Even though craft is integral to both the heritage and economy of WNC, it wasn't too long ago that “craft sale” smacked a little too much of church basement bazaars, spray-painted pine cones and crocheted tissue box covers. At the “debutante ball for Asheville craftisans”: More than 3,000 people came to the last Big Crafty, […]

Three new CDs by three very different bands (country-rock, Southern Gothic, jam-rock) prove (as if there was every any question) that the Asheville music scene remains as eclectic as ever. Joshua Singleton's self-titled CD Recorded at Asheville's Landslide Studio as well as studios in Jackson and Franklin, Tenn., singer/songwriter Joshua Singleton's self-titled disc has a […]

Time to break out the sparklers, veggie dogs and sousaphones: July 4 has come around again. And, like a kitsch-fest the Founding Fathers probably never envisioned, this is your annual opportunity to be as red-white-and-blue-wearing, flag-waving, homemade-ice-cream cranking, watermelon-seed-spitting, patriotic-song-singing, family-bonding, parade-watching, Uncle-Sam-hat-sporting, kiddie-pool-wading, rocket-lighting, grill-dominating hokey as you want to be. (And by hokey, […]

Comparisons are the name of the game in the music biz, and Heartless Bastards' frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom says she's okay with that. “I think it's natural for people to compare something to something; I'm guilty of that myself,” she tells Xpress. “I've been compared to people I'm a really huge fan of, or others I'm […]

Talk about jazz towns and people think New Orleans, Chicago, New York. But Asheville? According to local musician Shane Perlowin (of math-rock outfit Ahleuchatistas and punk-jazz trio Mind vs. Target), Asheville is making a name for itself among touring jazz musicians. “They go to Columbia, Lexington and New York,” he says. “They tour overseas,” because […]

“I'm not as much of a jerk as I make myself out to be,” says essayist David Sedaris. Then, “Maybe I'm worse.” Known for his bitingly hilarious (as in he's laughing at you, notwith you) nonfiction, Sedaris's stories revolve around the misfortunes of others and his own sardonic observations. When You Are Engulfed In Flames […]

This year has been a hard one for dance companies. According to Heather Maloy, artistic director of Asheville's Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance, “across the country dance companies are folding or laying off large numbers.” Terpsicorps, which draws its cast from professional dancers on summer break from their regular companies, isn't facing layoffs, but these are […]