Downtown Asheville Blog

Feb. 25th, 2010 The National Truffle Fest (NTF) is a unique experience dedicated to celebrate and promote the growing truffle industry in the United States. Our focus is on the black, French “Perigord” truffle that is now produced domestically; however, we do try to incorporate other truffle varieties as well. The Frankie Lemmon Foundation provides much needed assistance – ensuring the availability of therapeutic, specialized education for children, ages 3 to 6, who have developmental delays, language impairments, learning disabilities or mental retardation. All proceeds generated from the 2010 National Truffle Fest be given to the Frankie Lemmon Foundation. This decadent weekend takes place in the rustic beauty of the Grand Bohemian Hotel and pairs some of Asheville’s most highly-acclaimed restaurants with outstanding winemakers for a weekend of unforgettable dining. Guests will indulge in samplings of the French Perigord truffle, rub shoulders with award-winning chefs, enjoy exquisite wines, cooking demonstrations and even a truffle-dog hunting course.

Feb. 26th, 2010 At the vanguard of a new progressive style, the New Deal has become a live touring phenomenon. They have appeared at Bonnaroo, Langerado, Jazz Fest New Orleans, the Coachella Festival, Street Scene in San Diego, Berkfest, Gathering of the Vibes, Camp Bisco, and the Detroit Electronic Music Festival to name just a few. They have headlined over 400 shows in the past 4 years. the New Deal inspires audiences of all kinds, from packed dance clubs across North America, to spellbound receptions during opening tours with Herbie Hancock and Page McConnell from Phish. The Orange Peel

Feb. 27th, 2010 For a stalwart young artist who creates different means to an end, Ben Sollee has enjoyed a whirlwind year replete with remarkable success and warm, exciting music to match. Sollee hails from Kentucky, yet sounds nothing like the colloquial music one traditionally associates with the state (or anywhere else for that matter). He eschews traditional singer-songwriter and folk boundaries, choosing a cello rather than a guitar as his divining rod, and utilizing unique plucking and percussive bow techniques juxtaposed against his blue-eyed soul meets Antony Hegarty vocal leanings. Ben enjoys collaborating with musicians as disparate as Otis Taylor and Bela Fleck, touring with indie rock royalty, and covering Sam Cooke as an homage to blues. When he ventures out of Louisville, sometimes he’ll just strap this cello to his back and ride his bike rather than enjoy the comforts of a van or bus, as he did on his southern trek in the summer of 2009 — playing intimate shows in every town he hits between his larger headlining performances. Yes, Ben’s always done things a bit differently. The Orange Peel

Feb. 28th, 2010 The Southside Café will present a multi-course dinner with wines provided by the Weinhaus. This is always one of our most popular dinners so get your reservations soon!

Feb. 19th, 2010 Music critics who have witnessed the eye-popping spectacle that is a Cage the Elephant live performance have likened the band’s singer to many things, among them “a demented Bible Belt preacher,” “a Tasmanian devil whooping and jumping up and down like a frenzied gibbon.” And that’s just frontman Matt Shultz. The verdict? “Exhilarating, 100 mph stuff,” raved British indie music bible NME about one of the group’s UK gigs last fall. Cage the Elephant’s raucous live show — which made this red-hot Kentucky-bred band the talk of this year’s South-by-Southwest music festival, and led USA Today to single them out as a band not to miss at 2009’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival — is the perfect showcase for their buzzed-about self-titled debut album for Jive Records. Recorded over 10 days with Grammy Award-winning producer Jay Joyce, and a Top 40 hit when it was released on British indie label Relentless in the U.K. last June, the album is a genre-defying blend of rock n roll and raw youthful punk energy all propelled by Matt’s taunting, Dylan-esque rhythmic vocal delivery, Brad Shultz and Lincoln Parish’s furious twin guitar assault, and bassist Daniel Tichenor and drummer Jared Champion’s rock-steady funk grooves. The Orange Peel

Feb. 20th, 2010 The North Mississippi Allstars were founded in 1996; a product of a special time for modern Mississippi country blues. RL Burnside, Jr. Kimbrough, Otha Turner and their musical families were at their peak; touring the world, making classic records and doing the all-night boogie at Jr’s Juke Joint and Otha’s BBQ Goat picnics — the music and the culture rich as the black Mississippi dirt. Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson soaked up the music of their father, Jim Dickinson, and absorbed the North Mississippi Blues legacy while playing and shaking it down at the juke joints with their blues ancestors. Luther (guitar and vocals) and Cody (drums and vocals) joined up with bassist Chris Chew to form the core of their own band, The North Mississippi Allstars. Through the filter of generations of Mississippi Blues men, the Allstars pioneered their own blues-infused rock and roll and continue to do so. The Orange PeelComed

Feb. 21st. 2010 Charlie Flynn-McIver and Scott Treadway play a pair of estranged brothers who converge on their mother’s suburban home one sweltering summer weekend. One is an upstanding screenwriter, the other a petty thug – but which is which? This brilliant and dangerous comedy launched the careers of John Malkovich and Gary Sinise and established Sam Shepard as a master of American theatre. “Shepard’s masterwork…. It tells us a truth, as glimpsed by a 37 year old genius.” — New York Post  www.ncstage.org

