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.

Monday, May 22, 2023
ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE: METAREBOOT NORTH AMERICAN SPRING TOUR 2023 with ST 37
May 22 @ 8:00 pm
The Grey Eagle

– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE 

Formed in 1995 by Makoto Kawabata at the same time as the Acid Mothers Temple Soul Collective. The group released its debut album in 1997 on PSF Records (Japan), and it was selected as one of the year’s best albums in the The Wire magazine (UK). In 1998 the group played their first tours of the US and Europe. Since then the group has released a huge number of albums on labels from many different countries. As of 2017, the group has released around 80 albums. Every year since 1998, they have toured extensively in the US and Europe, and more recently have started performing around Asia and in Japan too. The group has performed in collaboration with many musicians including psychedelic originators Gong and Guru Guru, Simeon (Silver Apples), Nik Turner (Hawkwind), and the Occitanian trad sinder Rosina de Peira. Japanese collaborators have included Afrirampo, Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins), Maso Yamazaki (Masonna), Seiichi Yamamoto (Boredoms), Jun Kuriyama (The Ox), and many others.

 

To begin with the group had a floating line-up with contributions from many members of the AMT Soul Collective. But as tours became more frequent, the group began to coalesce around a core touring line-up. Other bands were created with Acid Mothers Temple as part of their name (AMT & The Cosmic Inferno, AMT SWR, AMT & The Space Paranoid, AMT & Infinity Rising Zero, Acid Mothers Gong, Acid Mothers Guru Guru, Acid Moon Temple, etc.), but AMT & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. has continued to function as the mothership and main lineage for all our activities.

 

In 2016, 21 years since the group’s founding, there was a major shift in the line-up and “Next Generation” was added to the name. We now view the first 20 years as chapter one in our story, and we are now turning the page to start chapter two.

 

The group played more than 100 shows in each year, toured in Europe, North America, South America, Oceania and Asia, also Japan. They also played many festivals (Glastonbury Festival in UK, Levitation in US and France, Rock In Opposition in France, Standon Calling in UK, Kuala Lumpur Experimental Film, Video & Music Festival in Malaysia, LUC fest 貴人散步音樂節 in Taiwan, etc).

 

During pandemic, they launched their official Bandcamp, have released more than 60 albums (including many unreleased materials), and have toured in Japan in each year. And they played the streaming festival “Levitation Sessions”. They organized “Acid Mothers Olympic 2021” against “Tokyo Olympics 2021”, they originated and played a new style of “music sports”. Autumn 2022, Finally the group will go to the first European tour after pandemic.

 

The current touring line-up is: Kawabata Makoto (the founder member), Higashi Hiroshi (the founder member), Satoshima Nani, Jyonson Tsu and Ron Anderson.

ST37
Since their formation in January of 1987, Texas psych/space rock legends ST 37 have released 12 CDs, 4 double LPs, 4 LPs, 5 7″ 45s, 1 12″ 45, 8 CDRs, 3 double CDRs, 9 cassettes, and have appeared on over 45 compilations and collaborations on labels ranging from Emperor Jones and RRR to Cleopatra and Noiseville. They’ve played over 500 shows and toured extensively all around the United States and Canada.

Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Bob’s Electric Birthday 2023
May 23 all-day
The Moogseum

Come to the Moogseum on Tuesday, May 23 as the downtown Asheville museum celebrates what would have been the late Bob Moog’s 89th birthday.
Space is extremely limited.

“Bob’s Electric Birthday”⚡includes afternoon Moogseum tours guided by our executive director, Michelle Moog-Koussa, and in the evening only, a live demo of the Moog modular heard on the soundtrack to “Apocalypse Now,” from legendary synthesizer pioneer, composer, producer, and Herbie Hancock collaborator Patrick Gleeson — a lifelong friend of Bob Moog. This is followed by an interview with Michelle Moog-Koussa about Gleeson’s storied career and lifelong friendship with Bob, followed by a Q&A with the audience, and a short DJ set.

