Thank You Asheville 2008

Well here it is the last day of 2008. This was my first full year of living in Asheville. It was an ubergreat year for me and I would like to say "Thanks!" to everyone and everything here in Asheville that made my year so wonderful.

To John for sharing this great place with me.
To Christine Kane for writing such a beautiful song.
To Asheville for showing me how to be real.
To Terry, Zach, Kelcie, Jake and everyone at the Rootbar for soooo many great memories and taking in 2 escapees from Fla (yikes!).
To all the breweries in Asheville for putting out great beer.
To Pisgah Brewing for your Endless Summer. I LOVE your beer.
To the farmers in our area for providing us with tasty, organic, wholesome food.

To Asheville for voting Obama and helping in turning North Carolina blue!
To all those that spent countless hours standing up against Parkside. You are what makes Asheville so special.
To all the Asheville bloggers for keeping me up on current events and happenings in Asheville.

To Now You See Them for always putting on a great show. I love your energy and your music and Diesel!
To Nikki Talley for playing 3 straight hours at The Beacon Pub.
To bus 29, for all the rides into and back from town.

To the waitresses at Cornerstones (especially Megan) who make our Sunday morning breakfasts so enjoyable.
To East Village Grill for your food and being so great with my Mom.
To Newbridge produce stand. Thank you for your great selection and always friendly welcome.
To Asheville Pizza and Brew for providing such a great place to see a movie.

To The Fine Arts Theatre, ditto.
To the mountains, woods and rivers for providing us with so much beauty.

To the turkeys roaming around who always make me smile.

To the black bear. You were awesome.

To our house (a very, very, very fine house!) for taking in all our friends and family over the year who have come to visit us and play some Rootball.

 

To Asheville, I love you.

Peace.

Asheville Music

We had a very close friend in town last week. On Saturday, we headed over to the Biltmore Art Festival. Between our indecision on which painting to buy and the heat, we decided the best decision was to head over to the French Broad Brewery to cool off. We were lucky enough to catch Nikki Talley. Another in a long list of great musicians in the Asheville area.
My first introduction to the Asheville music scene was Christine Kane. I actually found her before moving here through her website. She is still my favorite. But since arriving, I have been fortunate to see alot of great bands and singers. Chuck Beattie has introduced me to the Blues. Rafe Hollister jams with an eclectic mix of bluegrass, country and rock and Nikki's lyrics and voice just mesmerize. What is great about the music scene here is all the original music. Cover songs are ok for background music but give me someone that has the guts to get up on stage and open themselves and their thoughts up to strangers.  I'll listen every time.
I can't wait for another Saturday night out in Asheville. So much music, so many venues.