“Welcome to the award-winning WRATT hole!” says the sign on Don Hollister’s office at the Land-of-Sky Regional Council in west Asheville. The sign includes a picture of a tie-wearing rat — pencil and clipboard in hand. “We get a lot of mileage out of the name,” notes Hollister, a retired engineer who, with partner Gordon […]
Search Results for: 30 days out
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A doctor in the house
As a child, Arthel “Doc” Watson learned to play banjo on an instrument his father had made from, among other things, the hide of his grandmother’s recently deceased cat. Having also mastered harmonica at a tender age, the 13-year-old Watson started on guitar, the story goes, when he borrowed one and taught himself the chords […]
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Cable franchises: Other approaches Asheville’s cable-franchise controversy is about to ratchet up a level, when Citizens for Media Literacy sponsors two talks by telecommunications experts On July 16, Joseph Van Eaton, a partner in the Washington, D.C. telecommunications law firm of Miller & Van Eaton, will discuss the problems and pitfalls of franchise enforcement in […]
Oddball home run
He’s proof that you can have it both ways. Chuck Brodsky is a glorious oddity, a champion of things that don’t, at first, seem to fit together — proving that they are not only compatible, but maybe even vital to each other. If you subscribe to the notion that we are best described by our […]
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Mackey Mountain beckons If you’ve worn out your hiking boots walking the same old paths through the mountains, maybe you’re ready to explore someplace new. How about Mackey Mountain? The Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and the N.C. Chapter of the Sierra Club have just published a new hiking map featuring […]
World-class sounds
Very early into an interview with American music icon Mitch Miller, I made a major mistake. I asked Miller — a world-famous conductor, who’ll head up two concerts this month at the renowned Brevard Music Festival — about his background. It was my third question, I think, after, “Is this Mitch Miller?” and “How are […]
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Build your own outdoor oven Ah, the smell of fresh-baked bread — especially if you just baked it in your own outdoor, wood-fired, earthen oven! Culture’s Edge can teach you how (to build the oven, that is). On Monday and Tuesday, July 6 and 7, the organization is offering a hands-on oven-building class in Black […]
Letters to the editor
Why Asheville needs plans Some members of our community have expressed criticism lately that Asheville has too many plans and visions, and that these plans conflict with property owners’ rights. These criticisms were voiced again at the recent Charlotte Street planning forum, along with the sentiment … “It ain’t broke, so quit trying to fix […]
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No sign of the times Bye-bye, yard-sale announcements tacked onto telephone poles. So long, diet and weight-loss posters. Scram, lost-dog and -cat fliers. If Mayor Leni Sitnick has her way, Asheville’s public rights-of-way will soon be rid of these illegal public proclamations. Already, such signs “are being removed in record numbers,” according to a press […]
No apple for the teacher
Fund for Investigative Reporting Part-time college instructors in Asheville say local colleges are exploiting their considerable talents, in exchange for low pay, meager benefits and little chance for advancement. “We’re like vendors, or freelance teachers,” said Wayne Robbins, who makes more per hour waiting tables than he does teaching part-time at A-B Tech and UNCA. […]
The art of summer fun
Even the calendar admits that summer’s nearly here — that paradisal time when thoughts turn to swimming, cycling, hiking, camping and other outdoor pleasures. But why not sprinkle a little music, theater and dance, and perhaps a summer festival or two, amid that heady agenda? What follows is a sampling of summer arts events for […]
Attention kids!
We know you’d rather stay in the motel room and watch the Cartoon Network, but the adults won’t let you. And they’re probably right: It’s your summer vacation, and you came all the way here (or maybe you live here), so why not get out and do something? Here are some parent-friendly, but still potentially […]
Go jump in the lake
Lakes never meant much to me until I moved to the mountains. My family never spent vacations at lakes. When I was a young ‘un, we’d load up the wagon every summer and head to the beach — the ocean beach. There, I got a lesson in survival: Hurricanes, shark attacks and rip tides that […]
Around the mountains in style
If you choose to traverse western North Carolina’s peaks and valleys this summer — whether on foot, wheel, or hoof — there’s no need to go it alone. A host of local businesses stand ready to help you get the best from your explorations. Strong and silent One of the most extraordinary tour companions available […]
Union troops sack Asheville!
It was April 26, 1865, in Asheville. Seventeen days after Lee surrendered to Grant, 17 days after the beginning of the end of the War Between the States. The Union troops passing through Asheville had agreed not to harm the town, in exchange for three days’ food and three days’ forage for their horses. The […]
Finger-lickin’ good
At a time when the very notion of an issue-free rock band seems to be on the skids, it’s beautiful to witness the durability of a group whose sole ambition is providing a serious party. “You can’t [save the world] by singing about saving the world,” declares Southern Culture on the Skids lead singer Rick […]
Still in the saddle
Their music ushers you to a blissful spot beside a cool stream, shaded by a grove of cottonwood trees in high desert country. Your trusty horse, probably named Dusty, grazes contentedly by your side. Oh, yeah. Then a gaggle of tap-dancing rodeo clowns arrive. Riders in the Sky (a.k.a. “America’s Favorite Cowboys”) have managed to […]
Gotta whole lotta Love
It must be a huge hassle to move an event the size of the Black Mountain Music Festival, but it looks like they’ve done it: Having averted all potential disasters, the festival is now securely ensconced — for the second year — in its new home at Flat Rock’s Camp-Ton-a-Wandah. The lineup this year is, […]
Pickin’ and grinnin’ (and prayin’)
Although the roster for last fall’s Lake Eden Arts Festival was nothing to sneeze at, the spring L.E.A.F. lineup digs even deeper into the cracks and crevices of different musical traditions: Western swing, gospel, Cajun, country, R&B, bluegrass and world music are all represented by first-class international acts. One group — the London/Kyoto-based Eastwhistle — […]
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You take Manhattan (just give me that countryside) In 1976, Martha and Porter Claxton settled into their home on 500 acres in Weaverville, along with a couple of dogs, a few old cows and some chickens to loiter about the old tobacco barn. Twenty years later, the menagerie has grown to include ducks, geese, peacocks, […]
Letters to the editor
Friendliness begets friendliness It was with great interest that I read Eileen Duignan-Woods’ diatribe against Asheville [Letters, April 8], because I believe her complaint brought to light a pressing concern for the people of Asheville and Buncombe County: the ongoing effort of newcomers and natives to peacefully co-exist in this area. Given that there are […]