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.

Friday, April 29, 2022
Celebrating Rwanda’s Resilience Through Music + Culture
Apr 29 all-day
online w/ LEAF

Step Into the heart of Rwanda With Culture Keeper David Kwizera + the LEAF International Rwanda Jr. Troupe! This spring documentary is exactly what you need!

The Brevard Project: Reimagining the Future of Orchestral Programming
Apr 29 @ 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
apply online

Dates: July 11 – 16, 2022
Application: Available now through MyBMC
Cost: A $600 fee covers all housing, meals, classes, materials, and concert tickets. Spots are limited and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Please note: Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required for all students, faculty, and summer staff for the 2022 season. Please see our FAQ page for more information.


Program Summary

Brevard Music Center (BMC) presents The Brevard Project: Reimagining the Future of Orchestral Programming, a six-day intensive seminar and think-tank on orchestral programming intended for professionals and influencers in the orchestral field. Presented by Brevard Music Center in partnership with Bard College, the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the South Dakota Symphony, the University of Michigan School of Music, and Project Director Joseph Horowitz, The Brevard Project takes place July 11-16, 2022. The central goals of The Brevard Project are to re-evaluate the artistic mission of the American orchestra and to share the skills needed to curate a more comprehensive, more inclusive American orchestral repertoire.


Curriculum

The Brevard Project: Reimagining the Future of Orchestral Programing complements Brevard Music Center’s week-long “Dvořák’s Prophecy” festival from July 11-16 and is inspired by Joseph Horowitz’s acclaimed new book Dvořák’s Prophecy and the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music. Part think-tank, part seminar, this inaugural Project gathering equips practitioners and scholars alike to begin to answer questions about the dense nexus of culture and race, of historical, political, and moral reckonings surrounding the story of American orchestral music. The central goals of this program are to re-evaluate the artistic mission of the American orchestra and to share the skills needed to curate a more comprehensive, more inclusive American orchestral repertoire. The Brevard Project is designed for conductors, artistic administrators, executive directors, community engagement specialists, conservatory students, and engaged orchestra Board members.

Moving forward requires a fresh and closer look at our musical past – and to the lagging formation of an American symphonic canon. A new narrative of American classical music will be proposed that explores timely and topical issues that impact present and future orchestral programming. Why did our repertoire remain so stubbornly Eurocentric? What can we learn from this history? What can be mined from the treasure trove of long-hidden indigenous and Black music that can help to pave the future?

Classroom sessions will be highly interactive, drawing upon first-hand accounts of humanities-infused approaches to programming and community engagement. Topics of exploration include creating a “new paradigm” for American orchestral repertoire, rethinking the concert experience, and redefining the role of the music director. Participants will be challenged to envision programming and organizational initiatives to promote symphonic events grounded in the American experience, past and present.


The Faculty

A remarkable faculty has been assembled for this groundbreaking exercise.
*virtual participant

Joseph Horowitz, Project Director
Leon Botstein, President, Bard College; Music Director, American Symphony; Founder, Bard Festival and The Orchestra Now
Lorenzo Candelaria, Dean, Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University
Mark Clague, Music Historian, University of Michigan
JoAnn Falletta*, Music Director, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Christopher Gibbs*, Music Historian, Bard Conservatory; Artistic Co-Director, Bard Festival
Delta David Gier, Music Director, South Dakota Symphony
Blake-Anthony Johnson, CEO, Chicago Sinfonietta
Keith Lockhart*, Artistic Director, Brevard Music Center
Douglas McLennan, Founder/Editor, ArtsJournal
Jason Posnock, Chief Artistic Officer, Brevard Music Center
Jesse Rosen, Former CEO, League of American Orchestras
Larry Tamburri, CEO, Newark School of the Arts (former CEO, Pittsburgh and New Jersey Symphonies)

The Performers

Lara Downes, Pianist, producer, arts advocate
Sidney Outlaw, Baritone/pedagogue, Ithaca College
George Shirley, Tenor/pedagogue, University of Michigan


Enrollment Information

Conductors, artistic administrators, executive directors, community engagement specialists, conservatory students, and Board members are all encouraged to apply for The Brevard Project.

Capacity is limited. A $600 fee covers all housing, meals, classes, materials, and concert tickets for the week. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply now through MyBMC.

