Soundcheck AVL: Old Dominion writes, tracks album at Echo Mountain Recording and Gladys Knight stops in; Open Folk finds home at Citizen Vinyl; Drop of Sun Studios opens
Also, NewSong music and songwriting contest celebrates 20th anniversary
Note: This story sponsored by Citizens Fuel Co., a family-owned Asheville company.
Here’s a roundup of some Asheville music news.
Country music stars write, record new album in Asheville
Some big-time Nashville musicians recently converged on Echo Mountain Recording studios to write and record their latest album, which is out now. Then a living legend showed up for a special guest appearance.
The band Old Dominion, joined by a couple of longtime songwriter friends (Josh Osborne and Matt Jenkins) and well-known music producer Shane McAnally, camped out in Asheville for three weeks, writing in the morning and recording in the afternoon. The result was a 13-track record, “Time, Tequila & Therapy,” which is out now.
In four YouTube videos titled “Old Dominion Asheville Sessions,” as well as a few recent interviews I listened to, the band detailed their experience. (Watch the YouTube videos by videographer Mason Allen here, here, here and here.)
Born out of the pandemic, the idea was to get out of Nashville, spend time together and focus creative energy on writing and recording, band members said. Asheville was the perfect community to escape to, lead singer Matthew Ramsey says in one interview. McAnally says the results were nothing short of spectacular. “I can’t believe that in less than three weeks. I think we’ve out written their first three records,” a process that took years, McAnally notes.
In another snippet, Ramsey describes a moment of inspiration while finishing the song “Lonely Side of Town.” “I was looking back at Shane and I said it would be so cool if we had someone like Gladys Knight on this album. He was like, she lives in Asheville. She’s here.”
The band turned to studio manager Jessica Tomasin, who grabbed her phone and made a call. Knight gladly agreed. “It’s my pleasure,” she says.
It sounds like everybody involved was witness to capturing some lightning in a bottle, a special session for Echo Mountain, which is wrapping up its 15th year in Asheville.
Noted collector of mountain music and stories dies
Robert Lynn “Bobby” McMillon, N.C. Folk Heritage Award recipient and collector of mountain folk tales, legends and songs, died on Nov. 28. He was 69.
McMillon was born in Caldwell County and had family ties to Mitchell and Yancey counties, as well as eastern Tennessee. He grew up learning traditional mountain stories, ballads and legends. “In Caldwell County, he went to school with relatives of Tom Dula, learned their family stories, and heard ballads, gospel songs, and Carter family recordings,” according to the obituary posted to the Blue Ridge Heritage Area website.
McMillon traveled the world, “sharing his tales and songs with thousands at public schools, folk art conventions, and festivals,” according to his family obituary. He also authored and co-authored several books and articles that helped preserve the rich history of rural Southern Appalachia, according to the obituary.
Listen to McMillon’s haunting rendition of "Oh, Death" in this YouTube clip from the movie "Songcatcher."
Drop of Sun Studios opens in West Asheville
Drop of Sun Studios, a beautiful new recording studio, has opened on Haywood Road in West Asheville. From the design of the space to the array of equipment available to musicians, it’s clear that a lot of thought and heart went into Drop of Sun (built on the former location of the old Larry Coleman sign shop at 821 Haywood Road.)
On a recent tour of the space with studio manager Sara Jane Whatley, the studio spaces oozed a certain comfort aimed at aiding collaboration and creative inspiration. The studio also highly values supporting Asheville’s community of musicians, Whatley stressed.
Adam McDaniel is a producer and founder of Drop of Sun, which started in a different space in 2015. (Robert Todd of Red House Architecture was the architect on the project; Josh and Isiah Banks at Staire Creek Builders were the contractors.) The Haywood Road spot is the realization of his creative vision and attention to detail. Alex Farrar, the studio’s mixing and recording engineer and producer, is also a local musician.
Drop of Sun is a world-class recording facility that can accommodate any scope of project, and some of its recent local projects include Wednesday, Angel Olsen, Indigo de Souza, Avey Tare, Larkin, and Knives and Daggers.
(Note: I just happened to meet Adam on Monday morning while waiting for a bagel sando at Ultra Coffee. He wasn’t available on my tour day, but we’re going to connect for a follow-up. I’m looking forward to hearing more from Adam.)
NewSong celebrates 20th anniversary
The 20th annual NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition was held this past weekend at Citizen Vinyl, and singer/songwriter Michael Flynn of Saluda was crowned the winner.
