Pokey LaFarge, the most successful former Asheville busker, performed with his five-piece band and rocked a full-house audience at Grey Eagle Music Hall in Asheville on Sept. 18.

During the first set, he and his band played an extended version of his major hit, “Central Time.” After a brief break, he returned for a second set and performed a few songs solo. Then, his band joined him for the rest of the set.

After LaFarge and his group finished the show, the crowd clamored for an encore, so they returned to perform Bob Wills’ “Far Away” and Ray Charles’ “Let’s Go Get Stoned.”

Several years ago, after busking solo briefly and unsuccessfully in Asheville, LaFarge returned to St. Louis, where he eventually developed into a nationally known musical figure.

The group is thought to be “artfully dodgy ambassadors for old-time music, presenting and representing the glories of hot swing, early jazz and ragtime blues” and have “made riverboat chic cool again,” Stephen Thompson of NPR recently said.

The nickname “Pokey” reportedly was coined by LaFarge’s mother, who would scold him to hurry when he was a child.