Tag: asheville

WATCH: Saro Lynch-Thomason & Sam Gleaves, “1920”

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Artist: Saro Lynch-Thomason & Sam Gleaves
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “1920”
Album: I Have Known Women
Release Date: May 1, 2020
Label: Strictly Country Records

In Their Words: “This song was written to keep us mindful of the strong herstory of resisting oppression in the U.S. and to celebrate the centennial of the ratification of the 19th amendment. As this song states, ‘So much has changed. So much remains.’ There is much more work to be done before all U.S. residents are welcomed to participate in the democratic process. We hope that this song will serve as a reminder of the many generations of inspiring women who have brought us to this point in time, and inspire those in the present to keep fighting for justice and representation.” — Saro-Lynch Thomason and Sam Gleaves

Photo credit: Ben Bateson

LISTEN: Fireside Collective, “Bring It on Home”

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Artist: Fireside Collective
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Bring It On Home”
Album: Elements
Release Date: March 20, 2020
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “We love all genres, especially funk. Getting to show that side of our band is always fun and a nice break from bluegrass, which we also love. Carson and Jesse worked a lot on getting the bass line as groovy as possible and I think they succeeded in making this one extra funky!” — Tommy Maher, dobro

“‘Bring It On Home’ is a great example of what can be done with bluegrass instruments outside of the bluegrass groove. The song begins with a unison riff before branching out into a funky groove with tight harmonies and tasty fills and solos to match. While it doesn’t land in the bluegrass groove, this song is a great example of where the genre is heading.” — Alex Genova, banjo

Photo credit: Heather Hambor

The String – Music City Postcard: Asheville, NC

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Episode 121 of The String is a field trip to Asheville, NC, which Rolling Stone last year touted as one of the best music scenes in the country.


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Those of us who visit Western North Carolina regularly already knew that fact, and this week’s show surveys the talent and the institutions making the region important in roots music and beyond. Features: Amanda Anne Platt of the Honeycutters, Echo Mountain Studio, WNCW radio, Crossroads Music, Sarah Siskind, Morgan Geer and more.

Photo credit: @CarShowShooter on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

WATCH: Brew Davis, “Another Scarecrow Learning How to Fly”

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Artist: Brew Davis
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Another Scarecrow Learning How to Fly”
Album: Another Scarecrow Learning How to Fly
Release Date: February 28, 2020
Label: Hellbender Records

In Their Words: “This song is about transcendence and trying to get beyond the ruts we get stuck in, especially in ‘middle age,’ which is where I find myself these days. The opening line came to me in church, actually, and the verses just flowed out from there. I wrote the chorus later but it was clear to me what I wanted to say about life — how we get tempted by the stuff the world tells us is important when really the most important things are the people and things (i.e., music) that we love and that make us happy. One fun tidbit is that the shirt I’m wearing was my granddad’s. He died several years ago at 93 and is one of the ones I talk about in the chorus who’s ‘calling to me from the other side.'” — Brew Davis

Photo credit: Andrew Kornylak, FourMile Media

BGS 5+5: Tall Tall Trees

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Artist: Tall Tall Trees
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Latest album: A Wave of Golden Things
Release Date: January 31, 2020
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): TTT, Trips T

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

In sixth grade band our music teacher Mr. Hangley, who was the sweetest, most enthusiastic, rosy-cheeked band leader, switched me from alto to baritone saxophone. One day we were playing one of his favorite John Philip Sousa marches, and at the very end, I improvised a little bass riff and everyone including Mr. Hangley turned around in surprise. Something immediately clicked in my brain and I was totally hooked. Thank you public school music teachers everywhere.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

The song “A Wave of Golden Things,” which ended up being the title track, is the oldest song on my new record. It was written on an out-of-tune piano in my Harlem apartment back in 2012 on the afternoon of the Sandy Hook school shooting. I was so overcome with profound sadness, the song just came pouring out of me. I made a quick recording of it on my old tape machine and couldn’t bring myself to listen to it for a long time. I was scared of it for some reason. After all the years, and so many school shootings later, I felt it was time to let it go, and it became the underlying spiritual theme for this album.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

Growing up in the suburbs of NYC, I always dreamed of living in “the city,” with all its excitement and electric energy. Moving there in my early twenties was the best decision I could have made. It’s impossible to not be inspired there, with its never-ending parade of random insanity and so much high-level art and music. I was involved in so many different projects during the fifteen years I lived there, and really got to understand what moved me, and what didn’t. New York City shaped who I am today artistically.

