Sent Thursday, October 8, 202628 picks
Friday is the one dry day: partly sunny and up to 76, with no rain in the forecast. If you want to be outside, it's Friday.
Saturday turns wet. Showers are likely from midmorning (about 50% by noon, 75% by 6), and it only gets to about 63. Plan on being indoors.
Sunday starts with storms overnight and through the morning, close to a sure thing until about 10. It eases off after lunch to around a 40% chance, with a high near 71.
Nights stay mild: about 63 at 10pm Friday and 60 Saturday.
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 8.
High 76°, no rain
High 63°, 86% chance of rain
High 71°, 98% chance of rain
These won't come around again this year.
Cake and cocktails for the Center for Craft's 30th birthday, plus the opening of Crafting Variance, a show guest-curated by Lola Ben-Alon, who runs the Natural Materials Lab at Columbia. She gives a short talk at 5:30, then it's a party until 8. It's free, but they want an RSVP.
Gaelynn Lea won NPR's Tiny Desk Contest and wrote the score for Macbeth on Broadway. Kalyn Rose Heffernan fronts Wheelchair Sports Camp, a Denver hip-hop band. At 3 they talk about disability culture and making the arts open to everyone, and at 6 the band plays a free show. Both are in the Blue Ridge Room.
Once a year, some of the best potters around Penland and Spruce Pine set up in one room and sell their own work. It's indoors, so it's a good use of a wet Saturday. Spruce Pine is about an hour from town. Get there early for the best pieces.
The Whale's Oktoberfest is for the dogs this year. Mountain Pet Rescue brings adoptable puppies, there are pet vendors, German beers on tap, brats and kraut from Haywood Common, and a stein-holding contest and pretzel toss from 2. The Whale has an inside, so a little rain won't stop it.
Milo Rossi is miniminuteman on YouTube, the archaeologist who takes apart lost-Atlantis and ancient-aliens videos with real evidence and a lot of jokes. This is his live show. The 2pm was down to about 50 seats this week, so the 7pm is the easier ticket.
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.
Bogotá psych-funk with a brand new album
A three-piece from Colombia that plays psychedelic funk. Their sixth album, Manifest, came out Wednesday, so this is one of the first nights they're playing it. DELAFUNK opens. Sunday's a school night, but it's a short walk from the South Slope breweries.
Kentucky soul on a big label
A 28-year-old from Kentucky who calls what he does Appalachian soul. He signed with Big Machine, his first full album is due later this year, and this is one of 36 stops on his Back to My Roots Tour. A small room for a singer on his way up.
Small followings that play them on repeat. Worth it even if it's not your usual thing.
Two emo bands, one loud night
Nashville's Free Throw and Atlanta's Microwave split the top of the bill on a co-headlining tour, with Carly Cosgrove and Flycatcher opening. Four bands from 7 means it runs to about 11.
Mike and the Moonpies, new name
Mike Harmeier's Texas dancehall country band spent years as Mike and the Moonpies. They changed the name to Silverada with their ninth record, also called Silverada. Same band, same two-step.
Texas songwriter in the Townes mold
Emerson grew up in Van Zandt County, Texas, and writes like it: plain, sad and funny country songs in the line of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. He's touring Blue Stars, his fourth album. Hayden Redwine opens.
Ten years or more, with the track record to prove it.
A reunion tour with a reunion opener
Conor Oberst's band is on a short fall run, 13 dates, and Asheville made the list. The opener is the story: Lullaby for the Working Class, the Nebraska band that hasn't toured since 1999. Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott play in both sets. Expect it to run to about 11. It's indoors on the wettest night of the weekend.
New Orleans brass under the open sky
Troy Andrews and his band play funk, brass and rock like a second line that won't quit. Abraham Alexander opens. Friday is the one dry night, and Sierra Nevada says tickets are selling fast. It's 30 minutes south and should wrap around 9:45, so eat there or before.
Swamp soul from Jacksonville
JJ Grey started out playing covers behind chicken wire at a Jacksonville juke joint and has been making gritty Southern soul with Mofro for 25 years. He's touring Olustee, his tenth album. Downtown, so dinner first is easy.
Raleigh bluegrass, with a dog-friendly room
Four Billboard bluegrass number ones in 20-some years. They're a trio now and touring Hiyo, which they made at Echo Mountain right here in Asheville. Brevard is 45 minutes away, and 185 King Street lets you bring your dog.
The Pigeons' yearly party
Baltimore's funk jam band brings its annual Flocktoberfest to Pisgah's outdoor stage for one night, with Asheville's Hustle Souls opening. Dry and mild Friday, so it's a good night to be outside. Dizgo plays the after party at Asheville Music Hall.
California rock lifers
A Bay Area band that's been making warm, harmony-heavy rock since the early '90s. Sounding Arrow is Asheville's Scott Kinnebrew, playing songs from his new album, SKYMAN.
Twenty years of heavy
Richmond's Inter Arma is on its 20th anniversary tour, back at Static Age for the first time in ten years. The band says these are its last shows for a while as it finishes album six. Earplugs.
Asheville world jazz at 25
River Guerguerian on percussion and Chris Rosser on oud, dotar and piano have been mixing jazz, classical and music from all over since 2001. This is their 25th anniversary and a new album, in a quiet seated room on Haywood Road. No alcohol and no cash at this venue.
The WNC Cheese Trail's yearly fundraiser: local cheesemakers handing out samples, with cider, mead and bread makers alongside. Earlier entry costs more ($35 at 1, $40 at noon, $75 at 11:30) and gets you there before the crowd. Online sales close Friday at 10pm. The storms should be moving out by early afternoon.
Home cooks and pros bring gumbo, jambalaya and the rest, you taste all of it and vote for the People's Choice. The money goes to Asheville Mardi Gras and next year's parade.
This week's color report says Graveyard Fields is "glowing with reds and golds" and Black Balsam's grass has gone orange and rust. The color forecast picks this weekend and next as the good ones at that height. Both are about an hour from town on the Parkway, and both are open. The Graveyard Fields lot fills fast, so go early. Closer in, Craggy Pinnacle is a short climb with a view of the color line moving down.
Once a year the artists in this hilly old neighborhood south of downtown open their home studios: painting, pottery, glass, jewelry, woodwork and puppets. Grab a map and walk or drive between them. Sunday afternoon, after the storms, is the better time.
A juried show of abstract artists from all over the country opens with a reception. It's up through Jan 3, but Friday is the night to meet the people who made it. It's a five-minute walk from the Center for Craft party.
Vulture put her on its list of comedians you should and will know. She wrote for That Damn Michael Che, shows up on HBO's Fantasmas, and has opened for Gary Gulman and Joe Pera. A dry, indoor way to spend a rainy Saturday night.
Next weekend. The October weekend at Lake Eden, run by the LEAF founder, with the Grey Eagle booking the music stages from dusk to midnight, plus contra and square dancing and lake time. It's capped at around 2,000 people and passes are still available. Kids 10 and under are free.
Grammy winners at 20
The Grammy-winning bluegrass band is celebrating 20 years, with Broken Compass Bluegrass opening. Same night as Lake Eden, so pick your lane.
The 79th fall fair, with Guild members filling the arena downtown. Tickets are at the door.
The Dead, acoustic
Two nights of songs from the Dead's acoustic live album, Reckoning, 45 years on. The second night was added in August. Not sold out yet.