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.

Saturday, January 21, 2023
13th Annual Django Reinhardt Birthday Celebration
Jan 21 @ 7:00 pm
The Grey Eagle

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

13TH ANNUAL DJANGO REINHARDT BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION FEATURING:  

Russell Welch & the Champaigniacs

“Russell is not only the most sought after guitarist in New Orleans, he is also one of the finest Django style players in the world!” – Django a Gogo Festival 2022

RUSSELL WELCH is a jazz guitarist/composer based in New Orleans, and a native of Jackson, Mississippi. Russell is a New Orleans’ “Best Traditional Jazz Artist” and “Best Traditional Jazz Album” 2019 nominee. He was New Orleans’ “Best Guitarist” nominee, 2016. Russell’s first, all-original album, “Showarama Hot Trio,” was also a New Orleans’ “Best Traditional Jazz Album” 2012 nominee. Russell’s second album, “Pour Vous” featured original arrangements of traditional New Orleans jazz classics. His third, all-original album, Russell Welch Hot Quartet album “Mississippi Gipsy” (2015) was reviewed as “masterful” and a “tour de force” by Offbeat Magazine. 

Russell was recently asked to teach and perform at two of the most prestigious Django festivals in North America – Django a Go Go (2022), and Django in June (2022). Russell’s fourth album, “Acetate Sessions” is a New Orleans’ “Best Traditional Jazz Album” 2019 nominee A mix of originals and classics, It was recorded using acetate masters and vintage recording equipment, to recreate vintage recording sounds, which, according to an Offbeat Magazine review, “crackle with the energy of youth discovering someplace magical…(and) sound as fresh as tomorrow.”

Gustav Viehmeyer

Gustav Viehmeyer Is an international Composer, musician and guitarist. Gustav has the rare gift of merging soulful pleasures through music. His playing is free spirited, wild, intensely passionate and executed with skillful precision. Gustavs guitar music is rooted in the style of Django Reinhardt, The Sinti Virtuosos and a love for film composition.

Daniel Coolik & Jim Tanner Quartet 

A consummate musician’s musician, Daniel Coolik, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, swept into the Lafayette, LA scene in 2009 and quickly added his name to many respectable rosters, loaning his talents to such groups as Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole, Les Malfecteurs, The Red Stick Ramblers, and helped found the GRAMMY nominated band The Revelers. Daniel was already an adept multi-instrumentalist in the Asheville, North Carolina scene where he focused on playing swing and jazz on guitar & mandolin as well as old time Appalachian traditional music, and has since emerged as a violoniste extraordinaire here in Acadiana. His abilities have taken him all over the globe, including Haiti, Thailand, most countries in Western Europe, and Canada. He is an in demand session musician who has played bass, guitar, mandolin, steel guitar, and fiddle on numerous recordings including the most recent release by Shovels and Rope (By Blood 2019).

Brahms’ First Symphony
Jan 21 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Concert Hall

Edvard Tchivzhel, conductor
David Gross, piano

MENDELSSOHN Ruy Blas Overture

SAINT-SAENS Piano Concerto No. 2

BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

January 21, 2023
7:30 pm
Peace Concert Hall

*Student Tickets Availabe

Town Mountain Lines in the Levee Tour
Jan 21 @ 8:00 pm
The Orange Peel

Lines in the Levee Tour

TOWN MOUNTAIN

Town Mountain Lines in the Levee Tour
Jan 21 @ 8:00 pm
The Orange Peel

Performance Image

ANDREW SCOTCHIE’S DIRTY 30 BIRTHDAY BASH
Jan 21 @ 9:00 pm
Asheville Music Hall
Sunday, January 22, 2023
Sunday Live: Steve Lapointe
Jan 22 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Steve Lapointe’s nine years of classical piano as a youth grounded him in music theory. Jazz studies while in Ithaca, NY, opened his ears to extemporaneous improvisation and the music of Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Michel Petrucciani and the American songbook. Steve served as musical director of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach, Florida, and occasionally performed at the UU Asheville congregation.

