DJ Skillz at Emerald Lounge One doesn’t have to look hard in Asheville to find an Americana or indie rock show to attend. But what if you’re looking for hard-driving hip-hop and sexy R&B? Not quite so easy to find. About six months ago, Social Life Times promoter Timmy Smith, frustrated by this void in […]

Fanaticon Ready for a very different sort of festival? Fanaticon returns for its second year with "comics, collectibles, pop culture and more." Unlike your typical summer fest, Fanaticon is mostly indoors. There's less ziplining and corndog eating, more trivia (movie and trivia night is on Thursday, May 19), costumes, sci-fi and heady panel discussions. The […]

Diva*licious Cinq The annual musical fundraiser Diva*licious (now in its fifth season) may involve drinks and hors d'oeuvres, but the real treat takes place on the main stage when contestants (Carol Duermit, Sara Fields, Murphy Funkhouser, Rachelle Roberts, Bradshaw Call, Andre Ellerby, Ty Shelton and Chuck Taft) vie for audience votes and the ACT Diva […]

Evening of poetry at The Altamont Part swanky date-night, part world tour, on Friday, May 6 The Altamont hosts five area poet-translators reading English-language versions of renowned bards. Thomas Rain Crowe reads Hafiz; Caleb Beissert reads Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca (both readers perform to musical accompaniment). Other readers include Malaprop's owner Emöke B’Racz, […]

French Broad River Festival It's officially festival season: The 14th annual French Broad River Festival takes over Hot Springs with a weekend’s worth of the great outdoors, water, sports and music. Headliners include BoomBox, The Bottle Rockets, Great American Taxi and Snake Oil Medicine Show. Tickets ($75) include camping, bands, registration fees for whitewater and […]

Footloose! At first it was a Kevin Bacon vehicle with an '80s-reminiscnet soundtrack. Footloose came back this year on the big screen with dancer Julianne Hough as the love interest. In between, the Kenny Loggins-fueled spectacle made it onto Broadway. Catch the musical version in Asheville: Bioflyer productions mounts the show as a benefit for […]

Hush Little Beachcomber book signing Hush Little Beachcomber, by Dianne Moritz, is a charming storybook (for ages 4-8) that recounts a fun day at the beach. Better, it's meant to be sung to the tune of "Hush, Little Baby." (Try it: "Hey, little beachcomber, what do you say? Let's take a trip to the beach […]

Travis Medford's art It's been awhile since graphic designer Travis Medford worked at Xpress (he's now a designer at Lark Crafts), but his posters still decorate the walls around our offices. They'll also hang on the walls of Push Skate Shop & Gallery: Medford's art exhibit, The Third Other, is a collection of new works […]

Runaway Circus and the Loose Caboose Ever heard of a "Portal Party"? Apparently it's what happens when a mysterious gift is delivered to a boring birthday party. It's also the name of the fifth annual community circus by Asheville's Runaway Circus and the Loose Caboose. Acrobatics, juggling, trapezes and tricks are just some of what […]

Little Tybee Part orchestral, part moody jazz-pop, part modern-ambient, Little Tybee is an odd collection of sounds and influences that fall together in wondrous ways. The band, which takes its name from a tiny island off the coast of their native Georgia, recently released its sophomore album Humorous to Bees. They play the Grey Eagle […]

St. Patrick's Day at the White Horse Must be the luck o' the Irish — you get live music from The Wooly Jumpers (featuring members of the Red Wellies) as well as players from the Irish Session. Says the White Horse, "Food will be served and some of the beer may even be green!  Dancing […]

Blue Ridge Rollergirls season opener Asheville's all-female, flat-track roller derby league returns with its first home game of the season: the St. Patrick's Day Slay. And the smack-down is a double-header, with The French Broads going up against the Twin City Derby Girls at 5 p.m. followed by the Blue Ridge Rollergirls All-Stars taking on […]

Wayne Caldwell at Thomas Wolfe Memorial Local author Wayne Caldwell not only writes in Western N.C. but about WNC. Both of his novels (Cataloochee and Requiem by Fire) are set in Haywood County’s Cataloochee Valley. Caldwell was awarded the 2010 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award: Fittingly, he appears with Stephen Woody (whose grandfather served as […]

The Crackers of Comedy Comedians Matt Ward and Joe Pettis (AKA underground indie duo The Crackers of Comedy) plan to cover 14 states, 17 shows and 3,000 miles during their current tour. They'll perform at The Magnetic Field (with local comedians Tom Scheve and the Feral Chihuahuas' George the Bastard) on Tuesday, March 1, 8 […]

The Baker Family Former Asheville musicians The Baker Family (now based in Austin, Texas — but still Asheville locals in their hearts, they assure us) return to the Grey Eagle on Saturday, Feb. 19. The Bakers say they "witnessed a exceedingly awesome turnout and response last year" and "feel like there's a lot to catch […]

Jake Shimabukuro When Jake Shimabukuro's mother handed him a ukulele at age 4, she probably never imagined her son would become a virtuoso, known for complex finger work and renditions of classic rock tunes (a Hendrix-style "Star Bangled Banner," for one). Of his most recent album, Peace Love Ukulele, Shimabukuru says, "if everyone played the […]

Larry Keel at Pisgah Brewing Larry Keel's homegrown combination of Blue Ridge Mountain bluegrass heritage and innovative technical skill makes Larry Keel and Natural Bridge a vehement force to be reckoned with. The flat-picking virtuoso, along with his wife, Jenny (fiddle, lead and harmony vocals) and mandolin player/vocalist Mark Schimick, will be playing in Black […]