The late Doc Watson, guitarist extraordinaire, was more than a collaborator with local musician (and Grammy winner) David Holt: He was also Holt's friend. The two began playing together in 1998, and one of their first performances was broadcast on UNC-TV. Musician/storyteller/TV host Holt "traces the life and legacy of national treasure and folk legend" […]

"We were wild for a while," sings Atlanta-based electro-pop quartet Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun in their recently debuted video. That song (which “focuses on themes such as the freedom of self in childhood and connecting to the part of yourself that believes you can do or be anything "), comes from the group's […]

American Folk Art and Framing’s newest exhibit focuses on the very heart of Appalachia, "still a pretty wild place, the old and new of America live in close proximity." Both that place and the show are called Kentucky. Featured (from Thursday, Aug. 2 through Monday, Aug. 27), are carver Minnie Adkins (she was represented in […]

It was in 2007 that Jay Sanders (of the bass-and-guitar combo called the N/S Stick) and Steve Alford (alto clarinet) formed the E.Normus Trio, out of jam sessions at the now-defunct Joli Rouge and in honor of Alford's dog, Norman E. Normus. Drummer Michael W. Davis rounds out the trio; together they recently recorded Love […]

One of main events at the biannual Craft Fair of Southern Highlands (beyond the one-of-a-kind pieces in glass, fiber, wood, paint, metal and more) is the chance to meet the crafts people and tap into their creative genius. More than 200 artisans and crafters show off their skills and talk about their inspirations at this […]

The original Original Wailers were, of course, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston (aka Bunny Wailer, aka Jah B). But with two of those members gone from this world and Livingston currently involved with other projects, guitarist/vocalist Al Anderson (famed for his guitar part on Marley's "No Woman, No Cry") is helping the reggae […]

Local singer-songwriter and guitarist Valorie Miller is set to release her sixth album, Turtle Shell. The project was recorded at Echo Mountain in a mere 10 hours. Guests on the project include Mike Holstein on upright bass, Will Straughan on Dobro and backing vocals, Justin Ray on trumpet and Rupert Wates on piano. Varying from […]

Naturalist George Ellison chronicles over 30 years of his life, marriage, family and work as a writer — all while living on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The resulting book, Permanent Camp: Poems, Narratives and Renderings from the Smokies, includes poetry and prose along with water color landscapes by Ellison's wife, […]

The N.C. State Historic Sites series 2nd Saturdays continues at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial on Saturday, July 14 with Asheville’s Land of the Sky Barbershop Chorus. The vocal performance group sings popular music in "four-part consonant a cappella harmonies featuring dominant seventh chords," with plenty of comedy and audience participation. The free, family-friendly event runs […]

Now that we're well into summer (you can tell by the heat, the fireflies, the watermelon cravings), it's the perfect time for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Lucky for you, Montford Park Players is performing that very comedy, through Saturday, July 21. In case you need a refresher, the play follows the adventures of four […]

Two of Asheville's world music super groups are set to share the stage at The Altamont Theatre. The two trios — Free Planet radio (with multi-instrumentalist/producer Chris Rosser and Grammy award-winning bassist Eliot Wadopian) and The Billy Sea (with Dobro player Billy Cardine and bassist Jake Wolfe) — share dynamic percussionist River Guerguerian. The concert […]

The summer installment of The Big Crafty — equal parts social event, indie-craft bazaar and shopping expo — returns to Pack Place and Pack Square on Sunday, July 8. Vendors include Owlette Collective (bibs, bonnets and vests for babies), Rockpile Bindery (custom-made books), Sweet Mess Art (illustrations and prints with lots of stylized birds, flowers […]

Author, library critic and Emily Dickinson scholar Christopher Benfey already has an impressive CV. He's also the grandnephew of Josef and Anni Albers, German artists who emigrated to the U.S. to escape Nazi pressure and joined the faculty at Black Mountain College. Benfey's family memoir, Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay, follows the journey of […]

Asheville native Charles Frazier is probably best known as the author of Cold Mountain. His newest novel, Nightwoods, is also set in the Appalachian mountains — though instead of the post-Civil War era, that work of love and suspense is set in the early 1960s. Frazier is the second author to appear as part of […]

According to Charleston, S.C.-based "sloppy-tonk" duo Shovels & Rope, its stripped-down setup (two guitars and a "junkyard drum kit harvested from an actual garbage heap") is about necessity. Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent are an onstage two-person band and offstage married couple who have honed their sound into a "harmonized, loose but tight, streamlined […]

"I am particularly interested in how various artists have adapted the wood-fire patina to their own sculptural work," writes local ceramist Eric Knoche in his curator statement for Serendipity. The international exhibition, held at Crimson Laurel Gallery in Bakersville, includes work by nine American artists, as well as Neil Hoffmann from Australia, Nina Hole and […]

Folk trio The Stray Birds was born out of two of its members’ travels — Maya de Vitry busking her way across Europe and Oliver Craven traversing the U.S. as vocalist/guitarist/fiddler for Adrienne Young. Bassist Charles Muench rounds out the group. According to the group’s bio, "Often singing into a single microphone, their sound is […]

If you're a fan of Cajun music, then south Louisiana-based Lost Bayou Ramblers (with its fiddle, standup bass and French vocabulary) are an easy sell. If you're not of fan of Franco-Americana, the relentless two-step beat or the omnipresent accordion, Lost Bayou Ramblers may still be for you. They were nominated for a Grammy Award […]

Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance's summer show is the one-weekend-only Many Deaths of Edward Gorey, and Other Moments of Eccentricity. The Gorey part of the performance was first staged in 2007 and tells, in macabre-tinged costume and movement, the tale of the American writer and illustrator known for works like The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Gorey was also […]