Go Local 2015

Looking to deck the halls, sing a carol, give a gift, take a stroll, see a play, make a craft or pass a wish list on to a man in…

On the cover of Rick Bragg’s Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story, the titular pianist and early rock ‘n’ roll icon holds a cigar and peers into the distance, as…

Fiddler Roger Howell has recorded 532 traditional fiddle tunes from memory — the growing collection is housed in Mars Hill University’s Southern Appalachian Archives. But that’s not the only way…

Four- and six-part vocal harmonies and multicolored kazoos captivate audiences when Western North Carolina supergroup Sweet Claudette takes the stage. The country Motown quartet, composed of Amanda Platt (The Honeycutters),…

By all accounts, husband-and-wife duo Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion are happy in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, their home since moving from Columbia, S.C. The two draw songwriting…

Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood was just mastering the art of walking upright when his hometown, Muscle Shoals, Ala., became a mecca for ’60s soul music, and he nearly lost…

If you ever miss grade school’s traveling book fairs, consider adding Asheville Bookfest to your calendar. “Our hope is that Asheville Bookfest brings publishing down to the grassroots level,” reads…

Local musician and songwriter Jeff Thompson has been hard at work on So Far, So Strange, his new album. It represents personal and stylistic changes; it also marks some brilliant…

The Magnetic Theatre’s much anticipated annual holiday show, The 38th Annual Bernstein Family Christmas Spectacular, returns in its — despite what the title would have you believe — sixth incarnation.…

When it comes to recordings, “The tempo is the heartbeat of the song,” says Franklin Hoier, half of drum-and-guitar duo Crushed Out. Tempo is their business. So is touring, which…

Two local buyers clubs have launched in the Asheville metro area with an eye to helping small businesses, families and individuals. For both, the initiatives are about community building. For…

News on indoor holiday markets, a winter community potluck, evaluations for amateur winemakers and a free tasting of Alpine cheeses.

When I walked into Open Brewing a few weeks ago, the wall behind the bar had just been repainted, but the rest of the space was clearly a work in…

Not much seems to shock Nancy Baumgarten. At about 2 1/2 years old, her daughter awoke in the middle of the night to report that there were two people standing…

It all began with a picture in a shop window, but as the Asheville Grown Business Alliance has developed from a poster to a loyalty card to a web of…

Cathy Cleary has always had a knack for bringing people together. In 2001, she opened West End Bakery when most of West Asheville was appliance stores. Now, Cleary is celebrating…

The billowing local debates over affordable housing and pedestrian safety are pivoting toward a long overlooked section of West Asheville. A proposal for a major new apartment complex at the…

Updated voting report (ahem)