Walking the streets of downtown Asheville can be a musical experience. Most evenings bring encounters with an assortment of buskers, drummers and dancers. The city also hosts a large, if ever-changing, calendar of free music events and festivals scattered throughout the year. Some have been around for decades, while others are preparing to launch.
Our series with Sherwood’s Music — showcasing local musicians through stripped-down performances for the web — is returning for a limited run this summer. This week Krekel and Whoa perform “What’s Up With Asheville.”
Want to learn or new instrument of take your playing to the next level? There are plenty of classes and instructor in the area, teaching everything from fiddle and guitar to bassoon and bagpipes.
Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams have, between them, played with Phil and Friends, Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, Mavis Staples, Emmylou Harris and more. They present their first duo album at The Grey Eagle on Friday, July 24.
Myrtle Beach-based reggae trio TreeHouse! wears tie-dye, practices karate and could offer a master class on having a good time. The group will bring the beach weather (and soundtrack) to Asheville Music Hall on Thursday, July 18, for a free show.
Although Sharkmuffin’s debut full-length Chartreuse isn’t officially out until Friday, August 7, the band brings its angsty, pop-punk catalogue and a sneak peek of what’s to come to Tiger Mountain on Thursday, July 28.
In this special issue, Xpress looks into the local music industry and an evolving trend. As full-service recording studios downsize, a new generation of hybrid home-professional studio is on the rise.
Western North Carolina’s recording professionals speak up about the climate of their industry, from the proliferation of full-fledged, home-based studios to musicians’ piecemeal assembly of modern albums.
There’s a luthier for every strumming style. From modern and edgy to rooted in tradition, local makers imbue their instruments — from fiddles and guitars to bouzoukis and bagpipes — with Appalachian materials and far-flung inspiration.
Bask is celebrating the first anniversary of debut LP American Hollow with a bespoke beer created by Burial Beer Co., and a set at the Mothlight on Friday, July 25, at 9 p.m.
Each week, Xpress highlights notable WNC crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd. This week features a new artist collective aimed at inspiring individuals to overlap their own work and play plus two recent high school graduates’ aid efforts in Nepal.
A forthcoming benefit concert series — which features American blues guitarist and vocalist Selwyn Birchwood in its first iteration — aims to “rebuild and restore the presence of blues music in Asheville” while raising funds for Brother Wolf Animal Rescue.
Two of these shows feature free admission, and two will set you back a non-trivial sum. But they’re all very much worthwhile, and represent ongoing proof that the Asheville area draws talent from all over on a level that belies our relatively small population.
New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins is set to release the fifth book in his Quinn Colson series, The Redeemers, this month. Atkins has written 17 novels to date, and has been deemed by bestselling author Michael Connelly as “one of the best crime writers at work today.” Atkins reads and signs The Redeemers at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe on Monday, Aug. 3.
Our series with Sherwood’s Music — showcasing local musicians through stripped-down performances for the web — is returning for a limited run this summer. This week Pretty Pretty perform “Boots and Stoots.”
Warren Wilson College Appalachian music professor Phil Jamison is set to release “Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics: Roots and Branches of Southern Appalachian Dance.”
Local journalist Marla Hardee Milling shares stories of how Asheville became the town it is today in her new book, “Only in Asheville: An eclectic history.” She’ll sign copies at Malaprop’s on Wednesday, July 22.