While Asheville's heavy-music scene remains all but overlooked, the band Unscathed still carries the banner of those post-high-school-metal heroes who came before. Of course, not all that long ago, Unscathed was one of the most trash-talked and least-appreciated heavy-music groups in town. But last year, the band's new lineup began to gel, leading in turn to a totally revamped sound, several outstanding concerts -- and a whole new attitude. (And new fans: "I just want everyone to know that I got called 'Unscathed face' tonight," reads one recent Web posting at www.unscathed.net.) The band plays Bele Chere fresh from the release of Under the Sun, their self-titled debut EP.
-- Steve Shanafelt
Friday, 7:15-8:15 p.m., Showcase Stage.
Thad Cockrell & The Starlite Country Band
Pandering to neither the contemporary Nashville music factory nor the hipster alternative-country scene, Raleigh resident Thad Cockrell plays and sings straight-up, tear-in-my-beer honky-tonk. He's a throwback, and he's not ashamed to admit it. "There's no 'alt' in my country," he boasts. For inspiration, he looks not toward the Tim McGraws of the world, but to legends like George Jones, Merle Haggard and, especially, Willie Nelson; he yearns for the simplicity of vintage Nashville. Cockrell's fine debut, Stack of Dreams, includes guest turns from country-music sirens Caitlin Cary and Tift Merritt. Full of gorgeous pedal steel and weeping fiddles, the album's nine originals remain true to Cockrell's mantra of simplicity, never straying too far from the daunting matters of the heart. With his fine, clear tenor and a permanently lovelorn drawl, Cockrell and his Starlite Country Band will coax your feet into trying a festive two-step, even as your heart sinks like a stone.
-- Christopher Blagg
Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Celebration Stage.
Buncombe Turnpike
The name refers to that 19th-century Greenville-to-Greenville byway favored for tri-state livestock drives; and fittingly, this Asheville-based four-piece stays within shouting distance of tradition's well-worn path. Their classic-bluegrass lineup (banjo, guitar, bass and mandolin) flushes multi-part vocal harmonies like startled quail. Yet these boys buff up the genre with production savvy and candied hooks, creating honey-sweet Blue Ridge Mountain postcards that tell on the 'pike's many contemporary influences without baldly blaspheming the past -- call this high-lonesome pop. The group's 10-song Ballad of Baldy John and Jake includes among its traditional fare seven originals, ranging from murder ballads ("The law and the devil are after me!" sings Tom Godleski in "On the Run") to celebrations of family ("Daddy Never Took His Own Advice"), God ("He Met Us by the River") and country ("Remember forever that freedom's not free" goes a line from Tim Adams' "Soldier's Gift"), and that sweet ol' home up in the holler.
-- Frank Rabey
Saturday, 5:45-7 p.m., Celebration Stage.
Bro-9
If you don't like your music loud, energetic and fun, then avoid getting too close to the stage when local pop-punkers Bro-9 are playing. But if you're of the opposite mindset, you run the risk of this teen foursome's fast, loose tunes getting stuck in your head and their stage-prancing sweat spraying you right in the eyes as singers Ron Burbank and Caleb Hanks shout it out together. Music is a dangerous thing, and you never know -- Bro-9 might even make you want to try some of that crazy "moshing" you've heard the kids go on about. Soon, you'll be screaming "High School Losers" (it's tuneful!) and "Jock Bitch" (it's tunefuller!) in the shower, and your own teen tykes will have to find a new band to be hip to. It happens.
-- Steve Shanafelt
Sunday, noon-1:15 p.m., Rock 'n' Blues Stage.
Big Block Dodge
The word is "groosion". And sure, maybe it's just a mixture of groove and fusion, but that hasn't stopped the Hendersonville-based Big Block Dodge from taking their personalized term statewide. This guitar/bass/drums instrumental trio turns out elastic, electric-six-string-centered jams with unapologetic nods toward '70s classic rock (love that wah-wah; and check out the recurring Leo Sayer melody line in "Kilimanjaro," from the band's East Flat Rock CD). In building their own following, Big Block Dodge has opened for some of the biggest names on the regional circuit, from The Yellowjackets to King Johnson.
-- Steve Shanafelt
Friday, 4-5 p.m., Rock 'n' Blues Stage.
