Entering the second-floor studio newly designated as The Future of Tradition Center for Folkloric Arts, I experience a wave of total amazement at the space’s transformation. Located at 129 Roberts St. — in the heart of the up-and-coming creative haven that is Asheville’s River District — this previously ramshackle space is now enjoying a vastly … Read more
Regina Carter hopes her latest CD, Motor City Moments, will open some eyes — and minds. Specifically, she wants certain people to understand why she incorporates so many different musical styles into her jazz — why you’ll find Thad Jones and Milt Jackson compositions right beside Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye tunes, all peppered with … Read more
The Prodigals have emerged as the dominant force on the Celtic-music scene simply because there’s no one else like them. No doubt you’ve heard that about a lot of contemporary bands that fuse ancient melodies with rock rhythms. But this time, it’s true. A powerful, New York-based outfit, the Prodigals blend Irish traditional music and … Read more
If you were standing anywhere near City/County Plaza late on the evening of Jan. 23, you might have heard a rattle and a crash — the sound of Asheville City Council members throwing down the gauntlet — coming from the Council chambers toward the end of a lengthy formal meeting. Vice Mayor Chuck Cloninger led … Read more
The fallout from Buncombe County’s controversial plans to site a satellite jail on the edge of downtown continued to ripple through the community last week. The Asheville City Council, which unsuccessfully pleaded with the county commissioners to delay their Jan. 16 vote, responded on Jan. 23 with action of their own. (See “Just the facts,” … Read more
Asheville City Council members have learned their lesson well: Not so long ago, they routinely declared dozens of goals for one fiscal year — many of them impractical, much less achievable in such a short (governments, like glaciers, move at a different tempo). In 1997, for example, Council members came up with nearly three dozen … Read more
The “authorities” ought to be ashamed The puissant “law-enforcement” rackets run by those in the public sector who are entrusted and enjoined to promote the public peace and the public good here in Asheville nearly ruin’t my livelong day, today, first thing this mornin’. As I exited my home, via wheelchair, I was verbally ambushed … Read more
