Archive for the ‘Asheville Events’ Category

The first time I heard Johnson’s Crossroad, it was this song (‘Tween You and I) and I got goosebumps.  Not many bands or songs do that to me these days, so I knew these guys had something special.  Maybe it was that haunting melody or maybe it was lead singer Paul Johnson’s gravelly voice.  I don’t know for sure, but they instantly rocketed into my favorites.  After I heard more of their songs, their place of honor in my music collection was solidified.

They will be playing Jack of the Wood on August 27th.  From the press release:

Johnson’s Crossroad is taking their love of the old time mountain music, bluegrass, and the Texas singer/songwriters of the 1970′s and putting their own stamp on the ever-widening and increasingly popular ‘Americana’ genre, nurturing a sound they like to call “Appalachian Soul.”

The band was born in the bars of small town Lewisburg, WV. Johnson’s Crossroad performed the old songs they love and began to craft their own material. As audiences began to grow founding members Paul Johnson and Keith Minguez decided to head south over the Blue Ridge Mountains to the budding music scene of beautiful Asheville, NC where they found like-minded musicians and formed a touring band.

Their debut album “Blood in Black and White” brings together some of Asheville’s finest musicians to perform JXR’s original material. The album is steeped in the traditional country themes of lost love, lost fortune, lost time, and overcoming hardships, but Johnson’s Crossroad have clearly found a unique voice. With “Blood in Black and White” they give country music fans an alternative to the “polished” sound, though staying true to the roots that have made country music great.

Johnson’s Crossroad
Jack of the Wood
Friday, August 27th, 2010

8pm, $5, 21+
95 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC‎ 28801
(828) 252-5445 ext 105

Those of you looking for a great musical experience should mark August 28 on your calendars.  Amelia’s Mechanics has announced that they will be presenting “An Evening with Amelia’s Mechanics” at Jack of the Wood on that date.

From the press release:

Amelia’s Mechanics is: Molly McGinn (vocals, acoustic guitar, lap steel), Molly Miller (vocals, electric guitar, ukulele), and Kasey Horton (viola)

Despite what the oil-and-iron name might suggest, the women of Amelia’s Mechanics swap that toughness for a more urban, sophisticated take on Americana music, using luxuriating harmonies and classical swells to temper their lyrical frustrations with love and life. The instrumentation and vocal harmonies of Amelia’s Mechanics result in a genre-busting sound best described as “vintage country with a moonshine concerto.”

The band released their debut album “North, South,” produced by Jim Avett (father, The Avett Brothers,) in February of 2010 to critical acclaim and embarked on an inaugural spring tour to the delight of audiences all across the southeastern United States. Amelia’s Mechanics is currently working on their second album (at Echo Mountain Studios) to be released Spring 2011.

Amelia’s Mechanics
Jack of the Wood
Saturday, August 28th, 2010

Doors 7pm
95 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC‎ 28801
(828) 252-5445 ext 105

Lately there has been talk of making some serious changes to the yearly Bele Chere festival that envelops downtown Asheville. Proposed changes include changing the dates of the festival and moving it to a different location.

Bele Chere is always a big weekend for Asheville Live Cam, due to our location right in the middle of the action. Bele Chere 2010 was no exception. Every year brings a slightly different layout to the festival. This year it was centered more to the west side of our building (the BB&T building). I recall years where it was mostly centered around City-County Plaza and years when it even enveloped Wall Street. The constant, though, is that it is always in the heart of downtown, and that’s where it should stay.

Make no mistake, this is not bias talking. Asheville Live Cam would probably benefit from the festival moving a little farther away, since our cameras can’t look straight down to the streets surrounding the building. Because of that, a lot of the action is missed. If it were a little further away, like around City-County Plaza or further west down Patton Ave towards the Westgate Bridge, we’d be able to get better views of the action. But to my mind, that’s not where the festival belongs. The heart of downtown Asheville is Pack Square, and that is where the festival should be centered.

Changing the dates is a bit more controversial. It wouldn’t really affect this site, since we’ll provide the views regardless of the dates. However, it could significantly affect the festival itself. The main drawback about the current dates at the end of July is that it is just SO HOT! Moving the dates to a cooler period such as the Spring or Fall would make for a cooler and possibly more enjoyable time for festival-goers, but it could also seriously affect attendance. Bele Chere is currently the largest festival in the southeast. That could change if the dates are moved.

From the Citizen-Times:

Others say that changing the season could impinge on other festivals that have staked out shoulder seasons, such as the Greek Festival in September.

