A Really Strange And Wonderful Time

THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF THE THRIVING AND INFLUENTIAL ROCK SCENE IN CHAPEL HILL, WHICH GAVE THE WORLD ARTISTS LIKE BEN FOLDS FIVE, SUPERCHUNK, AND SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS North Carolina has always produced extraordinary music of every description. But the indie rock boom of the late 1980s and early ’90s brought the state most fully into the public consciousness, while the subsequent post-grunge free-for-all bestowed its greatest commercial successes. In addition to the creation of legacy label Merge Records and a slate of excellent indie bands like Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, and Polvo, this was the decade when other North Carolina artists broke Billboard ’s Top 200 and sold millions of records—several million of which were issued by another indie label based in Carrboro, Chapel Hill’s smaller next-door neighbor. It’s time to take a closer look at exactly what happened. A Really Strange and Wonderful Time features a representative cross section of what was being created in and around Chapel Hill between 1989 and 1999. In addition to the aforementioned indie bands, it documents—through firsthand accounts—other local notables like Ben Folds Five, Dillon Fence, Flat Duo Jets, Small, Southern Culture on the Skids, The Veldt, and Whiskeytown. At the same time, it describes the nurturing infrastructure which engendered and encouraged this marvelous diversity. In essence, A Really Strange and Wonderful Time is proof of the genius of community.

The first biography of the thriving and influential rock scene in Chapel Hill, which gave the world artists like Ben Folds Five, Superchunk, and Squirrel Nut Zippers North Carolina has always produced extraordinary music. From Charlie Poole standardizing the bluegrass form in the 1920s, to the creation of an entire diaspora of Black musicians which included Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone, to the gentle early-70s sounds of James Taylor, the state has many distinguished sons and daughters. But it was the indie rock boom of the late 1980s and '90s that brought North Carolina most fully into the public consciousness. In addition to creating legacy label Merge Records and a raft of excellent indie bands like Superchunk and Archers of Loaf, this was the time when North Carolina bands broke Billboard's top 200 and sold millions of records - several million of which were issued by an ambitious indie label based in Carrboro, Chapel Hill's smaller, sleepier, next door neighbor. It's time to take a closer look at exactly what happened. A Really Strange and Wonderful Time chronicles the extraordinary decade between 1989 and 1999, letting those who were there - band members, culture mavens, producers, visual artists, DJs, club owners - speak for themselves, while musician and writer Tom Maxwell provides context, color, and his own perspective as a participant. Deftly researched and intimately written, this is a book that takes readers directly into the scenes as Maxwell experienced them: to the sweaty basement gig, the sold-out Cradle show, the makeshift recording studio, the 15-passenger van. Through interviews and insightful commentary, Maxwell convey the wondrous flowering of activity, followed by its inevitable decay, proving that success is not necessarily defined by fame-and that genius is communal.

"North Carolina has always produced extraordinary music. From Charlie Poole standardizing the bluegrass form in the 1920s, to the creation of an entire diaspora of Black musicians which included Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone, to the gentle early-70s sounds of James Taylor, the state has many distinguished sons and daughters. But it was the indie rock boom of the late 1980s and '90s that brought North Carolina most fully into the public consciousness. In addition to creating legacy label Merge Records and a raft of excellent indie bands like Superchunk and Archers of Loaf, this was the time when North Carolina bands broke Billboard's top 200 and sold millions of records - several million of which were issued by an ambitious indie label based in Carrboro, Chapel Hill's smaller, sleepier, next door neighbor. It's time to take a closer look at exactly what happened. "A Really Strange and Wonderful Time" chronicles the extraordinary decade between 1989 and 1999, letting those who were there - band members, culture mavens, producers, visual artists, DJs, club owners - speak for themselves, while musician and writer Tom Maxwell provides context, color, and his own perspective as a participant. Deftly researched and intimately written, this is a book that takes readers directly into the scenes as Maxwell experienced them: to the sweaty basement gig, the sold-out Cradle show, the makeshift recording studio, the 15-passenger van. Through interviews and insightful commentary, Maxwell convey the wondrous flowering of activity, followed by its inevitable decay, proving that success is not necessarily defined by fame-and that genius is communal"--

‘We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like, “I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive ...”’

The Swing Movement -- all jazz hands and high-waisted pants -- advanced and receded in good order. I wrote this book to tell the other side of the story. I want you to know about the oddball collection of iconoclasts who got together and made the Squirrel Nut Zippers what they were: a combustible, improbable gumbo of joy and menace. Along the way, I write about our many influences: jazz and blues and hot music and calypso and, yes, swing. Come run these fields, like rabbits, while the harvest moon hangs caught in the branches. Come linger over this snapshot.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

The tenth-anniversary edition of the book that changed lives in profound ways, now with a new foreword and afterword. In 2006, a groundbreaking feature-length film revealed the great mystery of the universe—The Secret—and, later that year, Rhonda Byrne followed with a book that became a worldwide bestseller. Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it. In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life—money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.