Event : Panther God Planetariumix Release Party

01/01/10  |  Emerald Lounge  |  Asheville NC

Panther God

Marley Carroll

Moving Temple & P3RIPH3RAL

Kentsoundz

DJ Gift

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Facebook Event

Event : Melanaster Band & Uncle Mountain 12/04/10

This Saturday, December 4th, the Melanaster Band returns to the Emerald Lounge, joined by folk / pop heroes Uncle Mountain.

Uncle Mountain combines complex, multi-layered harmonies with Americana songwriting to create a sound that is “rich, layered, lively, and most surprisingly, cohesive.” – CityBeat (Cincinnati).  They are also cuter than a baby Fennec fox.  These guys keep getting better over time, and are among the best bands based in Asheville!

*update* There will be high-quality video / audio captured at the show for release on the web, so come out and be part of the action!

Essential info : Emerald Lounge Asheville, 10PM | 18+ $5 Map / Facebook Event

Event : Melanaster w/Rio Bravo 05.15.10

Saturday, May 15th 2010 The Melanaster Band will join Wilmington-based progressive rockers Rio Bravo for an intimate show at Asheville’s Hookah Bar.

Rio Bravo is a virile quartet of young rockers that recalls Radiohead, Band of Horses and Muse.  They’re embarking on an East Coast tour, and this will be their first show in Asheville.  We’re happy to be sharing the stage with them!  More at the band’s MySpace page.

Essential info : The Hookah Bar at 38 N French Broad St, 9PM | $6.

Rio Bravo – “Tear Me Up” (Live)

Rio Bravo is a four piece indie rock and roll group hailing from Wilmington, NC. This local rock sensation is tearing up the scene and gaining new fans with every show. RIO BRAVO is poised to take over the world… Whether it is touring the US, benefits for TOMS shoes, Invisible Children, or packing out downtown bars and club, this band it definitely leaving it’s mark. Tracks like “So Young” and “Honesty” display the quartet’s diverse musical range and artistic scope. Fans of Rio Bravo will also go on and on about how amazing the band is live, and about their amazing stage presence in any venue. In Short, Rio Bravo puts on a real live rock show that should not be missed! Make sure you catch RIO this Spring on their East Coast Tour!

Event : Melanaster at All Go West Fest!

The Melanaster Band will be joining a slew of Asheville’s finest indie musicians for the All Go West festival on Saturday, April 24th.  The event takes place on two outdoor stages in West Asheville (in front of Harvest Records, next to the Rocket Club) and is absolutely free!

Bottom line : Free music, beer, and fun in West Asheville. April 24th, 12PM to 10PM.

Check the lineup below. More info available at the official website and Facebook event.

Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band
Stephaniesid
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra
Brushfire Stankgrass
Underhill Rose
RBTS WIN
The Trainwreks
Do It To Julia
The Archrivals (CD Release)
Now You See Them
Vertigo Jazz Project
Uncle Mountain
Marley Carroll & The Melanaster Band
Kovacs & The Polar Bear
The If You Wannas
Jen & The Juice
Open Windows
Tennessee Jed Band
Voodoo Wedding

MountainX Feature on Asheville’s Electronic Music Scene

Last week, The MountainX ran a cover feature called “The Body Electric,” focused on Asheville’s burgeoning electronic music scene.  The articles cover Asheville’s place in the world of electronic music (The Body Electric), the subgenres and styles of DJing (DJ Heroics) and the critical role of promoters and venues in growing the scene (Predicting the Weather).

Featured performers and interviewees include: Sonmi Suite, Panther God, Telepath, Cleofus Williams, Brett Rock, DJ Bowie, and Marley Carroll, in addition to promoters and artist collectives like Under One Beat and Low Frequency Ops.

Here’s an excerpt:

At first glance it might seem that Asheville is stacked in favor of roots music, what with a guitarist on every corner and an Americana band in every bar. But there’s also much to suggest Asheville as an electronica hot bed, despite that scene’s apparent underground status.

Exhibit A: Asheville is where Robert Moog — pioneer of electronic music and inventor of the Moog synthesizer — worked as a research professor of music at UNCA, based his electronic musical instruments manufacturing company and lived out his final years.

Exhibit B: Asheville has (perhaps in spite of itself) embraced live band-electronica fusion acts like Telepath (since moved on to Philadelphia) and electronic music/arts festivals like Trinumeral.

Exhibit C: Take a walk around downtown and check out the posters affixed to power poles and displayed in shop windows. Every other one is for a DJ show. Same thing with Facebook events. Many electronic artists eschew conventional publicity methods in favor of new media. Not seeing many electronica shows? Go online.

Exhibit D: Even the rootsiest of venues is booking electronic acts. The Rocket Club is home to a free weekly Super Dance Party (Wednesdays at 10 p.m.), with DJs Crick Nice and Adam Strange (GFE) and DJ Mark Davis (who has been spinning underground dance music in Asheville since the ’80s). Mo Daddy’s welcomes its first-ever hip-hop show with local artist Foul Mouth Jerk, PyInfamous from Crystal Springs, Miss., and Charlotte’s One Big Love on Friday, March 5. The Grey Eagle hosts Baltimore duo Beach House on Friday, April 30.

But even with new developments — and nearly everyone seems to agree the local electronic scene has grown exponentially in the past few years — electronic music isn’t a new phenomenon. Its roots reach back to ’70s-era disco, dating the genre older than not just its current practitioners, but many of their parents.

Fueling Asheville’s newfound fondness for electronica is certainly the live band/electronic fusion — anything from the live instruments-meets-computers of The Nova Echo to live sequencing of engineered loops and beats as performed by Freepeoples Frequency. But more than sonic accessibility, it’s technical accessibility that brings new fans to the multifaceted genre. Music makers no longer need to be piano or guitar virtuosos — computer proficiency and a desire to create are the instruments of this under-represented but increasingly available art form.

Want to know more about local electronic music? Read on …