Family jewels

The South may rise again, but Randol Duncan—the acrid main character of The Plunder Room (Thomas Dunne Books, 2009)—will not. Randol narrates his tale from the confines of his wheelchair, a rare paraplegic hero fashioned, in many ways, in the image of his maker. “This whole country has been plundered”: John Jeter says he “was […]

SoundTrack

DJ music, perhaps more so than any other concert experience, requires a fairly extensive pre-existing knowledge to get what’s happening on stage. There are musical genres (like drum and bass), subgenres (darkstep, drum funk), fusion genres (Raggajungle, Raggacore); the lineages of which are convoluted and highly debatable. Unlike “genre-defying” bands, DJs seems fairly comfortable with […]

Texture and Drape

Allie, visiting Asheville from Philadelphia, takes 30 minutes to get ready in the morning. She owns 25-30 pairs of shoes, her favorite perfume is Ralph Lauren Romance and her favorite clothes are three sweaters from Anthology. She likes clothes with texture and drape, and her style is influenced by her major as a Fiberist. Allie […]

Everyday Vintage

Though Jessica didn’t buy any of her vintage pieces (lovingly-worn denim jacket and patinaed campus boots) locally, variations on both items turn up in second hand stores like Madam Butterfly (102 N. Lexington Ave., Asheville, 250-9124), Ragtime (20 E. Walnut St., Asheville, 225-8889) and The Honeypot (86 N. Lexington Ave., Asheville, 225-0304).

SoundTrack

If women are under-represented in the mainstream music industry, they certainly aren’t when it comes to Western N.C.‘s music scene. Female performers take local stages in every genre, from indie-pop to post-punk. Proving that the sisters are doing it for themselves, these three very different recordings by Miriam Allen, Laura Reed and Valorie Miller each […]