Music Culture in Asheville

MUSIC CULTURE IN ASHEVILLE

Introduction

Music in Asheville is everywhere, when approaching a street corner by a local restaurant, or walking around Asheville’s wonderful city exploring the different stores and places of entertainment the city has to offer. Asheville, North Carolina is known currently to be one of the best known stop-shops for Music. A writer of “RollingStone,” Joseph Hudak (2019), says that:

“Aside from Asheville’s already well-known brewery and outdoor industries — beer and hiking are ways of life here — it’s music that ties the community together.” (pp. 5)^[4]

I wanted to research and write about the history of Music in Asheville, North Carolina at first, but proved to be difficult to find sources detailing any history on the subject. I came to find that writing about the importance and integrity of music culture in Asheville would promise to be more rewarding and beneficial. I found that a lot of local individuals have felt the same, and documented others’ experiences and their own within articles, talks, documentaries, and found that a lot more people are willing to share their thoughts on the culture of music in Asheville, NC.

My Reason for Writing

When deciding my topic for my Deconstructing Asheville’ assignment, I immediately wanted to write about the music scene the community of Asheville.

Music has always interested me as a kid, and although sources proved to be difficult to come by when researching for this paper, I desperately wanted to write about something that would (and already has) keep my attention throughout this project.

I came up with a bunch of ideas for what I wanted my topic to be: “The Growth of Music in Asheville,” or “Asheville’s Relationship with Music”, and “Asheville’s Music Journey.” I tried so hard to write about the growth of Music in Asheville; however, it proved to be more of a challenge for me to be able to write about the history of music locally within Asheville, with not a lot of credible sources on the subject.

I wanted to write about the music scene so desperately that I finally came to a conclusion: write about the music scene itself. To write about what makes the music scene in Asheville move forward and evolve, and how it contributes to its community as a whole. Writing about the music culture of Asheville, made me so much more knowledgeable about the community that I am but a humble guest, and proud to be apart of such an unpredictable and comical city that is always alive and turning like gears to a machine.