AVL Biz Weekly — Aug 5–11: AVL Sounds Fest Floods Downtown, Shindig Turns 60, and Asheville Throws Its First Go-Go Weekend

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,

AVL Sounds Fest lands Wednesday through Sunday with a killer lineup — Karl Denson, Dr. Dog, and a Highland Brewing kickoff party all in the same five days.

Shindig on the Green hits its 60th season Saturday. Bring a lawn chair, leave the dog at home (Pack Square Park's rules; if they were my rules, I’d say bring ALL the dogs).

YMI Cultural Center opens a pop-up exhibit on DC go-go culture Friday, and Barley's throws a live-percussion '90s jam. And on the quieter business side, Saturday's Code with Asheville co-work day at Hi-Wire is open to anyone with a project to push on.

📋 On Deck

• AVL Sounds Fest takes over The Orange Peel, Hellbender, and Highland Brewing for four straight nights

• Shindig on the Green kicks off its 60th season at Pack Square Park

• Marketing Quickies: what to do with your follow-up system on a slow week

• A go-go weekend bookends Friday's YMI exhibit and Sunday's throwback jam at Barley's

• Mark your calendar: Anti-Networking Coffee (Aug 14) and Founder's Lunch (Aug 19), two no-pitch hangouts for owners

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

❓ Question of the Week

What are the songs playing on repeat in your headphones?

🗓️ Business Events

• 🗓️ Code with Asheville: Open Project & Co-Work Day — Sat, Aug 8 · 11am–2pm (Hi-Wire Brewing Big Top, 2A Huntsman Place)
  Bring your own project or pitch in on a community build, from coding to data entry.

• 🗓️ AI Hacks & Hops: Idea to Five-Client Pilot in Six Weeks — Wed, Aug 12 · 5:30–7:30pm (One World Brewing West, 520 Haywood Rd)
  A nontechnical founder on how she used AI to land five pilot clients in six weeks.

• 🗓️ Anti-Networking Coffee Meetup: Hangout at Auction House — Fri, Aug 14 · 9–10am (The Auction House, 29 Fanning Bridge Rd, Fletcher)
  Jason De Los Santos (the guy talking to you now) host a no-agenda, no-pitch coffee hangout. Skip the business-card Olympics.

• 🗓️ Founder's Lunch: Not Your Average Business Owners Group — Wed, Aug 19 · 12–1:30pm (Post 25 Kitchen & Lounge, 2155 Hendersonville Rd, Arden)
  Local owners having an honest conversation about what's working and what isn't. Bring your own lunch, leave the pitch at home (also my event)

Hosting something cool?

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

💡 Marketing Quickies

With the event calendar this quiet on the business side, it's a good week to talk about the system that works whether or not you're out shaking hands.

Speed is the whole game on a missed call. 
Contractors and professional service businesses both lose more work to slow response than to bad pricing. Auto Call Text Back replies the second someone calls and you can't pick up, and getting back to them inside the first hour makes you roughly seven times more likely to land the job. Wait a day and two-thirds of those callers have already booked someone else.

Your website should be working while you're not. 
A chat widget and a tap-to-call button turn a browsing visitor into a conversation, and that matters as much for an accountant's site as it does for a plumber's. If someone lands on your homepage at 9pm and has to hunt for your phone number, you've lost them to the next tab.

Old leads are worth a second text. 
That estimate you sent in April and never heard back on is probably still sitting in someone's inbox. A short check-in, something as plain as "still looking to get this done?", revives more of those than people expect, because most businesses quit after one follow-up. That's the whole idea behind the Show Up and Follow Up System: the follow-up keeps running on a schedule even when you're slammed.

🎉 Fun Stuff Around AVL

• 🗓️ Gin-uinely Funny Rooftop Comedy — Thu, Aug 6 · 8–10pm (Antidote Cocktail Lounge at Chemist)
  Touring and local comics against an Asheville sunset, craft cocktails within arm's reach.

