Mile high club

If at first a '60s-era farce sounds a bit stale, get thee to YouTube and watch the 2008 Broadway cast of Boeing Boeing doing a dance-off during curtain call. It's all pulled faces, primary colors and hot-roller hair styles. The play, written by French playwright Marc Camoletti, was first staged in London in 1962 and […]

Darkest hours

When Staten Island-based instrumental Afro-soul collective The Budos Band was last in Asheville it was the Harvest Records-sponsored Tranfigurations festival. During their sweaty, thronged set the band announced that first, they were bringing the f—king doom (which they did, thank you very much), and second, Asheville was the farthest south they had ever traveled. (They […]

Smac and Smithereen

Imagine this: Your mom is a Blue Ridge Rollergirl, goes by the name of Smithereen and is part of a group in Asheville right now. You go to practices, sit around with a few other teenage girls and get to watch mom and friends with nicknames like Poison Sue Smac skating ‘round and ‘round a […]

The Profiler

The Suspect: Bassnectar Bassnectar is the performing name for the freeform electronic music artist Lorin Ashton. He specializes in sudden shifts in meter and multiple layers of samples. He calls his tempo-changing style “omni-tempo maximalism”; his legions of fans just call it “Siiiick!” He’s collaborated with Diplo and RJD2, and he’s performed many a celebrated […]

Smart Bets

The Baker Family Former Asheville musicians The Baker Family (now based in Austin, Texas — but still Asheville locals in their hearts, they assure us) return to the Grey Eagle on Saturday, Feb. 19. The Bakers say they "witnessed a exceedingly awesome turnout and response last year" and "feel like there's a lot to catch […]