PATIO: The Cheeksters
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDTHE CHEEKSTERS The Cheeksters were formed in 1990 soon after Mark and Shannon Casson met by chance on a train in London, England. Mark hails from the UK, while Shannon was born and raised in Tennessee. They started performing music together as a duo with Mark on guitar and vocals and Shannon playing bass guitar. They soon released their debut album “ Stranger Things Have Happened “ in 1992, followed by “ Hey, What’s Your Style ? “ in 1994. The couple relocated to Nashville in 1996 and began working with producer Brent Little at his all- analog studio Cream Puff Recorders. So far they have recorded four critically acclaimed albums at Cream Puff – “Skating On The Cusp“ (1999) , “Nineteen Sixty Five“ (2005) , “Movers and Shakers“ (2007) , “The Golden Birds“ (2011) – They released two singles this past year and continue to write and record music here in Asheville.The Cheeksters combine the best of what made music great in the 1960’s with a winning, fresh pop approach that delights audiences. In the studio the group has produced six albums of timeless, tuneful, terrific pop that has real staying power. Onstage the versatile five-piece band turns out its straightforward catchy pop confections, bringing to mind a swirling variety of influences : Memphis soul, Carnaby Street pop, swampy rhythm and blues, and more. They somehow manage to channel Burt Bacharach / Hal David pop, Dusty Springfield’s diva soul, T-Rex’s manic boogie and the pomp of David Bowie often in the same song without sounding derivative.Mark and Shannon have called Asheville home for the past twenty years. The Cheeksters current line-up has performed live together for the past 12 years and is made up of Mark Casson (vocals, guitar, piano) , Shannon Hines Casson (vocals, bass guitar) , Jay Moye (piano, guitar) Mike Baker (drums) and Jerome Widenhouse (trumpet).
PATIO: The Discs (Album Release Show)
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDTHE DISCS Conceived years before their debut album was finally realized in October 2020, The Discs officially formed in the summer of 2021. Hailing from Asheville, NC, the band is Allan Day (guitar/vocals), Mike Comparetto (bass/vocals) and Greg Radz (drums/vocals). All members are veterans of their respective music scenes. The Discs fuse elements of power pop and ’77 punk/new wave with current production values and existentially-themed lyrics for a compelling sonic experience. The band anticipates a busy schedule in 2023 including the Spring release of their 2nd album plus many area performances.
PATIO: Appalachian Renegades
– ALL AGES- LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVEDAPPALACHIAN RENEGADES A rock band that fuses classic sounds and modern tones, The Appalachian Renegades call upon guitar heavy riffs mixed with soaring saxophone melodies and clean vocals to form their core sound. Having spent 7 years playing shows across WNC, the renegades are currently writing music for their 4th studio release. Devil’s Wish, the third of their career, had two #1 singles in the summer of 2022 on Buzz Radio Asheville. The guys produce a sound reminiscent of rock bands like Greta Van Fleet, Clutch, Volbeat, Government Mule, Jack White, Black Stone Cherry, and My Morning Jacket among many other influential contemporary and classic rock artists.
Michigan Rattlers
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYMICHIGAN RATTLERS Michigan Rattlers are a folk-rock band composed of Graham Young (guitar), Adam Reed (bass), Christian Wilder (piano), and Tony Audia (drums). Meeting as childhood friends, they began writing music and performing together in their hometown of Petoskey, Michigan. Their self-titled Michigan Rattlers EP attracted reviews from No Depression, Bluegrass Situation, B3 Science, and Rolling Stone, who named the band one of their “Ten New Country Artists You Need To Know” in 2016. They’ve continued to evolve beyond the “country” label ever since. In 2018, following a summer tour that included stops at Bonnaroo, Firefly and Electric Forest; the band released their debut full length album, ‘Evergreen’. “This is a band with solid songwriting chops and instrumental skills,” says No Depression. “‘Evergreen’ shows this four-piece from Petoskey, Michigan making a stand, making their way.” Growing into a more expansive sound, the band’s second full length album, ‘That Kind of Life’, was released in 2021 to positive reviews. With live shows being at the core of the band’s identity, the Rattlers continue to tour relentlessly, bringing their honest songwriting and high energy rock n roll to stages across the U.S and Canada. OLD SAPPoet from Chicago, rambled out to Montana, cut a banjo from a tamarack, strings across the country, foot like a freight train, voice rushing down over lush Appalachia, sings a thrush tune through the rush hour and into your long-forgotten prairie dreams.Folk. Folk Rock. Americana.
