There are those among us who live lives of incredible richness. And there are those among us who expose lives of incredible richness. Rarer still are the art lovers, like Jonathan Williams, who do both. In 1978, the (now unfortunately defunct) NC Arts Journal published an issue on Black Mountain College and small presses. They […]
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Father of invention
Col. Bruce Hampton. Never has one name simultaneously meant so much to some, and absolutely nothing to almost everyone else. Even the enigmatic singer/guitarist himself — an underrated artistic visionary equal in appallingly beautiful purpose to the likes of Salvador Dali, Frank Zappa or any Black Mountain College alumnus — is reluctant to pinpoint his […]
The junk journal
Views • Two Fridays ago, former Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ front man Kevn Kinney — the vibrant, underground, Southern songsmith by way of Milwaukee –stopped into Almost Blue for an intimate, acoustic performance. The engagement at the downtown record store was meant to highlight a superb new record, plus his band’s gig later that evening in […]
Cartoons
Trees for the future
By the time the still-vigorous remnants of the recent hurricanes and tropical storms began roaring through our region, there was little anyone could do to mitigate their fury. And once the rains and winds subsided, the evidence of nature’s power was clear. Watercourses had overflowed their banks, flooding streamside areas and washing away or simply […]
Where you can lose it – and it’s all right
Autumn is upon us again, and while the recent spate of hurricanes did their share to defoliate area trees, a lot of those tenacious leaves held on to drop another day. So you could rake them. But fall can mean more than just tedious yard work — Western North Carolina revels in the annual celebration […]
What to know before you go
If you’re like many of us who love these mountains, it’s not enough for you to admire their billowing waves of fall color from the detached safety of a pullout on the Parkway. You want to plunge in and crunch through those rolling miles of rainbow leaves on your own two feet. But longtime mountaineers […]
Letters to the editor
Beware the wolf in Amendment One’s clothing I assume that by now everyone has seen the slick, 30-second TV ad or the glossy leaflet asking you to vote for Amendment One this November. Millions of dollars are being spent to make sure this amendment passes. Who has that kind of money to spend? The people […]
Local ABC operations need new leadership
The performance of the local Alcoholic Beverage Control operations and their governing board raises some major questions. Although this board is appointed by City Council, for many years it’s been allowed to operate with very little oversight. The current board consists of Deborah Holmes-Young, Barbara Field and Thomas Bell. ABC operations must follow strict state […]
Friday Night Lights
I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this bone-crunching true story of dreams in a dusty land. And you’ll love it if you’ve ever lived in a small town where kids count the days until they can leave, and adults wallow in regret that they didn’t. Or if you ever wanted to win so bad, your […]
Asheville City Council
A rare double-header played out in City Hall on Sept. 28, as the Asheville City Council convened 90 minutes before the scheduled start of its 5 p.m. formal session to tackle items left unaddressed at the previous week’s work session. But unlike when the Tourists play two at McCormick Field, scant few showed up to […]
Letters to the editor
A Swift response to the Davids’ animal-rights concerns Whenever I see something written by one of the Davids (Stewart or Terri), either in this paper or the local daily, I can count on it being well-written, concerned with the treatment of animals and also a bit “edgy.” I compliment them on their sincerity and willingness […]
What’s best for the trees?
Asheville’s drinking-water watersheds have been in the spotlight recently as City Council has considered developing a forest-management plan for these protected water sources. But amid all the heated discussion, one topic has been conspicuously absent: What type of activity or inactivity would best serve the forest itself? Over the past 60 years or so, our […]
With a little help from dead bluesmen
Thirty years ago, legendary Mississippi producer Jim Dickinson predicted the rise of his lineage with a shimmying statement: “World boogie is coming!” Today, Dickinson’s two sons, Luther (guitar, vocals) and Cody (drums, guitar, vocals), along with friend Chris Chew (bass), are redefining the parameters of the dance floor as the North Mississippi Allstars, a hill-country […]
Flights of fancy
Fashionable shops and bistros fill once-boarded-up buildings not just in Asheville anymore, but in Waynesville and Hendersonville, and even in many of Western North Carolina’s tinier outposts. You hear voices on our streets today hailing from Los Angeles, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston and New Orleans. For Luzene Hill, though, it was the voice of her […]
The junk journal
News Check this week’s Smart Bets for the lowdown on the One Degree of Separation Music Festival, planned for Saturday, Oct. 9, at downtown’s Pritchard Park. A slew of Asheville-area bands and other special guests will highlight this all-day jam-a-thon, which is also an informal benefit for WNC flood victims. Admission is free, so take […]
Cartoons
Afterglow
One of the advantages of gardening 2,500 feet up in the Southern Appalachians is that this unique combination of elevation and latitude supports three growing seasons. As in the Pacific Northwest, there can be a second harvest of spring crops during this third season of cooling temperatures and shrinking light. Here in my eco-niche, Season […]
A converted effort
If you’ve been following the news lately, then you’re aware that a crisis is brewing in Vietnam. I mean, there must be, right? Why else would our two presidential candidates make this Southeast Asian country the central focus of their campaigns? With control of the White House on the line, American voters can rest assured […]
Making waves
Ocracoke Island, permanent population 600, is only 17 miles long. Its width varies from half a mile to all of … two miles. And yet a recent Semi-Public poster announcing an exhibit of five Ocracoke artists at the gallery is littered with a bountiful assortment of provocative words — OCOCK, WOCCON, WOKOKON, CROATOAN. All are […]
Kind of blue
artwork by Jason Krekel So here’s the scoop: The Blue Rags are back together, and they have a new CD. But don’t believe everything you read. While it’s true the group will debut songs from a still-unnamed album at their upcoming Orange Peel gig, the “new” disc was recorded back in 2000. Furthermore, this makes […]