Western Carolina Writers’ Showcase
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOWWESTERN CAROLINA WRITERSEstablished in 2019 with the purpose of showcasing local, up and coming artists in venues all around WNC, Western Carolina Writers presents this Songwriters in the Round showcase that features 9 singer-songwriters from all over the Western Carolinas. This show puts the spotlight on local songwriting and original music with a touch of tasteful collaboration between some of the most talented performers in the area. With 3 rounds of 3 different writers taking turns playing their songs, the night promises some exciting eclectic music with some beautiful, unique and spontaneous collaboration.Featuring: Dulci Ellenberger Galen Holland Troy Crossley Scott Stetson Carey Leigh Billy Litz Lillie Syracuse Melanie Ida Chopko Andrew Thelston
JigJam
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEJIGJAMWhen virtuoso Irish playing jumps the pond running naked through the wide open fields of bluegrass/Americana JigJam is born. Bluegrass and American Folk music originated from their homes and now JigJam are here to take it back!This Offaly and Tipperary born band have started The first wave of attack in the new Irish invasion of Americana! ‘Foot stomping’, ‘high energy’ and lots of badass is what you’re in for when you see this musical powerhouse live in concert.Founding members from Offaly Jamie McKeogh (Lead singer and guitar) and Daithi Melia (5 String Banjo and Dobro) were joined by Tipperary born Gavin Strappe (Mandolin and Tenor Banjo) in 2016. Scottish man Danny Hunter (Fiddle) joined JigJam in 2021 to make up this iGrass (Irish Bluegrass) Quartet.Described as ‘The best Irish band in bluegrass’ and ‘sparkling, infectious’ these lads have been hailed as ‘Ireland’s answer to New Grass Revival’ Bluegrass has it’s roots in Irish music and Irish immigration. iGrass and JigJam is what happens when the Irish find their prodigal son.
Bob Dylan’s 82nd Birthday Celebration: Hosted by George Trouble and The Zealots
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEGEORGE TROUBLE AND THE ZEALOTS CELEBRATE BOB DYLAN’S 82ND BIRTHDAYThe Zealots and friends will pay tribute to Bob Dylan ahead of his 82nd birthday at the Grey Eagle, Sunday, May 21st at 7pm. To salute the work of one of the most influential and complex artists of our times, the Zealots are drawing from their roots. Asheville based singer/songwriters and rockers George Trouble and The Zealots, with special guests, bring their exuberance, strong craft and diverse range of styles to the Dylan songbook, promising a night of celebration. Wear your leopard skin pill box hat!
David Childers & The Serpents + Tin Roof Echo
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEDAVID CHILDERSSinger-songwriter David Childers is the proverbial study in contradictions. A resident of Mount Holly, North Carolina, he’s a former high-school football player with the aw-shucks demeanor of a good ol’ Southern boy. But he’s also a well-read poet and painter who cites Chaucer and Kerouac as influences, fell in love with folk as a teen, listens to jazz and opera, and fed his family by practicing law before turning in his license to concentrate on his creative passions.The legal profession’s loss is certainly the music world’s gain. Childers’ new album, Run Skeleton Run, releasing May 5, 2017 on Ramseur Records, is filled with the kinds of songs that have made him a favorite of fans and fellow artists including neighbors the Avett Brothers. Scott Avett contributes to four tracks, and Avetts bassist Bob Crawford co-executive-produced the effort with label head Dolph Ramseur. (Crawford and Childers, both history buffs, have recorded and performed together in the Overmountain Men).In fact, it was Crawford who kickstarted this album, Childers’ sixth solo effort, by suggesting he reunite with Don Dixon (R.E.M., the Smithereens), who’d produced Crawford’s favorite Childers album, Room 23 (done with his band the Modern Don Juans). Crawford also suggested tracking at Mitch Easter’s Fidelitorium Recordings.“I’ve made records in my living room and been perfectly happy with it. But I think ol’ Bob wanted to give it one more shot,” Childers says. “It’s kind of like the Wild Bunch at the end of the movie, on their last train robbery.”Not that he’s suggesting this is his “last train robbery.” Not with songs as rich as these. Sounding like literature and playing like little movies — several are under three minutes long — they’re populated by sailors, hermits, lovers and killers, facing off against fate, skeletons, good, evil, or simply the trials of everyday existence. Lust, virtue, guilt, innocence; alienation, desperation, sorrow, gratitude … he examines these conditions with such precision — combined with music that draws on folk, rock, rockabilly, country and Cajun influences — he doesn’t need lengthy exposition.TIN ROOF ECHOAlthough originally hailing from the musically rich city of Macon, GA, Joe Hooten has called Asheville, NC home for many years. Since his 2014 debut, “The Original Plan”, seven albums (six LPs and one EP) have been released under the Tin Roof Echo moniker-each album demonstrating the DIY recording style that ultimately allows his uniquely introspective songwriting & production style to be highlighted along with his varied influences. He’s shared the stage with a diverse range of talents such as alt-country hero Scott Miller (The V-Roys) and punk pioneers Agent Orange. His solo shows- whether in a festival setting, radio show, or intimate listening room- are not to be missed.He also makes a lot of noise with Asheville’s all-star punk band PINKEYE & the legendary outlaw Americana-tinged Dark City Kings.
