In 1863, Napoleon allowed the infuriated artists turned down by his Hanging Committee—they hung paintings, not people—to display their work in a separate exhibition. IlaSahai Prouty, “Spoon” from the series Little Man, 2006-2007, plaster and mixed media, 10 X 4 X 12 inches. The Salon des Refusés—Salon of the Rejected—wasn’t of uniform greatness. But it […]

Though it barely registers above a whisper, M. Ward’s voice can grab you like a shout. On the Portland-bred singer/songwriter’s fifth album, Post-War, that voice counts off the stuttering stop-start pulse of “Poison Cup,” almost begging the song to start. But once the notes commence, the music falls backward in time—to the thin, scratchy tremolo […]

She first met them in a pink bathtub, where she was trying to soak away writer’s block. Barnardsville-based author Joan Medlicott (pictured with Daisy) believes “there’s always something to write about.” photo by Nelda Holder Barnardsville novelist Joan Medlicott was working on a different book at the time (one she never finished) when she hit […]

Metabolism Productions Becomes Enigmatic Upstart local theater group Metabolism Productions announced themselves with a roar last summer, presenting Dizzy, a collection of one-act plays by (then) local playwrights Jaye Bartell, Chall Gray, David Hopes and Devin Walsh. The group has spent much of the last year prepping for their upcoming season, but not without a […]

If you want to go to a music festival and spend the weekend kicked back in a lawn chair, koozie in hand and a few thousand of your closest Crocs-with-socks-wearing friends doing the firefly-catching dance to the jam band of the moment, it’s (as they say) all good. The sound of music (that’s not roots-based): […]

The buildings are still there—one, a flat-topped structure, ashen and derelict along the shores of Lake Eden; another, a formal, pillared building called Lee Hall at the Blue Ridge Assembly, nearby. But to understand the legacy of Black Mountain College, which existed here between 1933 and 1956, it’s necessary to look beyond buildings, beyond the […]

If you never “got” world music, don’t feel uncultured. Ori Kaplan, co-founder of the definitely-file-under-world-music band Balkan Beat Box, doesn’t like it either. “When I hear [it], I cringe,” confesses Kaplan, whose band also eschews flags, nationalities and borders. “[It’s an] overly produced concept where you try to have some slick beat with some aboriginal […]

Spring is landscape season. And while landscapes have sometimes been maligned as the province of the uninspired, the precariousness of our landscape makes it a serious topic for serious artists. Lee Morgan, “Wisteria House” I still mourn the fat, spotted pony on a grassy hillside near the spot where Highway 74A starts. His pasture was […]

If you were to jump to conclusions based on the artwork on Acid Mothers Temple albums Absolutely Freakout and New Geocentric World—garish prints inspired by ‘60s poster artists such as Rick Griffin and Bob Masse—you might write them off as yet another Jerry-worshipping jam band. The songs are, at least initially, improvised—and I was certainly […]

Colonel Chuck Ross will be at the Block House Steeplechase in Tryon this weekend, checking the course and setting up fences. But you won’t find him wearing some goofy decorated hat. A win-win situation: The Tryon Riding & Hunt Club’s mascot, Morris the Horse, isn’t sweating the thought of having to compete in this week’s […]

• An artist has a lot of work to do if he or she responds to an invitation to submit a proposal for a work of art. First comes the idea, then a letter of intent, and then a detailed explanation of the proposal and its relevance. One’s résumé must be updated, and slides or […]

Female Vocalist, Summer CD Release: Part Local folk singer Kellin Watson recently posted a MySpace blog about the recording of her new, still-untitled album at the über-fancy Echo Mountain Studio. Evidently, Watson remains the darling of the local folk-music scene. You see, although she’d like to work full time on the album, she keeps getting […]