Staying power

At a time when the life span of a mayfly exceeds that of most Hollywood marriages, even the most devoted fans can hardly expect their favorite band to make it to the leather anniversary. After all, with battling personalities, power struggles and suffocatingly close quarters, bands are like the ultimate adventures in matrimony—and perhaps even […]

Dead and back again

Hard work eventually pays off—that’s a mantra in the world of independent music. Bands that have been around for years still struggle just to get a few pairs of feet through a club’s doors, and a night’s hard work can often result in barely enough cash to gas up the van and trudge on to […]

Finally, a reason to go out

Remember going to a concert and having a true musical experience? Your ears rattled, your bones quivered, and while you weren’t quite sure exactly what happened, you knew that you heard—or perhaps felt—a show that can’t be easily replicated by listening to a CD or watching a music video. You’ve had one of those rare […]

In the cards

Visitors to the Homespun Museum at Grovewood Gallery this weekend will have the opportunity to tour a room that most museum patrons never see—and that many Biltmore Industries employees likely wished they hadn’t. Fruit of the loom: Grovewood Gallery presents a rare look at Asheville’s past as a high-end fabric hot spot. Biltmore Industries Homespun […]

Edgy Mama: Summer’s here, as are the whinys

For me, summer vacation provokes equal measures of elation and despair. Elation because it’s summer — which means sunshine, homegrown tomatoes, long days at the beach and freedom from the rigors of a school schedule. Despair because it’s summer — which means sunburn, weeds galore, long days at home with the kids and freedom from the rigors of a school schedule.

Reaping what they sow

“Our fans are punks and preachers,” says Plowshares front man David Earl Tomlinson. (He also says, “Listen up y’all, got something to say, a little bit of whiskey goes a mighty long way,” in his near-perfect blues rocker “Local Anesthesia.”) The point is not so much that Tomlinson can pull collaborators, friends and fans from […]

The house that Lorca built

Known for his participation in the pre-Spanish Civil War avant-garde movement, Federico Garcia Lorca was an emblematic writer, poet, painter and musician of the early 20th century. He wrote fearlessly about controversial issues such as homosexuality, the consequences of living under a dictatorship, the price of censorship and the class system defining his country. However, […]

Trying hard now

“Without perspiration,” says singer/songwriter Mary Gauthier, “you just end up with goo.” Gauthier (pronounced “go-shay”) is talking about writing lyrics, a process she has been known to agonize over. The Louisiana native, who is now based in Nashville, rewrites songs almost compulsively, reworking them as many times as she has to until she feels that […]