Brahms’ First Symphony
Jan 22 @ 3:00 pm
Peace Concert Hall

Edvard Tchivzhel, conductor
David Gross, piano

MENDELSSOHN Ruy Blas Overture

SAINT-SAENS Piano Concerto No. 2

BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

January 22, 2023
3:00 pm
Peace Concert Hall

*Student Tickets Available

Jack of the Wood : Sunday-Irish Session
Jan 22 @ 3:00 pm
Jack of the Wood

 

Jack of the Wood : Sunday-Irish Session 

Sundays

1 till who knows when?

Traditional Irish music is kept alive at Jack of the Wood with our unplugged Sunday session.

Jack of the Wood

95 Patton ave

Asheville, NC 28801

(828) 252.5445

http://www.jackofthewood.com/

The Schizophonics
Jan 22 @ 8:00 pm
The Grey Eagle

– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY

THE SCHIZOPHONICS

Over the last few years, THE SCHIZOPHONICS have built up a formidable reputation around the world as an explosive live act. Tapping into the same unstoppable combination of rock ‘n’ roll energy and showmanship that fueled THE MC5 in the heyday of the Grande Ballroom, their wild live show is heavily influenced by artists like JAMES BROWN, IGGY POP, JIMI HENDRIX, LITTLE RICHARD, and THE SONICS. Singer/guitarist Pat Beers and drummer Lety Beers formed the band in San Diego in 2009 and have worked tirelessly since then, playing hundreds of shows around the globe. In 2013 they were recruited as the backing/opening band for EL VEZ, which helped the band make a name for itself in Europe. Since then, they’ve played in numerous countries, and supported tours by like-minded acts like ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT, LITTLE BARRIE, THE WOGGLES and have opened for the DAMNED, DEVO, HIVES and CAGE THE ELEPHANT. Shindig magazine described their live show “Like watching some insane hybrid of WAYNE KRAMER, JAMES BROWN, and the Tazmanian Devil”.

THE JLLOYD MASHUP PRESENTS: A TRIBUTE TO PAUL SIMON
Jan 22 @ 9:00 pm
Asheville Music Hall
Monday, January 23, 2023
2023 Season Flat Rock Playhouse
Jan 23 all-day
online w/ Flat Rock Playhouse

Purchase a subscription to the Music on the Rock® Winter / Spring Concert Series and receive a 10% Discount!

Don’t miss out!

Performances are limited. Join us for a rockin’ night with these enduring tunes and the incredible artists that will have you swooning and hungry for more!

Mama + The Ruckus w/ Melissa McKinney: International Blues Competition Send-off Party
Jan 23 @ 8:00 pm
The Grey Eagle

– ALL AGES
– SEATED SHOW
– LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE

MAMA AND THE RUCKUS W/ MELISSA McKINNEY
Mama & The Ruckus is a Blues & Soul band from Asheville, NC fronted by powerhouse vocalist Melissa McKinney. They recently won the honor through the Piedmont Blues Society to compete at the International Blues Competition in Memphis, TN on January 24th-28th. They will be joined by blues bands from all over the world, competing for the title previously won by acts such as Southern Avenue & Susan Tedeschi. With Patrick French and Owen Myers on guitar, Matt Guard on Keys, Michael Dunham on bass, Rob French on harmonica, and Hinton Edgerton on drums, this band is on fire. You can expect lots of special guests throughout this special evening of Blues that will support this band’s Journey to Memphis.

Tuesday, January 24, 2023
2023 Season Flat Rock Playhouse
Jan 24 all-day
online w/ Flat Rock Playhouse

Purchase a subscription to the Music on the Rock® Winter / Spring Concert Series and receive a 10% Discount!

Don’t miss out!

Performances are limited. Join us for a rockin’ night with these enduring tunes and the incredible artists that will have you swooning and hungry for more!

WHITE HORSE OPEN MIC
Jan 24 @ 7:00 pm
White Horse Black Mountain

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White Horse’s legendary Open Mic takes place each and every Tuesday at 7pm.

You’ll hear a variety of wonderfully talented folks on their way up. You never know what you’ll hear… original songs, covers, guitar, piano….. and often something quite surprising.

The signup sheet is placed on the bar at 6:30 and the first ten to sign in are the performers for the evening. Each gets 15 minutes or three songs.

It’s a lot of fun… especially since it’s FREE !!!!!

COME FROM AWAY
Jan 24 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Center Concert Hall

On 9/11, the world stopped.

On 9/12, their stories moved us all.

