singles “Home” and “I See Love” are getting Cabrera fans excited for his highly anticipated follow-up album to his 2008 release “The Moon Under Water.” He’s now back out on the road and only months away from a new album.

Cabrera spoke with the Niner Times about his Charlotte memories, charity shows and what Charlotte should expect from his show at the Evening Muse on June 18 with Jason Castro and Deleasa.

Q: Do you have any fond memories in Charlotte or North Carolina?

A: I actually do. We played a theater there and ended up going out with Jeff Gordon after the show, which I won’t forget. We went out after the show; he was a super nice guy. I also spent one of my birthdays there, so I flew five or six of my friends. We went out [to the Epicenter]. It was fun being in the city with all your friends from back at home in L.A. and them being in Charlotte. They’ve never been to Charlotte and I had been a couple times, so I got to show them out and have a good time downtown.

Q: You do “Live From Ryan’s Living Room,” a charity show you put out once a month. Who is the coolest guest you have had accompany you on the show so far?

A: I think everybody is  – the one thing that’s awesome about Live from Ryan’s Living Room is just everybody is so talented. But I think – you know what was fun? Hot Chelle Rae. My buddy Nash – he did like different versions of some of their hits, which was really cool. Just like on the pianos, stripped down. Gavin DeGraw is always good. He always puts on a good show, so he was fun. Josh Kelley was amazing too. There have been so many people to come and play that it’s hard to pinpoint one, so it’s all been pretty cool.

The best part about the show is when two artists who have never met get on stage and they just perform together and it truly becomes live. It’s not like a premeditated kind of thing, so I think it’s pretty special. Every month it’s a different charity, so I’ll ask some of my friends who are playing if they have a charity that they love. I want to get people excited about it, and everybody be involved with it.

Q: It’s nice to know more of the person behind the music. Do you have any weird or unusual personality quirks that many of your fans or friends don’t know about?

A: I’m pretty open book, so people know that I just like to have fun and I’m a pretty dorky dude. I think something people wouldn’t know is that I’m a painter. If I’m not playing music, I paint. A lot of people are surprised.  [My friends] will come to my house and realize all the paintings in my house, I’ve painted myself. So they’re like, “Dude I had no idea!”

Q: What should fans expect from your show at the Evening Muse next Tuesday [June 18]? Will you be playing any songs from your upcoming album? 

A: I am, yeah! It’s really fun, since this is an all acoustic tour and since I’m doing it with a couple friends of mine who I’m friends of also: Jason Castro, Mikey Deleasa, so that’ll be fun. Obviously I’ve been working on a new record for quite some time now, so it’s fun to actually get to share those songs and see the reactions because I’ve been in the studio for so long.

I have two songs left to finish, then the record’s going to be done. It’s fun to share the new stuff and just get people’s reactions and obviously if anybody has seen my show before, they know it’s very random. Each show is it’s own show. There’s no premeditated thing that is going to happen. We don’t even write a set list, we just go off the crowd.

Click here to purchase tickets for Ryan’s stop at the Evening Muse next Tuesday, June 18 with Jason Castro and Deleasa.

Tuesday at a public press conference on the stadium concourse, university officials including Chancellor Philip Dubois, Director of Athletics Judy Rose and Head Football Coach Brad Lambert, gathered to announce the naming of the home to the Charlotte 49ers football team.

The newly dubbed Jerry Richardson Stadium was named in honor of Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers, in honor of a $10 million donation he made to spur the football program.

“In regard to our gift, we have only one mission: we want to help continue to create a culture of winning and becoming better,” said Richardson.

“That transcends everyone. It involves every person at UNC Charlotte.”

Richardson and his wife Rosalind also announced a football scholarship they would provide at the university in honor of their son, Jon.

The Charlotte 49ers will play their first football game against the Campbell Camels Aug. 31 in the 15,300-seat Jerry Richardson Stadium.

Jerry Richardson speaks on the naming of the stadium Tuesday at the public press conference. Photo by Jordan Stutts

Colby Dobbs of the Colby Dobbs Band. Photo courtesy of David Sentendrey.

