POPAsheville Kicks Off Thursday!

Indie rockers unite! Four days, thirty bands, numerous panels, workshops and parties - all for only 15 bucks. What's not to like?

By Fred Mills

Taking place this Thursday through Sunday, January 15-19, in Asheville, NC: POPAsheville, featuring 30 regional North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia indie-rock bands along with a slew of other music-related events, including a very special keynote address by none other than Dave Allen from the mighty Gang Of Four and Shriekback. BLURT is proud to be one of the co-sponsors of the event as an official "POPAsheville Partner," and we've got the scoop right here for ya.

First off, go to the official website or the event's MySpace page, where you can dig up all the specific info (ticketing, daily and nighttime events schedules, links to bands, etc.) you might require. The main site also has a very cool compilation featuring MP3s of all the bands that you can download for free. Those links:

 www.popasheville.com

www.myspace.com/popasheville

(Did I mention that tickets for the entire weekend are only $15?)

So what is POPAsheville? Well, a bit like SXSW, a little like CMJ, just scaled down to the local level - but no less interesting, and with no shortage of musical discoveries whether you're musician yourself, a journalist, a publicist, a label person looking for fresh, uh, meat, or even just an interested civilian who wants to check out some top quality bands and hit some intriguing workshops and panels. (More on that in a sec.)

It was started a few years ago, in 2003, by Stephanie Morgan, of Asheville outfit stephaniesid, and at the time it was called IdFest and featured five bands performing one evening at a club. Since then the event has steadily grown - and changed its name, obviously - to become a 4-day, 30-band bash held at three of the top Asheville music venues, the Grey Eagle, Stella Blue and the Rocket Club. Certainly the spotlight is shining on Asheville groups, but this year's POPAsheville will also have guests from Nashville, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Athens, Atlanta and South Carolina, and with the 2008 gathering nearly selling out, it's almost a given that the clubs will be stuffed to the gills with revelers. As the three clubs are scattered around the city, a free shuttle bus will be making the rounds to transport ticketholders safely and efficiently (good for drinkers, yo).

See the full list of artists, below.

According to the POPAsheville mission statement, "POPAsheville supports a thriving scene for modern touring bands and recognizes the importance of community and information-sharing within this scene and within the surrounding region. In the midst of a highly transitional music industry, POPAsheville seeks to bolster partnerships between touring bands and to amplify Asheville's presence on the national modern music map."

Indeed, to that end, in addition to the showcases, POPAsheville will be featuring a kickoff party, workshops, a music business panel discussion, tours of local recording studios, and the aforementioned Dave Allen keynote address. The workshops in particular look interesting, among them: musician William F. Gibbs will be hosting one called "Sound Design: The Relevant Rock Star"; the Future of Music Coalition's Alex Maiolo (also a member of Violet Vector & the Lovely Lovelies) takes on "Insurance and the Indie Musician"; songwriter Chuck Lichtenberger instructs on "Put Your Songs On Paper: Writing Simple Song Charts"; and noted rock critic Wayne Robins holds forth on "Rock Criticism and the Artist" plus "A Brief History of Rock".

There's also to be a panel discussion, moderated by Maiolo and featuring journalists, producers and studio experts on the panel, with the somewhat unwieldy but self-explanatory title "Your Future in Music: What you can do in the next 12 months to help your career as an indie musician." It's billed as a "multi-angled look at the ever-shifting business world that musicians work within... the nuts-and-bolts of the career of the indie musician, working through pictures of foreseeable daily life."

On a personal note, I've lived in Asheville since early 2002, and while that's probably not a very long time compared to the tenures of some of the musicians here, I have seen a lot of changes in my seven years, almost all of them for the better, music community-wise. This lifestyle-tolerant mountain city seems to attract the creative class, and there are scores of talented people here - I see ‘em in the clubs all the time, onstage and in the audience, and that's what always provides the underpinning of a classic music scene. I wish I had the time and energy to go out several nights a week, for there's literally never a blackout evening on the musical calendar in Asheville. More than once I've heard people compare it to a cross between Austin and Portland, Oregon, and it also reminds me at times of the early ‘80s in the Chapel Hill area when so many bands were starting to crawl out of the woodwork. Funnily enough, nowadays punters regularly travel to Asheville from as far away as Chapel Hill or Atlanta to catch some of the national acts that bypass those cities in order to play this one.

