Spotlight on Music Entrepreneur, Anne Coombs
Local Music Makers
When you’re a busy septuagenarian, to-do lists make all the difference when it comes to remembering what needs to get done from day to day.
That’s one of many things I have in common with our featured artist for March; making and sticking to to-do lists! We both hilariously admitted that there are times when we can get so bogged down, that we write down something we’ve already taken care of and then cross it out, just to feel that sense of accomplishment.
The one and the only Anne Coombs is a legend in the local music community for a myriad of reasons. Not only is she an accomplished guitarist and songwriter, but she’s a respected mentor, teacher, entrepreneur and band leader.
Her proclivity for hard work and taking care of business is an inspiration for those of us who are the CEO’s of our own careers. For instance, back in 1996 she incepted the Asheville Music School which was the first community music school in the area.
Within those walls she started the notorious Rock Academy. I invite you to Google ‘Anne Coombs’ and you’ll find a cornucopia of published features and interviews with this award-winning songwriter and Grammy nominated educator.
Anne Coombs paved the way for other schools and music classes to emerge proving that in this city there’s room for everyone. Now that she’s retired from the school and from teaching, she’s been performing more and her songwriting is back on the front burner.
We commiserate on the strategies we’ve had to adopt these days, in order to be successful at filling our performance calendars. Anne says, “It’s been hard to keep a band together that’s made up of the same players each gig especially since Covid and the hurricane.”
The local landscape dictates that we practice flexibility when it comes to allowing for subbing-out our go-to bandmate positions. Nearly every full time, working musician is in more than one project in order to keep sane, afloat and relevant. Anne adds, “Consequently, I’m not only a band leader but I’ve become a side player too. It has its rewards but it’s tough because I constantly have to learn new material.”
Pivoting has almost become an art form. And luckily Anne has aligned herself with instrumentalists and singers who share her enthusiasm for not letting the ebbs throw them off course.
Consequently, one of her newest endeavors is taking shape. With female counterparts like bassist Kim Butler and drummer, Robin Borthwick, the three are looking to form a sessions/backing band for hire.
“We can play different genres and back up different people working together as a rhythm section for hire. The more we work together, the tighter our sound and we’ve worked together long enough now that we can read each other’s minds.”
Company Swing is the moniker for a Jazz & Swing band she’s led for many years. While she works to add a three-piece female horn section to that group, the core five-piece stays busy fulfilling gig dates at various venues in town.
She also plays regularly with female vocalists Kat Williams and Elaine Scott. And soon we’ll see her sitting in more often with our October 2024 featured band, Ovadya.
Anne is a deep thinker and a deep feeling human. She has an affinity for writing songs that the listener can identify with and her voice is lilting and soothing all the while.
A few of her sad and melancholy tunes can be heard on her Reverbnation page where you can sit back and listen to just a few of these impeccably written and arranged tracks. I am heartened to discover that she’s just returned from the studio where she recorded four new original songs for the world to hear.
“My songwriting has changed in that I’m writing more of what people are calling “posi music” or “new-thought music.” It’s leading me to write positive message songs and because I’ve always been inspired by Rhythm & Blues, they’re coming out with a soulful style.
“The Colors of Love” is a song that people can relate to and sing along to and right now that’s just what we need. “Times Like This” is a song that Unity of the Blue Ridge’s Senior Minister, Darlene Strickland asked Anne to do for church service.
Coombs tells me that she wanted to write a song about healing and growing and community. “Lift me Up” came from that intention.
Anne Coombs has been a fixture, embedded in our music community since 1991. She’s watched the scene grow from the ground up.
Crimes of Passion was the most popular band in Asheville back in 1985 and at that time, she commuted to Asheville on the weekends from Atlanta to play with them. Once she officially moved here in 1991, she was part of a successful local band called Primitive Future.
While the challenges of growing older are evident in every major local music scene around the country, Coombs had the added hurdle of having to reestablish herself after her yearlong detour out of the state.
She explains, “So when I came back from Florida, no one knew me anymore. It was hard. It took me a good year to reconnect and reestablish myself. It was odd, it was a strange feeling for me to witness what was going on when I came back. I was meeting and learning about all these new artists and several new key players shaking things up on the scene and none of them knew me or my history.”
I leave you with these words from Anne: “I live my life with purpose. My songwriting reflects my purpose in the world, to the world. And in turn, my purpose is reflected back to me.”
8th – Company Swing – Joint Next Door
16th – Fringe Festival
29th – Company Swing – The Pillar Rooftop Bar
Peggy’s schedule in March:
1st – Invitational Blues Showcase – One World Brewing West 4pm
6th – Acoustic Roots & Blues – River Arts District Brewing Co. 6pm
7th – Peggy & the Daddy LongLegs Blues Band – Oklawaha Brewing 8pm
14th – Peggy & the Daddy LongsLegs Blues Band – Southern Appalachian Brewing 7pm
20th - Acoustic Roots & Blues – River Arts District Brewing Co. 6pm
30th – Sunday Funday with Bob Songster & Adam Rose 4pm
Peggy Ratusz is a vocal coach,
song interpreter, and songwriter.
For vocal coaching email her at