I have a possibly unhealthy relationship with Smiley’s Flea Market. Like fast food or smoking, Smiley’s is tough to quit if you get the habit. I’ll forego doing smart research on how to spend my weekend junk excursions, because I’d rather hit Smiley’s. And even though I’ll often leave with barely enough stuff to make […]
Guess who’s sharing the stage with the Rangers?
How’s this for a double bill? The risen-from-Asheville-to-bluegrass-stardom Steep Canyon Rangers and Steve Martin. They shared the stage over the weekend at L.A.‘s Club Nokia at a benefit for the city’s public libraries. And they’ll be playing again at three sold-out shows later this month at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. […]
Waiting for a chess match
Two free tix to Asylum Street Spankers show at the Grey Eagle! (*update: tix won, thanks y’all!*)
Xpress is giving away two spots for the Asylum Street Spankers show Wednesday at the Grey Eagle. The eclectic roots ensemble is guaranteed to entertain, putting on a wild live show that’s part string-band, part Vaudeville and all witty fun. Want to go? Just e-mail the answer to the trivia question.
Think pink
Haylee, on College Street. Photo by Jonathan Welch.
Review: Immediate Theatre Project stages A Body of Water
Abrupt, disturbing plot twists as A Body of Water jumps from lightly comedic to dangerously vulnerable. Now at N.C. Stage.
Asheville ties for first place in Beer City USA poll
Asheville and Portland will share honors as Beer City USA, according to beer guru Charlie Papazian. In Asheville, Mountain Xpress and the Orange Peel will co-host an upcoming victory party.
Outside Flying Frog
Book Report: The Four Corners of the Sky
Michael Malone’s The Four Corners of the Sky is, at turns, impossibly dramatic, but the lengthy mystery is hardly formulaic. It’s immaculate, tightly-crafted and thrilling from the first page.
From the mountains to the sea: Beer
What happens when seven guys, including four who comprise a band called Rat Jackson, hit 27 breweries and play five gigs during a two-week road trip from North Carolina’s mountains to its coast? Watch the movie Beer Y’all and find out.
Pat & Alli’s Weekly Winners
Each week Xpress reporter Alli Marshall and WOXL DJ Pat Ryan team up to bring you their entertainment suggestions.
Turduckswan: Review of Honk at Haywood Arts Repertory Theatre
On the whole, the cast seems focused yet at ease … which speaks volumes about the good, hard work done by the director for this update of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic Ugly Duckling tale.
The German Tourist
This weekend on a shoestring
This week brings new venues (Sadie’s Seafood Pub; Cancun), benefit shows, group shows, a surprising amount of Southern rock, a notable side project, a couple DJ shows and plenty more for dirt cheap.
Nesting instinct
If the tag says organic, free-range, non-GMO, it’s got to be good, right? But what if that claim comes on a CD—say, Hymns for a Dark Horse by the Raleigh-based folk-pop trio Bowerbirds? After all, the nature-imbued, avian-centric song collection was crafted at the off-the-grid piece of land where the Bowerbirds’ founding members Beth Tacular […]
The important thing is the spirit
When Masaki Batoh gave his psychedelic music collective the name “Ghost,” he couldn’t have come up with a more appropriate moniker if he’d taken the 25 years of the group’s existance to consider the matter. Few bands manage to walk in so many worlds and carry along so many musical sensibilities. The traditional and the […]
Ursula
Bill Thompson, owner of Satellite Gallery, deserves praise for regularly promoting solo art exhibitions in his gallery space on Broadway. Displaying one artist’s work at a time can be financially risky; typically in Asheville it’s only the noncommercial or nonprofit venues that do so. Graffiti artist Ishmael painted a gorilla directly onto the wall at […]
Junker’s Blues
When I was growing up, while other kids decided to be doctors, firemen or sports stars, I chose a different career path. At three years old, I’d tell any grownup who would listen that I was going to be a paleontologist. I was going to spend my life digging up dinosaur bones. I guess I […]
Spork
Local filmmakers TJ Wiedow and Jason Greenalch released low-budget kung fu spoof movie Golden Blade III nearly two years ago. The sound of whizzing swords has been relatively quiet since then, but Wiedow’s been working behind-the-scenes to promote the movie, and having some luck. The team went to the Charleston Film Festival in late April […]
SoundTrack
A crowd of about 40 have come out to BoBo Gallery on this windy April evening. It is the usual eclectic scene one expects at this art gallery of a meeting place at the top of Lexington Ave. Some sip wine, others swill beer, while I snag a pint of water and duck into the […]
Direct from Jamaica, the Overtakers take over the Grey Eagle, and LEAF
If you’ve not had the luck to hear The Overtakers, you’ve got a few chances this week. The Jamaican roots trio is the real deal. Check them Wednesday night at the Grey Eagle, or Thursday, Friday and Saturday at LEAF in Black Mountain.