Pedro The Lion
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYPEDRO THE LION Pedro the Lion is the band name Dave Bazan has used off and on since 1995 to release six albums and two eps of his hooky, insightful, and mournful songs. This year, his critically acclaimed and fan favorite, first and third LPs, 1998’s “It’s Hard to Find a Friend” and 2002’s “Control”, turn 25 and 21 years old, respectively. To celebrate, Dave, along with guitar player Erik Walters and drummer Terence Ankeny, will play every song from each album on tour. ERIK WALTERS Erik Walters is an American songwriter and guitarist based in Seattle, Wash. Steeped in the local music community since 2008, he has written songs for several bands and played guitar for artists such as Telekinesis!, Perfume Genius, and is a current member of Pedro The Lion. He released his eponymous solo record in 2021.
Vieux Farka Touré
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYVIEUX FARKA TOURE Often referred to as “The Hendrix of the Sahara”, Vieux Farka Touré was born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981. He is the son of legendary Malian guitar player Ali Farka Touré, who died in 2006. Ali Farka Touré came from a historical tribe of soldiers, and defied his parents in becoming a musician. When Vieux was in his teens, he declared that he also wanted to be a musician. His father disapproved due to the pressures he had experienced being a musician. Rather, he wanted Vieux to become a soldier. But with help from family friend the kora maestro Toumani Diabaté, Vieux eventually convinced his father to give him his blessing to become a musician shortly before Ali passed. Vieux was initially a drummer / calabash player at Mali’s Institut National des Arts, but secretly began playing guitar in 2001. Ali Farka Touré was weakened with cancer when Vieux announced that he was going to record an album. Ali recorded a couple of tracks with him, and these recordings, which can be heard on Vieux’s debut CD, were amongst his final ones. It has been said that the senior Touré played rough mixes of these songs when people visited him in his final days, at peace with, and proud of, his son’s talent as a musician. In 2005, Eric Herman (still Vieux’s manager today) of Modiba Productions expressed an interest in producing an album for Vieux; this led to Vieux’s self-titled debut album, released by World Village in 2007. Ali Farka Touré’s work to tackle the problem of malaria is continued as 10% of proceeds are donated to Modiba’s “Fight Malaria” campaign in Niafunké through which over 3000 mosquito nets have been delivered to children and pregnant women in the Timbuktu region of Mali. On this first album, Vieux pays homage to his father and follows Ali’s musical tradition, giving new versions of the West African music that is echoed in the American blues. The album features Toumani Diabaté, as well as his late father. On his second record, Fondo on Six Degrees (2009), Vieux branched out and presented his own sound: while remaining true to the roots of his father’s music he uses elements of rock, Latin music, and other African influences. The album received a great deal of critical acclaim from across the globe, and Vieux was clearly moving out of his father’s shadow. By June 2010, Vieux was performing at the opening concert for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In 2011 Vieux released his 3rd studio album, The Secret, so named because the listener will hear the secret of the blues with a blend of generations from father to son. It was produced by guitarist Eric Krasno (of the Soulive trio) and features South African-born vocalist Dave Matthews, Derek Trucks on electric slide guitar and jazz guitarist John Scofield. The title track is the last collaboration between Vieux and his late father. With the heralded release of The Secret, Vieux Farka Touré has clearly established himself as one of the world’s rare musical talents and guitar virtuosos with a distinct style that always pays homage to the past while looking towards the future.LIFE LIKE WATERLife Like Water is a multi-colored, intricately woven tapestry of sounds. With a focus on hypnotic rhythms, elegant vocal harmonies, and melodies that contain flavors of Africa, Ireland and the Middle East, the music of this eclectic quartet is sure to uplift and inspire.
Ron Pope w/ November South
-ALL AGES-STANDING ROOM ONLY-LIMITED VIP TICKETS AVAILABLE-ACOUSTIC SHOW Ron PopePlatinum recording independent artist, Ron Pope, made a name for himself in the early days of music streaming with the viral success of his song, “A Drop in the Ocean” – which has now been streamed over 1 billion times going platinum in the US and double platinum in Sweden. Once a die-hard New Yorker, Pope ultimately landed in Nashville where his songwriting is a natural fit for the Americana, roots, and country communities. His last full album, Bone Structure (March 2020), received praise from Rolling Stone, Billboard, CMT, Relix, The Tennessean, and more. In early 2022 he landed in The Nashville Scene as 12 artists you need to watch. His last full-length album was released in June 2023. November SouthNovember South is a singer-songwriter and a craftsman whose unique approach to showcasing his music has earned him a dedicated following on social media. November South’s music draws inspiration from Americana/Roots traditions. With his deep, powerful voice and evocative lyrics, his songs are a tribute to the American experience, and his deep understanding of the human condition is evident in every note.
