All smiles: 2015 Christmas Jam house-wall raising

It was an unseasonably warm December afternoon on Soulshine Court in Habitat for Humanity’s Hudson Hills subdivision in West Asheville. A crowd of neighbors, volunteers and fans gathered around the work site for the wall-raising of Habitat’s 2015 Christmas Jam house. For 17 years, Warren Haynes, Asheville native and world renowned musician, has worked closely […]

Storify: Dispatches from Christmas Jam

A Woodfin native, Grammy-winning rocker Warren Haynes returned home this weekend for the 26th annual Christmas Jam. Over the course of the 7-hour concert at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Asheville, Haynes was joined onstage by Jason Isbell, Billy Kreutzmann, Caleb Johnson, Jackie Green and many more acts. Concert-goers posted photos and other dispatches from the Dec. 13 event via Twitter late into the night.

Five (or more) Questions with Free Radio

Local hip-hop band Free Radio, fronted by Austin Haynes and Johnny Reynolds, will play the exclusive Pre-Jam (kicking off the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam) this Thursday. In advance of the show, Austin talks to Xpress about Free Radio’s new as-yet-to-be-named backing band, what it means to represent Asheville at the Christmas Jam, and why sharing a stage with his uncle is such a big deal. Photo by Nick King.

Still going strong: Christmas Jam celebrates 25 years of benefit concerts with two-night blowout

Reflecting on his 25 years of annual Christmas Jam benefit concerts, Warren Haynes says there’s been “too many highlights to list.” The event’s grown from a small concert at the now-defunct 45 Cherry nightclub into one of the city’s biggest entertainment events, held this year on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13-14, at the U.S. Cellular Center. With proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity, the shows are meant to celebrate Asheville’s philanthropic and artistic values, says Haynes.