Michael Ian Black knows about pain. Maybe not the paycheck-to-paycheck pain of the blue-collar worker, or the heartache of a tragedy-drenched life, but it’s a real pain all the same. And it’s a refreshingly postmodern kind of pain at that. Black, like so many cable-generation celebs, knows the pain that comes with constantly being asked, […]

If we had another band name, it would be ‘Normal,’” jokes Matt Call, front man for local pop group Lewis. As it is, “We don’t have that whole indie appeal, which makes it tough. We’re not hanging things from our nipples. We’re just four normal guys.” What is normal? According to this local rock group, […]

Now in its sixth year, the Spring Literary Festival on the campus of Western Carolina University boasts deep roots. The event is sponsored by WCU’s Visiting Writers Series, which has brought local luminaries (Fred Chappell, Kathryn Stripling Byer) nationally known authors (Li-Young Lee, Thomas Lux) and internationally prominent writers (Eavan Boland, Menna Elfyn) to Cullowhee. […]

“I loved and respected Kitty as a woman from my mother’s generation who refused to follow the ‘rules,’” writes local photographer Alice Sebrell in an artist statement. “I loved her bravery, audacity, and her extraordinary embrace of life.” Even though late ceramist Kitty Couch spent the first half of her adult life as a traditional […]

On multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien’s Web-based tour journal, he tells the story of how an equipment malfunction worked to his advantage. The roots musician was playing Glasgow, Scotland’s Celtic Connections Festival with roots-fusion group the Duhks. During an encore that ended with Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” “the batteries on my mandolin preamp died, resulting in one […]

“It’s a wacky business we’re in, and nobody’s playing straight-up rock ‘n’ roll,” claims Shonna Tucker, bassist and occasional vocalist for the Drive-By Truckers. “It’s like, ‘Get out of your office, go have a drink and go rock out: You’ll feel better.’” Try a little tenderness: The Drive-By Truckers show a softer side on their […]

While the DJ has long been accepted as a cultural icon, with turntablism now recognized as an art form unto itself, the actual techniques behind what a DJ does remain widely misunderstood by the public. As Columbus-via-Philadelphia’s RJD2 ascends from the underground hip-hop scene and vies for broader forms of creative expression, he provides a […]

Feminism, always slippery, seems to get more complicated over time. In the 1960s and ‘70s, women burned their bras and left their kitchens for corporate boardrooms. Today, smart young career women approach gender stereotypes by quitting their jobs to be stay-at-home moms. And, since art follows life, some female artists remain in the safe, sociably-acceptable […]