FREE SHOW: Supernatural – The Music of Vic Chestnutt Panic Pre Party
THIS EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE AT HATCH AMPHITHEATER, LOCATED AT 45 SOUTH FRENCH BROAD AVE IN DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE FREE SHOW ALL AGES STANDING ROOM ONLY Join us at the Hatch Amphitheater on July 25 from 5 to 7pm for a special pre-party ahead of the Widespread Panic show. This unique performance brings together members of 54 Bicycles, Slow Runner, Slow Packer, The High Divers, and Scott McMicken and the Ever Expanding for an evening rooted in reverence and reinterpretation. Widespread Panic’s own unique folk process of sharing and playing the music they love helped expand discovery of the larger than life character of Vic Chesnutt. Vic’s music continues to shape and influence the modern Southern rock and folk landscape with poetic fire — his songs are both deeply personal and wildly universal. Come early. Come ready. Let’s celebrate the legacy of one of the greatest.
The Criticals
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYTHE CRITICALSThe Criticals are a Nashville based rock band formed by Parker Forbes and Cole Shugart. In November 2019, they released their first EP, “Mimosa Hygienem” starting their journey. When covid hit in early 2020, the band focused on writing, recording and releasing music and music videos. Their first music video for Treat Ya Better became popular online, leading many diehard fans to their music. Their sophomore EP, “Sour Grapes” was released in October 2020, along with several singles in ’21 and ’22. In addition to the organic traction on Spotify, along with their music videos, the band has built a loyal and growing audience eager to see them live. CONNOR KELLY & THE TIME WARPConnor Kelly & The Time Warp is dedicated to pushing sonic boundaries while persevering the anthropomorphic elements of Rock & Roll. Drawing inspiration from icons like Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, the group cultivates a sound that pays tasteful homage to legends of the genre but not without their own unusual twist. Since their latest album release “Distant Forest” the band has accumulated over 5 million streams and joined acts like The Backseat Lovers, Vista Kicks, and Moon Taxi on the road. Connor Kelly, Ben Kelly, Aiden Lamb, and Daniel Ryan are liable to disrupt the space-time continuum.
AGENT ORANGE
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYAGENT ORANGEThe Original Southern California Punk/Surf Power Trio, Agent Orange, is one of only a handful of bands who have been continually active since the earliest days of the West Coast Punk Scene. A small circle of musical rebels who came together to form a movement, they took their place front and center to experience and participate in the explosion of now legendary underground music that was created during the golden era of American Punk Rock.Being the first to combine the melodic California surf guitar sound with the frantic energy of punk, Agent Orange invented the formula that would come to define the Orange County punk sound. Highly influential to many of the bands who have followed in their path, Agent Orange have always stayed one step ahead. Their strong connection to the Action Sports world has resulted in their music providing the soundtrack to numerous major motion pictures, video games, surf and skate films, television, and live sports events.The last of the true independents, Agent Orange have managed to stay true to their roots, while always moving forward. Powered by a loyal following built up through years of explosive live performances all over the world, Agent Orange continue to deliver their Fullblown-Supercharged-Punk-Surf Sound on an international basis, with a never ending schedule of tours in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Australia, and Japan.C’mon down front and expose yourself to Agent Orange.SUZI MOON The unstoppable SUZI MOON comes roaring back with a debut solo EP Call the Shots, a powerful clutch of high impact songs which reaffirm her status as one of punk rock’s most vibrant performers! With a stellar rock & roll pedigree reaching back to when the then 15-year-old MOON joined her sister’s famed punk band, CIVET, the singer-songwriter has followed through with songs that show her incredible growth. Recording two albums for Hellcat Records and touring with the likes of SOCIAL DISTORTION, DROPKICK MURPHYS, and FLOGGING MOLLY (all before she turned 21), MOON established herself as a ferocious punk truth-teller with both a distinctive personal style and a fiercely untamed stage presence. After CIVET went on hiatus, MOON formed TURBULENT HEARTS, a high-intensity trio that quickly gained popularity in their hometown Los Angeles scene and earned followings in the US and Europe, playing such high-stakes settings as the Rebellion Festival and Punk Rock Bowling.THE DEATHBOTSThe Deathbots make their home in Asheville, NC among the freaks, weirdos, and white dudes named Chad that just moved here from Charlotte and are totally down to brewery hop on the South Slope. It’s widely accepted in Asheville that everything was better a few years ago and the Deathbots do their part by making the punk rock that your older sister used to listen to before she sold out and went to law school. Holy Crap Records describes the sound as a “brawling mix between Bad Religion and Johnny Cash, that combo of super speedy melodic punk and killer bad-ass country.”
