When The Accomplices come to WNC, the Lowcountry string band makes it worth its while. You have three chances to catch the four-piece from Savannah, Ga., this week. According to a press release, the band is “not quite country, not quite bluegrass, not quite jam band but a remarkable amalgam of all of the above […]
Although it’s tricky to describe the central philosophy of local R&B outfit The Secret B-Sides (flowers, spaceships, prehistoric creatures and the intersection thereof), once you’ve danced to one of the band’s sultry, funky, mood-enhancing jams, it begins to make sense. Happily, the Secret B-Sides singer-songwriter Juan Holladay has teamed up with illustrator Bobby Morgan on […]
If singer-songwriter Damien Jurado looks gruff and stoic, he sings with the kind of emotionalism and aching authenticity that kind of stops time. His songs are not simple. They don’t have the sort of instantly catchy choruses that you sing mindlessly along with. And yet they feel like deep truths, known entities, homecomings. The Seattle-based […]
It’s one thing to be a steampunk: the top hats, the goggles, the rad gadgets. But to be queen of the steampunks is a whole other level. That title is reserved for author and editor Ann VanderMeer who, with her husband, Jeff VanderMeer, penned Steampunk, the 2008 anthology of steampunk fiction, The Thackery T. Lambshead […]
Pisgah Brewing Co. is turning 9, and for its big anniversary party, the beer lovers responsible for some of the region’s favorite craft brews have also demonstrated their fantastic (and funky) taste in music. The in-your-face, can’t-help-but-dance, Brooklyn-based soul band Pimps of Joytime will headline the outdoor celebration. With an infectious single titled “Booty Text” […]
While songwriter and former Squirrel Nut Zippers frontman Jimbo Mathus is known more for his energetic romp through the archives of American music, his newest offering is a departure of sorts. The title track to Dark Night of the Soul (recorded with The Tri-State Coalition) bleeds intensity, raspy vocals and shimmery guitars. “From the gritty, […]
Get to know Asheville’s artistic neighbors to the north at the Weaverville Art Safari, a self-guided tour through 40 local and nationally known artists’ studios and galleries. “Weaverville is so fortunate to have so much talent,” says Cindy Ireland, Weaverville Art Safari chairperson. “Our hardworking artists not only thrive on the creative process, but we […]
Asheville-based psychedelic indie pop rocker outfit The Tills arose from the ashes of its former, and apparently legally bound name, The Critters, in January after receiving a cease-and-desist phone call from the 1960s pop band of the same name. The local obliged and promptly released its new album, Mixtape Vol. 1, a frenzied 13-track outburst […]
Slow Down Pictures is the third art show with a soundtrack created by former Xpress designer and artist Nathanael Roney, and musician J Seger (Emily Easterly, VA/MD). “For the first time in the series, the individual works themselves have been titled, if not mostly for the sake of mentioning them here — Burden, Composure, Sh*t […]
Portrait painter Benjamin Franklin Long IV is also a master of the “true fresco,” the technique used by Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel. Long has completed more than 15 major fresco works throughout the U.S. and has shown his work in Florence, London and Paris, among other locales. A 2001 recipient of the Arthur […]
Local Afropop band Zansa has big news: Frontman Adama Dembele recently returned from a trip to his home country, Ivory Coast, where he performed at the weeklong MASA Festival, according to a press release. Fellow Ivory Coast native and dancer Barakissa Coulibaly (pictured) just made her way to Asheville, where she’ll be teaching and performing […]
Experimental rock band Ween formed in the mid-’80s and, after a remarkably long tenure, broke up weirdly and publicly in 2012. But all was not lost. The band’s founding members, Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo (aka Gene and Dean Ween, respectively) went on to pursue solo projects. These days, Dean Ween runs a charter boat […]
If great art comes from suffering, there were plenty of hard knocks to be had in embattled Belfast, Northern Ireland. That’s where poet Adrian Rice grew up and published collections including Impediments and The Mason’s Tongue. Nobel Prize recipient Seamus Heaney said that Rice “has a nice sense of what he is up to as […]
Two rock ’n’ roll bands on one stage — always a good thing. But what’s interesting about this shared bill, says Hard Rocket bassist Didier Rubio, is “the ages of the members. Hard Rocket is an older experienced group of musicians (in our late 40s) while Posh Hammer is are all in their teens.” Plus, […]
UNC Asheville is presenting its first Arts Fest, and if the name sounds broad, that’s because it is. Highlights of the eclectic lineup include musical acts Steep Canyon Rangers and David Holt and the Lightning Bolts as well as a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, set in contemporary Asheville. Poetry slams, creative writing workshops, […]
The indie-folk duo of singer-songwriter/namesake Paleface and percussionist/vocalist Mo Samelot performs at Warren Wilson College on Friday, April 4, at 9 p.m. Free.
This month would have marked the 60th birthday of the late (and much missed) local sculptor and painter Vadim Bora. The artist, originally from the Caucasus Mountains in Russia, came to the U.S. in 1993. At his downtown Asheville gallery, he “mounted an annual or sometimes biannual April Fool exhibition — celebrating a sharp wit, […]
On Reagan Boggs’ new album, Quicksand, the country singer-songwriter examines “those mired living a routine existence, only to wake up one day wondering whatever happened to their dreams.” It’s a road she has walked herself, having left the music business behind in 2009 to care for her newborn son. “You kind of go through a […]
Though the styles of poets Tracey Schmidt and Majo John Madden are quite different — hers “beautiful, lyrical and haunting” and his “raw, sprawling and often very funny” — the local wordsmiths have much in common. Both poets are very personal, psychological and accessible in their approach, and both claim to write “poetry for people […]
Composer/violinist/dream-pop artist K Ishibashi (known, on stage, as Kishi Bashi) is not only talented but stylish. In case his artful haircuts, pastel bow ties and elegant recent sets at The Orange Peel and Bele Chere aren't evidence enough, Ishibashi released new song "Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It!" through Esquire.com. The track, from his forthcoming […]
A new monthly series, Asheville City Limits, launches at Emerald Lounge on Thursday, March 27. "During this series, we will professionally record HD audio and video of an entire live performance to be published on our website and for syndication on local and regional media outlets throughout the Southeast," says a press release for the […]
