On Saturday, December 20th, 2014 Town Mountain and Mandolin Orange played a benefit for two local hunger relief organizations,Funding America Through Entertainment (FATE) and MANNA FoodBank at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall in Asheville, NC.New Belgium Brewing Company sponsored the event and donated proceeds from their beer sales
in addition to a monetary bonus. Town Mountain has dedicated a portion
of ticket sales for the cause as well as arranged for a 50/50 raffle the
evening of the show. This is the 3rd time that FATE and Town Mountain
have teamed up to fight hunger, having donated more than $3000 towards
the cause and Town Mountain will continue to develop the Holiday
Bluegrass Benefit as an annual tradition.
Once again, it proved to be a fun and rowdy night of world class bluegrass tunes
performed in front of a music loving crowd in Asheville. It was a great way for the local community of music lovers, artists, and
businesses to take time to help the hungry in western North Carolina.
Thanks, Town Mountain for taking the lead on this. You guys rock.
Gnometown didn't really knock it out of the park this year with live music, but we did the best we could. Between working night shift, taking a summer Europe trip, and hanging with the grand kids, we skipped out on seeing some music. Here's hoping for a groovy 2015!
Here are some of the great bands that we were fortunate enough to see in 2014.
Railroad Earth, Donna The Buffalo, Yonder Mountain String Band, Town Mountain, Jim Lauderdale, Green Sky Bluegrass, Jeff Mosier, The Traveling McCourys, The Duhks, The Royal Tinfoil, Punch Brothers, Jason Isbell, Steep Canyon Rangers, Grandpas Cough Medicine, Ralph Roddenbery, Henhouse Prowlers, The Honeycutters, Sam Bush, Del McCoury Band, Jerry Douglas, The Avett Brothers, Southern Soul Assembly, Sloppy Joe, Dread Clampitt, The Freight Hoppers, Porch 40, Dustin Martin and the Ramblers, Jon Stickley Trio, Mandolin Orange.
While looking back and reviewing all my YouTube videos and blog posts from this past year, I am beginning to realize that 2013 emerged as a pretty terrific year of live music for the Hometown gang. Black Betty and I were joined by family and friends to boogie to some of the best music ever, played by many of the most talented artists in the world. As I have said before, "There were so many incredible shows, so much inspiring music!" Here is a list of many of the incredible bands that we were fortunate enough to see in 2013:
Donna The Buffalo, Railroad Earth, Cooking With Quanta, Town Mountain, Greensky Bluegrass, Danny Barnes, Willie Nelson, Apple Butter Express, Peter Rowan, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, The Traveling McCourys, John Prine, The Duhks, Jeff Sipe Trio, The Freight Hoppers, The Horse Flies, The Deadly Gentlemen, Solas, Tornado Rider, Col. Bruce Hampton, Ralph Roddenbery, Bibb City Ramblers, Keller and The Keels, Keller and Traveling McCourys, Taylor Martin Acoustic Band, Mavis Staples, The Corbitt Brothers, Jim Lauderdale, The Brothers Comatose, Stephen Marley, Drive By Truckers, Todd Sheaffer, Rayna Gellert, Strung Like A Horse, Grandpa's Cough Medicine, Darol Anger, Elephant Revival, Kris Kristofferson, Lizzy Ross Band, The Hackensaw Boys, Bobby Miller, Heavy Pets, Mamajowali, Apple Chill Cloggers, David Via and Curtis Burch, Scythian, The Stacks, Vagabond Swing, Leftovers Salmon, Jerry Douglas, Dread Clampitt, Yonder Mountain String Band.
On Friday, December 20th, the Isis Music Hall in West Asheville hosted the Manna Food Bank Bluegrass Benefit. The benefit featured our favorite Asheville bluegrass band, the hard driving Town Mountain, and the flat picking guitar maestro, Larry Keel, and his equally talented band, Natural Bridge.
It proved to be a fun and rowdy night of world class bluegrass tunes performed in front of a music loving crowd in Asheville. The Isis Music Hall is emerging as a premier small venue at which to see some of the best bands breezing through town. If you haven't been there yet, you need to check it out.