The contest is a fantastic showcase of emerging performers and songwriters. This year’s finalists were Flynn and the following: Jeremy Parsons of San Antonio; Noan Partly of Tampa; Olivia Ellen Lloyd of Brooklyn; Charlie Belle of Philadelphia; Jay Filson of Nashville; Gilda Colaiaco of Los Angeles; and Hannah Miller of Madison, Tenn.
Congratulations to Flynn, who won the following: a fully-funded six-song EP, to be recorded and mixed at Citizen Studios, plus 500 vinyl records pressed at Citizen Vinyl, as well as a featured, paid performance at Arts Brookfield Summer Concert Series in New York City next summer.
The contest moved to Asheville from New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 2018. Gar Ragland is NewSong co-founder and director. He relocated his organization to Asheville from New York City back about 2012.
The NewSong competition was held at Citizen Vinyl, the downtown Asheville vinyl record manufacturing facility that is also the vision of Ragland. Citizen Vinyl, which includes a full scale recording studio, a vinyl-themed craft cocktail and coffee lounge and a record and art store, opened last fall in my old stomping ground, the former Asheville Citizen-Times newspaper building on O.Henry Avenue.
Open Folk finds a footing in Asheville
Open Folk, a new open mic night curated by a charismatic local musician, has quickly established itself on the Asheville scene.
Zaq Suárez curates the monthly event, which spotlights six to eight performers appearing before an audience that’s notified in advance that there’s strict “no talking” policy during the show. The goal is “to hold a space for people who want to see music in a quiet, intimate setting,” Suárez says in a press release. That atmosphere definitely fills a hole on the Asheville music scene, which in recent years has lost lovely listening rooms like Altamont Theatre, Ambrose West and The Mothlight. And audiences are responding, regularly filling Open Folk’s first venue home, the American Vinyl on Coxe Avenue, and now its new venue home, Citizen Vinyl.
Suárez, whose band The Hermit Kings had a strong local following a few years back, came across the concept while living in Barcelona in 2019. He figured Asheville musicians would benefit from the event when he returned to the mountains. For Suárez, it’s all about building and strengthening Asheville’s community of musicians.
Musicians submit their material on instagram through @openfolkavl or via email at OpenFolkAVL@gmail.com. Check ‘em out.
Gov’t Mule releases first blues record
Gov’t Mule, a band founded in 1994 by Asheville native Warren Haynes and his buddy Allen Woody, recently released its first blues record, “Heavy Load Blues.” If you’re a blues fan, this record is the real deal, and it was great to hear Haynes talk about it recently during an interview on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday.
Haynes, the Grammy Award-winning former guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, tells NPR the pandemic gave him the gift of time - time to write new music, then time to record it. The album was recorded at a studio called Power Station New England in Connecticut, according to Haynes.
“We just all set up on top of each other like we were playing in a bar or something,” Haynes says. “And everything was recorded live to analog tape with old microphones and old guitars and amplifiers. And I think that all helped make a record that sonically represented what we were trying to do.”
Floating Action tribute album raises money for skateparks in Jamaica
Seth Kauffman, who lives in Black Mountain, explains himself clearly on his Floating Action bandcamp page: He “creates Floating Action albums; writes, produces, engineers, plays all the instruments. Purposefully dodges worldly success in pursuit of musical purity- has released 8 albums since 2005.” He has also toured with Jim James, Dylan LeBlanc and Michael Nau, and has recorded with Angel Olsen, Ray LaMontagne and Tyler Ramsey.
Now there’s a new “tribute to the music of Floating Action” compilation album that’s recently been released. It’s called “The Friend Who Knows,” and it’s available on all streaming services, as well as vinyl pre-order. All proceeds are going to the Concrete Jungle Foundation, which builds skateparks in Jamaica and gives skateboards to kids there. Here are just some of the contributors: Kevin Ratterman, Bryan Cates, Angel Olsen, Michael Nau, Daniel Martin Moore, Scott McMicken, Eric Slick, Michael Libramento, Jacob Rodriguez, Jim James, Tyler Ramsey, Eric D. Johnson, and David Given. You can contribute to the skatepark cause here.
Holidaze benefit concert coming to The Orange Peel
The Holidaze for Habitat concert presented by WNCW radio station to benefit the nonprofit Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity is set for Friday, Dec. 10. It will feature Acoustic Syndicate, The Freeway Jubilee, Abby Bryant & The Echoes, The Darren Nicholson Band, Jeff Sipe’s Electric Buddha, Travers Brothers and Friends, and Webb Wilder.
The press around the concert is also promising a very special guest. Hmmmm…
Thanks for reading.
-j