Each week Xpress reporter Alli Marshall and WOXL DJ Pat Ryan team up to bring you their entertainment suggestions.
Book Report: Off the beaten book path
This week’s roundup includes a reading, but also a book group in the making, a couple of local awards, a film and a yoga workshop. Wondering what all of these have to do with literature? Read on…
The rhythm is gonna get you
In the last month of summer, festivalgoers gather along Eagle and Market streets to dance to the rhythm of Gombey drums, savor Mr. Gene’s famous fried chicken and celebrate the diverse heritage and history of African-Americans in Asheville and Western North Carolina. When the spirit moves: Dancers perform for the crowds at the Goombay! festival. […]
The lone arranger
Singer/songwriter Gavin DeGraw drops buck-fifty words (“reciprocity,” “trajectory”) with the dexterity of a linguistics grad student, though his own university tenure was cut short. Hat trick: DeGraw keeps his trademark cap and trades his soft-pop for an edgier sound. “I didn’t fulfill my college pursuit of culture,” he told Xpress during a phone call from […]
God went surfing with the devil
What do young people do for fun in a region wracked with violence? Turns out, they surf. The photo show God Went Surfing with the Devil offers an unexpected look at life in Gaza and Israel. Photos By Bryan Derballa The show is the photographic precursor to an upcoming documentary with the same title, and […]
Once more, with feeling
Rock ‘n’ roll reunions are fickle things for audiences. When done correctly, they can be like greeting a long-lost friend, but when the wrong band reunites, they can be met with all the enthusiasm of receiving a call from a telemarketer right during your favorite TV show. Luckily for Southern California punk band Agent Orange, […]
SoundTrack
During The Davids’ happy-hour set at the French Broad Brewery, mastermind David Clegg announces that the band isn’t really in its element. This is scary, because even sandwiched between the copper kegs and playing to a crowd of the work-weary, The Davids are a gale force. An alcohol and angst-fueled trio of heartbreak, irony and […]
Brewgrass tickets sold out
If you haven’t purchased tickets to this year’s Great Smokies Craft Brewers Brewgrass Festival, you’re out of luck. Or, as organizer Jimi Rentz says, “You snooze, you lose.”
Edgy Mama: Newborn days
It’s difficult to find the time and energy for older kidlings when you have a needy, helpless baby.
Biltmore Summer Concerts in focus
Not all of us can afford tix for the Biltmore Estate’s summer concert series, but now we can all see a bit of what we might’ve missed through the lens of Xpress’ multimedia phenom, Jason Sandford.
Yoga à gogo
The Asheville Sacred Music and Yoga Festival is all about the sacred, but the festive part still gets its due. Higher vibration: Sarod maestro K. Sridhar headlines the Spiritual Music and Yoga Festival. Photo By Neil Greentree “We don’t necessarily need Budweiser kegs to have a good time anymore,” says Sean Bookman, the event’s organizer. […]
Moody Blues
The duo Arms and Sleepers claims that it began in the back of an ambulance. As the story goes, the ambulance came upon a dying man in an alley holding a tape player and playing a cassette of a gospel choir. A live jazz band played down the street. As the man died, the cassette […]
Best in show
As festival season comes to a close and the dog days of summer bark louder, the music calendar empties out for a spell. The chance of catching one of those life-changing, booze-fueled rock n’ roll shows you’ll talk about for months grows fewer and further between. Those about to (locally) rock: Asheville’s tHE POLES, who […]
Reflections on a Fragile Earth
Much of “Fragile Earth: Reflections on the Environment” deals with the beauty and mystery of nature, along with the peril of environmental destruction. The exhibit runs through Aug. 16 at Western Carolina University’s Fine Art Museum. Charlene Collins Haug won Best of Show for her monoprint screenprint, “Fragile Earth: Bubble People.” As development encroaches on […]
SoundTrack
A word of advice: Don’t go see Johnny’s Inhaler (or any other group that specializes in playing heartbreakingly soulful old love songs) on the eve of your birthday if you’re all alone with no love prospects in sight. I made that mistake on a recent visit to the French Broad Brewery, and wasn’t prepared for […]
Book Report: Reading Roundup
This week’s Book Report is dedicated to local authors, regional reads and new releases.
Xpress-rated: Video sneak peek at the Aug. 13 issue
Here’s your sneak preview of the Aug. 13 edition of the Mountain Xpress.
Edgy Mama: Bus-riding mama
A few months ago, Paul van Heden, marketing coordinator for Asheville’s transportation department, asked if I’d ride the bus for a day—an entire day—with my kids, to prove that a typical mom can accomplish her daily errands on Asheville’s public transit system. I enthusiastically accepted Paul’s challenge. Then I failed.
Book Report: A local roundup
Readings, book launches, benefits and festivals are all in the mix when it comes to local literary events. This list includes a few September dates worth putting on the calendar.
Pat & Alli’s Weekly Winners
Each week Xpress reporter Alli Marshall and WOXL DJ Pat Ryan team up to bring you their entertainment suggestions.
Doin’ it daily
Why would a nice Christian lady from the South write a book about having sex with her husband for 365 nights in a row? 365 Nights author Charla Muller answers for herself and her spouse: “One of the reasons we chose to share our experience is because it’s such a common experience to so many. […]