Time to break out the sparklers, veggie dogs and sousaphones: July 4 has come around again. And, like a kitsch-fest the Founding Fathers probably never envisioned, this is your annual opportunity to be as red-white-and-blue-wearing, flag-waving, homemade-ice-cream cranking, watermelon-seed-spitting, patriotic-song-singing, family-bonding, parade-watching, Uncle-Sam-hat-sporting, kiddie-pool-wading, rocket-lighting, grill-dominating hokey as you want to be. (And by hokey, […]

Frigid January weather couldn't sway the legions of dedicated music lovers who checked out the four-day, 30+ band's worth of pop glory that was this year's POPAsheville. LaZoom shuttled the fans around (complete with bus-worthy musical entertainment), and by all accounts, the indie pop festival was a wild success. And while that kind of cold […]

Comparisons are the name of the game in the music biz, and Heartless Bastards' frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom says she's okay with that. “I think it's natural for people to compare something to something; I'm guilty of that myself,” she tells Xpress. “I've been compared to people I'm a really huge fan of, or others I'm […]

Talk about jazz towns and people think New Orleans, Chicago, New York. But Asheville? According to local musician Shane Perlowin (of math-rock outfit Ahleuchatistas and punk-jazz trio Mind vs. Target), Asheville is making a name for itself among touring jazz musicians. “They go to Columbia, Lexington and New York,” he says. “They tour overseas,” because […]

“I'm not as much of a jerk as I make myself out to be,” says essayist David Sedaris. Then, “Maybe I'm worse.” Known for his bitingly hilarious (as in he's laughing at you, notwith you) nonfiction, Sedaris's stories revolve around the misfortunes of others and his own sardonic observations. When You Are Engulfed In Flames […]

This year has been a hard one for dance companies. According to Heather Maloy, artistic director of Asheville's Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance, “across the country dance companies are folding or laying off large numbers.” Terpsicorps, which draws its cast from professional dancers on summer break from their regular companies, isn't facing layoffs, but these are […]

Here's the set-up for A Beautiful View, now running in repertory at N.C. Stage, according to the show's press: L and M meet in a camping-goods store. Their tentative friendship seems doomed to fail before it begins, each with preconceived notions about the other. Rather than hurt each other's feelings, they have a drink. Their […]