Mar 13, 2017 - Things to Do

30+ Charlotte musicians to add to your playlist

Katie Levans

Last week, local producer and drummer Mark Eckert sent me a dense 33-song Spotify playlist featuring bands and musicians either currently residing in, previously formed in or somehow closely connected to the city of Charlotte.

“I’d like to mention I am forgetting a bunch of artists, records, producers who came out of here,” he said via email. “These were just 30 tied to this city but there are so many more.”

Some of the names — like Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Anthony Hamilton — were familiar to me, but most were a whole new introduction.

In addition to artists currently recording and touring, Eckert also included nods to major names that created some of their classic hits here in Charlotte. Whitney Houston, James Brown and R.E.M., for example, all had songs produced at Reflection Sound Studios in Plaza Midwood, which closed in 2014.

Charlotte is hardly pegged as a music city but Eckert expects that to change.

“We’re not Nashville, Atlanta, LA, NYC etc… but we’re still growing, and at a way faster rate relative to our size,” he said via email. “Charlotte is still trying to prove itself in the music world. There is a lot growing here and a lot of support for it. I’m really interested to see where everything goes.”

Give Eckert’s CLT playlist a listen and keep an eye out for shows at local venues…