We start this week’s Listening Party with the Barrel House Mamas, an old-time-leaning folk band with a few decidedly modern twists. The three founding members of the group — Jane Kramer Edens, Molly Rose Reed and Eleanor Underhill — met in 2003 while attending Warren Wilson College. Five years later, and the band has added a trio of additional players — fiddler Anna Baumann-Smith, bassist Sean Lallouz and drummer David Mack — and created a sound that harkens back to older acoustic folk music,

This week, the Listening Party presents three groups suggested by Xpress Forums users. We start this week’s column with local hip-hop crew AxeRats. Due to the rather ambiguous relationship between AxeRats and their regular collaborators (which include local favorites like the Fist Family, the Ville Boyz and DJ Football), it’s hard to sum up the AxeRats sound in a tidy description. It is safe to say, however, that the duo of Richard Blick and Linus Oddnoggin knows how to make a clever track

What better way to break up a week of sullen and cloudy weather than with a band like Knives and Daggers? Of course, I kid — K&D specializes in crafting marvelously gloomy, downcast and melancholy songs. It’s perfect music for staring out into the damp void on the other side of the window, and for reflecting deeply on all the things in life that just aren’t going your way. And, to their credit, the bladed bards of K&D are genuinely great at it. There’s a tangible emotional weight to their

We launch this week’s Listening Party with one of the best-known bands to emerge from Asheville in the last decade: Stephanie’s Id. Although generally referred to as an indie-pop band, their sound is actually far more complex and compelling than that genre label implies. Starting off as a darkly bittersweet piano-bar duo (with Chuck Lichtenberger on keys and Stephanie Morgan singing), the group has since expanded to a full band and become one of the most interesting, experimental and

This week, we press “play” and start the Listening Party with Wilson the Rocker, the brainchild of synth-loving songwriter Evan Hill (perhaps equally known for his work with now-defunct neo-New Wave band Congratulations!). Last year, Wilson The Rocker released Teenage Messiah, a concept album “thematically focused on the transition from teenager to adult.” As you might expect, awkwardness and angst play a major role in the songs, but the album is anything but emo. Instead, it’s a catchy,

This week, we’re kicking off the Listening Party with local Western-leaning, moody-indie-rock act Nevada. The group has come a very long way since their first unstable steps onto the Asheville stage, and spent the better part of their first few years together in the shadow of vocalist Sean Robbins’ brother’s band, Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers. But, with the release of their 2007 debut, The Sunlight and the Sound, Nevada has proven to be the dark horse, seemingly coming out of nowhere to

We start this week’s Listening Party with local progressive reggae and dub act Misgana, a suggestion by Xpress forum user Andy Palast. With lyrics that reliably allude to classic themes —the “sacred ganja tree,” “the path to Mount Zion” and how “in Babylon, a bubble got you all up in your trouble” — there’s not a lot here that one wouldn’t expect to find in the music of a young, rasta-leaning reggae band. Still, the basic structure of the songs is enjoyable, and there’s quite a lot of

We start this week’s Listening Party with the work of Derek “FolknRolln” Astles, a self-described “hardcore” and “folk rock” performer based in Asheville. There’s scant information on his MySpace page, but a quick web search reveals that Astles has quite a history as a cafe-circuit touring perfomer. His songs fall into a somewhat classic folk-oriented vein, but there’s quite a sense of insightful, pop-music savvy craft to his tunes. We suggest starting with the song “The half of you.”

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We start this week’s Listening Party with the Montreat-based rock of Jonathan Ammons & the Electric Ghost Collective. There’s a lot to like in Ammons’ work, walking the line as it does between the genres of moody, gothy emo and moody, bittersweet indie rock. While there are a number of easy comparisions out there — The Smashing Pumpkins and The Black Crowes come to mind on a few tracks — there’s also a great deal of originality to the songs. We suggest starting with either “Reasons Why” or

We start this week’s Listening Party with local “electroacoustic bluegrass” outfit Brushfire Stankgrass. Actually, their music owes more to the likes of Leftover Salmon and Phish than to Bill Monroe or Earl Scruggs, but that’s not to say that they don’t have some honest mountain twang in their music. The group refers to their hybridized form as “stankgrass,” hence the name. We suggest starting with “Banjo In My Spaceship,” available on the group’s MySpace page.

