Wed 7/15/26 – 7-9 PM – WNC Songwriter Sessions and The Brandy Bar + Cocktails host an evening of original songs in the beautiful, historic Brandy Bar’s natural listening room acoustics, with Louisa Branscomb, Mike Pauer, and Todd Hoke.
Hidyho Neighbors! Another trio of rhyme stalking song whittlers will be sharing their lyrical and musical offerings for our July session at the coolest bar in all of Hendo. Louisa Branscomb, Mike Pauer, and Todd Hoke will put the yodel in your cattle call. Delicious cocktails + handcrafted songs + friendly folks = time well spent. Join us!
Louisa Branscomb is a pioneer for women and songwriters in bluegrass, entering the professional playing field in 1971 and helping found one of the first modern all-female bluegrass bands. Louisa’s Lyric Mountain Songwriter Retreat Program in Asheville — the longest continuous songwriter retreat in acoustic music — serves professional and aspiring songwriters (and the Fall Retreat has 3 remaining places!). She prefers sunlight to the limelight, and you’ll mostly find her bushhogging on her John Deere at Lyric Mountain at sunset, and, of course, writing songs.
Mike Pauer had been a “closet musician” for more than 30 years who started writing original songs when he moved to Asheville over 20 years ago. Mike’s songs are inspired by real-life experiences, family, relationships, and the everyday stories that connect us all. Blending heartfelt originals with familiar favorites, Mike’s performances combine storytelling, humor, and authenticity, creating an engaging and personal experience for audiences.
Todd Hoke was walking along, minding his own business, rhyming orange with scurvy, and thinking about what he’d eat for supper that evening when, out of nowhere and apropos of nothing at all, he got booped on the nose by a bronze statue. He does not want to talk about it.
The songwriter sessions are hosted on the third Wednesday of each month. Hosted by Annie Wenz and Todd Hoke. For more info contact WNCSongwriterSessions@gmail.com
Thurs 7/16/26 – 4-9 PM – Lost Colony Cocktails – On Roanoke Island on the North Carolina coast, a 400-year-old unanswered question still piques people’s curiosity and remains largely unknown. We still puzzle over what happened to the group of 117 men, women and children who vanished while trying to start England’s first settlement in North America. In 1587 this group left England on a ship not much larger than a school bus to try to start this first permanent village. Two of the women in the group are also pregnant. They all survive the 10-week voyage, making a home on Roanoke Island, at an abandoned fort named Fort Raleigh that was left from 2 previous 1580s’ attempts and financed by explorer and statesman Sr. Walter Raleigh. But only one month into their new life, they are struggling to survive with food and other essentials running out. They. ask their leader/governor, John White (yes who Pocahontas had saved), to return to England for necessities. White had welcomed the birth of his granddaughter, Virginia Dare — England’s first child born in the new land — just a few days before the request. White will not see her again. After his return to England the Anglo-Spanish war broke out and White was prevented from returning to Roanoke. When he returns three years later, his family and all the other colonists are gone – nothing was found of bodies, buildings, clothing, etc. They become known simply as The Lost Colony of Roanoke. Before White’s leaving the colonists had agreed to carve a cross symbol if they were in distress but no cross was found. White found a carving of the word “Croatoan” on a wooden post and a tree trunk and took it to mean they had relocated to nearby Croatoan Island (Hatteras Island) which was home to a friendly tribe. John White will return to England without finding his family and later establish Jamestown colony (Virginia/NC state line) that will survive as America’s first permanent settlement. Speculation that the colonists had assimilated with nearby Indian tribes appears in writings as early as 1605. Investigations by the Jamestown colonists produced reports that the Roanoke settlers had been massacred, and there were stories of people with European features being seen in Indian villages, but no conclusive evidence was found. Interest in the matter fell until 1834, when George Bancroft published his account in A History of the United States wherein, he refers to the colonists as founding figures, and particularly Virginia Dare. This captured the public imagination and there was a renewed interest in solving the mystery. But we may never know what ever happened to them. Here’s a toast to our brave forebearers’ perseverance, endurance, and tenacity. We also acknowledge that brandy was the drink of the colonies! Cocktails – Croatan – CB Frost, green apple snapps, cranberry juice, club soda; Close Call – Calvados brandy, Cointreau, fresh squeezed lemon juice; Rooster Tail – Pear brandy, Cointreau, fresh squeezed lemon juice; 1/2 price on Fruit/infused flight