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Stars Pick Their Top Five! This Week: Brie Capone

Sometimes a upbeat, infectious folk tune is just what you needed, and Brie Capone is seemingly gifted with crafting them. From Asheville, North Carolina, Capone brings the "high, lonesome" sound of Appalachia into her own by maintaining many of the lyrical themes of the style but giving it a twist with her low, powerful voice. What comes out is a steady, lingering rhythm that is equal parts romantic and melancholic. When paired with piano, guitar and drums, it becomes just about impossible not to tap your foot.

Catch Brie Capone at The Flycatcher, 340 E. Sixth St., at 7 p.m., April 9. Free. 21+.


John Mayer Room For Squares

I have to come clean. John Mayer was a gateway musician for me. He was my first musical love and this record fascinated me. Room for Squares was the first one I took apart and wanted to figure out how to emulate and hear how all the instruments were arranged, how his songs were built. I started to learn guitar because of John and this record.


Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood

I found out about Stevie Ray Vaughan because of John Mayer. I was reading an article about John's influences and he had listed off a lot of his idols, including Stevie. So for my birthday I asked for a bunch of blues records, including Texas Flood. Stevie's guitar tone is unreal. His vocal performance and songwriting is so purely original. It also has my favorite song ever, if I had to name one, "Lenny."


Modest Mouse The Moon and Antarctica

As an angst-ridden teen moving to a new place and starting high school, I needed a record that matched how out of place I felt and The Moon and Antarctica was all I needed. My cousin introduced me to them when I was moving from Massachusetts to North Carolina. The record at that point was a few years old. When I got to my new high school, I was very anxious about meeting new people and feeling comfortable in my own skin, the usual high school experience. I went through a phase where I read a lot of sci-fi, specifically Ray Bradbury, I have a vivid memory of reading the Martian Chronicles and listening to this record. For me, they go hand in hand, with the otherworldly, barren and mysterious tones the whole record maintains. The outsider, uncomfortable lyrics, like "I want to live in the city, with no friends or family..." spoke to me.


Warren Zevon Excitable Boy

I love this record. So much! My dad is a Warren Zevon fan and this album holds a lot of memories, singing "Werewolves of London" in the car or asking questions about "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner." Not sure I should have been listening to it at 10 years old, but it's held up and stayed with me for so long. Warren's songwriting is so quirky and rich. I really fell in love with every song for different reasons. "Lawyers Guns and Money" is one of my top five favorite songs.


Dawes Stories Don't End

This record was my introduction to Dawes. I'm a huge fan. I just fell in love with Taylor Goldsmith's songwriting style and the beautiful Americana, '70s rock, singer-songwriter vibe. It also inspired me to move back home to Asheville and record my first solo EP at Echo Mountain, where they had recorded this record. I love this band.