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.
The Original Southern California Punk/Surf Power Trio, Agent Orange, is one of only a handful of bands who have been continually active since the earliest days of the West Coast Punk Scene.
A small circle of musical rebels who came together to form a movement, they took their place front and center to experience and participate in the explosion of now legendary underground music that was created during the golden era of American Punk Rock.
Being the first to combine the melodic California surf guitar sound with the frantic energy of punk, Agent Orange invented the formula that would come to define the Orange County punk sound. Highly influential to many of the bands who havefollowed in their path, Agent Orange have always stayed one step ahead.
Their strong connection to the Action Sports world has resulted in their music providing the soundtrack to numerous major motion pictures, video games, surf and skate films, television, and live sports events.
The last of the true independents, Agent Orange have managed to stay true to their roots, while always moving forward. Powered by a loyal following built up through years of explosive live performances all over the world, Agent Orange continue to deliver their Fullblown-Supercharged-Punk-Surf Sound on an international basis, with a never ending schedule of tours in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Australia, andJapan. C’mon down front and expose yourself to Agent Orange.
PINKEYE will infect you. Straight from the Asheville underground PINKEYE is delirious fun. A gang of delinquents who have been around the music scene are playing the most fun music of their lives, simplifying, bursting with energy, leaning into influences from Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers to The Lemonheads to The Clash. Everything they play is filled with hooks and joy. Delirious and delicious fun up on stage – unable to stand still – PINKEYE is infectious catchy two-minute punk blasts.
Feeling stressed, overwhelmed, anxious, or do you desire to relax, be supported, and experience meditative sounds? Arrive at the Sound Nest and leave the outside world behind beginning with a cup of soothing tea. Slip off your shoes and enter a comforting and nurturing room filled with special instruments to soothe your cares and nervous system. Dawn walks participants through what to expect in a tranquil and reassuring way. The bespoke sound healing journey can be tailored to support your life experience. Grounding gongs, timeless & soaring singing bowls, refreshing chimes, a relaxing ocean drum, amongst other instruments help us to re-imagine life and bring fresh air to the intensity that life naturally brings. Dawn welcomes groups up to 7 with space to lay down, more are welcome if seated upright. Private group or individual sessions are happily arranged in addition to the time shown here, please contact Dawn. We can also do sessions instructing how to play the instruments if booked specifically for that goal. Please also contact for private sessions where we can focus on specific support for your current life experiences. We will wear masks for these events following local guidelines.
Dawn has studied music since childhood and has enjoyed practicing massage therapy for 21 years helping people relax and relieve pain. Since 2015, Dawn dove deep into sound healing utilizing gongs, singing bowls, harmonium, and various bells, chimes, whistles, and drums. She has studied with numerous teachers including Mitch Nur, Mike Tamburo, Mehtab Benton, and Mike Cohen, exploring how sound affects our bodies and brains through physics, physiology, and biology.
Get lost in a tribal flow, led by Tara Eschenroeder, aimed at self love & discovery as you are bathed in the angelic sounds of Hope Griffin.
Wandering through this life we connect with the magic of the elements of nature. Through the earth, our breath, yoga and sweet music we ground deep in our roots. We return to our heart space. The air is wild, free and full of possibility. Water nourishes our souls while reminding us to go with the flow… We ignite the fire of passion and light an awakening within, becoming one with the elements and connecting under one sun with one voice. Join International Yoga Instructor Tara Eschenroeder (aka “Great Abiding Yoga”) and Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter Hope Griffin for a yoga flow with live music. May we align our breath to free movement and the rhythm of our hearts!
From a primal flow to the beat of finger tapping, to a gentle meditative dance to harmonics, to meditation to the croons of the guitar, to the transcendental hum of the voice of an angel, the rhythms of the music guide us as we connect with our own internal rhythms and sense of knowing.
Hope and Tara will take you on a journey of the senses. While drinking in the sacred sounds of the music, we take that the ability to listen and to feel even deeper within. We tap into that intuitive sense of knowing; how and when to move and when to be still. Allow yourself to reconnect to that sacred animal within, ultimately reminding us how to simply be both on and off of the yoga mat.
