Sent Thursday, October 22, 202623 picks
Hi! I appreciate all y'all signing up. The response was much greater than I anticipated, and I hope this newsletter helps each of you as much as it's helping me.
Since Halloween is next weekend, we'll send a special Halloween-only edition this Sunday, and the normal issue still comes midweek. I've also started an Instagram, @nathansnewsletter, where I post reminders through the week and pictures of Baby Bear. Enjoy, and stay safe out there.
- Nathan
Friday starts cold and foggy, 37 at 7am, then it's sunny and up to 66 by 3. No rain in the forecast all weekend.
Saturday is the same story: 38 at 7am, sunny all day, and up to 64 by 3. A good day to be outside downtown.
Sunday is the coldest morning, 35 at 7am, then sunny and up to 64. Wear a jacket for anything before noon.
Nights: clear and chilly. About 54 at 8pm every night, 49 at 10pm Friday and 48 at 10pm Saturday, so bring a layer for anything outside after sunset.
Hour by hour, Friday morning to Sunday night
Night Temperature Chance of rain
National Weather Service hourly forecast for Asheville, as of Thursday morning, Oct 22.
High 66°, no rain
High 64°, no rain
High 64°, no rain
These won't come around again this year.
Eight songwriters from Brooklyn to Houston play for a panel of music-business judges, and the winner gets a six-song EP paid for and 300 records pressed at Citizen Vinyl. The finals moved here from Lincoln Center in 2017, and this is the competition's 25th year. Jason Piquette from Black Mountain is the local in the mix. It's seated, so it's an easy Sunday night.
The 16th Surreal Sirkus takes over the park with three stages of live music and DJs, local art vendors, food and drink, and the Sirkus show itself on the main stage at 8, after sunset. Rezonator plays live Goa trance at 3:15. It's sunny and 64 at its warmest, but it drops to the mid 50s by 8, so bring a layer.
A Nashville dance company that lights itself: the dancers carry wireless LED tubes, so the light moves with them. Banning Bouldin made the dance, and Michael Brown, who designs Bon Iver's shows, did the light. It's an hour with no intermission, and there's a free talk with Bouldin at 7. Strobe and haze, and no late seating.
Once a year the Ag Center fills with sheep, goats and alpacas and the people who spin their wool. Sheep and goat shows run all day Saturday and Sunday, there's a border collie demo Sunday, and the spinning, weaving and shearing demos are free. Cash only, at Gate 7 on Boylston Highway.
Twenty-four artists open 14 studios up Beaverdam Valley for the 9th year: ceramics, painting, jewelry, mosaic, sculpture, fiber and photography. It's a self-guided drive a few minutes north of downtown, and it only happens this one weekend a year.
Sorted by why you'd go, not by genre. Each one has something going on right now that makes this the week to see them.
Real momentum right now. Catch them in a small room while you can.
Montana string band, fresh off the Opry
A Montana-raised, Nashville-based folk four-piece with a fiddle and a piano up front. They've made their Grand Ole Opry debut, they just announced a new album, The Bigger Picture, on Thirty Tigers, and their new song LOST has Molly Tuttle on it. No opener is listed, so it should be done by about 9. Eat first.
Asheville indie rock, new album out that day
Alison Antaramian's band puts out its second album, Wagging, the same day as the show. Alex Farrar produced it at Drop of Sun, and it's bigger and busier than their 2024 debut, My Own Private Rodeo. Blithe from Asheville and Real Companion from Boone are on the bill too.
Small followings that play them on repeat. Worth it even if it's not your usual thing.
California bluegrass that covers Gillian Welch
A Santa Cruz bluegrass band built around AJ Lee's voice. Their covers album, Cover to Cover, came out in September with songs by Gillian Welch, Dylan and Emmylou Harris, so it fits a night when Welch is playing across town. The Cody Sisters open. Out by about 10:45.
