'Local Live' to feature Marika Straw and Dylan Moses

The next “Local Live” show at White Horse Black Mountain brings up the talents of Marika Straw and Dylan Moses. The show, presented by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jay Brown, will be at 7 p.m. Monday, June 4. Tickets are $10.

Dylan Moses McGonigle can often be seen at White Horse behind the sound desk. Before moving to this area, he launched a career in Kansas City as a performer in the classic acoustic folk troubadour vein, writing original songs that channel the poetic spirit of Woody Guthrie, Townes Van Zandt, Simon and Garfunkel and of course his legendary namesake.

“I have the blessing and the curse of having been named after Bob Dylan,” he said, “so at some point you realize, oh well, I just have to deal with this desire to be a songwriter. I grew up with this music. And I write really wordy songs, and people tell me, "Oh, you sound like Bob Dylan.’ It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Oregon-born singer-songwriter Marika Straw now calls Asheville home. A pianist, she performs an introspective, spare jazz-folk hybrid with classical overtones. Her songs range from the intensely interior to the global, and she has a special affinity for themes addressing social justice. Straw's writing transforms personal experience into works that reach into the heart of the human experience.

Series host Jay Brown can be found playing solo and with a number of groups in the Asheville area, including The Lazybirds, Swing Guitars, his Southern roots project The Appalucians, and in a duo with wife Aditi Sethi.