Voted No. 1 prog/jam band by Xpress readers, Makayan is already a proven entity. The quintet (Dennis Veazey on guitar and vocals, Elie Herzog on bass, Zach Sykes on vocals guitar, Ben New on drums and Simon George on keys) came out of an auspicious beginning: “It was a dark and stormy night,” according to the band’s bio. “As the song they were playing gently morphed itself into Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing,’ the intensity and fusion of the sounds they were creating were continuously rising to uncharted territories of jamming. Suddenly they reached a peak that was terrifyingly beautiful with sounds so sacred that only the four humans who created them were allowed to hear them for a split second, and at that instant their house was struck by a bolt of lightning.”
Happily, everyone survived and Makayan took its magic to the studio. Solomon Mines Studios in Fletcher, to be exact, where the band has been recording its first full-length album, Smile. (Check out a sample, above.) That record is set to be released on Friday, March 7 at Asheville Music Hall. Tweed opens, among others. 10 p.m. $8 in advance or $10 day of show.
