Calendar of Events

Asheville Brewing Company will release five small batch beers during Asheville Beer Week (May 25-June 2). Four of the five releases are collaborations with some old and new brewery friends and the fifth is a tribute brew to the greatest movie franchise of all time. Asheville Brewing has operated as a mash-up movie theatre and brew pub for 20 years and has had countless movie-themed beers. The friends made during those years have also been too many to count. Asheville Craft  Beer Week is a perfect time to brew batches that celebrate those 20 years of friends and film.

May 25: Bantha Milk Blueberry Milk Stout re-release
May 26: Zillicoah Beer Collab – Brett IPA
May 30: Mad Co Brewing Collab – Beet and Hibiscus Mixed Culture Saison
June 1: Oyster House Brewing Collab – Oyster Seaweed Gose
June 2: French Broad River Brewery Collab – Pilsner

All beers will be released on draft only at our Coxe Ave and Merrimon Ave locations at 5 p.m. Look for limited availability at Tacos and Taps (right next to Asheville Pizza and Brewing on Merrimon Ave) and at Asheville Pizza on Hendersonville road.

Property: Omni Grove Park Inn
Event Type: Hotel Event
Event Category: Couples,Entertainment
Contact: (800) 438-5800
Contact Phone: (800) 438-5800
Link: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/dining/elaines-dueling-piano-bar

Join the non-stop, rock n’ roll, sing-along party show at Elaine’s! Doors open at 8:00 pm, show starts at 9:00 pm.

Property: Omni Grove Park Inn
Event Type: Hotel Event
Event Category: Couples,Entertainment
Contact Phone: (800) 438-5800
Link: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/dining/elaines-dueling-piano-bar

Join the non-stop, rock ‘n roll, sing-along party show at Elaine’s! Doors open at 8pm, pianos begin at 9pm. 

Head to Thirsty Monk Biltmore Park on Tuesday, May 29th and enjoy the release of their Farmhouse IPA in celebration of AVL Beer Week, and get your Not So Big BIG Beer Fest Tickets for the following evening! Every full pour of Farmhouse IPA comes with its own limited edition AVL Beer Week Thirsty Monk Tulip Glass!

Creating a modern-day version of an American rock-n-roll album is no easy task in today’s world of ProTools and multiple producers, but Awolnation were up to challenge when the multi-platinum rock act set out to record their third studio album. Released February 2, 2018, Here Come the Runts(Red Bull Records) sees founding member Aaron Bruno once again at the helm producing, writing and recording. “With this record I really wanted to make a rock n’ roll/pop album,” says Bruno. “And I say ‘pop’ how I grew up listening to it, in the sense of Dire Straits or Born In The U.S.A or The Cars or Tom Petty.”
awolnationmusic.com

Property: Omni Grove Park Inn
Event Type: Hotel Event
Event Category: Couples,Entertainment
Contact: (800) 438-5800
Contact Phone: (800) 438-5800
Link: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/dining/elaines-dueling-piano-bar

Join the non-stop, rock n’ roll, sing-along party show at Elaine’s! Doors open at 8:00 pm, show starts at 9:00 pm.

Sign up at door, or you can reserve a spot and/or get more info spot by emailing:
[email protected]

Property: Omni Grove Park Inn
Event Type: Hotel Event
Event Category: Couples,Entertainment
Contact: (800) 438-5800
Contact Phone: (800) 438-5800
Link: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/dining/elaines-dueling-piano-bar

Join the non-stop, rock n’ roll, sing-along party show at Elaine’s! Doors open at 8:00 pm, show starts at 9:00 pm.

