I have a vivid memory of a friend—circa 1986—pouting, “‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now?’ Give me a break! The guy could have any woman or man he wanted.” That Morrissey refused to come out as gay or straight or anything, really, other than vegetarian, cemented his idol-worthiness in my mind far before the major press […]
Edgy Mama: Dealing with the peanut recall
The recall’s hitting me at home, in my mostly all-natural organic, locally sourced home — and in my community.
Mardi Gras
Photos by Jonathan Welch
A girl’s best friend, part 2
Bonnie (wearing a skirt she bought from a since-closed West Asheville shop) with Poco (wearing a hoodie).
Band of Horses tix on sale at noon tomorrow
Indie darlings Band of Horses (featuring Asheville-based singer/songwriter Tyler Ramsey and Blue Rags/Donna the Buffalo alum/former Asheville resident Bill Reynolds) will play the Orange Peel in June—tickets go on sale at noon tomorrow.
A girl’s best friend, part 1
Melantha, with her black lab, on Lexington Ave.
Michael Franti: “Because all the freaky people make the beauty of the world!”
Review: Michael Franti & Spearhead performed an electrifying double-bill at the Orange Peel on Thursday, Feb. 26th.
Americana-gypsy-soul
Chach (left) and Eric “Mr. E.” of the newly-formed band Roy and his Boys. Chach (whose jacket came from L.A.) is a hip-hop artist who recently started playing guitar, mixing Americana and gypsy-jazz with free style.
Pack Square
Local musician Sparrow busks at Pack Square. Notice the baby nearby, wearing striped leg warmers.
Book Report: The Frontier Nursing Service
This is the story of Mary Breckinridge, the intrepid health care provider who founded the The Frontier Nursing Service in rural Kentucky during the 1920s. She single-handedly lowering one of the nation’s highest maternal mortality rates to one of the country’s lowest.
All Rebel Rocker: The Complete Interview with Michael Franti
Hip hop, reggae and folk musician Michael Franti on performing in Asheville, recording in Jamaica, traveling through the Middle East and holding on to hope.
Welcome to A&E
A bit of Marshall trivia for you: Marc Hosler of experimental band Negativland lives in the tiny town north of Asheville. Also, Tony Torn, son of actor Rip Torn, has a venue called The FBI (the French Broad Institute of Time and the River). The French Broad Institute will show the area’s only screening of […]
Bad girls set the world into play
After returning last year from a creative stint in Brooklyn, local singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Jon Reid—aka Jar-e—has been hard at work, writing and recording a new album, lending support to Angi West on her new release and, most recently, opening for Toubab Krewe at a spate of shows north and south of the Mason-Dixon line. The […]
The rebel rocker yogi
On the back of Michael Franti’s newest record All Rebel Rockers (2008), a photograph shows three hands raised in peace, each decorated with a different religious symbol: A cross, the Star of David and a crescent moon and star, the symbol of Islam. For Franti and his band Spearhead, music has the unique power to […]
Black Mountain’s newish party place
Wanna go to an all-ages frat-type party but with better beer? First drive out toward Black Mountain (even better, catch a ride). Pass through the barbed-wire-topped gates into the warehouse complex that once housed a Drexel Heritage Furniture plant. Enter a door marked only “Unit 100,” walk down industrial steel steps, and enter a beer […]
The high price of love
“They say our love won’t pay the rent,” crooned Sonny and Cher in their 1965 hit seven-inch, “I Got You Babe.” In 1985, the average rent for low-to-moderate income families in Asheville was under $80, according to the annual report of the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville. Last year’s conference of mayors revealed […]
Edgy Mama
Between my two kids, I breast-fed for a total of about 3 1/2 years. Yes, I spent that many years exposing my boobs in a variety of places to feed my kids, who never took a bottle and went straight from breast-feeding to drinking from a sippy cup. I finished nursing my youngest almost five […]
SoundTrack
Angi West is a musician with such purity, both personally and professionally, that it is evident in her recordings and her live show, harnessed with the ease of sharing a glass of tea with a friend. She finds a rapport with her audiences where an infinite exchange is possible, feeds off her viewers as much […]
Mardi Gras in Asheville: See it, hear it, feel it
It’s Fat Tuesday, the culmination of Mardi Gras. Relive the revelry so far — the costumes, the streets filled with beads, the carousing and parading — with Xpress photos and videos.
Outside Salsa’s
Kris and Rodney, seen sitting at the bar outside Salsa’s on Patton Ave. Kris found her vintage boots on ebay.
Edgy Mama preview
Here’s a video preview of this week’s Edgy Mama column.