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The City Of Asheville, NC: Book BFO @ BeleChere 2012
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    1. The City Of Asheville, NC
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    Decline Wnc
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
Why This Is Important

For Bob Rest, the Biltmore Forest Overdrive was an exercise in anger management- namely seeing how angry he could manage to make others. That simple notion was the BFO’s rallying cry during it’s mid-to-late nineties existence in Asheville, and it began with the band’s first show- an open mic night at 31 Patton (now known as Stella Blue).

“We started playing open mic nights and stuff, and Larry [Scott] played drums. We ended up breaking this drummer’s drumsticks and getting blood all over the set- Larry and Milton [Carter, bassist] had to leg it out of there,” says Rest.

But the real reason for the beginnings of BFO was the friendship between Rest and Scott, who over the years has played guitar and drums for the band. The bond between the musicians began nearly two decades ago in Tampa, Florida and continues to this day.

“We started the band because [Larry and I] wanted something to do,” says Rest.

Besides Scott and Rest, the genesis of BFO was rooted in a mentality of foraging for anything available to help promote the cause of the band, which has something to do with a love of punk rock, ice hockey, domestic beer and skate boarding.

“I wanted Milton in the band because I needed a practice space,” says Rest.

BFO’s “anything goes” mentality lead to an interesting choice in drummers in the beginning, when drummers and practice spaces were hard to come by- and it was the first of many personnel changes for the band.

“Milton knew this guy named English Rob, but I don’t think he was English, he didn’t have an accent or anything,” says Rest.

While English Rob left soon after joining, the two constants in BFO were lead singer and guitarist Rest and longtime drummer “Tampa” Dave Anderson, who guided the BFO through a revolving door of bassists.

But what began as a joke and an exercise in pissing off bar patrons coalesced into a rather tight and visceral live act, highlighted by Rest’s drunken antics and the odd choice of the band’s longtime bassist, known only as Skid. BFO became a force to be reckoned with, complete with out of town shows and “Midrange”- a standout blast of old-school skate punk that was featured on the “Decline of Western North Carolina Volume 3 CD” in 1997. But in the end, like all things the band came to a less than thrilling conclusion.

“We were all getting closer to getting married, Skid went into the Navy, and it just kind of ended,” says Rest.

Now, after a long break (and the tragic death of “Tampa” Dave Anderson in 2004), the BFO are back.

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Recent Signatures

Book Asheville punk rock Gods "Biltmore Forest Overdrive" @ BeleChere 2012

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: The City Of Asheville, NC.

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Book Asheville punk rock Gods "Biltmore Forest Overdrive" @ BeleChere 2012

For Bob Rest, the Biltmore Forest Overdrive was an exercise in anger management- namely seeing how angry he could manage to make others. That simple notion was the BFO’s rallying cry during it’s mid-to-late nineties existence in Asheville, and it began with the band’s first show- an open mic night at 31 Patton (now known as Stella Blue).

“We started playing open mic nights and stuff, and Larry [Scott] played drums. We ended up breaking this drummer’s drumsticks and getting blood all over the set- Larry and Milton [Carter, bassist] had to leg it out of there,” says Rest.

But the real reason for the beginnings of BFO was the friendship between Rest and Scott, who over the years has played guitar and drums for the band. The bond between the musicians began nearly two decades ago in Tampa, Florida and continues to this day.

“We started the band because [Larry and I] wanted something to do,” says Rest.

Besides Scott and Rest, the genesis of BFO was rooted in a mentality of foraging for anything available to help promote the cause of the band, which has something to do with a love of punk rock, ice hockey, domestic beer and skate boarding.

“I wanted Milton in the band because I needed a practice space,” says Rest.

BFO’s “anything goes” mentality lead to an interesting choice in drummers in the beginning, when drummers and practice spaces were hard to come by- and it was the first of many personnel changes for the band.

“Milton knew this guy named English Rob, but I don’t think he was English, he didn’t have an accent or anything,” says Rest.

While English Rob left soon after joining, the two constants in BFO were lead singer and guitarist Rest and longtime drummer “Tampa” Dave Anderson, who guided the BFO through a revolving door of bassists.

But what began as a joke and an exercise in pissing off bar patrons coalesced into a rather tight and visceral live act, highlighted by Rest’s drunken antics and the odd choice of the band’s longtime bassist, known only as Skid. BFO became a force to be reckoned with, complete with out of town shows and “Midrange”- a standout blast of old-school skate punk that was featured on the “Decline of Western North Carolina Volume 3 CD” in 1997. But in the end, like all things the band came to a less than thrilling conclusion.

“We were all getting closer to getting married, Skid went into the Navy, and it just kind of ended,” says Rest.

Now, after a long break (and the tragic death of “Tampa” Dave Anderson in 2004), the BFO are back, in a slightly different form for a reunion show at Broadway’s on Friday night. The night promises to be one about looking back, but also for Rest, a chance to look forward to his new band, Everything Falls Apart.

“For me, this show is about shamelessly promoting my new band. My new project is a continuation of BFO, and it’s like that stuff,” says Rest.
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