Fringe Fest Now in its ninth year, the dance/music/theatre/multimedia/performance art extravaganza known as The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival covers spans four days and multiple venues. BeBe Theatre, Asheville Art Museum, Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center and the Wedge Building all hosts events. Thursday, Jan. 20-Sunday, Jan. 23. $12/$10 for senior and students for […]
Truth & Salvage Co. Ever since Truth & Salvage Co. relocated to the West Coast (four of the six members used to live in Asheville performing as Scrappy Hamilton), they've been playing local stages fairly regularly. The now-Los Angeles-based band opened for one of the Avett Brothers' two sold-out Civic Center shows, joined The Black […]
Asheville Playback Theatre Taking its material directly from its audience's personal experiences, Asheville Playback Theatre performs personal, improvisational shows. Four upcoming themed performances called Life Stage — Friday-Sunday, Jan. 7-9 —include a children's show (Saturday at 2 p.m.) and an all-women's show (Sunday at 2 p.m.). The 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday shows feature singer/songwriter […]
Fifty-one weeks of news, arts and entertainment may be difficult to summarize — especially a period as seemingly vibrant and active as 2010. This year, Xpress offers a review in parts, through a selection of stories and images that staff writers, designers, photographers (and, in some cases, the readers) found the most interesting and memorable. […]
Unsilent Night According to the event's website, "Unsilent Night is composer Phil Kline's free outdoor participatory sound sculpture of many individual parts, recorded on cassettes, CDs and mp3s, and played through a roving swarm of boom boxes carried through city streets every December." It debuted in New York in '92. Join the Asheville contingent on […]
A Christmas Carol Beginning both the holiday season and a winter residency at the Masonic Temple, Montford Park Players performs Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. This is the story with Tiny Tim and Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future — we know it by heart, yet it never gets old. […]
Sheet Rock: The Poster Art of Subject Matter Studio Drew Findley is the artist behind Subject Matter Studio, and therefore a whole lot of the most eye-catching, locally made rock posters. (He's also the Production Manager at Xpress.) Gene Ween, Brett Dennen, Kings of Leon, The Avett Brothers and Ray LaMontagne have all been immortalized […]
As part of last week’s cover story, we published a Thanksgiving story from Sean McDonald, listing him as a member of the Moog Foundation. After four years of service to the foundation, McDonald stepped down from the board in late October this year. We apologize for the error.
Return of the Davids By "the Davids" we don't mean the awesome local garage rock band fronted by one David Clegg. Rather, we mean Davids Wilcox and LaMotte, both trailblazers during the 90s-era WNC singer/songwriter heyday, both moved on to other locales (D.C. and Maryland for Wilcox, Australia and India for LaMotte), and both returned […]
Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band Pervasive party act (because wherever they are, it's a party) the Booty Band takes a break from its tireless regional tour schedule to play on home turf: At the Orange Peel (which points out, "When the Booty Band hits the stage, everybody dances!") on Saturday, Nov. 20. 9 p.m., […]
The Big Bang with the Boom Chix How Asheville does this sound? Take the Boom Chix, our own all-female percussion and dance ensemble, add members of the Feral Chihuahuas, modern dancer Kathy Meyers, the one-woman show of Unitard and a host of special guests, and you’ve got The Big Bang, a two-night show at the […]
Last week, we reported that Chai Pani is holding a benefit for India-based nonprofit the Meher Free Dispensary. We misquoted Isaac Clay, the event organizer, as saying that the service aids roughly 250,000 patients a year. In fact, the MFD provides help to approximately 25,000 a year. We apologize for the error.
Dehlia Low Live CD release Local bluegrass act Dehlia Low, in its brief three-year tenure, has already become one of those bands that is so in demand elsewhere it's hard to catch them at home. This past year they played Merlefest and Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival — and also found time to put out a new […]
Les Caisson at Studio 103 "Les puts just a touch more in his art than you'd expect," says the website of formerly Asheville-based artist Les Caison III. "Maybe you will see it with time. Perhaps your friend will point it out to you at the next exhibition." You'll have your chance at Caison's oil and […]
Woody Pines at the LAB Always wanted to make an album? Here's your chance: Local roots act Woody Pines will perform at the LAB's back room on Friday, Oct. 22, and Echo Mountain Studios will record the show, to be released as a limited-edition vinyl LP for the holidays. Says Pines, "it's a great chance […]
HardLox Jewish Food & Heritage Festival More than just a cleverly named festival, HardLox — now in its eighth year — is an opportunity to celebrate Jewish heritage, learn more about the traditions and sample tasty kosher snacks (potato knish, maztso ball soup, noodle kugel and babkas are on the list). There's also Israeli dancing, […]
East of Asheville studio tour Twice a year, artists of the Black Mountain, Swannanoa and East Asheville area open their studios to visitors. Says the website, "Everyone is welcome to visit any or all of the studios during the tour, whether they are serious art patrons or just browsers of beautiful and interesting works." Some […]
Fiesta Latina The festival season may be drawing to a close, but it's not tapped out yet. In fact, one of the spiciest takes place this week:¡Fiesta Latina! Celebrating lucky-13 years. The cultural festival (which falls, naturally, during national Hispanic Heritage month) promises a full day of family fun. Latin foods, arts, crafts, children's activities […]
Henderson County Open Studio Tour For multi-taskers, this is your art appreciation/weekend drive/cardio in one. Purchase a heavy piece of pottery and you've got your strength training as well. But more than that, the Henderson County Open Studio Tour is a chance to meet artists in their work environments. The self-guided tour includes 30 studios […]
Asheville FM anniversary party The main thing to know about Asheville FM's anniversary party is that garage-rock outfit Reigning Sound is headlining. The Greg Cartwright-led quartet cranks out tightly crafted songs with just enough retro to make them seem like classics from the first listen. Soft Opening shares the bill at the Grey Eagle on […]
Mountain State Fair Fall’s chilly nights signal a host of seasonal treats, and after the apple harvest, the first and finest may be the state fair. With its bounty of oversized vegetables, its stable of farm animals, its midway rides and its fair-only fare (fried Snickers bars, anyone?), the N.C. Mountain State Fair is nine […]