DESTROYER (solo)
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYDESTROYER (solo) Dan Bejar initially conceived of Have We Met as a Y2K album. He was already active during the era but not heard overhead in a cafe or salon, which is perhaps what the idea of the Y2K sound evokes nearly two decades later. Bejar assigned frequent producer and bandmate John Collins the role of layering synth and rhythm sections over demos with the period-specific Björk, Air, and Massive Attack in mind, but he soon realized the sonic template was too removed from Destroyer’s own, and the idea of a concept was silly anyway. So he abandoned it and gave Collins the most timeless instruction of all: “Make it sound cool.”Atmosphere and loose approximations of a place or feeling are what we’ve come to expect from any new Destroyer record—certainly not an easily defined and stridently adhered to theme or concept. Have We Met manages to meet somewhere between those disparate Y2K reference points and Destroyer’s own area of expertise, gliding deftly into territory that marries the old strident Destroyer with the new, aged crooning one of late.THE REDS, PINKS, AND PURPLESBefore The Reds, Pinks & Purples started getting noticed by a larger audience, the “I Should Have Helped You” 4 song EP snuck out on Swedish experimental label I Dischi Del Barone and quickly disappeared, becoming a little-heard but often whispered about piece of the RPPs discography. Recorded around the same time as the material that ended up on his breakthrough LP “Uncommon Weather,” it contains some of the best examples of Glenn Donaldson’s melancholy but wry take on indie pop. Needless to say, it’s terrific.The original 7″ is now a white whale for collectors, trading for silly prices on Discogs when it shows up at all. This music *needs* to be heard, so we’ve put together this limited reissue that adds six more tracks to make it a mini-LP length grab bag of hits. It has songs about record shopping, religion, worker’s rights, dysfunctional holidays, and of course heartbreak sung over a maze of shimmering fuzzy guitars and drum machine beats — an essential chapter of the Reds, Pinks & Purples story.
Eilen Jewell w/ Miss Tess
– ALL AGES- FULLY SEATED SHOW- LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLEEILEN JEWELL American Songwriter describes Eilen Jewell as “one of America’s most intriguing, creative and idiosyncratic voices.” The Boise, Idaho songwriter leads a tight quartet that blends influences of surf-noir, early blues, classic country, folk, and 1960s era rock ’n’ roll. From Boston to Boise and Madrid to Melbourne, playing large festivals, theaters, rock clubs, and coffeehouses, the group has shared stages with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Loretta Lynn, Mavis Staples, Wanda Jackson, George Jones, Emmylou Harris, and Blind Boys of Alabama. Eilen’s fans have marveled at her warmth and onstage humor alongside her beautiful songs and fiery performances. In addition to six of her own full-length albums, Jewell has released two albums with her country-gospel side-project, the Sacred Shakers; a tribute album to Loretta Lynn titled Butcher Holler; and an album of rare blues covers, Down Hearted Blues. In 2023 Eilen will release Get Behind The Wheel, an album of originals on Signature Sounds Recordings, produced by Will Kimbrough. MISS TESS When most people think of defiant music, they think of punk rock or outlaw country. But defying genres while transcending eras and resisting clichés is hard to pin down when it comes to artistry—unless you’re talking about Miss Tess. Swinging for the fences and from the branches of jazz, country, blues and old school rock and roll, she has employed all of her influences and talents on a tour-de-force, while cleverly taking standard perspectives and ideas, like the definition of a love song, to task. After over a decade on the road, now making her home in Nashville — by way of Baltimore, Boston, and Brooklyn — Miss Tess has found a creative community that encourages and embraces wide artistic exploration and expression as much as she does. However varied Tess’ music can be, front and center sits her voice that has been described as “alternately seductive and sexy, and a pure joy to listen to” (Pop Matters). Her music is further heightened by her partner, Thomas Bryan Eaton, who helps to shape the songs and arrangements with a deft touch on guitar & pedal steel. Tess brings along her 1940s electric Weymann archtop guitar, often trading leads with Thomas, generally backed up by a rotating rhythm section.
