AVL Biz Weekly - May 13–19: Blue Note Junction, Capital for Black Entrepreneurs & Downtown After 5 Is Back

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 does double duty. DeWayne Barton is presenting the Blue Note Junction vision at One World Brewing West — a planned Burton Street hub with affordable housing, a commercial kitchen, co-working, and arts space. Free to attend, run by Hood Huggers Foundation. Same night at the Dr. Wesley Grant Southside Community Center, the Black Business Alliance is hosting Capital Landscape 101: who has capital in WNC, how it moves, and how Black entrepreneurs can access it. Two rooms. Pick one, go to both, or flip a coin.

Friday, Downtown After 5 is back at Pack Square — live music, food vendors, and no ticket required. Saturday at Highland, the Crokinole Classic is happening. Competitive disc-flicking at actual tournament level. Go skeptical, stay converted.

Also this week: a chiropractor who starts your intake with a genetics test, three things your Google Business Profile is probably getting wrong, and a full week of live music.

Let's get into it.

📋 On Deck

• 🗓️ Business Events — Blue Note Junction fundraiser at One World Brewing, BBA's Capital Landscape 101, and an intro to darning at the Asheville Tool Library (yes, really, and it's practical).

• 🔦 Local Spotlight — Dr. Brent Myers uses genetics testing and movement pattern work to keep athletes going longer — and he teaches the same techniques to PTs and chiros across the Southeast.

• 💡 Marketing Quickies — Your Google Business Profile is either working for you or against you right now. Here's what to fix this week before you lose another "near me" search.

• 🎉 Fun Stuff Around AVL — Free concert at Pack Square, competitive crokinole at Highland, laser graffiti at Third Room, and American Impressionism at the Art Museum.

• 🎧 Bands on the Horizon — Lucinda Williams at the Orange Peel, Reggie Watts at Sierra Nevada, Toadies, Cristina Vane, and a packed weekend of free brewery shows.

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

🗓️ Business Events

• 🗓️ Taxes for Freelancers with Sunlight Tax — Wed, May 13 · 5:30–7:30 PM (7 Acres Coworking Space)

  AIGA Asheville is hosting a tax workshop specifically for freelancers, creatives, and solo business owners with artist + enrolled agent Hannah Cole of Sunlight Tax. Expect live “tax pictionary,” practical answers about deductions and quarterly taxes, and the kind of financial advice that actually makes sense if your income comes from invoices, projects, or creative work instead of a W-2

• 🗓️ Help Bring Blue Note Junction to Life: A Fundraiser — Thu, May 14 · 6:00–9:00 PM (One World Brewing West) 
  Hood Huggers Foundation is raising support for Blue Note Junction — a planned Burton Street hub with affordable housing, a commercial kitchen, co-working, arts space, and community-rooted entrepreneurship. Free to attend; DeWayne Barton presents the vision and community members share their stories.

• 🗓️ Black Business Alliance: Capital Landscape 101 — Who Has Capital? — Thu, May 14 · 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (Dr. Wesley Grant, Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St.)
  Part of the BBA's 2026 Learning Series — this session focuses on the capital landscape in WNC: who has it, how it moves, and how Black entrepreneurs can access it. Practical, not theoretical.

Hosting something cool?

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

Local Spotlight

The Asheville Chiropractor Running Genetics Tests to Keep Athletes Moving Longer — Featuring Dr. Brent Myers of Myers Chiropractic & Functional Health

[Brent is a good friend and a great practitioner. I’ve recommended him to countless friends and family without reservation. #notAnAd -Jason]

Story

At Myers Chiropractic & Functional Health, the intake process sometimes includes a genetics test. That alone tells you what kind of practice this is.

Dr. Brent Myers opened the Asheville clinic in February 2008 with manual therapy, functional medicine and sports chiropractic care at the center. The specialty is soft tissue work, specifically movement pattern problems that keep people from doing the things they actually want to do. He has spent years working alongside trainers and sports physicians with Clemson men's basketball since 2010, the Asheville Tourists from 2008 to 2019 and UNC Asheville track and field. In between clinic hours, he teaches manual therapy techniques to chiropractors and physical therapists across the Southeast.

Patients keep coming back because he explains what is wrong and hands them tools they can use in everyday life, so they leave with something more than short-term relief. The genetics and longevity work is where the practice gets most interesting: figuring out how a body holds up long after the immediate problem is gone.

Day in the Life

1. Favorite coffee or breakfast spot? Round Earth Roasters and a Super Coffee.

2. Fitness routine? Functional fitness and CrossFit at NC Open Gym, Myers Chiropractic & Functional Health, or Beer City CrossFit.

3. First-time visitor to Asheville/WNC? Copper Crown or Oyster House Brewing Company.

Want to work with them?

