Windows are not infinite. It is only a glimpse of a moment that passes all too quickly.
I first heard Bill Barnes' name as I searched for video work in Charlotte in the early 1990s. Through the years, we talked occasionally, running into each other at various events.
Bill had worked on a music show After Dark, which aired on WTVI, and simulcast on in the early 1980s. Like many shows of that era, the master tape are not believed to have survived, apart from VHS copies of a few of the edited shows that aired. What Bill had, however, was something more. These were a treasure trove of the raw audio from the complete shows. This also wasn't just bands in the Charlotte artists. They were national and regional touring acts, recorded throughout the state.
I immediately took on the project. Bill was initially unwilling to share these recordings with me, telling me that the recordings that stored safely on flash drives. Yes, I said, but let me take care of this, and II will ask you about sharing them with me again soon.
I not only immediately approached WTVI, WFAE and others about a story about the tapes (which I am still working on), I also introduced him to the archivist at CPCC, who gladly accepted Bill's complete WTVI archives. After this was done, Bill also gifted me with mp3s of the After Dark shows.
Bill's home was crammed from moments from his whole life. The magazine he oversaw in the 1980s, that featured some of the only articles that my friend Maurice Williams ever wrote. Videos and props from every decade of Bill's career. Part of the joy for me in this project was getting to know someone whom I only known for years in passing, but now was getting to know as a peer and friend.
I had been meaning to call Bill for days, to update him about several things. As I was driving to open my show of photos at ArtPlus, I received a phone call telling me that Bill was gone. The thought of that time now being gone has yet to leave me. Much like all of our times and moments that suddenly fade, that feeling will be with me for a long time. Thankfully, the conversations, laughter and the things we create and share live on, far beyond this fleeting speck of time.
Windows are moments. All too quickly, the moments leaves our eyes never to return. All we can do is document the moment, and leave the story behind for others to share it further.
Thank you, Bill. See you in the stars.
-Daniel
September 23, 2025
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/charlotte/name/william-barnes-obituary?id=59491828&fbclid=IwY2xjawNYq-tleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHs1EOIo_L9LUqOK9BVyPHtruLP0WRgFwrKsei5cKP8x-AI1ZMwWPlxwOEfow_aem_m07592BeOS-9Ea1eC8poTw
