Singer-songwriter Joshua James grew up in Nebraska, but lives on a farm in rural Utah, where, according to press, "He's learned to live off the land and appreciate a simpler pace." Which is probably a good balance to the rest of his life, where he's a folk troubadour, touring with the likes of The Swell […]

Need more sketch comedy in your life? Carolina Sketchfest knows how you feel. The newly launched comedy festival plans to run twice each year with a showcase of sketch-comedy groups from around the United States and Canada. The inaugural Carolina Sketchfest, aka "2013 Cackalacka Edition," starts off small, but mighty, with four regional groups: Asheville's […]

Local singer-songwriter (and Brown Bag Songwriting Competition host) Alex Krug recorded her live album, Divers, during a performance at The LAB. Krug is a self-proclaimed conservationist, a theme that can be found in her original music. "Preserving nature translates into the harmonious way Krug writes songs. She layers strong foundational rhythms and roots while still […]

"Pilobolus makes art to build community," says the website for the contemporary dance company that traces its genesis to a 1971 class at Dartmouth College. These days, Pilobolus is not only a performance company but works with film, advertising, publishing and commercial clients, and has appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Sesame Street and […]

Southwest Louisiana-based Cajun, blues and swing outfit The Revelers is made up of members of The Red Stick Ramblers and the Pine Leaf Boys (including fiddler Daniel Coolik, a former Asheville resident). They were featured on season three of HBO show Treme, and on the season finale of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. In February, the […]

Tuatha Dea (whose name is taken from Celtic Mythology) plays a special St. Patrick's Day show at Emerald Lounge on Saturday, March 16. "We're rolling in with our African drums, kilts and eclectic Celtic Tribal mix," writes the Gatlinburg, Tenn.-based Celtic-rock-meets-tribal-rhythms collective. 9 p.m. Free admission for members and guests; $1 for non-members. http://www.emeraldlounge.com. (Find […]

The Strange and Tragical Adventures of Pinocchio or Why Didn't I Just Stay a Damn Puppet? is the final production to be held at the Magnetic Theatre's Glen Rock Depot location — all the more reason to catch the last weeks of this "new reimagining" by local playwright John Crutchfield. According to press, the story […]

Libyan-born globe-trotter Hisham Mayet is (among other things) a founding member of Seattle-based recording label Sublime Frequencies (home of eclectic world music including rock and soul from Saigon, Gnawa music from Essaouira and Bollywood steel guitar). He's also produced a number of films for the label that "have been redefining the nature of ethnographic film." […]

"The show is to be an old tyme rock and raw hazing venture," say Athens, Ga.-based garage rockers The Humms. The trio's bio recounts their evolution through influences like "their Cramps-esque B-horror flick shtick … vintage psychedelic lo-fi pop (à la The Troggs) and Gothic blues-rock (think Flat Duo Jets)." The Humms' 2010 full-length, Lemonland […]

In her new book, The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II, local author Denise Kiernan recounts the story of the female workers in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The town itself was one of the Manhattan Project’s secret cities, created in 1942. The women recruited to work […]

There are a number of bands working under the monicker Viva, including a classic rock cover band from Miami and a female pop group from India. But the Viva we're talking about here is the front woman/lead singer/rocker Viva DeConcini, called "the love child of Joan Jett and Little Richard" by The Aquarian. Her most […]

Greensboro, N.C.-based Songs of Water fuses ancient and modern, acoustic grass-roots jam sessions and classical training, jazz stylings and organic compositions. And there's the band's "uncommon use of the hammered dulcimer [which] melodically leads many of the group’s instrumental pieces." The seven-member outfit features the songwriting of Stephen Roach; they've performed on Michael Johnathon's WoodSongs […]

The Everyone Orchestra has a bit of a misleading name. Yes, their shows offer an orchestral-esque experience, with a conductor leading the band. But the “everyones” involved are players like Kyle Hollingsworth from String Cheese Incident, Reed Mathis from Tea Leaf Green and Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz from ALO. Expect some all-star locals as well (Greg […]

Local musician Ben Hovey (aka HoveyKraft) is a one-man band in the suavest sense of the word. His "musical adventures fusing EDM with soul, dub, jazz, hip-hop, and world music have taken him from Ultra Music Festival in Miami, to Earthdance in San Francisco, to Burning Man and beyond," says press for the Saturday, March […]