FREE SHOW – PATIO: Dave Desmelik
– FREE SHOW – ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE DAVE DESMELIK “Desmelik delivers. He is reliable. He is tenacious, steadfast, and solid. His music is earthy and elemental, unpretentious and observational, and when he’s performing, his head is in the song he is playing for you and the rest of the audience.” -ashevillestages.com Dave Desmelik is a singer-songwriter and instrumentalist whose musical focus is on original compositions. What attracts listeners to Desmelik’s tunes, old and new, is the element of authenticity incorporated in them. There is no sugar coating involved. His songs are not wrapped in false smiles, rather they are stark and open and tend to settle on the pulse of everyday life. An unclosed and evolving journal of thoughts set to music and melodies in prose and instrumental performance. If you listen to Dave Desmelik’s songs, whether lyrical or instrumental, you may become pleasantly fixed in the simplistic realness of them and if you hear Desmelik in a live setting you may realize that there are no tricks, just a genuine venture into the highs and lows of life.
Bywater Call
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY BYWATER CALL Bywater Call, is a powerhouse seven-piece Southern soul, roots rock band from Toronto, Canada, made up of Meghan Parnell (vocals), Dave Barnes (guitar), Bruce McCarthy on drums, Mike Meusel on Bass, newest member, John Kervin on Keys, Stephen Dyte on Trumpet and Julian Nalli on Tenor Sax. Bywater Call has received multiple Independent Blues and Maple Blues Award nominations including Entertainer, Electric Act and Best Female Vocalist for the 2024 Awards Season. They have toured extensively in Europe where shows have been praised by Dutch, German and UK media, with references to Meghan as one of the best female voices in blues and roots today. In August 2023, the band participated in Joe Bonamassa’s third Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea Mediterranean Cruise alongside headliners Blackberry Smoke and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and were invited to perform at the All-Star Jam on the mainstage with Bonamassa himself. Guitarist Dave Barnes was also asked to join legendary blues artist Jimmy Vivino (Conan O’Brien’s Basic Cable Band) on stage. Bywater Call have commanded festival stages in Canada and around the world, often referred to as the “find of the fest”. In May of 2023, they opened for Canadian Award-winning band White Horse at the inaugural Smokestack Music Festival in Hamilton, Ontario. In July, Meghan joined renowned pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph on stage at his request, at the Briggs Farm Festival in Nescopeck, PA. On October 24, 2023, Bywater performed a live stream performance for the famed German TV show and festival Rockpalast. In 2023 alone, the band played a total of 96 shows in 10 countries, 89 Cities, 19 US States and 3 Canadian Provinces. This is not including a month long duo tour in Europe and the UK where Meghan and Dave opened for Southern California rockers Robert Jon & The Wreck, who have recently partnered with Joe Bonamassa’s Journeyman Records. The band’s music is an exploration of life’s highs and lows. From intimate ballads that lay bare the complexities of human emotion to electrifying anthems that demand to be played at full volume, their catalogue is a journey through the human experience, incorporating influences from the likes of The Band, The Wood Brothers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Otis Redding, Little Feat, Sly and the Family Stone, among others.
PATIO: Scout Speer
– ALL AGES – LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE SCOUT SPEER Scout Speer’s passion for music was kindled in a home on the Tennessee-Alabama line, where her grandaddy’s guitar playing introduced her to the harmonies that bind a family. Raised amid the sounds of country greats and the rustic farming life, outdoor adventures became as much a part of her as her music. At eight, motivated by a promise from her grandaddy to pass down the family guitar, Scout learned to play, earning herself the cherished instrument. Though her early ambitions were swayed by a successful athletic career in soccer, including a state championship and playing through college, music remained her true calling. Ultimately, Scout set aside her athletic achievements to follow her dream of country music artistry, a testament to the enduring influence of her grandaddy’s introduction to music, and impact of her rural upbringing. With her distinctly warm vocal tone and genuine, heartfelt lyrics, Scout Speer will be moving from the great outdoors to the Grand Ole Opry in no time.
NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition
ALL AGES 6PM DOORS / 7PM SHOW FULLY SEATED SHOW LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE In celebration of its 24th anniversary, the NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition — presented by Citizen Vinyl — will welcome eight finalists from across North America to Asheville for an evening of songs and connection The event takes place at The Grey Eagle on Thursday, December 11. The internationally recognized event, previously held at the prestigious Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, has since found a home in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The finalists (TBA in early October), selected from advance online submissions, will bring their musical chops to Asheville to perform, compete, and connect with one another. A panel of music industry judges will select one grand prize winner who will receive a fully funded six-song EP, recorded and mixed at Citizen Studios, and a music vinyl package pressed at Citizen Vinyl.Citizen Vinyl, established by NewSong Music director and co-founder Gar Ragland, is North Carolina’s first vinyl pressing facility, and boasts a variety of amenities including a full-scale recording studio, high quality vinyl pressing and cassette duplication, direct-to-customer fulfillment, and more. Now in its 24th year, the NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition is one of North America’s premier showcases of emerging performers and songwriters today. This crowd-sourced effort seeks to identify the truly exceptional artists within our communities and to work closely with them to develop their careers and introduce their music to a broader, international audience while building a supportive community of performers and songwriters across all genres of music and levels of skill.
Jordan Tice & Joseph Terrell
ALL AGES SEATED SHOW LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMUIM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE JORDAN TICE Jordan Tice is a musical seeker of the most dedicated sort. Growing up in Annapolis Maryland, as a teenage rocker and student of jazz and music composition at Towson University, he has become among the most innovative acoustic guitarists of the modern age. Surrounded by a family of bluegrass musicians and opening for American music luminaries such as David Bromberg and Tony Rice at an early age, Tice found his musical center, one which he now channels into a refreshing approach to songcraft. Speaking to the components that fuel the progressivism intrinsic to some of his closest heroes, Jordan says, “Artists like John Hartford or Norman Blake chose to look beyond the idiomatic elements of the music and tap into where those things came from. They learned from literal examples, but they were working more off abstractions that they absorbed into their own work, creating something entirely new.” JOSEPH TERRELL Joseph grew up in a big Quaker family in the North Carolina Piedmont. He’s spent the last ten years writing and singing with folk band Mipso. “To call a howl “good for nothing” is a compliment. all of the best howls are. i got a howl stuck in my head a few years ago when i started noticing the trees. somehow they’d escaped my imagination since i was a kid in the woods. i welcomed them back. sycamores in particular captured my attention. their bark is a cousin to skin. i learned there are sixty-two types of oaks in north carolina. the water oak is my favorite. its waxy teardrops droop over creeks. i thought a good bit about hackberry and greenbriar, too, and when summer ended i fell in love with goldenrod. it felt good to pay attention. they had been there all along. i was moving around a lot at the time. i crashed with barry and susan, spent a while in alex and caroline’s basement. i quit trying to write all together, quit playing for a while too. then at the beginning of spring i started dragging a chair under a tree in the yard. wherever i was i would try to spend the morning outside with a guitar. i found a lot of songs that way, like they were already there, waiting for me to sing them out loud. i hope that sounds as strange as it felt.
The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY THE REVEREND PEYTON’S BIG DAMN BAND Three time BMA nominee’s The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band are “the greatest front-porch blues band in the world”. They are led by Reverend Peyton, who most consider to be the premier finger picker playing today. He has earned a reputation as both a singularly compelling performer and a persuasive evangelist for the rootsy, country blues styles that captured his imagination early in life and inspired him and his band to make pilgrimages to Clarksdale, Mississippi to study under such blues masters as T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour and David “Honeyboy” Edwards. Their last record Dance Songs For Hard Times went #1 on the Billboard, iTunes and Sirius XM Blues Charts and was produced by Grammy winner Vance Powell. The record was critically acclaimed by Rolling Stone, Relix, Popmatters, Guitar World, American Songwriter, No Depression, Glide, Wide Open Country, Paste, American Blues Scene and many more! Their new record, Honeysuckle was produced and recorded by Reverend Peyton and mixed by six-time Grammy winner Vance Powell (Chris Stapleton, Jack White). The record features many special guests, including gospel music group The McCrary Sisters on the song “Manger,” Blues Music Hall of Famer and Grammy-nominated harmonica player Billy Branch who plays on the Blind Lemon Jefferson song “Nell (Prison Cell Blues),” Grammy award-winning and IBMA’s 10-time Fiddle Player of the Year Michael Cleveland plays on “Freeborn Man” and Colton Crawford from The Dead South plays banjo on “The Good Die Young.” CHRIS McGINNIS Chris McGinnis writes songs that exist somewhere between a hiccup and a heartache. His most recent EP, Songs For You, touches on the peculiarity of your hometown morphing beyond recognition. It tells the story of two Baby Boomers falling in and out of love across time zones and decades. It’s about connection and disconnection alike. With the release of his debut full-length album Mamaw’s Angel, Chris veers deeper into these familiar themes. Through tales of stolen Winnebagos and hip-shaking grandbabies, Chris’ music is Appalachian absurdity for the 21st Century.
