Ann Taylor doesn’t look like a geek. There’s her fashionably slender build, her tailored-dress-suit-evoking name. Her autumn-red hair is set against startlingly pale skin, her voice is confident and her manner completely at ease as she glides through the meticulous notes she keeps together in a well-worn three-ring binder. Nothing geeky about her at all. … Read more
“Asheville is my favorite town — my absolute favorite.” — Larry Keel Ever wonder about the “experience” part of Larry Keel Experience? The documentary Beautiful Thing: A Year in the Life of the Greatest Musician You’ve Never Heard Of, filmed by Baltimore native James Ryan Gielen in gritty black-and-white, focuses on sundry aspects of the … Read more
David Lowery knows that not all Southern states sound the same. “Just look at the difference between, say, a Republican senator from Texas and Waw-nuh,” an animated Lowery observed during a recent phone interview, referring to Sen. John Warner, R-Va. “You sort of get this proper, a little stuffy [attitude], almost like [a] New England-sort-of-but-it’s-the-South … Read more
It’s summer in Asheville, and that can only mean one thing: tourists — and lots of ’em. Sure, the bulk of them come to Asheville for mansion worshiping and hippie-spotting (“Look, Marge, dreadlocks!”). But not all tourists are the same. Summer, in fact, brings us an entirely different kind — one that’s beloved by locals … Read more
Somewhere in rural Arkansas — smack dab between Branson, Miss., and Nashville, Tenn. — is a town called Success. It’s the kind of place you’d blow through when you’re long-hauling cross-country. There’s no reason to stop there — except for the Cowboy Cafe. Every night, country-singin’ mama Billie Joe and her three grown-up daughters stop … Read more
Catching up with Descolada (while they can still be caught) Tony Plichta isn’t listening to us. He pounds the air, phantom sticks thundering on imaginary drums. He doesn’t even seem to know he’s doing it. It’s as if he’s forgotten where he is — what he’s supposed to be doing. A few feet away is … Read more
“Free! Homegrown, Organic Cucumbers!” If you live in the vicinity of Asheville’s Claxton Elementary, you might have seen this unlikely sign outside a small Murdock Avenue bungalow last summer. You might even have been one of those fortunate wayfarers who took advantage of the offer (made several times) and helped themselves to cukes from the … Read more
When wars are waged, the people most affected rarely get a say in how it’s fought. And up till now, that’s been equally true in the case of the Asheville City Council’s dueling anti-drug plans. But at Council’s June 8 formal session, the war planners clearly felt it was time to zip their lips, open … Read more
Step into the past What if you could go back in time and talk to a notable American, someone who had a real influence on our country’s culture and history? What would you say to them? You can get a taste of what that might be like at this year’s Buncombe County Chautauqua, which runs … Read more
