Each week, Xpress highlights notable WNC crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd. This week features Sustainable development in Malawi, the Asheville Movies website and The Resonant Rogues’ crowdfunding recap.
For its first year in Asheville, Tour de Fat will bring Third Eye Blind to the stage plus additional zany entertainment and a party atmosphere. The event takes place at New Belgium Brewing’s outside grouds on Saturday, May 20.
“They were the kind of people who you gravitated to and wanted to hang out with,” says local musician Dan Lewis. “There was something about their music that was spontaneous and energetic — I had to play music with these people. I was a long-hired white kid, and they were old enough to be my grandparents, but we quickly became close friends.”
Like the abrasiveness of sand is an integral part of the creation of a pearl, so, too, is the internal struggle between Chris Tullar’s progressive and pop sensibilities. And Carpal Tullar’s Horse of a Different Tullar showcases those qualities in the best possible way.
To celebrate the open mic and jam session’s third anniversary, organizer Jon Edwards is returning Musicians in the Round to its roots: Every Monday in May is devoted to songs written within 60 miles of Asheville.
Currently a four-piece (banjo player Jim McCarthy and guitarist Dave Gilbert plus bassist Max Steel and Ween drummer Claude Coleman Jr.), Skunk Ruckus originally came together around the core duo of McCarthy and Steel. Gilbert describes that duo’s sound as “old-time ballads with electric bass.”
Each week, Xpress highlights notable WNC crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd. This week features a new full-length album by Hannah Kaminer and the revival of Frank Thompson’s film podcast.
This time around, the focus is on legacy artists. Musicians who have been at the game for many years, sometimes paying tribute to the music they made decades ago with now long-gone band mates, other times reviving a long-defunct group because there’s still more to say, musically.
The program that emerged from Pickering’s trip, LEAF International Rwanda, is now sending four of its performers to LEAF. The young Rwandans will join over 400 other artists at the festival’s 44th edition, which takes over Camp Rockmont from Thursday, May 11, to Sunday, May 14.
Resonant Rogues is a showcase for the musicians’ collective and individual instrumental skills, but the song lyrics are a key component of the group’s appeal.
Triangle Park on S. Market Street is one of the last remaining vestiges of The Block, Asheville’s historic African American business district and cultural center. Just Folks hosts a spring and summer series in the park, which kicks off its 2017 season on Saturday, May 6.
It was a warm, friendly and welcoming atmosphere throughout the night with no shortage of dancing, clapping and smiles during both Kishi Bashi and a great opening performance by Tall Tall Trees.
Wood recently spent some time at the Fleetwood Shack Studios of one-time local resident and Band of Horses bassist Bill Reynolds. Along with former Blue Rags bandmate Mike Rhodes on drums, the trio formed the core of the sound featured on Wood’s new record Sunshine.
“‘Closer’ is about getting back to something that makes you feel complete,” says bassist Peter Brownlee. “I think that journey can be peaceful and contemplative, and it can also be chaotic.”