You can make Hopscotch a numbers game; an endurance test to see how many bands you can cram into three-plus days. You can stake out one venue for five hours. There are bands that will probably never play on the eastern seaboard again. There are local acts that might never play outside of the Triangle.
Check out a time lapse video of Bele Chere preparations from 2011. Set to the music of Paper Tiger, this film of photos was produced by erstwhile Xpress intern, Joseph Chapman.
There were a lot of big names at the Asheville Civic Center this weekend. Did you suffer from proper-noun overload? Xpress is here to help, pictures, video and streams included.
We’re alive. We finally made it into the Dark Carnival, the 12th annual Gathering of the Juggalos. We had lofty ambitions of broadcasting a live stream from the festival, but it turns out that 3G coverage in Cave-in-Rock, Ill., isn’t so great. Imagine that. For now, we’ll try and update this page as much as we can with pictures and what’s going on.
If you appreciate anything about bluegrass, Ravens & Crows and its top-notch musicianship and intricate vocal harmonies will soon become a part of your most-played collection.
Whether or not to take Insane Clown Posse seriously is hard to discern. Its fan base seems divided in thirds: those who enjoy the campy aspect of the belligerence and genuinely enjoy the music, those who think it’s hilariously ironic, and those who take it absolutely deadpan serious. I’m mainly worried about that last third.
WNC Magazine’s Last Band Standing put five local bands in competition for a rather ceremonial Bele Chere slot: 4:30 p.m. Friday. That’s the kickoff, the Champagne bottle against the hull. Fletcher-based rock outfit BlackJack won the final round and proved that classic rock was not only timeless but ageless, too. With its deep riffs and […]
It’s a nostalgia act, but that’s the appeal to The Cheeksters. The Golden Birds is full of radio-friendly sounds and its bubbly pace will probably make for a great car commercial aimed at hip 20-somethings.
When you hear Johnson for the first time, be prepared for one of the most raspy, dirty growls known to the vocal fry register, the lowest of the low.
Let’s say you have to pick between an awesome-looking guitar that can only play at one volume and a similar guitar, less flashy, but capable of dynamics. Which would you choose? The Glitch Mob fails to impress at the Orange Peel.
Slideshow by Rich Orris.
An outstanding list of local artists get together in a dynamic, Moog-themed art exhibit, opening this Saturday at the Artery.
Longtime local folk singer-songwriter David Wilcox released a solo album late last year.
Attack, decay, sustain, release: Those four control parameters have helped create the shape of modern electronic music through what’s called envelope generators. Bob Moog didn’t invent them, but their inclusion on early Moog synthesizers was a fundamental piece in constructing their iconic sound. Fundamental enough that The Bob Moog Foundation and Asheville Arts Council have […]
Edward Madill, the one-man-band behind Wyla, plans to hide his homemade, recycled and repurposed CD sleeves inside bargain bins and overlooked crates of vinyl. If you manage to find a copy, it’s yours.
Bootsy Collins’ Wednesday night Orange Peel show was more of a funk showcase than a “we’ve got another album” tour: Collins played everything from the absolute classics, like the star’s own anthem, “Ahh… The Name Is Bootsy, Baby,” to several covers, including Sly & the Family Stone’s defining “I Want to Take you Higher.”
The owners of the Downtown Market, a business and vendor space on 45 S. French Broad Ave., have announced that their mortgage is being foreclosed and that the Downtown Market Consignment, home to over 70 vendors, will be closing June 30.
The fate of the other businesses leasing space at the market, including Amazing Savings Grocery, hi~fi Coffee Bar and Pho Fusion, remains unclear, but co-owner Bobby Potts remains hopeful that First Bank, The Bank of Asheville Branch, will work with current tenants to keep their leases.
Or rather, who stole the costumes and props from the LaZoom tour company? 
It’s hard not to talk about Electric Toaster & The Battle Axe, the upcoming third release by Asheville’s If You Wannas, without mentioning the work and homemade gear that went into it. “I worked at Moog Music here in town for a few years,” lead vocalist and guitarist Ryan Cox tells Xpress. “I wound up […]
Having a GPS and the luxury of a computer directing you from point A to point B is nice, but sometimes, Bootsy Collins likes to get lost. “We lose our way. We lose the things that made us human in the first place. The things that created the experience in life — we’ve thrown those […]
Jonathan Scales stands illustrated on the cover of his third album, Character Farm & Other Short Stories, wielding pan sticks with two glowing fists and a sort of wayward look. Scales is on a mission: to save the steel pans from obscurity. And with another formidable release, Scales might just be the defiant superhero the […]
Apparently London has a folk scene, too. Two of its bands (along with The Low Anthem, from Rhode Island, and a surprise Mariachi band) performed to a capacity crowd on Tuesday night. Photos by Rich Orris.
