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Since first making landfall on Thursday, Sept. 26 at Florida’s Big Bend region, Hurricane Helene has wrought destruction throughout the Southeastern states. While South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia were all hit hard, western North Carolina bore the brunt of the force, as the Category 4 storm ripped across the landscape with wind speeds of up to 140 mph and more than 14 inches of rainfall.
Asheville, N.C., the historic mountain community and longtime haven for live music and the jam scene, is now completely isolated by hundreds of closed roads, preventing incoming aid and repairs to critical infrastructure. “We have biblical devastation through the county,” said Ryan Cole, Assistant Director of Buncombe County Emergency Services, per USA Today. “We’ve had biblical flooding here.” While recovery assessments are still in the early stages, estimated damages in the region total between $15 billion and $100 billion.
Among the countless people and businesses overcome by the devastation are Asheville Music Hall and the French Broad Brewery, as well as the passionate community that’s kept the local institution thriving since 2011. In the hallowed space formerly occupied by Stella Blue, Asheville Music Hall has lit up the local circuit with such high-profile performers as Ghostface Killah, Del the Funky Homosapien and Disclosure, alongside more recent sets from jam and jam-adjacent staples like Lindsay Lou, Karina Rykman, Dogs in a Pile, Eggy, Cory Wong, Chat Pile, Marco Benevento, Spafford and Marc “DJ Brownie” Brownstein.
In the wake of the storm, Asheville Music Hall has sustained disastrous flooding, and the French Broad Brewery was at one point completely submerged by surging floodwaters. In response to this crisis, production partner Nectar’s Presents has launched a GoFundMe to support the team members who have sustained this community center. Per the campaign page, donated funds “will assist with obtaining food, water, cleanup, and other resources needed for the staff and families of these venues to survive.”
For years, thanks to the tireless endeavors of venues like Asheville Music Hall and the French Broad Brewery, Asheville, N.C. has been a vital hotspot for the larger world of jam music. As the city fights to recover from this unprecedented natural disaster, fans can show their care and appreciation by coming together to support a scene in need.
Donate to the Asheville Music Hall and the French Broad Brewery GoFundMe here.
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