An electronic music icon, Gleeson has worked with and was personally invited by Herbie Hancock to join Hancock’s band, served as the master synthesist for the soundtrack to “Apocalypse Now,” and co-engineered “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts,” David Byrne and Brian Eno‘s influential 1981 album.

Gleeson resigned from a job as a university professor in the mid-’60s to experiment with electronic music, eventually founding San Francisco’s Different Fur Studios, and by the ‘70s, touring with Herbie Hancock. Now 88 years old, he returns to live performance as a DJ, solo artist, and as part of a trio.

This event offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience Dr. Patrick Gleeson demonstrating the Moog modular he used as master synthesist for the “Apocalypse Now” soundtrack.

⚡⚡11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.: Take a special tour of the Moogseum guided by Bob Moog’s daughter

“Bob’s Electric Birthday” includes tours of the Moogseum, the museum dedicated to sharing exhibits that bring Bob Moog’s legacy to life, guided by the Moogseum’s executive director, Michelle Moog-Koussa — Bob’s daughter.

Moog-Koussa has not guided a public Moogseum tour since 2019. This event marks a rare opportunity to gain special insight into the Moogseum’s exhibits, the Moog Family Archives, and Bob Moog himself.

Moogseum tours with Michelle Moog-Koussa start at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm. These tours include birthday cake, coffee, champagne, and a gift bag from the Moogseum store.

During the tours, Moog-Koussa will share historical photos from the Moog Family Archives, a private archive of materials unavailable to the public, and read from the new Bob Moog biography from Oxford University Press, “Switched On: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution.”

A Q&A with Moog-Koussa follows the reading, followed by time to continue exploring the museum and enjoy birthday refreshments in honor of Bob’s birth in 1934.

Tour tickets are $20 per person. Get tickets here: https://bit.ly/BobsBirthday2023
Space is extremely limited, and only 30 tickets are available per tour.

⚡⚡ 7 p.m.: An Evening With Synthesist Patrick Gleeson

Patrick Gleeson’s Moog modular heard in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” now on permanent exhibition at the Moogseum.

At 7 p.m., Patrick Gleeson demonstrates the Moog modular heard on “Apocalypse Now.” Afterward, Moog-Koussa interviews him about his storied career and his lifelong friendship with Bob, followed by a Q&A with the audience and a short DJ set.

Dr. Gleeson has a deep connection to the instrument: he’s its original owner.

Later owners included Don Preston of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, who used it on recordings and on tour; and Walter Holland of Holland Synthesizers, a founding member of Amber Route.

An Evening With Patrick Gleeson includes a gift bag of Moogseum swag, admission to the Moogseum, and birthday cake and beverages.

Tickets for An Evening with Patrick Gleeson: Live Moog modular demonstration, Michelle’s interview with Dr. Gleeson, and short DJ set are $30 | https://bit.ly/BobsBirthday2023

Space is extremely limited, and only 30 tickets are available per tour.

⚡⚡ VIP lunch with Dr. Patrick Gleeson
Want to spend time with an electronic music icon who’s worked with and was personally invited by Herbie Hancock to join Hancock’s band, Mwandishi, served as the master synthesist for “Apocalypse Now,” and co-engineered “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts”?

VIP tickets for lunch with Patrick Gleeson are available here: https://bit.ly/BobsBirthday2023

Lunch tickets are $150 and include admission to An Evening with Patrick Gleeson.
Space is extremely limited, and only 4 (four) tickets are available for the VIP lunch.

“Electric Birthday” tickets
Purchase your tickets for the guided Moogseum tours, An Evening With Patrick Gleeson, and the VIP lunch with Dr. Gleeson here: https://bit.ly/BobsBirthday2023
Discounts are available for those who wish to attend multiple Electric Birthday events.
The deadline to purchase tickets is May 22.

The Moogseum is located at 56 Broadway Street in downtown Asheville.

Cinderella Magic Package
May 23 all-day
online w/ Flat Rock Playhouse

We are excited to bring this special package to you and your loved ones. It’s super easy!

  1. Pick your show date – June 14, 17, 21, 24 (Evening only)
  2. Choose 2 Adult Seats and 2 Student Seats
  3. At Checkout, discount will be applied

Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!

