Mountain Music, Market Moves, And A Community Coming Alive

Real estate doesn’t hibernate. We open with a clear-eyed look at Henderson County’s winter market — roughly 400 active single-family listings against 135 average monthly sales — and unpack what a three-month supply means for pricing power, buyer urgency, and smart strategy. With interest rates easing and life changes driving decisions year-round, we share how to navigate timing, terms, and emotion so a move feels aligned with your next chapter, not the calendar.

Then we welcome Ryan Taylor Price, the force behind Winter Ramble, a county-wide celebration of mountain music and storytelling. Ryan takes us inside the curation: 11 venues, about 30 events, a mix of ticketed and free shows, and an event builder that lets you design your weekend. The conversation traces a living lineage — from Doc Watson to David Holt to Josh Goforth — and explores how fiddles, banjos, and ballads carried by Scotch-Irish settlers blended with Cherokee influence and early country to shape today’s American roots sound. It’s culture as connective tissue, where mentorship passes songs and stories forward and a community gathers to listen.

We tie it all together with practical takeaways: how off-season festivals fuel local venues and tourism, why a vibrant arts scene can influence housing decisions, and what to watch if you’re buying or selling amid tight inventory. If you’re planning an open house visit between sets or downsizing for a simpler pace, you’ll find both data and direction here — plus a weekend playbook for shows likely to sell out fast. https://winterramble.com/

Subscribe for weekly insights, share this with a friend heading to Hendersonville, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Your next move — and your next song — might be closer than you think.

Transcript

Ten Years On Air

SPEAKER_02 0:00

The George Real Estate Group Radio broadcast is celebrating 10 years on WHKP. The George Real Estate Group is celebrating 10 years on the radio live every Thursday morning at 10.05 on WHKP 107.7 FM and AM 1450, and streaming online at WHKP.com. Each Friday morning at 8.45, the George Real Estate Group presents the Hometown Hero Award to someone in our community who goes above and beyond to make our hometown a better place to live. Here's this week's Hometown Hero Show. On Friday mornings, we gather around, and uh first one up on the the uh pedestal is Noah George.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Good morning. Good morning. And uh happy Friday, and again, just so much to be thankful for, and we're so grateful to be here every Friday morning sponsoring the Hometown Hero Series. Well, we're tickled to death to have you every Friday.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

And uh can you uh tell us a little bit about how the winter real estate you know, everybody says, Well, in the spring, wait till spring.

Market Stats And Interest Rates

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Yeah, everybody says it's this fascinating spring. It's fascinating as it again, people have this perception nothing's selling in the winter, and that's not true. Maybe like they think there's no live music going on in the winter, but that's not true either. But live, I mean, you know, real estate's happening all year round, of course. So there are more homes that sell in this in the spring, the summer, and the fall, yes, and it's still significant uh real estate that happens. We know life happens, therefore real estate happens. And so, you know, we are continuing to see tremendous activity uh already. January was strong. Uh this February, can you believe February's over? I mean, March is around the corner.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

But I mean, real estate is moving. Our market numbers are are holding. The inventory levels are actually still very low in Henderson County. We only have some 400 active single-family homes in the market. And over the last 12 months, we're averaging 135 a month. So we have like a three-month supply in Henderson County, which is you know, and interest rates are coming down, which is tremendous. Right. So all these things come into play. And again, if it's right, it's not about the time of year, it's not about the interest rate, it's not not about the economy. Again, it could be a really beautiful, positive, celebratory reason why you're buying or selling. Again, new family, maybe you're retiring again, different reasons, or there's challenges. Life happens, you know, uh, you know, loss of job, a death, or a divorce. I mean, these are just very uh, you know, we take this incredibly seriously when we're helping our clients. And again, we're either again, we're we're celebrating with our clients or we are walking alongside challenging moments in life.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Because these are crossroads moments, they really are truly and you are uh sensitive to that at the George Real Estate Group.

Life Changes That Drive Moves

SPEAKER_01 3:14

We are, and it's a privilege. And you can tell I'm a little excited. We love helping our clients navigate through uh real estate, and and it's a privilege and honor to help our clients navigate through through all that. I want to mention two things. We have two open houses this Sunday. Okay. Uh find it on our social media, Facebook and Instagram. We have an open house at uh in Asheville, and then we have an open house uh in Carriage Park. Great, both wonderful, wonderful properties. Uh again, you can see all the details on our social media. Two open houses this Sunday, one from one to three, and then one from two to four. Uh, you can find that on our our website, you can find that on our social media, and of course, we podcast all of our radio shows, and again, grateful to be here.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

Yes, we will be podcasting uh this episode with Ryan Taylor Price, who's the event coordinator for Winter Ramble. Good morning, Ryan.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Good morning, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Well, we're tickled to death that you came to join us because I know you're busy. You're right on the eve of a big weekend.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Yeah, we got lots of music happening this weekend, and I'm gonna be running all over the county.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Yeah, you are. Tell us more about Winter Ramble. It starts today and goes through Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Yeah, this evening we start to have some shows all over. Um, we got shows in Flat Rock Cinema and Oklawaha and Trailside and Sierra Nevada.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Tonight.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Uh Tonight, all those things are even there. Check out the website. There's a schedule event builder that you can go and sort of put your own schedule together. Okay. And I think that's a cool feature. You can go and say, Oh, I want to be here on Friday, but what do I do during or do what what's during the day that I can look at and you can put your own little schedule together.

