The burgeoning Asheville music scene is filled with an eclectic array of artists and styles that range from soul and funk to southern rock and Appalachian string music.
The soulful concoction of funk, R&B, hip-hop, and rock that is April B. & The Cool, fall right into place there and currently call Asheville home.
April Bennett, the lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and band leader of April B. & The Cool, didn’t originally start out playing this particular style of music.
“When I attended USC Upstate, the music program had a strong jazz bend to it, which, for a long time, informed my guitar playing”, says Bennett.
Expressive vocals and impressive guitar work are just part of what makes Asheville’s April B. & The Cool special. Drawing style and inspiration from Hip-Hop, Soul, R&B, Funk, Rock, Jazz and Reggae music, April B. puts it all together in sultry and alluring fashion.
I spoke with April this week ahead of their show Saturday night at the Evening Muse to discuss her music background, the Echo Sessions, a new album due this summer, touring plans for 2020 and more.
Records On The Wall: April I believe the last time we spoke was actually the first time we met, which was back on Halloween night at Asheville Music Hall. We walked over to catch the Travers Brothership set after the Billy Strings show at the Orange Peel.
April: Yes, I’m so glad you guys made it by. We sold out the Music Hall that night and had a great show. Linking up with the Travers Brothership is always a good time.
ROTW: So let’s go way back to the beginning. How did you first get involved playing music?
April: Music has always been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My mother is a great singer. My grandfather, sister, and mom all played in marching band. My entire family has a wonderful ear for music and that has passed along over generations
I started on the viola in the 5th grade and started playing guitar while I was in college.
ROTW: What brought you to the Asheville area to play music?
April: I actually moved from the Upstate of SC about 3 years ago. Before I moved to the city, I visited often to see shows. I’ve felt a greater sense of freedom since my move and it’s evident in the music I write and play today. It feels like home, like one big family of musicians and creative people.
On Tuesdays, you can usually find me at the Asheville Music Hall for the Tuesday Night Funk Jam. It’s definitely a musician hang, and where I met a lot of local musicians who I now call my friends. You could say it’s “funkified” my life in a way (laughs).
There’s so much talent in Asheville. We’ve really enjoyed working with bands like The Travers Brothership, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, Natural Born Leaders and hope to collaborate with even more this year.
April B. & The Cool – “I’m Ready”
ROTW: That scene really is amazing and a melting pot of various styles of music. I see that you’ve got an EP up on Spotify.
April: The EP, The Sidekick Chronicles, from 2017 was recorded while I was attending a school that had a jazz-centric music program so a lot the music from that EP is more jazz and neo/soul oriented. It’s not really representative of what we sound like today. You’ll have to watch some videos or come to a live show to really see what we’re about.
ROTW: What brought about this funkier side to your music?
April: I’ve always had a love for the funk, but when JP (Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band) started playing with The Cool, he brought a new level of heaviness to our sound. It was different than what I was accustomed to playing with past incarnations of the band, but it felt good. So we just went along with it.
Being the front woman of this band allows me to express myself in ways that I haven’t been able to before. We have a wide range of musical influences, and it shows. Our live shows can go from light to heavy and from warm to dirty real quick.
ROTW: What does the current lineup for April B. & The Cool look like?
April: As you may know, I sing and play guitar in the band. It’s been a while, but sometimes I’ll break out my electric violin for a couple of songs. I’m thinking there will be more of that in 2020. We have JP Miller on lead guitar, synth, and vocals. It’s mostly just trash-talking though. John Durham plays bass and synth as well for a little double-synth action. We’ve got Josh Forté on drums and vocals and stick spins.
ROTW: I understand you’ve also been involved with the Echo Sessions that Josh Blake and his team produce at IamAVL. Tell me a little about that.
April: Aside from April B. & The Cool, JP and I are also a part of The Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown. It’s a collective of musicians that started out as a studio project and evolved into a 14 plus piece touring band. We recently recorded an Echo Session after our last east coast run. It’s always a pleasure working with Josh and the IamAVL team. They do great things for the music community as a whole.
Echo Sessions 60 – The Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown featuring April B.
ROTW: I noticed April B. & The Cool just dropped a bunch of tour dates and were recently added to a few festival lineups. What are your plans for touring in 2020?
April: Yes! We’ve got a very busy spring coming up. Our spring tour will have us playing in Florida, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia from February to May. We’re really excited to share our music across the Southeast and plan on putting a ton of miles on our van (laughs).
Next month, we’ll be playing the inaugural Marathon Hemp & Arts Festival, in Florida. We were asked to be a part of a multi-month Hemp tour to spread music and wellness. It’s a great arts and music festival that will have a wide range of vendors of arts, crafts, and food. I can’t tell you about all the festivals we’re going to be playing this year quite yet, but our year is looking good. We’ve been added to the Springtopia 2020 Festival in Franklin, NC, so we’re very excited to be part of that.
We’ve also got some pretty cool gigs coming up in March. We’re doing shows with Zach Deputy in Asheville and The Mantras in Raleigh.
April B. & The Cool truly came alive in 2019. We’ve also got an album coming up on the horizon.
ROTW: Oh, so you do have a new album coming up. That was my next question actually. Do you have an approximate date for that release?
April: It’s planned for a late summer 2020 release and it’s completely different than the music we have out right now. It will definitively be funkier and heavier than the previous EP. And cooler!
You can catch April B. & The Cool this Saturday night at The Evening Muse with support from the Lemon City Trio. Grab your tickets HERE