Your wish is granted!

TICKETS + INFO

If you have any problems, our Box Office is happy to help!

828.693.0731

Work out for free at Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center
May 23 all-day
Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center

Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) recently renovated fitness centers at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers – and community members can enjoy use of cardio equipment, exercise machines, free weights, open gym time, and more through June 30, 2023. During this time, APR will waive membership and daily pass fees so more people can access the necessities for a regular fitness routine. Locals can sign up online or at either community center to receive a fitness center key fob that can be scanned at either location.

 

“Our team is committed to creating spaces in which everyone feels welcome,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “We are in the community building business. The gyms and fitness rooms at these two locations are filled with everything you’d expect from other top-notch fitness facilities and dedicated to body positivity and accessible wellness. By waiving the cost to use them for the first six months of the year, we hope more friends and neighbors will be able to connect with each other and maintain healthy lifestyles.”

Work out for free at Stephens-Lee Community Center
May 23 all-day
Stephens-Lee Community Center

Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) recently renovated fitness centers at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers – and community members can enjoy use of cardio equipment, exercise machines, free weights, open gym time, and more through June 30, 2023. During this time, APR will waive membership and daily pass fees so more people can access the necessities for a regular fitness routine. Locals can sign up online or at either community center to receive a fitness center key fob that can be scanned at either location.

 

“Our team is committed to creating spaces in which everyone feels welcome,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “We are in the community building business. The gyms and fitness rooms at these two locations are filled with everything you’d expect from other top-notch fitness facilities and dedicated to body positivity and accessible wellness. By waiving the cost to use them for the first six months of the year, we hope more friends and neighbors will be able to connect with each other and maintain healthy lifestyles.”

JAGGED LITTLE PILL the musical
May 23 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Concert Hall

SOME SHOWS YOU SEE. THIS SHOW YOU FEEL.

Joy, love, heartache, strength, wisdom, catharsis, LIFE—everything we’ve been waiting to see in a Broadway show— is here in the exhilarating, fearless new musical based on Alanis Morissette’s world-changing music.

Directed by Tony Award® winner Diane Paulus (Waitress, Pippin, upcoming 1776) with a Tony-winning book by Diablo Cody (Juno) and Grammy-winning score, this electrifying production about a perfectly imperfect American family “vaults the audience to its collective feet” (The Guardian). “Redemptive, rousing and real, JAGGED LITTLE PILL stands alongside the original musicals that have sustained the best hopes of Broadway” (The New York Times).

You live, you learn, you remember what it’s like to feel truly human… at JAGGED LITTLE PILL.

Please note there is no Sunday evening performance of Jagged Little Pill.
Beginning mid-July, Sunday evening subscribers will be placed into the best available seats in alternate performances of Jagged Little Pill based on preference. 
Puscifer
May 23 @ 8:00 pm
Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

Puscifer

Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Work out for free at Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center
May 24 all-day
Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center

Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) recently renovated fitness centers at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers – and community members can enjoy use of cardio equipment, exercise machines, free weights, open gym time, and more through June 30, 2023. During this time, APR will waive membership and daily pass fees so more people can access the necessities for a regular fitness routine. Locals can sign up online or at either community center to receive a fitness center key fob that can be scanned at either location.

 

“Our team is committed to creating spaces in which everyone feels welcome,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “We are in the community building business. The gyms and fitness rooms at these two locations are filled with everything you’d expect from other top-notch fitness facilities and dedicated to body positivity and accessible wellness. By waiving the cost to use them for the first six months of the year, we hope more friends and neighbors will be able to connect with each other and maintain healthy lifestyles.”

Work out for free at Stephens-Lee Community Center
May 24 all-day
Stephens-Lee Community Center

Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) recently renovated fitness centers at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers – and community members can enjoy use of cardio equipment, exercise machines, free weights, open gym time, and more through June 30, 2023. During this time, APR will waive membership and daily pass fees so more people can access the necessities for a regular fitness routine. Locals can sign up online or at either community center to receive a fitness center key fob that can be scanned at either location.

