UNC-Asheville senior Ellie Johnston wonders what her world will be like in the year 2050. That's the target date currently bandied about by world leaders for halving greenhouse-gas emissions. By that time, most of those world leaders will be, well, dead and gone. Johnston, on the other hand, will be a spry 63, she calculates. … Read more
There are a few key points you learn at URTV 101, the free weekly orientation to Asheville's public-access station. No. 1: URTV is not paid for with taxpayer money. No. 2: The channel is set up as a First Amendment-flexing, free-speech forum. No. 3: There's only one thing you won't see on the channel: Commercials. … Read more
A Mountain Homecoming is the name of the Asheville Symphony's Saturday, Oct. 17, concert. The description reads, "We continue to present music of exotic regions." Featured composers include Estonian-born Arvo Part, the Germans Felix Mendelssohn and Johann Sebastian Bach and French Impressionist composer Joseph-Maurice Ravel. Is it a bit of a contradiction to feature such … Read more
"We're kind of like the hardcore band for not hardcore people," says Just Die! guitarist and de facto front man Matt Evans. You'll know it's a Just Die! song because it’s spastic: The new record’s got something for everyone, says front man Matt Evans. Photo by Brian Dubin But don't be fooled. Evans is referring … Read more
For Phillip Brown, an old-time carver, and Judi Harwood, an innovative maker of clay drums, the Southern Highland Craft Guild's biannual fair is as much a meeting place as a marketplace. "It's one of my favorite things to do," Brown says. "I'll run into old friends and craftsmen I haven't seen in years." Brown, Harwood … Read more
"I say, 'How much you want for that?' (I go into a store). Man says 'three dollars.' 'All right," I say, 'will you take four?'" – Bob Dylan, "Po' Boy" When the junk is on the table and the deal is about to go down, there's an endgame before the money changes hands – the … Read more
If it seems like Asheville music has evolved into a heady brew of world beat, experimental, indie rock and quirky pop, these four discs — all recently released by well-respected Asheville-based songwriters and musicians — prove that roots music (namely Americana) is alive and well. • Long Days Above Ground by Pierce Edens and The … Read more
Architect Rafael Guastavino lived for 66 fruitful years and, while he's not exactly a household name (public relations and "branding" were not his strong suit), he should be counted among the most prolific and inspired people of the past two centuries. He didn't live long enough to celebrate his own centennial, but his mortal remains … Read more
To achieve the goal of eating closer to home, last month some food activists took a trip to a very faraway place. Asheville's Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project this fall hosted its first-ever Local Food Institute, designed to familiarize local-food-market developers from Tennessee to Toledo with ways to energize their economies. For three days, participants tromped … Read more
The book cover got my attention when 3,000 Miles in the Great Smokies landed in my in-box: a black-and-white photo in which author and Weaverville native William Hart leans against the Siler Bald trail sign. It's a scene from 1967, not long after the then-young man set out to explore the Great Smoky Mountains National … Read more
