Drama fans likely recognize José Rivera as the writer who penned the screenplay for The Motorcycle Diaries—the award-winning film about revolutionary Che´ Guevara’s early life. That film earned Rivera the distinction in 2005 as the first Puerto Rican to be nominated for an Oscar, although his playwriting career began more than two decades earlier and […]

In 1968, when London Observer music critic Tony Palmer first listened to The Beatles’ White Album, did he know from the start it would number among the consummate records of that century? He reported that, with the release of the double album, the global listening audience would “surely see the last vestiges of cultural snobbery […]

“My mama always said that I was a little bit cheeky,” explains British vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mark Casson. Mama said it, so the admonishment became the tongue-in-cheek name of the band Casson fronts with his wife, Shannon Hines Casson. Cheeky monkeys: The Cheeksters bring plenty of energy and fun to their music. The Cassons, who […]

“Billy, to me, is one of the coolest people I’ve ever met,” says singer/songwriter Richie Tipton—who just so happens to be discussing his own alter ego, Billy the Six. Billy is the front man of the just-formed rock band that shares its creator’s moniker. He’s also (by Tipton’s account), “anti-war, articulate, a spokesperson who can […]

This year’s New Year’s Eve is a back-to-basics affair. Forget gala balls, ice skating, outdoor games and other ephemera—Asheville is concentrating on music, music and more music, with the odd champagne toast thrown in for good measure. Music with a mission: Larry Keel and Natural Bridge close out the year at the Grey Eagle and […]

“There was not any one point where I had an epiphany and decided to [form] a jazz swing band,” insists Christa DeCicco, the voice of Knoxville, Tenn.-based Christabel and the Jons. Instead, she says, the group’s sound evolved over the two years the band has been together. Vintage vantage: Christabel and the Jons blend retro […]