“As an aerialist, you’re under the assumption that you will fall,” says Christine Aiken, artistic director of Asheville Aerial Arts. “You’ll get burns and rips. I’ve seen a lot of broken bones.” Not to mention that a tumble from higher than 10 feet is considered a mortal fall: Asheville’s aerialists spin, hang, contort and seemingly […]

Rap is not a genre known for the quality of its stars live performances—too often the programmed beats of their recordings and their marketed, larger-than-life personas just don’t translate to the stage. Marathon rapper: Talib Kweli is in the music business for the long haul, not the fast cash. But over the course of 10 […]

Arizona’s Glowing Bird One night, two local shows Seth Kauffman throws a free concert; Arizona releases an album. Bar hopping is looking good … by Alli Marshall Seth Kauffman’s Floating Action Even though local singer/songwriter Seth Kauffman’s next album is still a few months from release, he’s prepping fans in advance. Like many musicians, Kauffman […]

A one-person exhibition of an artist’s work is always welcome: It provides a much better opportunity for insight than does looking at a piece or two in a group show. A rarer and even more wonderful thing is to see examples of an artist’s work over a period of many years. Lewis Buck’s retrospective at […]

Master printmaker Kore Loy Wildrekinde-McWhirter’s latest work, redhanded: a songe forre the loste, was seven years in the making and debuts this month at Warren Wilson’s Holden Gallery. The series addresses what the artist calls “the longest undeclared war in history,” a war of violence committed against children. Survivor: Wildrekinde-McWhirter says she operates with “applied […]

The first year for any large-scale music festival is probably the toughest. Everyone knows LEAF, people have heard of Flat Rock, even Trinumeral has been around. But what about a startup? what: Loki Music Festival where: Deerfields, in Mills River when: Friday, Oct. 10, through Sunday, Oct. 12. (Tickets are $145, with some discounts and […]

When the character Forrest Gump compared life to a box of chocolates (“you never know what you’re gonna get”), he could have just as easily drawn a comparison to the music of Todd Rundgren. Throughout his career—beginning in 1967 with proto-powerpop quartet Nazz, through his solo work, albums with Utopia and extensive production duties for […]

“I’m up for anything,” announces pro-surfer-turned-singer/songwriter Donavon Frankenreiter. And though that sentiment echoes Johnny Depp’s portrayal of John Wilmot (“I’m up for it,” he warns), Frankenreiter is the antitheses of the rakish Earl of Rochester. He’s more like a modern-day Musketeer (“One for all, all for one”). No, for real: Butterfly collar and Wurlitzer organ […]

Since the beginning, we’ve been trying to unravel the mysteries of Nature. So even though Man vs. Nature isn’t exactly a new theme, two area artists are using a novel approach to explore it—fusing modern and Butoh dance styles with poetry and spoken-word theater. Timeless themes, novel approach: The performance is “strange and atmospheric.” Photo […]

Who anticipated the day avant-garde artists and national musicians would mingle with the bluegrass pickers and retired tobacco farmers on Main Street in Marshall? Small town goes big time: Cordero comes from NYC to get Marshallites shakin’. The tiny town 20 minutes north of Asheville, once a sleepy rural outpost, has become a haven for […]