It was a great way for the local community of music lovers, artists, and businesses to take time to help the hungry in western North Carolina. We even got to hear Larry Keel and Robert Greer sing some Christmas tunes.
According to publicist Erin Scholze of Dreamspider, $1000. was raised for Manna Food Bank.
To read more about Manna Food Bank, Town Mountain, and Larry Keel: Dreamspider Article.
Two of the finest bluegrass bands in western North Carolina lit things up last night in little downtown Bryson City. Town Mountainfrom Asheville and The Freight Hoppers out of Bryson City debuted on the new stage at Nantahala Brewing Company. These two bands have collaborated for the past couple of years and complement each other wonderfully. We were treated to a full set by each band and then a shorter third set at the end of the night when the musicians joined each other on the stage for several songs.
If great things like this keep happening in the far western counties this summer, we won't have to make the hour plus drive to Asheville as often to hear cutting-edge, world-class music. That would be a good thing with $4.00 a gallon gas. I'll have to keep my eye on the schedule of events for the Nantahala Brewing Co. for sure! Nantahala Brewing
Town Mountain's gritty-edged grass blends the group's precision playing with Robert Greer's outstanding vocals and with the significantly impressive song writing abilities of Phil Barker (mandolin) and Jesse Langlais (banjo). This results in a truly unique Town Mountain sound which is at times: hard-core honkytonk, traditional, newgrass, jamgrass, gospel, roots, rock and roll, Americana. No need to label it; it's all great grass!
More info on the band here:Town Mountain
Town Mountain is:
Robert Greer guitar, lead vocals
Philip Barker mandolin, vocals
Jesse Langlais banjo
Jon Stickley bass
Bobby Britt fiddle
The Freight Hoppers play an infectious brand of old time string band music originating from the 20's and 30's. They are excellent musicians who seem to be having a great time playing and singing songs about murder, mayhem, and moonshine from the era of American prohibition and The Great Depression. Tossing in some great fiddle tunes played by David Bass always gets the crowd dancing.
The band's bio and more can be found here: Freight Hoppers
The Freight Hoppers are:
David Bass fiddle
Frank Lee banjo, vocal
Isaac Deal guitar, vocal
Bradley Adams string bass
We rang in the New Year this weekend at The Grey Eagle in Asheville with two of our favorite bands, Town Mountain and Acoustic Syndicate. It made for a fun time spent with good friends and great live music.
So we happily ended 2011 and started 2012 just how we prefer to live our lives by savoring the moments and smelling the flowers along the way. Here's hoping that the New Year brings health, happiness, and lots of good love and music to you and your families in 2012!
It's New Year's Eve and Black Betty and I are going to celebrate tonight at The Grey Eagle in Asheville (our favorite music venue) with Town Mountain and Acoustic Syndicate (two of our favorite groups).
The following is a list of many of the bands that we saw in 2011. We were fortunate indeed to see most of them numerous times. As I said last year, "There were so many incredible shows, so much inspiring music!"
Once again I would like to thank all the outstanding musicians who helped to make our year so incredibly fun and filled with great tunes.You know that we love you! I'm hoping for a repeat in 2012!
Two of the finest String Bands in the mountains came together on Friday night at The Grey Eagle in Asheville.
The Freight Hoppers are from Bryson City, NC and play Old Time and Traditional tunes from the 1920's and 1930's. David Bass (fiddle) and Frank Lee (banjo, guitar, vocals) have been together since the Freight Hoppers started their Great Smokey Mountain Railroad gig in 1993. After a hiatus of seven or eight years, the band regrouped in 2007 with Issac Deal (guitar,vocals) and Bradley Adams (bass). www.thefreighthoppers.com/
Town Mountain is, without a doubt, our favorite Asheville area bluegrass band. Black Betty and I try not to miss a local show with this smoking hot, bluegrass band. Their rawness and grit manages to get under your skin, and you become a convert after one Town Mountain show. Their rough around-the-edges sound fueled by Robert Greer's outstanding vocals and the band's skilled licks keep us coming back for more.
