Local prog-rock trio The Dark Shave put on a highly experimental and energetic show, opening for Grammer School at Craggie Brewing last weekend.
Self portrait with food stamps
Since the mid 1990’s, Asheville’s reputation as a haven for artists has swelled — it’s a funky city in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains that teems with creative types and crafty kinfolk. The New York Times last year touted Asheville as an “Artists’ utopia” (in the first of two articles from the international […]
Mister manners
Local musician/producer Seth Kauffman was going to call his just-released (Feb. 22) album Fake Blood because "it kind of juxtaposed the music, which is mellow and simple." But, he says, when his sister told him the story of a certain cup that has remained by an oasis in Tunisia for centuries, always left for the […]
One, two, triple step
Participating in Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre’s 48 Hour Dance Project — a marathon of dance rehearsals leading up to a public performance at the BeBe Theatre — was an amazingly challenging, inspiring and terrifying experience. Terrifying? Really? Yes! Though I’ve been a dancer all my life, I had no experience with partner dancing (except for […]
Local Spin
When he's not hunting down ghosts around town, it sounds like our favorite local tour guide/paranormal investigator Joshua P. Warren, is busy hunting down MP3s. But his music taste may surprise you (Insane Clown Posse?!). Check out his answers below, and be sure to swing by his bizarre new "Free Museum" — located in the […]
The Profiler
I love movies almost as much as music, so I decided to make this week’s Profiler a Special Oscar Edition. The Suspect: The Old 97’s The Old 97’s stand alongside the Jayhawks and Whiskeytown as early pioneers of the alternative country genre; frontman Rhett Miller and Bassist Murray Hammond met in Dallas in the late […]
Smart Bets
The Crackers of Comedy Comedians Matt Ward and Joe Pettis (AKA underground indie duo The Crackers of Comedy) plan to cover 14 states, 17 shows and 3,000 miles during their current tour. They'll perform at The Magnetic Field (with local comedians Tom Scheve and the Feral Chihuahuas' George the Bastard) on Tuesday, March 1, 8 […]
Video from the Christine Lassiter Tribute
In 2001, local poet, playwright, teacher and activist Christine Lassiter died from cancer. Ten years after her death, the community she helped to form held a memorial reading of her poetry at Malaprop’s, featuring a who’s who of Asheville poets and performers. Xpress presents a few videos from that event.
If you’re so inclined…
Asheville-based musician Jar-e releases a video for “So Inclined” off his most recent album, Blood of the Summer.
Review of Rent
It’s easy for community theatre to play it safe, and though Rent is a 15-year-old play and its themes may not seem daring to some, it could be very risky for a community theatre whose audience is often assumed to be conservative.
Buskers
Members of Blind Boy Chocolate & the Milk Shieks (that’s Tony Costa on guitar) perform on College Street.
Review of Women Beware Women
The Warren Wilson audience often responded with laugher at the moments of highest tragedy, especially at the end when more corpses littered the stage than even Hamlet can boast. Such laughter is not inappropriate.
“Dennis the Menace” visits Xpress (Don’t tell Mr. Wilson!)
The Southeast Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society recently gathered around the Mountain Xpress ping pong/conference table to jury its book illustration contest. They were joined by the mischievous characters from “Dennis the Menace,” according to this illustration from cartoonist Marcus Hamilton, who works on the internationally syndicated comic strip.
We present for you: belated photos of Josh Ritter
Rich Orris took these last week. Enjoy ‘em.
La bohème
Exotic prints, long skirt, fringed shawl and lots of amber jewelry on Battery Park.
Busk Break: Andrew Jones performs “Circus Waltz”
Black Mountain-based harpist Andrew Jones performs his original composition “Circus Waltz” in front of the former Flying Frog, on the corner of Battery Park and Haywood Street in downtown Asheville, NC.
Spend an Evening with Rumi
On Wednesday, Feb. 23, the last day of the global peace initiative called “Winter Feast for the Soul,” the community is invited to a celebratory closing event and poetry reading.
Edgy Mama: Are your babies online?
So you have a new baby. Got diapers? Got blankies? Got pacifiers? Got baby photos online? If you’re like 92 percent of Americans, you can say “yes” to all of the above. A CNN story from October reports that 82 percent of children in 10 Western countries have a digital presence before the age of […]
Bringing the doom: Budos Band podcast
The Budos Band from Staten Island returns to the Grey Eagle on Wednesday, Feb. 23. Here, baritone saxophonist Jared Tankel talks to Xpress about the band’s influences, how they got on DapTone Records and why they don’t do collaborations with indie bands.
Busk Break: Lauren performs “Song to bring you home”
Traveling busker Lauren performs her original tune “Song to bring you home” in front of the Woolworth Walk in downtown Asheville.
Double the fun: Harvest Records announces expansion
Local music lovers mark your calendars: Harvest Records announced today that it is taking over the space next door (the recently vacated Custom Boutique), and they’re throwing a party to celebrate.