Also, keeping Bele Chere running depends in large part on volunteers, many of whom may not be able to donate labor outside summer months, said Byron Greiner, president of the Asheville Downtown Association.

Losing the volunteers would be bad, but this is the quote that my mind keeps coming back to:

Greiner, a former Bele Chere committee chairman, favors changes but says they can be risky.

“Statistically, no festival of this size has had a date change and survived,” he said.

Well, events conspired against me and I didn’t get out to Bele Chere as much as I’d planned.  Then when I did get out there I had a bit of a camera malfunction, so I didn’t get as many pictures and videos as I’d hoped.  Overall, the festival seemed to be a pretty good one, and while I was out there I had lots of fun.  Here is a small gallery of the pix I was able to get and some that my boys took.  Some are from Friday and some are from Saturday:

I took a little stroll around the block this morning and took some pictures and even a video of some of the many people out there getting ready for Bele Chere 2010.  This year looks to be a great one for the festival and I can’t wait to get out there this evening after it really starts to get active.

As for this site, you can expect us to be bringing you live views of the whole thing.

We’ll be resetting the views on our cams to provide you with great shots of the action as it happens, so if you can’t be here for the festival, at least you’ll get to see some of it.

I’ll also be out and about with my camera shooting some more pix and videos that I will be posting throughout the weekend.

Below are some of the pix and a video that I shot this morning as people were getting ready.

Asheville Skyline is presenting a giant, 2 day concert series at the Diana Wortham Theatre on July 1st and 2nd.  There’s a huge lineup for the 2 nights, featuring the likes of Acoustic Syndicate, Col. Bruce Hampton with Jeff Sipe and Ike Stubblefield, with special guests and more.  Individual day tickets are $28 through May, then they go up to $33, with limited VIP tickets available for $125 (includes both nights, early admission, reserved seating, meet and greet).

On July 1, experience performances by legendary artists Col Bruce Hampton, Ike Stubblefield and Jeff Sipe along with Manney Yanes, Shane Pruitt, and will be joined with by other special guests including Janelle Funk, Craig Sorells, Tony Kennedy, Jay Sanders and others TBA. Opening sets by the bands Velvet Truckstop and Big Daddy Love!

On July 2, regional favorite Acoustic Syndicate headline the evening.  Asheville based alt-country band The Honeycutters and songwriter Chris O’Neill open the show.

Futbol fans unite (yeah, that’s soccer for us yanks)!  The World Cup kicks off on June 12th and the Lexington Avenue Brewery will be showing the first USA game (vs England) on a big  projector screen in their main room.  In keeping with the event’s location in South Africa, halftime and postgame entertainment will be provided by the Asheville Manding, a West African rythm group.  BUT WAIT, that’s not all.  Stick around afterwards for the REAL party.  At 9pm the real show starts with Josh Blake’s Jukebox and Afromotive in the back room.

It’s time to get excited for the worlds biggest sporting event! Come and celebrate the kickoff of the World Cup at the LAB in Asheville on Saturday, June 12th.  There is a full day and night planned with Funk and World Beats and Soccer!

The folks at the Lexington Avenue Brewery are showing the first USA game (USA Vs. England) on a projector screen in their main room for the soccer community and fans in Asheville! Kick off is at 2:30pm. This year, The World Cup  is being held in South Africa. Get into the spirit with halftime and post game entertainment in by the Asheville Manding. Asheville Manding is Ryan Reardon and Adama Dembele from Afromotive along with Tasana Camara, who is a singer/kora player/balafon player from Guinea. The band is named after the Manding people of West Africa, one of the largest ethnicities and the “keepers of the flame” if you will, of traditional West African music.

The daytime event is a “suggested donation” benefit for former ABASA president and player Jack Brown and his family. Jack recently was admitted to the hospital with flu-like symptoms and ended up having a serious infection. It turned out that he had to battle a life threatening infection which resulted in the loss of his right leg. We are calling out to all soccer fans to come enjoy this game with a great crowd and atmosphere, and to donate what you can to Jack and his family as they begin to tackle a mountain of medical bills. Members of the soccer league will be taking donations at the door. There will also be a raffle following the game with some pretty sweet prizes.

The late-night dance party features music by Afromotive and Josh Blake JukeBox in the back room at the LAB. The doors open at 9pm with JBJB starting around 9:30pm. Afromotive headlines and the music will go til 2am. The cost for the show is $5.