Visit Myers Chiropractic & Functional Health or email [email protected].

💡 Marketing Quickies

Your Google Business Profile is either working for you or against you right now. There's no neutral.

1. Your GBP is a living asset, not a one-time setup Most business owners fill out their Google Business Profile once and never touch it again. Google rewards active profiles — fresh photos, updated hours, weekly posts, answered questions. Set a 15-minute Friday reminder to make one update. That compounds into real visibility over time.

2. Reviews don't just build trust — they move you up in search Google's local pack rankings factor in review quantity and recency. A business with 12 reviews from two years ago will consistently lose to a competitor with 40 reviews from this year. The fix: build a simple follow-up that asks every completed customer for a review within 48 hours, while the job is still fresh. That's a core piece of the Show Up and Follow Up System — and it runs automatically once it's built.

3. "Near me" searches are won or lost on your profile, not your website When someone searches "roofer near me" or "bookkeeper in Asheville," Google pulls from Business Profiles first. Your primary category, service area, and description have to be dialed in. If you haven't updated those fields since you created the profile, you're leaving search traffic on the table.

🎉 Fun Stuff Around AVL

• 🗓️ Downtown After 5 — May Edition — Fri, May 15 · 5:00–9:00 PM (Pack Square Park, Downtown Asheville) Asheville's free outdoor concert series is back for its May show at Pack Square — regional and national touring acts, food vendors, community dance floor under the skyline. Show up, no ticket required.

• 🗓️ WNC Crokinole Classic — Sat, May 16 · 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm (Taproom At Highland Brewing Co. 12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite 200) If you've never seen competitive crokinole, this is your moment — classic disc-flicking board game played at actual tournament level. Held at Highland, which means the setting is excellent even if you have no idea what crokinole is yet.

• 🗓️ Mending: Intro to Darning Workshop — Asheville Tool Library — Sat, May 16 • 1 PM - 4 PM (Asheville Tool Library, 16 Smith Mill Rd) The Tool Library is teaching darning — the old-school textile repair skill that keeps clothes going instead of going in the trash. Hands-on, practical, and one of those things you don't realize you need until you ruin a good sweater.

• 🗓️ In A New Light: American Impressionism Exhibition — Through June 29, ongoing (Asheville Art Museum, Pack Square) A traveling exhibition tracing American Impressionism from the Hudson River School toward modernism — brisk brushstrokes and atmospheric color that actually make you stop. Worth a lap if you haven't been to the Art Museum lately.

• 🗓️ Electric Garden: All-Ages Interactive Art Installation — Open Wed–Sun through Sept 20 (Third Room, Wall Street, Downtown Asheville) AR, laser graffiti, kinetic light sculptures — and it's all-ages, which is rare downtown. Good call for a mid-week afternoon or if you've got out-of-town visitors who want something different.

• 🗓️ No Child… at NC Stage — May 7–31, multiple showtimes (NC Stage Company, Asheville) Award-winning play running through the end of May. Solid option for a Tuesday night that isn't a brewery — check NC Stage's site for specific dates and ticket availability this week.

🎧 Bands on the Horizon

• Toadies (with Local H + Vandoliers) — Wed, May 13 · 8:00 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Shawn Mullins — Wed, May 13 · 8:00 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Reggie Watts — Thu, May 14 · 6:00 PM @ Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

• An Evening with Lucinda Williams and Her Band — Thu, May 14 · 8:00 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Ole 60 (with Rob Langdon & The Bends) — Thu, May 14 · 8:00 PM @ Asheville Yards

• Downtown After 5 — Fri, May 15 · 5:00 PM @ Pack Square Park (Free)

• Cristina Vane — Fri, May 15 · 8:00 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Freddie McClendon — Sat, May 16 · 7:00 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Setting — Sat, May 16 · 7:00 PM @ Ayurprana Listening Room

• Jarrod Walker — Sat, May 16 · 8:00 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Hot Like Mars — Sat, May 16 · 10:00 PM @ Asheville Music Hall

• MAYDAY AVL 5 (various artists, two stages) — Sat–Sun, May 16–17 @ Sly Grog Lounge

• Raphael Graves Band — Sun, May 17 · 2:00 PM @ Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Free)

• Auspicious Golden Fish — Sun, May 17 · 6:30 PM @ Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Free)

• Gianmarco Soresi — Sun, May 17 · 5:00 PM @ The Orange Peel

• George Terry & The Zealots — Sun, May 17 · 7:00 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Daniel Donato — Mon, May 18 · 8:00 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Hot 8 Brass Band — Tue, May 19 · 7:00 PM @ Eulogy

• Brothers of the Heart — Tue, May 19 · 7:00 PM @ Niswonger Performing Arts 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