Calendar of Events
Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.
Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.
Figure Drawing Salon-
Live nude model, art instructor host, bring your own art supplies. We have a limited supply available. Some community supplies available for use. We ask for a $15 donation at the door to support the instructor and model.
Format may vary but usually consists of- 5-1 min
2- 5 min
1- 10 min
2- 20 min each pose different 10 min break in between
2- 20 minute poses same pose
Come learn and mingle with a fun and friendly community of artists! Normally hosted the last Sunday of every month.
A fun ban with a wide ranging repertoire of early jazz and other favorites.
The boys in the Blue Lighting Jazz Band do a bunch of great old songs that most listeners will recognize or know and want to sing along with — some folks might even want to get up on the dance floor and get down with their bad selves!
Expect to hear some of your old favorites like:
After You’ve Gone, Sweet Georgia Brown, St. Louis Blues, Up A Lazy River, Basin Street Blues, Bourbon Street Parade, Corrine Corrina, Dark Eyes, Bring It On Down To My House Honey, He’s In The Jailhouse Now, Four Or Five Times, I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, I’m Confessin’, Bye Bye Blackbird, Lonesome Road, Washington and Lee Swing, Wild Man Blues, Wabash Blues, Somebody Stole My Gal, Just A Closer Walk With Thee, Columbia Gem of the Ocean, Battle Hymn of the Republic, The Blue Lightning Blues .
The band is comprised of local all-stars including:
Rich Willey on trumpet and tuba and does some of the vocals.
Bill Reichenbach on trombone and tuba.
Walt Kross on clarinet and tenor saxophone.
Russ Wilson on tenor banjo and drums plus he does almost all of the vocals.
After 22 years in comedy, Leanne Morgan has cemented herself as a must-watch comedian.
Leanne was feeling the lure of Hollywood after graduating high school, but the idea of moving there was unheard of and too daunting for a country girl who had never been away from home. She enrolled in college at The University of Tennessee, where she graduated (by the skin of her teeth) with a degree in Child and Family Studies.
Shortly after that, she married her husband Chuck and they moved to Bean Station, TN in the beautiful foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
To stay busy after having her first baby, Leanne started selling jewelry at home parties. She was supposed to talk about the jewelry but instead conversed about breastfeeding, hemorrhoids and being a mama. The party guests thought that she was hilarious to the point somebody peed on a couch, and before she knew it, she was booked out a year in-advance.
The jewelry company saw what was happening and asked her to speak at their sales rallies. It was there that women started saying, “you need to do stand-up!” That gave Leanne the courage to really go for it! Leanne finally had access to comedy clubs when her family moved to San Antonio in 2001, and her career in comedy quickly started to skyrocket.
Leanne’s comedy has landed her at the prestigious Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal and has brought her development deals for her own sitcom with ABC and Warner Brothers, writer/producer Matt Williams (Rosanne and Home Improvement), TV Land and with Sony Television.
Leanne has garnered over 2 million followers across social media and her popular stand-up special, So Yummy has reached over 50 million views on YouTube.
Her fan base continues to grow with her relatability as she discusses everything from being a housewife to sharing Jell-O recipes to having a new grandbaby. She has appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show, The View, Nick at Nite’s Funniest Mom and toured with the Southern Fried Chicks.
Now that her three children are grown, Leanne is currently on The Big Panty Tour for her 100-city theater run across the North America with Outback Concerts.
– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
RAZOR BRAIDS
Razor Braids is a Brooklyn-based, queer, all-female/non-binary rock band that combines a heavy punk energy with an indie rock vulnerability culminating in frenetic live shows and a dynamic sound anchored in a 90s alternative ethos. With each scream and snare hit, the band have honed a sound that is a testament to the redemptive power and catharsis of community. Their new album ‘I Could Cry Right Now If You Wanted Me To’ is out now.
