July

Musique Automatique

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Musique Automatique is back.  Last summer’s Musique Automatique showcased a successful eleven-night, forty-plus-band local rock residency at the New French Bar.  Each night featured a collage of different local music genres. This year’s highly anticipated Musique Automatique will be a multiple venue, four day music showcase from July 9th through the 12th.

We all know that Asheville has an incredible music scene. The more that we as a production company became involved locally, the more we realized that although our community has many wonderful and very talented bands of all genres, there was no exclusive outlet for all of the amazing rock ‘n roll being created around our town. There are creeks, but we are creating a river. This became our quest, our pursuit of local rock ‘n roll as a reality. We really believe that Western North Carolina has the potential to turn the sleepy head of America towards our extremely talented and flourishing local rock scene, and Musique Automatique is at the forefront of this awakening.

This year’s Musique Automatique will promote Asheville’s community of business and art. Our showcase will bring local musicians and artists together to celebrate their passions.  Throughout the four days, Musique Automatique will include thirty four hand-picked local/regional bands and performance/visual artists at two different venues per night, with transportation provided by LaZoom on the 11th and 12th of July, from downtown to West Asheville.

Musique Automatique Website

Del McCoury Band

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Delano Floyd McCoury was born in Bakersville, North Carolina on February 1, 1939. At an early age, the McCoury family relocated north, just above the Mason-Dixon Line in York County, Pennsylvania. It was his older brother G.C. who introduced the young Del to bluegrass through the music of Flatt and Scruggs. "I learned to play music from my older brother, and we always listened to the Grand Ole Opry. In 1950, he bought some 78 RPMs, and one of them was Flatt and Scruggs. When I heard them playing 'Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms,' I just couldn't leave that record alone…I wore it out!" Del was so impressed by bluegrass music that he decided to take up the banjo. Although members of the extended McCoury family were versed in old-time music and clawhammer style, finding pickers familiar with the then-new Scruggs style proved more difficult. "Not many people played banjo like Scruggs. I didn't know anyone who played three-finger style, so I had to learn from records."

Live performance of "1952 Vincent Black Lightning"

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Eliza Lynn, Kellin Watson & Peggy Ratusz

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Eliza - voted best singer/songwriter in the 2007 and 2006 Asheville Mountain Xpress Reader's Poll - released her debut CD, Frisky or Fair, in 2005 to critical acclaim. It showcases Eliza's "near-perfect blend of honesty and integrity in songwriting... music that envelops you like wisps of smoke." (The Beat, SC) Eliza plays clawhammer banjo and Piedmont blues guitar influenced by respected blues guitarist John Cephas. "The Weary Wake Up", released in October of 2007, has spread Eliza’s music even further and has received wonderful encouragement from her musically rich community. "Asheville is incredible," says Miss Lynn, "there is music everywhere, from pop to jazz to bluegrass and old-time to hip-hop to world music and fusions of all of these." This diverse mix of music greatly influenced her new release, but perhaps her greatest influence to the direction of the album came from local producers Danny Kadar (My Morning Jacket, The Avett Brothers) and Mike Alexander.

Kellin has been playing music and writing songs for the past 12 years. Releasing her first demo album, Little Things in 1998, Kellin got her first taste of recording in a studio. Since then, she released her debut solo inde album, Paper Bird, in December 2003, at 22. After touring the east coast, Kellin recorded her second album with her band in 2005, Kellin Watson Band LIVE, Red Flag. Proving to be a fan favorite, Kellin decided to head back into the studio in 2007. Her latest album, No Static was recorded at Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville NC this past year. More recently, Kellin has been lucky enough to appear on a couple different television shows. Studio South (www.studiosouth.tv) shot for HDTV. As well as a show for CMT called Big Break, in which Kellin Watson made her first nationwide television debut on August 4th 2007. Kellin was chosen as one of the top 2 finalists out of the top 40 contestants from western NC to compete to open for Sara Evans at The Thomas Wolfe Aud. Kellin's latest album, No Static includes an array of talented musicians. The album inclues a song written by Grammy Award winning Gordie Sampson called Your Place In this World as well as a few guest appearences from members of Afromotive, Sugarhill recording artists The Duhks, local singer/songwriter Tyler Ramsey, and many others.

We’re called Peggy & Daddy Longlegs. We’ve been pleasing Asheville and the surrounding area’s audiences for almost 4 years, performing at clubs, pubs, music halls, benefits, festivals and private events. One of the featured guitar players in the band is world renowned jam master, Mike Barnes. And when Mike is on the road with Gregg Allman, the young and tasty, talented and handsome, Duane Simpson plays guitar. Bass playin’ Daddy, who’s as solid and as funky and creative as they come, is Mike Rothacker. Wayne Cox is also a bass player extraordinaire who started out with the band and still graces the stage as a LongLegged Daddy sometimes. Drummer, Casey Dean is every bass players dream, on drums. Russ Wilson from Russ Wilson and his Mighty Men, is a drummer who keeps people dancing and who fills in from time to time as well. These are all seasoned musicians who very obviously have fun, who very obviously have huge talent and who very obviously tease, please and bring you to your knees at every performance. The result takes the listener and the dancer down propellant, eclectic paths.

Eliza Lynn WebsiteKellin Watson WebsitePeggy Ratusz Website

Alejandro Escovedo

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This June, Alejandro Escovedo will release his 9th solo album Real Animal. Produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T.Rex, Thin Lizzy), Real Animal is a collective journey through Escovedo’s various musical incarnations from punk rock to string quintets and is as introspective as it is retrospective. Recalling the people, places and influences that helped shape his career, Real Animal represents the primitive aspect of Escovedo’s music - the instinct, the urgency and a survivor mentality that fuels his musical passion. Escovedo was a founding member of the pioneering San Francisco-based punk band The Nuns in the mid-70’s. In the early 1980’s he moved to New York City, where he joined forces with fellow Bay Area punk scene veterans Chip and Tony Kinman in Rank & File, a band that forged the early 1980s country-punk sound that later became known as alternative country. After Rank & File relocated to Austin, Texas, Escovedo left the band and formed True Believers with his brother Javier. The critically acclaimed group disbanded in the late 1980s.

