Cullowhee-based busker Topher Stephens performs his reworked version of the traditional tune “Darlin’ Corey” on a very windy day in downtown Asheville.
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King at Diana Wortham Theatre
Unbridled enthusiasm is unseemly in a reviewer, to be sure — but that’s easily got around when necessary by quoting someone else. So let me quote my father, who accompanied me to Friday night’s performance of Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King at Diana Wortham Theatre: “Heck if that wasn’t the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
Busk Break: Ben Wilton performs “Big Bad World”
Traveling busker Ben Wilton performs his original tune “Big Bad World” in front of Malaprop’s in downtown Asheville.
My Side of the Mountain, Vol. 3: Foul Mouth Jerk
We’re braving basements, rooftops, forests and alleys to bring you this new video series where local musicians step out of their element for a preview of upcoming performances.
SoundTrack web extra: Beautiful Charmer
From ethereal waltzes to anthemic stomps, Nikki Talley’s third album, Beautiful Charmer, aptly covers the spectrum of country sounds. Add polished production, some of the areas best backing musicians and stellar writing, and you’ve got eight well-rounded tracks.
This weekend on a shoestring
December is here, and in addition to tacky sweaters, pretty lights and way too much shopping, that means lots of free events! So clear your calendar and muster up some holiday cheer because we’ve got a rundown of the weekend’s best and brightest for under $5. And while you’re here, check out Clubland for a complete listing of live music.
Conscious Party Web Extra: “Celebration of Life”
A Nia jam and craft fair benefiting Women At Risk will be held this Sunday, Dec. 5, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m at the Odyssey Community School.
The final art walk of the season is this Friday
View works like “Untitled” by Aspen Hochhalter (seen here) at the December downtown art walk, tomorrow.
Review of It’s a Wonderful Life
If you like your Christmas fare retro, radio-oriented and polished, George Bailey’s catharsis awaits, familiar and new all at the same time and doused in good will and cheer.
File under Asheville. And Awesome.
Skew Records and a group of local electronic musicians release Asheville Beat Tape Volume 1. You can download it for free.
Elitist Bastards: All Aboard The Midnight Meat Train
In this week’s Elitist Bastards Go To The Movies podcast, Mountain Xpress film critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther discuss current releases Burlesque, Faster, Love And Other Drugs and Tangled. They also discuss soon-to-be-released films Cool It, 127 Hours and The Warrior’s Way. They also talk about Midnight Meat Train (this week’s Thursday Horror Picture Show) and What’s Up, Doc? (next week’s Asheville Film Society screening).
Basel arrived: An update on the Asheville to Miami Mural Project
Asheville painter Dustin Spagnola and a carload of local colleagues descended upon Miami, Fla. on Nov. 27 to join the visual carnival that is Art Basel. As Xpress reported in the Nov. 17 story, Basel Bound, “Spagnola wants to go to Miami ‘to paint a giant image.’ Specifically, he wants to paint a mural.” So how is the giant image progressing?
Drive-By Truckers cancel Christmas Jam appearance
The Southern rockers pull out due to illness, leaving a hole in the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam lineup. Xpress wants to know what you think about this year’s remaining Jam roster.
Layers, part 1
Sweater, stripes, leggings, boots and pink cap on Lexington Ave.
The presence of presents
Presents give presence. A small wooden horse with a felt saddle, a hand-drawn picture of a grinning snowman or the perhaps more-exciting PlayStation communicate something far beyond the immediate thrill of a new gadget: You are not alone. For children at Eliada Homes — a 107-year-old child/family services organization providing residential care for abused, neglected […]
Restart for SART?
Something unusual is happening at The Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre in Mars Hill. On December 1, 2, 4, and 5, SART will present the world premiere of Fresh Preserves. Written by Tom Godleski, with original music performed by Buncombe Turnpike, it is a story about life in our part of the world. Fresh Preserves will […]
Local is the new black
It’s been one year since the Asheville Grown Business Alliance launched its Love Asheville campaign. Now the hand-cranked posters and T-shirts are ubiquitous reminders of how our community creates and keeps it character: Independent businesses. “The purpose of the posters and shirts is to create a moving message to customers that shows that we are […]
Sausage lovers, angry mice and a shriveled-face princess
Sugar plum fairies are ousted. In their place? Giant cats, a sausage-worshipping King, a princess with a shriveled face and a Mouse King with a thirst for vengeance. That’s all in Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre’s upcoming performance, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. This season, Susan and Giles Collard, artistic director and co-director of the […]
Kissing and telling
For most people, a year in Paris — art, wine, romance — sounds like a dream. For Anna Oliphant, it's a nightmare. Because Anna (the heroine of debut novel Anna and the French Kiss by local author Stephanie Perkins) is being forced by her image-obsessed, nouveau-riche dad to spend her senior year abroad at the […]
A tale of two painters
Black Mountain College opened in 1933 and closed in 1957. Do the math, and that would put the youngest students of BMC somewhere around 70 years of age. “We have 255 names and addresses of alumni in our database,“ says BMCM+AC programs director Alice Sebrell. “Unfortunately, many of them are reaching the age of declining […]
The Profiler
The Suspect: The Misfits The Misfits original lineup began playing together in the late ‘70s, and they were one of the first bands in the horror-punk genre. Now, 30 years and a dozen or so lineup changes later, they still haven’t lost their focus. As frontman Jerry Only says, “We plan to continue as always […]