TAN UNIVERSE
Tan Universe is 3-piece rock band from Asheville, NC, who have branded their sound as “Surfedelic Garage-Punk.” What started as a solo project of singer-songwriter Daniel O’Grady quickly turned collaborative, and has stayed that way since. The current power-trio lineup consists of O’Grady on guitar and vocals, Jack Ryan on bass, and Lawson Alderson on Drums.
….is the performing and songwriting alias of guitarist and producer Kayla Zuskin.
She wrote, recorded and produced her most recent EP Slow Down which was released in January of 2022.
Her music is best described as lullaby punk.
Located in Asheville, NC, Lavender Blue is also a music teacher, an engineer/producer, and multi-instrumentalist.
|
Come down the Pack Memorial Library and play with LEGOs! Please leave your personal LEGOs at home, because we’ve got plenty.
|
Every Tuesday 1/2 off bottles of wine at 131 Main Restaurant
– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
OS MUTANTES
Os Mutantes (“The Mutants”) are an influential Brazilian psychedelic rock band that were linked with the Tropicália movement of the late 1960s. When Os Mutantes was formed, it combined influences from psychedelic acts from the English-speaking world like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Sly & the Family Stone with bossa nova, tropicália, samba and the cultural legacy of the Brazilian art vanguards from the modernist movement.
One of the most well-known and influential rock bands in Brazil, Os Mutantes are cited as a major influence to many contemporary underground or independent bands in the United States and Europe. Beck paid tribute to the group with his single “Tropicália” from the album Mutations. The Bees (UK band) covered “A Minha Menina” on their first album, Sunshine Hit Me. Red Hot Chili Peppers bass player Flea has stated on his Twitter account that he is a fan. Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal cites Os Mutantes as an important influence. Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has worked to publish and promote the group’s music through his Luaka Bop label. Kurt Cobain publicly requested a reunion tour from the trio in 1993, writing a letter to Arnaldo Baptista, but the bands first live performance since 1978 was at London’s Barbican Arts Centre on May 22, 2006 – (though without Rita Lee, who was replaced with Zélia Duncan on vocals). This performance was followed by shows in New York City, Los Angeles (with the Flaming Lips), San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, and Miami. However in September 2007, both Arnaldo Baptista and Zélia Duncan left the band, each expressing wishes to continue with their respective solo projects.
Sérgio Dias, however, vowed to keep the reformed band alive, not wanting to let “the giant sleep again”, as he put it. And so, led by Dias with Esmeria Bulgari on vocals, Henrique Peters on keyboards, Vinicius Junqueira on bass and Claudio Tchernev on drums the band toured extensively enjoying some great highlights such as “A Minha Menina” featuring as the audio track for the McDonald’s commercial “Victory” in June 2008, their first new release in 35 years, “Haih Or Amortecedor” (ANTI- Records) in September 2009. Extensive tours in support of the album including Glastonbury Festival in June 2010. In 2011, they collaborated with Of Montreal on the song “Bat Macumba” for the Red Hot Organization’s most recent charitable album “Red Hot+Rio 2.” and in 2013 the release of their album “Fool Metal Jack”. In 2017, Sergio Dias collaborated with the English singer-songwriter, Carly Bryant and subsequently she was put into the band’s line up on vocals, guitars and keyboards. Tres Olhos Music Festival quoted after her debut performance “”Packed with the new vocals, Carly Bryant took the audience to ecstasy, showing she’s here to stay.” The six piece release the single ‘Black and Grey’ in late 2017 and are currently working on a new studio album.
Ray Bradbury’s 1950 sci-fi short story collection The Martian Chronicles takes place between 1999 and 2057. Life on earth is crumbling post-nuclear war. The robots are thriving, carrying out the duties set before them, while the humans are forced to flee to Mars. Esme Patterson’s fourth studio album, There Will Come Soft Rains, is named after the Sara Teasdale poem of the same name which inspired the Bradbury collection’s penultimate tale.
Ages 18+
Join us for a weekly mountain music JAM with players in a round, where the session is focused on regional fiddle tunes and songs! You are welcome to come and listen or to learn and join in. This event supports the Henderson County Junior Appalachian Musician (JAM) Kids Program. Free but donations are accepted. Weekly event takes place at Oklawaha Brewing Company.
EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 6:30 pm ~ FREE!
AGES 18+ ADULTS ONLY ~ NO KIDS ALLOWED
ON OUR HUGE SCREEN IN THEATER 2!
ENJOY DINNER & DRINKS (FULL BAR) WHILE PLAYING
There are 3 rounds with new winners each round so you can show up late, miss a round and still be a winner. Plus, we have mid-round prizes to create as many winners as possible.
The questions are presented by a hilarious host on our giant movie screen and includes fun videos in each round. You haven’t played a trivia night like this one!
Beat the mid week grind with some fun trivia! Win a $25 gift card for our taproom along with a $25 gift card from our resident kitchen, Bears Smokehouse BBQ!
Every Wednesday
Trivia Night
– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
JOSHUA RAY WALKER
On his new album See You Next Time, Texas-bred singer/songwriter Joshua Ray Walker shares an imagined yet truthful portrait of a brokedown honky-tonk and the misfits who call it home: barflies and wannabe cowboys, bleary-eyed dreamers and hopelessly lost souls. His third full-length in three years, the album marks the final installment in a trilogy that originated with Walker’s globally acclaimed 2019 debut Wish You Were Here and its equally lauded follow-up Glad You Made It (the #5 entry on Rolling Stone’s Best Country and Americana Albums of 2020 list).
“The whole idea with the trilogy was to use the honky-tonk as a setting where all these different characters could interact with each other,” says Walker, who drew immense inspiration from the local dive bars he first started sneaking into and gigging at as a teenager growing up in East Dallas. “In my mind, this album’s taking place on the night before the bar closes forever—the songs are just me taking snapshots of that world, and all the moments that happen in it.”
Like its predecessors, See You Next Time came to life at Audio Dallas Recording Studio with producer John Pedigo and a first-rate lineup of musicians, including the likes of pedal-steel player Adam “Ditch” Kurtz and rhythm guitarist Nathan Mongol Wells of Ottoman Turks (the country-punk outfit for which Walker sidelines as lead guitarist). The album’s immaculately crafted but timelessly vital sound provides a prime backdrop for Walker’s storytelling, an element that endlessly blurs the lines between fable-like fiction and personal revelation. “I learned a long time ago that writing from a character’s perspective lets me examine things about myself without ever feeling too self-conscious about it,” he points out. Closely informed by the tremendous loss he’s suffered in recent years, See You Next Time emerges as the most powerful work to date from an extraordinarily gifted songwriter, imbued with equal parts weary pragmatism and the kind of unabashedly romantic spirit that defies all cynicism.
On the album-opening “Dallas Lights,” Walker presents a potent introduction to the vast and sometimes-harrowing emotional terrain of See You Next Time. “I used to hang out in Lower Greenville, which is a neighborhood in Dallas with a lot of homeless people,” he says of the song’s origins. “One of the guys there knew someone who’d passed away and there was nobody to claim the body: no wife, no family, no kinfolk at all. I was really struck by how terrible that was, and over the years it became a song about hometown pride, and wanting to die where you lived.” Anchored by the heartrending fiddle work of Heather Stalling, “Dallas Lights” ultimately lends a bit of glory to that tragedy, its chorus lyrics unfolding as their own resolute prayer (“Lord, don’t bury me deep/Under the sycamore tree/Burn Me/Spread Me/Where the city can be seen”).
VANDOLIERS
Vandoliers are a uniquely Texas band, distilling the Lone Star State’s vast and diverse musical identity into a raucous, breakneck vibe that’s all their own. After spending much of the last three years furiously writing and recording music, this Dallas-Fort Worth six-piece is back with The Vandoliers, a new album that proves these rowdy, rollicking country punks are tighter, more cohesive and more sonically compelling than ever.
