Mountain Echoes
Saturday, June 4, Haywood Community College

Haywood Community College turns 40 years old this year, with nary a wrinkle to show for it. If HCC were your Uncle Aither, it might be time for a shot of gingko, a chair with good lumbar support, and an annual prostate exam. But hold it with them rubber gloves: at 40, HCC is still young by university standards, and the whippersnappers down on campus are celebrating with the sort of all-day party that old Aither just can’t pull off anymore.

The shindig — and I think we can call it a shindig — is called Mountain Echoes, and the flier features a banjo, a barn, a bit of script reading “I Remember When ...” From just these clues, the astute among you can probably figure out that there is neither high opera nor death-metal on tap; instead, attendees will be treated to some of the best bluegrass and mountain music the region has to offer, along with storytellers, a craft sale, and the sweat and sawdust of a gen-u-ine timber sports competition.

Heading the bill is Marc Pruett and the Whitewater Bluegrass Company. With nearly 25 years of performance under their belt, the Whitewater Bluegrass Company — Ted White, Billy Cunningham, Bill Byerly, Buddy Melton, and the Grammy-winning Pruett — are almost as old as HCC itself, and just as spry. They offer “down-home entertainment that is good and good for you” — and are sure to trot out a few bluegrass classics and old mountain weepers.

Another boldface name is David Holt, a local music man with a lot of hats in a lot of rings: he’s a 4-time Grammy winner, a television host for public television’s Folkways and public radio’s Riverwalk, an award-winning storyteller, a one-time SMN contributor, and a frequent collaborator with a kindly ol’ feller out of Deep Gap named Doc Watson. Doc won’t be along, but David will, twice.

Other musicians include traditional Appalachian musician Laura Boosinger, banjo hall-of-famer Raymond Fairchild, twins Travis and Trevor Stuart, and the McDowell family. Storytellers include Sheila Kay Adams, Davy Arch, Connie Reagan-Blake, Hawk Hurst, Jerry Wolfe, and Ila Jean Yount. There will also be a slate of kids’ activities and a screening of the HCC film program’s 30-minute feature, Crazy Mary.

Mountain Echoes runs from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. (see schedule on Page 14) on Saturday. Admission is $8 to the general public. HCC alumni and children under 12 get in free; HCC students can buy one ticket and get one free. Visit www.haywood.edu for a schedule of performers, or call 828.627.4544.

Rich Willey
Monday, June 6, UNCA

HCC won’t be the only campus hosting music this week, as Monday evening’s Rich Willey show marks the start of UNC-Asheville’s 24 annual Concerts on the Quad summer music series. Devoted fans of music al fresco flock to the UNCA quad regardless of the band, content to sit in lawnchairs, eat watermelon, and let their kids run around like rabid apes on amphetamines. (Don’t worry: those are my kids I’m talking about.)

Trumpeter Rich Willey is an Asheville resident, adjunct music professor at UNCA, and a veteran of the New York jazz scene. He’s backed Mel Torme on trombone, held down the second trumpet chair in Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau, and played with Rosemary Clooney and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra to boot. He will be joined in concert by Matt Olson on tenor saxophone, Rick Simerly on trombone, Aimee Sullivan on alto saxophone, Richard Shulman on piano, Mike Holstein on bass, Byron Hedgepeth on drums, Ozzie Orengo on percussion and guest vocalist Bruce Lang.

Future shows include Moscow Nights (6/13), the Biscuit Burners (6/20), Karen Shank (6/27), Yawo (7/4), and Christine Kane (7/11). Bring your own watermelon — I ain’t sharin’.

The show starts at 6:30 with a set from the Reuter Center Community Chorus, and as always, this Concert on the Quad is FREE! FREE! FREE! Call 828.232.5000 for more info.

Also Playing

• Midnite, Orange Peel, 6/2

• Matt Williams, Soul Infusion, 6/2

• Linville Ridge Band, Jack of the Wood, 6/4

• Cheeksters, Grey Eagle, 6/4

• Natti Love Joys, Emerald Lounge, 6/4

• One Leg Up, Café Soleil, 6/4

• Impossible Shapes, Grey Eagle, 6/5

• My Morning Jacket, Orange Peel, 6/8

Three Good Adjectives to Describe the Sound of the Hammond B-3 Organ

1. Warm

2. Fat

3. Full

They Said It

“Music is too important to be left to professionals.”

— Michelle Shocked