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<\/p>\nTraditionally, concept albums have been almost exclusively within the rock idiom. But Asheville singer and songwriter Whitney Moore has breathed new life into the form by applying it to a very different musical style: jazz. Celebrating the release of the local history-themed Asheville<\/i>, Moore\u2019s band, Queen Bee and the Honeylovers played a show at Isis Music Hall on Saturday, April 27.<\/p>\n
Moore formed Queen Bee and the Honeylovers with double bassist Trevor Stoia in late 2016. From the beginning, the band would focus on early and swing jazz. \u201cThis was right after the [presidential] election,\u201d Moore recalls. \u201cAnd sweet, nostalgic music was very healing and therapeutic in an otherwise dark moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But rather than exclusively playing classics from the pre- and postwar jazz eras, Moore decided to take Queen Bee and the Honeylovers in a different direction. \u201cI love writing, so any project I had was going to have some original music,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd as we started to write music, I was looking around for inspiration.\u201d She found it close to home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up next door to my grandparents; I grew up hearing their stories about old Asheville,\u201d Moore says. \u201cIt was very soothing and healing for me to take some of their stories and turn them into songs, and then go even farther down that rabbit hole of researching Asheville history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helped along by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, the product of those endeavors is Asheville<\/i>, a 14-song disc filled with songs whose titles make their inspiration clear to those familiar with the city\u2019s history. \u201cBeacham\u2019s Curve\u201d is a love story set against the backdrop of the streetcar line that used to connect West Asheville with what\u2019s now the River Arts District.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love having a project that allows me to immerse myself in the history of this place and of my ancestors in a time where there was so much turmoil out in the world,\u201d Moore says. \u201cI\u2019m reminded that this is just one small moment in the timeline of society, and that our ancestors went through stuff just as bad \u2013 if not worse \u2013 and they persevered. They worked really hard to get us as far as we are now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moore says that the act of researching and writing lyrics about Asheville\u2019s past helps her put things in perspective. \u201cWhen you see a map of the universe, we\u2019re this one little speck,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of the same feeling that it gives me to study the history of this place.\u201d And her appreciation of Asheville\u2019s history has colored her perspective on its present and future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see it blowing up,\u201d says the Asheville native. \u201cThere\u2019s a new hotel every day; there are people moving here from all over the world. \u201cI\u2019m really glad we have the industry of tourism to keep us alive economically; we need that. And I\u2019m also sad to see the displacement of the communities and culture that was already here. Folks like my family are kind of getting pushed out, so I wanted to preserve some of those stories and keep that old Asheville alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Queen Bee and the Honeylovers aren\u2019t completely immersed in the past; Moore\u2019s historically-based lyrics cover themes that are universal, and many are relevant to present-day Asheville. As the music video for \u201cBeacham\u2019s Curve\u201d makes plain, the song is about a same-sex romance. And while \u201cLogan and Moore\u201d is ostensibly about the Pack Square tailor shop that the Moore\u2019s grandfather ran, its theme is timely as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also a song about the ever-ongoing, forward march of \u2018progress\u2019 destroying small businesses and mechanization,\u201d Moore says. Taking a swipe at a recently-defunct chain (while pointing at online retailer Amazon as well), \u201cLogan and Moore\u201d includes the lyric, \u201cMaybe Sears and Roebuck can make it cheaper, but what price can you put on a community\u2019s livelihood?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Honeylovers include Stoia, pianist James Posedel, Moore on vocals and snare drum and guitarist Matt Frick. For the album release show, the band will be joined by local jazz notable Russ Wilson on drums and guitarist Steve Karla, both of whom play on the album. The expanded group will also feature violinist Drayton Aldridge of Drayton & the Dreamboats.<\/p>\n
And the evening is designed to underscore the historical nature of the music: Conda Painter from the West Asheville History Project\u2019s Conda Painter will give a presentation. And Marla Milling, author of Legends, Secrets and Mysteries of Asheville<\/i> \u201cis going to come and share some old Asheville stories,\u201d Moore says.<\/p>\n
Stories are at the heart of the project. \u201cI try to tell at least two stories at once,\u201d Moore says. \u201cIf you\u2019re just gonna tell one story, then you could just say<\/i> it. But if you want to tell multiple stories at one time, you make art about it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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