It's easy to reminisce with starry eyes about the Asheville music scene circa 1994: On one hand, distance and time often make the heart grow fonder. On the other, it really was a special time — an intersection of late '80s hair bands and early '90s folk that allowed for a hybrid of roots and […]

It's hard to recall the chill of winter during the sultry heat of summer. But local musician Erika Ferraby, who fronts bluesy-folk quartet Erika Jane & Remember the Bees, does recollect one shivery January when she, gospel-rocker David Earl Tomlinson, Americana howler Pierce Edens and soulful folkie Oso Rey sat around BoBo Gallery "doing jams" […]

"We're still honest and good, just a lot hairier," says Bill "Smitty" Smith, drummer for indie-rock sextet Truth & Salvage Co., coming to the Grey Eagle this week. That band (well, most of its members) used to be Asheville's stomp-boogie band, Scrappy Hamilton, but moving to Los Angeles has a way of changing things. Stoned […]

Chuck Lichtenberger (perhaps best known as the keys player in local pop group stephaniesid) is not exactly new on the scene. His own jazz project, the Chuck Lichtenberger Collective, has played a standing Tuesday night gig at Tressa's for the last couple years and boasts a stellar lineup: Michael Libramento (Floating Action, Ice Cream) on […]

To celebrate five years of music, discovery and community, Harvest Records is bringing 16 bands to town, for a three-night, three-venue extravaganza dubbed Transfigurations. Friday and Saturday nights feature an earlier show and a later show, so no one has to miss any of the music. Plus on Saturday, Harvest brings in four independent record-label […]

On a recent Saturday afternoon, when clouds climb over the mountains and spit a little rain every half hour or so, Harvest Records teems with customers — customers who don't come in just to consume, but who seek safe haven among fellow fans, freaks and collectors. They hang out (oftentimes for hours), shoot the breeze, […]

There are still a few small record labels committed to hunting down hidden sounds, releasing obscure music from all corners of the globe, reissuing forgotten classics and unearthing overlooked gems. Representatives from four of these vanguard labels will join in a panel moderated by Asheville Free Media's Greg Lyon at 1 p.m. Saturday at the […]

Swedish multi-instrumentalist, composer and band leader Gustav Estjes describes the music of his band Dungen as "heavy, but soft as well." While Dungen is unabashedly heavy, there remains great subtlety in the songs, conveyed through extensive use of flute, violin and keyboards. Dungen's sound is a swirling mix, informed by psychedelic rock and European folk. […]