This Weekend’s Open Houses

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Like a like a like an open house at Georgia. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

It's bring it full circle. And uh we've got a lot of music, but there's a storytelling show that's nearly sold out, Josh Goforth uh at uh very well.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

What a talented gym. What a gem.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

And uh Chatham Rabbits is tonight at Continuum. It's sponsored by the Waverly Inn. Okay. And uh that show is nearly sold out as well. So we have a handful handful of ticketed shows, probably six or or seven ticketed shows, and the rest are free. So, but many of those ticketed shows, if you want a ticket, you should get your name in the list there and get yourself a ticket.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

WinterRamble.com. Correct. All right.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Let's talk about how you curated all the the different uh performers and artists this year. I mean, these are relationships and people you've known and and again reaching out to this vision that you had. Let's talk about the vision of winter of the winter gym.

Meet Winter Ramble

Build Your Festival Schedule

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Yeah, so I mean it's it's nice because the the whole festival has a focus on m m mountain music and which is the music that is from this part of the country, but also the the many strands that come from uh early country and so f folks like you play on this radio station that are m more maybe country leaning. Um but all of that it it has a nice focus where we yeah, and like you said, I have many relationships, but there's some that are brand new to me. So um the tricky thing about this festival is we kind of got a late start and uh it needed to be put together fairly quickly, and so I reached out to some of the venue owners that I know personally. I've played there, I've been there um attending various events, and just kind of said, Hey, there's this napkin idea we've got. Um can you get behind it? Are you into it? And everybody was like, Wow, this is this is great. And then it was just a matter of what can we afford artist-wise, and how many shows they wanted to do. And uh it came together beautifully, and I think it's gonna grow over time to be a great community-driven event that um is focused not only on the music but the heritage and the culture of this area, and I couldn't be more excited.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

In Appalachia, uh mountain music is uh is a sacred subject, and uh and the mountain storytelling is too. Um those stories ring through these hollers and coves and glades all over these mountains, and you captured some of them and put them on stage.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Absolutely, and I and part of my like uh secret mission is to sort of have it be more of a focal point in Henderson County. Okay. Where um say you're from Charlotte or Atlanta, and hey, we're gonna go up to Hendersonville or the mountains this weekend. I want when they come here to it doesn't have to be the only thing that's here, but the them to be able to experience the music that's from this part of the world. Yeah. Um, and so that's something that I'm I'm aware of and I want to promote more like uh with a guy like Josh Gofort.

Ticketed And Free Shows

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Absolutely. Well that doesn't get any more mountain music than Josh Goporth. He is carrying on some of those old mountain ballads that came here from the Scotch Irish. Yes, and he's also telling some of those stories that came from the Scotch Irish and uh who settled in this area and brought their uh mandolins and and guitars and homemade instruments. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Fiddles and banjos is where it all starts. Yeah, there you go. Fiddles and banjos. And then the storytelling uh is a big part of that um ballad culture and those but it was all over these mountains. It was and uh Josh is just the torchbearer of it, and he's doing a great job. He plays so many instruments so well, and uh it's a little daunting sometimes to think about how are you playing 20 plus instruments at this level, you know?

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Really?

SPEAKER_00 9:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

At that level. Um he played with David Holt a lot. Yeah.

Curating Artists And Vision

SPEAKER_00 9:29

He's he's a it's cool because he's like, you know, uh he's many people's protege, but he was him and David Holt were close, but now I see Josh mentoring other artists. Uh huh. It goes on, yeah. And it goes on. There's actually a couple folks that I know are have used Josh as a mentor. Jackson Grimm, who's in uh Holler Choir that's playing up at Sierra Nevada, and Old Sap that's playing at Highland Lake. They're they're they both know Josh, and so it's kind of cool to see that. It is a lineage of passing on knowledge.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

It is, and going one step to uh uh okay, Josh and played with David Holt. David Holt played with Doc Watson up in Ash County, and and there you go, there's the lineage right down through there.