Broadway’s COME FROM AWAY is a Best Musical winner all across North America! This New York Times Critics’ Pick takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships. Don’t miss this breathtaking musical written by Tony® nominees Irene Sankoff and David Hein, and helmed by Tony-winning Best Director, Christopher Ashley. Newsweek cheers, “It takes you to a place you never want to leave!”

Wednesday, January 25, 2023
2023 Season Flat Rock Playhouse
Jan 25 all-day
online w/ Flat Rock Playhouse

Purchase a subscription to the Music on the Rock® Winter / Spring Concert Series and receive a 10% Discount!

Don’t miss out!

Performances are limited. Join us for a rockin’ night with these enduring tunes and the incredible artists that will have you swooning and hungry for more!

Intro to Rhythm and Drumming with TRAP of Asheville
Jan 25 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Pack Memorial Library

Intro to Rhythm and Drumming with TRAP of Asheville

PacJAM Registration Open for Winter Session
Jan 25 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center
Building Community One Tune at a Time
Pacolet Junior Appalachian Musicians (PacJAM) provides an opportunity for area youth and adults to experience community through the joy of participating in traditional music.
PacJAM offers sessions each fall and winter/spring semester, as well as an intensive day camp one week each summer for youth.
Students of all skill levels ages 6-late teens and adults are invited to join us for instruction in traditional music. Click here to learn more.
Our winter program will run every Wednesday from January 18 – March 22 from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM for Beginner & Intermediate students, & 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM for advanced students.
Proud recipients of the South Arts 2022
In These Mountains Projects Grant
French Broad Valley Jam
Jan 25 @ 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Oklawaha Brewing Company

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.

IRISH MUSIC CIRCLE
Jan 25 @ 7:00 pm
White Horse Black Mountain

The traditional music of the mountains of North Carolina traces its roots back to the Celtic music of Ireland and Scotland. Traditional Celtic music is still played on the porches and in the pubs of the Celtic lands… and also throughout the southern Appalachian mountains.

In true pub fashion, White Horse Black Mountain hosts a traditional Irish style session twice a month, on the second and fourth Wednesdays, starting at 7pm….

……..and there is NO COVER CHARGE.

Sessions are in many ways the heart and soul of Irish traditional music, a place for players to share tunes and socialize. It’s not a performance, but rather an informal situation in which listeners are welcome to participate, whether offering encouragement, singing along on a chorus, or asking questions about the music and instruments. White Horse sessions regularly draws players from as far away as Waynesville, Cullowhee, Rutherfordton and even Clayton, Georgia.

The sessions are hosted by Richard and Melinda Halford.

Drop by for a beer or a cup of tea and get uplifted by some great traditional tunes and a few new songs.

Come join us in a long musical tradition spanning hundreds of years.

Thursday, January 26, 2023
2023 Season Flat Rock Playhouse
Jan 26 all-day
online w/ Flat Rock Playhouse

Purchase a subscription to the Music on the Rock® Winter / Spring Concert Series and receive a 10% Discount!

Don’t miss out!

Performances are limited. Join us for a rockin’ night with these enduring tunes and the incredible artists that will have you swooning and hungry for more!

Thursday Night Live: Alex Travers
Jan 26 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Free for Museum Members or included with general admission
Explosive style and technique influenced by years of intense multi-genre gigging are what make Travers’ performances memorable. Raised in the Raleigh area, he grew up performing in regional orchestras as a violinist and also in local metal/rock bands as a guitarist. He went on to receive his bachelor degree in performance from Appalachian State University in 2014 with a focus on violin studies. During his time as an undergrad, his passion for baroque music and pedagogy came into focus and would play a large part in his artistic growth for many years.

After spending several years in Nashville, away from his violin and just studying the business side of music, he moved to Asheville in 2017 to reinvent his career approach both as an instrumentalist and artist. Having played professionally with such groups as the Asheville Symphony and Brevard Philharmonic, his career has now turned towards extensive collaboration with many local artists as a soloist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. These days when he isn’t gigging, teaching at the Asheville Music Academy, or recording at the studio, Travers is probably busking with Bach and drinking coffee somewhere around Wall St. More information on his projects, collaborations, and released music can be found at his artist website Alextraversmusic.com.