Bombargo
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY BOMBARGO Bombargo is a Canadian based international touring band that drops a vibrant splash of soul over their distinctive ‘vintage-pop’ sound. Well known for bringing unrivaled energy to the stage with sing-along anthems, double-brother harmonies, and a powerful message that combined make for one of the most captivating live shows ever! Frontman Nathan Thoen’s passionate conviction and ‘Jagger-like’ dance moves even impressed billionaire and music industry icon Sir Richard Branson, quoting “I haven’t seen this type of energy since The Rolling Stones!” – and he would know, having personally signed The Rolling Stones to Virgin Records. The band began with lead singer Nathan Thoen and guitarist Spencer Chilliak after the two spontaneously met and drove 16 hours to attend Sasquatch Music Festival where they became inspired to start a band. The duo wrote their debut single “Let It Grow” during their very first writing session and as part of Bombargo’s debut EP Back on Main which would go on to be included in “The Top 10 Best Saskatchewan Albums of 2015” by SaskMusic. This further inspired them to continue writing, touring, and release their first full-length album titled We Are Bombargo. The group has since evolved into a 7-piece touring band adding Nathan’s brother Anthony Thoen on guitar, additional brothers Matt and Sammy Folkersen on keys and bass respectively, Connor Newton on saxophone, and Niall Cubbon on drums. Bombargo went on to receive massive acclaim when pop star icon Taylor Swift added their 2018 single “Mr. No Good” to her Spotify Playlist titled “Songs Taylor Loves” alongside mega artists including Ed Sheeran, Camilla Cabello, and Kendrick Lamar. Being the only unsigned band on this star-studded playlist saw Bombargo featured on CBC’s the Q, NME, Exclaim, Fashion, Noisey, People, and Billboard. This success was followed up by the release of their most successful single to date – “Oxygen” which pushed Bombargo into the Canadian Hot AC Top 40 Charts for the first time in the fall of 2019. The band also made its US touring debut in late 2019 with their 33 date “North American Dream Tour” which kicked off with Bombargo playing the sold-out Roughriders Labour Day Classic Half-Time Show to over 33,000 people. The band’s highly anticipated US debut at Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, CA gained heavy press coverage including a raving article in Billboard Magazine.Bombargo has opened for legendary acts including John Butler Trio, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Joel Plaskett and most recently performed on the Okeechobee festival main stage in Florida with over 40,000 in attendance. They have surpassed 4.5 million streams on Spotify, received over 715,000 views on YouTube, and were nominated for the Saskatchewan Music Awards “Pop/Rock Artists of the Year” in both 2018 and 2019. In August of 2020 the band landed a ‘most excellent’ cameo in the hollywood blockbuster “Bill & Ted 3: Face The Music”. There’s no doubt Bombargo will continue spreading The Goodtime Guarantee™ long into the future with the release of their new album ‘nubula.’ (released in May of 2022), and upcoming “Goodtime Guarantee Tour” this coming fall.
PATIO: Beer and Loathing
– ALL AGES – LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BEER AND LOATHING Hailing from WNC Beer and Loathing brings you a craft blend of rock n roll and hippie honky-tonk with a dose of psychedelia. The band consists of Johnny Blackwell and Cole Laughter splitting lead vocal and guitar duties with Trevor Walker on Bass and Wayne Redden on drums rounding out the rhythm section.
Victims & Villains: Bear the Anxiety Tour
ALL AGESSTANDING ROOM ONLY VICTIMS AND VILLAINS Victims and Villains is a multimedia non-profit dedicated to deconstructing the stigma surrounding mental health through the familiarity of pop culture. Depression can make us feel like both a victim and villain. We exist to remind you that you’re not alone. Victims and Villains is based out of Richmond, VA. Featuring performances from…. ARTERIES LIKE ESTUARIES HEMPIRE OLD DEAD GODS HASHWITCH RESIDENT FEEDBACK
Punch Bucket Literary Festival – Opening Night Rapid Reading & Music!
ALL AGES STANDING ROOM + SEATING, FIRST COME FIRST SERVED Punch Bucket Literary Festival – Opening Night Rapid Reading & Music! Punch Bucket Lit kicks of their 2nd annual literary festival with a Rapid Reading by featured authors Xhenet Aliu, T. Bambrick, Daniel Tam-Claiborne, Mariah Rigg, Jesse Van Eerden, Mackenzie Kozak, Austin Segrest, LaTanya McQueen, and others, along with music by Thomas Kozak and the Poets!For the opening night Rapid Reading ticket only, purchase here. For full festival passes, including the opening night event, go to Punch Bucket Lit.