Velvet Truckstop (Album Release Show) w/ Pyletribe ft Artimus Pyle
– 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 ). PYLETRIBE Combining the iconic talents of legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle, and the infectious vocal and guitar licks of son Chris Pyle, PYLETRIBE pushes the creative boundaries with their percussion influenced style dubbed “southern fried tribal boogie.”
shame
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYshameshame were tourists in their own adolescence – and nothing was quite like the postcard. The freefall of their early twenties, in all its delight and disaster, was tangled up in being hailed one of post-punk’s greatest hopes. In 2018, they took their incendiary debut album Songs of Praise for a cross-continental joyride for almost 350 relentless nights. They tried to bite off more than they could chew, just to prove their teeth were sharp enough – but eventually, you’ve got to learn to spit it out. Then came the hangover. shame’s frontman, Charlie Steen, suffered a series of panic attacks which led to the tour’s cancellation. For the first time, since being plucked from the stage of The Windmill and catapulted into notoriety, shame were confronted with who they’d become on the other side of it. This era, of being forced to endure reality and the terror that comes with your own company, would form shame’s second album, 2021’s Drunk Tank Pink, the band’s reinvention.If Songs of Praise was fuelled by pint-sloshing teenage vitriol, then Drunk Tank Pink delved into a different kind of intensity. Wading into uncharted musical waters, emboldened by their wit and earned cynicism, they created something with the abandon of a band who had nothing to lose. Having forced their way through their second album’s identity crisis, they arrive, finally, at a place of hard-won maturity. Enter: Food for Worms, which Steen declares to be “the Lamborghini of shame records.”For the first time, the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. “I don’t think you can be in your own head forever,” says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: “It’s weird, isn’t it? Popular music is always about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn’t much about your mates.” In many ways, the album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together – and grown so close, against all odds – can share.BEEN STELLAR Been Stellar is what you get when you leave the youth alone in a metropolis; they grow up. They make noise. Their songs are formed and lived somewhere on Broadway, on Hester, on 34th, in Union Square, on the bridge, in the gutter, and under your shoe. The trivial street scenes lipsticked by well-loved decades are fully recognized in Been Stellar’s hail of guitar tones and insistent lyrical earnesty. Crackly, bright and distorted – stories of violence, love, and a new, un-glamorous, New York City. Hailing from metro-Detroit, the beaches of Los Angeles, and Brazil by way of Sydney, Nando Dale (guitar), Laila Wayans (drums), Sam Slocum (vocals), Nico Brunstein (bass) and Skyler St. Marx (guitar) have positioned themselves at the glimmering rotten center of tonight’s rock and roll. Each member so distinctly themselves, it must be assumed that such a diverse and unlikely gang were drawn tight together in their first year of university by nothing short of serendipitous fortune and a shared, waggish sense of humor, reflected at the heart of their lyrics and hardened over years of shared experience in the city’s lavish rigidity and urban decay.
Bit Brigade performs “Mega Man II” + “DuckTales” LIVE
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYBIT BRIGADEBit Brigade performs rock covers of full NES game soundtracks as their gamer speedruns the game live on stage.”When was the last time you attended a live music performance with a genuine element of risk involved? And no, going to a Gwar show with a white t-shirt on doesn’t count. When Bit Brigade takes the stage your mind will frantically oscillate between “Oh! Agh!! Please don’t die!!” and “YES! He’s doing it!!” Combining the dread and daring of a live video game speed run with the spot-on technique of a live band covering the musical accompaniment to everything you’re seeing on-screen in real time, Bit Brigade will have you swinging between the two mediums. From thrashing about to live renditions of your favorite stage themes, fingers yearning to the sky in a rock ‘n roll parody of sea anemones seeming to silently plead, “Please, feed us more fretboard pyrotechnics!,” to being locked in stock-still rapture as the infallible maestro of the d-pad, Noah McCarthy, takes on the final boss and risks his video game life under the threat of intense peer scorn (or the reward of night-long glory and a credits score). No matter the outcome, Bit Brigade must play on until the deed is done – which it always is – on the first (and last) try. Once Noah’s NES buzzes on, there’s no turning back.” – Metalhead Mike of The Shizz, summer 2011.CARTRIDGE FAMILYfour who grew up on the same console video games that you did are now applying their combined musical experience and training to recreating some of your favorite songs from those very games. using electronic instruments, the cartridge family performs deep cuts and time-honored classics alike, taking you back to the days of soda-chugging and button-mashing.
