My memories of Vincent’s Ear, a one-time oasis for the Asheville baroque scene, come from the ‘90s and early 2000s. I remember hipsters, punk rockers, literary wannabes, musicians, and people just hanging out, talking music, and drinking Pabst.
During those years, Asheville was abuzz with electricity. There was widespread belief in this little mountain town—that we were different and worthy to be heard.
Those years were almost like a bridge between the old, dilapidated Asheville, full of empty stores and boarded buildings, and its current incarnation as Beer City, USA.
That’s when DrugMoney emerged on the local scene, making the audience’s ears ring, in long-since closed places like Vincent’s Ear.
I think a few other Vincent’s regulars included Mad Tea Party, Firecracker Jazz Band, and Dig Shovel Dig. The White Stripes even played there. All of these bands became noteworthy in their own respects.
It’s hard to put into words, but there was definitely something there, and some of us can’t forget it. It’s like Vincent’s Ear has become the symbol of an Asheville that many of us can’t get back to. How else do you explain the bar’s tribute pages on Facebook? The ongoing social media posts about people reminiscing how Vincent’s represents a better time in Asheville?
Maybe it’s just my generation looking back and seeing a more idealized version of ourselves in that place—more carefree, more open, more time to just sit and talk and socialize and dig on bands. And that’s probably why so many of us remember how cool it was and why others will never have any clue.
A real quick memory about DrugMoney. I interviewed their lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter, Fisher Meehan, for a local magazine during the early 2000s. And yes, he and I sat outside Vincent’s Ear in the courtyard while I asked him questions.
I believed then that DrugMoney was going to be one of the ones that made it. All eyes were on them. Straight to the top. But in retrospect, that’s a lot of responsibility to bear for a little band from Asheville. One town putting all its hopes and dreams into a few musicians and wishing against all odds that they show the world how cool and different we were.
Yes, I knew about Fisher’s drug problems then, and his nefarious past that eventually landed him in prison for a bit.
That interview I did with Fisher probably still exists somewhere, but I didn’t want to dig it up. It was written by another version of me for another time for a different version of this city.
The image at the top of this post is actually two photographs scanned together. I guess I took one, turned my head about 15 degrees and took another.
These may even be from DrugMoney’s album release party at Vincent’s Ear. I’ve lost all documentation and dates. Old photos, pre-digital era, are just that: old photos. No time stamp. No context. Just pictures sitting for decades in old albums and sleeves.
Sometimes we dig them up and dust them off and we’re reminded how much fun we were having.
I hope we all realized then how much we would one day miss Vincent’s Ear, the music it brought us, and the friends.