Twice monthly, my 30 Days Out column spotlights upcoming music shows and events of note, shining a light into some less well-lit corners, where some fascinating artists schedule performances. I do my best to give ample advance notice so that you can adjust your budget and calendar in a way that lets you get to the show.
Jagged rock, classic country, synthy dubstep and soulful pop: The next 30 day in Asheville are full of musical riches to suit most every taste
Artist: Bat Fangs
Venue: The Mothlight
Date: Monday, June 25, 9 p.m.
Door: free
When I first saw Betsy Wright onstage, she was playing guitar in a Charlottesville, Va.-based band called the Fire Tapes. That was six years ago, at the long-since-shuttered Emerald Lounge. Since then, Wright went on to play with Ex-Hex, and now she co-fronts Bat Fangs with Laura King. Each successive musical step has taken Wright in a more raucous, uptempo direction; where Fire Tapes drew its psychedelic vibe from the dreamier end of the pool, Bat Fangs channel Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators. To my ears, the band’s sound is halfway between the Runaways and New York Dolls (with a bit of Sweet’s melodic sensibility), and that’s not a bad place to be. Not at all. Deathtapes open.
Artist: Cyndi Lou & the Want To
Venue: The Double Crown
Date: Wednesday, June 27, 9 p.m.
Door: $5-10 donation
Cyndi Lou & the Want To play both kinds of music: country and western. The band’s sound is based on both the uptempo honky-tonkin’ aesthetic and a classic country vibe. Cynthia Galli’s vocals strike just the right edge-of-heartbreak feel when called for, and R. Scott Murray’s wonderfully evocative pedal steel guitar is a thing to behold. And the whole thing is wrapped up in a good-natured sense of humor, guaranteed to please. DJ David Wayne opens.
Artist: Hyperbolic Headspace
Venue: Timo’s House
Date: Saturday, July 7, 9 p.m.
Door: $10
Hyperbolic Headspace is the musical moniker of local musician Ryan Newport. The HH sound is based in electronics — lots of blobby analog-sounding synthesizers — with techno, dubstep and hip-hop elements folded into the mix. The sounds you’ll hear are hypnotic and alluring, a nice mix of free-form and composed work. Sometimes — as on “Enter the Void” from the Yin EP — Hyperbolic Headspace heads in an impressionistic, seemingly unfocused direction, but the drop beats and sampled vocals bring a cohesive feel to the meandering. Mindex is also on the bill.
Artist: Matthew E. White
Venue: Ambrose West
Date: Friday, July 13, 8 p.m.
Door: $15 advance / $18 day of show
White is an in-demand producer and arranger; he’s also at the head of his own record label, Spacebomb (home to Natalie Prass, whose debut White co-produced). Richmond, Va.-based White has released two albums of his own, 2012’s Big Inner and Fresh Blood from 2015 (plus a 2013 EP, Outer Face). If Sufjan Stevens were funkier and knew how to rock, he might sound a bit like White. White hasn’t released anything recently — certainly he’s working on something behind the scenes; last fall he was said to be “in the middle of work on his new album” — and his current short run of dates can’t properly be called a tour. But the quality of his existing body of work makes him worth seeing.
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