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Self-portrait in three colors
Somewhere in a darkened room, a different kind of band ruminates over its next song. No lyrics will be sung, no chorus repeated. In fact, very little traditional structure other than jazz’s conversational play ties the music together. Local trio Ahleuchatistas speaks loudly through this experimental voice. And yet the band’s latest coup – its […]
Her own hell to raise
When critically lauded singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi recently set out to make an all-covers album, she didn’t flinch from tackling the giants. Indeed, on her latest disc, Hope and Desire, Tedeschi puts her own, supremely soulful spin on songs by the all-world likes of Bob Dylan, Jagger-Richards, Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder, undaunted by the long […]
Earful
Artist Spotlight: Jason Smith and Night’s Bright Colors Gabriel Garcia Marquez found love in the time of cholera, protagonist Ray Aibelli updated oedipal lust in the movie Spanking the Monkey, and now local musician Jason Smith has discovered love in the asylum. His latest release, Love in the Asylum Parts I and II (Aphasian Waves), […]
Cartoons
Letters to the editor
Residents oppose Laurel Valley development It has come to my attention that the Laurel Valley community in Mars Hill is now under siege by a multi-leveled group of developers, fronted by B&E Ventures. Destruction of our neighborhood by bulldozers has already begun, and the effects are devastating to the delicate balance of waterways and wildlife […]
Close encounters of the Asheville kind
Our story begins in a McDonald’s. I don’t usually patronize fast-food places — at least not since I read a hard-hitting expose of the meat-packing industry — but in a moment of weakness I was willing to overlook the reports of feces-ridden meat. So I parked, walked in the door, saw who was working behind […]
End of the Spear
“Can peace really be acquired without changing the human heart?” asks the narrator of this well-crafted Christian drama. The film’s answer, of course, is that only Christ can accomplish such a miracle, but director Jim Hanon (Beyond the Gates of Splendor documentary) shows that redemption can make for a pretty good adventure tale. Fifty years […]
Walking the talk
“This is the most progressive City Council Asheville has ever seen.” Local media and conversations around town are abuzz with this refrain, but what exactly does “progressive” mean? The term has no universally accepted definition and is used to describe ideas ranging from liberal to radical. With this new City Council, Asheville has an incredible […]
Across the great divide
photo by Mariah Grant A love that dares speak its name: Marc Eden (left) was born Mary Eden. After transitioning from female to male, he found acceptance and a mate in his wife, Chrysse Everhart. Swannanoa resident Marc Eden remembers his last night as Mary Eden. He sang soprano in the final performance of A […]
Making the change
When Marc Eden transitioned to a man, his grandmother jokingly called him “Cousin Itt” after the character in The Addams Family. The nickname, he says, is somewhat apt. As a female-to-male transsexual, “I see myself as something other than one gender or another,” Eden reveals. Blending genders is not uncommon among nontransgender people either, notes […]
Letters to the editor
A sanctuary for change In your recent commentary by Nels Arnold [“Transformation Behind Bars,” Dec. 28], the author describes a Buddhist meditation group at Mountain View Correctional Institution. She tells how beneficial this practice has been in these inmates’ lives and then goes into direct quotes from some of the participants. I want to commend […]
Their land
A lone guitar and feisty lyrics just aren’t enough for folk music these days. Take Akron/Family, a four-piece from Brooklyn suspiciously sequestered under the folk tag. Their Father Time beards and their Young God record label (which also houses freak-folk poster boy Devendra Banhart) certainly suggest the comparisons. Then the music kicks in. Their oeuvre […]
Bye-bye bunnies, hello Tower of Babel
“Banding II,” by G. Carol Bomer. In the late ‘80s, G. Carol Bomer was exalted by Asheville’s artsy set for her pleasant, often animal-themed watercolor paintings, so popular in certain circles she had them mechanically reproduced for sale. But her current show at Grace Community Church’s gallery threatens her old reputation. In her mixed-media piece […]
Earful
Gypsy Bandwagon, Stole My Mule: Three Stars • Genre(s): “International Western folk punk” (per the band’s description) • You’ll like it if: You’re a big Celtic fan with an even bigger sense of humor. • Defining song: “Stole My Mule”—A bizarre arrangement based on the traditional “Pretty Little Girl With a Blue Dress On.” This […]
Cartoons
Glory Road
“We do not back down here, ever!” coach Don Haskins (Josh Lucas, Sweet Home Alabama) exhorts his players at Western Texas University. His words challenge his young black athletes to cast off their victim mind-set and charge for glory — and establish integration in college basketball. The double-edged story of the greatest upset in NCAA […]
Bullets made of glass
In the hard world of glass, many artists who blow the molten material – wielding huge blobs, with much drama, from fearsome furnaces – look down on those who do stained glass or flame work, which they consider mere hobbyist endeavors. photo by Jodi Ford Lissa and Chris Juedemann in their studio. However, two teams […]
Drinking up the boos
The Avett Brothers are Trojan-horse traditionalists. Unsuspecting audiences see three lads step on stage with the usual mountain picking accouterments – banjo, acoustic guitar, upright bass. The ambush begins with the first pluck, when the expected high-lonesome is thwarted by a punk propulsion that would lullaby-ify Iggy Pop. And just when the mayhem reaches its […]
Earful
CD reviews Agent 23 and B Ski Rocks, The Road Less Traveled: Four Stars • Genre(s): Hip-Hop, Rap • You’ll like it if: You can identify at least one soulful bone in your body • Defining song: “Ghosts Roaming the Earth”—Agent 23’s spitfire lyrics depict our assembly-line society with potent conviction. Rap and optimism have […]