AVL Biz Weekly — April 22–28, 2026: Fundraiser Thursday, Outdoor Gear & GWAR

Welcome to AVL BIZ Weekly—your local cheat sheet for what’s happening in Asheville’s small business + creative scenes.

Each week: hand-picked events, marketing ideas that actually work, and a little local flavor to keep things fun.

My name's Jason and I'm writing this (connect with me here).

Hey friends,

Thursday alone could be a whole newsletter. Three separate fundraisers happening the same night — Homeward Bound's annual luncheon at lunch, then OnTrack WNC at Highland Brewing and the Verner Center farm-to-table dinner, both at 5:30. Pick your cause, or be ambitious and hit two.

Saturday is Pisgah Brewing's 21st birthday in Black Mountain. If you haven't been to Pisgah Palooza, this is the year to go.

And GWAR is here twice. Tuesday night at the Orange Peel with full fake-blood cannon. But before that on Tuesday at 5 PM, Mike Bishop (Blöthar the Berserker himself) is giving a talk at the Tiki Easy Bar about 40 years of brand building. I'll be there. Say hi.

Let's get into it.

📋 On Deck

• 🗓️ Business events: Three back-to-back nonprofit fundraisers Thursday, an AIGA brand talk Tuesday, and an AI build sprint Sunday

• 💡 Marketing Quickies: response time and why 67% of your leads are already gone

• 🎉 Fun stuff: Pisgah Palooza's 21st birthday, Get in Gear Fest, Grove Arcade in Bloom, and a day trip to Brevard

• 🎧 Bands on the Horizon: GWAR, ERNEST, Martin Sexton, Golden Folk Sessions, and more

🙋 Want your biz featured in front of a few really smart AVL business owners? Email me for details

🗓️ Business Events

• 🗓️ Homeward Bound 14th Annual Welcome Home Luncheon — Thursday, April 23 · 12–1 PM (A-B Tech/Mission Conference Center, 16 Fernihurst Dr, Asheville) Homeward Bound's annual flagship fundraiser — this year's keynote is Jeff Olivet, former director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and current Harvard advisor, with 30+ years fighting to end homelessness. One hour, powerful stories, and a first look at Homeward Bound's new brand chapter. Register at the link.

• 🗓️ OnTrack WNC Annual Event: Fund the Future — Thursday, April 23 · 5:30–7 PM (Highland Brewing Company, Asheville) OnTrack WNC served nearly 2,000 people last year through budgeting, credit-building, foreclosure prevention, and financial counseling. This is their annual fundraiser — Argentinian food from Cecilia's Kitchen, Highland beer and wine, live jazz from Delta House Jazz Band, and a raffle with a 2-night Biltmore Village Hotel stay on the line.

• 🗓️ Verner Center Fundraiser: Planting Futures — Back to Our Roots — Thursday, April 23 · 5:30 PM (La Esperanza, Asheville) Four-course farm-to-table dinner supporting early childhood education, mental health services, and families across WNC. One of those rare events where you can do genuine good and have a legitimately great meal at the same time.

• 🗓️ Professional Development Workshop: 'Leading Through Hard Times' — Friday, April 24 · 9 AM–4 PM (Burnsville Town Center, Burnsville) Full-day workshop for leaders navigating uncertainty — which, given the last few years, describes most of us. Bring a team member; this one seems like it'd hit different with a seatmate.

• 🗓️ GDG AVL — Google Developer Group: AI Build Sprint — Sunday, April 26 · 11 AM–3 PM (7 Acres Coworking Space, 105 Fairview Rd, Asheville) Free, all-levels AI build sprint hosted by the fresh Asheville chapter of the Google Developer Group. Pitch an idea at 11, build with AI tools until 2:30, demo and deploy. Bring a laptop, bring a concept, bring your curiosity. Free to attend — BYOB coffee and snacks.

• 🗓️ Collaborative Content Creation Workshop: Spiritual Entrepreneurs — Sunday, April 26 · 2–4 PM (Energetic Experiences, 81 Weaverville Rd, Asheville) If your business lives at the intersection of wellness and social media, this one's made for you. Small group (10 max) workshop focused on creating a completed Reel, TikTok, or Short with group support — led by two creators with 250K+ combined followers. Free parking, no refunds, no judgment.

• 🗓️ Asheville Bitcoin is Money Meetup — Inaugural Event — Monday, April 27 · 7–8 PM (Ginger's Revenge, 829 Riverside Dr, Asheville) First meetup of the new Asheville Bitcoin group — topic: what is spam in Bitcoin, why it matters, and what we can do about it. Short presentation on monetary vs. non-monetary transactions, then open Q&A. Whether you're deep in crypto or just crypto-adjacent, this is a solid intro crowd.

