Latest news with #NorthCarolina-born
Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
PGA Championship contender cashes in after star forced to withdraw
Alex Smalley was the first alternate for the PGA Championship and only found out he would be competing one day before the tournament, yet he made a major impression on the event's first day Just a day before the PGA Championship started, Alex Smalley was on tenterhooks, unsure whether he'd even get to swing his clubs at Quail Hollow. As an alternate, his participation hinged on the withdrawal of a qualified player. Fate intervened when Sahith Theegala was forced to step aside due to a lingering neck injury that saw him bow out early from the Truist Championship the previous week. The injury failed to heal in time for the prestigious event and subsequently opened the door for Smalley, 28, who has seized the moment spectacularly. From barely being in the tournament to soaring to T4 in the leaderboard as Friday dawned, the North Carolina-born star turned what seemed improbable into reality. "I really prepared just like any other week," said Smalley following his astounding start to the tournament. "Obviously, it's interesting being first alternate. I was losing hope after every passing hour. And you know, you hear about everybody's ailments being first alternate." Not knowing his fate until Wednesday afternoon didn't hinder Smalley, who lit up the course with three birdies across four holes on the back nine. Although he gave away a couple of shots on the formidable par-four over on the front nine, he spectacularly clawed back into contention with a mesmerising 70-foot eagle putt on the par-five seventh, reports the Express. After securing a birdie at the eighth and maintaining par on the challenging ninth, Smalley ended three shots behind the leader Jhonattan Vegas. Despite his delight, Smalley spared a thought for Theegala. "I wish him the best and hope to have him back out here as quick as possible because us players and I know the fans really like him a lot," Smalley said. "It was a shame to see him not be able to play this week. But it was nice to get an opportunity to play." Smalley almost made the cut for the PGA Championship a week earlier. Last week at Myrtle Beach Classic, he was just two shots off the lead, and he had hope due to a unique circumstance. A space was reserved at the PGA Championship in case the Myrtle Beach winner was already qualified. It boiled down to Ryan Fox, Mackenzie Hughes and Harry Higgs. Since Hughes was pre-qualified for the PGA, Smalley would step in if Hughes clinched the victory. However, with Hughes bogeying the final hole and Fox winning the tie-breaker, Smalley remained first alternate. Smalley made the hopeful journey back to Greensboro, North Carolina, fingers crossed for a chance to play. Reflecting on his opportunity, he said: "I live about an hour and a half from here in Greensboro. I grew up just north of Raleigh. To have a major championship in your home state is awesome. To be able to get in last minute is great." He has also been the first alternate on a few occasions on the PGA Tour. While it's somewhat of a stretch to expect anything major from him, with the star finishing in T23 at his last PGA Champs in 2023, it's worth remembering that John Daly famously won the 1991 event as the ninth alternate in his rookie season on the Tour. 'I guess I've had decent luck at first alternate before, but I don't really want to be in that position anymore,' Smalley said. However, this pans out for him, it's been a very unexpected 24 hours for the US star.
