Local indie-psychedelic outfit Warm the Bell (Sean Robbins, Vickie Burick, Sam Brinkley and Rick Shore) has been busily working on debut, You Are the Sun. The album was recorded at Collapseable Studios; an early listen reveals hints of Americana, '60s rock, tight percussion and bright slashes of steel guitar through fuzzed-out melodies. Tracks are both […]

Is it a coincidence that Jakob Dylan's band, The Wallflowers, plays The Orange Peel the day after his father plays The U.S. Cellular Center? Probably. The important point here is the Wallflowers are not only back in Asheville, but back in general, following a seven-year break. Last fall, they released Glad All Over, with which […]

“April is the cruelest month for poetry,” Charles Berstein wrote in his essay/polemic, “Against National Poetry Month As Such.” “National Poetry Month is about making poetry safe for readers by promoting examples of the art form at its most bland and its most morally ‘positive.’” Asheville Wordfest, started in 2007 by Laura Hope-Gill, was not […]

It seems like blues-rock mega-outfit Tedeschi-Trucks Band, 11 members strong, must have played in Asheville before. And, in a way they have. Husband and wife duo Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi have, between them, made appearances at Bele Chere, Christmas Jam and various venues (dating back to when Trucks was a teen). But they've never […]

"Though Leon Redbone's iconic guise of white fedora, jacket and sunglasses has been thoroughly satirized (anybody remember the “Leon Redbone workout” Far Side cartoon?), it’s easy to overlook what a genuinely gifted artist he remains — a role he inevitably tries to downplay," says press for Redbone's Saturday, May performance at The Altamont Theatre. The […]

One reviewer described Rhode Island-based Brown Bird as "‘30s-era Ellington flirting with Cuban and Middle Eastern tropes in a proverbially dusty middle-America barn." The duo is David Lamb and MorganEve Swain, and their newly-released album, Fits of Reason is a continuation of the band's quest for innovation paired with literary savvy and esoteric musings. Brown […]

Friday, May 3 is a big night for Asheville’s progressive arts scene. Satellite Gallery (55 Broadway St.) hosts the opening of Apopalypse, featuring new work from Peter Parpan, Alli Good, Andy Herod, Joti Marra Ramsey and Nick Turkette, “five artists working in a similar pop culture influenced style,” for a show that “attempts to speak […]

Local artist collective Clan Destiny Circus performs a "show for the child, for the moonstruck lovers, for our elders with a taste for life.” According to a press release, the troupe's members each have specific talents that they bring together for six-to-10 person acrobatic dance routines. They'll team up with Big Ben and the Clock […]

You know Shakespeare's Hamlet, right? At least more or less. But what about Hamlet reimagined through the lens of Victorian-era steampunk? "Themes of indecision, revenge and retribution, deception, ambition, loyalty and fate make Hamlet timeless," says press for the show, produced by the A-B Tech Drama Club, and staring A-B Tech alumna Hayley Karbowski as […]

Bob Dylan has always done things his own way, and sometimes he misses but mostly he hits. Most recently, the legendary folk/rock musician released 50th Anniversary Collection, a four-CD set with 86 live tracks and studio outtakes recorded in 1962 and '63. But only 100 copies were pressed and sent to specialty record collector shops […]

Devotional chant and yoga teacher (and Oprah Winfrey fave) Snatam Kaur leads both a workshop and an evening of kirtan, sacred music and songs of India. The concert is at at the UNCA Kimmel Arena on Friday, April 26, 7:30 p.m. $45/$22. The workshop is on Saturday, April 27, 1-5 p.m. at the UNCA Sherrill […]

Hendersonville-based author Ann B. Ross has been working on her popular Miss Julia series since '99. The feisty Miss Julia is a widow as well as a church member and pillar of her small community, Abbotsville. But throughout the series, the title character creates a new family, keeps up a crazy house and solves mysteries. […]

Pioneering musician Dick Dale was born in Boston, but when, as a teen, he moved to California's Orange County with his family, he got into surfing and then music. Dale learned drums, ukulele, trumpet and finally guitar. But he didn't stop there. Inspired by his Lebanese heritage, he drew on Arabic sounds, which ultimately led […]

Organizers for the newly minted Asheville Creativity Symposium: From the Imagination Storm to the Creative Form, describe it as "an imaginatively dynamic event." Poet/creative entrepreneur James Navé and musician River Guerguerian host. They'll "navigate through deep exploration of the individual artistic voice and purpose to form a confluence of intentions and artistic trajectories that will […]

It's been just about a year since we last checked in with Raleigh-based The Love Language. At the time, the band — fronted by Stu McLamb — was working on a followup to 2010's breezy, laid-back Libraries. McLamb had entered the studio with 40 demos and spent the month of February (2012) recording. And then […]

"Sonmi consistently explores the delicate balance between natural humanism and the harder side of modern technology in their compositions," the band says in its bio. Now, six years into its adventure to the boundaries of electronic music (and beyond), Sonmi (Michael McBride, David Mathes, Robert Garmhausen and Nigel Gilmer) have not only produced stellar recorded […]

The big news for rock/soul/groove outfit The Broadcast is that they recently finished recording a new studio album (at Echo Mountain, naturally) and will be releasing it this summer. But, because this is a band that rests little and moves lots, instead of taking it easy before that album launch, they've announced a spring tour […]

Celebrate both diversity and haute couture at the World Fashion Show. Stylists from Ananda Hair Salon team with local makeup artists, fashion designers and photographers for a collaborative fashion event with designs inspired by various cultures: Japan, Africa, Spain, Iceland, Russia, France and the U.S. are all represented. Twenty models, seven photographers and a videographer […]

Singer-songwriter Ryan Sheffield and his band headline a night of local indie-rock. Sheffield and company recently released Telescope, an album's worth of songs that rock, Pogues-like, at turns thoughtful and tipsy. The frontman's delivery is both lithe and raspy, his lyrics skip and glide like boozy poetry, as poignant as they are fun. And each […]

There are many signs of spring around Asheville — the return of the downtown gallery crawls, hula-hoopers and outdoor seating. And this: Curve Studios 2013 Spring Open House Weekend and Twilight Party. The open house is a chance to visit the River Arts District studios belonging to Curve building artists (work includes textiles, button art, […]