{"id":17414,"date":"2019-11-15T05:30:09","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T10:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=17414"},"modified":"2023-05-11T09:01:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T13:01:57","slug":"its-a-nice-day-for-a-weird-wedding-fleetwoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/15\/its-a-nice-day-for-a-weird-wedding-fleetwoods\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s a Nice Day for a Weird Wedding: Fleetwood’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifth in a five-part series<\/strong><\/p>\n

The genesis of Fleetwood’s came from a simple, practical goal. \u201cI have a lot of friends in the music industry,\u201d says co-owner Mary Kelley. \u201cAnd I wanted to have a place for them to come and play.\u201d She teamed up with the owners of Eldorado Antiques, the architectural salvage business next door, and riffing on their love of all things Cadillac, opened a place called Fleetwood’s in August 2017.<\/p>\n

But Fleetwood’s would be different. \u201cAsheville has a $30 million wedding industry,\u201d Kelley says, \u201cBut no quickie wedding chapel. So, here we are.\u201d The bar \u2013 which is also an ephemera shop with used vinyl and vintage clothing \u2013 offers a $99 weekday wedding package for \u201cpeople who don’t want to fool with anything, but want to get married,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

And for those on the fence, Fleetwood’s offers something for them as well. \u201cWe have a ‘Married for the Weekend’ package,\u201d Kelley says with a wry smile. \u201cIt’s a fake ceremony. But you get a certificate.\u201d Riffing on an ad slogan used by another city known for its wedding industry, she quips, \u201cWhat happens in West Asheville, stays in West Asheville \u2026 at least until Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

The real wedding business has been picking up at Fleetwood’s, though. Kelley and her co-owners Simon and Christi Whiteley are all ordained ministers in the Universal Life Church. \u201cYou have to have your actual license from the courthouse,\u201d she says, \u201cbut we will do the rest for you. We\u2019ve had some really beautiful and unique weddings here; we\u2019ve done about 30 or 40.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weddings at Fleetwood’s take on the character of the participants, but a common thread is that they’re somewhat unconventional. \u201cIt\u2019s for people who find the space unique, want something different, want something very simple, don\u2019t want the government involved, or whatever,\u201d Kelley says. \u201cPeople have their reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recalls a recent ceremony, one of her favorites. \u201cA couple that had been together [unmarried] for 20 years just decided, ‘Now\u2019s the time. We were looking and saw this place online; this is us<\/em>,’\u201d Kelley says that the pair was pretty straight-looking, \u201cbut they felt<\/em> that they were quirky. And this is their quirky spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other memorable weddings at Fleetwood’s include one last Halloween, with the couple dressed as the Frankenstein monster and Bride of Frankenstein. \u201cIt was a lesbian shotgun wedding,\u201d Kelley deadpans. \u201cOne of them was very<\/em> pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But even with the growing wedding business, at its core Fleetwood’s is a bar. There’s a room in the back that’s used for live music shows. There’s no stage and no house sound system, but that’s all in keeping with the garage rock aesthetic that defines the bar’s musical character.<\/p>\n

Kelley is a Memphis transplant; she also lived in New York City for many years; those experiences led to her developing friendships with musicians from all over. \u201cI grew up hanging out with cool people or doing cool stuff,\u201d Kelley says. Those connections mean that it’s not uncommon for old friends to ring her up and ask if their band can schedule a gig at her little Haywood Road bar, mere steps from the I-240 exit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do all the booking,\u201d Kelley says. \u201cIf there\u2019s a band that wants to come in, I\u2019m checking them out, vetting them, feeling if they\u2019re right for us. We kind of stick towards punk rock, garage rock.\u201d She makes a decided effort to pair touring acts with local bands. \u201cPutting bands together to make a cohesive bill has been my strongest thing so far. Because people say, ‘No matter what\u2019s playing, even if it\u2019s something I\u2019ve never heard of, there\u2019s never been a bad band that played there once.’ That’s a big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May, Japanese garage rock trio Guitar Wolf was on a U.S. tour with Nashville Pussy and the Turbo AC’s. The tour took the popular bands to major markets: Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Milwaukee and other major cities. But between tour dates, Guitar Wolf added Fleetwood’s to its list of concert dates.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny other place, the guarantee would be at least three, four thousand dollars,\u201d Kelley says. \u201cBut we got them for, like, $200 and some fried chicken, because they’re friends. And now they’re like, ‘Anytime we’re coming to the United States, we’re playing at Fleetwood’s.’<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had so many shows and they\u2019ve all been cool in their own way,\u201d Kelley says. And sometimes, Fleetwood’s wedding chapel identity combines seamlessly with its status as a rock ‘n’ roll venue. National touring act Scott Yoder played there recently with his band, and the audience included a trans couple. \u201cThe woman was dressed like a man, and the man was dressed like a woman,\u201d Kelley says. \u201cAnd they wanted to get fake-married. So Scott Yoder ‘officiated’ while guitarist Fiona Moonchild \u2013 a trans woman \u2013 played the Wedding March on guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things went slightly off the rails, though. \u201cBecause it was Halloween, they wanted a fog machine,\u201d Kelley says. \u201cWhen they were walking down the aisle, the alarm went off. Suddenly everybody was rushing around in the fog, and we were all dressed ridiculously. My partners were dressed like bloody butchers.\u201d No one was hurt, and there were laughs all around.<\/p>\n

Fleetwood’s books non-musical, non-wedding events, too. An ACLU benefit was scheduled for August, set to include a dog kissing booth and belly dance performances. An all-femme comedy showcase is a fixture of the bar’s schedule, and Fleetwood’s hosted last year’s Pansy Fest. \u201cThe wrestling was really fun,\u201d Kelley says. \u201cThey dressed as characters and wrestled in grits for charity. It was pretty amazing.\u201d That event took place outside; Fleetwood’s features and outdoor patio; in keeping with the car-theme, a bar is in the process of being fashioned out of an old automobile grille.<\/p>\n

During the day, people wander into Fleetwood’s to explore the crates of vintage records, find interesting clothing from years past, or grab a cold beer. \u201cWe do beer, wine and champagne cocktails,\u201d Kelley says. By design, the bar doesn’t have a liquor license, so there are no spirits for sale. \u201cWe don’t want to be a private club,\u201d Kelley says, \u201cbecause we do get a lot of our income from people coming in during the day to shop.\u201d Sometimes there’s a food truck parked outside, but it’s not a regular fixture. \u201cThere’s so much to eat right around here already,\u201d Kelley says.<\/p>\n

She readily concedes that Fleetwood’s is known \u2013 and positioned \u2013 as a place for locals. The nearby Burton Street community provides the bar with many of its regulars. \u201cThis is our weird little spot in West Asheville,\u201d Kelley says. \u201cIt\u2019s everything that we\u2019ve loved wrapped into one business. We\u2019re very open to the community, and the community\u2019s open to us. And I think that is the ultimate spirit of what\u2019s going on here: creating something that you love, and sharing it with your community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fifth in a five-part series The genesis of Fleetwood’s came from a simple, practical goal. \u201cI have a lot of friends in the music industry,\u201d says co-owner Mary Kelley. \u201cAnd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[237,3965],"class_list":["post-17414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","tag-asheville","tag-fleetwoods","cat-41-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17414"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25243,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17414\/revisions\/25243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}