It is no secret that Asheville, North Carolina continues to be a vibrant city for music. Whether its street buskers or in lively venues like the Grey Eagle, The Orange Peel, Salvation Station, Jack of the Wood and Asheville Music Hall, Asheville has long been a mecca for musicians – particularly bluegrass. There’s a reason Asheville and the surrounding areas play host to such
A celebration of the traditional mountain music and dance of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Shindig on the Green is a free, outdoor mountain bluegrass music and dance festival that takes place throughout the summer months in the heart of downtown Asheville at Pack Square Park. The Shindigs are on most Saturdays from late June through late August each year. The performances begin at about 7
Every Friday night in the rounded outdoor amphitheater of downtown's Pritchard Park people join together to play thundering sounds on the drums, dance to the powerful rhythms, or just sit back and enjoy the show of individuality and diverse community. The Drum Circle is a free event all about creating harmony, both in music and with one another. The weekly ritual draws hundreds of people
Asheville native takes soul-pop sound from the sidewalks to the main stage Performing on the street in downtown Asheville’s Pack Square Park one day in 2011, Leeda “Lyric” Jones caught the attention of someone she never could have imagined. “I saw her and turned to my dad and said, ‘That’s Lizz Wright!'" Jones said. Wright, an internationally-known
The Asheville Symphony Orchestra Sends A Musical Love Letter From Asheville To The World Asheville’s music scene is taking center stage in an innovative new album, which was released in May 2016. The Asheville Symphony Orchestra (ASO), along with some of Western North Carolina’s most beloved musicians including Steep Canyon Rangers, Shannon Whitworth, and Rising Appalachia collaborated
Dinner and dancing are not mutually exclusive in Asheville. Many of our music halls double as a restaurant, or offer ways to nosh before catching a show. If you’re looking for the best all-in-one spots for your night on the town, then check out one of these top-notch venues. Grey Eagle One of the old vanguards of the Asheville venues, the Grey Eagle was a major player in the development of
There are venues, and then there are iconic music halls – those place where stages have been graced by music legends, or in some cases, help made them legends. In Asheville those places are revamped skating rinks, born again movie theaters, and old warehouses turned into temples to rock and roll. If you’re looking to catch a show while in Asheville, then here are the more iconic venues
Music can be found everywhere in Asheville, from large music halls to the streets of downtown. Often times the best concerts are performed in rather unexpected places. Neighborhood dive bars, juke joints and local hot spots regularly play host to some of the best up-and-coming artists. Make plans to catch a show at one of these under-the-radar music venues, and get a glimpse of why
In a city where creativity is a way of life, it’s not surprising that the classics play an integral part of Asheville’s music scene in surprising ways. Take the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, for example. “Asheville is a musical oasis between Nashville and Atlanta,” says David Whitehill, executive director of the Symphony. “We have an ecosystem here that is steeped in
In 1969 David Holt packed up his truck and drove from California to North Carolina. “That was the same summer as Woodstock, and I was going to wood stick,” he jokes. But the Texas-born multi-instrumentalist, who got his start as a jazz and rock drummer, had fallen in love with the banjo. He’d attended a Ralph Stanley concert and asked the bluegrass star where to learn clawhammer,