Tammerlin
Percussionist Lee Hunter and guitarist Arvid Smith called themselves Tory Voodoo until that last witchy word weirded out one too many potential listeners. So, like magic, the Florida duo became Tammerlin, though their music's startling alchemy of disparate times and distant lands remained. The couple describes their mix of traditional songs and originals as "folklectic" (as in "folk," "eclectic" and "electric") -- imagine crossing folk in its purist sense with progressive-rock oddity and ambiance. Both Smith and Hunter sing, though the latter's high, haunting pipes are the music's true heart, evoking battered Old World beaches and wind-tattered mountain moors -- the perfect vehicle for a bloody highland murder ballad. Smith is a wizard of things stringed, tossing off stinging, bluesy leads and Fripp-like forays up the neck of, well, you name it -- loop and slide guitars, bottleneck, a double-necked electric a la Jimmy Page, Melobar, whatever. Whether bearing new name or old, their music is a tasty sonic smorgasbord.
-- Frank Rabey
Saturday, 11 a.m.-noon, Sprint Cafe Stage.
Nikki Talley
Local songstress Nikki Talley suffers from a rare condition -- an excess of talent. She's a stunning songwriter, combining haunting, richly symbolic lyrics about passion and love with a mastery of both guitar and piano; her music definitively sets a mood. Imagine a fusion of Tori Amos' passionate lyrical drive and Norah Jones' masterful spirit, plus an innate fearlessness that lets Talley crisscross genres from folk to bluesy rock to metal, and even take a lead role in last summer's Asheville production of the gender-bending "rock opera" Hedwig and the Angry Itch. She's not just good; she's that good.
-- Steve Shanafelt
Saturday, 1-2:15 p.m., Coca-Cola Homegrown Stage.
The Muses
Last New Year's Eve, local act The Muses inspired listeners inside the splendid St. Lawrence Basilica on Haywood Street. The six-women-strong, a capella singing group -- whose combined voices create a joyful noise indeed -- seemed ideally fashioned for such a majestic venue. But listen well and you'll hear rowdy political convictions driving those lovely pipes -- the group focuses on culturally vital folk music rooted in Appalachia and points far beyond. Judging by the strength of their voices alone, Erin Doyle, Natalie Grinnell, Jennifer Lane, Gail Forsyth and newcomer Robin Alexander (Heather Shank recently left the group) sound equal to Bele Chere's hectic party vibe. Their festival set list, Forsyth reveals, includes gospel and swing selections, favorites in Hebrew and Spanish, and new material "still to be decided." Adds the singer: "There is nothing like [playing] the largest free outdoor festival in the Southeast for trying out new songs!"
-- Melanie McGee
Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Coca-Cola Homegrown Stage; also, The Muses' CD-release party for their brand-new Angel will be at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 27, in the Basilica of St. Lawrence.
Mad Tea Party
It's hard to imagine a more family-friendly musical act than the Asheville-based Mad Tea Party. This novelty-jazz duo, which prefers to call its sound "postmodern parlor music," purveys quirky originals in a mesmerizing style that borrows widely from classic musical forms -- everything from ragtime to rural old-time. Singer Ami Worthen plays ukulele while multi-instrumentalist boyfriend Jason Krekel (Larry Keel Experience, Snake Oil Medicine Show) handles guitar, fiddle and bicycle horns; in their capable hands, even the silliest songs about vegetables having dance parties and frogs dating mice are enjoyable.
-- Steve Shanafelt
Friday, 5:15-6 p.m., Wall St. Street Faire.
Jimmy Landry & The Thrift Store Congregation
Remember those childhood family reunions outside, where that cousin you'd never met before cornered you as you tried to snag a piece of pig pickin' cake, and began joyously -- almost breathlessly -- spilling all his secrets, peppering them with odd observations about, y'know, everything? Well, that cousin has grown up, and he's now Black Mountain-based singer/songwriter Jimmy Landry, whose aw-shucks charm, giddy outlook and heartfelt, sometimes hilarious between-song stories will transport you to right back beside that rickety dessert table as those bygone fireflies flicker, fascinated by an uncontainable joy you just can't turn your back on. Landry's newest songs, backed by the his bluegrass-y Thrift Store Congregation band, have a big ol' fat grin on them -- Landry calls it being in his "happy-music place." Plus, he's got a song about chickens.
-- Frank Rabey
Friday, 6:45-8:15 p.m., Coca-Cola Homegrown Stage.