 

“Our team is committed to creating spaces in which everyone feels welcome,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “We are in the community building business. The gyms and fitness rooms at these two locations are filled with everything you’d expect from other top-notch fitness facilities and dedicated to body positivity and accessible wellness. By waiving the cost to use them for the first six months of the year, we hope more friends and neighbors will be able to connect with each other and maintain healthy lifestyles.”

‘Sparkle Time’ Holistic Exercise
May 24 @ 10:30 am
Avery’s Creek Community Center

Mondays and Wednesdays, . Aerobic, strengthening, balancing, flexibility. $5 community service price. Led by 40-year Holistic Health instructor.

Summer Celebration Open House at Harpe Laser and Wellness
May 24 @ 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Harpe Laser and Wellness

You Are Invited to our Summer Celebration Open House at Harpe Laser and Wellness

May 24 from 12 – 4pm (call us if you are unable to attend due to the time)

Fun, Food, Treats, Raffle, Demos, Personalized Consultations and more!

Please RSVP by May 22, as we will have Bites, Drinks and Treats

Raffle with great prizes to benefit Canine For Vets

Bring a Friend and you BOTH get 25 units of FREE Dysport

Homemade Health + Wellness Series with Ashley English
May 24 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Enka-Candler Library

May be an image of 1 person and text that says 'HOMEMADE HEALTH AND WELLNESS SERIES w ASHLEY ENGLISH Learn about homemade health and wellness items with author, teacher, and homesteader, Ashley English, at Enka Candler Library. APRIL 26 MAY 24 SPRING CLEANING: LEARN HOW To MAKE NATURAL CLEANING PRODUCTS FOR YOUR HOME! SPRING PRESERVES STRAWBERRIES UNE 28 JULY 26 NATURAL BODY 6PM 7PM! AUGUST 23 NATURAL HEALTH SEPTEMBER HOME CANNING REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED'

Join us throughout the spring and summer for a class series focusing on homemade health and wellness items with author, teacher, and homesteader, Ashley English. For each class, Ashley will be bringing materials and demonstrating how to make each item. Several handouts will be given to attendees and they’ll detail everything needed for creating the project at home. The class will take place on the 4th Wednesday of every month at 6 PM.
Please register so we know how many people to expect. Class is free to attend and takes place in our library community room. Please call 828-250-4758 or visit the library events calendar at buncombecounty.org/library and scroll to the date to sign up!
April 26- Spring Cleaning: All Purpose Cleaner, Glass Cleaner, Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Wood Polish, Vinyl & Linoleum Floor Cleaner, Citrus Concentrate, Rug & Carpet Odor Sprinkle
May 24- Spring Preserves: Strawberry Jam, Quick Pickled Radishes, Beet & Dill Relish, Pickled Asparagus
June 28- Strawberries: Jam, Sauce, Frozen, Vinegar, Quick Pickled
July 26- Natural Body: Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse, Rosemary Hair Oil. Easy Baking Soda Exfoliant, Rosewater Toner, Everyday Face Oil
August 23- Natural Health: -Bugs Away Insect Repellant, Boo Boo Goo, Sunburn Soother, Electrolyte Replenisher, Sleep Salve
September 27 – Home Canning: Materials & Equipment, Methods, Safety, Storage, Favorite Seasonal Recipe
Ashley English is the author of 11 books, on topics ranging from raising chickens to canning & preserving, and from hosting potlucks to homemade health & wellness products. From handcrafted pies, to natural crafting, Ashley is enamored with all things DIY, slow, and fun! She lives in a forested cove in the mountains of North Carolina with her husband Glenn (with whom she works together full-time), their two young sons, Huxley and Alistair, and a menagerie of animals. (smallmeasure.com)
This program is sponsored by the Friends of Enka-Candler Library.
PEACE TALK: JAGGED LITTLE PILL
May 24 @ 6:00 pm
Peace Center-Ramsaur Studio

Broadway Peace Talks give audiences a deeper dive into the history, inspiration and people who bring our shows to life on stage.  Join Dr. Kristin Pressley (Dr. Broadway) and other Broadway lovers every month at the Peace Center for these presentations.