Town Mountain's strength and appeal lies in their ability to keep it real and gritty while refusing to allow their sound to become a polished out white-bread Nashville caricature of bluegrass music. This is working man's grass, it's the real deal! They feature outstanding original tunes penned by banjo player Jesse Langlais and mandolin player Phil Barker; they also do some great covers, including Bruce Springsteen and John Anderson. If you are extremely fortunate, you may even hear Robert Greer sing a heart-wrenching version of the Grateful Dead's Brokedown Palace. Their newest CD is Steady Operator. http://townmountain.net/blog/
Black Betty and I really enjoyed Music On The MountainTop once again this year. It was held at a new location at Grandfather Campgrounds In Foscoe, NC about 10 miles outside of Boone. The venue was very scenic, beautiful, and appropriate and may make a nice home for the future of this festival if they work a few little bugs out.
Once again the lineup was stellar. We got there early on Friday afternoon and set up camp near the Wautauga River. After a little afternoon soaking rain shower (it really knocked the dust down), we headed to the little and remote third stage to see two of our favorite North Carolina bands, The New Familiars and Town Mountain. Unfortunately the stage was experiencing problematic technical sound difficulties through TheNew Familiars set and they finally unplugged, came down into the audience, and played their last couple of songs to the delight of the crowd. You've got to love this band, this is exactly the kind of festival memories that really stay with you and keep you coming back!
We next went to the Main Stage area (Main Stage and Side Stage sat pretty much side by side) and caught Sol Driven Trail, Acoustic Syndicate, and Railroad Earth. This is when things started getting dicey, weather-wise. The sky grew increasingly dark and threatening through Sol Driven Train's set and by the time Acoustic Syndicate came on the rain was pouring down. Acoustic Syndicate sounded really GOOD! They started off appropriately with Water of Love as the crowd danced in the cool rain. Sadly, after just about five songs, nearby lightning forced the end of the set.
After the hazardous weather passed, Railroad Earth came out and performed their hot and jammy tunes. They were just really getting cranked up when the clock hit 11 pm and the sheriff rode up on a golf cart and signaled "cut-it off" and that was it. The boys came out to the edge of the stage and played one last tune unplugged, but that was it for the night. This place had a very strict and enforced noise ordinance! Eleven o'clock on Friday night in Foscoe is as wild as it gets!
Saturday, we hung out at the Main Stage area and checked out tons of good music; Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band, Do it to Julia, Greensky Bluegrass, Infamous Stringdusters, Sam Bush, and 7 Walkers.
Hurricane Irene was hitting the Atlantic coast on Saturday, and although we were in the far mountains of western North Carolina, we experienced high winds all day. The bands really toughed it out and took it all in stride. At one point during the Sam Bush show, they had folks holding amps in place to keep them from blowing over and they had to tape the drum set to the stage floor.
All the music was great and 7 Walkers with Papa Mali and Bill Kreutzmann finished the night out right. Talk about your swamp-a-delic rock and roll, they have got it down and do it up right! Besides performing various original Robert Hunter penned 7 Walker songs, they did a few Papa Mali covers and the Grateful Dead's Cosmic Charlie, I Know You Rider, and Wharf Rat. (I really loved their Wharf Rat!) As an added twist to 7 Walkers, they had Kirk Joseph (Dirty Dozen Brass Band) on sousaphone sitting in as bass. I'll bet that sousaphone was hard to hold up on stage in the 40 mph winds!
Of course, we were still in Foscoe so the music once again came to a screeching halt at 11 pm. Papa Mali stated that he'd love to stay and play for several more hours, but alas!
Black Betty, Aimee, Todd Sheaffer, and M Diddy
Black Betty at the Main Stage Area.
Right On:
The music, the lineup, the vibe, the camping, the price, the mountains.
Always a nice crowd. Plenty of clean port-a-johns.
You can bring your own cooler with your own beer and purchase a $10 wristband to drink.
Lots of Outdoor gear and Eco-oriented sponsors.
The best Appalachian-hippie-kids-eco-Mother Earth parade this side of Middle Earth.
This is a great little festival which donates part of their proceeds to a couple of meaningful causes, Appalachian Voices and The Mountain Alliance.
