David Holt is a busy man: touring with Doc Watson, filming public television’s Folkways series, hosting Public Radio International’s Riverwalk program, publishing books and appearing in movies — who would have guessed folk music could be so time-consuming? With so many irons in the fire, it’s a good thing, both for himself and his audiences, […]

This year, Chimney Rock Park is celebrating its centennial anniversary. Here are some of the changes and landmarks that have advanced the park over the past century: • 1870s: Jerome B. Freeman purchases the rock and surrounding land from a speculating company. The price: $25. • 1885: Freeman and some partners create a trail up […]

Drive east out of Asheville, into the steep winding curves of 74A toward Lake Lure. Continue through the small hamlets and past the many craft shops selling quilts, handmade chairs and antiques. Drop down into the valley following the Rocky Broad River and it rises out of the trees on your right, one of the […]

“They picked the best kind of music,” says John Cockman, guitarist for the gospel group The Cockman Family. “It just fits.” On June 15, Chimney Rock Park will host the first of two outdoor concerts, collectively titled Music on the Mountain, as part of its 100th-anniversary celebration. Staged on top of the mountain (at the […]

Frank Sinatra remains one of modern America’s most recognizable figures — his face, his body language, and especially his voice. But this kind of popularity can have its downside: The more-unsavory aspects of Sinatra’s career — such as his alleged Mafia ties — have sometimes taken center stage. And his singing style and stage persona […]

Every family has its traditions. Sometimes they are newly made, and sometimes they are passed down from a grandmother or an aunt. But these days, few can claim a tradition as old and as steeped in heritage as the music that still lives on through some Madison County families. For these people, music has been […]