With song titles like “High Mountain Pass” and “Land of the Sky,” you might think that American Hollow, the latest effort from local four-piece Bask is a bluegrass offering. You would be wrong. From the opening guitar riffs of “High Mountain Pass,” the album asserts itself with coiling intensity and crushing percussion. On its Bandcamp […]
At first glance, Shawnee, Oklahoma-based singer-songwriter Samantha Crain makes an unlikely front woman. She might not be a boho trendsetter like Johanna and Klara Söderberg, the sisters of Swedish folk-pop outfit First Aid Kit for whom Crain is currently opening. But, even alone on stage (except for her guitar), Crain quickly proves why she’s warming […]
It’s probably hard to open for The Afghan Whigs, one of the more formidable rock bands of the ’90s, with their huge sound and Greg Dulli’s powerful vocal — and even more challenging to open for the six-piece group as a solo artist. Unless you happen to be Joseph Arthur. Of course, Arthur wasn’t exactly […]
The runaway locomotive energy that The Hackensaw Boys bring to the stage makes their joy obvious. The band has played all over the US and Europe at festivals, concert halls, pubs and barns for well over a decade, but last Friday they were still grinning like school kids for Asheville fans. For the final two […]
Photos by David Simchock of Front Row Focus. I’m not a fan of the whole “killing it” thing, but rarely has there been a more apt usage of the term than at the end of Beck‘s show at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Following the searing, sweat-drenching, absolute mayhem of the seven-piece band’s performance of “E-Pro,” […]
Usually the opener is the opener and the headliner is the headliner and if the two happen to meet onstage it’s because the opener joins in for a song or two, special-guest-style. The Conor Oberst show at The Orange Peel on Friday did away with that formula. Openers Dawes played a full set of their […]
There are plenty of couple acts cutely reenacting Sonny and Cher, Johnny and June, Ike and Tina. It’s a thing on which countless publicists have attempted to capitalize: “Not only are they married, they also write and perform together!” But while the Crushed Outs and the Johnnyswims and the Holly Golightly/Lawyer Daves of the touring […]
Review and video from last Friday’s show.
This Virginia-based singer-songwriter couple has shared stages, locally, with Red June. Learn about The Honey Dewdrops’ new release, “Silver Lining.” Photo by Jack Looney.
Morgan Geer returns to Asheville (this time to stay awhile) and celebrates the release of “Into the Missionfield” with a Saturday, Feb. 25 show at the LAB.
Reviews of What Hurts the Most by Knives and Daggers, King of Hearts by Joshua Singleton, Real Good Man by Stephen Shealy and Annunciation St by The Mumbles.
The Saturday, Aug. 13 show also includes local bands Two Planes and Graviton Project.
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.
While the night did not go off without a hitch (missing band members, a small crowd) both acts played their hearts out.
On Friday, July 8, the Psychedelic Furs performed the whole of 1981’s Talk Talk Talk along with a set-worth of career hits in a show that felt nostalgic but not dated. Photos by Shaun Hollingsworth.
Longtime local folk singer-songwriter David Wilcox released a solo album late last year.
From retro cool to modern pop, Deep River plays classic country.
With an old-looking Guild guitar and a smattering of people sitting down drinking local microbrews, Dave Desmelik took the stage at the French Broad Brewery on a warm Thursday evening.
Last Thursday Ben Sollee performed a stellar and unforgettable show at the Orange Peel. He’s currently touring in support of his new album Inclusions with his trio. Guests at the show included local musicians Casey Driessen and Jonathan Scales. Photos by Cameron Yeager.
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.”
Award winning singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham brought two outstanding performances to Asheville on Monday. The first, a free in-store performance at Harvest Records, followed by a full-band electric show at The Orange Peel.
