OUTPOST: Pleasure Chest
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINE Pleasure Chest is a high-energy Blues, Soul, Rock and Roll band hailing from Asheville NC. With the humor of Bo Diddley and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins to the swampy, dirty grit of Slim Harpo and Elmore James they’re guaranteed to please and get your booty shaking!
OUTPOST: Phuncle Sam
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEPhuncle Sam is Asheville’s own Dead-Centric “jam band”. Since their formation in 2004, Phuncle Sam has been firmly rooted in musical exploration. The band serves up inventive interpretations of Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, and many others. They have built up a faithful following by using an approach that respects the improvisational traditions of The Grateful Dead, while exploring what can happen when individual band members bring their unique influences and interpretations into the mix.
OUTPOST: Phuncle Sam
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEPhuncle Sam is Asheville’s own Dead-Centric “jam band”. Since their formation in 2004, Phuncle Sam has been firmly rooted in musical exploration. The band serves up inventive interpretations of Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead, and many others. They have built up a faithful following by using an approach that respects the improvisational traditions of The Grateful Dead, while exploring what can happen when individual band members bring their unique influences and interpretations into the mix.
Twin Tribes
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYTWIN TRIBES Hailing from Texas, Twin Tribes is an emerging force in the darkwave scene, turning heads in 2018 with the release of their debut album “Shadows” that featured dark melodic sounds, synthesizers, lyrics about the undead, and the occult and parallel universes. They returned in 2020 with the ten-track album “Ceremony” with an evolved sound that explored love and loss while showcasing their progression as a band. With songs that are both dynamic and introspective, they balance the darker shades of the emotional spectrum with an energy and momentum that gifts their music a powerful sense of urgency and drama. Their lyrics dig deep into the personal turmoil of love, life and loss, and have forged a new aesthetic that fuses the gothic with the romantic, viewing emotional themes through a darker lens. As their second LP gains increasing critical and commercial attention, these pillars of the independent music scene continue to re-define what genres such as darkwave and post-punk mean in 2023. BOOTBLACKSBOOTBLACKS IS A BROOKLYN-BASED POST-PUNK BAND THAT WAS FORMED IN 2010. THE CURRENT LINEUP OF THE BAND CONSISTS OF PANTHER ALMQVIST ON VOCALS, BARRETT HIATT ON SYNTH, AND KALLE FAGERBERG ON GUITAR. BOOTBLACKS’ SOUND IS CHARACTERIZED BY ITS BROODING AND ATMOSPHERIC MELODIES, DRIVING RHYTHMS, AND ALMQVIST’S EMOTIVE VOCALS. THE BAND DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM THE POST-PUNK AND DARKWAVE MOVEMENTS OF THE 1980S, BUT ALSO INCORPORATES CONTEMPORARY ELEMENTS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC INTO THEIR SOUND. SINCE THEIR FORMATION, BOOTBLACKS HAVE RELEASED SEVERAL CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ALBUMS, INCLUDING “VEINS” (2016), “FRAGMENTS” (2018), AND “THIN SKIES” (2020). THE BAND HAS ALSO TOURED EXTENSIVELY THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE, PERFORMING AT RENOWNED VENUES AND FESTIVALS. WITH THE ADDITION OF FAGERBERG, BOOTBLACKS ARE LOOKING TO EXPLORE NEW SONIC TERRITORIES AND EXPAND THEIR ALREADY FORMIDABLE MUSICAL HORIZONS. FANS CAN LOOK FORWARD TO MORE EXCITING MUSIC AND PERFORMANCES FROM THE BAND IN THE YEARS TO COME.COLD CHOIRCold Choir is an Electro/Darkwave duo with poetic, evocative lyrics, sensual vocals dressed in a cloak of moody soul, with a ferociously powerful delivery.
OUTPOST: Kenny George Band
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINEKenny George BandMusic’s elders and icons established the initial template for Rock ‘n’ Roll, but it’s the newer generation that keeps it thriving and moving forward. So credit the Kenny George Band for doing exactly that. Comprised of Kenny George (lead guitar, vocals, songwriter), Randy Borawski (drums, harmony vocals), Center Ely (steel guitar), and Brooks Andrews (bass) this hardworking ensemble has earned their stripes the hard way. Performing an average of 100 shows per year throughout the heartland, they bring their music to the masses one gig at a time. “Our goal has always been to connect with our audiences,” George insists. “Our music is honest and organic, and we deliberately avoid pretense. We may seem like a ragtag bunch, but there’s a passion, purpose and sincerity that underscores everything we do, and hopefully that’s apparent even the first time you hear us play.”The group can further be described as a country, southern rock and folk band, owing as much to Waylon and Willie as they do modern archetypes such as Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson. Hailing from Aiken, South Carolina, the Kenny George Band has created an indelible impression with fans throughout the Southeast and Midwest. They’ve traveled the highways and byways between North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Missouri, reconnecting with their fervent followers and picking up new fans along the way.
