JACK OF THE WOOD CELEBRATES 25 YEARS

JACK OF THE WOOD

WHERE KINDRED SPIRITS GATHER

Sitting at a table in the depths of the cavernous Jack of the Wood on Patton Avenue in downtown Asheville, Joan and Joe Eckert shake their heads in awe when asked about the 25th anniversary of the beloved pub and music venue.

“It just seemed like the natural thing to do in this city, to open a Celtic-style pub, but to also have it be sort of an Appalachian tavern, too,” Joan said. “And live music has always been part of this business and what we want to put forth — Celtic, Americana roots, bluegrass, old-time, folk and mountain music.”

When the Eckerts arrived in Western North Carolina from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, back in the 1980s, the couple was looking to raise their family on a farm in the mountains. That soon morphed into Joan operating a small lunch counter at the local YMCA specializing in vegetarian cuisine.

And with the encouragement and backing of the late Julian Price, a storied Asheville entrepreneur and philanthropist, Joan eventually opened The Laughing Seed on Wall Street — a pillar of the city’s bustling culinary scene to this day.

Initially, the basement of the restaurant (which faces Patton Avenue) was used as a root cellar, but the Eckerts had another idea in mind for the space — a British Isles inspired pub.

“We’ve spent a lot of time over there and always loved those pubs, where everyone is singing and dancing, just having a great time together in

“And live music has always been part of this business and what we want to put forth — Celtic, Americana roots, bluegrass, old-time, folk and mountain music.”

the spirit of simply being together,” Joan said.

With a sincere bond and admiration for the natural world, the name Jack of the Wood came about as an ode to Mother Nature and our place in the grand scheme of things in this universe.

As soon as the pub opened its doors in 1997, stage performances became a signature facet of the business, something at the heart of the burgeoning live music scene in Asheville at the time, which is now world-renowned.

“Back then, the stage was just the floor of the corner near the front door. The musicians would set up in that corner and jam out at all hours of the day,” Joe reminisced. “And when we took over the basement of the next building, we built a stage across the room where it still stands today.”

Since the earliest days of its existence, the weekly jams at the Jack of the Wood have taken on legendary status over the last quarter-century. There’s the Wednesday folk jam, the Thursday bluegrass jam, and the Sunday Celtic jam — all of which attract some of the finest pickers and singers in Southern Appalachia and beyond.

And in those days between the jam sessions, touring bands from around the world have stood in front of the microphone at the Jack of the Wood. Wellknown national acts like Shovels & Rope, Town Mountain, The Infamous Stringdusters, Balsam Range, and Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band have all graced the stage, with thousands of upand-coming acts continuing to roll through.

“There’s a lot of professional musicians who call Asheville and Western North Carolina home,” Joan said. “And many of which come here to jam with each other when they aren’t on tour — it’s a pretty special thing to see and hear.”

“I think what we’re most proud of is that our intentions have remained the same,” Joe added. “We want to nurture the smaller bands and also the fun times, to present the traditional and acoustic music of whoever wants to come and play our stage — all of this is the culture of who we are, who we’ve always been.”

Joan and Joe Eckert.