Hannah Kaminer & The Wistfuls: “Heavy On The Vine” Album Release Show
– ALL AGES- SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEHANNAH KAMINER Hannah Kaminer makes modern American roots music that blurs the boundaries between genre and generation. As a songwriter, storyteller, and producer, she nods to the Appalachian traditions of her native North Carolina while creating a contemporary sound that’s woozy, wistful, and evocative of the landscape where it was created. She turns a new page with her third record, Heavy On The Vine. Written and recorded in Kaminer’s adopted hometown of Asheville, it’s a reflective, resilient album that finds the artist making sense of her new world—a place where boutique hotels block the view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, childhood habits have given way to adulthood realities, and the Christian faith that once offered easy answers to life’s big questions has lost its magic. Heavy On The Vine isn’t just a soundtrack for Kaminer’s loss of faith; it’s a battle cry of hope and defiance, delivered by a songwriter who’s learned to live with uncertainty. “The idea of estrangement shows up everywhere,” says Kaminer, who kickstarted her career with 2015’s Acre By Acre and expanded her sound with 2018’s Heavy Magnolias. “These songs are about estrangement from myself, from family and old friends, from the Christian faith of my childhood, and from the world as I used to know it.” Kaminer’s world began taking shape in the small towns of western North Carolina, where she grew up singing hymns in church. Later, while living in central Texas as a college student, she heard a bluegrass song on the radio and found herself pining for the home she’d left behind. “I heard the banjo and thought, ‘That’s the sound of home!'” she remembers. “It took me moving halfway across the country to realize how much I gravitated toward those sounds.” Those sounds took her back to North Carolina, where Kaminer settled in Asheville and found a supportive musical community that prioritized collaboration over competition. “It was a great place to try something different,” she says. Inspired by Gillian Welch, Iris DeMent, and Patty Griffin—three artists who nodded to the old-school folk singers who came before them, yet still made modern music that balanced gorgeous melodies with grit, hard truths, and haunting arrangements—she started writing her own songs. The Grammy-winning audio engineer Julian Dreyer became one of her earliest champions, engineering her 2015 debut album and co-producing its 2018 follow-up. By the time Kaminer began writing material for Heavy On The Vine, though, she’d become more than a sharp songwriter. She’d started to think like a producer, too.THOMAS KOZAKThomas Kozak’s writing pulls myth and religion through the split-open skull of an obsessive-compulsive, anchoring the past to a new body and giving it voice through and beyond the conventions of folk and Americana.
The Moon and You, Ménage, Amanda Anne Platt (solo)
ALL AGESSEATED SHOWLIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLETHE MOON AND YOU At its core, The Moon and You is a charismatic husband-and-wife team. Melissa Hyman plays cello and bass, Ryan Furstenberg plays guitar and banjo. But whatever you might assume based on their gorgeous vocal blend and heartfelt lyrics, this ain’t your basic duo. With a rotating cast of talented friends to add unexpected instrumentation to their lineup, The Moon and You never plays the same show twice. This ever-evolving, expandable and collapsible model leaves the band constantly reinventing itself in ways both surprising and satisfying. Together, the two form a sound that is warm and inviting, atmospheric and playful. Each is a well developed songwriter with a distinctive voice, and their songs range in style from classic to quirky. Lyrics-driven and intellectual with a keen ear for arrangement, they make music perfectly suited to a listening room or a pair of good headphones. MENAGEAsheville’s original skirt and boots female trio returns to the Great Eagle stage after a 16 year hiatus. Rich and soulful three part harmony defines the sound of this fun and sultry group. Melissa Hyman (cello) from The Moon and You join original band members Sarah Roberts (guitar), and Mary Ellen Davis (bass) for this freshened up reunion-style performance which will include many original favorites from the early days of the band.AMANDA ANNE PLATTAmanda Anne Platt has been writing and performing her original songs in front of live audiences for almost two decades. With her band The Honeycutters she has released nine albums of her own original material and toured extensively in the US as well as Europe and Canada. In 2022 she released a double album, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, which has been called “her finest work yet” by The Bluegrass Situation and landed on top ten lists across the globe. The much anticipated follow up LP, The Ones That Stay, which was co produced by Scott McMicken (Dr Dog) and Greg Cartwright (Reigning Sound), is slated for release later this year. Platt delivers a live performance as captivating as her songwriting and has been privileged over the years to share the stage with the likes of Guy Clark, Amy Ray, Billy Joe Shaver, Tift Merrit, and Radney Foster.