• 🗓️ WNC Nonprofit Pathways: AMY Funders Summit — Tuesday, April 28 · 10 AM–2:30 PM (SAM Center at Mayland Community College, Spruce Pine) Free full-day learning and networking for Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey county nonprofits — register ASAP if you haven't yet. Morning session covers emotional safety plans; the Funders Summit kicks off at 12:30 PM with lunch served.

• 🗓️ AIGA Asheville: A Talk with Mike Bishop of GWAR — Tuesday, April 28 · 5:00–6:30 PM (The Tiki Easy Bar, behind Hi-Wire South Slope, Asheville) Mike Bishop — bassist, vocalist, and the brain behind Blöthar the Berserker — talks about 40 years of building one of the most recognizable brands in music. $20 a ticket, all ages, half the proceeds go to the AIGA Dream Fund for WNC design students. (He will be in human form. Probably.)

• 🗓️ Jazz for Justice 2026 — Thu, May 28 · 5:30–8:00 PM (Highland Brewing Company) An easy yes if you like your networking with a side of live jazz and a solid cause. Expect great food, drinks, and a room full of community-minded folks while supporting Pisgah Legal Services and their work expanding access to justice across WNC.

Hosting something cool?

📬 Hit reply and tell me what you think. Or share an event!

Local Spotlight

(Disclosure: Pixelated Stories built Homeward Bound's new website. We're proud of the work and even more proud of what they do.)

The Sales Rep Who Rebuilt Asheville's Landlord Network, One Conversation at a Time — Featuring Jessie Figueroa with Homeward Bound of Western North Carolina

When Jessie Figueroa joined Homeward Bound of Western North Carolina as housing placement manager, the landlord partnership program was broken. She had spent years in sales, most recently at French Broad Chocolates, and she brought the same instinct to property owners who had stopped working with the organization: call them, find out why they left, ask what they actually need. "Let's build a real partnership together. What are your needs as a property owner and landlord in Asheville?" The program climbed back to over 120 participating landlords. Three years later, she moved into her current role as resource development director.

The path to that job started in Orlando, where a teenage Figueroa noticed something that bothered her. People were crossing the street, pulling out their phones, doing anything to avoid acknowledging the homeless individuals they were passing. "This is so bizarre that these humans are just being ignored," she remembers thinking. A weekend photojournalism project on Orlando's streets changed things. People thanked her just for making eye contact. She left knowing where she was headed, eventually, through AmeriCorps, a speakers bureau built to dispel homelessness stereotypes, and almost a decade of for-profit work before COVID made her reckon with where she was putting her skills.

Homeward Bound has housed over 2,700 individuals since adopting Housing First practices in 2006, growing from a grassroots startup in 1987 to over 100 staff. In 2023, a $16 million capital campaign converted the old Days Inn into Asheville's first fully permanent supportive housing project, housing 85 formerly chronically homeless residents and cutting the unsheltered count by nearly 40%. One of those residents was John, a man in his 30s who had lost his kids, spent years in prison, and arrived at Compass Point Village carrying an eviction and a criminal record. In one year he had full-time work building manufactured homes, partial custody of his children, and a townhome where his kids spend weekends. When Figueroa asked what he sees when he looks in the mirror now, he said: "Now I look in the mirror and I see a great man."

Day in the Life

1. Favorite coffee or breakfast spot? All Day Darling for both.

2. Fitness routine? Asheville Community Yoga and walks along the Greenway — that's all she's got as the mother of a toddler.

3. First-time visitor to Asheville/WNC? Grey Eagle Music Hall, downtown Asheville, the River Arts District, a hike somewhere beautiful, and one of the local foodie restaurants.

4. Nonprofits you support? Mountain Housing Opportunities and PISGAH Legal Services — both doing mission-aligned work around affordable housing and legal support.

Want to learn more? Visit homewardboundwnc.org or find John telling his own story in the video on their website.

💡 Marketing Quickies

This week's theme: Auto Call Text Back — because 67% of your leads are already gone.

1. The number that should scare you. Studies consistently show that 67% of customers will call a competitor if they don't hear back from a business within a reasonable window. The problem is that they're ready to buy right now and you're on a roof (or on a call, under a house, or in a meeting). The Show Up and Follow Up System's Auto Call Text Back feature fires off a text the moment you miss a call, so leads know you saw them.

2. Response speed is the new price. Research shows businesses that respond within the first hour are 7 times more likely to qualify a lead than those who respond later. Stop hesitating and just call them.

3. The text that buys you time. When you can't get to a call, a simple auto-reply like "Hey, saw your call — can I reach you at this number in 30 minutes?" keeps the door open. It signals you're real and you're responsive. Now it’s up to you to actually do that.

4. Your phone rings while you're doing the job. The Show Up and Follow Up System bridges that gap — your website takes the inquiry, your system texts the lead, and you call back when you're done.

5. Set it up once. Let it run. This is something you build into the system and forget. If you repeat it more than twice, it deserves automation. Especially for missed calls, which happen every single day.

