'Vibes for the Valley' taps talented lineup to help local schools
Black Mountain PTO and Pisgah Brewing Co. team up to support new after-school clubs program
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
May 15, 2024
A first-of-its-kind partnership between Black Mountain Schools Parent-Teacher Organization and Pisgah Brewing Co. brings a trio of bands to the outdoor stage, from 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Saturday, June 8, as the inaugural Vibes for the Valley concert kicks off the summer with a benefit for local public school students.
The show, which will feature performances by Scott McMicken and THE EVER-EXPANDING, Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters and Hannah Kaminer & The Wistfuls, will raise money to launch the new Black Mountain After-School Clubs Program at Black Mountain Primary and Elementary Schools.
Tickets for the show are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate and available on the events page at eventbrite.com. The event will also feature a silent auction (linked here) including items offered by local artists and businesses.
Vibes for the Valley is a unique way to elevate community support for a program that would enrich the public school experience of hundreds of local children, according to Black Mountain Schools PTO Vice President and concert organizing committee chair Frank Cappelli.
“Our vision for the after-school programs is that there would be a buffet of programs to choose from – everything from sports and humanities to STEAM programs,” Cappelli said. “We want to bring back the programs that kids loved and benefitted from in the past.
“This concert is a short-term fix to help raise awareness in our community. Long term, we will need to partner with like-minded businesses to sponsor these programs,” he continued. “We know we can do a great job because of the pilot program, and we’re so grateful to Pisgah and the bands for getting involved with this cause.”
The PTO concluded a trial version of the program earlier in the spring, when more than 50 BMP and BME students participated in Reading, Science or Chess Club. The weekly club gatherings were each led by a designated faculty sponsor.
Scott McMicken and THE EVER-EXPANDING will perform at Pisgah Brewing Co., June 8, in the inaugural Vibes for the Valley concert. The event, organized by the Black Mountain Schools PTO, will support a new Black Mountain After-School Clubs Program at Black Mountain Elementary and Primary Schools. Photo courtesy of Scott McMicken and THE EVER-EXPANDING
Science Club ended its eight-week program with a science fair, in which groups of students presented projects ranging from a potato-powered robot to a study of which color feeders hummingbirds prefer. “Everyone loved,” the pilot program, according to Cappelli, who partnered with a 13-person committee to launch a concert that will support compensating the faculty leading the proposed 12 clubs.
“One of the keys to this being a success is compensating the teachers who are committing their time, after school, to keeping these students engaged in important ways,” Cappelli said. “The lack of public school funding and then the pandemic was hard on kids, and very hard on our public school afterschool programs. There isn’t sufficient funding for them. We want to bring afterschool programs back to the Black Mountain Schools in a big way – these programs are so important for kids’ socialization and academic achievement, and for parents, it’s critical to have afterschool care for their kids.”
While Pisgah Brewing Co. offered the ideal setting for a benefit concert, the artists scheduled to perform bring an element of star power.
Headed by founding member of Dr. Dog, Scott McMicken and THE EVER-EXPANDING released its first album, Shabang, in 2023. The Asheville-based band incorporates elements of jazz, dub reggae, country and bossa nova into its rich sound.
Vibes for the Valley, a June 8 benefit concert at Pisgah Brewing Co., will feature a performance by Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters. The event, organized by the Black Mountain Schools PTO, supports a new after-school clubs program at Black Mountain Primary and Elementary Schools. Photo courtesy of Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters
Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters draw on the band’s country roots for the lyrical storytelling in their songs of heartache or hope. Since their first release in 2009, Platt and bandmates Rick Cooper, Evan Martin, Matt Smith and Kevin Williams have produced eight albums, including their most recent effort, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea in 2022.
Hannah Kaminer and The Wistful fuse an Appalachian sound with traditional country and Americana-style songwriting to craft the sound that permeates her band’s 2024 release Heavy on the Vine. In her decade-long career, the Western N.C. native has received two N.C. Regional Artist Project Grants and reached the finals of the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest.
The concert will kick off a fundraising campaign that will launch the Black Mountain After-School Clubs Program in the 2024-25 school year.
“We are currently accepting silent auction items from local businesses, and donations and club sponsorships are also needed,” Cappelli. “We want this show to be a fun way for the community to come together and show its support for our local students, while getting involved with a great cause—the future generations of the Valley.”