JAGGED LITTLE PILL the musical
May 24 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Concert Hall

SOME SHOWS YOU SEE. THIS SHOW YOU FEEL.

Joy, love, heartache, strength, wisdom, catharsis, LIFE—everything we’ve been waiting to see in a Broadway show— is here in the exhilarating, fearless new musical based on Alanis Morissette’s world-changing music.

Directed by Tony Award® winner Diane Paulus (Waitress, Pippin, upcoming 1776) with a Tony-winning book by Diablo Cody (Juno) and Grammy-winning score, this electrifying production about a perfectly imperfect American family “vaults the audience to its collective feet” (The Guardian). “Redemptive, rousing and real, JAGGED LITTLE PILL stands alongside the original musicals that have sustained the best hopes of Broadway” (The New York Times).

You live, you learn, you remember what it’s like to feel truly human… at JAGGED LITTLE PILL.

Please note there is no Sunday evening performance of Jagged Little Pill.
Beginning mid-July, Sunday evening subscribers will be placed into the best available seats in alternate performances of Jagged Little Pill based on preference. 
AUSTIN MEADE
May 24 @ 8:00 pm
The Grey Eagle

 ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY

AUSTIN MEADE

On Black Sheep, Austin Meade delivers songs and stories that, like the young singer/guitarist himself, are contradictory yet cohesive. His influences—musical and otherwise—are as varied and rich as the small-town Texas soil that nurtured his talent, yielding 12 stellar songs ranging from the insinuating multi-layered musicality and storytelling of “Déjà Vu” to the dark alt-pop of “Happier Alone,” and on further to the new-age, Sabbath-inspired “Dopamine Drop.”

 

Thanks to his metal- and classic-rock loving dad, Meade got to see bands like Judas Priest and worshipped Whitesnake. In junior high he related to the intense emo-rock of Paramore and Fall Out Boy, and the power of songwriters like John Mayer. Yet, thanks to plainspoken but deep heartland songwriters like Tom Petty, and cutting his teeth touring in the Texas and Oklahoma Red Dirt scene, Meade’s music overflows with wide-open soulfulness. He was a drummer for years, even teaching to pay the bills, but Meade found his true voice when he began playing guitar as a teen in his pastor-father’s church. Those experiences lend both a gravitas and rebelliousness to Meade’s songs and self.

 

The songs on Black Sheep, produced by Taylor Kimball (Koe Wetzel, Read Southall, Kody West) are instantly memorable, but far from simplistic. Meade challenges the status quo, both musically and lyrically. “I like to question those standard math formulas,” he explains. “What if we just add two more lines and make somebody feel uncomfortable here,’ because the song itself is about being uncomfortable?” And within a song—and video—like “Déjà Vu,” Meade explores the cyclical, Groundhog Day-like nature of a month—or lifetime—of Sundays.

 

Throughout school, “I was one of the weird kids who actually liked writing class. I would describe ridiculous stuff, and in elementary school I was a Harry Potter nerd. I’d get lost in those books,” he remembers. Soon, though, records became his new sanctuary. “I started to hear songwriters that were telling stories in three to five minutes; concepts and ideas that were not only spanning just that one song. One of my favorite lyricists is Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys; the way he describes things, you can almost touch it or smell it.”

 

Likewise, on Black Sheep, Meade’s vivid descriptions are palpable and immersive. They paint a picture the listener can step into, like taking a journey through “two-lane highways and speed-trap towns” that Meade traverses in “Déjà Vu.” “That’s my goal,” he explains. “To make people feel like they’re in the room with the stories in my songsthey’re within that experience.”

 

Meade’s carefully crafted songs manage to be profound and provocative, sonically suited for both dive bars and arenas. From the seismic guitars and painfully honest lyrics of a song like “Dopamine Drop” to the mournful, lilting nostalgia and hard reality of  “Settle Down” and on through the fantasy of “handwritten letters, candle-wax seal, Midwest American feel” in “Cave In,” it is clear Meade’s ambitions and dreams are weighty.

