Asheville Music Spotlight: Silver Machine

Way down deep in the heart of the Southern Bible Belt, right smack in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains, there's a little gem of a city called Asheville. Surrounded by the echoes of a drawl as deep as the valleys and hollars that wrap around the city, Asheville is home to an eclectic mix of people you might expect John Irving to dream up after eating a batch of particularly fine mushrooms.

Not that John Irving eats psychedelic 'shrooms, or if he does, I certainly wouldn't know.

Back to the tale--music seems to grow naturally out of the streets and trails that wind through Asheville, and one of the brightest acts to spring out of this fertile ground is a groovy little cosmic-funk band called Silver Machine. Formed in early 2008, Silver Machine has become one of Asheville's most popular bands. The original lineup featured guitarist David Lee, Matthew Westerman on drums, and Jared Curtioff on bass, with Chris "Crispy" Tanfield bringing another guitar and the theremin in to complete the band. They didn't waste any time getting their name and sound out there, playing their first show at the Root Bar on March 29, 2008. Their next gig was a performance on local station URTV, followed by an appearance at the famed Orange Peel, playing a song for the Bob Moog Foundation event, "Mooged Out Asheville." That was all the band needed to get going, and before long Silver Machine were taking over the Southeast like a hyperactive kid on a sugar rush with a bubble wand and a gallon of glitter.

Silver Machine quickly proved that they could hold their own on the festival scene. Music lovers were treated to two performances by the band in the fall of 2008, first at the Trinumeral Festival and again at TOUCH-samadhi's Equinox festival, both held at Deerfields near Asheville. October marked another milestone when Silver Machine held their first annual Halloween show, complete with costume contest and the introduction of a few cover songs, with Crispy on vocals.

2009 kicked off with a glittergasmic explosion when Silver Machine played a New Year's show, and from there it was into the studio to begin recording their first studio album. They recorded six songs in a day at Collapsible studios, but it would be a year before the album was ready to be released. You can't rush something like this, especially when the band members are self-financing the project and have lives outside the band. In May 2009 Curtioff played his last show with Silver Machine, leaving the band to focus on his family and other projects. Soon after, innovative bassist Anthony Dorion-Labelle joined the band, and Silver Machine hit the road to play a series of shows in Charlottesville, Charlotte, Wilmington and Charleston, wrapping it up with another show back home in Asheville. You'd think they'd be worn out by then, but these guys bleed energy and kept right on going, this time taking the main stage at Trinumeral. In what Crispy describes as an "epic" show, "playing a six-hour set in the rain on the pond stage," Silver Machine once again lit things up at the annual Equinox fest. By the end of 2009, the band starts expanding their sound to include not only instrumental numbers and covers, but original pieces with lyrics. Crispy and Westerman provide vocals on original songs like "Spooky Sexy" and a whole new dimension to the band is exposed.

Fast-forward to March 2010--Silver Machine's first official studio release is finally ready to meet the public, and damn what an album it is. There aren't many bands who can kick ass live and then translate that same vibe, that deep-in-your-bones, blood-shivering energy, into digital sound, but Silver Machine don't pay a whole lot of attention to what most bands do, and they pull it off beautifully. Since then, the band have been doing what they do best: making music to make your body want to float up into space and dance with the planets, playing a few shows and having a good time.

On August 7, Silver Machine are playing a show at the Highland Brewing Company for Chains for Wishes, a charity disc golf tournament raising money for the Make-a-Wish foundation. These guys are serious about their music, but they're just as serious about giving back to their community and making a difference in the world. David Lee is enthusiastic about most everything he does, bounding through life with this manic exuberance that makes you want to grab his hands and dance, but the most excited I've ever seen him was when he was talking about the Chains for Wishes show. For Silver Machine, the old saying "Music is life" is way more than a trite cliche-they live not for their music, but through it, using their talent, imagination and incomparable skill to make the world they live in shine a little brighter for everyone.

Watch Silver Machine for free at MoDaddy's in Asheville every Tuesday night in August. Check their website for information on upcoming shows and album releases, and if you get a chance, get out and see them live. I promise, you won't regret it. These guys are nothing less than pure glitterfunk bliss.