No Bones About It: ’80s alt-rock band from Charlotte to enter NC Music Hall of Fame – Fox 46 Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – At the Boris and Natasha boutique in Charlotte, it routinely feels like Groundhog Day.

“It’s like Christmas every day!” says owner Hope Nicholls, opening up packages of new inventory at the northeast Charlotte shop that carries clothes and accessories with a fun vibe.

“Ha-ha-ha!” she said with a sinister laugh, looking at a pair of skeleton gloves that just arrived.

If customers think her inventory rocks, that seems fitting.

In the music business, she’s known as a dynamic frontwoman. In 1983, Hope and her husband, guitarist Aaron Pitkin, formed Fetchin Bones. 40 years later, the Charlotte band is being inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held Oct. 19 in Mooresville.

Others being honored at the event include country star Scotty McCreery, singer-songwriter Loudon Waynewright and gospel legend George Beverly Shea. Funk trailblazers Bill Curtis and Betty Davis round out the list.

“It’s an honor to be included, and to be recognized as an artist, and as a performer, and songwriter, all the things that we all did,” said Nicholls.

In the 1980s, the band toured the country with alternative rock legends including the likes of R.E.M., The B-52’s and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Nicholls describes Fetchin Bones as a blend of everything from punk to country.

“Well Charlotte didn’t know what to do with us at first,” Nicholls recalled. “And so it took us getting shows in places like Athens in Atlanta where people realized there might be something to what we were doing.”

Their sound caught the attention of big names. In 1985, singer Michael Stipe of R.E.M. put Fetchin Bones album “Cabin Flounder” at the top of his list of favorite albums.

Bandmates Danna Pentes, Clay Richards, Errol Stewart and Marc Mueller make no bones about what made their music and their live shows special.

“Eclectic frenzy, it’s full-on energy,” said Mueller.

“We were fun, we were irreverent, we were serious, we were powerful, we were scary,” says Richards.

They were all of those words.

“We’re not a band I think words can describe,” Pentes told Queen City News.

“What was great about it is that we were all involved in the songwriting process, and so it was a collective energy,” she said.

“I think Fetchin Bones is a band that influenced a lot of other musicians, especially in North Carolina,” Stewart says.

The members of Fetchin Bones look back fondly at their short, but sweet, run.

“The memories that I have from Fetchin Bones are really some of the greatest memories I’ve ever had for playing music,” Mueller recalled.

In an interview in those early years, Nicholls said she wanted music to be more than just a hobby. “We’ve worked towards making this our job, to pay the rent, so that we don’t have to have other jobs,” she said.

Now, the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame honor puts a stamp on their legacy.

“Proud as pie to be included,” Nicholls says. “It’s a nice tight body of work that I think everyone’s proud of.”