FREE SHOW: Supernatural – The Music of Vic Chestnutt Panic Pre Party
THIS EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE AT HATCH AMPHITHEATER, LOCATED AT 45 SOUTH FRENCH BROAD AVE IN DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE FREE SHOW ALL AGES STANDING ROOM ONLY Join us at the Hatch Amphitheater on July 25 from 5 to 7pm for a special pre-party ahead of the Widespread Panic show. This unique performance brings together members of 54 Bicycles, Slow Runner, Slow Packer, The High Divers, and Scott McMicken and the Ever Expanding for an evening rooted in reverence and reinterpretation. Widespread Panic’s own unique folk process of sharing and playing the music they love helped expand discovery of the larger than life character of Vic Chesnutt. Vic’s music continues to shape and influence the modern Southern rock and folk landscape with poetic fire — his songs are both deeply personal and wildly universal. Come early. Come ready. Let’s celebrate the legacy of one of the greatest.
CANCELED: OUTPOST: Mile Twelve w/ Zoe and Cloyd
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINE Mile Twelve is back in motion. From the first manic, dissonant downbeat of their virtuosic new record, Close Enough to Hear, you’ll discover a band that is ready to explode from a restless pandemic-induced hiatus. The first track “Romulus,” glides and rages as the narrator wrestles with the ultimate impermanence of the empire he’s forged. Next comes the magical realism of “Johnny Oklahoma,” the youth who volunteers to be fired out of a cannon for the good of his community, in one big beautiful nihilistic burst. These musicians are clearly working through some hard questions posed by the last few years. You’ll hear the same warmth and innovation that earned the band IBMA’s 2019 Album of the Year nomination and 2020 New Artist of the Year Award, and that’s gained them an international reputation as one of the most dynamic groups in contemporary acoustic music. The title track “Close Enough to Hear,” is a stripped down dream of all that we missed so dearly in those early, terrifying months of lockdown. Something else is close enough to hear on this new album. You’ll notice the presence of two new members: fiddler and vocalist Ella Jordan and mandolinist Korey Brodsky. Take note of the new dimension they add to the band, and their ability to lock in with founding members Evan Murphy (guitar, vocals), Catherine Bowness (banjo), and Nate Sabat (bass, vocals). These aren’t session players; this album captures the formation of a new coherent unit. Zoe and Cloyd Klezgrass. This one word may best describe the vast musical world of Asheville, NC duo Zoe & Cloyd. Springing from rich and complementary traditions, the artistic stylings of fiddler/vocalist Natalya Zoe Weinstein and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist John Cloyd Miller fit together in a harmonic dovetail. In 2022, the band was an official showcase artist at the IBMA World of Bluegrass, featured guest artists for the Davidson College Holiday Gala, as well as hosts of A Swannanoa Solstice at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts. Their fifth studio album, Songs of Our Grandfathers, is set to release in May of 2023 on Organic Records, just before their international debut in Northern Ireland.Zoe & Cloyd delight audiences with soaring harmonies and heartfelt songwriting, seamlessly combining original bluegrass, klezmer, old-time and folk with sincerity and zeal.
The Criticals
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYTHE CRITICALSThe Criticals are a Nashville based rock band formed by Parker Forbes and Cole Shugart. In November 2019, they released their first EP, “Mimosa Hygienem” starting their journey. When covid hit in early 2020, the band focused on writing, recording and releasing music and music videos. Their first music video for Treat Ya Better became popular online, leading many diehard fans to their music. Their sophomore EP, “Sour Grapes” was released in October 2020, along with several singles in ’21 and ’22. In addition to the organic traction on Spotify, along with their music videos, the band has built a loyal and growing audience eager to see them live. CONNOR KELLY & THE TIME WARPConnor Kelly & The Time Warp is dedicated to pushing sonic boundaries while persevering the anthropomorphic elements of Rock & Roll. Drawing inspiration from icons like Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, the group cultivates a sound that pays tasteful homage to legends of the genre but not without their own unusual twist. Since their latest album release “Distant Forest” the band has accumulated over 5 million streams and joined acts like The Backseat Lovers, Vista Kicks, and Moon Taxi on the road. Connor Kelly, Ben Kelly, Aiden Lamb, and Daniel Ryan are liable to disrupt the space-time continuum.