Many have heard of “love languages”; the ways we share and receive love from those most important in our life. One of those love languages? Acts of service. What better act of service than donating blood with The Blood Connection (TBC) and their partner organizations? Donating blood is a compassionate way to show our neighbors and community just how much we care. This February, TBC is partnering with Texas Roadhouse to provide fun and rewarding opportunities to donate blood.
On February 23 and March 2, TBC is once again partnering with Texas Roadhouse for the “Hearts as Big as Texas” campaign. Now in its fifth year, Hearts as Big as Texas brings more than 20 bloodmobiles out across the Carolinas and Georgia to make blood donation convenient and fun for community members. As a thank you for donating, all blood donors will receive a $20 Texas Roadhouse Gift card, a free appetizer coupon, plus a bonus $30 eGift card! Participating locations include:
- Anderson, SC
- Asheville, NC
- Augusta, GA
- Columbia (Columbiana), SC
- Columbia (Two Notch), SC
- Durham, NC
- Florence, SC
- Gainesville, GA
- Gastonia, NC
- Greenville, NC
- Holly Springs, NC
- Macon, GA
- Myrtle Beach, SC
- North Charleston, SC
- Savannah, GA
- Spartanburg, SC
- Taylors, SC
- Wake Forest, NC
Join us to unwind, socialize, and explore the Museum. Teachers of all grade levels and subject areas are invited to view the Museum’s current exhibitions, attend gallery talks, enjoy live music, create art in the studio, and learn more about the Asheville Art Museum’s resources for teachers.
Snacks and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. The rooftop Perspective Café will be open until 9pm, where you may purchase a variety of sandwiches, local snacks, and beverages, including Poppy’s Popcorn, French Broad Chocolates, Asheville beers, organic coffee, wine, and cocktails.
Register now for your chance to win free door prizes! Advanced online registration is encouraged.
Every Thursday
- Live Music with Aaron Lafalce at 131 Main Restaurant, 6:00 p.m.
Trivia, Singo, tailgate games, and more! Our games are sure to challenge you, but c’mon… it’s not rocket science!
3.2. 23 Disclaimer Standup Comedy TAKEOVER
What: Stand up Comedy at The Orange Peel’s Pulp Lounge
When: Thursday 3.2.2023. 8:30p-10:30p, doors at 7:30p
Where: The Orange Peel’s Comedy Basement, Pulp Lounge103 Hilliard Ave, Downtown Asheville
Tickets: $15 (available at door or The Orange Peel website)
Cocktails available while you laugh the night away to some of the area’s best Stand Up Comics in a ridiculously fun adult environment!! .
Limited spots comedy open mic at end of show. Comics signup at door get 3-5m. [Free entry for performing comics, free snacks at comics table]
Stand up comedy featuring Petey Smith McDowell, Cary Goff, Katy Hudson, Blaine Perry. Hosted by Cody Hughes
FB Event: https://fb.me/e/5QB8e3jo7
For more info about this show contact Michele Scheve, [email protected]
Peter Smith-McDowell is an Asheville native who has been traveling all around the country telling jokes since 2009.
He has opened for Rory Scovel, Hannibal Buress, Beth Stelling, and Trevor Noah.
Cary Goff is a writer and comedian out of Asheville, NC. He performs around the Southeast. He’s showcased in the Laugh Your Asheville Off Festival, been a finalist in the Port City Comedy Competition and a semi-finalist in the Carolina’s Funniest Stand-Up Comic Competition.
Katy Hudson is creating content clouds. Who’s to say whether that means a calm, collected cumulus, or a brainstorm of ideas that flood the banks of the Stream of Consciousness? They’ve been eager to perform since giving their TEDx talk called “Gay Clouds.” What they’ll do next will surprise everyone, including Katy!
Blaine Perry a former New York City comic, Blaine was the co-host of the comedy duo called “Don’t Touch Me There.” He moved to the North Carolina a few years ago and performs regularly throughout the South.
Host Cody Hughes: Cody is a comedian who cut his teeth in Chicago and Atlanta. He is now based out of West North Carolina and tours the Southeast. He has opened for Lewis Black, John Oliver and Maria Bamford among others and hosts the regular Slice of Life Comedy shows at The Orange Peel’s Pulp Lounge.
