This weekend on a shoestring

Thursday, Feb. 16

• Feeling cooped up this winter? Southern Appalachian Brewery offers a cure. “Here’s a short list of things that I really enjoy:  adventure, films about adventure, craft beer and kayaking,” begins a post about Adventure Film Night. “… We’re going to have an opportunity to throw all of those things together for a night at the Southern Appalachian Brewery in Hendersonville. And we’re going to give away a kayak to boot! This evening will feature four short films from a variety of outdoor experiences (surf kayaking, longboarding, backpacking and river running). We’ll be showing a re-cap of the World Championships of Surf Kayaking (held at the Outer Banks last fall), a Longboard Asheville short, “The Grand Canyon in Winter” (a segment from Coming Home), and the evening will conclude with The Smokies: Punished into Ecstasy, a story about backpacking the A.T. through the Smokies in winter. Most of these films were produced in Western North Carolina with the support of Outdoor Sports Marketing.” Held at 822 Locust St., Hendersonville. $6 admission/$10 raffle tickets. All proceeds benefit Our Voice and RiverLink.

• We’re always looking for opportunities to enjoy a night out and help a good cause. And this one only requires enjoying a fine meal. From a press release, “Twenty restaurants will be participating in a ‘Percentage Day’ benefit to raise funds for the Asheville Fallen Firefighters/Shane Mackey Fund. Area restaurants are sponsoring this event on February 16th, 17th and 18th. A percentage of the restaurants profits will be donated to assist Capt. Shane Mackey and his family as he recovers from a blood clot on his spinal cord, which on December 7th left him partially paralyzed. Currently, he is undergoing treatment and rehabilitation at the Sheppard Center in Atlanta.” Participating restaurants include Tupelo Honey, Doc Chey’s, Old Europe, Loretta’s and Mayfel’s. Click here for a full list.

• “Johnson’s Crossroad has been described by friends and fans as everything from ‘Appalachian Soul’ to ‘Hillbilly Metal.’ The new album Mockingbird puts songwriter Paul Johnson squarely in line with names like Guy Clark or Zac Brown, and his powerful voice evokes memories of folk stars like Tom Waits, Taj Mahal or Burl Ives. The sincerity of his songs and simplicity of his lyrics make you want to pour a brew, put your feet up or head to the hills. Johnson’s Crossroad makes you remember what is important in life. … A dark power, like the steep slope on the backside of a ravine, where the water tumbles down, seeps into his songs and gives the simplicity of his words the strength of a freight train running through a mountain pass. Dobro, mandolin and fiddle back up his clean lyrics on some, other times its simple finger picking to a folksong.” Catch the band free at Pisgah Brewing Company, 150 Eastside Drive, Black Mountain. 8 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 17

• “Parker J’s images are known the world over,” begins the local photographer’s website. “His creative eye, style and personality have made him one of the most highly regarded wedding photographers in the world. As a matter of fact, he was just listed as one of the top 10 wedding photographers in the world by American Photo magazine. Parker J has been awarded many times over, both nationally and internationally, and his images and interviews have graced the pages of In Style, People, OK magazine, Modern Bride, Martha Stewart, Today’s Bride, Rangefinder, Studio Photography and Design, Photo District News, Weddings Unveiled and many other magazines and photographic books.  … His personal works have also landed in art collections around the globe. But don’t think for a second that all of this attention has gone to his head. He is a humble artist that is always finding a new way to see and is on a constant search for the perfect image. Parker J is a photographer because he has to be. He photographs for his soul.” Browse the artist’s images in person at an opening reception for his latest exhibition, The Eye and the Imagination; Hosted at his studio, 43 Rankin Ave. 6-10 p.m.

• “Though widower Shuhei Hirayama has been living comfortably for years with his grown daughter, a series of events leads him to accept and encourage her marriage and departure,” reads a brief synopsis of the 1964 Japanese film An Autumn Afternoon. Screen Yasujirō Ozu’s final release, widely considered his masterpiece, at The Classic World Cinema Foreign Film Series, hosted by the Courtyard Gallery in the Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District. 8 p.m. Free.

• “The Alex Krug Trio formed on a late summer day in a dining room,” explains the band’s bio. “Bass player Kevin Lampson had, for the first time, joined singer-songwriter Alex Krug and violinist Ashley Cofield to play some music. The music was fluid and the decision to become a trio was an obvious ‘lets do it.’ Since this first gathering, the trio has enjoyed doing shows all over Asheville, N.C. The freedom in the instrumentation, inventiveness and skill allows them to push what is possible.” The rootsy Americana trio celebrates Krug’s latest recording with a performance at The LAB, 39 N. Lexington Ave. Robertino opens. 8:30 p.m. $7.

Saturday, Feb. 18

• Looking to relax and enjoy the beauty of Asheville this weekend? Why not do so while contributing to a national survey? “Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society will sponsor three bird walks as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count. The GBBC is a continent-wide event overseen by the National Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Bird Studies Canada. On their own or in groups over a four-day weekend, Feb. 17-20, birders count birds in parks, neighborhoods, reserves and in their backyards and then report data online to GBBC. The data is intended to provide a snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. The local walks, all beginning at 9 a.m., will be Saturday Feb. 18 at Warren Wilson College, Sunday Feb. 19 at the Sandymush Gamelands in northwestern Buncombe County and Monday Feb. 20 at Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary on Merrimon Avenue.”

Photo by Jerry Acton

• Watch paintings come to life as the Grovewood Gallery, 111 Grovewood Road, hosts demonstrations by realist J.P. Sullivan, who will paint a live model in period costume, and Bryan Koontz, who will create a still life in the style of “Hudson River and American landscape painters of the mid to late 19th century.” 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 19

• Celebrate Mardi Gras early as the Asheville Mardi Gras Parade brings the party to downtown Asheville. Parade departs from Wall Street at 2 p.m. A Mardi Gras Ball, featuring music by Snake Oil Medicine Show, will immediately follow at Pack’s Tavern, 20 S. Spruce St.

• The UNCA jazz band joins the university’s Studio 18 Vocal Jazz Ensemble, who recently sang holiday music at the White House, for a performance at Lipinsky Auditorium. $5/students and children free.