Chatham County Line has the instruments — banjo, guitar, mandolin and fiddle — and they do the gather-round-the-mic thing. In suits. But, despite the old-time influence and acoustic instrumentation, the Raleigh-based quartet isn't really a bluegrass band. "Through the years we followed our hearts, and realized there are a lot of other bands, like the […]

When you're Warren Haynes — which means you're a badass rock-and-blues guitarist, a member of The Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead, and you have your own band, Gov't Mule, for playing your own crowd-pleasing songs — you can pretty much jam with anyone you like. Which might be part of what inspired Haynes' annual […]

Everything old is new again — at least for New Orleans-based funk/jam outfit The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who have been making records and touring longer than many of their fans have been alive. According to saxophonist Roger Lewis, who has been with the group since its official start in 1977, today's Dozen is a […]

There's something about the holidays that brings out the best and the worst in each of us. Our inner Tiny Tims and Scrooges, Santa's little helpers and Grinches, George Baileys and Clark Griswolds. Of course, there's a big difference between acting out an archetype — say, a Magi or an angel with an enlightened gift […]

For most people, a year in Paris — art, wine, romance — sounds like a dream. For Anna Oliphant, it's a nightmare. Because Anna (the heroine of debut novel Anna and the French Kiss by local author Stephanie Perkins) is being forced by her image-obsessed, nouveau-riche dad to spend her senior year abroad at the […]