A 25th anniversary concert celebrating the Asheville Gay Men’s Chorus. Plus, the 26th annual Bluff Mountain Festival; The Big Secret returns; and more.
Tag: bluegrass
Showing 1-21 of 43 results
Around Town: New children’s book spotlights famous and lesser-known Black historical figures
A local attorney pens a new children’s book. Plus, UNCA hosts the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, a new art exhibit highlights creatures of the Serengeti and the Mount Mitchell Crafts Fair returns to Burnsville’s town square.
Letter: Thanks for the music coverage and scene
“Just a quick kudos for the AVL music biz cover story [‘Under Review: Is Asheville Truly One of the Nation’s Top Music Cities?’ April 20, Xpress]. I kinda dig music, to the tune of six decades.”
Around Town: Walking tour highlights Asheville’s eclectic music history
A new walking tour explores Asheville’s rich musical traditions. Plus, Rabbit Rabbit hosts a holiday tree event, The Magnetic Theatre travels back to the 1920s and a local author offers unreleased Beatles songs.
Acoustic Asheville: Alan Barnosky
Barnosky’s new album, ‘Lonesome Road,’ was recorded over the past year and the Durham-based singer is hoping to gain a foothold in Asheville with its release.
Acoustic Asheville: Town Mountain
‘New Freedom Blues’ was recorded at Echo Mountain Studios last year and has garnered acclaim for giving the traditional genre a more modern flair.
Acoustic Asheville: Another Country
Included in the performance are two songs that will be featured on the band’s upcoming record.
Small bites: Hickory Nut Gap Farm hosts a new Friday Night Barn Dance series
Hickory Nut Gap Farm hosts a new Friday night dance series, Little Sparrow Coffee and Kitchen is set to open in Woodfin, Ambrozia adds lunch, and Tryon offers its annual Blue Ridge Barbecue and Music Festival.
Bluegrass stalwart Town Mountain hones its sound on a new album
Southern Crescent will also benefit from a new tact on the business side of things. The LP is being released via LoHi Records, a new label out of Greensboro, backed by entrepreneur Jim Brooks, singer-songwriter veteran Todd Snider and Railroad Earth fiddle player Tim Carbone, among others.
Smart bets: Yonder Mountain String Band
Trout Steak Revival opens for the reconfigured quintet at the Orange Peel on Friday, Jan. 29, at 8:30 p.m.
Video premiere: The Midnight Plowboys, live at Shindig on the Green
Local string band The Midnight Plowboys performed onstage as part of Shindig on the Green over Labor Day weekend. Today, the group launches its video from that appearance, featuring the songs “Sawin’ on the Strings” and “Goin’ to Italy.”
As you like it: Mipso caters to the fan experience
Chapel Hill-based string band Mipso will showcase new songs at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall Thursday, Sept. 24, and Friday, Sept. 25.
Haas Kowert Tice parlays high-profile influences into captivating sounds
The three players of Haas Kowert Tice met at various music festivals as college students and found they liked jamming and hanging out. The friendship endured even as they moved in various directions careerwise. Bassist Paul Kowert now plays with The Punch Brothers, fiddler Brittany Haas with Crooked Still and guitarist Jordan Tice with Tony Trischka. Reconvening in Nashville, and sharing equally in the creation of new material, “everything comes off of our individual instruments more,” says Tice.
Phosphorescent bluegrass: The Punch Brothers tackle 21st-century smartphone stress
Chris Thile stays pretty busy. When Mountain Xpress caught up with him, the McArthur genius and virtuoso mandolinist was just about to board a plane for St. Paul, Minn. There, his band Punch Brothers was scheduled to perform, and Thile was slotted to guest-host A Prairie Home Companion for a couple of weeks. The variety […]
Jon Stickley Trio hones its sound and finds its audience
“I was looking for some things to jam along with one day,” says local guitarist Jon Stickley. Known for his flatpicking prowess, he usually practiced to a bluegrass playlist. “But then I started going into some other areas on my iPod, like hip-hop and rock, and I started having more fun playing along with that […]
The Kruger Brothers’ music, from the Alps to the Appalachians
As a child, Jens Kruger of Wilkesboro mountain-music trio The Kruger Brothers was so fascinated with the music of Earl Scruggs and Bill Monroe that he taught himself how to play banjo on a broken instrument, nailing the strings to the peg board. “I like the sound of the banjo,” he says. “For me, mentally, it’s […]
Smart bets: Yonder Mountain String Band
The Colorado-based jam-grass nomads of Yonder Mountain String Band log more than 100 live shows per year, so the musicians have to keep performances eclectic if only to preserve their own sanity. The band has an extensive catalog of rock-infused bluegrass to draw from, and rest assured that string-laden Hendrix covers are not off-limits. A […]
Smart bets: Town Mountain
Fans of Asheville quintet Town Mountain will be familiar with the concept of podorythmie — not because they are well-versed in French Canadian percussive techniques, but because it’s nearly impossible to listen to the band’s jaunty bluegrass without adding your own toe-tapping beat. The self-described “hard-drivin’ Carolina string band” is in the running for an […]
Five (or more) questions with Bryan Sutton
Asheville native Bryan Sutton isn’t just another guy with a guitar. After launching his career as a member of Ricky Skaggs’ Kentucky Thunder, he went on to play and record with artists like Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and Harry Connick Jr. “I simply want to make the best music possible with the best people possible,” […]
Smart bet web extra: Mipso
“Renegade traditionalist” band Mipso makes a stop at Isis Music Hall on Saturday, April 5 at 8:30 p.m. Chris Eldridge also performs.
Acoustic Asheville: Sanctum Sully
Sanctum Sully performs a new song from the group’s forthcoming record as part of the Acoustic Asheville series.