“There’s nothing to do around here”.

Have you ever said that or heard it said?

I have, and quite frankly, I have been a bit bewildered by it.  I know we don’t have the entertainment scene of a bigger city like Raleigh or Richmond, but for our area, we have live entertainment happening all the time.

Therefore, I decided to start a business that consists of the website www.atthemic.com that would be a collection of all of the entertainment happenings in the area.  Launched in February 2011, our slogan is “Promoting the Live Entertainment Scene”.

This includes the happenings from the theater to the night life, grass roots to high brow.  As I looked around at what was happening and about to be happening, I felt the business and website would serve a public good and support the various venues and efforts to provide live entertainment in the area.

AtTheMic.com has supported the efforts of The M.A.N. Musicians Artist Network, Steve Owens Productions and Kathy Stallings’ charity shows.  Rapids Jam, Roanoke Rapids Theater, Friday’s in the Park Concert Series and area festivals have been promoted. The night life entertainment provided by Hux’s Nite Life, Java Junction, San Jose Mexican Restaurant and Logan’s Roadhouse has been a staple of the website.

At The Mic will present reviews of area bands and venues, promote upcoming shows at the various theaters of The Center, Roanoke Rapids Theater and Lakeland Theater.  We’ll report on entertainment news with the development of the Carolina Crossroads Entertainment District to the struggling artist seeking to play a song for you.

To have an item included on the calendar and listed in the “This Weeks Highlights” section of the website, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at least three weeks before the event.

Also, if you “friend” us on Facebook, we’ll keep you informed of “stuff” and let you know when the website has new late breaking entertainment news.

So the next time you hear someone say “there’s nothing to do around here” tell them to check out the website www.atthemic.com to see what really is happening.  They might be surprised by the amount of entertainment that is happening each and every week in the Roanoke Valley.

Andy Whitby is the administrator of atthemic.com and writes from Weldon