Sad news for the local music community, from the POPAsheville Web site:
“Hello, fans of POPAsheville. Thanks for your support of the festival over the last several years. We’ve had a great time, haven’t we? And not only that … the countless gig-swaps (one band plays for another’s crowd in their town, and vice-versa) are still happening, Asheville is much more firmly planted in the circuit of touring indie pop/rock bands, folks who can help with the business of starving bands are beginning to give more attention into Asheville, and for the first time (to my knowledge), three of Asheville’s premiere music venues shared one cause for the weekend: Bringing great area indie pop/rock bands to the eyes and ears of the community, who might otherwise turn outside Asheville for their musical menu. And bands were (we hope fairly) paid for their performances.
Alas, we knew the “Save POPA” campaign was a long shot; since so many in the community were interested in having the festival continue, I thought we’d put out a beacon to see if we could raise the needed funds (see below for explanation). We were unable to secure the funding needed, and so we will not put on the festival in 2010. This is not to say that the fest will not continue again at some point; only that we have determined that continuing it this year, and doing it well, would stress the resources of the organizers a little too much, and we always want to be providing something that we can be really happy about. So we’ll see about the future.
For now, feel free to follow us on Twitter or sign up for our email list and we’ll keep you posted with any updates. In “parting”, I’d like to encourage you to support and enjoy live, original music whenever possible. Believe it or not, musical artists don’t make a lot of money (even bands you’ve heard of, even some in big places), and fans mean everything to us. :) stephanie.”
Contacted by Xpress, founder Stephanie Morgan added: “Good original music will continue, as long as there is a thriving connection between bands and fans. POPA has been one of the “helpers” for that connection in our city/region. I think that POPA’s ripple effects will continue to be helpful. And if the festival is meant to happen in the future, and the resources appear, we’ll be happy to POP again.”
Thanks, POPAsheville for a lot of great memories and all that hard work.
I’ll never forget Speedsquare rocking Man In The Mirror at the Rocket Club last year.
This is a real shame.
looks like, people decided it was that great to not throw money at it.
and the suicide watch for the Mtn X A&E department begins in earnest.
Let’s hope for an eventual return of POPAsheville.
In the meantime, let’s support the other local music festivals, venues, and musicians who are also facing financial challenges.
It was a blur of warmth and music alternating with freezing smoke breaks and smiles everywhere. I remember skipping stops while on the Lazoom shuttle because the music and drunk vibe was so fun (thanks to Jim & Jen Lazon at least that can still be experienced from time to time). We need more winter music festivals to brighten the long nights. Can it be done on the cheap?
“…and the suicide watch for the Mtn X A&E department begins in earnest.”
What does Rock Thunderballs mean by this?
AO-it was a ‘snarky’ comment in reference to certain members of the MX A&E team’s, er, appreciation for the event in question…
i think the implication is, these writers hope to ride the coattails of a successful artistic endeavor…right on out of this town…
at this point i’m done with festivals in asheville. maybe its cause i just closed the kitchen at mellow mushroom on the first night of bele chere….
maybe a weekend festival at ONE venue would be easier, more reasonable and more financially doable. just an idea.
also everyone should watch New Bom Turks on youtube. sheeeweee
djmrthebest,
you are wrong.
Everyone should watch the New Bomb Turks live.
They could rip a room apart, and are also nice humble guys off stage. The show they did at Emo’s in Austin last year with the Quadrajets was fierce. Or so I was told.
wrong about the one venue thing? or watch the Turks live instead of on you tube? i’ll take what i can get. i heard that show in austin was just a one off reunion or something like that. i would kill to see them live
it’s called poop asheville