THE JARED STOUT BAND

Thursday, May 25, 2023
Cinderella Magic Package
May 25 all-day
online w/ Flat Rock Playhouse

We are excited to bring this special package to you and your loved ones. It’s super easy!

  1. Pick your show date – June 14, 17, 21, 24 (Evening only)
  2. Choose 2 Adult Seats and 2 Student Seats
  3. At Checkout, discount will be applied

Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!

Your wish is granted!

TICKETS + INFO

If you have any problems, our Box Office is happy to help!

828.693.0731

Work out for free at Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center
May 25 all-day
Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center

Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) recently renovated fitness centers at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers – and community members can enjoy use of cardio equipment, exercise machines, free weights, open gym time, and more through June 30, 2023. During this time, APR will waive membership and daily pass fees so more people can access the necessities for a regular fitness routine. Locals can sign up online or at either community center to receive a fitness center key fob that can be scanned at either location.

 

“Our team is committed to creating spaces in which everyone feels welcome,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “We are in the community building business. The gyms and fitness rooms at these two locations are filled with everything you’d expect from other top-notch fitness facilities and dedicated to body positivity and accessible wellness. By waiving the cost to use them for the first six months of the year, we hope more friends and neighbors will be able to connect with each other and maintain healthy lifestyles.”

Work out for free at Stephens-Lee Community Center
May 25 all-day
Stephens-Lee Community Center

Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) recently renovated fitness centers at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers – and community members can enjoy use of cardio equipment, exercise machines, free weights, open gym time, and more through June 30, 2023. During this time, APR will waive membership and daily pass fees so more people can access the necessities for a regular fitness routine. Locals can sign up online or at either community center to receive a fitness center key fob that can be scanned at either location.

 

“Our team is committed to creating spaces in which everyone feels welcome,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “We are in the community building business. The gyms and fitness rooms at these two locations are filled with everything you’d expect from other top-notch fitness facilities and dedicated to body positivity and accessible wellness. By waiving the cost to use them for the first six months of the year, we hope more friends and neighbors will be able to connect with each other and maintain healthy lifestyles.”

Grand Opening of Sensorium Neuro Wellness
May 25 @ 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Sensorium Neuro Wellness

Please join the Chamber to celebrate the Grand Opening of Sensorium Neuro Wellness.

Do you want to improve focus, concentration, emotional wellbeing, healthy relationships, and academic or work performance? Sensorium Neuro Wellness’s mission is to help their clients achieve better brain and body performance with sustained results through comprehensive cutting-edge assessments and personalized Neuro Fitness exercises. They offer Brain Health, Brain Training, Neurofeedback, Functional Neuro Assessments and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

There will be food, drinks, tours and raffle prizes with drawings every half hour! The grand prize will be a 10 session MHBOT (mild hyberboric oxygen therapy) series.

PATIO: MOON WATER
May 25 @ 5:00 pm
The Grey Eagle

– ALL AGES
– LIMITED PATIO SEATING IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED

MOON WATER

The mother/daughter duo whose tight blood harmonies drive the music, came to be during the covid-19 pandemic when Jenny Renee, a single mom, moved her two kids, Blu Belle and Bud, to The Appalachian Mountains from Manhattan, New York. Having grown up in the south, Jen got reconnected to her roots and started playing old hymns and mountain music with her kids. They began posting videos and getting positive feedback.

 

Without much work due to the pandemic and being free of the bustle that is NYC, Jen had time on her hands to write more music and contemplate what’s important in life. As a cancer survivor, she found new joy and appreciation for life and nature on the mountain top and began singing about it. Blu started experimenting with fiddle, lap steel and bass when Moon Water was born.  Bud sits in occasionally on drums as well.

 

Why Moon Water? A month after arriving in Western North Carolina, Blu collected rain water before the Flower  Moon and then sat it out the night of the full moon. There the water became moon water and they keep it  in a mason jar as their positive energy force for musical inspiration.

