Let's move to Asheville

We just finished up our last shows in the States before we head off to the U.S. Virgin Islands for 8 shows in 10 days. Our short run through the South consisted of four shows in three days, performing twice in Asheville, NC. I love Asheville; I’d never been, but always wanted to visit. Last summer I applied for an internship at a Landscape Architecture firm where they let you pick the office you want to work in. Being the music lover that I am, I chose Asheville, but unfortunately wasn’t selected. When we pulled into Asheville on Friday night I had dreams of going down the rock waterslide and disc golfing; none of which came true.

As we pulled up, there was a band performing right outside The Emerald Lounge that was part of the Downtown After Five Concert Series. Asheville is a musically rich town, with loads of good eats, art/culture and all the mountains and hiking trails you could ever want. “Hippies” and dreadlocks are a common site, which left Jeremy and I grinning ear to ear as we walked around town before the gig. Currently living down the road from Northampton, Massachusetts, I’ve learned to love all the eccentric folks, street performers and small little hippie shops that no one knows about. Since confirming the date a few months ago, Asheville has been the stop I’ve been looking forward to the most this summer. Our plan was initially to spend the night in Asheville so we could play the next day since our drive to Knoxville that night was only a couple hours. As stated before, we weren’t able to do so as Zach performed a 1.5 hour set at Summer Solstice in Asheville the next day.

The Emerald Lounge gig was a lot of fun and had a great turnout. One of our new friends from Bonnaroo came out to see us in Asheville and continued on the road with us for the next couple shows. She worked merch with Jeremy as well as running around taking pictures. Thanks for all your help Jen. The show was solid from start to finish, but naturally hit its peak half way through the second set. Trippin’ On The Bassline was the highlight of the night for me, and started a run of 11 songs that ended the show with a bang. Thoughts Of Yesterday lead into a crowd favorite, Wormtown. Twisty Twisty followed which segued into Savannah, a song that shows some of Zach’s strong song writing skills as well as his ability to perfectly layer a song to form a slow, yet funky composition that keeps the crowd moving from the first note. Jeremy’s favorite Into The Morning Into The Night was a standard dance party, as was Fresh Street. One of my all time favorites, Most People Never Heard Real Music capped the set, with an encore of You Don’t Even Love The Girl and Mama Don’t Think. I know I just listed off songs, and for those of you who don’t know the songs, this paragraph must render itself pretty meaningless, but maybe that will urge you to buy the show. Any show we play, you can either purchase at the show, or contact me through the Zach Deputy website and I can get you all squared away with a link to download the show.

As a whole the show was a lot of fun, but Jeremy and I got a little extra treat when the sound engineer offered to let us run lights for the night. Ever since my days following Dave Matthews Band, I geek out hard over lights. Fenton Williams, DMB’s lighting engineering is one of the best in the business and growing up watching those lights really tied the whole show together for me. After DMB, I began to find the jamband scene, which was soon followed by the underground scene and a real grassroots movement. Falling down the tier of bands, the lights and production of their respective shows fell too. This made me even more grateful for what I had experienced in the 40+ DMB shows I caught over the years. I loved finding smaller, unknown bands as I could see something in them that no one has seen yet, but there were still no lights, and lights are a huge part of any show. DMB was eventually replaced as my favorite band in 2006 by Umphrey’s McGee. Umphrey’s was slowly moving up the jamband totem pole, but always had lackluster lighting until 2009. Then came Jeff Waful. Jeff Waful, forming lighting engineer for moe., is a GOD and was welcomed by the Umphrey’s family with welcome arms. I find myself just starring at Jeff during shows, wondering what’s going on in his head as his paints the venue with the colors that compliment the peaks and valleys of the music. I’ve met Jeff several times and maybe someday I’ll be able to sit down with him and really pick his brain. Until then, I split time running lights with Jeremy for Zach at The Emerald Lounge in Asheville, NC. As much fun as it was to run lights, Jeremy has a real talent and strong interest in developing that part of his career so I let him take the reins for the majority of the show. Don’t get me wrong, I was the happiest kid in the world when I was on those lights, but Jeremy did a great job synching up the lights with Zach’s music - so I just enjoyed it from back off the room with DP in hand. Before I move on, I just want to thank everyone that is following this blog – you wouldn’t believe how many people buy Jeremy and I Diet Pepsi and Red Bull. You guys are amazing; we’re all creating quite the community. Next time, come find Jeremy or I and we’ll get you your drink of choice, it’s only fair.

The next day we gigged in Asheville again at Summer Solstice Festival before heading to Knoxville for a show at World Grotto that night. Being a college town in summer, Knoxville wasn’t the most happening place in the world, but that didn’t stop us for getting all sorts of funky. We loaded in and had plenty of time to eat and wander around before the show. World Grotto faces on Market Square where Sundown On The City takes place, the city’s weekly summer concert series. We just missed a monster of a show, performed on Thursday where Toubab Krewe opened for The Wailers. Zach will be performing his only opening gig of the summer when he opens for The Wailers at Brown Foreman Amphitheater at Waterfont Park in Louisville, Kentucky on July 24th. Hopefully some of you will make the drive to Louisville; the location is absolutely gorgeous!

Market Square in Knoxville was full of street performers, people watchers and kids playing in the fountain. I ventured down to a man made stream in the park during set break to take a bit of a rest and enjoy some time to myself. Zach played a solid show in what was one of the most unique venues I’ve seen. The venue looked like you were in a cave and offered stadium seating with cushions and pillows for those who wanted to enjoy the music at a different pace. Zach’s version of Patty Wagon Funk and Getting Stinky wrapped up the first set on a high note. The second set was solid through and through, but highlights were the set opener Lincoln Continental and the set closing segue of Let’s Get In On > Sunshine > Gimme Something That’s Real.

The end of the night was different to say the least, but we all made it back to the hotel where we then proceeded to sleep until 7 PM. Catching up on some sleep was welcomed by all, and now we’re enjoying our drive through downtown Atlanta on our way to Zach’s house where we will spend the next couple days preparing the Bonnaroo Box Set and getting ready for our trip the U.S. Virgin Islands. My advice to you: get in the plane, it’ll be worth it, I swear!