The Aug. 24 Xpress cover story takes a graphic stroll down memory lane to tell the tale of Camp Catawba, a refuge for refugees near Blowing Rock that became an incubator of young artists. For those wanting to know more about the camp, there’s a growing wealth of information online. 
Author: Jon Elliston
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Gotta Lovett
Ben Lovett spent a decade assisting and promoting other artists’ projects. “After a while,” he says, “I started to get the same response over and over again: ‘Ben, yep, this sounds great, it’s all great … but when are you going to release some of your shit so we can listen to that?’” Lovett finally […]
Out of the shadows
"What can one say when a good thing comes to an end? Just that it was good while it lasted." Lines from a plaintive autobiography or sappy romance novel? Nope: These poignant words, culled from an official government document, are part of a loving farewell to a local spy base. According to a once highly […]
Cruel Summer: The attack on Camp Summerlane (a four-part story)
Part 1: Burning memories (Part 1) Jon Elliston | 06/18 Tomm Friend was snoozing in his cabin when gunfire and the whoosh of flames pierced the night quiet. “I was awakened by a blast,” Friend remembers 45 years later. That summer, the 15-year-old was attending a camp on the outskirts of Rosman, N.C., a small […]
Back to Summerlane
New disclosures about 1963 attack on a WNC children's camp
Don’t let the truth slip away: PARI facility was formerly operated by NSA
Susan Andrew's survey of the good work at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute ["PARI Presents a Look Back in Time," June 9 Xpress] was much appreciated, but it jettisoned an important part of the facility's history into a black hole, so to speak. She wrote that in 1981, the facility was transferred from NASA "to […]
One-year wonders
At a time when many small businesses are contracting or closing, why would anyone dare to start a new one? And what steps could they take to up the odds of staying afloat? To find out, Xpress surveyed five Asheville businesses that opened about a year ago; all are surviving, and some even thriving, despite […]
Askville
Chad Nesbitt is no stranger to bare-knuckle political sparring. The Carolina Stompers, the conservative activist group he founded in 2007, has perfected the art of brash campaigning for candidates and causes. Chad Nesbitt Photo by Jonathan Welch Now, however, Nesbitt has ceded his position as lead Stomper to his friend Harry Maroni. On March 28, […]
Dance through the decades
Tonight you can shake your stuff at the Time Machine, a new monthly dance party at the Lexington Avenue Brewery where each hour brings a new decade of music
Long live the Twaper!
At Mountain Xpress, we’re taking April Fool’s Day off, in a manner of speaking. Which is to say that everything we’re reporting today is (to the best of our knowledge) true. Of course, that wasn’t the case last year …
No foolin’: LaZoom Tours announces a special deal for locals
It’s April Fool’s Day — but local funsters on wheels LaZoom tours aren’t joking about their April promotion
Askville: New-school journalist
To hear the old guard tell it — and a host of industry studies — print journalism as we've long known it is dying. With the rise of digitally delivered news, newspapers are shrinking and, in some cities, disappearing altogether. So what's a young reporter to think about what the future holds? Photo by Jonathan […]
Stand up and joke-ify at the Disclaimer Standup Lounge
Did you hear the one about the local-news satire crew that couldn't stop yucking it up? Well, it's no joke: The folks who produce the Asheville Disclaimer page for Xpress each week — and Disclaimer Radio News for WWNC-570 AM and the online Asheville FM — are about to add another arrow to their comedic […]
The social-media City Council?
No longer campaigning, Asheville City Council members are putting social media to new use while in office
Sounds and scenes from the Crystal Ball
Video and pics from the Asheville Area Arts Council’s fundraiser at the Grand Bohemian
HATCHfest Asheville announces preliminary schedule of events
The second annual multidisciplinary arts-and-mentoring festival returns April 15 to 18
No trivial matter: Kipper’s Totally Rad Trivia Night moves to Fred’s on Mondays
In a town full of trivia competitions, Kipper’s Totally Rad Trivia Night keeps shaking up cerebrums. Now the event, formerly hosted at Asheville’s New French Bar on Wednesdays, has outgrown its original venue and is moving to Mondays at Fred’s Parkside Pub (the former Fred’s Speakeasy, beneath Fiore’s restaurant).
Mountain Xpress wins state journalism awards
Two sizable collaborative projects — a multimedia package on the Burton Street neighborhood and the seven-part series “Worldwide WNC: Locals Going Global” — get the nod from the North Carolina Press Association
Asheville cancer survivor speaks out on Capitol Hill for health-care reform
Carolyn Comeau, an Asheville woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago, made appearances in Washington, D.C., yesterday, with Democratic Party leaders
Puzzled? This week’s Xpress has the wrong New York Times crossword grid
The clues are correct, but the grid isn’t; here’s where you can find the correct one
HATCHfest Asheville planning on a roll
An upcoming festival will bring a busload of creativity to Asheville — literally. Last week, organizers for the second annual HATCHfest Asheville, a multidisciplinary arts-and-mentoring event that takes place April 15 to 18, announced that one high-profile "guest" at the fest will be the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. Why don't we do it in […]