Plus, the ever-important infrastructure is present in Asheville - several top-notch recording studios; three radio stations (AAA, low-power and commercial) that consistently play local recordings; a bunch of indie record stores; two proximate colleges, two Interstates and an airport; more clubs, bars and java huts than you can shake a caveman at - and that combined with what everyone agrees is a vibrant nightlife in general makes this burg one of the potentially most promising musical hubs in the Southeast.

Okay, that's enough cheerleading. My point is this: the rise of any proverbial music "scene" is inevitably localized until such time as the national media catches wind or some local band achieves breakout status. Sometimes said "scenes" attain status and become the stuff of legend - Athens, Minneapolis, Seattle, etc. - and sometimes they fizzle out and fade away. But while it's actually happening, it can be one of the most exciting things in the world to be a part of if you're a true fan of rock ‘n' roll.

Wouldn't you like to take a chance and be, in some way, shape or form, a part of this one?

I'll see ya this weekend at POPAsheville. ‘Nuf said.

BAND SCHEDULE FRIDAY NIGHT:

8:00 pm           Nevada            The Grey Eagle / WNC Magazine Stage

8:20 pm           Dancer vs. Politician   The Rocket Club / Echo Mountain Stage

8:40 pm           On The Take   Stella Blue / Mountain Xpress Stage

9:00 pm           William F. Gibbs         The Grey Eagle / WNC Magazine Stage

9:20 pm           Umbrella Tree             The Rocket Club / Echo Mountain Stage

9:40 pm           The Houstons Stella Blue / Mountain Xpress Stage

10:00 pm         Jen and the Juice         The Grey Eagle / WNC Magazine Stage

10:20 pm         RubySlippers & MINGLE      The Rocket Club / Echo Mountain Stage

10:40 pm         Bandazian       Stella Blue / Mountain Xpress Stage

11:00 pm         Warm in the Wake      The Grey Eagle / WNC Magazine Stage

11:20 pm         Tallest Trees    The Rocket Club / Echo Mountain Stage

11:40 pm         Casper and the Cookies          Stella Blue / Mountain Xpress Stage

12:00 am         Mad Tea Party            The Grey Eagle / WNC Magazine Stage

12:20 am         Jar-e     The Rocket Club / Echo Mountain Stage

12:40 am         Arizona Stella Blue / Mountain Xpress Stage

BAND SCHEDULE SATURDAY NIGHT:

8:00 pm           The Baker Family Band          The Grey Eagle / WNC Magazine Stage

8:20 pm           The Cheeksters            The Rocket Club / Echo Mountain Stage

8:40 pm           Bugs Multiply             Stella Blue / Mountain Xpress Stage

9:00 pm           Holiday Childress       The Grey Eagle / WNC Magazine Stage

9:20 pm           Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies          The Rocket Club / Echo Mountain Stage

9:40 pm           Nerd Parade    Stella Blue / Mountain Xpress Stage

10:00 pm         The Champion and his Burning Flame           The Grey Eagle / WNC Magazine Stage

10:20 pm         Speedsquare    The Rocket Club / Echo Mountain Stage

10:40 pm         The Poles         Stella Blue / Mountain Xpress Stage

11:00 pm         Heypenny        The Grey Eagle / WNC Magazine Stage

11:20 pm         Parachute Musical       The Rocket Club / Echo Mountain Stage

11:40 pm         Howlies           Stella Blue / Mountain Xpress Stage

12:00 am         stephaniesid    The Grey Eagle / WNC Magazine Stage

12:20 am         SeepeopleS      The Rocket Club / Echo Mountain Stage

12:40 am         If You Wannas           Stella Blue / Mountain