Read more info about this on their website MusicOnTheMountainTop
Near Misses:
I didn't see the need for a third stage. They actually had a really cool and educational Eco-Village set up there and this area was somewhat remote from the Main Stage Area. Several good bands played and much of the crowd never sauntered over there to enjoy them. It seemed to me that there was ample room in the big field for the Village and the extra bands could be dropped or added earlier in the day to the big stages.
There did not seem to be any clear Ingress and Egress into the large Main Stage Area. I don't know where you went in at, but I and hundreds of others had to walk through a campsite, squeeze past a tent, and walk through a narrow opening between vendors. It was very hazardous and haphazard.
The bands (especially the headliners) did not get enough playing time. The sets were way too short, both the fans and the bands seemed short-changed. Eleven pm is a ridiculously early ending time for outdoor live music. If it must be that way let the bands start earlier and jam longer. It really is about the music!
Boohoo, no Caroline Pond, Snake Oil Medicine Show, or Larry Keel this year!
Our 28th wedding anniversary, the "super moon", and Town Mountain's CD release party at The Grey Eagle all came together this weekend to create a spectacular time of fun and music. Talk about planets aligning? We couldn't have asked for a better anniversary present than a night at our favorite music venue listening to one of our favorite grass bands. The CD is great, check it out, it's called Steady Operator. It's released nationwide on May 12 if you weren't lucky enough to grab one at the Grey Eagle last night.
We were lucky enough to get to see two of our favorite acts at the Grey Eagle last night in Asheville. Jim Lauderdale (Mr. Americana Music himself) opened the show with a solo set. Next, Asheville's own Town Mountain followed with a blistering bluegrass set for the rowdy and appreciative hometown crowd. And finally, Jim and Town Mountain then joined forces for a third set. It was another magical night of live music at its finest in Asheville. Who wouldn't want to live in western North Carolina?
Speaking of Town Mountain, I understand that they are currently wrapping up a new CD. I can't help thinking of CD cover art with a photo of the band loitering around a sidewalk in downtown Asheville, wearing cowboy hats, jeans, and boots. The title I'm thinking of is "Workingman's Grass". Does that not describe perfectly what Town Mountain is about? Bluegrass for the working man, bluegrass for the masses! Their current album is Heroes and Heretics, one of the best bluegrass recordings out there.
Check 'em out, it's bluegrass that everyone can love! Town Mountain
Black Betty and I were thrilled to see one of our favorite bluegrass groups, Town Mountain on the lineup for Del Yeah! over Labor Day weekend in Black Mountain. I managed to shoot this clip of Town Mountain joined by Andy Thorn (banjo) and Tyler Grant (guitar) of The Emmitt Nershi Band.
Asheville's Town Mountain consists of Robert Greer (vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter); Jesse Langlais (banjo, writes a large part of Town Mountain’s original material and sings tenor and baritone); Barrett Smith (bass, guitar, vocals); Phil Barker (mandolin, vocals); and Bobby Britt (fiddle).
We were fortunate enough to be able to attend the first Del Yeah! weekend at the Pisgah Brewery venue in Black Mountain yesterday. It was a wonderful day spent enjoying beautiful mountain weather and listening to superb mountain music. Labor Day weekend doesn't get any better than this; if you missed it, you missed out indeed!
The lineup featured Charlotte rockers The New Familiars, Asheville bluegrass band Town Mountain, Black Mountain's Paco Shipp on blues harmonica, Colorado super group The Emmitt Nershi Band, and, of course, the one and only Del McCoury Band.
The enthusiastic crowd gave their love to Del and the boys. Del summed it all up in the lyrics from "Sweet Appalachia":
I’ve got that sweet mountain soul down in my bones, And I can feel it when I sing them lonesome songs. And I can tell by the way I feel, That it comes from somewhere else, Got that sweet mountain soul down in my bones.
I’ve got that sweet mountain spirit down in my veins, And it flows through my heart like a mountain rain, And no matter where I might roam, These hills and hollers are still my home, Got that sweet mountain spirit down in my veins.
Some people call me Hillbilly, Some people call me Mountain Man, Well, you can call me Appalachia, Appalachia’s what I am.
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