Irish Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Eric Church: Evangeline vs the Machine review – Student of the heart's crookedness plays it straight
Evangeline vs the Machine Artist : Eric Church Label : EMI Nashville Country music is often regarded as a genre that moves in the slow lane, but Eric Church has never been one for obeying the speed limit. Just last year the North Carolina-born artist created a furore at Stagecoach – country music's Coachella – when he skimped on his best-loved hits in favour of acoustic versions of rap songs by 2Pac and Snoop Dogg. You haven't lived until you've heard a 47-year-old Nashville veteran and 10-time Grammy nominee negotiate Snoop's Gin & Juice ('Everything is fine when you listenin' to the D-O-G'). Such was Church's logic, at any rate, though his fans did not agree. Many left early, wondering if they had witnessed an act of self-sabotage or a bizarre stab at performance art. Church would later clarify that he 'wanted to challenge himself' and 'do something really weird' – a mission he accomplished. Twelve months later he's still taking risks, with a new album that has the discombobulating cyberpunk title of Evangeline vs the Machine and arrives with gleaming sci-fi artwork. Those are the limits of its excesses, however: the project clocks in at a trim eight tracks and a run time of just 36 minutes. Yet, for all its economy, it raises a multitude of imponderables. Who is Evangeline, for instance, and what is the Machine? Church doesn't answer these questions to any meaningful degree over the course of an LP that belies its futuristic framing and is free of science-fiction trappings. READ MORE Instead of spooking his audience all over again, it showcases Church's expressive baritone and flair for beautifully arranged songs that revisit classic country themes such as heartache and the struggles of doing right in a cruel world. No babies are chucked out with the bathwater: Tupac Shakur fans will go home empty-handed. The record's theme is the relentless march of the years, as spelled out on the rumbling opening track, Hands of Time, which begins with a church organ and then leads into a dusky riff. 'Detroit built brakes so that they could make a Chevy slow down/ And a just-right midnight sorry might turn goodbye around,' Church croons, conjuring the United States' faded auto industry as a metaphor for the decline we all experience in our lives. We've all got our own private Detroits, he suggests. It's a bleak beginning to a collection that shifts deeper into melancholy on I Bleed on Paper, where steel pedal combines with meditative lyrics. 'May never be what you call a rock star – be cool if I don't get there,' the arena headliner with an estimated net worth of $40 million declaims. But lightning flickers amid the gloom. Storm in Their Blood is a gorgeous ballad on which, framed by sobbing strings, he conjures with the iconography of the American West ('Apache war-horse paint') and interrogates his short temper: 'most men seek love and peace – some are born with a storm in their blood.' That storm is tempered with anxiety on Johnny, his soulful take on The Devil Went Down to Georgia, the 1979 track by Charlie Daniels Band. The original spins a hokey tale of the devil trying to win a young man's soul by besting him in a fiddle-playing contest. Church repurposes it as a protest against gun violence and the trauma he felt, as the father of two young boys, after a 2023 school shooting in Nashville in which three nine-year-olds and three adults were killed. It's the searing high point of a record largely content to stay within the parameters of mainstream country music. Few sheep are frightened across a solid but never innovative LP. It will certainly appeal to Ireland's huge country-music fan base, who could do with an early summer treat to put them in the mood for Zach Bryan's shows at Phoenix Park in June. Those concerts will surely be spectacular. And if Evangeline vs the Machine doesn't have the same epic punch as the prospect of a vigil to Phoenix Park in praise of country music, it is nonetheless an agreeable addition to Church's repertoire. It will, in particular, come as a relief to fans who felt his future would be nothing but 2Pac covers and Snoop Dogg tributes. A singer with a talent for songs about the crookedness of the human heart is playing it straight.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Winston-Salem woman finds her way with music
(WGHP) — Ask almost any successful musician, and they have a story of struggling to break through. A generation ago, record companies scoured the country looking for talent to introduce to their vast audiences. Now, the record companies sit back and tell artists, 'Build an audience and bring it to us, and then we'll see what we can do.' 'Of course it's frustrating,' said Maia Kamil, who grew up in New Jersey but moved to Greensboro to experience the North Carolina Folk Festival at the urging of legendary guitarist Charlie Hunter, who lives in Greensboro. 'It's not what I want to just be, writing my music and just performing it and focusing on the art, but it is what it is. Every generation of artists has their battles that they have to do what they have to do. It's like running a business.' Maia's journey began as she entered her teens. 'My grandmother bought me a guitar, and then I taught myself on YouTube how to play,' Maia said. She got good relatively fast. 