OUTPOST: Stone Jack Ballers
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINE Stone Jack Ballers are Spiro Nicolopolous (guitar, vocals), Paul DeCirce (drums, vocals), Jack Mascari (guitar), Bryan Solleveld (keys, vocals), Eric Swanson (bass guitar, vocals) and Keith Held (percussion). Dirty Dead melds with local rockers for the FINAL WORD in Grateful Dead inspired music. This is their first official show with their new name, having previously appeared as “Dirty Dead & Friends” their sound and show is now fully realized!
Austin Meade
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLYAUSTIN MEADE On Black Sheep, Austin Meade delivers songs and stories that, like the young singer/guitarist himself, are contradictory yet cohesive. His influences—musical and otherwise—are as varied and rich as the small-town Texas soil that nurtured his talent, yielding 12 stellar songs ranging from the insinuating multi-layered musicality and storytelling of “Déjà Vu” to the dark alt-pop of “Happier Alone,” and on further to the new-age, Sabbath-inspired “Dopamine Drop.” Thanks to his metal- and classic-rock loving dad, Meade got to see bands like Judas Priest and worshipped Whitesnake. In junior high he related to the intense emo-rock of Paramore and Fall Out Boy, and the power of songwriters like John Mayer. Yet, thanks to plainspoken but deep heartland songwriters like Tom Petty, and cutting his teeth touring in the Texas and Oklahoma Red Dirt scene, Meade’s music overflows with wide-open soulfulness. He was a drummer for years, even teaching to pay the bills, but Meade found his true voice when he began playing guitar as a teen in his pastor-father’s church. Those experiences lend both a gravitas and rebelliousness to Meade’s songs and self. The songs on Black Sheep, produced by Taylor Kimball (Koe Wetzel, Read Southall, Kody West) are instantly memorable, but far from simplistic. Meade challenges the status quo, both musically and lyrically. “I like to question those standard math formulas,” he explains. “What if we just add two more lines and make somebody feel uncomfortable here,’ because the song itself is about being uncomfortable?” And within a song—and video—like “Déjà Vu,” Meade explores the cyclical, Groundhog Day-like nature of a month—or lifetime—of Sundays. Throughout school, “I was one of the weird kids who actually liked writing class. I would describe ridiculous stuff, and in elementary school I was a Harry Potter nerd. I’d get lost in those books,” he remembers. Soon, though, records became his new sanctuary. “I started to hear songwriters that were telling stories in three to five minutes; concepts and ideas that were not only spanning just that one song. One of my favorite lyricists is Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys; the way he describes things, you can almost touch it or smell it.” Likewise, on Black Sheep, Meade’s vivid descriptions are palpable and immersive. They paint a picture the listener can step into, like taking a journey through “two-lane highways and speed-trap towns” that Meade traverses in “Déjà Vu.” “That’s my goal,” he explains. “To make people feel like they’re in the room with the stories in my songs; they’re within that experience.” Meade’s carefully crafted songs manage to be profound and provocative, sonically suited for both dive bars and arenas. From the seismic guitars and painfully honest lyrics of a song like “Dopamine Drop” to the mournful, lilting nostalgia and hard reality of “Settle Down” and on through the fantasy of “handwritten letters, candle-wax seal, Midwest American feel” in “Cave In,” it is clear Meade’s ambitions and dreams are weighty.THE JARED STOUT BAND
OUTPOST: Matthew Curry
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINECurry is an original roots rock singer/songwriter from Bloomington, Illinois, who is well- known for his incredible guitar-playing abilities. This talent has earned him opening touring slots with The Doobie Brothers, Peter Frampton, Steve Miller Band, Journey and more. He has played at nationally-renowned places, festivals and even on a cruise, which featured rock ‘n’ roll legends, such as Gregg Allman, Marshall Tucker, America and many more. Whether he is playing at the Troubadour in LA, Maxwell’s in New Jersey, The Ride Festival in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, or the Hogs Breath Saloon in Key West, Florida, Curry does not disappoint his audience. Fans have traveled great distances to follow and see him live. Curry’s music appeals to a broad spectrum as he has built a multi- generational audience, evident at his shows. Fans are drawn to and connect with his music and lyrics. His songs draw from personal inspirations, incorporating elements of rock, blues, southern rock, and old school country
Rock Academy – Hindsight Is 2023 Tour
-ALL AGES-STANDING ROOM ONLY- TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOORRock Academy students perform rock songs of various genres, including blues, classic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, punk, and more.
OUTPOST: Carpal Tullar
– ALL AGES- STANDING ROOM ONLY- RAIN OR SHINE Carpal Tullar is the name of both the recording project of Asheville-based Chris Tullar, who has been recording his original music for over 20 years, and the band who plays Carpal Tullar tunes live (with some cover songs added to the mix). The music is infectious, lyrically witty, upbeat rock, and spattered with influences from the greats of the 1960s and 70s. The live band is comprised of Chris on vocals, keys and guitar, Dave Baker on harmony vocals, guitar, and keys, Rob Heyer on bass, and John McKinney on drums, and they have been playing together as Carpal Tullar since 2015.
