Built to Spill has great show written all over it. I wish other clubs in town (I’m looking at you Grey Eagle) would post what’s coming up that far in advance on their websites.
You can find a lot of the what music is coming to town via the TalkAsheville.com events calender.
I think it’s almost current all the way through February and there are already some March dates on it as well.
If we have missed some feel free to post them on the Events calender......or for that matter other non music events as well.
I wish more national & UK indie/college/experimental, etc bands would come to Asheville but they seem to bypass us in favor of Chapel Hill/Raleigh. I suspect this has something to do with Asheville’s rep as being more of a roots/country/bluegrass kind of town?
I think the notion that Asheville is exclusively (or even primarily) a roots/blugrass music town is an old concept that is quickly fading.
Certainly traditional music continues to play an important role in the local music scene but I dont think the Smashing Pumpkins selected Asheville for their 9-day residency based on hearing about Shindig on the Green.
Events like the Xmas Jam, Bele Chere, AmJam, LEAF, and the recent success of POPAsheville continue to create new and expanded awareness of the musical diversity Asheville has to offer.
My perception is that there are some bands that play Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham rather than Asheville because:
a) It’s a college area with 3 signifcant universities within a short-drive
b) The market (i.e. population) is almost 4 times larger than Asheville.
The metro population of Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham is 1,509,560
( source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_Hill,_North_Carolina )
Looking at the topic thru the other end of the telescope,
I think the interesting question is:
Why do many bands choose to play the Asheville market INSTEAD of playing much larger cities like (Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham) or Charlotte, or Knoxville or Greenville SC) ?
My perception is that Asheville is developing a significant reputation for music and that the number of national bands adding Asheville to their tour schedules will continue to rise.
You’re forgetting that Asheville has a reputation as a hip city, which is the real reason why the Pumpkins decided to come here. Looking back, I think that it was more of a marketing ploy than anything else. The Pumpkins chose a hip city that was away from major media markets to try new stuff and to create a buzz.
At the end of the day for those shows, we were nothing more than a viral marketing campaign for a group of has beens attempting relive their glory days.
As far as the roots thing goes, I think that when Asheville got that reputation was when a lot of the jam band fans discovered the roots/bluegrass thing. Asheville has a decent reputation for that stuff because people come here for those shows.
I think you’re probably just playing devil’s advocate to generate lively discussion.....
There are hundreds of “hip” cities in America that the Pumpkins could have chosen instead of Asheville.
Can you expand on your statement that the Smashing Pumpkins choice of Asheville was “ we were nothing more than a viral marketing campaign”.
The comment comes across to me as though you’re trying to downplay the importance of music in Asheville and the fact that our reputation for music extends far beyond the Buncombe County line and even the state line.
Maybe I’m misinterpreting your comment?
I’m not claiming that Asheville is the next Austin, Athens, Portland, etc. (at least not yet)… but I do think Asheville has a great music scene for a relatively small city in the mountain south....and I do think that others outside of Asheville and outside of North Carolina are taken note of this in increasing frequency.
I spoke with several of the “music business” panelists at this weekend’s POPAsheville festival and they all said that they were very much aware of Asheville’s reputation as a music city and have been for quite some time. Note these panelists were from New York, Mass, Nashville, and Raleigh/Durham and are pretty knowledgeable about music from a national perspective.
(The panel list is available at http://www.myspace.com/popasheville )
I am pretty knowledgeable about music from “a national perspective” also, Don. I write for about 10 papers from San Francisco to Asheville and From Buffalo NY to Athens GA.
The reason why I called the Pumpkins shows a viral marketing campaign was that it was just that. Take an irrelevant band attempting to show that they still matter (if you don’t believe that, than answer this question: what have the Pumpkins done of note since that double album in ‘96? Nothing), and put them in an out of the way place right before the album comes out, and have them sell out plenty of shows. It gets them press, and they look like rock gods again.
Asheville’s always been on the radar, so of course people are going to say they know about the place. When I spoke with Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac he said he’d heard Asheville was awesome. We do have a reputation.
Now, will this reputation bleed over into a band like Stephanie’s Id being signed? No. Will Stephanie’s Id get signed because they tour their asses off and create a small scale profitable band that a company feels like they can mine to make a bigger band out of? Probably.
I’m not playing Devil’s Advocate here Don, I’m just calling it like I see it. Maybe the reason why you are wanting Asheville to get more national recognition is because you are in the position to benefit from it, what with your numerous websites and domain names that are all about music. But I don’t want it to happen, and I don’t need it to happen. The best thing that can happen to local bands in this town is to work hard and tour like there is no tomorrow. Nobody ever made a dollar sitting at home.
I am pretty knowledgeable about music from “a national perspective” also, Don. I write for about 10 papers from San Francisco to Asheville and From Buffalo NY to Athens GA.
The reason why I called the Pumpkins shows a viral marketing campaign was that it was just that. Take an irrelevant band attempting to show that they still matter (if you don’t believe that, than answer this question: what have the Pumpkins done of note since that double album in ‘96? Nothing), and put them in an out of the way place right before the album comes out, and have them sell out plenty of shows. It gets them press, and they look like rock gods again.
Asheville’s always been on the radar, so of course people are going to say they know about the place. When I spoke with Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac he said he’d heard Asheville was awesome. We do have a reputation.
Now, will this reputation bleed over into a band like Stephanie’s Id being signed? No. Will Stephanie’s Id get signed because they tour their asses off and create a small scale profitable band that a company feels like they can mine to make a bigger band out of? Probably.
I’m not playing Devil’s Advocate here Don, I’m just calling it like I see it. Maybe the reason why you are wanting Asheville to get more national recognition is because you are in the position to benefit from it, what with your numerous websites and domain names that are all about music. But I don’t want it to happen, and I don’t need it to happen. The best thing that can happen to local bands in this town is to work hard and tour like there is no tomorrow. Nobody ever made a dollar sitting at home.
I agree with everything you just said except for that last bit about not making a dollar sitting at home, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, kudos on the rest.