Volunteer at Tryon Fine Arts Center
Apr 29 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Tryon Fine Arts Center
Volunteer at
TFAC events this spring!

Email Sharol at [email protected] or call 828-859-8322
T-F 10AM – 4PM

Ushers & Bartenders
needed for the following events.

EVENTS

  • April 16:      Livingston Taylor concert on main stage
  • April 21-24: Enchanted April community theater on stage
  • April 28:      Amphitheater concert (outdoors)
  • May 8:         Ranky Tanky concert on main stage
  • May 5:         Amphitheater concert (outdoors)
  • May 12:       Amphitheater concert (outdoors)
  • May 19:       Amphitheater concert (outdoors)
  • May 26:       Amphitheater concert (outdoors)
Friday Night Drum Circle
Apr 29 @ 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Prichard Park

Visiting Asheville soon and looking for a fun way to fill your Friday night? The Asheville Drum Circle is a tradition unique to the area. While locals usually begin the beating of drums, tourists are welcome to join, dance, or simply take in the incredible atmosphere at any point.

If you’re looking for things to do in the area during your stay, this is a must! Here’s everything you should know about the Drum Circle.

The Asheville Drum Circle is a free event that’s open to all.

PATIO SHOW: In Flight
Apr 29 @ 5:00 pm
The Grey Eagle

PATIO SHOW:  In Flight

In Flight has an eclectic sound that is unique to each performance. Keyboardist Ian Taylor and guitarist Bryce Robertson have been playing together since 2009 and have written over 50 original compositions together. Jay Good on drums completes the sound with worldly beats and solid grooves on a minimalistic kit. The electric trio performs original and improvised music combining funk, jazz fusion, and progressive rock with a unique take on American roots and world music.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead
Apr 29 @ 6:00 pm
Rabbit Rabbit
House Concert at The Historic Plonk School Auditorium
Apr 29 @ 6:30 pm
Plonk School Auditorium

Patty Griffin With Parker Millsap
Apr 29 @ 8:00 pm
Diana Wortham Theatre

Patty Griffin is among the most consequential singer-songwriters of her generation, a quintessentially American artist whose wide-ranging canon incisively explores the intimate moments and universal emotions that bind us together. Over the course of two decades, the GRAMMY® Award winner – and seven-time nominee – has crafted nine classic studio albums and two live collections, a remarkable body of work in progress that prompted the New York Times to hail her for “[writing] cameo-carved songs that create complete emotional portraits of specific people…(her) songs have independent lives that continue in your head when the music ends.”

The Austin, TX-based singer and songwriter made an immediate impact with her 1996 debut, Living With Ghosts, and its 1998 follow-up, Flaming Red – both now considered seminal works of modern folk and Americana. Since then, Griffin’s diverse body of work spans such classic LPs as 2002’s GRAMMY® Award-nominated 1000 Kisses – later ranked #15 on Paste’s “The 50 Best Albums of the Decade (2000-2009),” — to 2007’s Children Running Through, honored by the Americana Music Association with two Americana Honors & Awards including “Artist of the Year” and “Album of the Year.” To date, Griffin has received seven total nominations from the Americana Music Association, affirming her as one of the far-reaching genre’s leading proponents. 2011’s Downtown Church – which blends traditional gospel favorites with Griffin’s own spiritually questioning material – debuted at #1 on both Billboard’s “Folk Albums” and “Christian Albums” charts before winning 2011’s “Best Traditional Gospel Album” GRAMMY® Award, Griffin’s first solo GRAMMY® triumph among seven total career nominations. Griffin’s most recent LP, 2015’s Servant Of Love, marked the first release on her own PGM Recordings label via Thirty Tigers. Applauded by The Guardian as “bravely experimental,” the collection saw Griffin earn still another GRAMMY® Award nomination, this time in the “Best Folk Album” category.

