Asheville’s Moog Music and its big vision beyond Moogfest

Last week’s announcement that Moogfest would be on hold for this year and return next April garnered a lot of attention. But Moog Music has a bigger vision. The make of synthesizers, theremins and other electronic music instruments has plans to expand its manufacturing facility near downtown Asheville, and it wants to build an outdoor music venue.

I wrote about it all in Sunday’s Asheville Citizen-Times. Here’s a snippet.

The festival is just piece of a bigger picture in the works for Moog Music. Emmy Parker, the company’s brand manager, told me in an interview that the company is working on plans to expand its manufacturing space. The company, which is constantly at work researching and developing new products, has a couple of new instruments it plans to release in the next year or two, Parker said. Those releases, which she said the company expects to be hits, come as the company experiences steady growth.

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Moog Music also has plans to build an outdoor stage for concerts, as well as a new gallery that would highlight the intersection of art, music and technology. The company asked the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority for $405,000 to put toward its plan but was turned down. Parker told me Moog’s application for TDA funds was a last-minute request, and that Moog Music was moving forward with its vision.

The plan is for a new downtown music venue with a capacity of 2,000 people. A new 2,000-square-foot gallery would feature a permanent installation by the nonprofit Bob Moog Foundation. The new venue and gallery would boost local tourism, the company said.

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