 

Their new album Deep Medicine, recorded at Citizen Studios and featuring Matt Smith on pedal steel and Lyndsay Pruett on fiddle, is available on all streaming platforms.

Jazz Hour at the Enka-Candler Library
May 25 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Enka-Candler Public Library

Our live jazz series featuring host, pianist, and composer Michael Jefry Stevens returns to the Enka-Candler Library on Thursday, May 25 at 6 p.m.! Musical guests will be accompanying Michael for an hour of live outdoor jazz, at the side of the library building. This free program is for all ages and no registration is required.

We will have some seats outside, but you are welcome to bring your own blanket or lawn chairs, and you can even pack a picnic if you’d like. In case of inclement weather, the program will take place in the library community room.

The Orchard Sessions with Martin and Kelly
May 25 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
The Farm At Old Edwards

The incredibly talented duo of Jilly Martin and Ryan Brooks Kelly have become the next must-see act from New England to Nashville. Over the years, they’ve been featured as support acts for many traditional, and mainstream country artists. Standouts in today’s crossover country music scene, Jilly & Ryan’s songs bridge the boundary between traditional and new country. They’ve made their mark with highly-acclaimed original music and are winning over audiences each and every time they perform. Jilly and Ryan’s compelling songwriting, dynamic vocal harmonies, and stunning musicianship have them poised for a breakthrough in the music industry.

Christian Lopez and Band
May 25 @ 6:30 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center

Christian Lopez is not merely riding the wave of Americana Music, the West Virginia native, is bending it to its knees. With the will of his voice and the stomp of a steady beat, Christian Lopez is pioneering his own brand of Alt. Folk Country Rock.

Memorial Day Concert
May 25 @ 6:30 pm
Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

On Thursday, May 25 we will present our annual Memorial Day concert along with the ACRHS Chorus and ROTC.

Songwriter Showcase featuring Amanda Anne Platt and Wes Pearce, hosted by Greg Cartwright
May 25 @ 6:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Citizen Vinyl

On Thursday, May 25, singer-songwriter and archivist Greg Cartwright will host a songwriter showcase, featuring Amanda Anne Platt, and Wes Pearce.

6:30 pm doors / 7 pm show

$16 tickets in advance / $20 at the door

Tickets go on sale Friday, April 21.

Amanda 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 and Europe. Her last five studio albums have landed in the top five of WNCW’s annual listener voted top 100 releases, most recently at #4 with her double album, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea in 2022. Platt won second place in Merlefest’s Chris Austin songwriting competition in 2011 with her song “Little Bird”, and has been privileged over the years to share the stage with such songwriting greats as Guy Clark, Amy Ray, Billy Joe Shaver, Tift Merrit, and Radney Foster. She lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with her husband and daughter.

Asheville-based Wes Pearce sings sweet and melancholic originals which blend contemporary-folk songwriting and finger-style guitar playing, with ’60s doo-wop and pop influences. Born and raised in New Hampshire, Wes left home as a teenager and found himself amongst a world of traveling folk-singers and string bands with whom he cut his musical teeth. On April 14th, 2023, almost 15 years since leaving home and finding musical community, he has released his debut EP of original songs titled Death & Darlins — truly a blending of his story and influences.

Greg Cartwright is a Memphis-born singer and songwriter who has called Asheville home since 2004. He’s an avid music fan and archivist with a passion for the singer, the song and the story. You may see him at Harvest Records curating the 45 section or volunteering at events for local community radio station 103.3FM where he was a host and on-air DJ until 2019.

Jazz Jam
May 25 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
LEAF Global Arts Center

Our jazz trio with Thommy Knoles on keys, Felix Pastorius on bass, and Paul Gladstone on drums will perform an opening set from about 7-8:15 pm.

An open jam session follows. Drop-ins are welcome and encouraged for a suggested donation of $10.

Jazz Jam will feature a diverse array of music from jazz’s rich history, ranging from 1940s bebop up to 1970s jazz fusion, as well as material from prominent present-day composers. Bring your instruments and jam with us, or just come and enjoy!