Widely regarded among the best pure songwriters of this or any other era, Griffin has had her work performed by a truly epic assortment of her fellow artists, among them Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Solomon Burke, The Dixie Chicks, Kelly Clarkson & Jeff Beck, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert, Melissa Etheridge and Susan Boyle, to name but a few. Her songs have also been showcased in a variety of film, TV, and theatre projects, with her original music and lyrics featured in the 2007 musical, 10 Million Miles, produced Off-Broadway by the Atlantic Theatre Company and directed by Tony Award-winner Michael Mayer. Griffin has also been joined in the studio by a veritable who’s-who of contemporary Americana, including Harris, Buddy & Julie Miller, Shawn Colvin, Jim Lauderdale, Raul Malo, Ian McLagen, JD Foster, and many others. As if her own remarkable career weren’t enough, Griffin has found time to collaborate with a wide range of like-minded artists, among them Joshua Radin, Todd Snider, Dierks Bentley, Robert Plant, Jack Ingram, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings.

In addition to her creative career, Griffin has also devoted considerable energy and focus towards the wellbeing of the planet as well as showing compassion for the less fortunate among us via personal and public acts of charity including helping to create the Lampedusa tours supporting the Jesuit Refugee Service.

Having crafted a rich catalog that chronicles love and death, heartache and joy, connection and detachment, Patty Griffin continues to push her art forward, as always imbuing every effort with compassion and craft, uncanny perception, and ever-increasing ingenuity.

Safety Requirements for this show:

While the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts has recently updated their covid policies on their website, Patty Griffin and her team have asked that we have specific covid precautions for this upcoming performance. Please refer to the requirements below and emails sent to ticket holders on 4/14 and 4/27 and not those listed on the Worthamarts.org webpage.

Proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 is required.

  • Proof may be presented via a digital photo or physical copy of your vaccination card.
  • Proof must be accompanied with a photo ID.
  • Minors (ages 12-17) may show a vaccination card without photo ID.

Or, proof of a negative lab-conducted PCR COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours of the performance. 

  • Negative tests must be dated and show your name.
  • A photo ID is required
  • Minors (ages 12-17) may show proof of a negative test result without photo ID.

Children under the age of 12 do not have to show proof of vaccination nor a negative COVID-19 test.

PEACE BROADWAY JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Apr 29 @ 8:00 pm
Peace Concert Hall

jesus

A modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring.

Jesus Christ Superstar is an iconic musical phenomenon with a world-wide fan base. In celebration of its 50th Anniversary, a new mesmerizing production comes to North America. Originally staged by London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and helmed by the acclaimed director Timothy Sheader (Crazy for YouInto the Woods) and award-winning choreographer Drew McOnie (King KongStrictly Ballroom), this production won the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival garnering unprecedented reviews and accolades. Appealing to both theater audiences and concert music fans, this production pays tribute to the historic 1971 Billboard Album of the Year while creating a modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring.

Featuring award-winning music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas. Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary score includes ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’, ‘Gethsemane’ and ‘Superstar’.

Official Website

Helado Negro
Apr 29 @ 9:00 pm
The Grey Eagle

Helado Negro

Helado Negro visits Asheville NC to make his Grey Eagle debut on Friday April 29! It’s an ALL AGES show at 9pm and doors open at 8pm

Saturday, April 30, 2022
Celebrating Rwanda’s Resilience Through Music + Culture
Apr 30 all-day
online w/ LEAF

Step Into the heart of Rwanda With Culture Keeper David Kwizera + the LEAF International Rwanda Jr. Troupe! This spring documentary is exactly what you need!

The Brevard Project: Reimagining the Future of Orchestral Programming
Apr 30 @ 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
apply online

Dates: July 11 – 16, 2022
Application: Available now through MyBMC
Cost: A $600 fee covers all housing, meals, classes, materials, and concert tickets. Spots are limited and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Please note: Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required for all students, faculty, and summer staff for the 2022 season. Please see our FAQ page for more information.


Program Summary

Brevard Music Center (BMC) presents The Brevard Project: Reimagining the Future of Orchestral Programming, a six-day intensive seminar and think-tank on orchestral programming intended for professionals and influencers in the orchestral field. Presented by Brevard Music Center in partnership with Bard College, the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the South Dakota Symphony, the University of Michigan School of Music, and Project Director Joseph Horowitz, The Brevard Project takes place July 11-16, 2022. The central goals of The Brevard Project are to re-evaluate the artistic mission of the American orchestra and to share the skills needed to curate a more comprehensive, more inclusive American orchestral repertoire.


