Big screens are better than big crowds. At least that’s the rationale behind Carolina Cinemas’ Super Sunday Super Bowl watch party. Limited-release beers like Devil’s Britches and the 20th Anniversary Weizenbock from Highland Brewing Co.’s tap takeover will ease the strain of tense field goal moments, while games, trivia and prizes (including pint glasses and […]
When Shalene Hill notes the “talent, professionalism and dedication” of her cast, it doesn’t sound like she’s referring to a group of 9 to 14-year-old children. But she is. Eight area schools are represented by Into the Woods Jr.’s 18-member cast, which is managed by Hill and director James King in collaboration with a handful […]
Southern Indiana-based musician Nick Dittmeier was probably not one of the people ready to kick 2014 to the curb. Last year brought him a nomination for songwriter of the year at the inaugural Louisville Music Awards, opening slots for Hayes Carll, Justin Townes Earle and Whitey Morgan, and new album Light of Day. According to […]
“They may appear to be a traditional bluegrass band at first glance, but they’ve taken the customary old-timey instrumentation to new heights,” reads a press release for Colorado trio Yonder Mountain String Band. Credited with pioneering “a renegade movement to rewrite the definition of the genre,” the Yonder Mountain pickers deliver their self-made brand of […]
“We can’t wait to share our new music with you!” reads the Facebook page for Hilton Head Island-based rock trio The Steppin Stones. Front woman Hannah Wicklund, bassist Andrew Ottimo and drummer Ryan Tye trekked north mid-winter to record their third full-length album at Echo Mountain Studios. Although they can’t celebrate the record’s impending completion […]
ASO is extending its concert season into January for the first time ever to give Ashevilleans an opportunity to experience “a classical piece that everyone should hear live at least once.”
The author hosts a free reading and signing at Malaprop’s on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
Surrealist musician Col. Bruce Hampton sandwiches his Asheville show between two runs of exotic dates.
Weyes Blood makes a stop at Tiger Mountain on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at 9 p.m.
Asheville’s AL Coffee & Da Grind, a self-described high-energy, up-tempo blues quartet, will travel to Memphis, Tenn., in late January, joining more than 200 musical groups in competition at the International Blues Challenge. The soul- and dance-inspired band has scheduled a series of hometown fundraising gigs to cover the musicians’ trip to this “blues heaven” […]
“There are gonna be a lot of smiles onstage and for good reason,” says Asheville guitarist Taylor Martin of his upcoming show at Isis Restaurant & Music Hall. Local music luminaries Lyndsay Pruitt (fiddle), Drew Matulich (mandolin) and Rick Cooper (upright bass) comprise Martin’s band, and drummer Josh Mulligan will also join the musical combo […]
Twenty-five years after meeting on a London train, couple Shannon and Mark Casson are working toward their seventh full-length studio album as The Cheeksters — a glam-pop outfit whose catchy sound has been scooped up for commercial use by NFL and Coca-Cola in past years. “Typically I’ll be playing a new song around the house, […]
The makers of Sex and How to Have It will add one more chapter to their how-to sketch comedy series before transplanting The Magnetic Theatre to its new River Arts District home in early 2015. Food and How to Eat It!, produced and directed by Steven Samuels, stars Magnetic veterans Katie Langwell, Valerie Meiss, Glenn […]
Recently topping the ReverbNation Americana charts for Asheville, Americana/country-blues collective The Freeway Revival writes songs about the Appalachian mountains but spends a lot of time touring outside Western North Carolina. Upcoming dates take the group to the Carolina coast, upstate New York and into the Midwest; last spring the band traveled to L.A. to record […]
Laney Jones could pull her weight simply performing as the banjoist for Laney Jones & the Lively Spirits, but thankfully she shares her vocal talents with the world as well. Marrying the sprightliness of youth with the tame confidence of an old soul, Jones’ live vocals venture freely from smooth to saucy, with lyrical content […]
Most touring artists gather stories and experiences to fuel their writing while on tour, but Fred Eaglesmith also collects used deep fryer oil to power his converted 1990 tour bus. This feisty mentality pervades other aspects of Eaglesmith’s persona, making him the type to hand-draw his concert posters, hook audiences with a comical tale or […]
Portentous and meticulously crafted urban landscapes typify painter Brian Mashburn‘s body of work, which often juxtaposes a calm observer — perhaps iconic of nature or purity — among background rubble. The artist, who has lived and worked in Asheville for more than a decade and garnered increasing national and international attention over the past two […]
When it comes to genres, brothers Dillon and Jantzen Wray refuse to pick just one … or two. Their band Carolina Wray’s 2014 single “America,” for example, combines uncharacteristically slow banjo strums with vocal and electric guitar tracks made of undiluted pop rock. The former Old North State band members take decisive strides into the […]
Internationally renowned Celtic violinist Jamie Laval’s Christmas in Scotland performance calls on a patchwork of art forms to revive traditional Celtic celebrations of the winter solstice and Christmas. Local guitarist and banjoist David Brown and multi-instrumentalist Rosalind Buda are among Laval’s supporting lineup of Celtic-influenced artists, in addition to a Welsh harpist and a Scottish […]
It’s not just a holiday party, it’s a fashion statement. And while ugly Christmas sweater parties are hardly a rarity, Kipper Schauer‘s annual fete — now in its sixth iteration — takes kitsch, irony and seasonal revelry to a whole new level. “There will be drinking, merriment and awesome clothing. Appearances by Santa Claus. Immortalize […]
Country pop rocker Chris Carpenter first picked up a guitar at age 11 and shortly after extinguishing his 30th birthday candles felt a need to assuage his newfound existential unrest with “a little therapy.” Carpenter aims to reconnect with fans in 2015 by sharing the personal stories that inspired select musical works through posts on […]