$30 early bird (Feb 19) $35 general admission. [Indoors. bring a mat & mask]
Wandering through this life we connect with the magic of the elements of nature. Through the earth, our breath, yoga and sweet music we ground deep in our roots. We return to our heart space. The air is wild, free and full of possibility. Water nourishes our souls while reminding us to go with the flow… We ignite the fire of passion and light an awakening within, becoming one with the elements and connecting under one sun with one voice. Join International Yoga Instructor Tara Eschenroeder (aka “Great Abiding Yoga”) and Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter Hope Griffin for a yoga flow with live music. May we align our breath to free movement and the rhythm of our hearts!
From a primal flow to the beat of finger tapping, to a gentle meditative dance to harmonics, to meditation to the croons of the guitar, to the transcendental hum of the voice of an angel, the rhythms of the music guide us as we connect with our own internal rhythms and sense of knowing.
Hope and Tara will take you on a journey of the senses. While drinking in the sacred sounds of the music, we take that the ability to listen and to feel even deeper within. We tap into that intuitive sense of knowing; how and when to move and when to be still. Allow yourself to reconnect to that sacred animal within, ultimately reminding us how to simply be both on and off of the yoga mat.
The ‘Queen’ Boys are back with The Music of Tom Petty. You filled the houses in 2019 for their Eagles/Beatles concert, 2020’s The Music of Queen, and their 2021 SOLD OUT outdoor Stadium Concert. Now they’re back to bring you the iconic music of Tom Petty. “American Girl,” “Free Fallin,” “Breakdown,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” and so many more will fill the Mainstage! Join us for a rockin’ night with these enduring tunes and the incredible artists that will have you swooning and hungry for more!
The ‘Queen’ Boys are back with The Music of Tom Petty. You filled the houses in 2019 for their Eagles/Beatles concert, 2020’s The Music of Queen, and their 2021 SOLD OUT outdoor Stadium Concert. Now they’re back to bring you the iconic music of Tom Petty. “American Girl,” “Free Fallin,” “Breakdown,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” and so many more will fill the Leiman Mainstage! Join us for a rockin’ night with these enduring tunes and the incredible artists that will have you swooning and hungry for more!
ABOUT MORGAN WALLEN:
Morgan Wallen has staked his claim as Country music’s next superstar with 7.5 BILLION on-demand streams, MULTI-PLATINUM certifications, and four consecutive chart-toppers. The SNL guest’s widely praised sophomore effort, Dangerous: The Double Album (Big Loud/Republic Records), reigned #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart for 10 consecutive weeks upon release and remained in the Top 10 for 33 weeks, plus earned the biggest streaming week for a Country album in history. It includes more record-breaking achievements with one of TIME’s Top 10 Songs of 2020, “7 Summers,” and “Wasted On You” – that both debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and inside the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10 – as well as 4X PLATINUM Diplo collaboration, “Heartless,” and PLATINUM chart-topper “More Than My Hometown.” As “the most wanted man in country” (The New Yorker), the Tennessee native has stacked up the accolades, winning 2020’s CMA New Artist of the Year and iHeartRadio’s Best New Country Artist awards, topping Billboard’s 2020 year-end Country Airplay chart with “Chasin’ You,” plus high-profile features in The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, The Washington Post, Genius, GQ and more.
ABOUT HARDY:
Big Loud Records’ booming upstart HARDY is rattling Country music as “Nashville’s most clever new redneck songwriter,” according to Rolling Stone. Breaking new ground with “one of the most self-assured full-length debut albums in years,” per Billboard, his acclaimed debut, A ROCK, features PLATINUM #1 “ONE BEER” and current chart-rising GOLD single “GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL.” With over 1 BILLION on-demand streams to his credit, the LP is a part of HARDY’s fast-growing catalogue that includes first-of-its-kind countrified mixtapes HIXTAPE: Vol. 1 (2019) and the now-unfolding Vol. 2 (2021), alongside career-launching EPs THIS OLE BOY and WHERE TO FIND ME. He’s also featured on Dierks Bentley’s latest buzzed-about single, “Beers On Me,” with BRELAND. The pride of Philadelphia, MS, HARDY’s stacking accolades as a 2021 CMA Awards New Artist of the Year nominee; recognized as one of CRS’ 2021 New Faces of Country Music; a CMA Triple Play award recipient; and a Vevo DSCVR artist. In addition, the 2020 AIMP Songwriter of the Year has co-penned NINE #1 singles since 2018, including Blake Shelton’s 4X PLATINUM smash hit “God’s Country.” Direct support for Morgan Wallen beginning this February, HARDY has supported Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Chris Lane, Thomas Rhett, and more, plus appeared on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!