Feb. 11th, 2010 A mantis is an insect with an exceptional range of vision. “Mantis” is the Greek word for prophet. And Mantis is the epic new album by Midwestern monsters of improvised rock, Umphrey’s McGee. Consisting of Brendan Bayliss (guitar, vocals), Jake Cinninger (guitar, synthesizers, vocals), Joel Cummins (keyboards, vocals), Andy Farag (percussion), Kris Myers (drums, vocals), and Ryan Stasik (bass), Umphrey’s McGee enters its second decade together with their hardest, darkest, and most artistically cohesive album to date. A long-time-coming labor of love as well as an inspiring affirmation of musical brotherhood, Mantis is Umphrey’s first fully fleshed-out studio statement since 2006’s Safety in Numbers, which was followed by 2007’s odds-and-sods collection The Bottom Half and the double live album Live at Murat. So when Brendan Bayliss sings, “We believe there’s something here worth dying for,” to kick off Mantis’s majestic twelve-minute title track, you should take him at his word. The Orange Peel

Feb. 12th, 2010 From Canada, this classical crossover sensation provides the perfect entertainment to kick off the Valentine’s Weekend. Pop with an opera flair, Destino enthralls by combining the romance of opera with pop, gospel, and soul selections delivered via its award-winning, classically trained professional tenors. Diana Wortham Theatre

Feb. 12th, 2010 The steel pan, an amazing musical discovery born in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad & Tobago, is often times associated with sandy beaches, tropical climates, and cruise ships: that’s not exactly what you get at a show by the jazz-fusion quartet, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. Here you have a classically trained composer turned steel pan maestro (front man Jonathan Scales), heavily influenced by sounds from banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck to rapper Jay-Z, joining forces with a super-solid but sensible Rock & Roll drummer (Ryan Lassiter). Rapid-fire blues guitar (Duane Simpson) and powerfully finessed bass work (Shannon Hoover) hold this concoction together with jazz edge and classical sensibility. Steel pannist and virtuoso composer, Jonathan Scales, formed the ‘Fourchestra’ in 2007 as a means to deliver his musically complex, but somehow assessable, ideas to anyone willing to listen. Since then, Scales has released two well received, full-length works (2007’s One-Track Mind and 2008’s Plot/Scheme) featuring the likes of Jeff Coffin, Joseph Wooten, and Jeff Sipe. Scales’ versatility and innovative nature has allowed him to share the stage with acts like The Wooten Brothers Band, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, The Duhks, Everyone Orchestra, Toubab Krewe, Ben Sollee, and Futureman.

MoDaddy’s
77-B Biltmore Avenue
Asheville , NC 28806

Feb. 13th, 2010 Guerilla Union, producer of Rock The Bells, The Cypress Hill SmokeOut, and Paid Dues Festival, is proud to present the return of the legendary Goodie Mob. Touring for the first time in ten years, Goodie Mob will be backed by a full live band, and performing with all original members: Cee-Lo (from Gnarls Barkley), Big Gipp, Khujo, and T-Mo. Goodie Mob – along with fellow Dungeon Family group Outkast – helped put Atlanta on the map as a Mecca for hip-hop, and introduced southern rap to mainstream America. Also joining the tour is very special guest, B.o.B. Also known under the alias Bobby Ray, this talented new artist has blasted onto the music scene with endless tracks and mix tapes that set to prove B.o.B. is indeed a name to remember. The Orange Peel

Feb. 14th, 2010 Join us for a romantic Valentine’s Day Pianoforte concert featuring the works of Clara and Robert Schumann — one of music’s greatest love stories! Pianists John Cobb and Deborah Belcher will perform, joined by Gwen Roberts reading some of the Schumanns’ writings. Asheville Art Museum

Feb. 5th, 2010 Feb 5 - Mar 1 Annual Art Alumni Exhibit Reception Feb 26 6-8pm 1972-2009 UNC Asheville Art majors show various mediums. Highsmith Union Gallery lower level Highsmith Union UNC Asheville M-F 9-9/Sat 9-6/Sun 12-6 when classes are in session www.unca.edu/highsmith/gallery

Feb. 5th, 2010 Join us in Horizons Dining Room for a very special beer dinner, hosted by Highland Brewing Company founder and owner Oscar Wong. Our reception and four-course menu for the evening features the innovative, classic cuisine Horizons is known for, perfectly paired with beers from this local favorite. We will also be debuting our new beer, co-created with Highland, “GPI’s Great Gatsby Abbey Ale”. Highland Brewing Company is based right here in Asheville and has been consistently ranked as one of the favorite local breweries by Asheville’s MountainXpress. For more than a decade, they have produced a wide variety of ales, from the best-selling Gaelic to the popular winter seasonal, Cold Mountain Ale.

Feb. 6th, 2010 Aquila Theatre presents Shakespeare’s As You Like It, the story of power hungry men exiling their brothers, girls playing guys, and finding love in unexpected places. Diana Wortham Theatre

Feb. 7th, 2010 This film about the inveterate collector and gallery owner Allan Stone allows us a glimpse into the eclectic collections of Stone, as depicted by the director Olympia Stone, his daughter. Matt Zoller Seitz writing for the New York Times said, “Ms. Stone takes her camera through Mr. Stone’s home, so packed with notable items that it might be a secret annex of the Smithsonian.” Held in conjunction with Looking Back: Celebrating 60 Years of Collecting at the Asheville Art Museum and Looking Forward: Celebrating New Art and New Directions for the Permanent Collection.