Bluegrass music has come a long way from its roots in the hills and hollers of the South. Today, given enough enthusiasm for the music and a sufficiently fat wallet, aficionados can fill their summers with outdoor festivals where banjos cluck and fiddles saw incessantly over a period of days. Just how star-studded is Bluegrass … Read more
There’s been a lot of talk recently, both in local clubs and on locally oriented music sites, about which band from Asheville will be the next to step into the national spotlight. Names are thrown around, various viable reasons are given, and speculation is rampant. But, on that list of likely future headliners, one name … Read more
Behind every great work of fiction, there’s usually another great story about how hard it was to make it great in the first place. For instance, the classic movie Gone With the Wind was at first expected to be a huge Hollywood flop. Blown away by Gone With the Wind: The cast of Moonlight and … Read more
It has been said that if you look at a good landscape painting, you can tell how the air would feel on your cheek if you were standing in that place. Andrea Clark’s photographs of the area of Asheville once called the East End have that quality. You can feel the breeze, hear the talk … Read more
Reusability is key at The Lazy Susan (625 Haywood Road, West Asheville, 225-3235), a kitchen emporium featuring new products, consignment items and antique furnishings. Owner Jane Northway explains that everything her 3-year-old business carries has a proven track record. Either it’s already lasted decades (if not generations) or—in the case of new items—is practical enough … Read more
No kidding: The Asheville-Buncombe Education Coalition wants a bunch of adults to get together and act childlike. Be a kid, for a kid: In a snapshot from last year’s Playground Classic, participants compete in the Rubber Chicken Toss, one of many unconventional challenges at the fundraiser. On Thursday, Feb. 28, the coalition will stage the … Read more
Last December, the city of Asheville announced that it had hired a ranger for Pritchard Park. The strategically sited downtown park has been the focus of disputes concerning everything from homelessness and free breakfasts to drum circles (not to mention the occasional protest-sign-wielding polar bear), and the news traveled fast. Some in the community saw … Read more
“Out of a potential total of 37,425 votes, 35,802 were recorded. But some voters may have made fewer than the maximum three choices for candidates, officials said.” — “Voting Machines Banned,” Asheville Citizen-Times, Dec. 20, 2007 Some? What sort of a numerical or statistical benchmark is “some”? Few things in our democratic system have more … Read more
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the woods I grew up in. I mean, I didn’t actually grow up in dem woods, but I might as well have. Nestled in the burbs outside Philly, I was lucky enough to have a big stream and a wooded strip of land that ran behind my house … Read more
There’s something about soy cheese: The way it sticks like molten plastic to the back of your teeth, the way it oozes familiar cheesiness—a guilty pleasure for those sworn to forgo dairy products. But, despite the melty, gooey likeness to its milky nemesis, soy cheese doesn’t share the same ubiquity. Photo By Jonathan Welch Stray … Read more
