AVL Biz Weekly — Jul 8–15: The White Buffalo, Land of the Sky Burlesque Festival & Drag Brunch for WNCAP

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,

I'm running a free 45-minute workshop Tuesday night for home service business owners: Stop Losing Leads You Already Have. We'll walk through the five ways contractors lose business before a customer ever says no, and I'll pull up real Google profiles live. Details below.

Light week for business events beyond that, but the one that actually matters for us locals: the Asheville Recovers Together small business grant fund closes for good at noon Tuesday. If Helene hit your business and you haven't applied, this is the last call — awards run $5,000 to $75,000, and free one-on-one help is available right up until the deadline.

Outside the business lane: Modelface Comedy brings Luke Capasso to the Funkatorium Friday night (seated show, dinner menu, 7pm), a Christmas in July drag brunch at Hi-Wire Sunday raises money for WNCAP, Italian Night at a farm in Candler opens the week Thursday, and Weinhaus runs a rivers-themed wine tasting Tuesday.

The Marketing Quickies this week: if your Google review count is stuck, here's a way to get over the plateau.

Let's get into it.

📋 On Deck

• Business Events: AIA lunch presentation at Center for Craft, Landscape Contractor Pro Day in Mills River, and a hands-on plumbing workshop at the Tool Library

• Marketing Quickies: Google reviews — how to automate the ask, why frequency matters, and how to stop leaving five-star jobs unreviewed

• Fun Stuff: Italian Night at a Candler farm, yoga on Bearwallow Mountain, comedy at the Funkatorium, Land of the Sky Burlesque Festival, history tour, drag brunch at Hi-Wire, wine down the world's greatest rivers

• Local Business Spotlight: Katie Bledsoe of Bracket Tax Co. on Turning a Dad Joke Into a Different Kind of CPA Firm

• Bands & Shows: The White Buffalo, Somewhat Petty, Radio Free Eagle (R.E.M.), American Football, Reedy River String Band, and 16 shows across the week

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

🗓️ Business Events

• 🗓️ AIA Presentation: NuCedar PVC R&R Shingles & Trims — Thursday, Jul 9 · 12:00–1:00 PM (Center for Craft, 67 Broadway St, Asheville)

  A lunch-hour product presentation for architects and designers on PVC shingle and trim systems — what they are, how they perform, and where they fit in a project. Good for architects, builders, and designers who want to know their material options before a client asks.

• 🗓️ Landscape Contractor Pro Day — Friday, Jul 10 · 7:30 AM–4:00 PM (Mills River Research Center, 455 Research Dr, Mills River)

  A full professional development day for landscape contractors with pesticide recertification credits, two NCLCLB business credits, and five technical CEUs covering disease management, invasive species, and battery-powered equipment. If license renewal is coming up, this is a direct path.

• 🗓️ Demystifying Plumbing: Hot & Cold Water Supply — Monday, Jul 13 · 4:00 PM (Asheville Tool Library, Asheville)

  A hands-on workshop on how hot and cold water supply systems actually work — what fails, what doesn't, and what to do about it. Built for homeowners and contractors who want the knowledge to diagnose basic plumbing or decide whether to call someone.

• 🗓️ Final Day to Apply: Asheville Recovers Together Small Business Grants — Tue, July 14 · Application closes at 12:00 PM Noon (Online, ashevillerecoverstogether.org)
  The $14.6M CDBG-DR grant fund for Helene-impacted Asheville businesses closes for good at noon Tuesday. Awards range $5,000–$75,000; free one-on-one help is still available right up until the deadline.

Hosting something cool?

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

💡 Marketing Quickies

Brought to you by Pixelated Stories

Websites + Follow-Up Systems for Home & Professional Service Businesses | PixelatedStories.net

Most contractors and professional service businesses are sitting on five-star jobs that never became five-star reviews. This week: three ways to fix that without chasing it manually.

1. Ask while the job is still warm.

The best window is 24 to 48 hours after job completion, before it fades from the customer's mind. Use whatever channel you already have with them — text if you texted to schedule, email if you invoiced by email. Include your direct Google Business Profile review link so it's one tap, no searching.

Response rates drop fast after that window. Wait a week and most customers won't bother.

2. Follow up more than once.

One request and giving up is why most businesses have 11 reviews and their competitor has 94.

A simple three-message sequence: day 1 request, day 3 reminder, day 7 final ask. Stop after three attempts with no response. Giving people a second and third chance doubles your review rate compared to a single ask.

This sequence runs automatically in every Show Up and Follow Up System we build.

3. Reviews are a ranking signal, and recency matters.

Google's local algorithm weighs both volume and how recent the reviews are. Fifty reviews from the past year outrank a perfect star rating with ten reviews from three years ago.

Pull up your Google Business Profile and count how many reviews came in over the last 12 months. If that number is in the single digits, it’s time to make reviews part of your project checklist.

Contractors and professional service businesses that stay in consistent review-gathering mode outrank competitors who set up their profile once and never touched it again.

Local Spotlight

A CPA Firm Built on a Pun, a Bartender, and the Belief That Tax Advice Shouldn't Happen Once a Year — with Katie Bledsoe of Bracket Tax Co

Justin Bledsoe was bartending in Kona, Hawaii when he met Katie. He'd been a licensed CPA for years by then, working out of a firm in Alaska. She had two decades in hospitality and office management. They got married, eventually moved to Asheville, and decided to build their own firm. Justin is, by Katie's account, "the king of dad jokes" — so the name was never going to be something safe. Bracket Tax Co is a play on tax bracket. He couldn't help himself.