About Pulp: The speakeasy inspired hideaway offers a cozy space for show-goers to relax and enjoy a beverage during the concert. Boasting over 200 different Bourbons and Whiskeys, alongside a myriad of other spirits, it is a must-visit for cocktail lovers and Bourbon sippers alike. Pulp will also open various other nights to feature local artists and “Slice of Life” open-mic comedy nights. To stay informed with the happenings at Pulp, visit the Orange Peel’s website, and follow @pulp_avl on Instagram.
About Slice of Life Comedy: Slice of Life Comedy is owned and run by long standing Ashevillian Michele Scheve. Michele was the Founder and Publisher of the hit satire newspaper “The Asheville Disclaimer” in 2002 (till 2015). She also Hosts one of 103.3 Asheville FM’ longest running and most popular shows, “Slumber Party AVL”, which began in 2011. In addition to these established platforms, Michele also Co-Founded and Co-Owns Buzz Radio Asheville, which features only local music and comedy 24/7. Slice of Life Comedy began as a partnership, between Michele and comedian Kelly Rowe, doing live shows at Pulp Lounge in 2010, highlighting local up-and-coming comics through Open Mic events. From there, Slice of Life Comedy began booking feature shows, After-Party shows for national headline acts and collaboration with more and more venues and producers in the scene. Today, Slice of Life Comedy is the Premiere Partner for shows at some of Asheville’s most well-known and beloved venues.
- Live Music at Hickory Tavern, 9:00 p.m. until 12:00 a.m.
– ALL AGES
– FULLY SEATED SHOW
– LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE
Sit back, relax, and laugh your way through the weekend. On Friday March 3rd, enjoy headliner Maryellen Hooper, veteran comedian with numerous late-night talk show appearances and her own Comedy Central special Lounge Lizards. The laughs continue Saturday, March 4th with Emmy Award-winning headliner, Craig Shoemaker. Plus, enjoy the comedic relief of Christian Johnson both nights. Your Comedy Classic package includes two nights of accommodations, The Morning Table at the Blue Ridge buffet each morning, two tickets to each comedy show, and overnight parking
Join us for an afternoon of shopping & refreshments! See our newest trends in shoes and enjoy some music. Also, for every shoe purchased, you will be entered to win a Belk gift card!
TFAC invites all artists: painters, sculptors, writers, performers & more — to a casual weekly drop-in gathering on Saturday mornings at 9 AM to share your works in progress, alert others, and chat about art and what’s happening in your community.
The first weekly Coffee is Saturday, August 20 at 9 am.
No RSVP needed, just drop by!
Free parking available on Melrose Avenue, behind and alongside TFAC.
– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
ELIZABETH MOEN
From her life to the studio, Elizabeth Moen carries with her a certain kind of street-smart wisdom: She knows when you’re on your bullshit and she is also highly sensitive to when her own actions fall short. This perceptive quality is a gift and a burden. The burden is that she is too smart, too tuned into reality to lie to herself and put on a facade that makes it easier to pass for ok. The gift is that instead of giving in, Moen channels life’s turmoil into a constant process of growth–as a songwriter, an arranger, and powerful lyricist.
Every Sunday evening Modelface Comedy brings you the best comedians from all over the country
Kelly Collette.
She has been a finalist on CMT’s Next Big Comic, and tours clubs and colleges throughout the country. Her jokes have been featured on Pandora and Sirius XM, and in a segment for NPR.
She has performed at the prestigious Limestone Comedy Festival, San Francisco Sketchfest, Laughing Skull Comedy Festival, Gilda’s Laughfest and The Lucielle Ball Comedy Festival. She is featured on the CD from Lucyfest called “Live From Jamestown”. She headlined the 2019 Super Dope Comedy Festival.
Kelly toured with The Nobodies of Comedy, a national theatre tour of comedians you should know. She will be performing at Gilda’s Laugh Fest in 2019 as part of the selected “Best of The Midwest” showcase.
