Odyssey middle schoolers produce music video

Odyssey Community School’s students have been doing a lot more than traditional reading, writing and arithmetic lessons. The institution’s middle schoolers recently spent two weeks of their semester devoting all of their time and energy into creating a collaborative music video. The song, “Soaring on Strings,” and video were written, performed and edited by the […]

Asheville, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll: a look at local concert security

UNLUCKY SEVEN On Saturday, Oct. 25, Sound Tribe Sector 9 began its headlining show at the US Cellular Center without a hitch, but shortly thereafter, security personnel identified seven audience members suffering from drug-induced medical conditions. The seven were quickly transported to Mission Hospital, but over an hour later, the band’s set was stopped and the […]

UPDATE: Faces in the crowd: WNC crowdfundi­ng initiative­s

Crowdfunding platforms make it possible for individuals and organizations of any size to harness social networks and raise start-up capital for projects that might otherwise fail due to lack of funding. Each week, Xpress highlights notable WNC crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd.

Smart bets: Heritage Weekend

This September marks the 34th year for Heritage Weekend, a free festival that explores traditional Appalachian customs like beekeeping, coopering, heritage toy making, broom and furniture making, spinning and natural dyeing, all sponsored by the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Both Saturday and Sunday offer a full lineup of crafts, dance and mountain-inspired music with fare […]

Smart bets: Cicada Rhythm and Sans Abri

Andrea DeMarcus (upright bass/vocals) and David Kirslis (guitar/vocals) of Cicada Rhythm claim they “tried to keep it professional” but became smitten when they started playing music together. The couple say they avoid romance songs and instead deliver jazzy, modernized folk with heartfelt vocal harmonies. Opening the evening is Sans Abri, a side project that originated […]

Thou hast seen nothing yet

Tapping time-management skills and Don Quixote, Los Gatos Negros releases a record

With all that local musician Jeff Santiago has going on in his life, it’s a minor miracle that his new album, Rolling Towards the Moon, exists. On Saturday, April 12, the singer/guitarist and his indie rock band Los Gatos Negros celebrate that achievement with a record-release party at Asheville Music Hall.

Smart Bets: Dean Ween Group

Experimental rock band Ween formed in the mid-’80s and, after a remarkably long tenure, broke up weirdly and publicly in 2012. But all was not lost. The band’s founding members, Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo (aka Gene and Dean Ween, respectively) went on to pursue solo projects. These days, Dean Ween runs a charter boat […]

Screen shot

Music Video Asheville goes big Music Video Asheville is having a banner year. The local event, which marks its seventh year on Wednesday, April 16, received a record number of submissions and moved into a new venue. Produced for the third year in a row by Kelly Denson and Jason Guadagnino of Asheville’s Lush Life […]

Seeing the Lighght: Kishi Bashi in Asheville

The thing about a Kishi Bashi concert is that you don’t necessarily have to be familiar with the songs to get the show. In fact, there’s something to be said for coming into contact with a Kishi Bashi (the project of singer-songwriter/violinist/composer K Ishibashi) song for the first time. They’re not so much songs in the verse-chorus-verse sense as tiny worlds encapsulated in sound that ranges from bubbly pop to sweeping classical composition. The Athens, Ga.-based musician played The Grey Eagle on Tuesday in advance of his new album, “Lighght”; Tall Tall Trees opened.