On their sixth album LA Divine, Cold War Kids pay tribute to Los Angeles and all its strange glory. The follow-up to 2014’s Hold My Home — featuring the gold-certified single “First” — the band’s latest is slightly tongue-in-cheek in its title. “In many ways LA is the least divine city, the most hedonistic and irreverent and disconnected from history,” says Cold War Kids singer/guitarist/pianist Nathan Willett. Still, LA Divine embodies the Long Beach-bred band’s endless fascination with their adopted hometown. “LA’s so massive, I feel like I’m always finding something new in it,” says bassist Matt Maust. “It’s an incredibly weird place, and I’m happy to have made a record that totally honors that weirdness.”
A feeling of infinite discovery instills much of LA Divine, the band’s most expansive and ambitious effort so far. With Cold War Kids having recently marked the 10-year anniversary of their acclaimed debut Robbers & Cowards (a 2006 release that spawned their breakthrough single “Hang Me Up to Dry”), the album channels the kinetic energy of a newly revitalized band. “The excitement I have about this new album — it feels so much like the way I felt back when our first record came out,” notes Maust.
For Cold War Kids — whose lineup also includes drummer Joe Plummer, multi-instrumentalist Matthew Schwartz, and guitarist David Quon — that rejuvenation follows a creative rebirth of sorts. As Willett explains, the band took a more pop-informed and decidedly inventive approach to the making of LA Divine. “From the start of the band, our tastes have always been very backward-looking in terms of the tones and sounds and instrumentation we’re working with,” he says. “On this album we wanted to embrace something more modern, because in many ways the most creative sounds happening right now are coming from the world of pop and out of that influence we’ve ironically created what sounds like our most rock record yet ”
coldwarkids.com

Discover craft in surprising places! Join a local expert for a behind the scenes tour of the best small-batch, high-quality, and handmade in Asheville. Visit galleries, taste local beers, watch live demonstrations, sip craft cocktails, and meet the creatives that continue to make Asheville a Craft City.

Join the Center for Craft for an Asheville food and art tours co-led by local food writer, blogger, and podcaster, Stu Helm and craft expert, Anna Helgeson. Throughout this two-mile walking tour, Stu and Anna will offer ways to understand Asheville’s urban landscape and restaurant scene through the craft philosophy—thoughtful making with a reverence for process and material.

Taste, touch, and sip your way among ten carefully chosen stops, all while learning about the history of craft in the region, and encountering the creative people, objects, and libations that make Asheville a Craft City. If you love all things high-quality, small-batch, and handcrafted—or are just curious how a craft cocktail is different than a well drink—join us!

Craft City Tours take place the first Saturday of each month April–December 2018.

There’s nothing like seeing day turn to night from on top of the Chimney. That’s why we’re keeping the Park open after hours, so that our Annual Passholders can enjoy spectacular views of the Hickory Nut Gorge as the sun sets. Samples of local craft beer from Hickory Nut Gorge Brewery, other ice-cold beverages, light appetizers and special animal programs from Park Naturalists are sure to make this an evening you won’t want to miss.
Preregistration is required. Deadline to register is Thursday, May 31.

Isis Music Hall welcomes House of Hamill, featuring Brian Buchanan of Enter the Haggis and Rose Baldino of Burning Bridget Cleary.

Their music has been described as “Radiohead meets Riverdance”; Celtic-inspired, exciting, eclectic and unpredictable. House of Hamill’s music occupies a space between sophisticated indie/pop and traditional Irish music.
House of Hamill Band bio:

Rose Baldino and Brian Buchanan met 10 years ago, late one night backstage at a theatre in rural Pennsylvania.

Brian’s band Enter the Haggis and Rose’s group Burning Bridget Cleary were sharing a stage that evening, and the two bonded over a love of Irish fiddle tunes, Radiohead, and 4 AM whiskey. Their paths crossed a dozen times over the next decade on the road, but it wasn’t until the Folk Alliance 2014 conference in Kansas City that they finally became musical collaborators.

Burning Bridget Cleary’s guitarist and drummer had their flights canceled at the last minute, and Rose (in desperation) asked Brian to grab a guitar and join her onstage. The two performed with virtually no rehearsal for over an hour, and their connection was powerful and immediate. A few months later Brian moved from Canada to Philadelphia, and as a tribute to the first tune Rose ever taught Brian, House of Hamill was born.
Both Baldino and Buchanan are accomplished traditional fiddle players and classical violinists, with over 25 years of writing and performance experience between them. Together, they write unusual new fiddle tunes and exciting, unpredictable original songs while breathing new life into traditional and contemporary songs. Both are confident and unique lead vocalists, and the blend of their two voices in harmony is hypnotic and irresistible.

Whether House of Hamill is playing songs from their debut album “Wide Awake” or stomping through a set of original jigs and reels, their chemistry onstage is always engaging and often hilarious. You’ll leave with tired feet, a huge smile, and a new appreciation for the versatility of folk instruments in a modern context. House of Hamill is on the bleeding edge of a new generation of traditional musicians.

