- Vincent's Ear
Vincent's Ear was a small
coffee house and bar in downtownAsheville, NC , that catered to some of the cities more noted local music groups.The dream of owners Rick Morris, Joan Morris and Kristen Chambers, Vincent's Ear opened its doors in summer of 1993. The cafe catered to a late night, downtown-dwelling crowd, which was virtually non-existent in the area at that time. In addition to
Jolt Cola , $1 "bottomless" cups of coffee and a reasonably-priced food and drink menu, the cafe and bar also featured live music.Vincent's Ear was originally intended to serve as a
jazz venue, but a loyal crowd of rockers and avant garde musicians soon made Vincent's Ear their home. Likewise, the walls of Vincent's Ear served as a defacto gallery for many local and regional artists who had trouble finding venues for edgier work in the crafts-oriented region of Western North Carolina. The cafe saw numerous ups and downs throughout the years, but was one of the few downtown-oriented businesses to survive the rapidly changing economic landscape of Asheville, which was becoming far more expensive and exclusive.The thriving cafe was closed amid much local controversy in December 2004, when its lease was not renewed by landlord Dawn Lantzius. Many in the local media questioned whether Vincent's Ear was the most visible case of
gentrification in the downtown Asheville business community.Local acts
*
Ahleuchatistas
* The Mad Tea Party
* DrugMoney
* The Ether Bunnies
* Dig Shovel Dig
* Nevada
*The Makeout Room
* Sugar & The Plums
* Cannibal Unicorn
* That Outre Hammer
* Kerouac Or The Radio
* Descolada
* The Mathematics
* The Unholy Trio http://www.myspace.com/unholytrio
* The Merle http://www.myspace.com/themerle
* Gavra Lynn
* Doom Ribbons
* Lube Royale
* Scrappy Hamilton
* Piedmont Charisma
* Pirate-on-a-Stick
* The Labiators
* Crank County Daredevils
* The Port Huron Statement
* The Man Band
* [Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers http://www.goodluckcricket.com]
* The SexPatriates
* Jascha Ephraim http://www.jaschaephraim.comNational acts
*
Against Me!
*White Stripes
*Cat Power
*Bardo Pond
*Crooked Fingers
*Of Montreal
*Le Tigre
*The Butchies
*Snowglobe
*Lucero
*The Lawrence Arms
*Atom & His Package
*Har Mar Superstar
*Royal Trux
*Engine Down
* Desaparecidos
*American Analog Set
* Big lazy [http://www.biglazymusic.com/]External links
* " [http://www.mountainx.com/news/2004/1208vincentsear.php Up in Smoke] ",
The Mountain Xpress on the demise of Vincent's Ear
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