AVL Sounds Fest 101: A Conversation with Jeff Whitworth (Worthwhile Sounds)

The multi-day festival that welcomed thousands of local and out-of-town music fans in 2023 and 2024 will return to Asheville, Thursday, Aug. 6-Sunday, Aug. 9, with a new name and a pair of powerhouse headliners: Dr. Dog and Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

The Philadelphia indie rockers with Asheville ties and New Orleans icons top the initial AVL Sounds Fest lineup of 150-plus acts who will perform in more than a dozen indoor and outdoor venues across town. Other highlights include UK-based soft rock ensemble Young Gun Silver Fox; Tyler Ramsey and Carl Broemel (of My Morning Jacket); Improvement Movement; and local faves Electrolust, Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters, The Hypos, and Floating Action. A second wave of more than 75 artists will be announced later this month.

Asheville Stages spoke with Jeff Whitworth, president of Worthwhile Sounds, to get the skinny on the initial lineup and what fans can expect from the AVL Sounds Fest experience.

Jay Moye: First off, Dr. Dog is a huge get for the festival and Asheville, especially with no other tour dates currently announced. Why were they at the top of your headliner wish list?

Jeff Whitworth: Dr. Dog is perfect for this festival for a multitude of reasons. [Co-founder/front man] Scott McMicken lives here now and played the festival in its first two years with his band the Ever-Expanding. He’s been a huge champion since day one. And my history with Dr. Dog goes way back to when they’d play The Grey Eagle on their way up. They were always very supportive of the Asheville community and what we have going on here, and just a delight to work with. They're just good humans all around. 

So when I started talking to Scott about bringing The Hypos [his collaboration with Greg Cartwright of Reigning Sound] and Ever-Expanding to the lineup this year, it naturally morphed into conversation about Dr Dog. He talked about how they've been more selective with their shows over the last few years, doing short summer runs and festivals. They’d been trying to figure out what they wanted to do this summer but hadn’t been able to align on anything. When Scott and I started talking about AVL Sounds, he was like, “This might be it.” They were looking for an opportunity to return to their roots, which has always been our underlying M.O.: music and community first over production. I could hear his gears turning.

When I was trying to get final confirmation on The Hypos, I brought it back up and it quickly manifested. Scott's a big believer in the festival because it speaks very much to Dr. Dog’s lo-fi methodology. I think he recognized our festival as being a key contributor to the community and saw an opportunity to lend a hand and be a part of that in a bigger way.

JM: What is the big picture vision for AVL Sounds Fest? How would you describe the fan experience you hope to curate?

JW: We’re a very personable and human-centric festival. We're not trying to be the next Coachella or Bonnaroo. We’re hoping to elevate what our community already offers and showcase what we do best. I want it to be the kind of thing where people could come to Asheville and not have any idea this was going on unless they were here for it. 

We don’t want to slow down anything in Asheville. As a business owner, I lived through enough Bele Cheres where we had to close our doors and get out of town for the weekend in the middle of the summer. AVL Sounds Fest incorporates local businesses rather than shuttering them. It’s community driven.

We have a three-, five-, and 10-year plan. We want to get to a point where we’re activating all spaces in Asheville, including the McCormick Fields [now renamed HomeTrust Park]  and the Civic Centers [i.e. Harrah’s Cherokee Center - Asheville and the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium]. One of the most challenging things with scheduling this event is we have to create some competition because we’re spreading out a few thousand people into more than a dozen venues.

JM: Conflicts are inevitable.

JW: Yes, and some of that's by design. We’re intentionally forcing fans to make decisions.

JM: When you’re pulling the lineup together, what are your core criteria?

JW: Diversity is of utmost importance. We've always been very intentional to ensure we have representation from as many corners of the musical world as possible. I never want to pigeonhole this festival as “if you like this type of music.” If you like music in general, you'll find something you love. 

My challenge to concertgoers is to take some chances and get out there and explore. What makes me the happiest is when I read reports and see comments of people talking about new bands they've never heard of, and checking out a new venue they've never stepped foot in. That’s the idea. We want people to come here from Connecticut to see Dr. Dog and end up seeing bands at Eulogy, Sovereign Kava, and The One Stop. We want people to go to all these different rooms and leave with an experiential accomplishment of, like, “I saw 72 bands in 16 venues over four days.” I don't think any other festival is doing that right now.

JM: As a fan, who are you most excited to see?

JW: Young Gun Silver Fox. They’re a band I've been captivated by for a couple of years now. They're partly from London. They're an international band. They haven't really played the Southeast much at all. They've experienced success on the West Coast and in bigger markets. They’re the kind of band I really like developing relationships with because they're as invested and excited about playing a festival like this as we are to have them. They’re still hungry to play for as many people as possible. 

I’m focused on fostering lasting, long-term relationships with artists. That’s what I cherish most. When I owned The Grey Eagle, my favorite part of every show was settling up with the band at the end of the night, hearing about their experience and what we could do better when they come back. Having those conversations goes a long way.

JM: Local talent remains the focus of the festival. Are there first-time Asheville artists you’re most excited about?

JW: We have a pretty even split between new and returning acts. We’re excited to welcome a bunch of first-timers, including Electrolust, Jacoozy, DJ Marley Carroll, Auspicious Golden Fish, The Hypos, Awkward Ghosts, and The Nature Boys.

Another cool component is the generational aspect. We've got a couple kids’ bands playing this year, and we're partnering with the Asheville Rock Academy for a showcase. I love getting the younger generation excited and letting them see what it's like to play a real show on a real stage with real production.

JM: You’re bringing several new clubs and spaces into the fold this year. How important is it to showcase Asheville’s diverse venue ecosystem?

JW: We want the experience to be new and fresh for the concertgoer, first and foremost. One shift with the rebrand is we're intentionally focusing on music-centric rooms that book shows three or four nights a week and have the production infrastructure to host bands — that's must-have criteria. We're not creating pop-up shows in fields. We're putting bands you've never seen in rooms you may have never been to, and giving venues the chance to host a greater variety of bands than they normally book. That’s one thing that makes Asheville such a dynamic market. 

For example, Goddamn Gallows — a band that has sold 350 tickets at The Grey Eagle — just played Fleetwood’s. That speaks volumes about [co-owner] Mary [Kelley] and the relationships she has, and also the experience artists have when they play there. It's a tiny room, but such a fun room. There's magic in that room.

JM: Why is Asheville uniquely positioned to stage an event like this? 

JW: Like the Asheville Sessions re-release we were a part of back in November showcased, this place has been a destination for musicians for well over 100 years. Part of it’s geographical, due to the mountain music that was born here. The rich history this area has musically came along before us, and we're here to honor and continue that tradition while staying current and making sure what we're creating and producing as a city is acknowledged and respected. 

I think we're finally seeing that with the rise of local artists like Indigo De Souza, Moses Sumney, MJ Lenderman, and Wednesday. It feels like the renaissance Chapel Hill experienced in the ’90s. Asheville is having a moment right now with the successes of a lot of these bands, as well as folks like Scott who have moved here.

For festivalgoers, it's a very appealing destination also because of the cultural offerings we have beyond music: the culinary scene, the arts scene. Asheville has always been respected as a creative hub, but it's our driving mission to get people here and have them experience it firsthand.

IF YOU GO

What: AVL Sounds Fest
When: Thursday, Aug. 6-Sunday, Aug. 9
Where: Multiple venues, avlsoundsfest.com
Tickets: $125 (available online or at Harvest Records)

(Photo of Dr. Dog courtesy of ANTI- Records)