Rudy Currence Releases 'The O.T.H.E.R.'

Rock Hill native/Charlotte-based singer Rudy Currence has released his new single "The O.T.H.E.R." It's from the Disturbing Tha Peace/Island Def Jam artist's forthcoming major-label debut album.

"The O.T.H.E.R." is produced by Don Cannon, and while Rudy is most known for his soulful and inspirational ballads, he seems to have aimed for the clubs with this one. It's certainly catchy--I've already hit replay a few times while blogging about this. He posted the song on YouTube a few days ago, and it'll be available on iTunes on September 6. Follow him on Twitter @RUDY_CURRENCE.

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Join Me and Social Media Stars at Event Tuesday

Tomorrow (Tuesday, August 30) I'm joining a panel of "local social media superstars" for an event called "Social Media: Get Your Voice Heard. Expand Your Reach." Hosted by Young Professionals For David Howard, the event takes place 6:30-8 p.m. at Bluprint Restaurant, 227 West Trade Street (in the Carillon building, adjacent to Morton's Steakhouse).

The fact that I just ended my three-year holdout from Twitter last week probably makes me a little bit of an outcast from the other panelists, but I'd like to think I can offer some keen insight, particularly when it comes to blogging. I was honored to accept their invitation to participate. Here's the event's description:

Come out to learn new ways social media can improve your career, life, advocacy, and community. Get the inside scoop on strategy and tips straight from local social media superstars.

• Crystal Dempsey (@CrystalDempsey), Communications Manager with NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Queen of Charlotte Twitter
• Krystal High (@DigitalEconoMs), Blogger and Editor-in-Chief of Politic365.com
• Jarvis Holliday (@HollidayInk), Freelance Writer, Editor, and Blogger, GrownPeopleTalking.com, Charlotte Magazine, etc.
• Jameka Whitten (@JamekaShamae),  JSW Media Group, Amped 4-A-Cure, Inc., ESPN Regional TV 

Tweet about this event with the hashtag #CLTvotes. The suggested donation is $10. Light refreshments will be served; free validated parking. RSVP requested to confirm your attendance: send e-mail to info@votedavidhoward.com. Paid for by The Committee to Re-Elect David L. Howard.

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C-SPAN's Spending the Week In Charlotte

Details below are edited from press release.

C-SPAN is visiting Charlotte for a week starting today, as it chronicles the history and literary life of the city for the cable network’s non-fiction book channel (BookTV on C-SPAN2) and history channel (American History TV on C-SPAN3). Charlotte is one of eight cities being featured in a special series called the LCV Cities Tour. The tour is given this name because C-SPAN producers are travelling in specially designed Ford Transit Connect vehicles, which they're calling Local Content Vehicles (LCVs), that are equipped with digital cameras, editing and other recording technologies, and each member of the LCV team is able to shoot and edit video on location as well as make presentations to the community about the work they do for the network.

C-SPAN Team: Mark Farkas, Tiffany Rocque, Adrienne Hoar, and Deborah Lamb. [Source]

During the week, C-SPAN producers will visit various literary and historic sites, interviewing local historians, authors and civic leaders, including Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and Charlotte Chamber President Bob Morgan. The C-SPAN team will also visit area schools, including Central Piedmont Community College, Providence Day School, and McClintock Middle School. C-SPAN is partnering with Time Warner Cable, the network’s local affiliate, which is helping to organize the week’s many logistics.

A Tuesday, August 30 public kick-off event will be held at Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Drive, with opening remarks at 6:30 p.m. from Time Warner Cable, C-SPAN, and representatives of Charlotte Museum of History. The event keynote speaker is local author and Levine Museum of the New South historian, Dr. Tom Hanchett. He'll discuss Charlotte’s unique history and other topics included in his book Sorting Out the New South City and his most recent work, Salad Bowl Suburbs: A History of Charlotte's East Side and South Boulevard Immigrant Corridors.