Jalen Ngonda
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYJALEN NGONDA Jalen Ngonda is one of the most captivating performers on today’s soul scene. His voice, equal parts raw feeling and elegance, exudes confidence and charm. At 28, his resume reads more like that of a seasoned veteran: He has performed at New York City’s Summer Stage Festival, Picktathon, Newport Folk Festival, opened for Laura Mvula and Lauryn Hill at the Montreal Jazz Festival and sold-out houses on his own in Germany, the UK and Switzerland. Most recently, Jalen thrilled audiences and garnered rave reviews with his powerful solo performance in support of Thee Sacred Souls’ US tour. Now with a pair of widely revered singles under his belt at his new home, Daptone Records, Jalen prepares for the release of his debut LP, Come Around and Love Me. Jalen Ngonda grew up in a music loving family on the outskirts of Washington D.C. He began musical studies in grade school, where he dabbled in violin, ultimately moving on to the guitar and piano. His inspiration came from listening to his father’s collection of Motown CDs (The Temptations, Mary Wells, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles), which opened his eyes to the vastness of American music, guiding him along a path of constant study and discovery–from early blues, to gospel to jazz to rock & soul. Some years later, after a serendipitous, last minute opening slot for Jools Holland–attended by Daptone Co-Founder, Neal Sugarman–the pair hit it off and plans for an album on Daptone were struck. Unfortunately, this happened to be a month before the COVID 19 pandemic shut down the world. Notwithstanding, Jalen eventually made it to Hive Mind Studios in Brooklyn, NY where he began writing and recording with the help of producer/arrangers Mike Buckley and Vincent Chiarito (both members of Charles Bradley’s Extraordinaires) and a crack team of a-list musicians from the Daptone family. The team skillfully blends heavy arrangements and introspective lyrics with motown sophistication, leaving the listener in a blissful wash of wonderment–culminating in quite possibly one of the finest soul albums of the decade.SOUNDING ARROW Sounding Arrow is the musical project by recording artist Scott Kinnebrew. The debut record Loving Is Breathing, released in September 2017, is a call to life, love and the spirit of compassion. While sitting comfortably in the contemporary Indie Folk genre, there is a patina to Sounding Arrow’s sound that’s indicative of earlier musical influences. Though a widely celebrated recording, these songs have rarely been performed live. It’s just since moving back to Asheville, NC from LA in 2020 that Kinnebrew began playing them again, having found a group of musicians that shared the right chemistry. Scott Kinnebrew is a veteran recording artist and performer. His band Truth & Salvage Co. released two records under the Megaforce Records banner and toured Nationally for years, headlining shows and supporting heavy hitters like The Black Crowes, The Avett Brothers, Levon Helm, Lynryd Skynrd, and Gov’t Mule. Before moving to Los Angeles in 2005 he led the long time local Asheville band Scrappy Hamilton.
Velvet Truckstop
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYVELVET TRUCKSTOPFrom the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, Velvet Truckstop is a seasoned powerhouse that delivers a high-energy mix of Southern Rock and jam fueled Cosmic Americana every time they take the stage! VT has recorded / performed live with many notable musicians; including Tom Constanten ( Grateful Dead) , Ike Stubblefield (Frank Zappa, Jerry Garcia Band) Artimus Pyle (Lynyrd Skynyrd) and John Keane ( Widespread Panic) . Following the success of their first full-length album, “Sweet Release” (voted No. 5 on WNCW’s Top 20 regional charts), they went on to command stages at top events; including multiple performances at SXSW in Austin, Texas; the Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam (2009- 2019 ) and the French Broad River Festival ( 2019 ) After extensive touring throughout the East Coast, the band cut their second album, “Southbound and Down” , produced by Johnny Sandlin ( Allman Brothers / Widespread Panic) in Muscle Shoals AL. Velvet Truckstop is happy to announce their third album ” Reckless Abandon ” will be released in 2022. Band Members are : Jamie Dose (guitar / vocals), Josh Gibbs ( Lap steel / Guitar and vocals ) Will Nicholson ( bass ) and Jor Sutton ( drums ).
New Belgium Battle of the Bands
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY FREE SHOW! New Belgium coworkers, who work together, and rock together will put their talents on the line, for a chance to be featured at the 2024 Tour De Fat Party, October 5, 2024! Winners will be chosen by popular vote! FEATURING PERFORMANCES FROM: -Trollcraft -The Old Futures -STRAIGHTLINES -The Cartridge Family -Cam Stack
BALTHVS
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYBALTHVSBALTHVS is an eclectic psychedelic funk trio from Bogotá, Colombia, sparking a counterculture revolution in their home country. But their sound is not about freaking out, rather flowing and grooving gently amidst the general anger and chaos of 21st century society. Since their beginnings in the March 2020 pandemic, the band has strived to put out a prolific discography and energetic live show. With a style expanding from funk, disco, dream pop, soul, and world music, the band has recorded 2 full length albums and 24 singles. Their music reflects their worldwide fanbase, which has been streamed 2 million times leading into their second year as a band. Sit back, relax, and melt down the Cosmic grooves.
