Stoking the Melodic Fire Within

It is said if you’re an artist, then “you’re a product of your environment.”

In terms of musicians, the old adage often proves true. Depending on the decade and geographical location of your raising, the angle by which one finds influence and inspiration can come from any direction.

One can always seek out and absorb the ancient musical pillars, from the Delta blues to Appalachian roots, old-time folk to classic country. But, usually—initially—you’re surrounded by what’s popular on the radio or in your clique. And it’s that combination of time and place, influence and inspiration, that creates your specific sound and stage presence.

In American music it happens all the time, and it’s happening now. A slew of young and rapidly rising musical acts, brimming with talent and purpose, are blossoming in the current Southern Appalachian scene. Some hold the traditional tones close to heart, while others use them as a crucial ingredient to the recipe of their signature sound.

Regardless, amid the vast unknowns of the post-shutdown era of the music industry, each of these artists are blazing their own respective paths, each as unique and filled with the unlimited potential to break through into the next, bountiful chapter of their careers. 

In the depths of The One Stop in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, members of the Travers Brothership and Abby Bryant & The Echoes were setting up and sound checking for that evening’s inaugural “Blue Ridge Blues Jam.” 

The cavernous live music spot sits on College Street, right underneath its sister venue, the storied Asheville Music Hall, on Patton Avenue. 

Both the Brothership and the Echoes represent the next generation of popular rock acts emerging from Asheville and greater Western North Carolina.

Though the Brothership are childhood friends hailing from Black Mountain, North Carolina, and the Echoes formed as students at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, both groups call Asheville home—each now carrying the melodic torch ignited decades ago by rock guitar icon and “local boy done good” Warren Haynes.

The Brothership and the Echoes had an enormous 2019, gaining accolades and main stage slots at major festivals in Southern Appalachia and beyond. It was a moment to parlay that hard-earned stage credibility into a juggernaut of sound and presence in 2020. But, that was not to be seen, with the pandemic and complete halt of the music industry until further notice. 

The “Blue Ridge Blues Jam” represents the first night members of the bands are dipping their toes into the waters of live music in 2021, indoors and in front of an audience in real time; not digitally streaming on a screen. The beloved basement stage now has (semi-permanent, waist-high) fencing surrounding the musicians as a way to mitigate any issues amid an era of social distancing and state protocols. 

Outside of The One Stop, guitarist/singer Kyle Travers leans against a wall, watching the fast-paced College Street traffic, readying himself for the impending show.

“It was frustrating and strange to be off the road. We’re used to playing 150 to 200 nights a year nationally. And we were just starting to sell tickets all over,” he said. “When you’re performing live that much, you really get used to releasing all your stresses and anxieties onstage. And we had to find another way to do that, whether it’s sitting by a campfire more often or jamming in the house—it still meant something.”

With its latest live release, “Road Worn Shoes,” the Brothership justifies why it’s one of the premier blues/rock units within Southern Appalachia and beyond—this fiery torch of electric strings and meteoric soul following in the footsteps of Gov’t Mule and the Tedeschi Trucks Band.

“In any way, shape or form, we’ve always just stuck together and pushed through. This is just another time that we had to do that,” Travers said. “It just comes with the brotherhood value of it. Brothers stick together. We work off each other. If one of us is confident, then it spreads like wildfire. If one of us feels like we can get through something, we can all get through it.”

Upstairs in the green room area of the Asheville Music Hall, Bryant sits on a couch and looks through her show notes before taking The One Stop stage.

“There was this grieving stage where you’re [a young band] and you’re energetic. You have all this output ready and you lose a whole year of that,” Bryant said. “You’re ready to tour. You’re enthusiastic. And you’re hungry for more opportunities and growth to put your art out there.”

Coming out of the shutdown, Bryant & Co. carefully pieced together its debut album. Titled “Not Your Little Girl,” the record is a testament to not only the Echoes hard work ethic and sheer talent, but also to the spirit of a young rock ensemble on an upward trajectory in this current, unknown chapter of the music industry.

“I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel while we’re working every day and just trying to hold onto that silver lining of having this album to put out into the world,” Bryant said. “And I’m really trying to hold onto the positive parts of that. This is an unprecedented time,” she said. With a live gig on stage with a real audience, “I’m seeing that light, even if it was just a faint glimmer for a longtime,” she added. 

Pushing into that next step from regional to midlevel performer in Southern Appalachia also means an eventual appearance on the Cabin Stage at MerleFest, which made its triumphant return in September.

The nation’s premier bluegrass, roots and Americana festival, the 2021 installment welcomed some 80,000 attendees over four days on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Within a stone’s throw from the massive Doc Watson Stage, up-and-coming artists stand atop the front porch of the Cabin Stage, mesmerizing the enormous MerleFest audience awaiting the headlining acts.

Emerging roots-rock sensation Amythyst Kiah anchored the Friday evening time slot on the Cabin Stage, sandwiched between country megastar LeAnn Rimes and the Tedeschi Trucks Band, who took the Doc Watson Stage later in the night. 

A graduate of the Appalachian music studies program at East Tennessee State University, Kiah is this intricate blend of old-time blues, gospel and folk, swirling together with a modern-day rock, pop and punk feel.

“I was a big alternative kid before learning about old-time and American roots music. I grew up in white suburbia. I was listening to Blink 182 and Green Day. First song I ever learned on guitar was ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),’” said Kiah, a millennial artist who remains a musical sponge. “I love Tori Amos. I love Radiohead. And all of that music is connected” to old-time music, she said. “None of that would exist without early American roots music—it’s always been ‘three chords and the truth.’”

Taking charge as the torchbearers of traditional bluegrass in the 21st century, Darin & Brooke Aldridge stepped up to the microphone on the Hillside Stage at MerleFest Friday afternoon. The four-in-a-row (and reigning) International Bluegrass Music Association “Female Vocalist of the Year,” Brooke hails from up the road from everywhere in Avery County, North Carolina.

“There’s something so very special about singing music that was instilled in us when we were kids, in the mountains where we grew up that led to such a prestigious festival like MerleFest,” Brooke said. “We’re always honored to be included alongside our musical heroes at one of the greatest music festivals on the East Coast that has been in the making since the mid-1980s.” 

Roaring onto the quaint Workshop Stage at FloydFest, just outside of Floyd, Virginia, in July, 49 Winchester rolled up their sleeves and slid into another offering of captivating Southern Appalachian alt-country ballads and razor-sharp rock cuts.

Winner of the festival’s hotly contested “On the Rise” competition, where attendees picked the best new act from throughout the weekend, the Russell County, Virginia, group of childhood friends is a snarling, devil-may-care outfit, immediately captivating the overflowing audience that spilled out into the vendor concourse in the distance.

“We’ve grown so much over the last year and a half. With the shutdown, people were listening to music more, and our streaming numbers shot up,” said 49 Winchester lead singer Isaac Gibson. “We’ve seen our fan base grow and have been playing bigger shows since things have opened up. People are so hungry for live music right now, and we’re fortunate to be in the position we’re in.”

Loading up its guitars, amps and drums only to play another set at another stage later that afternoon, 49 Winchester members shook hands and spoke at-length with a seemingly endless line of hard-earned new admirers.

To fill the void between Workshop Stage performers, the sound engineer threw on The Carter Family’s “Can the Circle Be Unbroken.” It was a surreal, more so serendipitous, reminder to where we once were, where we’re currently at, and where we might be headed, “There’s a better home a-waiting, in the sky, Lord, in the sky.”