ABOUT LARRY FLEET:
Blue-collar, Tennessee native Larry Fleet grew up with a love of music sparked by an eclectic mix of influences spanning from Merle Haggard to Marvin Gaye. To make ends meet, Fleet spent tireless hours working construction jobs – never losing his dream of making music. A chance encounter with Jake Owen in 2017 led to a collaborative friendship and an opening slot on the road with Owen. Not long after, Fleet was sharing the stage with a living legend and one of his heroes – Willie Nelson – and etching his mark in the Nashville songwriting community co-writing with esteemed tunesmiths including Rhett Akins, Brett James and Kendell Marvel. The hard-working family man is now turning heads with “Where I Find God” – a powerful ode to finding peace in the higher power’s presence. Garnering Fleet praise for his “emotive vocals” (Billboard), the song’s official music video continues to resonate with fans, amassing 19 MILLION YouTube views. “Where I Find God” is featured on Fleet’s brand-new, full-length album, STACK OF RECORDS (Big Loud Records), produced by Joey Moi and follows his aptly-titled debut, WORKIN’ HARD.
on-demand streams, MULTI-PLATINUM certifications, and four consecutive chart-toppers. The SNL guest’s widely praised sophomore effort, Dangerous: The Double Album (Big Loud/Republic Records), debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and earned the biggest streaming week for a Country album in history. It includes another record-breaking achievement in one of TIME‘s Top 10 Songs of 2020, “7 Summers” – which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and inside the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10 – as well as 3X PLATINUM Diplo collaboration, “Heartless,” and recent PLATINUM chart-topper “More Than My Hometown.” As “the most wanted man in country” (The New Yorker), the Tennessee native has stacked up the accolades, winning 2020’s CMA New Artist of the Year and iHeartRadio’s Best New Country Artist awards, reigning #1 atop Billboard’s 2020 year-end Country Airplay chart with “Chasin’ You,” plus high-profile features in The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, The Washington Post, Genius, GQ and more
A double set tribute with music from the most innovative band of all time, Pink Floyd. And full band, lights, and laser show. Incredible!
The Southeast’s premier Pink Floyd Tribute band, Interstellar Echoes pride themselves on accurately reproducing the legendary catalog of Pink Floyd. Obsessed with the sounds, sights, and lore of this global music icon, Interstellar Echoes goes to great lengths to provide a meticulously researched, fully immersive live experience consisting of classic staples, as well as deep cuts that will please even the most die hard Pink Floyd fan. We serve the Southeastern United States. Please join us for an unforgettable night of Pink Floyd classics!
In the interest of keeping our guests and staff protected and healthy, as well as reduce the chance of COVID outbreaks that could put future tour dates in jeopardy, Pinegrove and The Orange Peel will require all attendees of Pinegrove’s upcoming show on Feb. 26th to show proof of a full COVID-19 vaccination. Pinegrove is also requesting all attendees wear masks for the duration of the show.
All attendees will be required to show one of the following for entry along with a government issued ID:
- Your vaccine card
- A clear and legible photocopy of your vaccine card
- Photo of your vaccine card on your phone
- A digital vaccine passport or record
Formed in 2010 by childhood friends Evan Stephens Hall and drummer Zack Levine, Pinegrove have released four albums—Everything So Far, Cardinal, Skylight, and Marigold (2020)—to widespread critical acclaim, garnering them a growing and devoted listenership. Their new album, 11:11, will be released via Rough Trade Records on January 28, 2022.
They’ve described their sound as variously as ‘introspective party music’, or ‘energetic music in the folk tradition’; in any case, they have combined catharsis and inventive structures with irrepressible melodies, resonant lyrics and emotive twang. Zack describes Pinegrove as “a constellation of soulmates.”
Zack and Evan have known each other for 26 years and been playing music together for 21, communicating via a “telepathic musical connection.” Nearly everyone they work with are friends and collaborators from way back.
Music By DJ AUDIO & guest DJ’s
SPINNING THROWBACK, Dancehall, LATIN, HIP HOP/R&B
Doors at 9pm
• NO COVER till FEB ’22!
• 6 HOOKAH flavors Available
• DRINK SPECIALS
• VIP COMING SOON!
Follow AMG Late Nights for All Event Updates!
10 North Market Street | Downtown Asheville
Lighting Powered by Raydio
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.
