Japanese and Asheville musicians team for Transpacific Americana shows Feb. 26, 28

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Jason Sandford

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

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These shows look like they’re going to be a ton of fun. Here’s the information from the Transpacific Americana event page on Facebook:

Reika Hunt and Sara Kohno, the frontwomen of Kyoto, Japan’s Pirates Canoe are visiting the Asheville area during the Pirates Canoe 2016 Tour. The duo, and later their full band, will cover a major swath of the US from SXSW in Austin, Folk Alliance Int’l in Kansas City, and tour dates stretching from Asheville to New York.

Sara and Reika will give two special shows Friday Feb. 26 at Gallery Mugen (Asheville) and Sunday Feb. 28 at the WNC Japanese Culture Center, Sen-nari 千成 (Hendersonville). Akira Satake, master of the banjo and Japanese shamisen, and Anya Hinkle, singer, songwriter and guitar/fiddle player for Asheville’s Tellico, will open the shows.

SAKE TASTING: The shows will also include an opportunity to taste a number of rare and unusual sake selections courtesy of SakeYama, a new premium sake store in Black Mountain

SHOWS:

–FRIDAY FEB 26th, 7:00PM – GALLERY MUGEN, 122 Riverside Dr. Asheville.

–SUNDAY FEB 28th, 5:00PM – WNC JAPANESE CULTURE CENTER, 629 5th Ave. W, Hendersonville.

TICKETS:
Tickets are $10. If you would like to participate in the sake tasting, please add an additional $7 to the ticket price. Seating will be limited, so you can purchase tickets in advance here: http://tellicoband.com/transpacifictix. And if you can bring a folding chair, it would be great, thank you!

About Pirates Canoe:

2013 started off with their first ever North American tour which included several showcases at SXSW 2013, and opening for Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur on their Japan tour. They were also selected as MTV Iggy Artist of the Week this year, with a featured online interview and performance.

“Even the hippest of SXSW hipsters probably haven’t heard of Pirates Canoe, but with a sound that’s Alison Krauss-meets-Ry Cooder-meets Alan Toussaint, they’re the skinny jeans from Japan that are destined to be fashionable stateside soon. The sometimes trio, other times sextet, mixes a dollop of Irish folk with a helping of fiddle, mandolin, guitar and percussion that beautifully complement — but never overwhelm — the singers’ ethereal harmonies. Though based in Japan, the members met in a very Americana way; the story of Pirates Canoe’s inception involves a bar, a violin case and a few adult beverages. That’s not to say that the band has completely shucked its Asian roots for Nashville though. Consider “Gull Flying North,” an uptempo mandolin romp that has just enough delicate tones to bring the Far East to mind.” – Rolling Stone Magazine

“Because who knew that an Americana act from Kyoto, Japan, looks significantly odder on paper than it sounds in practice? Half a song in and it’s not the novelty, but the songcraft and playing that grabs and holds your attention. If only half of what East Nashville is churning out right now seemed this authentically heartfelt.” – esquire magazine
“… Pirates Canoe has been lulling the masses with classy Americana a la Alison Krauss, the kind that gives you a pit in your stomach because it’s like the heavens opened and bestoweth divine, majestic song.” – MTV Iggy

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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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