Kelly is also a featured emcee and storyteller. She has emceed for the Cincinnati Reds and has been a storyteller for “Cincy Storytellers” where you can hear her story on Soundcloud. She also produces a monthly standup storytelling show called “Truth Serum”.
Kelly’s writing has been published for Bust Magazine. In 2016 she wrote, produced and directed a parody play called “Reservoir Dames”. This all-female adaptation of “Reservoir Dogs” sold out and gained national attention. Her original play “Bloody Mary” (a horror comedy) debuted at the Know Theatre in 2020. She recently partnered with Gorilla Cinema and Pan American Airlines and wrote a script for an immersive 1960s pop up cocktail experience that is traveling the country.
Kelly spoke at the 2020 Ohio Women’s March and was the keynote speaker for Empower Her, a women empowerment event at Cleveland State University.
She was just named Cincinnati’s Best Local Comedian by CityBeat/Cincinnati Magazine.
Featuring TBA
ages 21+
doors at 6pm, show at 6:30pm
What: Asheville’s Premier Standup Feature & Open Mic comedy
When: Sunday, March 5, 6:30pm (Come early to get your food and drinks!)
Where: Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company Theatre 2
675 Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville (onsite parking) http://www.ashevillebrewing.com/
Tickets: $14 at door or https://www.ashevillebrewing.com/movies/
Comedy open mic. [signup at the door to get 3-5m. Free entry for performing comics, free pizza at comics table]
Featuring Hilliary Begley, Julia Macias & Becca Steinhoff. Contact Michele for more info at [email protected]
- 7PM DOOR / 8PM SHOW
- ALL AGES
- SEATED SHOW
- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE
There are few artists capable of appealing to music fans of all stripes, and Alan Doyle is one of them. From the moment he burst onto the scene in the early 1990s with his band Great Big Sea, Canadians fell in love with the pride of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, whose boundless charisma and sense of humour was eclipsed only by his magnetic stage presence.
His influence is now being heard in a new generation of artists as his solo work continues to endear him to roots music fans everywhere. That’s clearly evident on Alan’s new EP Rough Side Out, which finds him collaborating with Canadian country music superstars Dean Brody and Jess Moskaluke, while at the same time offering his own distinctive interpretation of contemporary country.
The seeds for Rough Side Out were planted in 2012 when Brody asked Great Big Sea to record the song “It’s Friday” with him for the Platinum-selling album Dirt. For Alan, that was the moment he realized the door to the country music world was open for he and other east coast Celtic-leaning artists, and since then he’s warmly embraced building closer ties. “My personal journey with the whole thing has been very organic,” Alan says. “When my parents weren’t listening to traditional folk music, they were listening to country music on the radio. So, when I began creating my own musical identity, I was inspired by artists who were able to blend those two worlds.”
The same could be said of the songwriting and production team on Rough Side Out, which includes Alan’s frequent collaborators Donovan Woods and Todd Clark. Both have been bringing a new sensibility to Nashville, in part due to their individual backgrounds within the Canadian independent music scene, making Rough Side Out a natural progression of their past work with Alan.
“The songs on this record all have strong personal meaning to me,” he says. “I believe the best songwriters in any genre are the ones who can look in their own backyard and find something they want to sing about. In a way, that’s why I wanted to call this record Rough Side Out. It’s a Newfoundland expression I love and have used before that refers to clapboard that’s only sanded on one side. Houses in Newfoundland always have the rough side out because it holds the paint better, but it’s also a metaphor for who we are as people. Most of us have the rough side out— in the best possible way, of course.”
Fittingly, the EP’s first single is a reunion with Dean Brody, “We Don’t Wanna Go Home,” a rousing ode to having the perfect night out at your favourite watering hole. It’s a theme that carries on from Rough Side Out’s opening track, “We’re Gonna Love Tonight,” a celebration of freedom that bears all the hallmarks of an Alan Doyle anthem aimed at bringing people together. And what country music excursion would be complete without a classic duet? That was the basic idea behind recording “What the Whiskey Won’t Do” with Jess Moskaluke, a thrilling first-time experience for Alan.