Tinsley Ellis: “Acoustic Songs + Stories”
Jan 26 @ 8:00 pm
The Grey Eagle

– ALL AGES
– FULLY SEATED SHOW
– LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE 

TINSLEY ELLIS

Georgia troubadour Tinsley Ellis has been immersed in music his whole life. Born in Atlanta 1957 and raised in southern Florida, he acquired his first guitar at age seven, inspired by seeing The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. Like many kids his age, Ellis discovered the blues through the back door of British Invasion bands like The Yardbirds, Cream and The Rolling Stones as well as Southern rockers like the Allman Brothers Band. 20 albums (and millions of miles traveled) later on record labels such as Alligator and Capricorn, Ellis has become an elder statesman of the blues world.

With his new project Tinsley Ellis – Acoustic Songs And Stories, Ellis performs many of his most popular songs (plus delta blues and classics by artists like Gregg Allman, Bob Dylan and Leo Kottke) on his 1937 National Steel and 1969 Martin D-35. Ellis weaves the music together with interesting and sometimes ribald stories from over 40 years of a life spent on stages and in motels and truck stops. Ellis shows no signs of slowing down and is headed your way with his newest and perhaps most unique project.

Friday, January 27, 2023
2023 Season Flat Rock Playhouse
Jan 27 all-day
online w/ Flat Rock Playhouse

Purchase a subscription to the Music on the Rock® Winter / Spring Concert Series and receive a 10% Discount!

Don’t miss out!

Performances are limited. Join us for a rockin’ night with these enduring tunes and the incredible artists that will have you swooning and hungry for more!

REGGIE HARRIS
Jan 27 @ 7:30 pm
White Horse Black Mountain

Reggie Harris is a singer-songwriter, storyteller and world-renowned song-leader who is a powerful interpreter of the global music narrative. A passionate, engaging inspirational entertainer and concert artist Reggie is recognized for focusing new energy on the important role of music in the discourse for inclusion and the struggle for human rights using the lessons of history as a base. As an expert on the music of the Underground Railroad and the Modern Civil Rights Movement he is at home on stage as performer, lecturer or leading discussion in seminars or in the classroom.

Known for over 40 years as one-half of the eminently prominent duo, Kim & Reggie Harris, Reggie continues to criss-cross the country, carrying the message of joy, unity, tolerance and peace through the powerful medium of live music.

Reggie remains in high demand for concerts, schools, University residencies, community-building, festivals and teaching workshops.

A 2021 winner of both the Spirit of Folk Award from Folk Alliance International and the W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Award, Reggie is a charismatic community builder who was featured in 2020 on CNN’s “Silence is Not An Option with Don Lemon.” He was recently featured in The New York Times to discuss his familial connection as the descendant of slavery as a great-great-great grandson of confederate General Williams Carter Wickham and his slave Bibhanna Hewlett with his white cousins.

A teaching artist in the Kennedy Center’s CETA program (Changing Education Through the Arts) and a fellow for the prestigious Council of Independent College lecture program, he also serves as Co-President and Director of Music Education for the Living Legacy Project, an advocacy group that sponsors Civil Rights pilgrimages throughout the South and online education seminars worldwide.

His 2018 album Ready To Go ranked as the #5 CD on the Folk DJ Charts and was in the top 30 on the US Folk DJ charts for 5 months of 2018. The title cut was the #1 song for May 2018. In 2019 Reggie and Greg Greenway released Deeper Than the Skin in response to their challenging and insightful presentation of the same name. Reggie is currently a rotating DJ featured on Prisms: The Sound Of Color on SiriusXM’s The Village.

His April 2021 release On Solid Ground, the number one CD on the FolkDJ Charts for May 2021, is a collection of 13 songs compiled in response to the challenges and changes in American civic circles stirred by the COVID pandemic and years of racial and political unrest that erupted post the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and thousands of others. Reggie’s leadership in racial and interfaith dialogue continues to open opportunities for dialogue and courageous conversation.

Reggie is a featured artist in the “Americans Who Tell the Truth” portrait series by Maine artist Rob Shetterly and a recipient of the 2018 Magic Penny Award for lifetime achievement for his impact in music from the Children’s Music Network. His recordings and collaborative discography contribute to the national dialogue on history, wellness and to the opening of dialogue and courageous conversations.