Alejandro Escovedo & Bruce Springsteen performing "Always A Friend"

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Tuesday's Gone - A Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd

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We are a Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute band from Raleigh, NC. Skynyrd broke through American culture in a huge way back in the 1970's, and wrote some of the most timeless music you could ever hope to hear. We thrive on bringing that music into the 21st century with as much passion as they had when it was first written, and with the same rawness, and power that has remained trapped in those songs until the end of time. Lynyrd Skynyrd was, and will always be, the greatest American rock band of all time, and we do our absolute best to reflect that in each and every Tuesday's Gone performance. Because of our endless devotion to every minor detail involved in bringing a true sense of genuine authenticity to the stage, any real Lynyrd Skynyrd fan should do themselves the favor of putting a Tuesday's Gone show on their calendar in the near future....it's definitely something you won't want to miss, and won't soon forget!

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Local Metal Showcase II

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Beer specials from Pisgah Brewing.

The Nels Cline Singers

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Nels Cline (of Wilco) is one of the most versatile, imaginative and original guitarists active today. Combining breathtaking technique with an informed musical intelligence, Cline displays a mastery of guitar expression that encompasses delicate lyricism, sonic abstractions, and skull-crunching flights of fancy, inspiring Jazz Times to call him, “The World’s Most Dangerous Guitarist.” In addition to The Nels Cline Singers, his current projects include a 6-piece ensemble called Destroy All Nels Cline, The Inkling quartet with bassist Mark Dresser, drummer Billy Mintz and harpist Zeena Parkins; and an improvising acoustic guitar trio with Rod Poole and Jim McAuley. Nels especially enjoys collaborating with other musicians a duo format.

Nels Cline Singers - Cause For Concern

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Daughtry

SOLD OUT

Old 97's

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Some bands blast out of the gate and never recapture their early energy. Other bands establish themselves as models of consistency. Still other bands take a while to find themselves. And then there are bands like the Old 97's, who blast out of the gate, establish themselves as models of consistency, take a while to find themselves, and then, fifteen years in, deliver a glorious record that sums up everything about them that fans have always loved. With Blame It On Gravity, the seventh Old 97's record and the second for New West, the band has made its definitive statement. "It's really exciting," says Rhett Miller, the band's lead singer and songwriter. "I read an interview with Randy Newman where he said that if your work is as good at 50 as it was at 20, you've won the battle. We're nowhere near fifty, but I feel like this collection of songs is the best we've ever done. And I LOVED our earlier albums."

Music video for "Dance With Me" from their new record "Blame It On Gravity"

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Corey Smith

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Corey Smith is obviously connecting with his audience, but it’s not marketing savvy that sells, it’s the music, and that’s where he truly shines. The Georgia native melds country, rock and blues into a sound that is all his own. That distinctive musical flair combined with Smith’s pensive, well-crafted lyrics and soulful Southern voice has earned him an enthusiastic legion of fans. “I think it’s a little of everything,” says Smith in describing his innovative style. “We don’t live in cultural bubbles anymore. We’re all exposed to many different types of music through TV, radio, and now especially the internet. I like to think my songs reflect the variety of musical styles that have impacted my life in Georgia. Gospel, country, blues, rock, hip-hop – strands of all these are there.” That diversity is especially evident on his newest project, Hard-Headed Fool. “The songs on it are very different from one another production-wise. I tried to incorporate a larger cross-section of my musical influences into this record, while addressing common themes, lyrically, to glue the songs together.”

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Amos Lee

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Singer/songwriter Amos Lee draws inspiration from such soul and folk artists of the '70s as Bill Withers, John Prine, Neil Young, and James Taylor. The Philadelphia native first became serious about performing while attending the University of South Carolina during the mid-'90s. After graduating, the English major taught elementary school before deciding to pursue a music career full-time. A period of waiting tables and bartending followed as Lee honed his songwriting skills. Eventually, he landed some high-profile opening-slot gigs including an extended tour with pianist/vocalist Norah Jones. He released his eponymous debut album on Blue Note in 2005. Supply And Demand followed in 2006.

Music video for "Shout Out Loud"

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She & Him

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She & Him is a story of musical serendipity: Two artists, each renowned in their own creative fields, meet and recognize a certain shared nostalgia. The result is destined to be one of the musical highlights of the year.

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward first met to record a version of Richard and Linda Thompson’s “When I Get To The Border” for a movie soundtrack. Immediately struck by one another’s talents and finding an instant rapport, Zooey let slip that she wrote her own songs which she recorded alone at home on her computer. Somewhat shy about anyone hearing these musical morsels she eventually sent the demos to Matt who was instantly impressed. They soon reconvened at his Portland studio to begin work.

Embracing the warm sound of early analog recordings, Volume 1 is more than just a showcase for Zooey’s rich and endearing voice; it’s a distinctive and endlessly charming album. The songs themselves give a respectful nod to the likes of Dusty Springfield, Linda Ronstadt and The Zombies while Matt’s production gives them just the right amount of golden era sheen. Whether Zooey’s channeling Ronnie Spector as on “I Was Made For You” or joining Matt in turning The Beatles “I Should Have Known Better” into a seductive hula guitar duet, the results are always captivating.

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward (as She & Him) performing "Change Is Hard" on Craig Ferguson.

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