Still, while living there, I began fantasizing about nature and a quieter life, and after some extended retreats in the South, I landed in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. It’s an incredible place, steeped in banjo music and history and I’m really just getting my feet wet in the scene. I love being only an hour away from the towns where Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson came up. I have found myself unplugging my banjo more (haha, I know weird) and spending more time working it out on the porch. Living in the mountains has definitely had a positive effect on my psyche and the music of A Wave of Golden Things.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I have spent so many of the best nights of my life on stage, it’s pretty impossible to have a favorite. One particular night does comes to mind. I was touring solo through Europe, just me, a manual VW hatchback, and an intermittent GPS. I was scheduled to play an early evening set at a music festival in Austria and had a seven-hour drive, which magically turned into ten hours. I arrived minutes before my show, set up on this beautiful lakeside stage and started to play.

Three songs in, the sky opened up and sheets of rain sent the entire audience running for shelter, with many ending up on stage under the tent huddled around me. The wind knocked out the stage lighting and I finished out my set in the dark, lit up only by the LEDs in my banjo. The people were soaked, dancing and having so much fun. Such a magic moment for me. Afterwards, I smoked a j with Nada Surf. Pretty damn good time.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

I have been obsessed with books, art, and music for my entire life. Everything else has pretty much been secondary. In recent years, I’ve discovered graphic novels and I’ve been blazing through everything by Neil Gaiman, especially the infinitely brilliant Sandman series, and also the work of super genius wizard Alan Moore. I am in total awe of the worlds they create and the stories they bring to life within those worlds. I so want to write music that does that.

I am also very deep into spiritual thinkers, people like Alan Watts, Terence McKenna, and the recently-passed Ram Dass. I have spent countless hours of my life listening to, or reading, their teachings and can’t help but assume they have informed my writing and worldview.

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

BGS 5+5: Christopher Paul Stelling

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Artist: Christopher Paul Stelling
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina (lately)
Latest album: Best of Luck (February 7, 2020 on Anti-)
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Chris, CP, CPS, CP Stelling, Dude

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Proposing to my partner Julia at the end of my Newport Folk Fest set in 2015, that was wild. So much love at NPFF.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

I really rely on the other art forms sometimes more than music for my inspiration, so I’m glad you asked… all of the above, really. I try to read as much as possible. I see all creative pursuits as having more in common than not.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

I have rituals when I write. Less so in the studio or before a show, but since writing is what takes me to the studio or the show, I think it’s fair to answer this way… I just make myself available, try to turn off my defenses, try to be honest, and try to listen. It’s a feeling, the process, it’s less methodical than maybe one might expect, but for me I just try to show up, be honest, play my instrument, and sing words improvisationally, and then work those raw materials into something when I find a thread. I’m no expert, but I’m certain that there’s no right or wrong way to write a song.

If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?

Keep going. I’ve kept going. I just gotta keep going. It’s not always easy. Sometimes it gets really difficult. Sometimes it’s the most natural thing in all the world. I’m so lucky to even be able to make a living at this — that I owe it to my luck to keep it up.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

Typically not characters (with names) per se, but “you” and “me” are almost always interchangeable. I try my best not to hide in songs. I try to find the similarities in things… friends/enemy, good/bad, ugly/beautiful, maybe I’m at odds with duality and concerned with mending differences — I hadn’t really considered that before. Thanks for asking.

Photo credit: Chris Phelps

WATCH: Unspoken Tradition, “Cold Mountain Town”

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Artist: Unspoken Tradition
Hometown: Western North Carolina
Song: “Cold Mountain Town”
Album: Myths We Tell Our Young
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “For the album Myths We Tell Our Young, we explore themes of mountain culture and how it is evolving. There is no better example than Asheville, North Carolina. I’ve lived and played music in this city for over 25 years and watched it change and grow while still holding strong to its rich Appalachian music culture. This song is dedicated to artists that continue to struggle and survive in this ‘Cold Mountain Town.'” — Ty Gilpin, Unspoken Tradition songwriter, mandolin player, and vocalist

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

WATCH: Jon Stickley Trio, “Animate Object”

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Artist: Jon Stickley Trio
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Animate Object”
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “‘Animate Object’ is the trio’s current theme song. At heart, it’s a little flatpicking tune to have fun with, but we’ve rhythmically turned it on its head like we like to do. This video was shot in three different locations with deep significance to us. The World Famous Station Inn represents our love and respect for our bluegrass roots. Spirit of the Suwannee is where our band was born, and where we thankfully return every year to connect with that spirit and experience rebirth under the live oaks. And finally, the [Caverns and] Bluegrass Underground symbolize the deep, introspective dive we’ve taken into ourselves in search of the meaning of our music and where it is coming from. This track is the next step in a never-ending evolutionary journey that is the Jon Stickley Trio.” — Jon Stickley

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

The Shift List – Katie Button (Cúrate) – Asheville, N.C.

