Friday, Jan. 6
• Enjoy traditional Appalachian music as the Madison County Arts Center, 90 S. Main St., Marshall, hosts the premiere of Four Master Fiddlers, a live concert documentary featuring Paul Crouch, Arvil Freeman, Bobby Hicks and Roger Howell. 5:30 & 7:30 p.m. Free. Info: 649-1301.
• “In playback theatre, personal stories from audience members will be transformed into performance pieces, accompanied by improvised music,” according to the Asheville Playback Theatre‘s website. “As always with playback, the teller’s story will be honored both as a personal event and as a moment representing our shared experience.” Join the “Women of Playback” at N.C. Stage Company, 15 Stage Lane, to kick off a series of weekend performances downtown. 8 p.m. Pay-what-you-will. See website for additional shows and times.
• “Carbon Nation is a documentary movie about climate change solutions,” begins a synopsis for the film. “Even if you doubt the severity of the impact of climate change or just don’t buy it at all, this is still a compelling and relevant film that illustrates how solutions to climate change also address other social, economic and national security issues. … Carbon Nation is an optimistic, solutions-based, non-preachy, non-partisan, big tent film that shows tackling climate change boosts the economy, increases national and energy security and promotes health and a clean environment.” Screen the film at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville‘s Social Justice Film Night. 1 Edwin Place. 7 p.m. Free, but donations welcome.
• From a recent Xpress article, “‘These are songs about love and octopi or whatever, but there’s definitely still a dark underbelly and kind of a subtext of menace,’ says Miles Holt, one half of John Wilkes Boothe and the Black Toothe. ‘I really like that juxtaposition between accessibility, catchy melodies and good vibes, but just as in reality, there is something dark under the surface.’ He’s just captured the band’s essence in one sentence. John Wilkes Boothe and the Black Toothe are high-energy folk absurdism, delivering comically dark and bizarre tales packaged in warm harmonies and acoustic traditionalism.” Catch the duo, recently voted Best Local Acoustic/Folk Band in the Xpress readers’ poll, at Craggie Brewing Company, 197 Hilliard Ave., with another eccentric local duo, Albert Adams. Read more about JWBBT here. 9 p.m. Free.
John Wilkes Boothe & the Black Toothe for My Side of the Mountain from Jesse Hamm on Vimeo.
Saturday, Jan. 7
• Find out if there are any treasures hiding in your attic or garage while supporting a good cause as Nostalgique Antiques and Interiors, 126 Swannanoa River Road, hosts an antique appraisal fair to benefit the WNC AIDS Project. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. $10 per item or $25 for three.
• Soak in the often melancholy, always introspective musings of the Xpress’ own Jaye Bartell as he performs with Ahleuchatistas’ Shane Perlowin at The Magnetic Field, 372 Depot St., under the songwriting moniker Pilgrim. Abe Leonard opens. 8 p.m. $5. Pilgrim performs again Sunday, along with The Neapolitan Children and Laughing Eye Weeping Eye, at BoBo Gallery, 22 Lexington Ave. 10 p.m. $5.
• “Brothers Bradan and Parker Dotson finalized the plans to unite and start their indie rock band Antique Firearms while in a bar in the Netherlands,” according to the group’s bio. ” … The band covers a lot of ground over this 10-track album, fearlessly mixing up a sonic cocktail that is as potent as it is smooth, ending with a rootsy track called “Carolina,” recorded in Weaverville by producer/multi-instrumentalist Matt Williams. The album is next to impossible to pigeonhole, making one inclined to simply go with the line ‘You just have to hear it.’” See what that means when the band plays The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave., with CaroMia Tiller and Wooden Toothe. 9 p.m. $8.
• From the band’s website, “Eclectic is a word often used to describe music that is challenging to classify, but ‘eclectic’ is a lukewarm word and Telic is nothing if not fiery, strong and full of surprises. Hailing from the varied and rich music scene of Asheville, North Carolina, Telic is a brash, energetic representative of the town’s creative mileau. In a word Telic is dynamic — a very creative metal band that is moving, epic, listenable and bursting with power. … The songs are intricately layered, combining ferocious vocals, blazing guitar licks, thundering bass and powerful drumming back to back with haunting melodies and vocal harmonies.” The band performs at The Garage at Biltmore with From a Dig and Burnstitch. 9 p.m. $7.
Sunday, Jan. 8
• “Church is in session, and it’s a sweaty, slide-driven, soul-saving affair,” reads a press release for the all star jam outfit Flannel Church. “Duane Trucks and Kevin Scott of Col. Bruce Hampton and the Pharoah Gummit have joined forces with New Orleans blues guitarist Gregory “Wolf” Hodges to form a funky new blues trio, Flannel Church. Offering a raw display of bluesy gospel funk, Flannel Church is also the side project of Lee Boys pedal steel phenom Roosevelt Collier and South Carolina blues guitarist Shane Pruitt, who bring the sit-in magic of a festival jam session to the group’s live show.” Get your jam on when the band plays One Stop Deli and Bar, 55 College St. 8 p.m. $5.
• “Doc Hendley never set out to be a hero,” begins a synopsis for Wine to Water: A Bartender’s Quest to Bring Clean Water to the World. “In 2004, Hendley — a small-town bartender — launched a series of wine-tasting events to raise funds for clean-water projects and to bring awareness to the world’s freshwater crisis. He planned to donate the proceeds through traditional channels, but instead found himself traveling to one of the world’s most dangerous hot spots: Darfur, Sudan. … Doc is a regular, rough-and-tumble guy who loves booze, music and his Harley — but he also wanted to help. Wine to Water is a gripping story about braving tribal warfare and natural disasters and encountering fascinating characters in far-flung regions of the world. It is also an authoritative account of a global crisis and an inspirational tale that proves how ordinary people can improve the world.” Join Hendley at Malaprop’s Bookstore as the author reads from his debut novel. 3 p.m. Free.
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