Curriculum

The Brevard Project: Reimagining the Future of Orchestral Programing complements Brevard Music Center’s week-long “Dvořák’s Prophecy” festival from July 11-16 and is inspired by Joseph Horowitz’s acclaimed new book Dvořák’s Prophecy and the Vexed Fate of Black Classical Music. Part think-tank, part seminar, this inaugural Project gathering equips practitioners and scholars alike to begin to answer questions about the dense nexus of culture and race, of historical, political, and moral reckonings surrounding the story of American orchestral music. The central goals of this program are to re-evaluate the artistic mission of the American orchestra and to share the skills needed to curate a more comprehensive, more inclusive American orchestral repertoire. The Brevard Project is designed for conductors, artistic administrators, executive directors, community engagement specialists, conservatory students, and engaged orchestra Board members.

Moving forward requires a fresh and closer look at our musical past – and to the lagging formation of an American symphonic canon. A new narrative of American classical music will be proposed that explores timely and topical issues that impact present and future orchestral programming. Why did our repertoire remain so stubbornly Eurocentric? What can we learn from this history? What can be mined from the treasure trove of long-hidden indigenous and Black music that can help to pave the future?

Classroom sessions will be highly interactive, drawing upon first-hand accounts of humanities-infused approaches to programming and community engagement. Topics of exploration include creating a “new paradigm” for American orchestral repertoire, rethinking the concert experience, and redefining the role of the music director. Participants will be challenged to envision programming and organizational initiatives to promote symphonic events grounded in the American experience, past and present.


The Faculty

A remarkable faculty has been assembled for this groundbreaking exercise.
*virtual participant

Joseph Horowitz, Project Director
Leon Botstein, President, Bard College; Music Director, American Symphony; Founder, Bard Festival and The Orchestra Now
Lorenzo Candelaria, Dean, Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University
Mark Clague, Music Historian, University of Michigan
JoAnn Falletta*, Music Director, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Christopher Gibbs*, Music Historian, Bard Conservatory; Artistic Co-Director, Bard Festival
Delta David Gier, Music Director, South Dakota Symphony
Blake-Anthony Johnson, CEO, Chicago Sinfonietta
Keith Lockhart*, Artistic Director, Brevard Music Center
Douglas McLennan, Founder/Editor, ArtsJournal
Jason Posnock, Chief Artistic Officer, Brevard Music Center
Jesse Rosen, Former CEO, League of American Orchestras
Larry Tamburri, CEO, Newark School of the Arts (former CEO, Pittsburgh and New Jersey Symphonies)

The Performers

Lara Downes, Pianist, producer, arts advocate
Sidney Outlaw, Baritone/pedagogue, Ithaca College
George Shirley, Tenor/pedagogue, University of Michigan


Enrollment Information

Conductors, artistic administrators, executive directors, community engagement specialists, conservatory students, and Board members are all encouraged to apply for The Brevard Project.

Capacity is limited. A $600 fee covers all housing, meals, classes, materials, and concert tickets for the week. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply now through MyBMC.

Mindtreks Forum: Learn, Discuss, Connect: “Climate Change in Western North Carolina—Why Should I Care”
Apr 30 @ 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Brevard Music Center--Parker Hall
“Climate Change in Western North Carolina—Why Should I Care” will be facilitated by Tom Fiedler, former Executive Editor of The Miami Herald, and will feature local climate impact experts. The focus will be on how climate change will specifically affect those who live and work in Western North Carolina.
CLIMATE CHANGE IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA – WHY SHOULD I CARE?
This pilot BMC Mindtreks Forum will explore a subject affecting us now; one that will continue to impact generations to come: climate change in our own backyard, Western North Carolina. The forum will be moderated by Tom Fiedler, former Executive Editor of The Miami Herald, and Dean Emeritus and Journalism Professor at Boston University’s College of Communication. Local expert panelists will include Deke Arndt, James Fox, Scott Shuford, Amber Weaver, and Ben Teague. Held at Parker Concert Hall on the Music Center’s picturesque campus in the delightful Blue Ridge Mountain town of Brevard, event patrons will also have the opportunity to enjoy a music interlude, to mix and mingle with the experts, and to enjoy the beautiful Music Center grounds.
ABOUT BMC MINDTREKS FORUM
The Brevard Music Center (BMC), one of the nation’s premier music institutes and music festivals, is developing a new forum series designed to illuminate and inform about contemporary issues facing residents of Western North Carolina. While BMC will always maintain its paramount focus on teaching gifted young musicians, it also recognizes an opportunity to play a role in furthering community education and dialogue. Initiated and designed by BMC patrons and civic leaders Kathleen Mainardi, Bruce Rogow, Steve Keeble and Tom Parker, the format for this series is structured to stimulate learning, provide opportunity for reflection in a leisurely setting, and to connect with other community members through presentations by highly regarded local subject matter experts and civil discussion. Designed as a welcoming and flexible space, the new Parker Concert Hall is an ideal venue for this type of event.
FORUM SCHEDULE
9:30am – 12:00pm Panelist Presentations
12:00pm — 12:45pm Attendee Small Group Discussions + Lunch*
12:45pm — 1:15pm Music Presentation
1:15pm — 3:30pm Attendee + Panelist Engagement + Discussion
Ross Farm’s Spring Fling Fest with Appalachian Standard
Apr 30 @ 11:30 am – 4:00 pm
Ross Farm

