Flipping through the most recent Urban Outfitters catalog, I came across the work of one of Asheville’s most prolific artists.
Edgy Mama: Family dating
When you’re married and have young children, you figure your dating life is pretty much over. Wrong. In fact, it’s just the time to start dating. Dating other families, that is.
Eclectic line-up marks Biltmore Estate’s Summer Concert Series
American classic Gladys Knight, legendary bluesman B.B. King and party band KC & The Sunshine Band are three of the seven bands the Biltmore Estate has signed up to play its popular annual Summer Concert Series.
Listening Party: Misgana, Darpa and Every Mother’s Dream
Here’s the idea: Each week, we pick three local musical acts, link to a site where you can listen to their songs for free, then ask you to spend a few moments of your time to tell us what you think about them. Some may be great, others may be middling or awful — that’s for you to decide. All we ask is that you listen with an open mind.
Anywhere, USA: The movie trailer
Anwhere, USA debuts new trailer, giving a first glimpse of the Sundance award-winning film formerly known as Asheville the Movie.
Book Report for this week and beyond
A regional literary festival, the N.C. Haiku Society and area readings are all in the works.
What’s cooking on the Asheville restaurant scene
The Green Sage coffeeshop has opened, there’s more 12 Bones barbecue on the way and S&W apparently stands for “steak and wine.”
Making Anywhere, USA
SCENE: Cell phone rings. Protagonist answers, then feels a blood rush of fear. He speaks. He listens. His knees crash into the sea of driveway pebbles. That’s our protagonist, Anthony “Chusy” Haney-Jardine, there on the ground, writhing. Lots of writhing. Keeping it in the family: Perla Haney-Jardine, daughter of director Chusy Haney-Jardine and producer Jennifer […]
Band of brothers
The Felice Brothers story is already shrouded in the sort of mythical aura where fact and fiction are indistinguishable, and, for that matter, mostly irrelevant. It’s the good, old-fashioned, over-romanticized, seemingly forgotten story of the rambling American folk singer. In a sense, it’s the same sort of back-story that catapulted Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, […]
Post-punk’s quiet side
Sometime in early 2002, Sarah Brown returned to her Portland, Ore., home to discover that her dear friend and band mate Tasha Trasher had traded in her gigantically booming bass amp for an accordion. At the time, the two of them comprised two thirds of Heart Beats Red, a noisy Pacific Northwestern indie rock outfit. […]
The hard(y har har) sell
The creators of the Laugh Your Asheville Off Comedy Series don’t look like your stereotypical comedians. They look like normal, everyday twenty-to-thirty-somethings. They look so normal, in fact, that when meeting another local reporter for an interview, they were told that the writer in question never would have pictured them as comedians. Laugh-master: Rising comedy […]
New faces in local arts
Asheville’s artists have two new advocates: Diane Ruggiero relocated from Charlotte to be the new arts czar—or, if you prefer, cultural arts superintendent—for the city of Asheville; and Angela Martinez, formerly of Washington, D.C., recently took the reins at the Asheville Area Arts Council. Asheville Area Arts Council Executive Director Angela Martinez. Ruggiero could be […]
Top Drawer: fashion news and views
Top Drawer wants to get into the minds of Asheville’s notable fashion forecasters, trendsetters and style icons. In this series, we ask boutique owners and designers what inspires them, and what tips they have to pass along. Larry Hopkins, owner and mastermind of Ananda Hair Studio (22 Broadway St., Asheville, 232-1017) is influenced by the […]
Death of a dungeon master
Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax goes to that great Keep on the Borderlands in the Sky, and local gaming store owner talks about his legacy.
Show review: James Blunt and Eric Baker at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
James Blunt’s stop off at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium was filled with surprises, from the eclectic crowd to Blunt’s energetic and highly entertaining performance.
Phoebe Fabu sings the blues
Camp performer Phoebe Fabu teams up with local “irritainer” Michael Sheldon (aka Cookie LaRue).
Edgy Mama: Translating parent-speak
Parent: “Your son’s very physical, isn’t he?”
Translation: “Your kid is a total spaz. Has he been diagnosed with ADHD yet? Sheesh, I’m sorry. You’ve got your hands full, don’t you?”
Book Report: This week’s literary news
Readings, poetry performances and book releases are just a taste of what’s happening around the area.
Notes from the Asheville music scene
Some notes from the Asheville music scene: Plenty of girl power on stage; Mad Tea Party pumped; and a call to all bands for Earth Day concert.
Changing Literary Culture reading at the Asheville Area Arts Council
In Asheville there are many poets and writers who tread off the beaten path of the publishing industry and have invested in creating a community of their own.
Book Report: The Double Bind
Author Chris Bohjalian weaves themes of homelessness, suspense, and The Great Gatsby in his novel The Double Bind. Here, he schools Xpress on literary craft. (He also trots out some words that would rack up big points in a Scrabble tourney.)