Husband-and-wife folk, new album
Coty Hoover and Becca Smith, a South Carolina duo named after their 1941 wooden radio. It's a release show for their new album, Heirloom, with a full band. It's done by about 9:30, so eat in Black Mountain before.
Ten years or more, with the track record to prove it.
The Dead, acoustic
Two nights of songs from Reckoning, the Dead's acoustic live album, which turns 45 this year, plus more Dead songs. Asheville is the last stop of their fall run. Both nights were still on sale Thursday morning. Plan on about three hours with the break, so eat first.
Outlaw string band, two nights
Benjamin Tod and his wife, fiddler Ashley Mae, started Lost Dog busking in Nashville, and their songs about addiction and getting clean have a fierce following. Asheville is one of the first two-night stands of this tour. Conrad Moore is on both nights, and The Resonant Rogues join Saturday. With the openers, expect to be out past 11.
Seattle rap with his heart on his sleeve
Grieves made his name on Rhymesayers and now puts out records on his own label, Storm Watch Record Club. He and Mouse Powell, who opens, made the 2023 EP WHY NOT? together. Asheville is the night before Raleigh. A 9pm Sunday start, so it's a late one.
North Carolina cider and mead makers set up on Coxe Avenue to pour and sell, with Barn Door Ciderworks hosting. The list of makers and the ticket details still weren't posted Thursday morning, so check before you go. It's sunny and in the low 60s all afternoon.
The fall edition: plant-based food from local and regional vendors, a market, a DJ and games, at the top of the park between Broadway and Market. Cocoa's Cookies and Smoke & Sunshine hot sauces are on the list.
This week's color report has the first golds and oranges around Bent Creek Gap, milepost 400 at about 3,300 feet, an easy drive from town. Asheville itself should peak in the last week of October, and below 2,500 feet it's still mostly green. Craggy Gardens and Waterrock Knob are past peak but good for looking down on the color. Go early to beat the traffic. The Parkway is still closed from NC 80 to Mount Mitchell.
A festival for dogs: a scavenger hunt, pet vendors and four bands on two stages, from Bayou Diesel's zydeco at 11 to Asheville Junction's bluegrass at 1:30. Costumes are encouraged, and there's an online costume contest. Leashed dogs only, and only service animals go inside the buildings.
Asheville on Bikes' yearly fall costume ride leaves New Belgium at 3, with three routes for different ages and speeds, and everyone's back between 4 and 5. There's a pop-up bike park from 1:30 to 7 and a costume photo booth at 2:30.
Montford Park Players close their season with an original noir set ten years after Dorothy beat the Wicked Witch: a witch-hunter stuck in a bar for one night, trying to solve a murder. It's for grown-ups, with violence and strong language. Bring a blanket and a jacket, since it's about 50 by 9. Leashed dogs are welcome.
William Goldman's stage version of the Stephen King story, with Laurie Carter Rose as Annie Wilkes and Jeff Benninghofen as the writer she won't let go. It's 95 minutes with no intermission. It runs through Nov 1, and Saturday's is this weekend's only evening show.
The Asheville Film Festival shows two blocks of horror, thriller and experimental shorts, about 90 minutes in all, inside the Masonic Temple on Broadway. It's a fundraiser for the festival.
The Southern Highland Craft Guild shows work by the 39 makers it juried in over the last two years, with a reception Saturday afternoon. The Folk Art Center sits at milepost 382 on the Parkway, so it pairs well with a color drive.
The city's free Day of the Dead afternoon, with an ofrenda, traditional crafts, food, music and face painting. All ages.
The Ride Lonesome Tour
This coming Wednesday, Beck in a 2,400-seat room on the Ride Lonesome tour. On sale as of last week.
A bonus issue, just for Halloween
Halloween is on a Saturday this year, so the whole town goes big from Thursday to Sunday. The bonus Halloween guide is out: the strangest and best stuff, the Asheville classics, the spooky shows and every costume party I could find.