Singer-songwriter Shane Cooley is from Northern Neck, Va., but recently made his home in Austin, Texas. He’s about to embark on a tour that takes him from Texas to New York and back south to Louisiana. Cooley and his band, The Lucky Kings, play Jack of the Wood on Sunday, Aug. 9
New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins is set to release the fifth book in his Quinn Colson series, The Redeemers, this month. Atkins has written 17 novels to date, and has been deemed by bestselling author Michael Connelly as “one of the best crime writers at work today.” Atkins reads and signs The Redeemers at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe on Monday, Aug. 3.
Matthew Quick, author of “Silver Linings Playbook,” has just published new novel “Love May Fail.” Quick reads from and signs the book at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe on Monday, June 29.
Faustine Wilson is the owner of Survival Pride Clothing in downtown Sylva and the daughter of the late author Victoria Casey McDonald. Wilson presents her mother’s last book, Living in the Shadow of Slavery, at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville on Saturday, June 27.
Local absurdist/gypsy/folk/funk/punk collective Sirius.B has been playing fewer shows lately, but by the sounds of things, that’s about the change. The group launches a busy spring and summer season at Lake Eden.
Grammy-nominated kid-hop artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo has been regularly making the trip back to LEAF from his new home base in California. Here, he talks about the festival, plans for his own musical trajectory, and his special equation for LEAF maximization.
World music trio Free Planet Radio (Chris Rosser, River Guerguerian and Eliot Wadopian) has played many a LEAF festival — and the three musicians also have their hands in a number of other projects, from LEAF stages to world tours.
Ithaca, N.Y.-based indie-pop outfit The Blind Spots has been on a bit of tear since releasing their most recent album, Rhizomatic — they’re launched a number of videos and just started their winter tour.
No need to worry about a low-energy performance from singer-songwriter Kate Voegele. The Ohio-born musician and actress (she starred on “One Tree Hill” for four seasons) is currently on a tour sponsored by LUNA bar. So, nine grams of protein: check. Gluten free: check. Amped up, pop-savvy songs: check. Voegele is on the road in […]
Singer-songwriter Noah Gundersen grew up in a conservative (e.g. no rock music) home in Washington. Still, he self-recorded his first album at 13 and went on to release six more records both as a solo act (with his sister Abby, who plays viola, violin and cello) and with their band, The Courage (which includes brother […]
Leading up to LEAF festival, Mountain Xpress is talking to a number of artists from across the country and across musical genres. Abigail Washburn (Uncle Earl, The Sparrow Quartet) recently released the 12-track collection Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn with her husband and fellow banjo player, Béla Fleck (The Fleck Tones, The Sparrow Quartet). They’ll […]
Leading up to LEAF festival, Mountain Xpress is talking to a number of artists from across the country and across musical genres. Folk musician Dom Flemons describes himself as an American songster. A founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, he’s since gone on to pursue a solo career and recently released his album Prospect […]
Leading up to LEAF festival, Mountain Xpress is talking to a number of artists from across the country and across musical genres Singer-songwriter Wyatt Espalin is the winner of this year’s NewSong competition. From a small town in Georgia, he moved to Nashville to pursue music. Espalin was a member of the band Trees Leave […]
Leading up to LEAF festival, Xpress is talking to a number of artists from across the country and across musical genres. The Revelers, with members of the Red Stick Ramblers and The Pine Leaf Boys, are a Cajun and swamp-pop outfit based in Lafayette, La. Regular visitors to Asheville, they’re as at home playing to […]
Leading up to LEAF festival, Xpress is talking to a number of artists from across the country and across musical genres. David Wilcox is a singer-songwriter who released his first album in 1987. A Warren Wilson graduate, he was an important part of the folk music scene in Black Mountain and Asheville in the late […]
Leading up to LEAF festival, Xpress is talking to a number of artists from across the country and across musical genres. The Nth Power classifies its sound as, simply, “Love.” With musicians culled from the likes of Dumpstaphunk, John Brown’s Body and John Brown’s Body, the collective performs an intoxicating mix of soul, funk, jazz, […]
Leading up to LEAF festival, Xpress is talking to a number of artists from across the country and across musical genres. Local West African folk music outfit Mande Foly incorporates the kamal ngoni, syncopated rhythms and call-and-response singing. Mountain Xpress: What’s it like to be a West African band in Western North Carolina, versus in […]
“America’s two-man outlaw country band” is the tagline for North of Nashville, the collaborating between Jay Basiner (acoustic guitar, lead vocals, harmonica, percussion) and Andrew Martelle (fiddle, mandolin, guitar, vocals). As the duo’s name suggests, they’re located north of Music City. Far north. In Maine. But Basiner and Martelle have a pitch-perfect country sound, from […]
The Water Liars take Instagrams of album covers, muscle cars, breakfast specials and random signs. They write the kind of songs that you get instantly and understand later. From Mississippi, Water Liars was originally singer-guitarist Justin Kinkel-Schuster and drummer Andrew Bryant, and their combined vision. Constantly productive and constantly on the road, the duo eventually […]
As Stephen Colbert said, “a young adult novel is a regular novel that people actually read.” So no need to feel guilty about indulging in Isla and the Happily Ever After, the just-published YA romance by local author Stephanie Perkins. The summer before her senior year in high school, Isla (pronounced eye-la) bumps into her […]
Mutual Benefit is an ironic name for a band that’s singular rather than plural. Singer-songwriter Jordan Lee is the project’s sole permanent member. Then again, the benefit in question might be shared with Lee’s many collaborators — he assembles a group for each album he puts out. The most recent release, the dreamy and transcendent […]
