Being well-intentioned but naturally slothful — and suffering from that chronic malady called “Someday I will” — many of us find making New Year’s resolutions quite easy. It’s keeping them that’s impossible. I give you four reasons why audio books are especially helpful tools if you aim to change your ways in 2001: First, you […]

“My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: When you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.” — Elmore Leonard Review The Aerialist, by Richard Schmitt (Sewanee Writers’ Series/Overlook Press, 2000) Richard Schmitt’s darkly funny debut novel, The Aerialist, is as much about everyday life as it is a […]

Somewhere on the easternmost fringes of Buncombe County, Clyde Hollifield leads a taciturn existence far from the madding crowd. But his reputation casts a long shadow. I stumbled across his name while interviewing an eccentric local writer. “Do you know any other exceptional characters?” I asked at the end of our conversation. I was promptly […]

Once again, a new year looms — and once again, I look back and realize that I haven’t achieved half the things I set out to over the past 12 months (or the past 10 years, for that matter). When my college recently sent me an alumni questionnaire asking for a list of significant accomplishments […]

As in other towns, holiday traditions abound in Asheville: Sitting (and swearing) in traffic on Tunnel Road. Paying a lot of money to go to Biltmore House to look at a lot of lights. Enduring yet another production of The Nutcracker because your umpteenth cousin (niece/nephew/grandchild/godchild/child-you-barely-know) is starring as The Mouse. Swearing off commercialism in […]

“If people are getting the fun vibe, then I’m happy,” says virtuoso bassist Victor Wooten. “Like the music or not, if you can feel the fun that we are having, then that’s great. “And we definitely are having fun.” A Victor Wooten show is a family affair. His current band features his brother Joseph on […]

For almost a decade, downtown Asheville’s Zone one contemporary gallery has showcased the provocative and the original in Western North Carolina’s burgeoning visual-arts scene. But now the splash and the magic are coming to an end. Closing the “Zone” as an active commercial art space will mean that gallery owner Connie Bostic, a painter, will […]

To most musicians, a “jam” is a highly informal affair — a chance to swap licks and drink a few beers, maybe. But for Asheville’s homegrown guitar god, Warren Haynes, it’s a little more complicated than that. Haynes’ annual Christmas Jam in Asheville (now in its 12th year) has become a veritable who’s who of […]

Flat Rock Playhouse upholds its tradition of delivering fine seasonal entertainment with its current production, a melding of two one-act holiday musicals. Christmas may be the best time of year to visit North Carolina’s state theater — the playhouse exudes warmth and good spirits. Situated in scenic Flat Rock and surrounded by solemn pine trees, […]

Josh Joplin didn’t feel like he had a choice. While his peers were getting their first taste of teenage freedom behind the wheel of Mom and Pop’s old Olds, roaring recklessly with radios wide open past Amish horse-drawn buggies on rural Lancaster County, Pa., roads, Joplin, 16, was dropping out of school to follow the […]

It’s Friday-night rehearsal of act one, and a myriad of details, on and off the floorboards, still need to be ironed out. The Dancing Maids, in their warmup leggings and workout leotards — imaginary feather dusters fluttering from their long, graceful arms — are slightly out of step. “Don’t guess!” cautions Ann Dunn, the Asheville […]