🎉 Fun Stuff Around AVL

• 🗓️ 2026 Paddling Film Festival World Tour — Thursday, April 23 · Doors 6 PM, Show 7 PM (Grey Eagle, Asheville)
  Annual paddling film fest benefiting MountainTrue — epic kayaking and river footage, all for WNC waterway conservation. Tickets from $5.65.

• 🗓️ Pisgah Palooza 2026 — 21st Birthday Bash — Saturday, April 25 · Doors 5 PM, Show 6 PM (Pisgah Brewing, Black Mountain)
  Pisgah Brewing turns 21 and they're throwing an outdoor show with Sqwerv, Airshow, and Pocketful of Gold — Asheville's newest Zeppelin tribute, making their Pisgah debut. Tickets are 2 for $21. Grab a friend.

• 🗓️ 11th Annual Get in Gear Festival — Saturday, April 25 · 12–5 PM (New Belgium Brewing, Asheville)
  Free outdoor marketplace showcasing the latest gear and local outdoor experiences — part expo, part block party. If you haven't been, it's a legitimately good Saturday afternoon with no cover charge.

• 🗓️ Grove Arcade in Bloom — Saturday, April 25 · 12–4 PM (Grove Arcade, Asheville)
  The historic plaza goes full botanical wonderland — live music, dance performances, makers market, and a spritz pop-up bar. Free, central, extremely photogenic.

• 🗓️ Spring Fling at Peace Gardens and Market — Saturday, April 25 · 10 AM–5 PM (Peace Gardens and Market, Asheville)
  Epic plant sale with live music and local vendors — proceeds support workforce development and free produce boxes for elders. Good plants, good cause, good excuse to get outside.

• 🗓️ Small Town Adventure Series — Brevard, NC — Saturday, April 25 · 10 AM–2 PM (Starting at Cup & Saucer, 36 E. Main St, Brevard)
  The Asheville Transplants group is doing a day trip to Brevard — coffee at Cup & Saucer, a scenic walk at Brevard Music Center, Main Street browsing (watch for white squirrels, seriously), and lunch at Oskar Blues to close it out. Drop in for part or stay the whole time. Free, and a perfect Saturday if you're newer to the area.

• 🗓️ 2026 Asheville Masonic Symposium — Saturday, April 25 · 10 AM–7 PM (80 Broadway St, Asheville)
  Open to the public — not just Masons. A full day of talks, food, and discussion on Masonic history, philosophy, and tradition at the Asheville Masonic Temple. Speakers include John Michael Greer and others. Lunch is included. If you're the kind of person who thinks about secret societies at dinner parties, here's your Saturday.

• 🗓️ Asheville Vaudeville Brunch — Sunday, April 26 · Doors 11 AM, Show 12 PM (Grey Eagle, Asheville)
  Ages 18+ variety brunch show at the Grey Eagle — $25.60. If you like weird, theatrical, and fun before 3 PM, this is your Sunday.

🎧 Bands on the Horizon

• Pool Kids w/ Pretty Bitter — Wed, Apr 22 · 8 PM @ Grey Eagle Music Hall

• The Happy Fits w/ BEL — Thu, Apr 23 · 7 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Martin Sexton: Live Wide Open Tour — Fri, Apr 24 · 8 PM @ Grey Eagle Music Hall

• Electric Feels: Indie Rock + Electronic Dance Party — Fri, Apr 24 · 9:30 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Clay Lunsford Band (Americana) — Fri, Apr 24 @ Fern Hotel (per LiveMusicAsheville)

• ERNEST: Live From the South Tour w/ Rhys Rutherford — Sat, Apr 25 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Pisgah Palooza: Sqwerv + Airshow + Pocketful of Gold — Sat, Apr 25 · 6 PM @ Pisgah Brewing, Black Mountain

• Abe Reid (Patio Show) — Sun, Apr 26 · 5:30 PM @ Grey Eagle Patio Stage

• Asheville Vaudeville Brunch — Sun, Apr 26 · 12 PM @ Grey Eagle

• Luis Elizondo: Persona Non Grata Tour — Mon, Apr 27 · 7:30 PM @ The Orange Peel (Seated)

• Blue Country Line Dance's Giddy-Up Hoedown — Mon, Apr 27 · 6 PM @ Grey Eagle

• Golden Folk Sessions — Tue, Apr 28 · 7 PM @ Grey Eagle Music Hall

• GWAR w/ Soulfly + King Parrot — Tue, Apr 28 · 7:30 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Karla Bonoff — Fri, Apr 24 · 8:00 PM @ Wortham Center

• Robert Dubac: The Male Intellect — Thu–Sat, Apr 23–25 @ Wortham Center

Want your biz in front of smart AVL owners & creators? Reply with what you’re up to and let’s see if it’s a fit.

Until next week,

Jason De Los Santos
Pixelated Stories Digital Marketing
(828) 585-4293