VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Stoney’s Syracuse brings line dancing to south campus
Olivia Rodriguez: If you ever wanna know where Jackson and Xavier Carrier are on a Friday night in their hometown, well there’s plenty of video evidence. Stoney’s. A country western bar in Las Vegas, famous for its music, bull riding, but most of all…its dancing.
Xavier Carrier: When you think of Vegas, you definitely do not think of country. But there is a huge country community within Vegas.
Olivia Rodriguez: The brothers are practically celebrities at Stoney’s. Known for their well worn boots and the cowboy hats that never leave their heads, except when they’re riding. But you can’t blame them, it’s in their blood. With a ballerina mother and a childhood filled with horseback riding, it’s almost inevitable that their legacy at stoney’s would follow them here.
Jackson Carrier: I missed dancing. I got it in my head that, you know, I think there’s a lot of people that want to dance, they just don’t know it yet.
Olivia Rodriguez: If they didn’t then, they do now. Ever since they started up their own Stoney’s in their south-campus backyard, and to say it’s been a success, might be an understatement.
Xavier Carrier: I thought, maybe we’d get 40 people — 50 people. And then literally the first bus came and like 40 people walked out. And then the next one another 40 people came out. And we were like “Oh my gosh”
Olivia Rodriguez: And before they knew it Stoney’s Syracuse became a campus sensation.
Abrum Wilson: I remember one of the first questions I asked when I came to Syracuse was ‘Is there a line dancing club?’ and back to back to back I just got no. So this is something that people really want.
Olivia Rodrigugez: Even after becoming campus celebrities, Jackson and Xavier make sure that their Stoney’s has the same message as the one back home: having fun and dancing with your friends.
Jackson Carrier: It’s been really really nice to find kind of like another set of community. Another group that really is passionate and loves something that we love too, and we get to share it with them.
Olivia Rodriguez: And whether it’s the Vegas sun or the Syracuse rain, Jackson and Xavier Carrier know how to bring a little bit of home right here. For N-C-C News, I’m Olivia Rodriguez.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — If you ever visit brothers Jackson and Xavier Carrier’s south campus apartment, you’ll find several novelties. The walls are covered in vintage cowboy posters. The front door is littered with beaten up boots. Pristine cowboy hats hang above their TV. But most of all, their backyard is a bit of a mess. The grass is completely stomped down, string lights hang in a haphazard circle, and a 3-foot-wide self-built wooden stage sits at the front. As the creators of Stoney’s Syracuse, it’s all in service of their bringing their own version of home right here to Syracuse.
“I missed dancing,” Jackson said. “I got it in my head that, you know, I think there’s a lot of people that want to dance they just don’t know it yet.”
The real Stoney’s is practically the boy’s second home. Located in their hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, Stoney’s Rockin’ Country a country western bar famous for its music, bull-riding, but most importantly, it’s line dancing. Every Friday night you can find the Carrier’s at 18+ night, going early to learn the night’s dances from the instructors and staying until closing. As both brothers found their own way to SU, they realized that they were missing an outlet that Stoney’s provided them.
“When you think of Vegas, you definitely do not think of country,” said Xavier. “But there is a huge country community within Vegas”
It’s this longing for community that led the brothers to their wildest idea to date: recreate the magic of Stoney’s right in their own backyard. Together they compiled the plethora of line dances they had memorized and recruited a group of friends and other line dancers to get in on the idea.
“I remember one of the first questions I asked when I came to Syracuse was ‘Is there a line dancing club?’ and back to back to back I just got no,” said Abrum Wilson, one of Stoney’s Syracuse’s dance instructors. “So this is something that people really want.”
After a couple trips to Home Depot, they had finally set up shop in Jackson’s backyard. They sent out their address on Instagram and hoped to get a couple of their friends to show up. But the Carrier brothers had no idea what their little idea would turn into.
“I thought, maybe we’d get 40 people—50 people,” Xavier said. “And then literally the first bus came and like 40 people walked out. And then the next one another 40 people came out. And we were like ‘Oh my gosh.'”
Ever since that very first night, the Carrier’s estimate that no less than 100 people show up every Saturday night to line dance in their backyard. From pros to beginners the brothers welcome everyone, hoping that by the end of the year then can have a whole crowd of people doing the dances together.
“It’s been really really nice to find kind of like another set of community,” Jackson adds. “Another group that really is passionate and loves something that we love too, and we get to share it with them.”
It’s that passion that has not only brought SU students from across campus together, but the brothers closer than ever. Over 2,000 miles from Stoney’s, they’ve found home in their dancing and in each other.