Mars Hill’s Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival celebrates a folk hero

While many people wear multiple proverbial hats and dabble in more than one career, Madison County-born Bascom Lamar Lunsford epitomized that concept. A lawyer and a folklorist, the Mars Hill native campaigned against hillbilly stereotypes while preserving Appalachian mountain music traditions. A performer himself — his recordings are included in the Archive of American Folk […]

Asheville Wine & Food Festival: The Grand Tasting

Hundreds of flavor enthusiasts gathered at the U.S. Cellular Center for four hours of wine, food, competition and camaraderie at Asheville’s sixth annual Wine and Food Festival Grand Tasting event, and only Southern hospitality could explain the extent of heavy pours that sloshed around inside the event’s beautifully branded keepsake cups.

After the Last LAAFF: New festival seeks community input, starting with a name

Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Fest, Asheville’s hyper-local street festival, returns for one final installment on Sunday, Aug. 31. And while that one-day celebration marks a farewell for the grassroots event that launched in 2002, it’s also the start of a new locally focused fest that will roll out in 2015. “The point is to celebrate […]

DON’T FORGET! Win tickets to Merge 25 festival for Saturday, July 26

Merge Records celebrates its 25th anniversary in style: with a four-day music festival. The lineup for the July 23-26 event, held in Durham and Carrboro, includes bands from the label — Neutral Milk Hotel, Superchunk, Reigning Sound, Imperial Teen, Hospitality, Hiss Golden Messenger and many others. Read about the lineup here. Full-festival passes are already […]

Moogfest tickets on sale today, daytime lineup announced

The April, 2014 festival names its first round of “luminaries, pioneers, and visionaries that will constitute its daytime programming.” Okay, so now musicians mentioned yet, but the roster of speakers and presenters is staggering. It’s a who’s who of the brightest and most envelope-pushing inventors, innovators and creative thinkers. Hint: Laurie Anderson is among them.

“There’s no shortage of ideas, just a shortage of time”

Richmond, Va.‘s Carbon Leaf returns to Asheville to play Shamboozle Fest. The Celtic festival, held at Highland Brewery and curated by Calif.-based band Gaelic Storm, takes place on Saturday, Sept. 21. But, as Carbon Leaf front man Barry Privett explains, tin whistles and Irish influences are only part of his band’s sound. They’ll release a distinctly Americana/folk album on Oct. 1.

Asheville remembers Bele Chere

Whether you mourned the loss or celebrated its final days, Bele Chere has now been packed up and laid to rest after 35 years. To help with the grieving process, Xpress asked the community to share how they felt about Bele Chere’s final chapter. These are some of the parting words, pictures, videos and more about the summer street festival’s last celebration.