The kick-off event will air along with C-SPAN’s other productions during a special Charlotte feature the weekend of September 24-25 on BookTV and American History TV. For more details, visit www.c-span.org/LocalContent.

In the video below, Mark Farkas, C-SPAN executive producer and LCV project manager, explains why they're visiting cities like Charlotte.

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My Memories of Aaliyah, and the Last Time She Performed In Charlotte

Fans, musicians, celebrities, media outlets, and people everywhere are remembering the late Aaliyah Haughton today. The beautiful R&B singer and actress died ten years ago today in a plane crash, at the age of 22. Known simply as Aaliyah and bursting into the spotlight before we knew of a fellow one-name superstar, Beyoncé, she was responsible for several hits from the mid-1990s up until her untimely demise in 2001. You wouldn't believe that she only lived long enough to release three albums: Age Ain't Nothing But A Number (1994), One In A Million (1996), and the self-titled Aaliyah (2001).

She also released a few hit songs on movie soundtracks (back when movies put out soundtracks), including "Are You That Somebody?" on the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack in 1998. That was the summer I'd just graduated high school. I remember going to a house party and dancing to the song with a girl I had a crush on. She was actually dressed like Aaliyah at the party--baggy jeans, cutoff shirt showing her midriff (the singer changed her style as she got older, but in her teens she dressed like a tomboy). I thought about that girl for the rest of the summer!

Aaliyah had so many influences we still see today in music and fashion. I, like many people, continue to enjoy her songs and music videos--other faves of mine are "At Your Best (You Are Love)" and "Try Again".

I regret not having ever seen her in concert. I did some digging (and by that I mean Googling) to try to find the last time Aaliyah performed in concert in Charlotte. I came across a 1997 press release for the Budweiser Superfest concert tour from that year (coincidentally, the latest installment stopped in Charlotte last night with Jill Scott and Anthony Hamilton). The headliners were Mary J. Blige, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and Dru Hill, with Ginuwine and Aaliyah as the opening acts. On September 1, 1997 they came to the Charlotte Coliseum (for people who moved to Charlotte after 2007, the coliseum used to be on Tyvola Road and was torn down, even though the building was less than 20 years old, because the city built a new arena in Uptown for the Charlotte Bobcats in 2005). When Aaliyah performed in Charlotte, I was just starting my senior year in high school, growing up two hours away in Rembert, SC. I would have loved to have seen her then. And now.

Do you remember that concert tour from 1997? Did you see it in Charlotte? If so, post in the comments section below.

A backstage pass from the 1997 tour. [Source]

If you want to relive some memories of Aaliyah, check out MTV.com's "Aaliyah: Celebrating Her Legacy, 10 Years Later" and Billboard.com's "Aaliyah's Top 10 Billboard Hits." Those links include photos and videos. Also, the Aailyah: One in a Million special airs at 8 p.m. tonight on BET.

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I Joined Twitter Today, Follow Me @HollidayInk

I joined Twitter this afternoon about the same time we felt the effects of the earthquake in Virginia. I'd been avoiding joining the social networking/microblogging site, despite at least once a week a friend or colleague telling me I should be on it or them being appalled when I said I wasn't. I have nothing against Twitter; in fact I often read the timelines of some of my favorite celebrities and of a few friends and colleagues. I just didn't want another social media tool to have to maintain and manage--I'm already on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and I have two blogs, Grown People Talking and Dusk Till Dawn (Charlotte nightlife). But it's primarily because I have a third blog launching in September that I realized that Twitter would be the best way for me to share links to my content because, those blogs coupled with the magazines I write for that post the stories online, I'm cranking out a good bit of content into the World Wide Web.

Follow me @HollidayInk.

My hope is that Twitter will provide a seamless and effortless way to share information with you. But I know, of course, what also comes along with Twitter is the retweeting, direct messages, and strategies to build followers, all of which can become time consuming (as if I don't have enough unread emails in my inboxes). But I've taken the leap and you can't put that genie back in the bottle. Perhaps I'll grow to love Twitter, and hopefully people will follow me @HollidayInk.

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