Decent Lovers just released “Keep It Together.” Check out the new track and battle the mid-week blahs.
For the record
If good things happen in threes, then this is a banner week for local music. A number of area artists are readying new albums for release, and the offerings range from roots and Americana to country and Motown-inspired harmonies. The release shows vary, too, from a listening room to a tastemaker hangout to a DVD […]
Serious play
Forget follies and farces. Local college and university theaters are tackling tougher issues this season. From racism and homophobia to bullying and social pressures, Blue Ridge Community College, Warren Wilson College and UNC Asheville are all staging hard-hitting plays in hopes of sparking thoughtful dialogue. Blue Ridge Community College For Dan Turpin, a second-year student […]
Smart Bets: Tim O’Brien & Darrell Scott
Songwriters and buddies Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott both have successful solo careers and pretty different musical styles. Yes, they're both rooted in folk and roots traditions, but O'Brien's songs tend to be upbeat, even humorous, while Scott's are stoic. Still, the two find plenty of common ground on their collaborations, which now aptly number […]
Smart Bets: Voorhees Family Art Show and Sale
The family that creates art together, stays together. Or something like that. It's worked for the Voorhees family, starting with patriarch Edwin Voorhees, a coastal seascapes painter, and his wife Mildred, a painter of still lifes and landscapes. Their children and grandchildren inherited the artistic inclination. This year marks the 16th annual Voorhees Family Art […]
Curtain Call
Following A-B Tech’s production of Unnecessary Farce in April, the local community college will discontinue its drama courses and terminate those faculty members. The decision was made after the state omitted theater from the list of courses guaranteed to be accepted as transfer credits by all 16 state universities. “If a course is not on […]
Smart Bets: East Coast Dirt
Local prog-pop outfit East Coast Dirt has a way with words. A self-described "sonic monster," the band coined the term "sneaker boogaloo" for its danceable fusion that's as much about improv as it is about instrumental prowess. Hints of reggae, funk, jam and humor weave through East Coast Dirt's songs. And, to further blur the […]
Class project
Five years ago, the artists of Marshall High Studios brainstormed an annual event in the spirit of the holiday season. Because the artists do not keep regular open-studio hours, the idea that became the Marshall Handmade Market was a way for them to share their space and their work with the community. Additional makers from […]
Smart Bets: Angi West
Singer-songwriter Angi West is plenty busy with her day job, which makes it hard enough to schedule a show. But she's also blessed/cursed with a stellar backing group whose many talents keep them on the road with other projects. There's producer/multi-instrumentalist Seth Kauffman (Floating Action, Shannon Whitworth), multi-instrumentalist Michael Libramento (Grace Potter and the Nocturnals) […]
Blowing back
About a year ago, it seemed like the stars were aligning for Charlotte’s Paint Fumes. The ragged and ruthless garage trio had just released Uck Life, a debut LP that stretched their combustible energy without spreading it too thin, balancing psych-scorched epics with two-minute ragers. Tour dates were booked across the U.S. and Europe, an […]
Calendar Captions
Clubland features: Minorcan, Lucero, Gurp City South
Sound Track web extra: Holy Holy Vine
The experimental indie-folk outfit, led by Flora Wolpert Checknoff, supported Hurray for the Riff Raff at The Grey Eagle on Friday. It was an opening set that made arriving early well worth the effort.
Sound Track web extra: You are the Sun
Local folk-rockers Warm the Bell released a new album earlier this year in one of the most under-hyped campaigns of all time. The modesty is refreshing, but not at all necessary.
Five (or more) Questions with Fist Fam
The Gurp City South winter showcase takes place at Asheville Music Hall on Friday, Nov. 22. Ronny Mac from local hip-hop collective Fist Fam talks about reunions, the local hip-hop scene and the effect of a stable environment.
Even Hollywood can’t take the grassroots out of an Asheville native
Nathan Ives screens his new romantic comedy film, “It’s Not You, It’s Me,” at Carolina Cinemas on Tuesday, Nov. 18. A Q&A with the filmmaker follows the “pay what you want” movie.
Gathering thunder clouds and delicate chimes
Shane Perlowin and Tatsuya Nakatani hold an album release party for “Anatomy of a Moment” at The Mothlight on Sunday, Nov. 17.
CalCast: Nov. 15-17
This weekend is all about British accents and chamber music. Podcast hosted by Theresa Amandi of Asheville Free Media’s Bombshell-ter Radio.
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.
Hurray for Hurray for the Riff Raff
The New Orleans-based Americana/rock outfit, led by vocalist Alynda Lee Segarra, makes a stop at The Grey Eagle on Friday, Nov. 15. Holy Holy Vine opens. Photo by Sarah Danzinger.
Ben Lovett releases a new video and holds a contest
Viewers can participate in the local musician and filmmaker’s experiment by submitting images of their own visual interpretation of “Time.” Click through to watch Lovett’s new video for “All the Time.”