In memoriam Westville Pub music booker Gerry Livers will be honored by the venue with a memorial show on Sunday, Nov. 23, from 6-8 p.m.; Gerry passed away unexpectedly last month. His singer/songwriter friends will play songs the local-music advocate loved, and Westville’s stage will be officially dedicated to him. 225-9782. Of note A debut, […]

The stress is beginning to creep up on them. And yet these actors don’t seem particularly scared, just exhausted. They’ve just finished their warm-ups — preparation for the upcoming, physically demanding final fight scene. And the five weeks of intense rehearsal they’ve already put in — not to mention the compounding grind of their day […]

Under a scorching glare of stage lights, a band is going nuts. Members toss their instruments across the stage and furiously knock over a small set of kick drums. One guy, overwhelmed, begins to trash his instrument. It’s a banjo. And the banjo’s abuser is none other than Scott Avett, the brother of guitarist Seth […]

Of note Two years (and a few weeks) of Random Acts It’s been just over two years since Random Acts first appeared here, and my CD collection now overflows with music you simply can’t find outside Asheville. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Still, it’s high time this reviewer took a few weeks’ […]

Front-row reviews What: The RebellesWhere: North Carolina Stage Company When: Saturday, Aug. 30 Outside, a crowd. And a huge crowd by local-theater standards, in fact — all of them waiting patiently for the chance (and it was only a chance) to get in. It was the final night of the second run of Asheville’s unlikely […]

Off Centre strikes the right balance Since forming last August, Off Centre has gone from being an unknown, acoustic-rock pickup band for front men Joey Wilton and Brandon Lowery to, this spring, being named “Best Local Band of 2003” by readers of the Asheville Citizen-Times. For an underdog band — one without so much as […]

Of note • Sons Sounds: Good news for local revisionist-bluegrass fans: Sons of Ralph (Featuring Ralph) recently announced that their new CD, Mountain Boys, will be out in September. The album is a followup to Live … Tune to This, released earlier this year. Visit www.sonsofralph.com. • Bugs Licking Rugburns: Though The Licks and The […]

Senatobia, Senatobia (Arc Entertainment, 2003) Last week, I found a copy of Senatobia’s new, self-titled, four-song demo among a pile of press kits in Xpress’ arts-and-entertainment office. It had been a slow day, and I thought this would be good for a laugh, if nothing else. But for the better part of the afternoon, as […]

A few calls to Asheville-area music stores revealed something unexpected: No record vendor around here would own up to even knowing a fan of one of the most radio-friendly bands of the last decade. Instead, Hootie & The Blowfish — former rulers of the pop charts with swollen, feel-good, arena-rock anthems such as “Let Her […]

Front-row reviews What: Smog w/Pacific Ocean and Wayne Robbins & The HellsayersWhere: Stella BlueWhen: Tuesday, July 29 Few people really get into Smog, one of the legends of the American lo-fi movement (along with groups like Pavement and Palace). As a cornerstone of the Drag City label, they’re legends at mixing the urban angst of […]

Digging for recognition “We tried to play everywhere, but nobody would let us,” says Ted Robinson, taking a long drag off his cigarette. “If you see a picture of us playing, or hear any description of us, it’s really a test for people. I mean, who would trust a guy that said, ‘I’m in this […]

Digging for recognition “We tried to play everywhere, but nobody would let us,” says Ted Robinson, taking a long drag off his cigarette. “If you see a picture of us playing, or hear any description of us, it’s really a test for people. I mean, who would trust a guy that said, ‘I’m in this […]

Phil Anselmo’s history is littered with hard, unforgiving music. That said, the ex Pantera leader’s latest project, Superjoint Ritual, finds him fronting a retro act that includes country scion Hank Williams III on bass. But don’t expect twang and heartache; this is nostalgia with fangs — and without confines. “It’s like Neanderthal rock,” Anselmo gruffly […]

In the studio with Red Penny Arsenal “Do you think there are a lot violent images in your music?” I ask. “Yeah,” Matthew Anderson says, nodding. “All of the songs are really violent, actually.” We’re in a basement studio/rehearsal space in Candler, killing time till the rest of Anderson’s band, Red Penny Arsenal, shows up. […]

Ever since Fred Chappell stepped down from the post last December, no one wants to suggest who North Carolina’s next poet laureate ought to be. In a state brimming with writers — from the haunted Outer Banks to our own mountains at the other end — it won’t be easy finding that perfect replacement. Chappell, […]

Of note Magnificent seven: • Local “western-wave” front-runners Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers recently announced plans to release their first official recording before summer’s end. Although details are murky, Robbins has stated that the yet-to-be-titled album is planned as a seven-song demo. For more information, visit www.goodluckcricket.com. • Be on the lookout for the debut […]

Take a role with the Montford Park Players, and you end up practically living at the summer troupe’s amphitheater home. You get to know the rest of the cast as well as any Shakespeare-loving strangers can expect to know one other. And soon, the strange, dank smell of the amphitheater’s “back stage” — a cramped […]

For a Montford Park Players production, Henry IV, Part 1 is supported by a remarkably steady vision. It’s a cut version of the play, trimmed to two hours. Yet not much is lost in the pruning. While the acting skill varied greatly from performer to performer, most players seemed at home in their roles. In […]

Of note • Aggressively funny local pop-punkers Code Adam have announced plans to begin recording their debut. Although no release date for the CD is available, it’s doubtful the currently untitled project will be out before fall. For more information, visit www.codeadamstar.com. • Local hip-hop heroes H. Brycon and DJ Equal have announced plans for […]

The story of a porn writer with family problems, Paula Vogel’s Hot ‘N’ Throbbing is a challenging play, dealing with issues even a professional theater company might have trouble bringing to life. Plaeides Productions’ version works about half the time. Here we have a single mom, Charlene (Betz Bigelow), trying to raise her two adolescent […]