Join us for the Spring Fling Farm Fest, taking place at 91 Holbrook Road, Candler, NC, 28571 on April 30th, 2022 from 11:30 AM to 4 PM. In addition to the beautiful greenhouses being open, guests are invited to enjoy live music, food trucks, curated vendors selling art, craft, CBD products, and much more in one of Asheville’s most remarkable locales.

Spring is in the air and we are ready to celebrate with the community!
We are thrilled to announce a vibe session meet and greet with Lauren Davis of @fiddyshadesofgreen from 12 PM to 1 PM, with photo opts available.

We will also have an amazing line-up of local musicians, including Joker’s Trade, Istari, John Kirby and the New Seniors, and Appalachian Standard’s very own Substandards. Bear’s Bar-B-Que will be on site with incredible food, as well as kettle corn.

We’ll have a fun mechanical bull and several artisans in our greenhouse selling their beautiful wares, including Honey Creek Pottery! And, of course, our greenhouse will be bursting with a few new and glamorous plants.

The Spring Fling Farm Fest is free to the public. Parking is available on site, however can be limited so it is
recommended that groups carpool. This is an outdoor event.

The first 100 people to join us will receive a goodie bag!

Appalachian Standard is a veteran-owned, craft hemp farm and greenhouse nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. Our hemp is greenhouse, field, and indoor grown in small batches year-round by a team of experienced growers. Come experience music in one heck of a unique venue!

Adam Chase~ Felix Pastorius~ Mike Seal
Apr 30 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
One World Brewing West

Chase Pastorius Seal

Chase, Pastorius & Seal is a new Supergroup that is taking the music scene by storm. With three accomplished virtuosic musicians coming together, the trio is impressive in its existence before even knowing what the music sounds like.
With each player having a unique approach to their instrument, the performances are nothing short of inspiring, if not mind-melting. For lovers of funky jazz and virtuosic musicianship, this group delivers on all fronts.

ADAM CHASE
https://adamchasemusic.com
Drummer, Adam Chase, is an acclaimed music director and drummer that has built a name for himself by putting together a variety of Funky and Jazzy All-Star projects. Adam’s unique approach to drum reflects his unique personality and his visionary approach to performance. Chase has worked with an uncanny amount of acclaimed musicians including Fred Wesley, Clyde Stubblefield, John Medeski, MonoNeon, George Porter Jr. (The Meters), Adam Deitch (Lettuce), Aron Magner (Disco Biscuits), Scott Metzger (JRad), Craig Robinson, Antwaun Stanley, Shaun Martin (Snarky Puppy), Domi Degalle, Dennis Chambers, Marcus King, Isaiah Sharkey (John Mayer), Robert Walter (Greyboy Allstars), Jeff Sipe, Claude Coleman Jr. (Ween) and many others.

FELIX PASTORIUS
https://felixpastorius.com
Bassist, Felix Pastorius bears the name of his father, whose reputation often proceeds him. While the lineage is intriguing for most, the dedication to the mastery of the bass guitar is more notable than his last name when it comes to the musician that is Felix Pastorius. Having toured with the YellowJackets as a teenager and traveling the world with groups including Jeff Coffin’s Mu’tet, Cindy Blackman Santana Group, Hipster Assassins and Aesop Rocky, Pastorius has continued to prove to be able to do anything imaginable on the bass guitar. From the most complex explorations to the tastiest pocket grooves. Pastorius alone is worth the cost of admission.