Bill Callahan
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYBILL CALLAHAN“And we’re coming out of dreams / And we’re coming back to dreams” is the first thing you hear Bill say as you remake your acquaintance on YTI⅃AƎЯ. Right out the gate, he’s standing in two places at once: meeting up with old friends behind the scenes and encountering them on the record, finding himself coming round the bend and then again as someone else on down the line. Like the character actor he played on Gold Record, writing stories about other people, telling jokes about everyone, and in singing them, becoming the songs. “You do what you’ve got to do / To see the picture” Bill’s got a full band sound going on this one, with him and Matt Kinsey on guitars, Emmett Kelly on bass and backing vocals, Sarah Ann Phillips on B3, piano and backing vocals and Jim White on drums. Jim and Matt sing on one song, too, and some other singers come in, too. Bill plays some synth here and there, and Carl Smith drifts in and out of the picture with his contra alto clarinet, as do Mike St. Clair and Derek Phelps on brass. Somehow in between them all, you might think you hear the distant sound of a steel guitar. And you might—but you might not, too. In this company, Bill continues his journey, tunneling underneath the weathered exterior of what seems to be and into the more nuanced life everything takes on in the dark. With Bill’s voice making the extraordinary leaps and bounds that measure the lives of the songs, the band follow him through passages that seem to invent themselves; other times playing with deeply soulful grooves and/or desperate intensity, as these moments come and go. There’s nothing they can’t do. “I wrote this song in five and forever / I’m writing it right now” Bill sings on “Natural Information”—an admission of the everyday alchemy he’s forever trafficking in. Time passes, triangulating the encounters that went into any one record with two out of any three others, all of it made flesh, new constitution, in our stereo speakers. If every album is its own life, it stands to reason that they’re invariably passing in the night. Cascading images flowing from the stream of consciousness. Turning like pages from the journal, unspeakably personal, then suddenly become tall tales, like a book pulled off the shelf, completely unbound. Headlines flow through. Mirror images, mirthful ones. Bill’s lyrics strain at the lines on the page, not content to separate the printing of the fact from the myth or be confined to ink on paper. They want to fly free. And they do. “I realize now that dreams are real” On YTI⅃AƎЯ’s inner sleeve, alongside his lyrics, Bill celebrates the “exhilaration and dread” of cover artist Paul Ryan’s paintings. Paul’s another one met up with again down the road, his indelible cover imagery on Apocalypse and Dream River now an axis of meaning in the Callahanian world—and in the bright colors found in these new images, a parallel to Bill’s recognitions here. “A breath of exquisite air as we come up from drowning”, sounds like the desired hope for those hearing the songs of YTI⅃AƎЯ.Pascal Kerong’A
AGENT ORANGE
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYAGENT ORANGEThe 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 have followed 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, and Japan.C’mon down front and expose yourself to Agent Orange.SUZI MOON The unstoppable SUZI MOON comes roaring back with a debut solo EP Call the Shots, a powerful clutch of high impact songs which reaffirm her status as one of punk rock’s most vibrant performers! With a stellar rock & roll pedigree reaching back to when the then 15-year-old MOON joined her sister’s famed punk band, CIVET, the singer-songwriter has followed through with songs that show her incredible growth. Recording two albums for Hellcat Records and touring with the likes of SOCIAL DISTORTION, DROPKICK MURPHYS, and FLOGGING MOLLY (all before she turned 21), MOON established herself as a ferocious punk truth-teller with both a distinctive personal style and a fiercely untamed stage presence. After CIVET went on hiatus, MOON formed TURBULENT HEARTS, a high-intensity trio that quickly gained popularity in their hometown Los Angeles scene and earned followings in the US and Europe, playing such high-stakes settings as the Rebellion Festival and Punk Rock Bowling.THE DEATHBOTSThe Deathbots make their home in Asheville, NC among the freaks, weirdos, and white dudes named Chad that just moved here from Charlotte and are totally down to brewery hop on the South Slope. It’s widely accepted in Asheville that everything was better a few years ago and the Deathbots do their part by making the punk rock that your older sister used to listen to before she sold out and went to law school. Holy Crap Records describes the sound as a “brawling mix between Bad Religion and Johnny Cash, that combo of super speedy melodic punk and killer bad-ass country.”