'I was kind of known as the girl that can sing in college,' Maia said. 'I sang background for rappers, and then when I moved here, I was always like the featured singer.' Maia got good enough that her friends thought NPR's Tiny Desk concert series was something she should enter. 'All of my friends were like, 'Maia, why don't you do this?' And every year I … missed the deadline, so I was just like, 'OK. Let me do it,' Maia said. 'It literally was the last day to do it, so I texted my friends who all live on the block and I asked them if they could come over.' They did and recorded the song 'Good Life.' 'We wrote it on a summer night,' Maia said. 'We knew that we wanted to write a song from the perspective of the Earth to humanity … It really flowed out of us very quickly.' NPR chose that song as one of just 50 among the 7,500 entries for the fan favorite vote. Maia's influences, as you might imagine, are varied. 'I love James Taylor so much, but it always changes for me who I'm being influenced by. I loved Nina Simone as a kid. She's amazing,' said Maia of the North Carolina-born R&B and blues legend who died in 2003. Hear Maia perform with collaborators Noah and Tori Elliott in this edition of The Buckley Report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Newsweek
30-04-2025
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Connor Zilisch Ruled Out Of NASCAR Xfinity Race At Texas As Replacement Confirmed
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch has been ruled out of the upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway due to his ongoing recovery from a wreck at Talladega last weekend. 31-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner Kyle Larson will step in for the 18-year-old in the Andy's Frozen Custard 300 on Saturday. JR Motorsports confirmed: "Kyle Larson will sub for Connor Zilisch behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway as Zilisch continues to recover from a lower back injury sustained last weekend at Talladega." Statement from JR Motorsports. — JR Motorsports (@JRMotorsports) April 30, 2025 On the final lap of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, Zilisch, who was leading at the time, got caught up in a wreck with Jesse Love. The nudge from behind sent Zilisch into a spin before he collided with the barriers nose first. Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, prepares to qualify for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 25, 2025 in Talladega, Alabama. Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, prepares to qualify for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 25, 2025 in Talladega, North Carolina-born driver was heard complaining about his back over the team radio as soon as the crash took place. While speaking to the media after being cleared by the infield medical center, he explained: "Yeah, I'm okay. "That's one of the wrecks where you move your legs and make sure everything feels okay afterwards. So, very grateful to drive safe JR Motorsports race cars. "Our WeatherTech Chevrolet was as fast as Xfinity Mobile. We were in the right spot, just, yeah, I haven't really watched it close enough to know what happened. But yeah, grateful to be up and walking." A day alter, he confirmed that he was still feeling sore from the wreck. "Sore today but more than anything just upset that I couldn't close that one out for my team. If we keep putting ourselves in position to win races, it will come. Thank you to everyone who reached out to make sure I was okay."
Axios
24-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Walmart leads Raleigh's grocery market share but Publix gains ground
Walmart continues to dominate among Raleigh-area grocery stores but Publix has made large strides in attracting customers since opening its first stores in the Triangle in 2014. Why it matters: The fast-growing Raleigh area has become one of the most competitive grocery markets in the Southeast in recent years, with grocers like Wegmans, Publix, Trader Joe's and Lidl all expanding in the area. At the same time, grocers like Kroger, which also owns the Harris Teeter brand, have retreated from the region in the face of competition. Driving the news: But it's the grocery stores known for low prices that are still leading the way in the Raleigh area, with Walmart capturing 21.3% of grocery spending and the North Carolina-born chain Food Lion getting 14.6%. Charlotte-based Harris Teeter was essentially tied with Food Lion, with 14.6% of the market. Zoom in: The biggest gainer in the past year, however, was Florida-based Publix, which now has 11 stores in the Raleigh area. Publix has 6.9% of the market and leapfrogged both Target and Costco in market share. That market share is likely to keep growing, with Publix planning to open stores on Buffaloe Road in Raleigh, as well as Durham, Garner and Rolesville, according to the grocer. Wegmans, a popular grocery store from upstate New York, saw its market share stay relatively stable at 5.3%. The store has plans for a new Holly Springs store, though in 2021 it canceled plans for another Cary store. Yes, but: Despite the influx of new grocery stores to the area, Raleigh has 16 census tracts with low access to nearby grocery stores — many of them in Southeast Raleigh — according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
