A former ‘zinester, Steve Shanafelt interned with the Xpress in early Spring of 2000 while attending college. He began freelance writing for the A & E department almost immediately, and served in various part-time positions. From 2001 to 2004, he wrote “Random Acts,” a weekly column which focused exclusively on local music. He took over the job of Calendar Editor in 2005, wrote the arts-commentary column “Culture Watch” in 2006 and 2007. He later became the Xpress’ A&E;Editor, stepping down in mid-2008 to start his own online-media project, SpartanburgSpark.com, in Spartanburg, S.C.