“Their songs are always on the edge of traditional and innovation as they clearly enjoy what they play . . . their performances are electrifying”.
– Sarah MacArthur, Highlander Radio

Blue Jean Ball is MANNA’s annual “party for a purpose,” with all proceeds benefitting MANNA’s daily work to provide food to thousands of families across Western North Carolina that are struggling to make ends meet. With every dollar raised, MANNA can provide the food for 3.5 meals… your very presence is valuable! So, come party with us. Whether you dress for our theme, wear jeans, or dress like a queen, you can have a great time knowing you are helping provide the most basic necessity in life: food!

Hang Loose with Friends at the Best Outdoor Party of the Year

This annual sell-out event on the sunny shores of MANNA’s waterfront campus along the Swannanoa River features small plate grazing from 20 favorite local restaurants, an open bar with great selections of beer and wine from Empire Distributing, and an amazing live band that keeps the dance floor packed all night long! Tickets move fast, so don’t wait!

Grab your Longboard and catch a wave to MANNA!

NewSong Music and Blue Ridge Public Radio (BPR) are proud to present the ‘NewSong Sanctuary Sessions,’ a three part weekly concert series and fundraiser for BPR, featuring some of North America’s most talented emerging songwriters. These intimate concerts will be held in the beautiful and acoustically stunning Sanctuary of downtown Asheville’s Central United Methodist Church.
Singer-songwriter Beth Snapp might be considered pop infused roots, but her appeal has little to do with the box of a genre. It’s a connection. She flits around and between folk, bluegrass, pop, early R&B and jazz to create a unique sound with one purpose – to serve a story. Beth highlights the complex emotions that fall on every day moments, and reels the listener in with an “I’ve been there before” kind of sensation.
Her new album “Write Your Name Down”, set to be released early 2017, recounts the introspection and growth of a new chapter in life. Produced by Grammy winning bluegrass guitarist Tim Stafford, this album features a number of acclaimed artists as well as Beth’s talented band, whose members bring diverse backgrounds to further ingrain her detour from standard classifications of music. Regardless of style, Beth hovers where modern meets tradition, to create an experience that speaks to the listener.
bethsnapp.com

Property: Omni Grove Park Inn
Event Type: Hotel Event
Event Category: Couples,Entertainment
Contact Phone: (800) 438-5800
Link: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/dining/elaines-dueling-piano-bar

Join the non-stop, rock ‘n roll, sing-along party show at Elaine’s! Doors open at 8pm, pianos begin at 9pm. 

The 15th annual Hunter Subaru WNC Flyer (formerly called Fletcher Flyer) will be held in the “Cycling Capital of the South”, Brevard, NC. The start/finish will be at Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard, NC. What better way to spend the day than with a Bike Ride, Bluegrass, BBQ and a complimentary first Brew!
Riders will have their choice of a full century, metric century, half century, and half metric rides which wind through the valleys south of Asheville, NC. Although it is the least hilly ride in Western North Carolina, it has plenty of rolling hills to keep all riders interested. There is beautiful mountain scenery without the long mountain climbs. The Flyer is a ride for everyone from first time riders to experience riders.
This is a fully supported ride with six well-stocked rest stops and an after ride party, including BBQ, a Bluegrass band, a beer (1st beer compliments of Oskar Blues) and a root beer float shooter.

