Performance artist Amy Steinberg describes what she does as "Goddess Rock Comedy." She blends original music, poetry and humor "to promote tolerance, openness and diversity." Steinberg, classically trained since age 4, has performed with the likes of Ani Difranco, Lisa Loeb and Vonda Shepard; her subject matter deals with empowering women, faith, sexuality and love. […]

In the late 1980s, Lucy Hunnicutt left her career, her marriage and her home in Texas. She wound up in remote north Florida where she tended a plant nursery and picked up a paint brush. "The first thing I ever did was a dream I had still in my mind from the night before. In […]

From its inception, Sanctum Sully has been the bluegrass band that people like, even if they don't like bluegrass. That has as much to do with the group’s rootsified covers of songs like "Life During Wartime" (Talking Heads) and "Sympathy For The Devil" (The Rolling Stones) as its party-ready attitude (the band's name is a […]

"Mosses growing on rocks and logs lead to reflections on the important role that these humble plants play in cleaning our water supply" — so says one of the observations from The Forest Unseen. The book is the end result of a year in which biologist/professor/author David Haskell spent examining (on a daily basis) a […]

If you've taken a ride on the big purple bus, then you've probably already met LaZoom tour guides Momma’s Boy Trey Ashe and Mezzo the Happy Medium. The two come together in the person of actor/writer Brian Claflin, who brings his creations to The Magnetic Theatre. One-man show Mezzo The Happy Medium: A Haunted Comedy, […]

Finally — after years and miles logged, after lineup changes and studio time and stage time, after a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the mastering, artwork and pressing of CDs — local funk outfit Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band is set to launch sophomore studio album, Doin' It Hard. The in-store release date is […]

If you've watched a Ken Burns documentary you've probably heard the music of pianist Jacqueline Schwab. A performer of classical, folk and contemporary music, Schwab has scored Burns' films including Civil War, Baseball and The National Parks: America's Best Idea. She's currently at work on music for Burns' upcoming Dust Bowl — but she's taking […]

You might remember local cover band Mavis — the group frequented Tressa's and launched the singing career of Paper Tiger's Molly Kummerle. That band was named in homage to R&B artist Mavis Staples, who got her start in the '50s gospel family group, The Staple Singers. She's not only still around, but still incredible — […]

First of all, no one will be reading in the buff at this event. The "naked" part has to do with the new book, Naked Came the Leaf Peeper, a collaborative serial published in celebration of Malaprop's 30th anniversary. A dozen authors from in and near WNC contributed to the novel, billed as "A Southern […]

Guitarist David Brown and fiddler Cailen Campbell met while touring nationally with a bluegrass ballet. That was in 2006, they've since gone on to form dance band Contraversial. They perform at contra dances, house concerts, festivals (LEAF!) and selects bars (like 5 Walnut) as well as crafting beautiful music for waltzes. Contraversial plays a waltz […]

By now you've probably heard the sad/infuriating story about how local musician Dup Crosson (Saint Solitude, To All My Dear Friends) was robbed of $5,000 worth of equipment — a devastating blow to a professional musician. Now the happier news: The local music community is rallying behind Crosson with a benefit show on Thursday, March […]

Creative trifecta Michael Oppenheim (photos), Laura Hope-Gill (essays) and Michele Scheve (design) announce the launch of their latest collaborative effort, Look Up Asheville II. Picking up where architecture/prose book Look Up Asheville: An Architectural Journey left off, the new collection "draws greater attention to the work of James Vester Miller, the slavery-born contracting magnate," features […]

This is the seventh installment of this “fun, humorous, provocative evening" of dance, ranging from hip-hop and modern to folklorics and performance art. Performers are both amateur and professional, but the common theme is "work created by men and performed by men." Dancers include Joe Adams, Jim Julien, John Crutchfield, Sky McDowell, Douglas Haynes, Bob […]

Local roots rocker Pierce Edens has been road-testing his newest material (for an album set to drop later this spring) while on tour up and down the East Coast. Besides logging miles and perfecting songs, Edens and his band have been sharing stages and making friends with other groups, like Brooklyn's JP and The Gilberts. […]

Local hip-hop artist Chachillie (aka Chach, aka Charles Stewart) gave us a taste of his talent on last year's Secret B-Sides release (Chach raps on "On to You"). This year is Chachillie's year. He's already released several stylish, artistic videos and his full-length album, Goosebumps on Pangaea, is set to drop "moments before midnight" on […]

Need an advance St. Patty's day fix? Here's just the thing: Premier (and locally based) Celtic violinist Jamie Laval performs a St. Patrick's concert with his Large Band (EJ Jones on bagpipes and flute, David Brown on baritone guitar, Rosalind Buda on bassoon small pipes) at The Altamont Theatre. The two hour show on Friday, […]

Inspiration can come from the most unlikely of places. For author Tracey L. Pacelli, the impetus for her young adult novel, Time Warped, rose out of a battle with stage four melanoma. Pacelli beat the cancer, and, as she explains in an email, "in an effort to keep my daughter near me, I turned my […]

Multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Jason Krekel informs us that the Krektones are instro-rock — "don't call 'em surf cuz we's in the mountains" — and they'll be releasing their first EP on Family Night Records (home of local bands Tony Wain and the Payne and Doom Ribbons). The four-song 45 includes a Ventures cover, Greg Cartwright's "Stop […]

You probably know Jon Reid as the musician formerly known as Jar-e. You might also know him from Twitter or other platforms where he's irreverent, sarcastic and downright funny. If you know him from his weekly AshevilleFM show “Race to the Bottom” (Sundays from 7-9 p.m.) then you already know what's in store when Reid […]

Asheville's only all-female sketch-comedy troupe is back, this time with a nine-show run at The Magnetic Field. If you were lucky enough to catch a LYLAS show before (they sell out fast), you might remember their side-splitting performance of "Carl [Mumpower] is Watching Us" (dressed in choir robes), or their send up of local Segway […]