The ‘Queen’ Boys are back with The Music of Tom Petty. You filled the houses in 2019 for their Eagles/Beatles concert, 2020’s The Music of Queen, and their 2021 SOLD OUT outdoor Stadium Concert. Now they’re back to bring you the iconic music of Tom Petty. “American Girl,” “Free Fallin,” “Breakdown,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” and so many more will fill the Leiman Mainstage! Join us for a rockin’ night with these enduring tunes and the incredible artists that will have you swooning and hungry for more!
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
Charlie Starr is the lead singer and a founding member of legendary southern rock band Blackberry Smoke.
Pigeonholing Blackberry Smoke has never been easy. Since emerging from Atlanta in the early ‘00s, the quintet—vocalist/lead guitarist Charlie Starr, guitarist/vocalist Paul Jackson, bassist/vocalist Richard Turner, drummer Brit Turner and keyboardist Brandon Still—has become known for a singular sound indebted to classic rock, blues, country and folk.
This fluidity has paid off handsomely, in the form of two Billboard chart-topping country albums, 2015’s Holding All The Roses and 2016’s Like An Arrow. (For good measure, the latter also topped Billboard’s Americana/Folk album chart.)
Find A Light, Blackberry Smoke’s sixth studio album, doubles down on diversity. Songs hew toward easygoing roots-rock (“Run Away From It All”) and Southern rock stomps (“The Crooked Kind”), as well as stripped-down acoustic numbers (“I’ve Got This Song”) and bruising alt-country (“Nobody Gives A Damn”). Rich instrumental flourishes—keening fiddle, solemn organ and bar-band piano boogie—add further depth and resonance.
“That’s one of my favorite things about Blackberry Smoke albums—there’s a lot of variety,” Starr says. “My favorite albums through the years are built that way, too. I love a record that keeps you guessing. I love the fact that our records are sort of a ride, with different types of songs and different vibes.”
– 7PM DOORS / 8PM SHOW
– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY
Legendary musician Bob Mould announces his “Distortion and Blue Hearts!” tour starting September 16, 2021, in Boston at Paradise. The tour is in two parts. For the first three weeks, Bob will be joined by Jason Narducy on bass and drummer Jon Wurster. Beginning October 15 in Bloomington, IL, Mould will perform “Solo Distortion” electric shows (full run of dates and locations below).
On July 16, 2021, before any tour dates happen, Demon Music Group will conclude their year-long Bob Mould retrospective campaign with their fourth vinyl box, Distortion: Live. The 8 LP set includes live recordings from Mould’s solo career and his band Sugar.
PURCHASE DISTORTION: LIVE HERE
This box follows October 2020’s 8 LP Distortion: 1989-1995 vinyl set, which took in Mould’s early solo outings as well as his records with the much-beloved Sugar, January 2021’s 9 LP Distortion: 1996-2007 box set continuing through the next steps in Mould’s solo career and his outings as LoudBomb and Blowoff, April 2021’s 7 LP Distortion 2008-2019 covering District Line to Sunshine Rock, and the 24 CD Distortion: 1989-2019 box, which covers the entirety of his post-Hüsker Dü output.
Mould’s live shows will span his entire 40+ year career, including songs from the Distortion collection and from his landmark band Hüsker Dü, as well as songs from last year’s explosive and critically acclaimed album Blue Hearts — about which Rolling Stone’s 4 out of 5 star review raved, “feels like a lost Hüsker Dü album with Mould howling invective over his buzzsawing guitar.”
“It’s been a year and a half away from the stage. I’ve missed the noise, the sweat, and seeing your smiling faces. I’m fully vaccinated, and I hope you are too, because this Fall will be a punk rock party with the band — and the solo shows will be loud and proud as well. It’s time to make up lost time, reconnect, and celebrate together with live music!”
As with the previously released box sets in the Distortion collection, each album has been mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering in Boston and is presented with brand new artwork designed by illustrator Simon Marchner and pressed on 140g clear vinyl with unique splatter effects. This box set includes 4 live albums: Live At The Cabaret Metro, 1989; the Sugar album The Joke Is Always On Us, Sometimes; LiveDog98 (first time on vinyl), and Live at ATP 2008 (first time on vinyl). In addition, the set includes a 28-page companion booklet featuring liner notes by journalist Keith Cameron; contributions from Bully’s Alicia Bognanno; rare photographs and memorabilia, and a bonus LP Distortion Plus: Live, which features live rarities including B-Sides and stand-out tracks from the Circle of Friends concert film.