The storms have finally passed through the Charlotte area, but based on the Charlotte music line up this week, it wouldn’t hurt to spend a couple more nights inside – inside a concert venue that is.

Once again this week will be packed full of talented local and mainstream acts at venues around the area. Here’s some of our picks for June 12 through 15.

WEDNESDAY, June 12

Purity Ring (The Fillmore, $20)

Canadian duo Purity Ring always creates a hypnotic listening experience with suitably odd titled electronic tracks, like “Fineshrine” and “Lofticries.” Add this to what is sure to be an electric live performance, and you’ve got one very different Wednesday night.

THURSDAY, June 13

Brandon Kirkley and The Firecrackers EP Release Party w/ Luke Cunningham (The Evening Muse, $5) 

Passion Pit w/ Cults (The Fillmore, $34)

Cute is What We Aim For w/ S.O. Stereo, Made Violent, The Dangerous Summer (The Visulite Theatre, $15)

It’s safe to say, there’s some choices for Thursday night.

Queen City’s own Brandon Kirkley and the Firecrackers (BKTF) will be debuting their new acoustic EP, “Timing.” If it’s anything like the success of their album release party a year ago, BKTF is sure to have another memorable rock show at the Evening Muse.

The latter two more mainstream acts coming through are sure to satisfy alternative enthusiasts. Synth-rockers Passion Pit are now performing at the Fillmore (instead of the Amphitheatre at the NC Music Factory), where they recently rocked at this past September.

And punk band Cute is What We Aim For has reunited, revving back up for their new EP, “Real Eyes,” which will be released sometime this summer.

FRIDAY, June 14

The Colby Dobbs Band w/ Mojo Ruckus, Elonzo (Amos’ Southend, $10)

Since the release of their debut album, “The Great Unknown,” the Colby Dobbs Band has consistently performed throughout the Charlotte area, showcasing their pure jazz-rock talent. Charlotteans looking for nice groovy Friday night fun will enjoy their next show at Amos’ Southend.

The show starts at 8 with Elonzo, Mojo Ruckus performs at 9 and the Colby Dobbs Band hits the stage at 10:30. To RSVP on Facebook and learn more about the show, click here.

SATURDAY, June 15

The xx, Grizzly Bear (The Uptown Amphitheatre at the NC Music Factory, $35-60)

And finally, critically-adored and fan beloved bands The xx and Grizzly Bear are climbing the steps to worldwide recognition.

UK band The xx has thrived on the charts in their homeland, and it’s only a matter of time before their wave of success takes over in the United States. The xx recently contributed a song to the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s recent adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” called “Together.”

Brooklyn natives Grizzly Bear have been the best band in the background of many popular television shows and films, while consistently being the best in show at many music festivals because of their innovative and experimental rock. Their latest release, “Shields,” received widespread acclaim and appeared on many “Best of 2012″ album lists.

Check out Grizzly Bear and The xx this weekend before you find you love their music later on.

TCBY, a national frozen yogurt chain with locations scattered throughout the Charlotte area, is gearing up to open a new location on Piedmont Row Drive off Fairview Road. The new location, which opens Saturday, June 8, will celebrate it’s opening by giving a free cup of the frozen yogurt to guests all day and a TCBY gift card to the first 100 guests to attend the opening.

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Sam Batt, TCBY franchisee operating this new location and over a dozen others in the North and South Carolina, says the location is perfect based on the surrounding businesses and the TCBY health-conscious outlook.

“We thought South Park would be a fantastic market for us. The shopping center, just in terms of the aesthetics, it’s close to the YMCA too,” said Batt. “And being there is in line with our healthy outlook. It seemed like a really great fit for us.”

TCBY works to set themselves apart from other frozen yogurt chains through their recipes and the corporate attitude.

“About 85 percent of our competition uses a generic form of yogurt from a dairy. We have our own formula and people who make it for us. It’s really kind of cool. That’s where we can control the nutritional,” said Brian Mooney, TCBY regional director of operations for the East.

The company is also encouraging all new franchisees to open stores using the self-serve model. Batt was the first TCBY owner to open a self serve TCBY, and his first location was also the first frozen yogurt store in North Carolina using the self-serve model.