“I’ve always wanted to do this kind of duet,” he says. “I’d written songs like that for other people but never for myself. I had the title in my back pocket for a while, and it was a case of just waiting until the right circumstances came along. And being such a fan of Jess, she was the perfect person to sing it with, mainly because her voice has so much more range than mine!”
The song describes a couple turning to the bottle in order to get over each other and serves as a reminder of the dangers of overindulgence. Along with the EP’s other great ballad, “It’s OK,” “What the Whiskey Won’t Do” underscores Alan’s long-time work in support of addiction and mental health organizations. However, in a purely musical vein, Alan felt a lot of personal satisfaction in capturing a note-perfect cover of John Mellencamp’s “Paper in Fire,” led by his renowned fiddle player Kendel Carson.
“I think in some ways that song really tied the whole project together,” Alan says. “First off, it’s a song I’ve always loved and always wanted to record. But to do it justice, you really need the right players, and the people we had for these sessions could absolutely nail it. The song also shows the change in how country music is perceived. I think if Mellencamp released The Lonesome Jubilee today, it would be regarded as a country album.”
Listening habits have indeed changed dramatically and looking back it’s incredible how the humble group of Newfoundlanders who formed Great Big Sea—with a simple goal of bringing their modern take on the music of their home province to mainstream ears—made such an indelible mark on a national scale. But with songs like “When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down),” “Ordinary Day,” and their cover of R.E.M.’s “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” now ingrained upon the Canadian consciousness, there can be no disputing Great Big Sea’s status as one of the country’s most influential bands of the past three decades.
Now as we enter a new decade of music, the notion of genres feels even more antiquated. Connecting with as many listeners as possible continues to be Alan’s top priority, and he cheekily admits he tried to stack the deck in his favour with the EP’s final track “I Gotta Go.” It’s a tailor-made concert staple if there ever was, containing the soon-to-be immortal line, “20 songs if they love me, only 18 if they don’t.” At this point, it would be hard to find any Alan Doyle fan who would choose to leave a show until he’s expended every ounce of energy on stage.
Ultimately, Rough Side Out is an Alan Doyle record, which remains a category all its own.
For someone who’s been on the road for more than 150 dates a year for the past 15 years, Chris Trapper appears to have taken his unsolicited break from touring pretty well. In between weekly livestreams on Facebook & Instagram, Trapper also performed in his fan’s backyards across the country all summer long during his “Socially Distanced Backyardapalooza”. To top it all off, Chris entered a studio near his home in Boston, MA to record his new album “Cold Water Waltz”.
“Recording an album in normal times is an interesting experience, so imagine creating new music during a global pandemic. Although I worked intensely with the producers (Brad Young and Jason Meeker) in their respective studios, I could rest assured because as most musicians know; audio engineers social distanced before it was trending.”
The album is a mostly stripped-down affair, with the focus squarely on Trapper’s achingly honest lyrics, honeyed tenor and delicate fingerpicking. The record features Boston legends Duke Levine (Aimee Man, Peter Wolf) & Jim Prescott (G Love & Special Sauce) as well as Matt Beck (Matchbox Twenty, Rod Stewart) & even a co-write with Rob Thomas.
“I wrote most of these songs when I was opening for Rob over the summer of 2019. There were lots of days off then and admittedly, it was easy to get inspired to write new songs after witnessing so many thousands of people psyched to hear his songs every night. Rob & I wrote the song “Clear” together and he is truly the coolest guy to co-write with as he is all about the creative process and never about the ego.”
“Cold Water Waltz” was released on October 16th, 2020 and is available at christrapper.com and on all streaming and download services.
The New York Times has called his work “classic pop perfection.”
“His humble sense of humility is what makes Trapper’s songs so strong… He makes you feel like you are the person he’s singing about.” Popdose