MIKE SEAL
https://mikesealmusic.com
Grammy nominated Guitarist and composer, Mike Seal is considered one of the best guitar players in the country. With a unique style of picking the guitar, Seal has earned himself a seat at the table with some of the best pickers in bluegrass as the full-time guitarist for Jerry Douglas and long-time collaborator of virtuosic mandolin player, Sierra Hull. Seal and Pastorius first collaborated while touring with the Jeff Coffin Mu’tet. Performing with Chase, Pastorius & Seal is reminiscent to the Jeff Sipe Trio, which featured Mike Seal and Taylor Lee.
One World Brewing food truck will be open with brunch/lunch menu!
$10 Eventbrite Pre-sale/$12 DOS

PEACE BROADWAY JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Apr 30 @ 2:00 pm
Peace Concert Hall

jesus

A modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring.

Jesus Christ Superstar is an iconic musical phenomenon with a world-wide fan base. In celebration of its 50th Anniversary, a new mesmerizing production comes to North America. Originally staged by London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and helmed by the acclaimed director Timothy Sheader (Crazy for YouInto the Woods) and award-winning choreographer Drew McOnie (King KongStrictly Ballroom), this production won the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival garnering unprecedented reviews and accolades. Appealing to both theater audiences and concert music fans, this production pays tribute to the historic 1971 Billboard Album of the Year while creating a modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring.

Featuring award-winning music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas. Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary score includes ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’, ‘Gethsemane’ and ‘Superstar’.

Official Website

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead
Apr 30 @ 6:00 pm
Rabbit Rabbit
PATIO SHOW: The Well Drinkers
Apr 30 @ 6:00 pm
The Grey Eagle

PATIO SHOW:  The Well Drinkers

The Well Drinkers are a bluegrass band based out of Western North Carolina. They combine traditional instrumentation and harmonies with new age melodies and songwriting. The band consists of Jake Bachman on mandolin and lead vocals, Adam Bachman on dobro/pedal steel and backup vocals, Andrew Wakefield on acoustic guitar and backup vocals, Josh Riley on upright bass and Jeremy Rilko on banjo.

Amos Lee with Jensen McRae
Apr 30 @ 8:00 pm
Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

With one foot in the real world and the other in a charmed dimension of his own making, Amos Lee creates the rare kind of music that’s emotionally raw yet touched with a certain magical quality. On his eighth album Dreamland, the Philadelphia-born singer/songwriter intimately documents his real-world struggles (alienation, anxiety, loneliness, despair), an outpouring born from deliberate and often painful self-examination. “For most of my life I’ve walked into rooms thinking, ‘I don’t belong here,’” says Lee. “I’ve come to the realization that I’m too comfortable as an isolated person, and I want to reach out more. This record came from questioning my connections to other people, to myself, to my past and to the future.”

 

Khruangbin Space Walk Tour with Toro y Moi
Apr 30 @ 8:00 pm
Harrahs Cherokee Center Asheville

Khruangbin has always been multilingual, weaving far-flung musical languages like East Asian surf-rock, Persian funk, and Jamaican dub into mellifluous harmony. But on its third album, it’s finally speaking out loud. Mordechai features vocals prominently on nearly every song, a first for the mostly instrumental band. It’s a shift that rewards the risk, reorienting Khruangbin’s transportive sound toward a new sense of emotional directness, without losing the spirit of nomadic wandering that’s always defined it. And it all started with them coming home.

By the summer of 2019, the Houston group—bassist Laura Lee, guitarist Mark Speer, drummer DJ Johnson—had been on tour for nearly three-and-a-half years, playing to audiences across North and South America, Europe, and southeast Asia behind its acclaimed albums The Universe Smiles Upon You and Con Todo El Mundo. They returned to their farmhouse studio in Burton, Texas, ready to begin work on their third album. But they were also determined to slow down, to take their time and luxuriate in building something together.