“I think it’s absolutely the best direction to go. It’s offering customers the opportunity to get whatever they want,” said Batt. “They took a big risking, putting a 30 year old brand in my hands to open the first self-serve store, but it definitely paid off.”

Tweet @Niner_Times using the hashtag #PiedmontRowTCBY to tell us if you plan to go out and get free froyo Saturday.

TCBY employs a food scientist to ensure that all their flavors are top notch and healthy. Photo courtesy of the TCBY official Facebook page.

Marianas Trench performed at the Fillmore in Charlotte for the first time Thursday evening. Photo courtesy of 604 Records.

Rock band Marianas Trench has never performed in Charlotte, and lead Josh Ramsay bluntly addressed during their performance at the Fillmore Charlotte Thursday night.

“It’s like, where the f*** have we been?”

But it was a little hard to tell whether Marianas Trench was actually there, thankfully only early on in their performance.

Ramsay seemed disinterested performing initially, as did the rest of the Trench ensemble.

Steady and static, the first three songs had the guitarists, Ramsay included, standing relatively still in front of their respective microphones.

And the harsh flashing white strobe lights at the end of each of the first three songs strayed eyes away from the stage.

As exemplified in their third and most recent release, “Ever After,” these Canadian composers obviously have strong creativity and compassion, so it was only a matter of time before the show livened up.

And after a charming introduction to the crowd, Ramsay finally shed his guitar prior to “Toy Soldiers” and began the rowdy and electric show expected from them.

With this high energy hit, along with “Desperate Measures” and a special drum-powered performance of “Truth or Dare,” Marianas Trench flipped from their modest beginning. And the slower ballads were mixed in, like “Beside You” and “Porcelain.”The performances were naturally stripped down and beautiful, and Ramsay’s soothing vocal range can not be overstated.

Watch the  ”Beside You” video by Marianas Trench on YouTube

Continuing performances are lively, like “Stutter” and “Fallout” and throwback “Shaketramp,” from their 2006 freshman release, “Fix Me.”

The throwbacks, reminiscent of late ’90s punk, made for more solid fun headbangers. Their newer songs take a different approach.

“Ever After” is be more of a fairy tale’s rock soundtrack, as each track is interwoven with the others to create one long narrative song.

And Marianas Trench attempted to bring the story to the stage with interluding videos of the fairy tale for stage changes. The videos had a surprisingly interesting amount of effort put into them production-wise, but the choppy sound quality and confusing story created disinterest.

The slight mishaps are minuscule in comparison to Ramsay’s vocals and Marianas’ song creativity. The sound of each song solidly converts to the stage.

Forgetting the sometimes distracting light show, and slightly awkward interludes, Marianas Trench is bold with their music and performances. Though the night may not have started with a bang, the rest of the night certainly was head bang worthy.

It’s here. Long awaited, spoken of in hushed, reverent tones. One of UNC Charlotte’s newest additions to online education, Moodle 2, is here.

When logging into Moodle, among the list of site-wide announcements is the launch of Moodle 2. The program, which has been in production mainly starting fall 2012, is one of the most recent pieces in online and mobile interaction between students and faculty.

Over the summer sessions, various professors from a range of departments volunteered their courses to use Moodle 2 as opposed to the first generation of Moodle to publish and distribute course material, provide students with online quizzes and tests, keep students up-to-date on course deadlines and communicate with the members of the course frequently. After the close to a dozen courses utilize the platform this summer, Moodle 2 will be launched campus-wide and will be applied to all courses for the fall semester.

“We’re spending the summer sort of fixing those things that they say aren’t working quite right so when we do our full launch in the fall we hope to have a very stable experience for all of our users,” said Valorie McAlpin, director of the Faculty Center for Teaching and eLearning.

Most of the changes for the new platform are behind the scenes, according to McAlpin. Faculty, staff, developers and support staff will see the majority of the changes, although new features and modules on the website that instructors choose to integrate into the courses will be visible and usable by students.

“There’s forums for discussion, a space for project reporting, there’s a space asking questions, there is a space for uploading your videos. All of that creates a rich learning environment for our students,” said McAlpin.