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Katie Button is at the helm of two restaurants in Asheville, North Carolina: the lively and authentic Spanish experience at the acclaimed tapas restaurant Cúrate, as well as Button & Co. Bagels, influenced by Katie’s upbringing in New Jersey.

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Chef Katie Button took a winding road to open her restaurants in Asheville, first pursuing science degrees at Cornell and earning her master’s degree in biomedical engineering in Paris. Realizing that a life in science wasn’t for her, she changed course to the culinary field, starting as a server at one of José Andrés’ restaurants in Washington, D.C. She volunteered on her days off to work at his avant-garde restaurant minibar to help prep in the kitchen, since she didn’t have any professional cooking experience.

Being in the kitchen made her realize that it was the place she wanted to be most, so from there, she got a position as an intern in the pastry kitchen at New York’s Jean-Georges. After that, she moved to LA to work at The Bazaar by José Andrés, and that following summer, she landed a position in the pastry kitchen at El Bulli, Chef Ferran and Albert Adria’s legendary three-Michelin star restaurant in Spain.

It was there that she met her husband Felix, and together they moved to Asheville to open a restaurant with her parents, where they eventually opened Cúrate in 2011. The classic Spanish tapas restaurant received instant attention and accolades, from mentions in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times t0 earning status as a nominee for the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef award in 2014, a semi-finalist for Best Chefs in America in 2015, and a nominee for Best Chef Southeast 2018 and 2019.

In this episode, Chef Katie admits that when she’s expediting dishes, she really doesn’t hear much going on around her, underscoring her intense focus while working the line. But when she’s prepping for a shift, her staff has been surprised to learn that underground indie rock from the mid to late 90s is her go too – think “The Moon & Antarctica” by Modest Mouse, Archers of Loaf, and Built to Spill.

Katie Button’s Shift List 
Jason Durulo – “Want To Want Me”
Beyoncé – “Run The World”
Wilson Phillips – “Hold On”
Soul Coughing – “Super Bon Bon”
Modest Mouse – “Trailer Trash”
The Rolling Stones – “Honky Tonk Women”

The Shift List – Ashleigh Shanti (Benne on Eagle) – Asheville, N.C.

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

This week, our guest is Ashleigh Shanti, Chef de Cuisine of Benne on Eagle in Asheville, North Carolina.

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Benne on Eagle is located on Eagle Street in a historic Asheville neighborhood called The Block. Shanti describes Benne on Eagle’s fare as Appalachian soul food. She works closely with Chef John Fleer, who’s best known around Asheville for his acclaimed restaurant Rhubarb and its sister cafe/bakery, The Rhu. The menu at Benne on Eagle pays homage to the rich African American culinary traditions that once thrived in The Block, as well as honoring Shanti’s own history as a Southern, African American woman.

The restaurant opened in late 2018, and it’s captured the attention of numerous media outlets, landing an Shanti-centered feature in the New York Times as one of the 16 black chefs changing food in America. Benne on Eagle has also been listed on Bon Appetit’s the Hot 10: America’s Best New Restaurants 2019.

Now 29 years old, Shanti traveled across the US on a six-month sabbatical before landing in Asheville after being tapped by John Fleer, and as that story in the Times reported, she decided that her next step as a chef needed to fulfill a critical desire to “[cook] food that celebrated her heritage as a black woman from the South and rebuffed assumptions about what that food could be.”

And if she wasn’t running the kitchen at Benne On Eagle or didn’t have any culinary skills, Ashleigh professes that being a rapper would be her dream job. She even writes a bit here and there, like the time Chef Carla Hall stopped by the restaurant for a visit and Ashleigh presented an original rap in her honor.

Ashleigh Shanti’s Shift List
A Tribe Called Quest – “Check The Rhime”
Nina Simone – “My Baby Just Cares For Me”
Megan Thee Stalion – “Big Drank”
Wynton Marsalis – “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South”
ODESZA – “Late Night”
Kendrick Lamar – “DNA”
Lauren Hill – “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
The Neptunes – “Frontin’ (Feat. Jay Z)”

Heading to Asheville, NC? Reserve a Table at Benne On Eagle here.