If you believe their bios, singer/songwriters Evan Dando and Vic Chesnutt were born in different years to different mothers on opposite ends of the East Coast. One tasted stardom in his 20s, in the 1990s, fronting a successful post-punk alt-pop group, only to crash and burn — or burn out — by the end of … Read more
It’s not unusual for an artist to be deeply inspired by a tragedy that happens halfway around the world. But the resulting work can be a miserable failure. Making art about foreign cultures and experiences isn’t easy; the specter of “otherness” sometimes rears its ugly head, and good intentions go down in flames. And though … Read more
Advice on how to live from an Alabama house painter to his aspiring-musician son: Don’t call what you’re wearing an outfit. Don’t ever say your car is broke. Don’t worry about losing your accent; a Southern man tells better jokes. Have fun but stay clear of the needle. Call home on your sister’s birthday. Don’t … Read more
If the plot of the play Nuts were reduced to a pair of screaming headlines in a New York tabloid, they would shout: “Sexy call girl offs john!” and “Hooker claims ‘I’m not crazy!’” Given that playwright Tom Topor once wrote for the New York Post, the image might not be that far-fetched. Yet Topor’s … Read more
They say it’s their birthday What separates the “Be My” Babies from the “Hit Me (One More Time)” Babies? Depends on whom you ask. The ins and outs of recognizing a good pop song “is all subjective,” declares multi-instrumentalist Aaron Price, who’s one-half of local production company Collapseable Studios, along with bassist Bill Reynolds (of … Read more
If a naked fat guy snores in a sensory-deprivation tank, does anybody hear? Well, the naked fat guy sure does. And when his own sinusy snorts startle him awake amid the unbroken blackness and sumptuous stillness to find himself floating effortlessly inside a molded-plastic cabinet pumped with oxygen-rich air and Dead Sea-salty water, he will … Read more
When you live with trees, it’s hard to miss the seasons. As the acorns clatter down the roof, the beech leaves gather at the front door, and the dogwood berries brighten, it’s easy to see that fall has arrived. Many rituals mark the fall season: carving pumpkins, making apple butter and pressing cider. But fall … Read more
“The wine is made in the grapes.” — Lee Griffin, Rockhouse Vineyards At least a dozen cars and trucks of various vintages are parked on the grassy edge of a country road in Polk County. Several more are strung along the dirt tractor row that crests a knoll covered with perfectly strung vines. It’s quiet … Read more
“We ought not to be exercising authority we do not have, in my opinion.” — Henderson County Manager David Nicholson A troubling question arose at a recent meeting of eight county managers who are crafting mental-health reform in Western North Carolina: Do they have the authority to make a key decision? Or must they wait … Read more