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Starting off this week’s Listening Party, we have local old-time and roots-music band The Queen Anne’s Revenge. Taking their name from Blackbeard’s infamous pirate ship, the group seems to have a clear grasp on their musical inspirations, proudly claiming “roundpeak style old-time music, deep-South old-time, country blues, hokum, maritime music, a dash of Cape Breton and a pinch of archaic early country” as their own. But, the fundamental question is still unanswered: Are they any good? That’s

We begin this week’s Listening Party with the work of Miriam Allen, an acoustic performer with an impressive stylistic range. She turns in lament-filled bluegrass-tinged country on songs like “The Mountains of Mendoza,” and flirts with a number of Spanish folk styles on tracks like “La Despedida” and “Clandestino.” But, it’s the klezmer-meets-bal-musette sound of “Leybedik” that really showcases Allen’s talents. That said, we recommend starting your Miriam Allen experience with “The Mountains

Opening the show this week is local “electrogothic spacerock” group oddSTAR. It’s a rare group that so openly admits their most obvious influences, yet this Asheville-based five-piece seems more than happy to own up to their love for the likes of The Cure, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and New Order. But, does oddSTAR live up to their self description of being “dark yet ethereal, beautiful yet brooding” and “sublime yet urgent”? We’ll let you decide. We suggest starting with the song

This week, we’re starting things off with a suggestion from our Listening Party forum discussion. Local band Gran Dios claims to be a powerpop/post-punk outfit, but their music is actually a bit less straightjacketed that that. Songs like “Hypothesis” border on alt-country, while “Conversations uptight” lean more towards an early grunge sound. Vocalist Christ Connolly has a hint of David Byrne in his voice, so we’ve picked the most Talking Heads-like song, “He’s Got It Made,” to begin your

This week’s Listening Party starts with the solo work of Caroline Pond, best known for her fiddle playing and singing with local all-star bluegrass/swing/novelty outfit Snake Oil Medicine Show. Not surprisingly, Pond’s solo work reveals an eclectic mix of elements, from jazz and bluegrass to pop and “psychobilly.” A frequent collaborator with Asheville-based novelty jazz act The Mad Tea Party, Pond’s solo work has a similarly infectious sense of fun to it. We suggest starting with “Dance

This week’s opening act is Mille Palmer, a college-age singer/songwriter with strong pop leanings. The Asheville-based performer is also noteworthy for giving her faith equal billing with her talent. She’s even gone so far as to claim that her songs have a “Christian message behind them.” But faith isn’t Palmer’s only inspiration; on certain songs she’s also very obviously influenced by the music if Stephanie’s Id, particularly on songs like “Do I.” We suggest starting with “Storm,” available

We start off this week’s Listening Party with the Ahleuchatistas, a prog-rock trio with very strong jazz and punk influences. Formed in guitarist Shane Perlownin’s living room in 2003, the group is now on their fourth album, Even In the Midst and is anticipating the February rerelease of their second album, The Same and the Other, on avant-garde legend John Zorn’s Tzadik label. The group’s stripped-down, effects-free style has also earned them a number of mostly positive reviews from the likes

This week’s Listening Party starts off with Birds on the Ground, an experimental group that claims to be influenced by “everything that is and will be dreamed.” In practice, this means that they sound like a lot of other psychedelic-infused shoegazer bands, with a little bit of Nico thrown in for good measure. (This is particularly true on the song “cold night burning.") In some songs, one can also hear echoes of local symphonic thrashers Descolada, who — if their MySpace page is any indicator

Local metal group Shake Azalia has the honor of launching this week’s Listening Party. The group claims to fall roughly between the “progressive” and “death metal” schools, but we prefer to think of them as being their own brand of thrashy, screamy and slightly whiny hardcore. (They’ve also been flatteringly refered to as “aurally bombastic neo-hardcore.") The group appears to have recently relocated here from Port Charlotte, Fla., although Asheville’s clear lack of a hardcore scene (Sanctity

Opening the Listening Party this week is newish local act King Tut. The duo of Mark Boyd and Drew Veres claim to be in the “experimental psychedelic rock” vein, but there’s actually a lot more going on in their songs than the weird noodling you might expect from that description. Their range goes from bittersweet acoustic folk on songs like “Hello Mariana” to slightly ambient on “Early Macintosh.” They bring it all together on “What You’re After,” which is our suggested starting track.

