Halfway through our conversation, the phone line goes dead, and Old 97’s bassist Murry Hammond is cut off midsentence while answering a question about the writing process of Most Messed Up, the band’s 10th full-length record in its 21 years.

Halfway through our conversation, the phone line goes dead, and Old 97’s bassist Murry Hammond is cut off midsentence while answering a question about the writing process of Most Messed Up, the band’s 10th full-length record in its 21 years.
World Party comes to Asheville It’s possible that the most famous World Party song is “She’s the One,” made a hit single by Robbie Williams in the late ’90s. But World Party founder and core member Karl Wallinger is no stranger to hits: “Ship of Fools” came from the band’s 1986 debut; Wallinger has also […]
“When I first moved out west, I did not feel much culture shock, as they say,” soulful singer-songwriter Sean Hayes said in an interview with Xpress. But at the same time, “There is a certain sincerity toward music I feel the South has that informed me and still plays a big role. By sincerity, I […]
Warm the Bell and Angel Olsen are both slated to play The Grey Eagle this week, on Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17 respectively. While both acts share a folk aesthetic, they approach music (and recording, and live shows) from very different perspectives.
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 […]
The Dex Romweber Duo is “a creepy doll collection of surf, proto-rockabilly, garage, dark and vengeful blues, and nobody but nobody plays it like Dex,” according to a press release. Romweber, formerly of Flat Duo Jets, plays guitar while his “whip-wristed” sister, Sara Romweber (formerly of Let’s Active) finesses the drums. Together, they make music […]
Singer-songwriter Sean Hayes has been crafting his soul-tinged songs for more than two decades. “I think one of the challenges of working at home alone is you can get a lost in your own world,” he says of the new experience of recording in his own studio. But a forthcoming project is currently on hold for a string of shows that brings Hayes back to The Grey Eagle on Tuesday, May 6.
If singer-songwriter Damien Jurado looks gruff and stoic, he sings with the kind of emotionalism and aching authenticity that kind of stops time. His songs are not simple. They don’t have the sort of instantly catchy choruses that you sing mindlessly along with. And yet they feel like deep truths, known entities, homecomings. The Seattle-based […]
Digable Planets would disband just a few years later after its 1993 Grammy-winning crossover smash “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat),” with its three members each going onto to their own solo careers. Cee Knowledge, who went by Doodlebug in the group, will be playing a show with his Cosmic Funk Orchestra at The Grey Eagle on Thursday, April 24.
The Athens, Ga.-based duo claimed to be rusty when they took the Grey Eagle stage (not so: They opened with a fierce rendition of the Piedmont Blues song “Crow Jane”). They claimed they hadn’t been practicing much. Also untrue, but Holly and her one-man-backing-band Lawyer Dave (on guitar, vocals and a couple of kick drums) do create this casual atmosphere, like this is their front porch and you just happened to wander past.
Now, 20-plus albums into her career, Golightly has just released It’s Her Fault. Don’t expect it to sound radically different from earlier releases, says a press release. “It’s still a raw, rough-hewn stew of twisted roots music forged by the duo’s distinct musical interests…” Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs play The Grey Eagle on Friday, April 11. 9 p.m., $10/$12. The Shine Brothers also perform.
If you’ve ever heard the influence of groovy, medium-tempo dub reggae on Floating Action’s minimalist songwriter rock, then you’re not alone. The man behind Floating Action, Black Mountain’s own Seth Kauffman, has begun to combine the sounds and textures of live reggae, ska, and dub into performances of his Floating Action material. The result is […]
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.
Self-described “Gypsy Swingin Serenading Firebreathing Circus Freaks” Caravan of Thieves are no strangers to Asheville. The group has played Bele Chere, The Altamont Theatre and The Grey Eagle. They return to the latter on Friday, March 21, supporting Yarn.
The Whigs played The Grey Eagle on Friday, in advance of an April record release.
It’s a modern-psychedelic lineup at The Grey Eagle on Thursday, Feb. 20.
The Philadelphia quartet returned to The Grey Eagle this week, putting on a two-hour show and performing music from its entire 10-year career. Photo from the band’s Instagram.
Sandlin Gaither’s 10 years of musical portraits at The Grey Eagle. All photos by Gaither.
One of the premier exponents of present-day Zappa music is Asheville’s own Project/Object. The group — named after Zappa’s label for his entire body of work, held together by what he called “conceptual continuity” — was founded in 1991 by guitarist André Cholmondeley. The group played a rare local date last weekend.
The singer-songwriter will be playing with Bo Ramsey at The Grey Eagle on Saturday, Dec. 21. Photo by Sandy Dyas.
The five-piece iteration of the band took to the stage shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday night and opened with “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” It’s a song often reserved for the end of the night. But in this case, it set forth the evening’s familial tone as front man Rawlings lead the newest lineup of his ever-evolving Machine through a two-and-a-half-hour old-time music marathon. Photo from the band’s Facebook page.