The Blotter Boys have recorded only 12 songs to date and played just a handful of live shows. But don’t call this group — whose name is often preceded by the qualifier “all-star band” — a bunch of novices. Band members’ collective experience spans almost five decades, and their resumes read like a Who’s Who … Read more
They’re purported to be famed vampire chronicler Anne Rice’s favorite band. If it’s true, the dark novelist must be exploring her sunny side, these days, because the seven-year-old New Orleans quartet Cowboy Mouth is about as far from gothic as, well, dead is from undead. Think bouncy, not brooding. To be sure, the band’s latest … Read more
Sheila Carlisle, vocalist extraordinaire for The Cascade Street Blues Band, sings the blues from a level of experience that few people live to tell about — the kind of firsthand knowledge that isn’t based on rhythms or keys or slide-guitar licks. No, Carlisle knows the deep-down, dirty bottom of the blues — the kind that … Read more
Tax credits and jobs — that’s what Asheville hopes to get by having most of the city designated a State Development Zone. Asheville Community Development Director Charlotte Caplan asked for City Council’s permission on Dec. 1 to apply for the designation, which would take affect Jan. 1, 1999, if granted. The program would mean thousands … Read more
Think about it: If you were the director of a regional airport, and you had a major construction project on your hands — say, a multimillion-dollar, multilevel parking deck — and you knew that the window of opportunity for getting the project done was several months less than the time it was estimated to take, … Read more
How should the county proceed in negotiating a franchise agreement involving two local cable companies? Should they accept the terms as offered, or should they hold out and aggressively bargain for a better cable deal? That was the key question at the Buncombe County commissioners’ Dec. 1 meeting, as they weighed the pros and cons … Read more
Bar none According to the National Fire Protection Association, 16 people die in fires each year across the U.S. — trapped in their own homes or apartments by security bars. That has Asheville Fire Chief John Rukavina worried, because many such devices — meant to keep intruders out — don’t have latches that allow them … Read more
Underage drinking kills One young man lies dead, and six others are charged in connection with [a Nov. 21] beating and shooting [in Raleigh]. This was not an inner-city gang war, or even a bad drug deal. All the young people involved are students at North Carolina State University. [Editor’s note: Six North Carolina State … Read more