Mountain Music Heritage

SPEAKER_00 10:17

What a cool thing. I think very few that's what that's what I'm talking about when I'm talking about the culture. You know, like all music has its, you know, like uh lineage, but uh it feels like the m the mountain music tells a a very American story. Yeah. You know, it's like it follows um the trajectory of what was going on through the years, right? And the m the fiddles come and mix with the banjos and um different cultures are colliding in America as it's getting built and we have this beautiful tapestry of music. Which by the way, uh there's a film on this exact subject at Flat Rock Cinema called uh Great American Tapestry, and they talk about the mixing of the fiddle and the banjo and those cultures and and Cherokee influence and all of these things that are a big part of what became country music.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

What became, yeah, yeah. Exactly. It was just m uh the people's music.

SPEAKER_02 11:26

There you go. Well, uh who knows? You might be on the verge, Noah, here, of something like a Merlefest. That's right in the beginning. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Now, Ryan, you're in you're in it's incredible this vision and and the implementation of this, and so I want to commend you, and you're also quite humble. You're also quite the musician as well.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Oh, you're sweet. You've done your research.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

I of course, and and let's hear about your music uh and your uh and your I mean who is your mentor and who influenced you to get into music and where was that? I mean, again, it m we've all had people that have impacted our lives.

Storytelling And Lineage

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Oh yeah. Uh so I started playing guitar when I was about 15. I I remember my mom was a teacher, and she bought this wonderful Martin copy, like a Sigma, and she wanted to learn how to play guitar for the classroom. She she had somebody that she knew that was like would sing like, you know, I met a bear or whatever, and they they would like so she wanted to be able to use it in the classroom as this fun tool. And she took I remember her taking some lessons in somebody's like, you know, attic little lesson studio somewhere out in the woods where we grew up. But I think um guitar's hard, and I think she gave it up, right? And so it mostly sat in the in the in the closet for for many years. But my dad's best friend, uh, we would camp with them, and he um loved to play guitar. And I remember being really young sitting around the campfire on camping trips and listening to him play like Credence and Eagles tunes, you know, and it was like really like important. It feeling packed. Yeah, yeah. And I remember um it was it was around that time where he came to our house on Thanksgiving, and I said, Is there any way you could show me a couple of things on this guitar? You know, and he he he showed me like a little blues progression and a couple of chords, and then went away. And this was before tuners that you can put on the headstock and the internet where you could figure out how to play like there was nothing, and so I was there with uh pitch pipe trying to figure out what to do. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 13:56

I love it so much. Uh well, gosh, winter ramble. Uh, you've got every uh every one of the events are listed on that website, and it tells you everything, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Yeah, all the shows are there. There's about 11 venues and 30 bands or 30 events over the course of the three days. Amazing.

Mentors And Passing The Torch

SPEAKER_01 14:19

And uh and what a what an amazing thing for our community to support the venues and the and those other again, it's it's the musicians plus celebrating our community and and to have all this. What a incredible under you know offering for our community.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Yeah, shout out to the county's TDA who sort of is uh who really got behind this and made this thing like okay, we want to bring because their focus is to bring folks here from out of town um in the offseason to support our tourism. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

Absolutely. Noah uh uh we've got uh just a couple of minutes left for you to remind us how to get in touch with the George Real Estate Group.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Well, again, uh George Real Estate Group, we're it's a privilege and honor to sponsor the Hometown Heroes Series. And again, Ryan Taylor Price, thank you for what you're doing with the Winter Cham. But of course, you can give us a call at 828-393-0134. And you say you got a couple of open houses this weekend. We do have some open houses. Find it on our social media. And again, we podcast all the radio shows, so be sure to share it.

American Tapestry Of Sound

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Well, join uh that's right. Uh be within the next hour or so, we'll have this podcast available wherever you get your uh podcast. And we invite you to join us each week at 8 45 on Friday mornings for the George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Series. We'll see you next Friday morning. Have a great weekend and go to the Winter Ramble. The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat Rock, North Carolina, near Hendersonville in Henderson County. You can find them online at realestatebygreg.com. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-3930134 or stop by their office at 2720 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, North Carolina. Tune in live each week on Thursdays at 1005 AM on WHKP 107.7 FM and 1450 A.m. or stream online at WHKP.com or download these podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. The George Real Estate Group brings you the WHKP Hometown Hero Series every Friday morning at 845.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

Maybe the house feels a little too big these days. The stairs a little steeper. The pace of life a little too fast. But what if your next move wasn't about letting go? It was about making space for peace, for freedom, for what matters most. At the George Real Estate Group, we understand that real estate isn't just about the house. It's about transitions, timing, and trust. We've helped thousands of families in Western North Carolina make smart, thoughtful moves. Closer to nature, closer to family, closer to home. So when you're ready to write size, simplify, or start fresh, we'll be here. The George Real Estate Group. Local, trusted, proven. Call us today, 828-393 0134. Find us online at real estatebygreg.com because your next chapter deserves to feel just right.