things to do in nc – Page 2

Anna Trevor puts a cello spin on “Old Joe Clark”

“It’s really cold in New Hampshire right now,” Anna Trevor explained with a laugh. I’d asked her why she was performing on the streets of Asheville on this chilly, windy winter day in Asheville. “It’s still a beautiful place, and I love it there, but I also love to play music. It’s hard to play music outside when it’s snowing. So, I’ve been traveling around, trying to get down South … as far South as I can.”

In this video, Anna Trevor performs the traditional mountain ballad “Old Joe Clark.” Continue reading Anna Trevor puts a cello spin on “Old Joe Clark”

Shane Conerty performs “Route 29”

We’ve covered Now You See Them‘s Shane Conerty before, as he’s one of the most active buskers in the Asheville music scene. He’s also one of those rare performers who is perfectly willing to give his all in every song, even if there’s no audience to speak of when he’s playing it.

Here, he performs his recently written original song “Route 29,” which he says was inspired by real-life bus-riding experiences. Continue reading Shane Conerty performs “Route 29”

Alex Travers busts out some Bach

On a rainy summer day in downtown Asheville, Boone-based busker Alex Travers braved the drizzle to perform his interpretation of “Menuet 2” from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No.3 for Solo Violin in E major. This was the first of the two recordings made with Travers, and one of the few recordings of classical music ever featured on Busk Break.

Unfortunately, this is also one of the few times Travers seems to have busked in the Asheville area. Here’s hoping he makes a return visit to the downtown music scene. Or, maybe we need to arrange a busk-hunting video up the mountain in Boone? Continue reading Alex Travers busts out some Bach

Blind Boy Chocolate & The Milk Sheiks cover “Jackson Stomp”

With their high-voltage style, musical saw and general whimsy, novelty jazz band Blind Boy Chocolate and the Milk Sheiks may be one of the most easily recognized bands in Asheville’s street music scene. Here, the group perform their version of the Mississippi Mud Steppers’ tune “Jackson Stomp.”

This video also shows the value of checking your battery before you start recording. Approximately 30 seconds into filming, my camera stopped recording due to a low charge. As a result, there isn’t a video of this memorable performance. Instead, we’re setting the separately recorded audio to a funny cartoon from yesteryear called “Accidents Don’t Just Happen,” courtesy of the public domain Prelinger Archives.