Gomez celebrates "Bring It On" 20th anniversary

• Who: Gomez

• Where: The Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina

• When: 8 p.m. Sunday, June 10

• Cost: Tickets start at $30 per person

• Why:

When English indie-rock act Gomez won the Mercury Music Award Prize, the biggest industry honor in Britain, in 1998 for its debut album, "Bring It On," the group was barely a year into its existence. The recognition flung the band into the international mainstream, where its tunes found themselves all over the airwaves on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, in commercials, and in blockbuster films ("American Beauty").

But, even with the fame that came knocking, Gomez itself has never let it define them, let alone pigeonhole the ensemble as a flash-in-the-pan entity or simply "just a rock band." The group remains one of the most versatile and genre-bending acts of the modern era, always pushing into new territory with each subsequent album. And as the 20th anniversary of "Bring It On" arrives this year, Gomez is taking the show once again on the road, celebrating where it all began, and yet, where it will also go from here — a trajectory as unknown and full of possibility as the melodies themselves.

Below is a recent interview with lead singer Ben Ottewell, conducted by Smoky Mountain Living Music Editor Garret K. Woodward. For more information on the show and/or to purchase tickets, click on www.theorangepeel.net.

SML interview with Ben Ottewell