Unlike Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, set in a single fairy-enchanted evening, this weekend's “A Mid-Summer Night's Mardi Gras” spans two sundowns. And instead of fairies, the events are under the spell of Dixieland — from food and drinks to music and dance. Take a Cajun dance lesson, partake in two-steps and waltzes and taste […]

After being rained out earlier this year, Big Love festival was rescheduled for the fall (Sunday, Sept. 15). But Big Love fans don't have to wait for September to celebrate all that's great about Asheville (music, crafts, food and beer) — there's a pre-party this week. Pleasure Chest provides the soundtrack and there's a raffle […]

"It wouldn't be summer without the Anything that Floats Parade," says press for this weekend's RiverFest, the 14th annual celebration of the French Broad River, put on by RiverLink. The aforementioned parade involves "watercraft of all kinds" created by various local groups. The day full of family-friendly fun also includes food trucks, local beer, activities […]

Shakespeare's play, Love's Labour's Lost, was first published in 1598. It's about the King of Navarre and his three friends who vow to give up women in order to pursue their studies. But when the princess and her three ladies show up, the best laid plans go comically awry. Montford Park Players has reinterpreted the […]

If, when you think of American roots music, you don't immediately think of Los Angeles, that city's The Dustbowl Revival might just change your mind. Of the band's sound, press says, "This rambling, rolling spirit is the same spark that lit a fire under the past two centuries of Westward migration in America. It comes […]

On Aug. 1, Blue Spiral 1 gallery will be opening a new series of exhibitions. You won’t want to miss checking out the new sculptures that Asheville artist, Andrew Hayes, will be showing. The featured piece, “Kedge,” is a small-scale sculpture that is made of bent steel and book pages, a unique combination that is […]

"This is a coming together of friends for the cultivation of a spiritual awareness of the effect of music on the soul and the collective," says the earnest and enthusiastic press release for 2PPM (aka Two People Playing Music) and ONAWA. The local experimental bands have not only been honing their original sounds, but busily […]

Pulp, the private club located under The Orange Peel, is occasionally open for special shows when the upstairs stage is closed. Among those performance gracing Pulp's intimate space is a series of local and regional underground bands. Wyla, the dreamy, experimental shoegaze project of Edward Madill, headlines on Thursday, July 25. Altered Zones wrote that […]

Toy Boat Community Art Space celebrates its first anniversary with a sock-hop spectacular. Both sock hop and spectacular are accompanied by a bunch of exclamation points on the show poster — keep that in mind when planning an outfit and polishing your moves for the themed dance (!). Little Diddy Know and Shangri Las provide […]

Colorado-based bluegrass-rock fusion act Yonder Mountain String Band is "more than just a musical party," according to press. "It’s bluegrass for the masses, acoustic tunes filled with dazzling chops, and it’s fun to boot." The band is a regular at festivals, but is also known for bringing something extra to the stage. On its current […]

The twice-annual Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands (which “began in 1948 as a way to provide a regional market for the mountain craftspeople,” according to press) returns to the U.S. Cellular Center with a long weekend's worth of clay, fiber, glass, leather, metal, mixed media, natural materials, paper, wood and jewelry. Almost 200 juried […]

The latest project from local hip-hop outfit CrazyHorse and Colston is Colston's Cold Cuts. It's a new collection of songs by Max Hupertz and Bryan Godleski, with contributions from Molly Kummerle of Paper Tiger, Austin Haynes and Johnny Reynolds from Free Radio, Foul Mouth Jerk and others. The release party, called "Shoulder vs. the System," […]

Although, of his most recent LP (2012's Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now), singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle said, "This time I’ve gone in a Memphis-soul direction," he did not head in a Memphis direction to make the album. The 10 tracks were recorded live, with no overdubs, in four days at […]

Here's something to do with the kids (especially if you have seven): Start a Mardi Gras Indian tribe and then travel and perform together in eye-poppingly ornate costumes of lace, satin, and enough oversized-feathers to take flight. The troupe was founded in '96 by Big Chief Kentrell Watson and has grown to 14 members, including […]

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 fruits of its labors remain. More to the point, the end results of the labors of 24 teams who began the endeavor, 19 who […]

"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 said her sound is "as if The Smiths relocated to Nashville." Which is cool, but absurd, because just try to get a Smith to Asheville, […]

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 reunite on the Emerald Lounge stage on Thursday, July 11. "Their last date together resulted in extensive jamming between the two bands (the first time […]

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 produce local theatrical work." The playwrights group will gather on the first Thursday of each month to workshop and plan for upcoming productions. Sign up […]

Kudzu-boogie outfit Turchi (named for front man Reed Turchi) has been nonstop touring for the past year or so, and it's paying off. Like, with a feature in Oxford American (way harder to come by than a write up in, say, Rolling Stone), and a showcase for that Southern lit magazine. Though the band has […]