Rising Appalachia plays an Earth Day benefit concert for clean water

Though it’s easy to take water for granted — just turn on the tap, and there it is — for hundreds of millions of the Earth’s people, access to clean water is a goal, not a reality. The United Nations considers universal access to clean drinking water a human right, but that doesn’t magically make it happen. In observance of Earth Day, local roots collective Rising Appalachia plays a show to raise funds for clean water for Africa. The benefit concert takes place Saturday, April 20, at Salvage Station.

With local corporate sponsorship, plus support from Asheville-based nonprofit MountainTrue, previous French Broad Riverkeeper benefit concerts have funded a half-dozen drinking water wells in the sub-Saharan African countries of Togo and Uganda. Karim Olaechea, communications director for MountainTrue, notes that proceeds from ticket sales at this year’s event will fund additional wells there, providing clean drinking water for thousands of people.

Sisters Leah and Chloe Smith, leaders of Rising Appalachia, are known for their active support for environmental and social justice initiatives. “As environmentalists and as activists, we have always been invested in creating a more sustainable world and a more sustainable future at large,” says Leah. “Water is a resource that’s deeply, deeply tied to our ability to be alive. And it feels very natural for us to be involved in any kind of water upkeep [initiative].”

Leah says that the Standing Rock movement in South Dakota was “the tipping point that brought water-as-life and clean water issues to the forefront of contemporary culture, activism and analysis.” Rising Appalachia provided on-the-ground support for that movement and encouraged its fan base to get involved as well.

The band “works at the forefront of a lot of different causes,” Leah continues. “Our work is to be the storytellers and the message bearers. Our work is to tell the stories, create catharsis and create a place where people can have deeper conversations around the issues at hand.”

“We were activists before we were musicians,” explains Chloe. “So there’s always been a natural instinct for us to be aware of what’s going on in our surroundings and take part in movements and missions to make the world a better place.” The members of Rising Appalachia collectively recognize the power the group has to share issues of importance. “We want to use that momentum to do more than just feed our own image and ego,” Chloe says.

“Our mission has always been to be catalysts,” Leah says. “We use music, culture and conversation to bring people closer together, to narrow our differences and showcase our similarities.”

Chloe and Leah aim to practice sustainability on and off the road. When touring, the band endeavors to live according to the principles of its “Slow Music Movement,” traveling at a deliberate pace and using trains and other alternative-by-current-standards modes of transportation. “It’s a way for us to sort of talk to the music industry — and work within it — to encourage slowing down a bit and consider sustainability,” Chloe says.

At home, many of the same values apply. “I have a small house, and I live on a working farm outside of Asheville,” Chloe says. “My mission, when I get home, is to live light and live simple.”

With so many worthy causes of global import to choose from, it’s sometimes difficult to settle on which ones to support. Leah and Chloe see part of their role as doing the research and then providing real-world ways for like-minded fans to support various efforts. The group seeks to take into consideration all of the nuances of activism, Leah says, “because it’s not a cookie cutter way to move in the world; it’s very nuanced.”

Leah emphasizes that Rising Appalachia’s audiences are already doing their part. “We are consistently inspired by the work of our fan base,” she says. “Often, the people who know our music and come to our shows are the people who are on the ground doing profoundly well-thought-out work, action and cultivation in their own communities. It’s really a two-way street.”

A benefit for clean water is merely one of many sustainability initiatives supported by Rising Appalachia. “[We] have never said, ‘We are specifically for clean water,’ or, ‘We are specifically for prison justice,” Chloe emphasizes. “We have a wider net that we cast; it’s ever evolving, and that helps us stay authentic.”

Leah offers an apt metaphor to make her point. “We’re not the deeply rooted, sturdy, stable, large-trunked oak tree,” she says. “We’re the pollinators. We go from community to community, collecting their pollen in their stories and their magic. And then we share those stories in a way that, hopefully, carries good ideas and inspiration.”

WHO: Rising Appalachia
WHERE: Salvage Station, 466 Riverside Drive, salvagestation.com
WHEN: Saturday, April 20, at 5 p.m. $25