Sound Investment: Buying Into WNC’s Music Industry
Volume
21
/ Issue 52
Cover Design Credit:
Elizabeth Bates
In this special issue, Xpress looks into the local music industry’s evolving trends: The free-festival landscape is changing, and a new generation of hybrid home-professional studio is on the rise.
arts
The changing landscape of Asheville’s free music festivals
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…Conscious party: Live@Aloft featuring HoveyKat
Planned for Sunday, July 26, Aloft's next donation-based rooftop concert features jazzy duo HoveyKat and benefits Asheville Humane Society.Music instruction in WNC
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…Smart bets: Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams
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…Five questions with TreeHouse!
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…Smart bets: Sharkmuffin
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…Pay to play: WNC’s growing music industry
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…Evolution of the album: WNC recording professionals discuss industry trends and what’s to come
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.Smart bets: Joshua Messick with Acoustic Storm
White Horse Black Mountain hosts the new quartet's debut on Friday, July 25, at 8 p.m.Bespoke instruments made in WNC
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 —…Smart bets: Bask
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,…food
The dark side of Beer City
Asheville now boasts the highest number of breweries per capita of any U.S. city. But given the city’s failure to extend mass transit hours even as the number of watering…Right at home: Noncommercial cooking classes offer new food experiences
Local culinary experts offer home-cooks a fun and relaxed way to sharpen skills, enjoy good food and make new friends.living
Building hope from the dirt: Asheville group seeks to create earthbag homes in Nepal
The massive earthquake that rattled Nepal in April left entire villages flattened and hundreds of thousand of people homeless. But here in Asheville, a team of natural builders believe they…Body-mind fitness builds on neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself in response to changes in environment, emotion, thought and behavior. In other words, you can teach your brain new tricks. One way…movies
Screen scene: Local film news
This week in local moviemaking, Asheville 48 Hour Film Project winners are named, a new silent film series launches and WCU's Controlled Chaos Film Festival screens student work.news
Have oven, will bake: Asheville’s indie bread and pastry artisans
Of course bakers need an oven, but do they need a storefront? A few Asheville-area business owners are proving that a bakery can take many forms.4×4: Four weeks, four candidates
Sixteen candidates have officially thrown their hats into the ring for the Asheville City Council elections this fall. Each week, Xpress will introduce, in brief, four candidates’ backgrounds and ideas…Asheville-Buncombe Food Policy Council takes aim at local food security with metrics project
A new initiative of the Asheville-Buncombe Food Policy Council enlists the help of UNC Asheville students to track regional data and lay the groundwork for developing appropriate food policy for…Committed to justice: DA Todd Williams talks about his vision for the office
Todd Williams was sworn in as Buncombe County District Attorney on Jan. 1. During his campaign, Williams promised to bring fairness, rule of law and “a new perspective to the…Small bites: Mela turns 10
In this week's local food news, Mela celebrates 10 years with a $10 deal, Verner Learning Center receives an early-childhood nutrition distinction, Burntshirt Vineyards is named North Carolina Winery of…opinion
Letter writer: Look to the economics of climate change
"Clean energy, the solution to climate change, will give us lower energy bills, millions of jobs and lower taxes. Over 2,500 major economists agree, nine of them with Nobel Prizes."Letter writer: Science makes the case for limiting CO2
"By [letter writer Mike Ivey's] logic, you could drink a glass of water spiked with cyanide: It can't possibly harm you, since "there is not enough of cyanide compared to…Letter writer: Websites offer scientific info on climate change
"Global warming deserves more critical analysis and not sound bites."Letter writer: Program would reduce CO2 emissions
"We know from published accounts of the oil, coal and gas companies how much they sell, and if all their products are burned (a good assumption) there will be enough…Letter writer: Climate change is a reality
"It is imperative that we seriously begin the transition to alternative, renewable energy sources."Bee City IV: Trash Vegas
One man’s trash… is another man’s trash… which is sitting next to another man’s trash (in certain recent developments), but at least it is treasure to some non-men.Letter writer: Is preventing a few cavities worth risking children’s brain health?
"A common misconception is that the dose of fluoride in our water is low enough to avoid these toxic effects of fluoride. But in fact, as with lead and arsenic,…Letter writer: Take path of caution and cut carbon emissions
"The water-vapor effect is a positive feedback mechanism that is not under our control, which makes it that much more important to curb carbon emissions, which are."Letter writer: Proposed recycling facility would mean ‘Welcome to TRASHville’
"When residents and businesses know their trash will be sorted for them, they will resort to the belief that when in doubt, throw it in."Letter writer: Climate-change denier displays lack of scientific understanding
"We seem to be living in a society that wears scientific ignorance as a badge of honor. "Letter writer: Arguments against human culpability for climate change fail to persuade
"Glaciers are receding absolutely everywhere; tundra is turning to muck; species, both flora and fauna, are heading toward the poles; and none of this is conjecture."Letter writer: Support new resources for local LGBTQ youths
"The young people I am fortunate to know through volunteering at YouthOutright, an organization serving LGBTQ youth in Western North Carolina, may have the most intimate understanding of homophobia’s systemic…Letter writer: Climate-science deniers promote public ignorance
"For many industries, promotion of public ignorance is far preferable to public scientific literacy when profits are on the line."