It’s just such an Asheville story. Two highly creative yet unemployed roommates — an artist and a poet — live in a run-down apartment in one of the city’s more disreputable areas. They dodge rent, commit a little dine-and-dash, and party frequently on the charity of their working friends. And, of course, they play at … Read more
Right now, my feet are cold. And Lou Rawls is in the Bahamas. These two facts are actually more connected than they might seem. To begin with, the three-time Grammy winner’s late-booked gig in the sunny, rum-soaked Caribbean usurped our scheduled phone time. And on this blustery winter day, so far removed from white-sand beaches … Read more
We’re tucked in the back of some cafe — one of those oh-so-hip places in the part of L.A. where she used to live, before it became seedy and she had to move away. Now it’s trendy again, but she’s over it. She’s beyond cool. We’re wearing berets tipped over our eyes. We’re smoking thin … Read more
It may take more than talent or luck for Terry Letman’s dream to ignite. In fact, a little divine intervention may be required. For Letman’s big plan to play out, little Asheville has to become the next big hotbed for R&B and soul musicians. And that sounds unlikely. Letman, a respected producer, former touring gospel … Read more
Listening room (album reviews) Compulation Volume One: Songs From North Carolina, Various Artists (Pox World Empire, 2003) A good mix CD is a powerful thing. It was one particularly good compilation album — Asheville Homegrown (Onion Music, 2001) — that started me writing about the local-music scene in the first place. I got my copy … Read more
I’ve never been to Havana, but it’s easy to pretend I’m there — or in some equally exotic locale — while chomping on a Cuban sandwich and soaking up the sunny atmosphere of west Asheville’s Ideal Market Cafe. Yet the casual eatery, which opened last September, also manages to exude a thoroughly local vibe. That’s … Read more
“I was never a gym girl,” insists Nicole Bookman, one of the four partners who own Namaste Yoga & Healing Center. Like many of us, Bookman was raised on the intimidating “feel the burn” philosophy of fitness. “The first time I went to a yoga class, they talked about nonviolence,” she recalls. “About going into … Read more
The Silver Shirts, Pelley vowed, would wage “the ultimate contest for existence between Aryan mankind and Jewry.” The news quickly crossed the Atlantic, hitting the United States like an ill wind. Adolf Hitler had vaulted into power, becoming Germany’s chancellor. Most Americans familiar with Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party reacted with apprehension, but one … Read more
CSI: Cullowhee In the recent CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode “Eleven Angry Jurors,” it’s the forensic experts who discover the murder weapon: peanut butter secretly added to the unsuspecting 12th juror’s chili (he had a fatal allergy). Meanwhile, in the “Stalkerazzi” episode of the spinoff CSI: Miami, it’s the forensic experts who discover foul play … Read more
