What to do in Asheville this weekend?
Monday, September 6th, 2010Sept. 10, 2010 The great majority of artists spend their formative years, if not their entire careers, working to shake off the gravitational pull of their predecessors, and the many masters and masterpieces that came before them. Rare indeed is the artist who outgrows their early influences, and instead become one of the markers by which other groups are measured. Almost alone among bands of the last two decades, Tortoise is a group that resists easy metaphors and analogies, who can be described as sounding like only themselves and no one else. Twenty years after its founding, the band’s signature and singularly inimitable sound-a fluid intersection of dub, dance, jazz, techno, rock, and classical minimalism, with no part overwhelming or dominating the whole-remains an American and international original. Even more unusually, they seem to have arrived at their sound with almost no apprenticeship to speak of; to judge from their early singles and albums alone, they seem to have come into being with their musical identity and DNA fully formed, like Athena from the forehead of Zeus. Further, while the group has spawned countless imitators, heirs, and followers-sincere, flattering, and otherwise-Tortoise remains unique in the world of contemporary music for their boundless intellectual curiosity, their unmistakable compositional voice, and their synthesis of seemingly contradictory sound worlds far from their doorstep. Tortoise at the Peel
Sept. 11, 2010 Summer has come to an end along a peaceful southern Appalachian valley as we prepare to slip our Old Town canoes into the water. Standing along the riverbank you can feel a cool autumn breeze caressing your cheek as the river beckons you to come and discover its natural beauty. Gazing up, the sky is spotted with white puffy clouds camouflaging the crisp Carolina blue, a color so common in the fall. The rustle of fall leaves cheerfully swirls through the air and softly lands on the river before the gentle current carries them off. Nature is preparing to settle in for a long winters nap and offers a magnificent array of colors strewn across a larger-than-life canvas. Experience the fall leaf season from the rivers point of view! This 3 hour guided canoe trip by Headwaters Outfitters will take you down the valley with the explosion of fall color for your entertainment!
Sept. 12th, 2010 Dark Star Orchestra’s shows are built off the extensive catalog of the Grateful Dead. On any given night the band will perform a show based on a set list from the Grateful Dead’s 30 years of extensive touring or use the catalog of original songs and often played covers to create a unique set list for the show. This allows music fans both young and old to share in the experience. Dark Star Orchestra presents its critically acclaimed live show at esteemed venues from coast to coast and internationally. Grateful Dead classics are performed in the same way that an orchestra interprets music of classical composers. The composer spirit is derived and channeled as the players capture the excitement and innovation of the original performances and compositions. Touring nationwide for eleven years to the tune of over 1700 shows since forming, the band’s determined commitment to “raising the Dead” has drawn national media attention. The Orange Peel