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This week’s opening act is Asheville-based metal act Ironhead. On the surface, the band presents themselves as being a gritty rock outfit much like local “sleazerockers” Crank County Daredevils (with whom they share guitarist Scotty P.), but Ironhead’s sound is decidedly less aggressive. Their new album, Road Whore is due out early next year. We suggest starting with the track “Crying Shame.”

Slowing things down a bit, we have local alt-rockers All Good Things. They describe their sound as

We start off this week’s Listening Party with Beatles-inspired pop group The Cheeksters. Mark Casson and Shannon Hines have been performing and recording together since 1992, and yet the last 15 years have seemingly done nothing to diminish their unapologetic obsession of ‘60s pop music. Their latest album, Movers and Shakers is set for release at the Grey Eagle on Saturday, Nov. 3. We suggest starting with the Lennon/McCartney-esque track “Love Hearts.”

Next up is EAR PWR, a duo consisting

Launching this week’s party is Bob Burnette, a singer/songwriter who mixes equal parts of melancholy and insight with a stiff dose of catchy melody. His new CD, The Stars In June, is set for release in early November. We suggest starting with the emotionally charged track “Azure.”

Next is local country-tinged singer/songwriter Laura “La La” Michaels. She’s a frequent collaborator with a wide range of other performers, ranging from bar-hopping rocker Aaron LaFalce to breakbeat-blasting DJs

We start off the Listening Room this week with R&B artist DNoRRi (pronounced “da-NAR-e”, rhymes with “Atari"), who curiously refers to his hometown of Asheville as “a little Los Angeles.” A short-lived contestant on American Idol, it’s well worth reading DNoRRi’s brief bio, even if his music does nothing for you. We suggest starting with the track “In love again.”

Next up is local indie-rock group Tonberry. Although the four-piece outfit only has one track available, “Disarray,” it’s well

We start off this week’s Listening Party with the UNCA-based a cappella group All Girl Staff. Formed in 2001, AGS has grown from a quartet to a 14-member group performing several times each year. Like many college a cappella groups before them, AGS has tried to make the style more accessible by covering pop and hip-hop songs. We suggest starting with AGS’ cover of the Indigo Girls’ “Galileo.”

Next up is local “acoustic punk” group Hope and Anchor. This quiet and introspective trio has earned

We start off the party this week with AgroLola, a four-piece rock group with a slightly experimental bent. The band has been nearing the dead center of the Asheville rock scene over the past few years, and for good reason: they have a reputation for putting on outstanding live performances. But stellar shows and good musicianship don’t always go hand in hand. We suggest starting with the song “Mind your madness,” then presenting your thoughts on how well AgroLola lives up to the hype.

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Kicking off this week’s Listening Party is Anjuli Dawn, a “2-step/folk” musician and semi-recent arrival to Asheville. She’s now on her fourth album, Give, she uses her music to explore the themes of “emotion, integrity, loss and joy.” And if that wasn’t enough of a reason to give her a listen, she also plays the bouzouki. We suggest starting with the track “Sand.”

Next up is local indie-rock outfit Dice Fly High. Front man Thomas Fitzpatrick, bassist Zack Plemmons and drummer Brent Francese

This week, we start with local “acoustic, emo and indie” duo The Truth About Lies. Vocalist Blake Westbrook and guitar/harmonica/piano player Tyler Mundy don’t seem to aspire to greatness, instead proclaiming via their MySpace bio that they are “just some band from Asheville who enjoys playing music.” You can get the basic idea of their sound from the song “Dear Father.”

Shawn Gallaway has a mission with his music. It’s all about “empowering people to take caring, positive action in their

With so much happening on the local music scene, it can be hard to keep up with the newest groups, latest trends and catchiest sounds. What we need is a listening party.

Here’s the idea: Each week, we’ll pick three local bands to listen to. We’ll link to a location where you can listen to their music for free (either a home page or MySpace-like site), and then ask you to spend a few moments of your time forming an opinion about what you hear. Some may be great, some may be awful — we’ll