"The butter is French … Not pasteurized," says Rose, the main character in Aimee Bender's new novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. "The parsley is from San Diego. The parsley farmer is a jerk." Lightness and rare beauty: Novelist Aimee Bender says the joy of finding movement in subject matter "eclipses all disappointments." At […]

Unless their last name is Jonas or Cyrus, few aspiring musicians get to blow off tenth grade for recording sessions, but Darien Crossley's debut album, Theorem, shows a maturity beyond her years. Apparently Asheville-based Alive and Well Records saw that, too, because the indie label signed Crossley as its second act (they also represent Dup […]

Composer Brian Turner creates catchy, pop-savvy piano pieces based in classical and jazz genres. Pianist Richard Shulman's work, also based in jazz, often tends toward the meditative and even New Age realm. Still, says Turner, the two would "probably be stuck in the same bin in the CD store." That's due, in part, to the […]