CONTEST OVER Win tickets NOW for tonight’s show at the Grey Eagle: Benji Hughes, Eleni Mandell with Henry Wolfe

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Fully seated show at the Grey Eagle tonight.

Win two tickets ($24 value) if you can be the first one to tell us what magazine called Mandell the best unsigned artist in the business. Please give your full first and last name in your comment, so we can tell the Grey Eagle who to hold tickets for.

Benji Hughes
http://www.aloveextreme.com/

Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, Benji Hughes spends much of his time masterminding his blend of inventive rock and ballads. At times earnest, at others whimsical, Benji is equally adept at keyboards and guitar. He loves beer but he loves women even more. Underneath his thick mane of strawberry blond hair and beard is a versatile singer/songwriter, full of heart. His music collection — spanning everything from The Crystals, Merle Haggard, and Kinky Friedman to Talking Heads, The Cars, and Slayer — is as wild as his gracious exterior.

Benji’s double-disc debut album, A Love Extreme, was released by New West Records on July 22nd. Producer and L.A- bred session musician Keefus Ciancia (T-Bone Burnett, Sheryl Crow, Everlast) assisted Hughes in making his 25-song debut album in his Los Feliz, CA studio. A Love Extreme flows like your favorite mixtape but with the classicality of Randy Newman and Leonard Cohen. Benji has toured America and beyond with Rilo Kiley and Jenny Lewis since the album’s debut, received a 4-star review in Rolling Stone, and has had several of his songs featured in popular televisions shows, including Beverly Hills, 90210 & How I Met Your Mother.

Eleni Mandell
http://elenimandell.com/

The first record Eleni ever got was Shaun Cassidy’s greatest hits, for her 4th birthday.

The first record she ever bought was X’s Under the Big Black Sun. She bought it at Aron’s records when it was located on Melrose Ave. John Doe (of X) was shopping and gave her his autograph, which she still has. It reads “Yours with a big X- John Doe”. That was the last autograph she ever asked for.

The first concert she ever went to was with her best friend, Michelle, in 8th grade. They went to Oingo Boingo’s Halloween concert at the Universal Amphitheater.

The second boy that asked her to be his girlfriend, in Junior High, popped the question during the “couple’s skate” at Julie’s birthday party. She said “yes” as they skated to Journey’s “Open Arms”.

The first time she worked with DJ Bonebrake (drummer for X), which was a teenage dream, she said “X is the reason I’m playing music” and he responded “I feel like I should apologize”.

The first time she ever saw Chuck E. Weiss perform, he walked right up to her and smiled like a cross between The Cheshire Cat and an escaped mental patient. She met him a month later at Musso and Frank’s. Tom Waits later asked how they’d met and Chuck responded “Hebrew school”.

Henry Wolfe
http://www.henrywolfe.com/

8pm. $10 advance / $12 Day of show. Fully seated show.

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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2 Comments

  1. Karen Sawdy July 24, 2012

    D’oh too late. Can you delete my name and posts?

    Reply
  2. Karen Sawdy July 24, 2012

    New Yorker! Tix for Karen Sawdy

    Reply

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