Open Folk AVL
I went to my first Open Folk show in September of 2022. Moving to Asheville during the height of the pandemic lockdown meant that I was doing all of my learning about local musicians on the internet. I started following Asheville music hashtags on Instagram to see where people played, who they played with and who was around town. With the internet being what it was, it didn’t take long at all for me to suddenly have a pretty good handle on who a lot of the local musicians were. One of the people who I followed posted that they were going to play at Open Folk which, after a dozen clicks, I learned was a unique listening room style songwriter’s showcase.
Open Folk began in Buenos Aires, a second chapter began in Barcelona and the third chapter (first in the US) was started in Asheville by Zaq Squares. There are some hard and fast rules for Open Folk. The setting must be beautiful and comfortable. The audience must be silent. The artists must play original music, and the sound must be immaculate. Every Tuesday, those rules are carefully followed to create a really special event. While I don’t think it’s a rule of all Open Folks, the founder of Asheville’s Open Folk always stresses that Open Folk is free because it’s for the Asheville locals. In an incredibly expensive town that caters to tourists and the wealthiest demographic, it can be hard for locals to find places to go out that are designed with them in mind. The event is always free, but donations are accepted to keep things running.
In addition to the music, each week a local visual artist is set up with their work for sale. A table is available to post happenings, needs and offerings for the community. A professional photographer takes photos of every performance and provides those photos to the artists. Everything is meticulously thought of and taken care of and it works beautifully
.Every week, people pour into the back room of Wicked Weed Funkatorium near downtown. Thick black curtains cordon off the performance space from the rest of the bar. Chairs face a beautiful pale wood wall behind a single microphone, and a rooster lamp set on a Persian rug. The host for the night begins by performing on of their songs, then explaining the expectations of the night. Each artist is given a warm introduction by the host and then plays their 3 original tunes. Most people sing alone and accompany themselves on guitar. Occasionally a larger band will come in, more often people will bring another guitar or solo instrument to accompany them. Even though the title is Open Folk and the instrumentation is acoustic, the music doesn’t have to be folk. You’ll hear country, Americana, soul, R&B, pop, and maybe even a little punk. Sometimes, you’ll hear something you’ve never heard before that won’t ever fit into a tiny box.
That first time I sat in the audience of Open Folk, I knew I wanted in. Obviously, there’s nothing I love more than a room full of people attentively paying attention to me. But more seriously, after spending so many gigs fighting to be heard over people’s pizza orders and pick-up lines, I was enamored with the exchange of respect between the performer and audience. I loved being on the listening end, but I was dying to be on the performing end
It took me a few months to submit my songs for consideration. After getting the green light from Open Folk, I came up against the fact that I don’t know any guitar players in Asheville. Growing up in Bloomington meant that I knew all of the local musicians and they knew me. If we didn’t know each other personally, we were just one degree away, and it was always (fairly) easy to put the necessary players together. Luckily, even though I was far, far away from my familiar Bloomington music scene, I still had one of those Bloomington connections like an ace in my back pocket. Years ago, I played at the John Hartford Bluegrass Festival with Bloomington-based band The Wonderhills. While there, I met the bass player’s brother. I use the term “met” very loosely. I was quickly introduced, and didn’t even put together who I met until later, because of all the moving parts of the day. Luckily, that connection stuck with me and I knew that person I met was Jackson Grimm…local Asheville musician. A quick exchange of messages and some jogged memories, and we were rehearsing together to get ready for the Open Folk show.
There’s a moment when you first play with someone where you either exhale a sigh of relief, or suck in a gasp of nerves. It took about 5 seconds of us playing together for me to exhale happily into the collaboration. It had been so long since I had played music with anyone, I felt giddy. To get to play with such a sympathetic player as Jackson felt like someone yanked back the curtains to the most amazing sunshiny day.
The show was a dream. The room was packed with people who listened, and laughed, and cried. When I say they listened, I mean they listened. During the intermission, they came up to me and commented on the smallest nuances of phrasing in my songs. It was humbling and a huge ego-boost at the same time. I was blown away by the level of connection and felt immense gratitude to be able to part of it. It was my first show in Asheville, and I couldn’t ask for a better introduction to the scene. I hope that I’ll have the opportunity to play Open Folk again. And again…and again.
Full performance of Close at Open Folk.