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Published: November 6th 2009
Local String Music at Jack of the Wood
One of the reasons for our stay in Asheville was to experience some local blue grass string music. This group of about a dozen string players didn't disappoint. Asheville, NC---Most American cities are struggling to regain a "certain cache" and economic base. Asheville, NC is another such town on the cusp of becoming very special. Among the highlights for us was a visit to some great galleries. One, A Boy and His Dog Fine Art Gallery, landed us a sneak preview of the upcoming Steve Tracy show. Steve himself was there and we had quite a visit. Steve's recent fall scenes of the Asheville area are wonderful; as are his New York series. The gallery, located on Patton Ave., is “not to be missed” if art is your thing. Gallery manager Gary Muzechuk, our informative and gracious host, used rheostats in a darkened room to give us a wonderful "light play" demonstration of a colorful local fall scene painted (single and diptych) by Steve. The reds really popped as the lighting dimmed. From att to tummy, it was lunch time and Gary and Steve sent us up Patton Ave. for tasty and well prepared Tex Mex which we washed down with Dr. Browns. Later, in the evening, we retraced our steps back down Patton Ave., near the gallery, for wonderful "roots music" and decent, generous and well priced ($5
small plates) food at the Wednesday night jam at Jack of the Wood. The Irish pub atmosphere would have suited us even without the dozen or so local string players forming a tight circle "jam" in one corner. This is real toe tapping stuff like Kevin McKrell's "sessions." During the day we walked around town finding interesting shops and galleries, some empty store fronts, a farmers' market that deserves a better location, and here and there buskers with open instrument cases. We came with a list of sundries and couldn't find any downtown retail options for necessary items. The absence of a pharmacy, grocer, and hardware store (the esoteric "Ashville Hardware Store" only sells woodworking tools and good for them) drove us out of town to the K-Mart District. One thriving retail exception was Mast General Store, a wonderful "old fashioned Appalachian tradition." Mast sells functional clothing (Carhart, Life is Good, and Woolrich), hiking and outdoor clothing (travel underpants guaranteed to dry in 2-4 hours), local crafts, barrels of candy, etc., all displayed and sold in a very old fashioned atmosphere. For true New Yorkers, there is a clothing store just as you come out of the subway on Orchard
Grove Arcade
This is a gem; commercial, yes; but classy and elegant! Street, with a huge center staircase leading down to the shoe dept. that is of a similar vintage. Back to Asheville, on our walk around town, we noticed a fair amount of Buskers with their music cases collecting change and dollars especially near the Pack Place outdoor cafe area. The buskers lend an appealing ambiance to an artsy downtown like Asheville. On the other hand, groups of purposeless people hanging together *what was that 'aroma?'weren't as appealing! Between our stroll around Asheville and our visit to Jack of the Woods for the music, we happened upon (thanks to Wes) tony "Grove Arcade" where we sipped wine at the posh Slante Wine Bar and browsed around Grove Arcade's unique shops including a very cool rock shop. Grove Arcade, a historic upscale shopping / dining area, is a real gem! Back to "funky," which is fun for us, the Lexington Ave. area, also downtown, would have been worth an investment of more time if our brief stay had allowed. In this brief Asheville visit, we found what we came for: a compact and walkable artsy town with local musicians playing early enough in the evening to suit our aging sleep patterns. A
young musician (female violin/fiddle player) sat next to us at the bar at Jack of the Wood said she always has a gig. She's new to town, up from Nashville and loves it here in Asheville. She plays at Ed Boudreaux's Bar-B-Que on Biltmore Ave. So, that will be on our "list" for our next visit. Weekend visits will likely find more going on - events, festivals, art safaris, etc. - but we did darn good on a Wednesday night. We hope to return here in the spring to see the Biltmore Gardens and the mountains in full bloom, and, of course, to catch some more mountain music!
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jeff
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..siad it before..."you guys sure know how to do it"!...hey Wes...you look like you lost some weight