“We’re glad to have people come here — but we want them to know our history before they try to change things.” That was a common refrain Rebecca Williams heard when she set about collecting stories for Way Back When: Folk Tales of Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley, an original folk play she directs. […]
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High notes, low notes
Kristy Jackson was down in the dumps after Sept. 11. But she found catharsis for both her sorrow and her adulation of heroism. Jackson expressed her feelings in a song about civilians thwarting terrorists — and scored a hit single in the process. In a much-anticipated advanced-songwriting workshop coming up at the Flat Rock Music […]
Flat Rock Music Festival headliners
Loudon Wainwright III Driving near NYC 30 years ago, Loudon Wainwright III got a quick whiff of reality. “I ran over what was left of a skunk,” he recalled in a recent interview, adding, “I was inspired.” He wrote “Dead Skunk” in 15 minutes. The top-20 novelty song’s line “dead skunk in the middle of […]
The Practical Gardener
The first time I met Bill Taylor, he was presenting a workshop on growing vegetables. At the time, I was impressed with his storehouse of knowledge, and I envied his ability (as a retired gentleman) to devote his days to his passion. Since that time, I’ve periodically heard his name associated with impressive gardening feats. […]
The Wild Gardener
There’s a great deal of talk these days about the honeybee and the various threats to its existence (and they are legion). But before the colonists ever brought the honeybee to America (sometime back in the late 1400s), plenty of other pollinators were already here doing their bit with native plants — all sorts of […]
Notepad
Speaking our peace What happens when two local poets feel moved to speak out for world peace? If the bards in question are Asheville poets Mendy Knott and David Schenck, they organize a grassroots event and invite all of WNC to speak out too! “Let the Mountains Ring: Voices for Peace” happens Friday May 10, […]
Putting the cart before the horse(power)
In one fell swoop, former Asheville mayoral candidate Dave Goree aims to save the Civic Center, promote the use of alternative fuels, and bring racing back to town. Sound like a tall order? Maybe. But Goree’s a Libertarian, and anyone challenging the dominant two-party system has to dream big. How does Goree propose to realize […]
WNC clean-air events, programs and resources
Here’s a rundown on local clean-air-related activities happening this month. Asheville/Buncombe County events • FR & SA May 10-11, 6-10 p.m. – A 28-hour open-mic Clean Air Vigil and Voters’ Summit on Mountain Air Quality will be held at Pack Square. Speakers, music, poetry, prayers and meditations will support the effort to pass S1078 – […]
It’s in the air
The mind does not absorb what the eye cannot see. — Aldo Leopold Across Western North Carolina, winter-weary residents are welcoming another spring. Unfortunately, May also marks the start of the season of increased ground-level ozone. Automobile and industrial emissions mingle with sunlight to create ozone and other pollutants. And from May through September, the […]
Panhandling the public
This past winter, it seemed that nearly everyone in Asheville — from Sadie Funderburk in West Asheville to Police Chief Will Annarino to City Council member Joe Dunn — was suddenly discovering a plethora of panhandlers. Chief Annarino maintained that “these people” — that is, panhandlers — were responsible for backing up traffic and stopping […]
Notepad
Celebrating the crafts of Scotland The mountainous terrain of the Southern Appalachians bears a strong resemblance to the rocky Scottish Highlands, making this area a natural choice for the many Scots who settled here in the 18th and 19th centuries. No surprise, then, that Appalachian crafts and culture, language and lore also closely reflect their […]
From the front lines
Surrounded by other peace marchers returning from the day-long rally, I stood before the slick, glossy poster in the Washington metro. My spirit sang as I looked at the photograph on the right-hand side and saw, underneath the word “DUMB,” a landmine nestled in a bed of tall grass. But the singing stopped when I […]
Reel big show
Few people would credit Bob Dylan with pioneering Celtic rock. However, when he shocked the world by going electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, Dylan opened the flood gates through which new forms of traditional folk music could be expressed. Lief Sorbye, founder, singer and double-necked mandolin player from Celtic rockers Tempest, is […]
The latest word
Lost Nation by Jeffrey Lent (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2002) The dramatic success of Cold Mountain was still rippling through the literary world when its publisher purchased and published Jeffrey Lent’s debut novel, In the Fall. Fall went on to become a national bestseller and launched the former Asheville resident to the top of his game. […]
Listening between the lines
Asked to do a piece on the Asheville Art Museum’s current exhibit, John Cage Visual Art: To Sober and Quiet the Mind, a writer with a broader streak of smart-ass might have felt compelled to submit a blank document to her editor. Or perhaps a single page with letters and characters scattered seemingly at random […]
The Yellow Brick Road not taken
When Dorothy heads down a certain lemon-hued pathway at Warren Wilson Theatre this May, she’ll be wearing silver slippers, and she’ll be in the company of women — an all-female cast, to be exact. The silver slippers hearken back to L. Frank Baum’s book, The Wizard of Oz; the shoes were changed to ruby-red in […]
The Practical Gardener
My dad never grew corn in the garden he tended outside Denver, where I grew up. He was from Nebraska and Mom was from Iowa, so they certainly knew what corn is supposed to taste like. I know Dad tried growing it a couple of times, but the conditions in Colorado made it hard to […]
The way things are
“Hatred felt long enough and deeply enough no longer feels like hatred. It feels like economics, or religion, or tradition, or simply the way things are.” — Derrick Jensen Imagine that you were offered the chance to examine our society through a special kind of microscope. You could see so clearly that normally invisible structures […]
Instrument of change
Ian Anderson rose to rock stardom writing tales about hard-luck oafs — such as the horny slob in the classic-rock staple “Aqualung,” and, in “Locomotive Breath,” the “world’s all-time loser” who’s clutched by the “all-time winner.” Now 54, Jethro Tull’s legendary front man says he empathizes most with his downtrodden characters. “It’s easier to relate […]
The Practical Gardener
Sometime before 1910, a paper-shuffler from the Bureau of Indian Affairs decided that the problem with agriculture on the Hopi and Pueblo reservations in the Southwest was that those people just weren’t growing the right type of corn. Their corn was about 3 feet tall, and while each plant produced a respectable number of ears, […]
At home
Mountain Xpress prides itself on being a community newspaper that offers a clear look at local issues. But what sometimes gets lost in the shuffle are the people whose lives are affected by those issues. So we’ve decided to turn the tables somewhat and cast a glance at folks who aren’t making news, clawing for […]