From the ground up

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" […]

L.A. story

"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 […]

Sound Track

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 […]

This weekend on a shoestring

Start the weekend early. Thursday has a ton of not-to-be-missed events, from a local short film festival to Vendetta Creme in Saluda. Then ease on into the weekend. Got 5 bucks? Catch a punk show at the Boiler room or a rock band at Mo Daddy’s. Got 3 bucks? Check out a gospel festival or a Dead cover band. Got nothin’? Relax: there’s plenty to do for free, too.

Exotic Appalachia

Even these days, when electric guitars and keyboards rule and mountain music is the stuff of Smithsonian recordings and PBS specials, a banjo player is easy enough to find. Asheville writer Gene Senyak recently published Banjo Camp!, Tyler Ramsey picked his way through a Band of Horses song, and Shindig on the Green — now […]