Stroll through Asheville’s First Friday art walk or stop by Organicfest this weekend. Podcast hosted by Theresa Amandi of Asheville Free Media’s Bombshell-ter Radio.
McWhirter Pottery in Burnsville turns 50
Yancey County’s oldest operating pottery celebrates its golden anniversary with a weekend’s worth of events.
And then one night the tree had a beautiful dream…
On the first Wednesday of September, according to the legend left on a tree on Battery Park Avenue, a mandala of flowers appeared.
Getting hog wild at the Mountain State Fair
The Mountain State Fair offers Appalachian-tinged merriment right here at home. Sure, there will still be an abundance of thrill rides, farm animals and game vendors looking to guess your weight in exchange for inflatable plastic mallets, but there’s much more. From clogging and bluegrass to chainsaw sport and doughnut sandwiches, Western North Carolina’s unique […]
Timber Sport and Chainsaw Sculptures
Just because we can’t legally let people at one another with chainsaws in a heart-stopping fight to the death doesn’t mean we can’t crown the next chainsaw master. Timber Sports teams from regional colleges like N.C. State and Warren Wilson will compete to see who can best handle their saws with speed and accuracy. And […]
Shuffling the deck
Casinos are not known as wellsprings of ambitious entertainment. Most performers seem to end up on casino stages post-ambition. The glittering strip in Las Vegas may have become a destination unto itself, stuffed with roller coasters, circuses and scaled-down replicas of New York and Paris, but outside of Sin City, casinos are most often seen […]
Modern-day griot
Zansa is a group 33 generations in the making. The Asheville-based Afropop band’s lead vocalist and djembe-player Adama Dembele comes from a long heritage of West African musicians. He was already fooling around with his family’s specialty, the djembe, in his native Ivory Coast when he was just 2 or 3 years old. Partially because […]
Experimental Haven
In many respects, a mattress store is the furthest thing from a rock club. Such establishments — the now vacant Mr. Fred’s Beds in West Asheville, for instance — earn their bucks by offering tasteful comfort at a reasonable price, accessible means for one to grab a good night’s sleep. Conversely, a rock club makes […]
State of the Arts
Swiss-born and San Francisco-based muralist Mona Caron spent a week here in mid-August. It was her first trip to Asheville, but she wasted no time getting acquainted with our arts and mural scenes and getting some work of her own on the city’s facade. Caron spent one of those afternoons sketching and hand-painting a roughly […]
Smart Bets: Nightlands
When bassist Dave Hartley isn't busy with his his main gig, Philadelphia's The War on Drugs (or his various side projects), he — like bandmate Kurt Vile — keeps up his solo endeavor, Nightlands. "Listeners expecting a simple side project will be surprised by the boldness and scope of his vision," says a press release. […]
Smart Bets: Gold Light and Kovacs and the Polar Bear
Gold is the new black (or animal, or bird reference) when it comes to band names, and Gold Light is the new project by former Kovacs sideman/Neapolitan Children frontman Joe Chang. A listen to "Divine Light" (the video is up at goldenlighten.tumblr.com) reveals warm and somewhat wistful post-folk that's at once melancholy and hopeful. And […]
Smart Bets: Tadashi Torii
Artist Tadashi Torii was born in Japan, but while studying business at Georgia Southwestern State University, he discovered the school's glass blowing studio. He completed a BFA in glassblowing and sculpture and went on to spend more than five years working with glass artist Richard Jolley in Knoxville. These days, Torii (who has earned numerous […]
Smart Bets: Hoard Reflex
Local artist Julie Armbruster holds her first solo gallery show, Hoard Reflex, an exhibition of new work. The collection builds on some of Armbruster's familiar narratives. "Characters like Potato Boy, the WoodChucks, Elmore, the Golden Unicorn and Professor Wunderbar are placed in fantastically detailed environments as they live out their unique potentials," says a press […]
Calendar highlights: mandalas, sculpture and historic homes
Clubland Features: Slavic Soul Party!, Martha Scanlan, DJ Lorruh & Dave
“One landscape telling stories to another”: Five Questions with Martha Scanlan
The former Reeltime Treveler-turned-rancher (and acclaimed songwriter) returns to WNC with a new collection of songs inspired by Montana. She plays The Grey Eagle on Friday, Sept. 6.
Cinematic stylings and honest songs
Joshua Messick performs a hammered dulcimer concert on Sept. 8.
Sound Track web extra: Rooftop Garden
WNC roots-Americana quintet Acoustic Syndicate is back with its first album in nearly a decade, “Rooftop Garden,” set for release on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
CalCast: Aug. 30-Sept. 1
Stop by the N.C. Apple Festival or hear some traditional music at the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival. Podcast hosted by Theresa Amandi of Bombshell-ter Radio.
This weekend on a shoestring
This weekend brings crafts, community celebrations, dancing and more. As always, Xpress highlights the best in low-cost weekend events.
Liven up your Labor Day Weekend
From concerts to craft fairs, there are tons of thrilling ways to spend your three-day weekend