Clubland features: Dark Sister, Floating Action and Asheville FM
Ten questions with DJ Equal
Asheville native Elliot Heller (aka DJ Equal) is based in New York City but returns to WNC on Friday, May 24 for a show at Club Tetrus. RBTS WIN also performs a DJ set as Brutal Wizards. In advance, Heller talks to us about his career, the New York scene, how he finds new music, and his travel tips.
The Race to Nowhere
Carolina Day School will explore the pressures of high school overachievement at a screening of Race to Nowhere on Wednesday, May 22.
Sound Check: Felice Brothers
Click through for a video interview with and exclusive performance by The Felice Brothers.
Acoustic Asheville: The Howlin’ Brothers
The Nashville-based roots trio played The Grey Eagle last weekend. They performed a version of “My Dog Can’t Bark” for Xpress.
Five Questions with James McCartney
Singer-songwriter James McCartney is currently in the midst of a 47-date U.S. tour in support of his new album, “Me.” He plays The Altamont Theatre on Tuesday, May 28. Risa Binder opens.
CalCast: May 17-19
Take in some electronic music by Shueh-li Ong (pictured) and many others at the Asheville Electro-Music Festival, stop by the Twin Rivers Media Festival and honor our country’s veterans this weekend. Podcast hosted by Ms. Amandi of Asheville Free Media’s Bombshell-ter Radio.
Making all the right moves: Josh Ritter at The Orange Peel
Ritter and The Royal City Band played a 20-song set in Asheville this week. It was the group’s first performance in two-and-a-half years. Photos by Rich Orris.
Smart Bet web extra: The Honeycutters’ two-night stand
The local Americana band will perform at Isis on Friday and Saturday, May 17 and 18. Click through for information on how to win tickets.
This weekend on a shoestring
This weekend brings outdoor festivals, farm tours, gardening, music and more. As always, Xpress highlights the best in low-cost weekend events.
Spring fling
There are many inspirational forces at work behind The Asheville Ballet's production of An Appalachian Romance. The music of late composer Aaron Copland, a connection with local chamber music ensemble Pan Harmonia and the story of Romeo and Juliet are among those influences. But it was Ann Dunn's move to Asheville in 1980 that set […]
Cruel summer
“It has the feel of a town where you can write something,” author Gail Godwin says of Asheville. It’s the town where she grew up, and it often appears in her writing (she calls it Mountain City in fiction). And while it’s not named as such, there are hints of Asheville in Godwin’s new novel, […]
Trend spotting: Combining clay and printmaking
Printing on clay is not a new process. However, this technique’s recent spike in popularity could lead one to that conclusion. And printing on clay is popular for good reason. By combining these two fields, artists are pushing boundaries to create work that is innovative, engaging and eye-catching Released in 2013 by Asheville’s own Lark […]
Smart Bets: Montford Music & Arts Festival
The Montford Music & Arts Festival has been doing what many of our much-loved local fests end up going: growing bigger than its neighborhood. While all of its acts (and this year, there are more than a dozen) have ties to the historic neighborhood, its lineup draws in folks from beyond the Montford area. With […]
Smart Bets: Sanctum Sully and Love Canon
If you like your bluegrass a little bit rough around the edges, this Friday, May 17, brings a double bill of exactly that sort of sound. Love Canon, from Charlottesville, Va. describes its picking style as if “Rocky IV, Cyndi Lauper, ZZ Top, Aha and Dire Straits played with banjo, mandolin and high lonesome vocals.” […]
Smart Bets: Blue Ridge Bookfest
WNC-raised author Wiley Cash is the honoree at this year's Blue Ridge Bookfest. His 2012 novel, A Land More Kind Than Home, was mentioned in O Magazine's “10 titles to pick up.” Other authors appearing at the festival for readers and writers are 2013 Chautauqua Prize finalist John Wood, Greenville pastor Matt Matthews and award-winning […]
Smart Bets: Asheville electro-music festival
Electronic and experimental musicians from around the world — and right here at home — as well as two days-worth of workshops, demonstrations and collaborations all take place under one roof this weekend. Nope, it's not Mountain Oasis or Moogfest, it's the Asheville electro-music festival. Artists include Machine Eat Man (Egyptronica), Kevin Kissinger (theremin) and […]
Smart Bets: Black Twig Pickers
NPR listed Black Twig Pickers' Rough Carpenters as one of its most-anticipated releases for 2013, which is a pretty good way to start a year. But the Appalachian old-time band, whose members come from Virginia and West Virginia, has also been keeping busy touring in and out of the U.S., as well as playing and […]
Smart Bets: Kopecky Family Band
The first time that Kelsey Kopecky and Gabe Simon played together, they were barely more than strangers and yet, "it felt like we’d known each other forever," says the Kopecky Family Band's website. And while the familial relations are spiritual rather than biological, the Nashville-based sextet claims strong ties to one another, along with a […]
Just there to dance
Asheville native Elliot Heller (aka DJ Equal) is based in New York City but returns to WNC on Friday, May 24 for a show at Club Tetrus. RBTS WIN also perform a DJ set as Brutal Wizards. (Mountain Xpress:) Tell us about your show at Club Tetrus. Heller: It's a dance party, it's a DJ […]