It’s a lesson Lee had recently learned with the help of a new friend, a near-stranger who had reached out when she was feeling particularly unmoored, inviting her to come hiking with his family. That day, as they’d all made their way toward the distant promise of a waterfall, Lee had felt a dawning clarity about the importance of appreciating the journey, rather than rushing headlong toward the next destination—something she’d almost lost sight of during the band’s whirlwind rise. When they reached the waterfall at last, Lee’s friend urged her to jump, a leap she likens to a baptism. As she did, he screamed her name—her full name, the one she’d recently taken from her grandfather. In that instant, Laura Lee Ochoa was reborn. She emerged feeling liberated, grateful for what her friend had shown her. His name was Mordechai.

Ochoa’s rejuvenation found its expression in words—hundreds of pages’ worth, which she’d filled over a self-imposed day of silence. As Khruangbin began putting together the songs that would make up the next record, discovering in them spaces it seemed like only vocals could fill, they turned to those notebooks. Khruangbin had worked with lyrics before: the love-letter poetry of “Friday Morning,” the ghosts of conversations gone by in “Cómo Te Quiero.” But this time Ochoa had found she had something to say—and so did the songs. They needed each other. And letting those words ring out gave Khruangbin’s cavernous music a new thematic depth.

Chief among those themes is memory—holding onto it, letting it go, naming it before it disappears. Again and again the songs play on those notions, from the sun-dappled disco of lead single “Time (You And I)”—which evinces the feeling of a festival winding down to its final blowout hours—to the lilting “So We Won’t Forget,” which finds Ochoa filling her apartment with memories she’s scrawled on Post-Its to prevent them slipping away. It’s there, too, in “Dearest Alfred,” which was inspired by a trove of letters Ochoa’s grandfather wrote to his twin brother, as well as “If There Is No Question,” a metaphysical devotional (by way of Marvin Gaye) that harkens back to Johnson and Speer’s earliest days in a church band. And those same nostalgic wisps curl all around “Connaissais De Face,” a Middle Eastern vamp by way of Serge Gainsbourg that evokes all the ruminative romance of a French New Wave film, layered with its own tender dialogue of reminiscence.

Musically, the band’s ever-restless ear saw it pulling reference points from Pakistan, Korea, and West Africa, incorporating strains of Indian chanting boxes and Congolese syncopated guitar. But more than anything, the album became a celebration of Houston, the eclectic city that had nurtured them, and a cultural nexus where you can check out country and zydeco, trap rap, or avant-garde opera on any given night. The Roy Ayers funk of opener “First Class” created a lush bed for the band to stretch out on, singing wryly about popping champagne while jet-setting all over the world. But in the end, those brags are revealed to be a shoutout to the home that made all this possible, a love that’s evident in its hands-in-the-air refrain of “H-Town.”

In those years away from that home, Khruangbin’s members often felt like they were swimming underwater, unsure of where they were going, or why they were going there. But Mordechai leads them gently back to the surface, allowing them to take a breath, look around, and find itself again. It is a snapshot taken along a larger journey—a moment all the more beautiful for its impermanence. And it’s a memory to revisit again and again, speaking to us now more clearly than ever.

Paul Thorn
Apr 30 @ 8:00 pm
The Orange Peel

 

Paul Thorn has created an innovative and impressive career, pleasing crowds with his muscular brand of roots music – bluesy, rocking and thoroughly Southern American, yet also speaking universal truths. Among those who value originality, inspiration, eccentricity and character – as well as talent that hovers somewhere on the outskirts of genius, the story of Paul Thorn is already familiar. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, raised among the same spirits (and some of the actual people) who nurtured the young Elvis generations before, Paul Thorn has rambled down back roads and jumped out of airplanes, worked for years in a furniture factory, battled four-time world champion boxer Roberto Duran on national television, performed on stages with Bonnie Raitt, Mark Knopfler, Sting, and John Prine among many others, and made some of the most emotionally restless yet fully accessible music of our time. He’s also appeared on major television shows, received numerous National Public Radio features and charted multiple times on the Billboard Top 100 and Americana Radio Charts.

PEACE BROADWAY JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Apr 30 @ 8:00 pm
Peace Concert Hall

jesus

A modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring.