Discover more about the box sets including full track listings and FAQs here:
“Early rise, start the fire, till the rows, pass the tithes.” So starts H.C. McEntire’s sophomore release, Eno Axis. It’s a set of directions delivered with assurance and authority, reaching the listener without pretension almost as a sermon or spell. McEntire has always had one foot planted in the traditional country gospel roots of her upbringing while boldly wrestling with its complications, creating an Americana sound of her own. But that has never rung as true as it does now on the transcendent psalms of Eno Axis.
Unlike McEntire’s solo debut, LIONHEART, which was recorded in sporadic bouts and fits while she was touring, Eno Axis is firmly rooted in place. After two years working all over the world as a backup singer in Angel Olsen’s band, McEntire came home to a hundred-year-old farmhouse tucked away in the woods of Durham, North Carolina, right on the Eno River. Here, McEntire was able to refocus. Like the blue-collar Appalachian kin she descended from, her days were scheduled by the clockwork of the Earth’s rotation: splitting wood, stacking it, weeding and watering the garden, walking the dog past the bridge and back—and every evening on the front porch, watching dusk fall. Eno Axis emerges from this time as the strongest work McEntire has shared yet.
“To all the winds—hold high the hymnal, gather blessings by the fistful,” McEntire sings in her celebration of the Eno on “River’s Jaw.” McEntire doesn’t write lyrics; she writes poetry. Growing up in the tiny rural community of Green Creek, outside Tryon, North Carolina, she knows how to tell a story. And just as Loretta Lynn sang about watching her mama’s fingers bleed on the washboard in “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” McEntire, too, takes the listener by the hand and pulls them into her own experience. On “One Eye Open” McEntire revisits her childhood Sunday school room and reckons with Christian fundamentalism. On “Footman’s Coat,” she ruminates on time, biological clocks, and the path of possibilities left in her past.
Tracked and mixed at the Fidelitorium with a full backing band, many of the songs on Eno Axis feature scratch first takes of McEntire’s lead vocals, initially meant to be thrown out and redone. This rawness creates an immediacy, her self-assured, instinct- driven, and mesmerizing delivery complementing Eno Axis’ lush acoustics and warm tones. After a dreamy atmospheric interlude, “Time, On Fire” builds and retracts with a driving pop drum beat, exploring movement like the ebb and flow of a river, culminating in a soaring guitar solo. And just as a river’s current sometimes takes us somewhere unexpected, into new territory where we never knew we could go, Eno Axis closes with one of the album’s most revelatory experiences—a new, glossier cover of “Houses of the Holy” by Led Zeppelin. Under McEntire’s empowering reconstruction of this rock ’n’ roll classic, the masculine, driving signature guitar vanishes, and instead we’re left with one of the inimitable queer voices of our time bashfully asking, “Can I take you to the movies?”
With Eno Axis, H.C. McEntire establishes herself as a force to be reckoned with in the greater American musical landscape. These songs transcend country and gospel, folk and rock—they’re poems directed straight to the listener, simple psalms on how the sun falls, how the train passes, how love grows and bends. McEntire inspires us to find the stillness within our own lives—a remarkable clear-ringing declaration for our uncertain times.
Wide Awake! is New York’s Parquet Courts’ fifth record since their formation eight years ago. It’s also their most groundbreaking. It’s an album about independence and individuality but also about collectivity and communitarianism. Love is at its center. There’s also a freshness here, a breaking of new territory that’s testament to the group’s restless spirit.
In part, this may be attributed to the fact that it’s produced by Brian Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, but it’s also simply a triumph of their songwriter’s art. The songs, written by Austin Brown and Andrew Savage are filled with their traditional punk rock passion, as well as a lyrical tenderness, but are elevated to even greater heights by the dynamic rhythmic propulsion of Max Savage (drums) and Sean Yeaton (bass).
The plan from the start was to introduce new musical ideas previously unexplored by the band. These were varied. For Brown, a few of the touchstones were Grace Jones, The Upsetters, Townes Van Zandt, Parliament and Augustus Pablo. For Savage though, the soundtrack to the sessions in Electric Lady Studios in New York and later at Sonic Ranch in Texas, was different.
Charlie Starr is the lead singer and a founding member of legendary southern rock band Blackberry Smoke.