Songwriter showcase, featuring Amanda Anne Platt, and Wes Pearce hosted by Greg Cartwright
May 25 @ 7:00 pm
Citizen Vinyl

Amanda 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 and Europe. Her last five studio albums have landed in the top five of WNCW’s annual listener voted top 100 releases, most recently at #4 with her double album, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea in 2022. Platt won second place in Merlefest’s Chris Austin songwriting competition in 2011 with her song “Little Bird”, and has been privileged over the years to share the stage with such songwriting greats as Guy Clark, Amy Ray, Billy Joe Shaver, Tift Merrit, and Radney Foster. She lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with her husband and daughter.

Asheville-based Wes Pearce sings sweet and melancholic originals which blend contemporary-folk songwriting and finger-style guitar playing, with ’60s doo-wop and pop influences. Born and raised in New Hampshire, Wes left home as a teenager and found himself amongst a world of traveling folk-singers and string bands with whom he cut his musical teeth. On April 14th, 2023, almost 15 years since leaving home and finding musical community, he has released his debut EP of original songs titled Death & Darlins — truly a blending of his story and influences.

Greg Cartwright is a Memphis-born singer and songwriter who has called Asheville home since 2004. He’s an avid music fan and archivist with a passion for the singer, the song and the story. You may see him at Harvest Records curating the 45 section or volunteering at events for local community radio station 103.3FM where he was a host and on-air DJ until 2019.

JAGGED LITTLE PILL the musical
May 25 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Concert Hall

SOME SHOWS YOU SEE. THIS SHOW YOU FEEL.

Joy, love, heartache, strength, wisdom, catharsis, LIFE—everything we’ve been waiting to see in a Broadway show— is here in the exhilarating, fearless new musical based on Alanis Morissette’s world-changing music.

Directed by Tony Award® winner Diane Paulus (Waitress, Pippin, upcoming 1776) with a Tony-winning book by Diablo Cody (Juno) and Grammy-winning score, this electrifying production about a perfectly imperfect American family “vaults the audience to its collective feet” (The Guardian). “Redemptive, rousing and real, JAGGED LITTLE PILL stands alongside the original musicals that have sustained the best hopes of Broadway” (The New York Times).

You live, you learn, you remember what it’s like to feel truly human… at JAGGED LITTLE PILL.

Please note there is no Sunday evening performance of Jagged Little Pill.
Beginning mid-July, Sunday evening subscribers will be placed into the best available seats in alternate performances of Jagged Little Pill based on preference. 
Friday, May 26, 2023
Work out for free at Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center
May 26 all-day
Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center

Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) recently renovated fitness centers at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers – and community members can enjoy use of cardio equipment, exercise machines, free weights, open gym time, and more through June 30, 2023. During this time, APR will waive membership and daily pass fees so more people can access the necessities for a regular fitness routine. Locals can sign up online or at either community center to receive a fitness center key fob that can be scanned at either location.

 

“Our team is committed to creating spaces in which everyone feels welcome,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “We are in the community building business. The gyms and fitness rooms at these two locations are filled with everything you’d expect from other top-notch fitness facilities and dedicated to body positivity and accessible wellness. By waiving the cost to use them for the first six months of the year, we hope more friends and neighbors will be able to connect with each other and maintain healthy lifestyles.”

Work out for free at Stephens-Lee Community Center
May 26 all-day
Stephens-Lee Community Center

Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) recently renovated fitness centers at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers – and community members can enjoy use of cardio equipment, exercise machines, free weights, open gym time, and more through June 30, 2023. During this time, APR will waive membership and daily pass fees so more people can access the necessities for a regular fitness routine. Locals can sign up online or at either community center to receive a fitness center key fob that can be scanned at either location.

 

“Our team is committed to creating spaces in which everyone feels welcome,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “We are in the community building business. The gyms and fitness rooms at these two locations are filled with everything you’d expect from other top-notch fitness facilities and dedicated to body positivity and accessible wellness. By waiving the cost to use them for the first six months of the year, we hope more friends and neighbors will be able to connect with each other and maintain healthy lifestyles.”