Jesus Christ Superstar is an iconic musical phenomenon with a world-wide fan base. In celebration of its 50th Anniversary, a new mesmerizing production comes to North America. Originally staged by London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and helmed by the acclaimed director Timothy Sheader (Crazy for YouInto the Woods) and award-winning choreographer Drew McOnie (King KongStrictly Ballroom), this production won the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival garnering unprecedented reviews and accolades. Appealing to both theater audiences and concert music fans, this production pays tribute to the historic 1971 Billboard Album of the Year while creating a modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring.

Featuring award-winning music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas. Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary score includes ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’, ‘Gethsemane’ and ‘Superstar’.

Official Website

Sunday, May 1, 2022
Celebrating Rwanda’s Resilience Through Music + Culture
May 1 all-day
online w/ LEAF

Step Into the heart of Rwanda With Culture Keeper David Kwizera + the LEAF International Rwanda Jr. Troupe! This spring documentary is exactly what you need!

HardLox Jewish Food + Heritage Festival
May 1 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Pack Square Park
Jazz Sunday Jam
May 1 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
One World Brewing West

Jazz Sunday at One World Brewing West is a modern jazz jam held every Sunday afternoon from 1-4pm. Previously known as Jazz Monday, the jam has been running non stop since July, 2018 at the West Asheville brewery and is hosted weekly by The Fully Vaccinated Jazz Trio, consisting of Ray Ring on guitar, Jason DeCristofaro on drums, piano and vibraphone, and Connor Law on bass. Jazz Sunday typically features a guest artist for a short set and then welcomes jazz musicians of all levels to sit in for the remainder of the afternoon on One World’s spacious outdoor stage.

PEACE BROADWAY JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
May 1 @ 1:00 pm
Peace Concert Hall

jesus

A modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring.

Jesus Christ Superstar is an iconic musical phenomenon with a world-wide fan base. In celebration of its 50th Anniversary, a new mesmerizing production comes to North America. Originally staged by London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and helmed by the acclaimed director Timothy Sheader (Crazy for YouInto the Woods) and award-winning choreographer Drew McOnie (King KongStrictly Ballroom), this production won the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival garnering unprecedented reviews and accolades. Appealing to both theater audiences and concert music fans, this production pays tribute to the historic 1971 Billboard Album of the Year while creating a modern, theatrical world that is uniquely fresh and inspiring.

Featuring award-winning music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas. Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary score includes ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’, ‘Gethsemane’ and ‘Superstar’.

Official Website

The Grey Eagle Classic Golf Tournament
May 1 @ 2:00 pm
The Omni Grove Park Inn Golf Course

The Grey Eagle Classic Golf Tournament

Grab your golf clubs and the best players you can find for The Grey Eagle Classic Golf Tournament. This tournament welcomes local businesses, community partners, and supporters of the music and arts for a day full of golf, games, food, drinks, and lots of fun! Your participation and proceeds will directly support Asheville Music School.

GREENVILLE CHORALE 60 MOVING + MEMORABLE YEARS: ANNIVERSARY FINALE
May 1 @ 3:00 pm
First Baptist Church, Greenville

What better way to close out our 60th anniversary season than with exquisite selections from the past 60 years?  The Greenville Chorale is not only Greenville’s symphonic chorus, but also a community of musicians who love to sing and who invest themselves fully in the broad spectrum of the Chorale’s repertoire – from Bluegrass to Beethoven, to classics and popular song arrangements, the profound and delightfully entertaining.  One of our state’s most outstanding youth ensemble, the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir, will join the Chorale for this season finale celebration.

GREENVILLE CHORALE: 60 MOVING + MEMORABLE YEARS: ANNIVERSARY FINALE
May 1 @ 3:00 pm
First Baptist Church, Greenville

What better way to close out our 60th anniversary season than with exquisite selections from the past 60 years?  The Greenville Chorale is not only Greenville’s symphonic chorus, but also a community of musicians who love to sing and who invest themselves fully in the broad spectrum of the Chorale’s repertoire – from Bluegrass to Beethoven, to classics and popular song arrangements, the profound and delightfully entertaining.  One of our state’s most outstanding youth ensemble, the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir, will join the Chorale for this season finale celebration.

Hendersonville Community Band Concert
May 1 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Blue Ridge Community College