“There are certain modules that are new, like the grading module. It allows you to record feedback for a particular project and then you can just select those comments automatically and then apply them.”

These new features and upgrades are necessary for the growing university and the expanding number of programs offered, says McAlpin. Many of the features will help instructors manage larger or hybrid classes, especially helpful now as many of the courses offered at UNC Charlotte are shifting in this direction.

“With Moodle, the old Moodle, it’s very outdated and we probably should have updated it before we did. We wanted to be very strategic about when we upgraded. We wanted it to be reliable and sustainable. We felt that this was the best time to do it,” said McAlpin.

“It looks better, it works better and we think that it’s going to make a big difference in the way faculty and staff are using it.”

Ave Maria Arrington-Ferguson, project manager for the Moodle 2 project through university Information Technology Services, says focus groups are scheduled for July 2. The focus group will integrate students, faculty and staff involved in Moodle 2 to get a variety of responses that will help improve the program for the fall full launch. Over the summer, the first generation of Moodle will still be available but come fall 2013, the original Moodle URL will redirect to Moodle 2’s website.

“As a university we were so ready to upgrade and move on and get some of the enhanced functionality that we hit the ground running, and that’s what made it fun,” said Arrington-Ferguson. “I’m jazzed on learning, so knowing that I can facilitate that for someone was just awesome.”

Are you in one of the courses using Moodle 2 for the summer or have strong opinions about it? Tweet @Niner_Times using the hashtag #Moodle2UNCC to tell us what you think of the new platform!

Brad Paisley brings his “Beat This Summer” tour to Charlotte this Friday night. Photo courtesy of Jim Shea / Arista Nashville

As the first full week of June kicks off, summer music is officially on its way to Charlotte. Outside venues like Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre and the Uptown Amphitheatre at the NC Music Factory are preparing for their slate of country and rock acts.

Other venues like the Fillmore and Amos’ Southend are booking artists left and right for a nice summer line-up. Summer concerts are just revving up, and here’s a look at this week (June 5 thru 8) in Charlotte music.

WEDNESDAY, June 5

The Noise Tour featuring Marianas Trench w/ Air Dubai, DJ Protector, The Good Natured (The Fillmore, $20)

“Ever After,” the latest album from Canadian rock band Marianas Trench is a symphonic performance of new age rock. It’s full of Michael Jackson type-influences, electronic melodies, punk arrangements and beautiful vocals from Josh Ramsay.

If their performance on Wednesday evening comes close to reflecting the innovation of “Ever After,” then the show will be extremely worth while.

THURSDAY, June 6

The After Party Tour: Aaron Carter, Alexis Babini, Alexander Cardinale (Amos’ Southend $17 adv, $20 dos)

The teen idol of the early 2000s is making a comeback. Carter is now working on a new album and headlining his first tour since 2005.

The tour has been quite successful with over 80 dates spanning from this past February to the beginning of July, and then continuing this coming September until the end of the year. Seems like Aaron Carter can still ride the wave of his early fame.

FRIDAY, June 7

Brad Paisley: Beat This Summer Tour Presented by Cracker Barrel with Chris Young, Lee Brice, The Henningsens (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, $30-80)

Any show presented by Cracker Barrel without a doubt will be a southern country good time. In support of his ninth and newest album, “Wheelhouse,” Paisley will bring Charlotte some groovy tracks along with some notably honest tunes from his latest effort.

SATURDAY, June 8

106.5′s New Music Revolution - Matrimony CD Release w/ Langhorne Slim (The Fillmore, $13)

Matrimony looks to fire up the Fillmore on Saturday night for a special event. This folk-pop, all-in-the-family band is one of the strongest and most successful bands to come out of the  Queen City.

Before they continue their tour across North America until the beginning of August, the band will stop back home in Charlotte to celebrate the arrival of their new EP, “Montibello Drive.”

Matrimony will be hosting a free “meet & eat” listening party before the Fillmore show at the Saloon at the NC Music Factory. The pre-show starts at 5 p.m. and will have prizes, free food, free beer and an acoustic set from Matrimony.

An official after party will be held at 5Church restaurant uptown starting at 11 p.m.