Is 2007 the year of The Avett Brothers? Too early to call, perhaps, but there’s no denying the regional trio’s public profile is undergoing a definite upgrade this year. Their first tour of Great Britain in February earned them kudos from The Guardian, one of the UK’s best dailies, plus a sell-out in Glasgow, and … Read more
Cute American Idol analogies are to be avoided—because when eight of the area’s most exhibitionist singers go tonsil-to-tonsil during Asheville Community Theatre’s Diva*licious musical-theater sing-offs, it’s not TV-addled teens doing the voting, but actual theater buffs with plenty of drama-directed dollars. Asheville Community Theatre’s first major fund-raiser is a Great White Way-worthy gala. The winner … Read more
For Catherine Gets Released To DVD … Again Almost exactly a year ago, Culture Watch reported that local film company 207 Pictures was releasing its debut film For Catherine to DVD. The very low-budget flick (their official press release claims that the budget was “less than the price of a decent used car”) is essentially … Read more
Flavor: Steak, seafood and Italian standards Ambiance: Upscale hotel restaurant with great background music Publicists for Frankie Bones’ Restaurant and Lounge—the self-consciously swanky steak-and-seafood joint that recently took up residence on a busy stretch of Hendersonville Road that downtown Asheville denizens still consider the Deep South—touted the restaurant as the sort of place Frank Sinatra … Read more
Last summer I caught the trout of a lifetime. N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission I was working through the brush along a little stream in a remote part of Pisgah National Forest. It was late in the season, and I was fishing a foam beetle that’s seen the insides of the mouths of more fish than … Read more
There is an unseen world out there that we rarely intersect with. Even us gardeners, who like to think that we’re more connected to the natural world than, say, the average computer geek, do not very often run into the great web of life with its cascading waves of cause and effect. Deadly signals: Telltale … Read more
Is that a lunker in your pocket? For fishing fellowship, you could do considerably worse than the Pigeon Valley Bassmasters, a group that believes that no one should be alone when discussing the latest developments in bass-fishing technology. The group holds its next meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 11, beginning at 7 p.m. … Read more
Burned but not broken: Appalachian Sustainable Development and Appalachian Harvest, based in Abingdon, Va., help local farmers plan, grow and market their crops in much the same way that the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project aids growers in the southern mountains. Last week, the 10,000-square-foot Appalachian Harvest Packing Facility burned to the ground. The facility distributed … Read more
Barbecue lovers, rejoice—but with restraint. Asheville’s 12 Bones Smokehouse is finally staying open for dinner, but only at its brand new Kingsport, Tenn., location. The restaurant, slated to open next month, represents a partnership between 12 Bones owners Tom Montgomery and Sabra Kelley and Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria owner Doug Beatty. “Doug has a fair … Read more
Good things come to those who wait—but sometimes they have to wait almost 60 years. Last week, Dale Ditmanson, superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, announced that the National Park Service will recommend paying a cash settlement to Swain County instead of building the so-called Road to Nowhere in the southwestern corner of … Read more