Parquet Courts began their 2014 release Content Nausea with the repeated refrain, “everyday it starts – anxiety!” And while that track left off at just its start, Human Performance dives in, picking apart the anxieties of modern life with the band’s most innovative and emotional collection of songs to date. Not that that’s the whole story.
“The final product of this album is Exhibit A that we made it through the shit, solved the problem, had the chuckle, took the piss, made up with the other guy, and got home in one piece,” laughs bassist Sean Yeaton.
Whereas other Parquets Courts albums were recorded in a matter of days or weeks, for Human Performance the band took an entire year; it’s the first LP that finds all four band members contributing songs.
Human Performance brings expansive sonic experimentation and shining melodic introspection onto matters of the heart, matters of humanity, of identity. “I told you I loved you, did I even deserve it when you returned it?” singer/guitarist Andrew Savage wonders on the title track. It’s also their most pop-oriented collection yet, coming only months after the release of the largely instrumental Monastic Living EP; a record that was actually made at the same time.
“In a way, Monastic Living was like a palate cleanser for us as a band,” explains singer/guitarist Austin Brown, who produced the entire record, and mixed it in Austin at Jim Eno’s Public Hi-Fi, “maybe a return to our roots of improvising together, and being a bit more free, and seeing what kind of new sounds we could make.”
The recording sessions started at Justin Pizzoferrato’s Sonelab in Western Massachusetts. Some of it was also made with Tom Schick and Jeff Tweedy at The Loft, Wilco’s visionary studio in Chicago, but the majority of Human Performance was made at Dreamland Studios, a massive upstate NY pentecostal church where records have been made by The Breeders, Dinosaur Jr, and the B-52s (including “Love Shack”). They spent three weeks straight there, writing by day and recording with Pizzoferrato by night.
The result is a record with a palpable sense of fragility. “The process of writing and recording Human Performance, for me, was a fairly uncomfortable confrontation with my emotions,” Savage says. “Emotions I don’t think I’ve fully explored in my life, artistic or otherwise.”
Human Performance is fittingly laced with as much static as softness, with tight-wound percussion pushing along meandering, wistful melodies. There are dazed and disoriented earworms, echoing group chants, downtempo ballads with wired riffs. Lovers leave, existential confusion replaces them, weeks pass, the J train rolls by.
The record leads with “Dust”, a 4-minute opener that takes the mundane daily duty of sweeping the floor and turns it into a frantic, obsessive call for action. “Dust is everywhere … Sweep!” they drolly repeat, before their cyclic back beat gives way to explosive, everyday city sound of car horns.
Savage says “Human Performance” is his most personal song on the record, a solemn musing on love drifting away, a picture-perfect memory of the beginning of things and a hazier recollection of the ending. “It didn’t feel right to be shouting, barking,” he says, reflecting on his tendency to really sing for this first time on this album. “I think a lot of people are attracted to a sort of cerebral side of Parquet Courts, in the lyricism. There has always been the emotional side of our band, which I think has always been an important balance, but Human Performance marks a point where the scales have tipped. I began to question my humanity, and if it was always as sincere as I thought, or if it was a performance. I felt like a malfunctioning apparatus. Like a machine programmed to be human showing signs of defect.”
Across six years, four full-length albums, and two EPs, Parquet Courts have always littered their lyric sheets with question marks, interrogating the outside world to varying degrees. Light Up Gold considered peanuts versus Swedish Fish, an introduction of their sharp, young wit and language of mundane, everyday NYC imagery. Sunbathing Animal channeled that language into noisy punk philosophy, raising wide-view questions about agency versus captivity, choice versus freewill. Content Nausea wondered about anxiety and emotional deterioration under the age of big data, in an aptly self-aware way: “And am I under some spell? And do my thoughts belong to me? Or just some slogan I ingested to save time?”  And with Human Performance—their fifth album and second for Rough Trade—the question marks get turned on themselves more than ever.
“There is a lot of darkness, and general anguish being worked out on this record,” Brown adds. “But it ends kind of peacefully, kind of accepting that you can’t do much about it.”
parquetcourts.wordpress.com

The Whale in West Asheville will host the brewers from TRVE Brewing Co. on Thursday, June 7th. TRVE, out of Denver, CO, is known for making awesome mixed fermentation beers. Draft and package selections available.
Come shoot the breeze about beer, metal, and all things that rock!

Property: Omni Grove Park Inn
Event Type: Hotel Event
Event Category: Couples,Entertainment
Contact: (800) 438-5800
Contact Phone: (800) 438-5800
Link: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/dining/elaines-dueling-piano-bar

Join the non-stop, rock n’ roll, sing-along party show at Elaine’s! Doors open at 8:00 pm, show starts at 9:00 pm.

Like many great Southern storytellers, singer-songwriter Tyler Childers has fallen in love with a place. The people, landmarks and legendary moments from his childhood home of Lawrence County, Kentucky, populate the 10 songs in his formidable debut, Purgatory, an album that’s simultaneously modern and as ancient as the Appalachian Mountains in which events unfold.
The album, co-produced by Grammy Award winners Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson, is a semiautobiographical sketch of Childers’ growth from wayward youth to happily married man, told in the tradition of a Southern gothic novel with a classic noir antihero who may just be irredeemable. Purgatory is a chiaroscuro painting with darkness framing light in high relief. There’s catharsis and redemption. Sin and temptation. Murder and deceit. Demons and angels. Moonshine and cocaine. So much moonshine and cocaine. All played out on the large, colorful canvas of Eastern Kentucky.
tylerchildersmusic.com