Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Renovations have begun at the former Club Xcapades topless nightclub on Leicester Highway. Jerry Lyda, owner of Music City, which sells musical instruments on Patton Avenue, recently bought the location for $227,000, according to property records. Mold remediation would be required, according to the property listing.
More on Music City:
Music City was started in 1979 by Kenneth Anders in the basement of his house where he would host a weekly jam session and often found the players in need of small accessories such as strings, picks, capos, etc. In the mid 1980’s after being faced with a job transfer, Anders decided to pursue the retail musical instrument business as a full time job. In 1989 he hired Jerry Lyda, a local musician, to come aboard and help run the store in order to pursue real estate interest.
Jerry purchased the store in 1990 and has since grown Music City into Western North Carolinas leading supplier of top quality musical instruments. Always staffed by working musicians, Music City prides itself in understanding customer needs and knowing what will actually work for the customer. You may see the staff and owner on any given night performing in Asheville and surrounding areas keeping in touch with all the current musical gear and trends. Please stop by our showroom and see what we can do for you.
The nightclub, which operated for about two decades, shut down after an October 2013 police raid that netted nearly a dozen suspects, who were charged with selling opium, cocaine and marijuana out of the joint. The bust followed a year-long undercover operation. The N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement agency headed up the arrests, with the help of Asheville police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In a noteworthy footnote: then-N.C. Rep. Tim Moffitt was invited to observe the raid that day.
