By Courtney Devores
Special to the Observer

CIAA equals entertainment with countless parties and performances taking place throughout the week. Some of that entertainment just happens to be homegrown, with three of next Friday's concerts featuring stars with Charlotte roots.

We spoke to performers Anthony Hamilton and Sunshine Anderson, who play the Fillmore, and Godfather of Go-Go Chuck Brown, who plays Amos' Southend - about CIAA, Charlotte, music and sports.

Anthony Hamilton

Grammy winner Anthony Hamilton moved back to the Charlotte area with his wife, Tarsha, between six and seven years ago after making a name for himself as a critically acclaimed solo artist. He has since racked up more Grammy nominations and one win. The 40-year-old father of five is working on the follow-up to 2009's "The Point of It All."

On his own sports background: "I played football coming up. Tailback and safety and ran hurdles and 4-by-4 relay. I was really fast. I was never good at basketball, but I still like to play."

On CIAA events: "Oftentimes you have an opportunity to go out and check out a game or two in between taking pictures and performing. I do have fun, too."

On Charlotte pro sports: "I haven't been to a Panthers game yet. I really want to go see them against the Cowboys. I've sang the national anthem at numerous Bobcats games."

On Sunshine Ander son: "We were all brought into the business at the same time by a guy we love named Mark Sparks (from Wadesboro). We were both signed to Soul Life."

On moving back: "It feels so good to finally get a chance to enjoy the house."

On his 4-month-old twin boys, Nolan and Aaron: "When they told me there were two babies, I said 'Are you serious?' I'm still saying that every day... Now that they're older, it's fun seeing both of their personalities."

On his upcoming album: "I'm currently working on the new record (in L.A.)... We're still in the first month of it, but I've got some live horns and a lot of songs that are amazing. We're trying to hit the road in June and have an album finished before June or July or at least have the single out."

Sunshine Anderson

Ten years ago, Charlotte-raised R&B singer Sunshine Anderson had a Top 3 R&B hit with "Heard It All Before." After seven years, she has moved back to Charlotte from Atlanta. She released her long-awaited third album, "The Sun Shines Again," in late 2010 and is learning how to navigate her music career from her hometown.

On CIAA: "I definitely don't keep up with the sports. I did in the early years. I graduated from North Carolina Central University. I was a cheerleader... CIAA is like homecoming."

On Hamilton and her other Carolina comrades: "Anthony has always been my Soul Life family. I call them the boys. There's a good 15 of us."

On moving back: "I decided to come back and help make my city hotter... It's also me and my (3-year-old) daughter now. She needs Grandma and Grandpa and a stable environment while I'm traveling. My husband and I separated so there was that need to go and reboot."

On Charlotte now vs. then: "Things have changed... You hear Lauryn Hill's performing live. There's R&B live at Jet lounge. I walked in there and one of my home girls from high school was singing."

On Charlotte's musical future: "There are so many great artists that come out of the state and out of this city. I can name about 14 now."

On CIAA activities: "I like to go to the cheerleading competition. I'm going to be screaming. And the step show. It's going to be crazy."

Chuck Brown

At age 74, Washington, D.C.'s Godfather of Go-Go (the funky and danceable cross-pollination of R&B and Latin and African rhythms) has become a CIAA fixture. After a banner year following the release of his triple disc set "We Got This," Brown received his first Grammy nomination for the duet "Love" with Jill Scott. He lost to Sade, but the Gaston County native and grandfather of six is still riding the high of the nomination weeks after the awards.

On returning to Charlotte for CIAA: "It's heartwarming. I love playing there. It brings back so many memories. "

On sports: "I started boxing in 1946. I played football, and I was a sparring partner and a gym worker. I never became a contender. All three of my sons played football."

On explaining Go-Go to newbies: "Go-Go is just another form of funky music. It has a spiritual vibe to it. The beat itself used to be an old beat the parishioners used in church to jump and shout to. (In the '60s) I was in this group, the Los Latinos. We did top 40 and R&B with a Latin groove. I decided when I got my own band together in 1966 that I was going to take that Latin and mix it with my R&B... I had this Latin and African groove with percussion and congas and timbales and tambourines and cowbells."

On what he would've done without music: "I was a bricklayer and tractor-trailer driver. I worked on a railroad. I've built highways all through Virginia and West Virginia. I might not have lived to this age if I hadn't gotten serious about music and settled down and gotten married and had kids."

On his band: "I like advising young people. Several people in my band I took off the streets. I said leave them guns home or else you can't play in my band."

On fame: "I love it. I didn't think I was ever going to get this famous. If I'm in downtown D.C., I get mobbed. I can't go into the mall with my wife. I'm too busy signing autographs and taking pictures."

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