The 2008 edition of Bele Chere will take place on July 25-27 and festival organizers are now accepting applications from local bands wishing to perform. The festival has put together a quick information sheet for applicants and a copy of this information is included at the end of this article.

Asheville's Bele Chere festival has grown to become one of the largest free outdoor festivals in the entire Southeast.  The annual summer festival began some 30 years ago as a small street festival to draw attention to the downtown area of Asheville, which at that time was a relatively desolate place.   Downtown Asheville is a completely different place today.

The results are in and once again Asheville bands fared well in the annual list of Top Recordings of 2007 as decided by listeners of regional public radio station WNCW (88.7).   WNCW serves a wide listening audience stretching from Boone to Charlotte to Greenville to Asheville and into eastern Tennessee.   Even though Asheville's population pales in comparison to Charlotte and Greenville, Asheville bands are consistently at the top of the lists of regional favorites.  This year, 12 of the top 20 regional releases were from Asheville bands.   Yet again a testimony to the strength of the music community in and around Asheville NC when compared against cities of much larger size and population.

The national bluegrass spotlight will once again shine on Asheville North Carolina in February of 2008 as the 13th annual Bluegrass First Class Festival  will be held Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 22-24, 2008 in the Grand Ballroom of the luxurious Crowne Plaza Resort.   

This 3-day event will feature such well known bluegrass performers as Tony Rice with Doc Watson (Saturday) and with JD Crowe & The New South (Friday), IIIrd Tyme Out, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, The Dailey-Vincent Band, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, Dry Branch Fire Squad, and Balsam Range featuring Tony Rice. 

The dawning of a new year is a great time for new beginnings and the band formerly known as divineMAGgees begins the 2008 with a new name and a new sound.  The Asheville-based duo of Cregan Montague and Danielle Tibedo have contemplated a name change for several months and finally made the decision that the time was right.   The Electric Pearls was selected as the new band name and the transition from divineMAGgees to The Electric Pearls is now in full swing.