The unusual suspects

“We had an idea of how we wanted it to sound,” says Cliff Worsham, half of local electronic project RBTS WIN. He’s talking about the band’s new album, Palm Sunday,…

The G.E.D. Records soul showcase takes the stage as the third installment of this year’s RiverMusic series, created by environmental nonprofit RiverLink. This is the second year for the event,…

There’s a definite rise in the number of soul music groups, and not just in the back-in-the-day-revival, televised for a PBS fundraiser special bands. You know: The Drifters, The Miracles,…

“People think, with me, that it’s a dress-up contest or a history project,” says dapper roots musician (and former, albeit briefly, Asheville resident) Pokey LaFarge. “I just choose to look…

The local restaurant scene, like most of Asheville culture, could use a good-natured ribbing every now and then. And who better to take up the task than the Magnetic Theatre,…

Andy Warhol, Barbara Kruger, Robert Mapplethorpe, Willem de Kooning, Cy Twombly, Keith Haring, Martin Puryear, Jenny Holzer, Carl Andre and William Eggleston — it sounds like a litany from an…

The Apothecary and Black Swan Theater are teaming up to support local playwriting. Or, as press for the inaugural meeting of the Eagle Street Playwrights says, "to encourage, refine, and…

If you missed the well-matched pairing earlier this year of local bluegrass-rock outfit Brushfire Stankgrass and Richmond, Va.-based rock-funk-jam ensemble The Shack Band, you're in luck. The two groups will…

"Rebecca Pronsky could probably sing the phone book and bring out subtle nuances in the listings with her penetrating voice," said Blurt Magazine of the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter-guitarist. And Northern Sky…

There was light, and sound, and action, and one quick weekend to complete masterful short films. Though the 48 Hour Film Project has come and gone for yet another year,…

The “Impractical Labor in Service of the Speculative Arts,” ILSSA for short, has over 200 members from 28 states and 5 countries. They’re artists and artisans, crafters and creators bound…

Carolina Mountain Ribfest offers a weekend of barbecue and extreme festival eats

The solar-powered street cart sells several creative varieties of the frozen treat.

One Friday a month, Micheal Scharf waits in his car in the parking lot of Innsbruck Mall, ready to open his trunk for a select group of customers and show…

You’ve probably seen the billboards, the ones that say “You just blew $10,000.” They’re anti-DUI adverts, and the idea is that by the time you pay legal fees and fines,…

Many think that if Asheville had an official beer, it would be an IPA. So when the Asheville Brewers Alliance chose a style to brew together for Asheville Beer Week,…

Thai Basil in the Grove Arcade is closed, but it will soon reopen as Thai Tara. Tony Pornchinda of Charlotte recently purchased the business with some partners, and he says…

Beaverdam goes big If you've always wanted to lend a hand in a community garden, but aren't quite ready to make a weekly commitment,  stop by the Beaverdam Community Garden…

In an emergency, where every second counts, the ancient discovery made by Greek mathematician Archimedes still holds true today: The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But…

This is the second story in a series featuring local tech and Internet businesses based in Western North Carolina. Be it a folk artist in search of an art festival…

If the North Carolina General Assembly adopts last-minute bill amendments that would change the state's requirements for abortion clinics, Asheville's FemCare Inc. could be the only one of 16 in…

Canterbury Hills — a 99-bed adult-care home with a history of complaints, EMS calls and state violations — will close at the end of the month. The announcement came quietly…

Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Federal Co-Chair Earl F. Gohl has announced the creation of Appalachian Community Capital (ACC), a new central bank for development lenders that will increase the availability…

For Rosman business owners Curtis and Leah Buchanan, it’s all about helping their local community. When the couple decided to move their graphic-design business, Dabbler Graphics, out of their home…

Openings Nomatic Studios music mastering services. http://www.nomaticstudio.com. 512-0013. (Pictured.) Closings The Health Adventure closes July 14. 800 Brevard Road, #620 Subway, 33 Battery Park Ave. Next week Coming up next…

Pub-cycle hiring drivers as Asheville’s self-propelled, wheeled drunk-tourism industry finds its legs

Tell me someone else has noticed that the groundhogs are plotting a takeover. In fact, it may already be underway.  Drive onto Interstate 240 West from Riverside Drive any day,…

Emily Patrick’s June 26 portrayal of Hector Diaz in “The Many Lives of Hector Diaz” is further evidence that she has raised the bar for food writing in Asheville. Very…

Regarding Asheville Police Chief William Anderson: This is nothing but a witch hunt by a select group of cowardly people who want to see the demise and fall of Asheville's…

In reply to Mark Muhlenfeld's June 19 letter, “Next Time, Try Waving”: I've been riding motorcycles for 50 years. My experience has taught me that the motorcyclists who live longest…

There is no reason why our society, in the 21st century, should face the dangerous risks associated with irresponsible management of coal ash. The EPA has labeled the two coal-ash…

The Asheville coal plant is the largest coal-burning power plant in Western North Carolina. Ten percent of the coal burned there becomes the toxic waste referred to as “coal ash.”…