Asheville/Black Mountain - North Carolina

[Michael H Geimer]

I'm clearing my desk, changing out the voice mail, turning ON the Out of Office Assistant ... I'm heading to NC.

I'll be in the Asheville / Black Mountain area for the week of 10/17 - 10/21. My friends and I are going to the LEAF festival for one day, but will be 'playing it by ear' for most of the trip.

So, suggestions for music and/or anything fun, or any point of interest would be nice to hear about.

I've decided to only bring a Mid-mo, as there is no guarantee of finding jams ... and so I'd rather not risk my Weber to the airlines. There will be at least one jam at a Pig Pickin' Party put on by some FOAF's in Rougemount, but I can likely borrow a guitar or better mandolin there (should the Mid-mo prove to be too quiet).

- Benignus

[MartinD_GibsonA]

You say you're gonna be in Asheville, but Rougemont is a 4-hr drive from there ... a little north of Durham.

[evanreilly]

there are several jams on a regular basis in the asheville area.
Mountain express (http://mountainx.com) lists most of them.
NCMAMA.ORG is a good source also.

[Tim]

Never visited it but there is a store in Black Mountain that specializes in hammer dulcimers. #They might be a good contact for the local music scene. #Their website is Song of the Wood (http://songofthewood.com/).

[Michael H Geimer]

" You say you're gonna be in Asheville, but Rougemont is a 4-hr drive from there ... "

Yep ... Big Drive to the Pig Pickin'. We'll have two days where we cover some big millage, but mostly we'll be up in the hills.

Thanks everyone. I'll likely have Internet access, so maybe I'll post from there if something mando-related comes up.

- Benig

[flatthead]

Jack of the Wood (it's a bar) has a jam session (almost) every Thursday night. Usually well attended by pickers and listeners. It's located in downtowne Ashville.

[Bobbie Dier]

Benignus,
Glad your coming over to visit this side of the US!

You should try to go to the LEAF festival with your pals. It is a great festival in a beautiful setting. There are scheduled jam sessions throughout the weekend. I'll be there if you want to play some fiddle tunes. We are staying in campground G. I always look for jammers.

flatthead talked about "Jack of The Wood". There is a Celtic jam there on Sundays usually starting about 5pm. It is a nice pub with good beer(micro brews). I think they have good music at "The Orange Peel" in Ashville. I've never been there but from the ads I've heard they get some pretty good bands in there.

I hope you have a nice visit here!!

[evanreilly]

The Jack jam on thursday is pretty bluegrass; starts 9:30PM or so. I heard that ole 'flatthead' hisownself showed up once.

[Michael H Geimer]

Thanks soooo much folks! I just printed this thread, and will take it with me.

Later.

[olgraypat]

There is an acoustic music store called Blue Ridge Music--828. 277.5588 there which is a nice place to visit and they should be able to direct you to some james in the area. also, if you want to drive over to the t'other side of the mountain in Tenn there is a well-known Fri night jam in Blountville, about an hour and a half away, via I 26, through some of the greatest mouontain scenery you'll ever see, and I'll give you directions if you wish. but picking up a copy of the Mountain Express is the best advice.

[diamond ace]

The Town Pump in black mountain has lots of music including some great bluegrass. They have music every night. I think sunday is the open bluegrass jam night. Our band will be plaing their in november. Lots of great music and pickers around that area.

[Michael H Geimer]

Hey, I actually made it to a lot of these spots!

LEAF was sure fun, but seemed a little slanted towards the 'hippie-drum-circle' thing. I went to their Contra Dance, and danced a few. My first time, too. I found an all-guitar acoustic-rock jam going on that was in need of a mandolin and jammed there for most of the afternoon. Later, some friends had a fiddle and a banjo. Neither of them were very experienced, but we jammed for a couple hours anyway.

While up in the hills I stayed in Black Mountain, so The Town Pump was where we hung out (there are only three bars in town). But Sunday night we went up to Asheville where I ran into an Irish Session at Jack of the Wood. Later that night at The Westville Pub I wandered into an acoustic jam, and played mandolin up there all night.

Also in Black Mountain I found a store called Acoustic Corner which had some decent inventory. I finally got to try the much discussed Eastman mandolins (and even their archtop guitar). Nice product, great playability, nice looks ... but when I picked up a Mid-mo M-4 that was also on their wall, my friends (who do not play) all wanted to know why the Mid-mo sounded so much better. I just told my firends the Mid-mo motto is 'No Frills. No Plywood'.

On that note ... my recent acquisition of this little M-0 has made me *very* happy. This guy is so much louder than I expected, and it is even strung up with light gauge strings! I was the loudest instrument at every jam where I played.

The best jamming was found in Rougemont at the Pig Pickin' but let me say first ... that was the best pig I've ever tasted! Hats off to Kenny our cook for the two days of hard work to get all that flavor happening! The cook's Mom played, and between Sally and myself we anchored most of the entertainment for the night ... though there were a dozen players around the party who all came up at one point or another.

The only other mandolin player I met this whole trip, was a lady out in Rougemont who brought the *exact* same Mid-mo to the circle. She asked me, "Do you think yours is surprisingly loud?" LOL

For the record: I never did find anyone who really played Bluegrass, or even any fiddle tunes ... but I think that just speaks to my itinerary. Nevertheless, there is something pure and proper about playing old songs, people singing along to Bury Me Beneath the Willow, everyone eating Barbecure. In the end, that's more satisfying to me than 'hot picking'.

I'll just *have* to come back to this georgous state. Maybe for Merlefest!

- Benig

[HarmonyRexy]

Wow!!! Sounds like a Great Time!!!

I wish that I had read this thread before we drove back to Florida from Michigan. We stayed in Asheville the night before you arrived. I guess that we could have slowed our trip down some to coincide with some of the fun there.
At the very least, we could have checked out some of the places that people mentioned, especially the Town Pump since they have some music every night.

Sounds like a fun and rewarding trip!!!! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Bobbie Dier]

Benignus,

Glad you had a good time! I wish I could have seen you at LEAF. We were there till about 1:30 or 2:00 on Sunday.We watched Dervish one last time then had to leave. You are right about the hippy drum circle thing( it drove me insane). I got to jam with some "neighbors" on the hill every morning. They were very good musicians but wanted to do mostly singing tunes and not a lot of fiddle tunes.They were very nice to let me play with them.

I'm glad you caught the celtic jam at "Jack of The Wood". When we have been there it has had a good turnout with really good musicians. Did you jam there?

Next time you will have to come across the mountains to the jams in Tennessee. You'll be guaranteed to have a good session. OR you can go to Ashville between Memorial Day and Labor Day to Pickin on the Green. It is on the courthouse lawn downtown every saturday night. It is awesome.

Glad you had a good trip.











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