Visit The Artists Website

ABACAB: THE MUSIC OF GENESIS
Jan 27 @ 8:00 pm
The Orange Peel
BIG SOMETHING WITH ABBY BRYANT + THE ECHOES
Jan 27 @ 8:00 pm
Salvage Station

Big Something will be performing LIVE on the Indoor Stage at Salvage Station on Friday, January 27th, 2023 with Abby Bryant & The Echoes! Doors open at 7pm and the music starts at 8pm. 18+ ONLY (no exceptions)! FREE ON-SITE PARKING! Root Down will be serving their delicious twist on Southern Soul food PLUS we will have our FULL bar open for you to enjoy!

CDC guidelines + band requirements + our venue policies are subject to change daily, so please keep your eyes on https://salvagestation.com/covid-policy/ for updates. We do not issue refunds based on our Covid-19 policies and reserve the right to change them at any time.

COME FROM AWAY
Jan 27 @ 8:00 pm
Peace Center Concert Hall

On 9/11, the world stopped.

On 9/12, their stories moved us all.

Broadway’s COME FROM AWAY is a Best Musical winner all across North America! This New York Times Critics’ Pick takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. Cultures clashed and nerves ran high, but uneasiness turned into trust, music soared into the night, and gratitude grew into enduring friendships. Don’t miss this breathtaking musical written by Tony® nominees Irene Sankoff and David Hein, and helmed by Tony-winning Best Director, Christopher Ashley. Newsweek cheers, “It takes you to a place you never want to leave!”

John Craigie at Asheville Masonic Temple
Jan 27 @ 8:00 pm
Asheville Masonic Temple

Performance Image

– w/ GRACE ROWLAND (OF THE DEER)
– ALL AGES
– SEATED SHOW
 – AT ASHEVILLE MASONIC TEMPLE – 80 BROADWAY ST (downtown AVL)  

JOHN CRAIGIE
Portland, OR-based singer, songwriter, and producer John Craigie adapts moments of solitude into stories perfectly suited for old Americana fiction anthologies. Instead of leaving them on dog-eared pages, he projects them widescreen in flashes of simmering soul and folk eloquence. On his 2022 full-length album, Mermaid Salt, we witness revenge unfurled in flames, watch a landlocked mermaid’s escape, and fall asleep under a meteor shower.  After selling out shows consistently coast-to-coast and earning acclaim from Rolling StoneGlide MagazineNo Depression, and many more, his unflinching honesty ties these ten tracks together.

The album comes from the solitude and loneliness of lockdown in the Northwest. Someone whose life was touring, traveling, and having lots of human interaction is faced with an undefinable amount of time without those things. So, he began writing new songs and envisioning an album that was different from his past records. The sound of everyone playing live in a room together was traded for the sound of song construction with an unknown amount of instruments and musicians—a quiet symphony.

Rather than steal away to a cabin or hole up in a house with friends, Craigie opted to set up shop at the OK Theater in Enterprise, OR with longtime collaborator Bart Budwig behind the board as engineer. A rotating cast of musicians shuffled in and out safely, distinguishing the process from the communal recording of previous releases. The core players included Justin Landis, Cooper Trail, and Nevada Sowle. Meanwhile, Shook Twins lent their signature vocal harmonies, Bevin Foley arranged, composed, and performed strings, and Ben Walden dropped in for guitar and violin plucking parts. “Instruments were scattered around the theater and microphones placed in various spots,” he recalls. “It’s hard to say who all played what exactly.”

Craigie had reached a series of watershed moments in tandem with Mermaid Salt. Beyond headlining venues such as The Fillmore and gracing the stage of Red Rocks Amphitheater, his 2020 offering Asterisk The Universe earned unanimous tastemaker applause. Rolling Stone noted, “tracks like ‘Don’t Deny’ and ‘Climb Up’ bridge a Sixties and Seventies songwriter vibe with the laid-back cool of Jack Johnson, an early supporter of Craigie, while Glide Magazine hailed it as “one of his best records. Perhaps, No Depression put it best, “For many weary and heavy- listeners hearted, the album might be exactly what they need. Along the way, he generated over 40 million total streams and counting, speaking to his unassuming impact.  In the end, Craigie offers a sense of peace on Mermaid Salt.

ZEBBLER ENCANTI EXPERIENCE, DILLARD, + LAVIER
Jan 27 @ 9:00 pm
Asheville Music Hall