• 🗓️ Bridging the Beat: Go-Go Live AVL — Fri–Sun, Aug 7–9 (YMI Cultural Center, 39 S Market St)
  A weekend of lectures, art, dance, and DJs celebrating DC go-go culture, capped by Sunday's throwback jam at Barley's.

• 🗓️ Mount Mitchell Crafts Fair — Fri–Sat, Aug 7–8 · 9am–5pm (Burnsville Town Square)
  200 juried artisans, bluegrass on the entertainment stage, free admission, worth the 35-minute drive.

• 🗓️ Shindig on the Green — Sat, Aug 8 · 7–10pm (Pack Square Park, Downtown Asheville)
  Free old-time and bluegrass jam sessions plus flatfoot dancing on the lawn. This is the 60th season.

• 🗓️ Enter the Garden: The Awakening — Sat, Aug 8 · 3:30pm & 8pm, Sun Aug 9 · 3:30pm (The Event Space at Hi-Wire Brewing, 2A Huntsman Place)
  A theatrical dance production billed as "a celebration of all things sensual," moving through death, rebirth, and renewal across three acts. 21+ and more adult than the rest of this list, so maybe don’t send this one to Gammy.

• 🗓️ '90s Throwback Go-Go Jam — Sun, Aug 9 · 8pm–Midnight (Barley's Taproom, 42 Biltmore Ave)
  Closes out the go-go weekend with live percussion and a packed dance floor. $20 suggested donation benefits local youth scholarships.

🎧 Bands on the Horizon

Wed, Aug 5

• Datrian Johnson, Amanda Anne Platt, Jane Kramer, Graham Sharp, David Matters & Phil Barker — 6–8pm @ Highland Brewing (Meadow) — AVL Sounds Fest Kickoff Party

• Rebekah Todd — 5:30pm @ Grey Eagle Patio Stage

• Casey Driessen — 6pm @ Zadies Market (Old Marshall Jail Hotel)

• Jay Brown — 6pm @ Black Mountain Brewing

• Meschiya Lake Trio — 7pm @ Hotel Eve

• Connor Koz' Grass Underground — 8pm @ One World Brewing Downtown

• Soulform — 10pm @ The One Stop

  Thu, Aug 6

• Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Improvement Movement, New Dawn Starkestra, A.V.A.S — @ The Orange Peel — AVL Sounds Fest

• AVL Sounds Fest — Meadow Stage — 6–9pm @ Highland Brewing

• Crimson Hibiscus — 6pm @ The One Stop

• Jointkiller Brass Band — 10pm @ The One Stop

Fri, Aug 7

• Young Gun Silver Fox, The Hypos, Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters, Holler Choir, The Dirty French Broads — @ The Orange Peel — AVL Sounds Fest

• Sly Sparrow — 5pm @ The One Stop

• A/B Bank — 10pm @ The One Stop

Sat, Aug 8

• Sir Woman, River Whyless, JD Pinkus & Tall Tall Trees, Tyler Ramsey & Carl Broemel, Black Twig Pickers — @ The Orange Peel — AVL Sounds Fest

• Patrick Smith — 5pm @ The One Stop

• Jack Mascari & Friends — 10pm @ The One Stop

Sun, Aug 9

• Dr. Dog, Floating Action, Tyler Ramsey & Carl Broemel — @ Hellbender — AVL Sounds Fest

• Jackson Grimm (Country Brunch) — 11am @ Grey Eagle Patio Stage

Mon, Aug 10

• The Sound Room AVL Summer Showcase — 6–9pm @ Highland Brewing (Event Center)

• 76th Street w/ Tornsey — 8pm @ Asheville Music Hall

Tue, Aug 11

• The Connect — 8pm @ The One Stop

Want your biz in front of a few really smart AVL business owners? Reply with what you're up to and we'll see if it's a fit.

Until next week,

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