Christine Kane
Though she's called Asheville home for years, Christine Kane rarely plays here -- there just isn't time. Even before the release last year of her fourth album, Rain and Mud and Wild and Green, Kane was becoming a staple at the kind of upper-tier venues that frequently marquee the likes of Richard Shindell, Cheryl Wheeler and Patty Larkin. Then she recorded Rain and Mud with folk heavyweight Ben Wisch (who's also worked with Shindell, Wheeler and Larkin), cementing her status as a Singer/Songwriter Somebody. Kane's strong work ethic, impossible personal standards, and fetching looks have gelled into a happy, hectic transcontinental life of sharing songs of pathos ("She Don't Like Roses") and humor (the riotous "(No Such Thing As) Girls Like That"), all in a high, pretty voice that has rainy-Sunday-afternoon-in-autumn written all over it. Who cares if it's July?
-- Frank Rabey
Saturday, 7-8:30 p.m., Sprint Cafe Stage.
Billy Jonas
Sometimes, you just need to bang on something -- a pot, maybe. Or a pan. A water jug, a rolled-up rug. Heck, what about a trash can? Welcome to singer/songwriter Billy Jonas' highly rhythmic world, where the recycled percussion never stops. Jonas, whose WNC career spans more than a decade, tracing back to the much-loved Billys, is the Shrek of local folk: Kids love him because he's funny and smart; adults also love him because he's funny and smart -- about things their kids don't get yet. His songs for young audiences have justly garnered high praise (Jonas' recent What Kind of Cat Are You?!, a pro-Earth, pro-people, must-have family album, received the 2002 Parent's Choice Gold Star), while grown-up tunes like "ONE!" empower whole crowds to forget the artificial bounds of stage and join the music-making process. Jonas is that rare performer who labors tirelessly in pursuit of others' fun.
-- Frank Rabey
Friday, 7-8:30 p.m., Sprint Cafe Stage.
Dr + Dan
Perhaps the best way to explain the music of experimental rocker/keyboardist "Dr + Dan" Matrazzo is to not mention his Grammy nomination for his collaboration with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, his stint as a high-school-age Japanese pop star in the group Char, or the decade he spent as a sideman to the underground jam-rock legend Col. Bruce Hampton. It might be better simply to say that the good Dr likes to mix practically every brand of music he's ever played -- from funk to bluegrass -- into a saucy sound he terms "space funk." Of course, Dr + Dan's guitarless power trio also has quite a reputation for putting on unforgettable live shows, but there's probably no reason to mention that, either. In fact, the less said about his substantial musical credentials and performance accolades, the better. Forget all the chatter; come out and groove.
-- Steve Shanafelt
Saturday, 7-8:30 p.m., Rock 'n' Blues Stage.
David Holt & The Lightning Bolts
Projex International, the company that manufacturers the Grammy statues, has taken to just taping David Holt's name to one of them before sending shipments to the awards ceremony each year. OK, that's a joke. But not by much: The Fairview-based Holt, a long-standing champion of Appalachian musical and oral traditions, has been nominated for six of the little gold phonographs and has taken home three. He's not just a musician, but a storyteller (Spiders in the Hairdo: Modern Urban Legends, from 1999, received a Grammy nod), TV host (Hee Haw, The Grand Ole Opry and more), historian (Holt's two most recent Grammies are both for Legacy, a three-CD chronicle of the life of blind WNC flat-picker Doc Watson) and general entertainer (live, he even plays the spoons!).
-- Frank Rabey
Friday, 6:45-8:15 p.m., Food Lion Dance Stage.
Ashley Chambliss
Oh, what a lovely voice! Chambliss' singing holds heaven and hell in equal measure: Sweet, breathy highs swoop south across a single note into broken-hearted phrasing that will eat your cynicism for breakfast. Comparisons (Sarah McLachlan-like beauty meets Rickie Lee Jones' melancholic cool?) ultimately fail; Chambliss' gift is too complex. Sadly for Asheville, she's soon to be some other city's treasure: Chambliss leaves next month for Berklee School of Music. Here's hoping that theory-fixated Boston college doesn't hamper her outrageous gifts: Chambliss' piano playing is accomplished and emotive; she composes with a sweeping, beautiful authority; she doesn't skimp on hooks; she's blessed with an intuitive understanding of harmony; and, yes, she's got that voice. Her Bele Chere show heralds the release of her sophomore effort, In This Ocean. See her play, or risk an "I told you so" once her future ignites somewhere else.
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