When Brooks Williams was casting about for ideas for his newest album, the singer/songwriter/guitarist decided to take stock of music he loves — but never shows off on-stage. The result is Little Lion (Signature Sounds 2000), a collection of melodic guitar pieces inspired by music from such disparate locales as West Africa, Brazil and Appalachia. … Read more
There’s a joke among music critics that Hank Williams Sr. almost single-handedly popularized country music worldwide after his death — and that Hank Jr. nearly killed it, long before his own. Now, there’s a new Williams face, an eerily familiar one, coming soon to a stage near you. Hank Williams III is the grandson of … Read more
Superheroes they’re not. But for T Lavitz, playing in Justice League is yet another chance to jam with a super group. That’s something the Dixie Dregs/Jazz Is Dead keyboardist is used to. Last year, he toured briefly with a band called the Hillbilly Funk All Stars — featuring Richie Hayward and Kenny Gradney from Little … Read more
Photographers Benjamin Porter, Eric Baden and Larry White met more than 20 years ago at the Apeiron Workshops in Millerton, N.Y., where they learned their craft. Silver to Blue, a current exhibit of their black-and-white photographs, celebrates their friendship, which began in that region’s Silver Mountains and still thrives, today, in the Blue Ridge. Porter’s … Read more
For Tyrone Greenlee, the Building Bridges program has helped to heal some of the racial scars he suffered growing up as an African-American boy in Asheville. For others, the eight-week seminar simply offers an eye-opening look at how racism operates — not only in Asheville, but across America. Building Bridges uses speakers, videos, readings and … Read more
Plugging Census 2000 The nearly 40 percent of Buncombe County residents who didn’t return their mail-in census surveys in 1990 may have cost us more than $1.8 million in federal and state funds, Anita Metcalf reported to the Board of Commissioners during their Jan. 4 regular session. As the county’s training-and-development director, she urged the … Read more
Back-bedroom views of the Pisgah range: a nice selling point for the urban homes now under construction at 86 Patton Ave. David Mallett, the 74-year-old owner of the building that once housed the Piedmont Electric Co., hopes the four new condominiums and six apartments will be finished by May. Stacked up against some of the … Read more
A major challenge in renovating old downtown buildings is complying with strict fire and safety codes, and with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Making structural changes to satisfy regulations can be very expensive, but federal tax breaks can help take the sting out of it. All of downtown is a designated national historic district, … Read more
Asheville’s urban center is fairly dense, but there are still some unused nooks and crannies and plenty of unrenovated buildings. Eventually, however, they’ll all be reclaimed — and, in the meantime, the central business district will continue to expand, anyway. So what’s on the horizon? Where will the first new buildings go? Could any of … Read more
Question-and-answer routine For the 21st century, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners has reverted to a little old-fashioned philosophy: They’ll allow questions from citizens during the public-comment section of each regular meeting, and do their best to answer those questions right then and there (or have county staff respond). Commissioners had been discouraging questions — … Read more
