Performing Arts

Isis Music Hall: Music Not To Be Missed

Molsky’s Mountain Drifters. Photo by Kate Orne.

The sounds at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall run the gamut this month from jazz-influenced bluegrass to Irish Americana, from bluesy folk to rock-and-roll poetry.

Seth Glier takes the stage Wednesday, April 5, at 7 p.m. This young singer-songwriter has shared the stage with the likes of James Taylor, Edwin McCain and Emmylou Harris. Grammy nominated Glier has been compared more than once to Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

The music of Birds of Chicago, who play on Thursday, April 6, at 8:30 p.m., has been called rock and roll poetry. The group, fronted by Allison Russell and JT Nero, received critical acclaim for its 2016 album, Real Midnight. Tickets are $15.

On Friday, April 7, at 8:30 p.m., a brand new old-time music trio, Molsky’s Mountain Drifters—with Allison de Groot, Stash Wyslouch and Bruce Molsky—brings its tour to Asheville. The band reaps praise for their banjo, guitar and fiddle playing. Tickets are $20.

Missy Raines and the New Hip bring their own jazzy bluegrass to Isis on Saturday, April 8, at 7 p.m. Raines has been named International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year seven times. The quartet features mandolin, guitars, bass and drums. Tickets are $15.

Malcolm Holcombe. Photo by John Gellman

Western North Carolina’s own Malcolm Holcombe performs Saturday, April 8, at 9 p.m. Joining him as an opening act and onstage will be the multi-talented singer and songwriter Jared Tyler, whose songs Holcombe calls “poignant justice.”

Holcombe’s tour comes on the heels of his 15th studio recording, Pretty Little Troubles. He describes himself as “a latter day Elizabethan poet troubadour of barrooms, ragged towns and coal miner shacks.” Producer Darrell Scott calls him “an artist of deep mystery and high art.” Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

On Sunday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m., Mountain Spirit and Isis present An Evening with Ellis Paul. Paul has earned 15 Boston Music Awards and, in his own music, draws upon the musical roots of, among others, Woody Guthrie. “I’ve been touring for 25 years,” he says, “telling stories and singing songs and have played many times in beautiful Asheville and hung with Chuck Brodsky and David Wilcox and shared a beer at the back of the Grey Eagle. Or the Altamont. Or the Orange Peel. It all blurs at times!” Tickets are $20 in advance and $24 at the door.

Paul Ellis. Photo by Jeff Fasano

The End of America spends the evening at Isis on Friday, April 14, at 7 p.m. The trio—Brendon Thomas, James Downes and Trevor Leonard—is “a band of friends, singers and travelers who blend threepart harmony with rock and Americana,” Leonard says.

“The band name was inspired by Jack Kerouac’s novel, On the Road, as he describes traveling to the end of the groaning continent,” he says. “Travel inspires us and we live for the trips to familiar and foreign destinations, to discover, write and sing the songs that we create on our journeys.” Tickets are $12.

The End of America. Photo by Sean Quilty.

On Wednesday, April 26, at 8:30 p.m., Dublin roots band I Draw Slow presents their Irish traditional, modern Americana, old-time Appalachian sound. Their album, Turn Your Face to the Sun, will be released April 21. Tickets are $15.

Isis Restaurant and Music Hall is located at 743 Haywood Road in West Asheville. For ticket information and reservations, call 828.575.2737 or visit isisasheville.com. Dinner reservations by phone are recommended.

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