Pigeonholing Blackberry Smoke has never been easy. Since emerging from Atlanta in the early ‘00s, the quintet—vocalist/lead guitarist Charlie Starr, guitarist/vocalist Paul Jackson, bassist/vocalist Richard Turner, drummer Brit Turner and keyboardist Brandon Still—has become known for a singular sound indebted to classic rock, blues, country and folk.
This fluidity has paid off handsomely, in the form of two Billboard chart-topping country albums, 2015’s Holding All The Roses and 2016’s Like An Arrow. (For good measure, the latter also topped Billboard’s Americana/Folk album chart.)
Find A Light, Blackberry Smoke’s sixth studio album, doubles down on diversity. Songs hew toward easygoing roots-rock (“Run Away From It All”) and Southern rock stomps (“The Crooked Kind”), as well as stripped-down acoustic numbers (“I’ve Got This Song”) and bruising alt-country (“Nobody Gives A Damn”). Rich instrumental flourishes—keening fiddle, solemn organ and bar-band piano boogie—add further depth and resonance.
“That’s one of my favorite things about Blackberry Smoke albums—there’s a lot of variety,” Starr says. “My favorite albums through the years are built that way, too. I love a record that keeps you guessing. I love the fact that our records are sort of a ride, with different types of songs and different vibes.”
20th-century piano masters Florence Price and Margaret Bonds (two African American women bonded as mentor and protégé who defied limitations and prejudice) headline this turbulent piano program, joined by Romantic legends Brahms and Chopin. A celebrated Price specialist, pianist Michelle Cann explores four masters of their craft, each reflecting American, German, and Polish cultural trademarks with unmatched compositions for piano.
Chopin Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major
Price Sonata in E minor
Brahms Ballade in D major
Brahms Intermezzo in A major
Price Fantasie Nègre No. 1
Bonds Troubled Water
Dubbed by NPR as “one of the greatest songwriters of her generation,” Anaïs Mitchell is the Tony® and Grammy® Award-winning creator of the Broadway musical Hadestown (her production won 8 awards at the 2019 Tony’s, including Best Musical). Mitchell comes from the world of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry, with recordings that include the original studio album of Hadestown and Young Man in America, along with reinterpretations of traditional music, including Child Ballads and Bonny Light Horseman. She has headlined global tours and performed with Bon Iver, Josh Ritter, Punch Brothers, and more. The common thread in Mitchell’s work is she’s as interested in the world around her as the one inside her.
Mitchell will be joined by Bonny Light Horseman, a folk supergroup trio comprised of Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson (best known for his project Fruit Bats and stints with The Shins), and Josh Kaufman (instrumentalist and producer known for his work with Hiss Golden Messenger, Bob Weir, and The National). Together, they will perform selections from their two-time Grammy-nominated album of traditional folk songs with a contemporary twist before Anaïs take to the stage to share songs from her forthcoming album as well as from her catalog of audience favorites.
Anaïs Mitchell’s Official Website
Bonny Light Horseman’s Official Website
Intro to Guitar with Melissa McKinney – Students will receive a solid foundation in beginner rhythm guitar for vocalists. Chords, Rhythm patterns, and basic theory will be introduced while learning songs with an uplifting message. Students will also learn to play the song that the Songwriting Class will be writing and will record it in the One Mic Studio.
Tuesdays from 4pm-5pm at LEAF Global Experience (19 Eagle St, Asheville, NC, 28801)
*Dates/times subject to change – interested in attending this class but unsure if it works with your schedule, or if it suits your student’s skill level? Reach out to us at [email protected]! We are always looking to adapt and expand our class schedules to accommodate new students!
Intro to Ukulele with Melissa McKinney – Students will receive a solid foundation in beginner Ukulele skills for vocalists. Chords, Rhythm patterns, and basic theory will be introduced through songs with an uplifting message. Students will also learn to play the song that the Songwriting Class will be writing and get to record it in the One Mic Studio.
*Dates/times subject to change – interested in attending this class but unsure if it works with your schedule, or if it suits your student’s skill level? Reach out to us at [email protected]! We are always looking to adapt and expand our class schedules to accommodate new students!
Jimmy Landry and Friends
In a time where positivity is hard to come by, the Happy Fits are here with their transportive, sunny second album, What Could Be Better.
Turning a love for the Killers and Violent Femmes into their own compact pop songwriting, the New Jersey-based trio started as a casual summer project for high school friends Calvin Langman, Ross Monteith, and Luke Davis before going off to college. After their debut EP, 2016’s Awfully Apeelin’, took off on Spotify during their first semester, school stopped looking like the natural next step.