What they built is no joke. The firm is fully remote, business clients only, and designed around something the Bledsoes kept noticing was missing: a CPA who stays in the conversation after April. Justin checks in monthly or quarterly, gets to know how a business actually runs, and plans five or more years out. The standing advice is simple: loop us in before you make a big move. Someone buys a car for the business without mentioning it first and the tax picture changes in ways that could have been handled differently.

Some clients arrive having not filed in years — embarrassed, not sure where to start. The answer is always the same: step one, here's what we're doing, let's get moving. "It's been satisfying seeing people get their head above water," Katie says.

Katie handles operations: onboarding, client follow-ups, documentation, making sure the relationship stays personal. Justin explains the numbers without assuming people already know what they mean. They work alongside clients' wealth managers and financial advisors — the CPA relationship is one chapter in a book that needs all its chapters moving the same direction.

They're also clear about who isn't the right fit. Anyone chasing gray-area strategies they picked up from a finance influencer isn't their client. "We're going to be following the laws and the rules," Katie says.

The name is a dad joke. That's the only shortcut they take.

Day in the Life

1. Favorite coffee or breakfast spot? Afterglow inside the Rad Hotel.

2. Fitness routine? Four days a week with Mind Muscle Fitness — small group personal training with Griffin White.

3. First-time visitor to WNC? NC Arboretum — the bonsai trees just came out of winter dormancy.

4. Nonprofits she supports? Pisgah Conservancy and Asheville Humane Society.

Want to work with them?

Find them at brackettax.com or reach out to Katie directly to find out if it's a good fit.

🎉 Fun Stuff Around AVL

• 🗓️ Italian Night at The Farm ft. Mike Guggino & Barrett Smith — Thursday, Jul 9 · 6:00 PM (215 Justice Ridge Rd, Candler)

  A dinner event at a farm venue in Candler with live music from Mike Guggino and Barrett Smith.

• 🗓️ Mountaintop Yoga Hike — Friday, Jul 10 · 9:00 AM–12:00 PM (4854 Bearwallow Mountain Rd, Hendersonville)

  A 2-mile round trip hike up Bearwallow Mountain followed by yoga at the summit.

• 🗓️ Modelface Comedy Presents Luke Capasso — Friday, Jul 10 · 7:00–9:00 PM (Wicked Weed Funkatorium, 147 Coxe Ave, Asheville)

  A seated stand-up show at the Funkatorium. Full dinner menu available.

• 🗓️ Land of the Sky Burlesque Festival — Fri, Jul 10 · 8 PM & Sun, Jul 12 · 12 PM (The Grey Eagle, Asheville)

  Two shows over the weekend: the "Geektastic Revue" Friday night and a "Burlesque Brunch" Sunday afternoon. The Grey Eagle is hosting the full festival.

• 🗓️ The Big Crafty — Sat–Sun, July 11–12 · Noon–6 PM (Harrah's Cherokee Center, Asheville)
  Around 185 juried local artists fill the arena with ceramics, jewelry, woodwork and more. Saturday is $10, Sunday is free, kids always get in free.

• 🗓️ Shindig on the Green — Sat, July 11 · 7:00–10:00 PM (Pack Square Park, Asheville)
  The summer's first Shindig brings old-time and bluegrass tunes, informal jam circles and flatfoot dancing to downtown. Free, all ages, bring a lawn chair.

• 🗓️ Asheville Historian-Guided Tour — Saturday, Jul 11 · 2:00 PM (The Times Bar & Coffee Shop, Asheville)

  A walking history tour of Asheville with a local historian.

• 🗓️ Sip Your Way Down The World's Greatest Rivers — Tuesday, Jul 14 · 6:30 PM (Weinhaus, Asheville)

  A themed wine tasting structured around rivers — wines from regions along some of the world's most notable waterways.

🎧 Bands on the Horizon

• The White Buffalo — Thu, Jul 9 · 8 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Mike Guggino & Barrett Smith — Thu, Jul 9 · 6 PM @ The Farm, 215 Justice Ridge Rd, Candler

• Can't Feel My Face: 2010s Dance Party — Fri, Jul 10 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Reedy River String Band — Fri, Jul 10 · 7 PM @ Highland Brewing Meadow

• RADO — Fri, Jul 10 · 8 PM @ Pisgah Brewing Taproom Stage

• The Nature Boys (Patio Show) — Sat, Jul 11 · 4 PM @ The Grey Eagle Patio

• Radio Free Eagle: A Night of R.E.M. — Sat, Jul 11 · 7 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Somewhat Petty — Sat, Jul 11 · 7 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Mana Meter (w/ Smash Tournament) — Sun, Jul 12 · 2 PM @ Highland Brewing Event Center

• Scott Low (Patio Show) — Sun, Jul 12 · 3 PM @ The Grey Eagle Patio

• Heather Maloney — Sun, Jul 12 · 4 PM @ Olivette Riverside Pavilion

• Woody Wood & Abe Reid of The Blue Rags (Patio) — Mon, Jul 13 · 6 PM @ The Grey Eagle Patio

• Golden Folk Sessions — Tue, Jul 14 · 7 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Eric Brace & Thomm Jutz (Patio) — Wed, Jul 15 · 5:30 PM @ The Grey Eagle Patio

• American Football (w/ Ian Sweet) — Wed, Jul 15 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel

• TJ & Dave — Wed, Jul 15 · 8 PM @ The Grey Eagle

Want your business 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.

See you around town,

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