Around town: Harvest Records turns 20

Harvest Records celebrated its 20th anniversary on Aug. 14. The West Asheville shop is co-owned by Mark Capon and Matt Schnable, college friends who’ve turned the business into a local favorite and Best of WNC Hall of Fame winner for “Best Record/CD Store.”

“We’ve always tried our best to do right by our community — listening to their interests, keeping things priced as cheaply as we can, paying fairly for used product, etc.,” Capon says. “And over years and years of doing that, it seems like folks kept coming back to us because they felt like we had treated them well.”

Capon also credits their success to Harvest’s “top-notch” staff, who master dozens of little operational “systems” that he and Schnable have created within the store while providing excellent customer service and expert music knowledge. In turn, the business has been able to navigate various twists and turns within the music industry over the past two decades — from the rise in streaming services to the resurgence of vinyl records.

“As long as people continue to be interested in the discovery of music on physical media, we’ll do our best to provide it for them,” Capon says.

Looking back over Harvest’s run, Capon points to heroes Brian Eno and Cat Power visiting the store as two of the business’s top highlights. In-store performances from Michael Hurley, Akron/Family, Jason Molina, Cass McCombs, the Carolina Chocolate Drops and more have likewise felt “mind-blowing” for him and his colleagues.

“We could name-drop all day long, but we’re also proud of just all the relationships forged over the years with our customers,” he says. “Keeping the current staff for as many years as they’ve been here feels pretty special, too.”

The Harvest crew looks forward to celebrating the milestone anniversary Saturday through Monday, Aug. 31-Sept. 2, with the store’s annual sale. Everything in the shop will be discounted 20%, and there will be raffle prizes, DJ performances, free beer and more.

“We’re grateful for the tight-knit small-business community in Asheville,” Capon says. “It seems obvious, but I am fairly certain you can’t find a business support system in other cities like you do here — especially our fellow Haywood Roaders. Love y’all.”

To learn more, visit avl.mx/dr0.

Dr. Dog & Lil Frankies combine forces

In mid-July, Asheville-based artists Dulci Ellenberger, Alyse Baca and Becca Nicholson had the opportunity of a lifetime when they joined fellow local Scott McMicken and his iconic indie rock band Dr. Dog for a handful of shows around the country.

The opportunity arose after the friends provided backing vocals on McMicken’s project The Ever-Expanding’s 2024 album, When It’s Happening, and at a pair of live shows promoting its release. Dr. Dog had been on hiatus since a run of Philadelphia shows at the end of 2021 but reunited for four performances this summer. Seeking to amplify the band’s sound during these shows, McMicken recruited the singers to join them on the road and provide harmonies.

Before the minitour, the trio held multiple practice sessions in the Press-On Records shed — the recording studio in McMicken’s backyard. “We learned parts for over 30 songs over the course of a couple months,” Baca says. “Scott recorded all of our rehearsals and sent them to the rest of the band for any ideas or feedback. When we finally got to have a full band rehearsal in Philly, we were able to fine-tune everything.”

While dialing in the sound with the rest of the group, the women were given the nickname “Lil Frankies” in honor of Dr. Dog’s Frank McElroy, who writes most of the harmony and background vocal parts for the band. They then played shows in Wilmington, Del.; Philadelphia; Englewood, Colo.; and finally at the scenic Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colo., where they experienced one of the week’s most magical sights.

“We were offstage before the encore, and the entire crowd — almost 10,000 people — had their cellphone flashlights lit up, cheering and waiting for us to come back out,” Nicholson says. “It was such an overwhelming and beautiful moment of unity and love.”

Though such moments could also feel overwhelming, Ellenberger notes that every member of Dr. Dog “was always superpresent and connected with us,” and Baca adds that the band made their new collaborators feel like “part of the family.” The experience was so positive that they’ll all get back together for one more show this year on Sunday, Sept. 22, at Riot Fest in Chicago.

Burnsville poet explores midlife with math

Burnsville-based poet and playwright Britt Kaufmann’s new book, Midlife Calculus, will launch at her hometown’s Carolina Mountains Literary Festival, Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 5-7.

The author’s first full-length collection of poetry stems from her desire to finally learn calculus at the age of 47. While continuing her education, she found herself writing mostly short poems about midlife, learning something new and difficult, and the state of public education in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I kept the early drafts of these poems in my math notebooks where I first jotted them down and tried to ignore them so I would keep ‘playing’ and creating,” Kaufmann says. “It wasn’t until I’d amassed a good number of poems that I transferred them into a special notebook and began editing. And it wasn’t until I was certain I had enough polished poems for a full-length collection that I even began sending out individual submissions to literary magazines.”

Kaufmann hopes that Midlife Calculus appeals to a wide readership, including math lovers, whom she’s confident will find the Easter eggs hidden in her poems. Another goal is that readers will come away from the collection with a willingness to give teachers and teens a little more grace and appreciate that the work they’re doing “is fraught with individual challenges.”

“What would make me happiest is if a parent sat down with their teen to read one of the poems and said, ‘I don’t remember much about high school math, can you help me understand this poem better?’ and their teen got a chance to show off all they’ve learned,” she says. “Maybe then, the parent and teen talk about some of the hard stuff going on in their lives.”

To learn more, visit avl.mx/e25.

Art lecture series with pastry

The Black Mountain Center for the Arts will host a monthly, four-part lecture series, An Artful Journey: A Morning of Art, Conversation and Gourmet Treats, starting Wednesday, Sept. 25. Led by local art historian Julianna Caro, the Wednesday morning lectures will explore the world’s most exceptional art exhibitions of 2024.

Attendees will have an opportunity to mingle and then learn about the birth of Impressionism (Sept. 25), the African American artists of the Harlem Renaissance (Oct. 16), portraiture artist John Singer Sargent’s use of fashion (Nov. 13) and the Venice Biennale, the world’s oldest contemporary art exhibition (Dec. 11). Each lecture costs $25 and includes a beverage and pastry from Recess Coffee.

To register and learn more, visit avl.mx/8yh.

Folkmoot hosts Eurasian music performance

Folkmoot USA will host a performance by the Black Sea Beat Society on Thursday, Sept. 5, 7 p.m., at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville.

The Asheville-based band blends Eurasian music, including Balkan brass, Turkish psychedelic, Middle Eastern classics and Klezmer tunes, using accordion, guitar, drums and an energetic horn section.

The Tahini Jar Food Truck will serve food at the performance. Tickets are available at the door on a sliding “pay what you can” scale from $0-$22, and donations are also welcome.

To learn more, visit avl.mx/cp9.

For the kids

Asheville-based educator Yvette Odell’s Kindermusik with Yvette has been named a Top Program by Kindermusik International, the world’s leading provider of music-based education for infants, toddlers and young children.

Odell’s independent Kindermusik studio has been serving the Asheville area since 2008. She taught in Holland, Mich., for 13 years before moving to Asheville. The Kindermusik Top Program Conductor Award honors excellence in spreading the lasting developmental benefits of music and movement.

“These accredited educators and their teams work tirelessly to not only reach more families with the power of shared musical play but to teach parents and caregivers how to use it after class so that the learning continues,” says Scott Kinsey, CEO at Kindermusik International, in a press release. “Their ability to continuously connect and facilitate these joyful ‘aha’ moments is something that really sets them apart.”