“Honestly, we didn’t know we were going to be a band,” guitarist Monteith says. “We came up with the title to record those four songs on our EP, and we thought that was going to be it, but once the songs got picked up and we really started questioning it, that’s when we decided to go for it and record the first album. When we left school was when we officially became a band.”
Following their 2018 full-length Concentrate, the Happy Fits have further honed their ambition for What Could Be Better’s collection of crowd-pleasers.
“Growing up, I was either in school, at home practicing, or at music school, and there was always this pressure to be really productive,” says primary songwriter Langman, who dropped out of conservatory to pursue the band. “When I decided that I wanted to do this for a living, being productive meant a totally different thing, because now I have to create things that are just in my head and make them real. Measuring how productive that is in my life, it’s hard to do that. There’s a lot of dissatisfaction I feel. I write that into the songs, all of the guilt that I feel for not sticking with a normal plan.”
From the stomping “No Instructions” to the album-closing title track, What Could Be Better channels youthful malaise into songs that demand to be sung along to. “Moving” deploys Beach Boys-inspired harmonies for a classically feel-good sound, and the integration of Langman’s classical cello training will appeal to fans of early Vampire Weekend. Far from cloying, the band’s upbeat nature is rooted in a real desire to connect with a world that sometimes seems distant.
On “What Could Be Better” Langman sings, “There’s a hole in my consciousness where I feel I belong,” a line inspired by his isolation as one of the few Asian-Americans in his hometown.
“I don’t have crippling social anxiety, but I have always felt like I’m a bit different,” Langman says. “I grew up in rural New Jersey and was one of three Asian kids in my high school…Also, growing up, with Hollywood and TV shows, I didn’t see many people like me, especially half-Filipinos.”
As the band’s stages get bigger, Langman knows he gets to be the role model he didn’t have, saying, “It feels really good to be someone that Filipino kids growing up in America could look up to.”
The Happy Fits have brought their uplifting live show across the country on multiple headlining tours, as well as supporting acts like This Wild Life.
“We bring together a large age group,” Davis, a former metalhead who started learning how to play drums from Rock Band, says of young fans who take their parents to shows. “I think one of the big connections is just when everyone’s there, it becomes this community where everyone can support each other and are all enjoying the same things.”
Known for their joyous, engaging performances, the band’s sense of camaraderie is also reflected in the songs. All three members split vocal duties on “Floating,” an urgent tribute to their long-distance relationships that emphasizes the collective nature of their journey.
“We just have grown so much musically and as best friends that now we have this chemistry where we can really figure out how to work with each other in the best way possible,” Davis says. “Calvin’s definitely the madman musical genius and Ross can write incredible parts. I don’t know how it works, I’m lucky every day that I got to meet these guys. Having a balance with them, it’s not something we can make up, it has to come naturally.”
Recorded over six weeks at Diamond City Studio in Brooklyn, What Could Be Better is a charming, efficient mission statement that’s meant to be shared, something Monteith already knows well.
“We want people to feel good listening to our music, because that’s what music does for people.”
In the nine months since the albums release the band saw it debut #4 on Billboard’s Alternative New Artist Chart, and “Hold Me Down” reach #30 in the National Alternative Radio Charts as well as #4 on the Sirius Alt Nation’s Alt 18. NPRs Ken Tucker ranked it #3 on his year end list and ended his glowing review live on “Fresh Air” with “What Could Be Better? I honestly don’t know.” Other writeups included Alternative Press, Dujour and Atwood Magazine.
Sarah and the Sundays is an indie rock band composed of five former collegiate students. Guitarist Miles and childhood friend Declan began toying with the idea of forming a band in early 2015. It wasn’t until later that year when they would meet Liam, current lead vocalist, in guitar class. In need of a bassist, Declan and Miles invited Liam to join the band, unaware of what the future might hold. As time progressed, Declan, Miles, and Liam began to realize their passion for music, pushing them to begin creating songs of their own. Their debut album I Don’t Know Yet was released in October of 2017, and shortly after, the band welcomed Quinn as their drummer. Liam’s college roommate Brendan recently joined the band as a second guitarist, you can hear him all over their sophomore album So You’re Mad About the Cups. The band just recently relocated to Austin, TX where they plan to play as much as they can, so be sure to find them on Instagram @sarahandthesundays to see where they’re playing next.