Grand design

During summer sessions at Black Mountain College in the late 1940s, the futurist Buckminster Fuller struggled to create the geodesic dome. It would ultimately prove to be one of his…

It's not easy to please everyone, but when it comes to music, the Sunday Jazz Showcase at Isis is making a valiant attempt. “We do stuff that's fairly accessible and…

When you’re in a band, there are certain activities that you can’t accomplish without everybody in the same room. Obviously, it’s a requirement for performances and their preceding practices. You…

"The show is to be an old tyme rock and raw hazing venture," say Athens, Ga.-based garage rockers The Humms. The trio's bio recounts their evolution through influences like "their…

In her new book, The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II, local author Denise Kiernan recounts the story of the…

There are a number of bands working under the monicker Viva, including a classic rock cover band from Miami and a female pop group from India. But the Viva we're…

Greensboro, N.C.-based Songs of Water fuses ancient and modern, acoustic grass-roots jam sessions and classical training, jazz stylings and organic compositions. And there's the band's "uncommon use of the hammered…

The way the Friday, Feb. 22 Tame Impala show (at The Orange Peel) opened (at least from my vantage point) was with a halo of green-gold light exploding just behind…

The Everyone Orchestra has a bit of a misleading name. Yes, their shows offer an orchestral-esque experience, with a conductor leading the band. But the “everyones” involved are players like…

The Asheville music community let out a collective “Who the hell is Jackson Scott?” on Tuesday after Pitchfork plucked the 20-year-old former UNCA student from obscurity and featured his home-recorded…

Indie orchestra: Philadelphia-based Grandchildren began as a solo recording project but eventually spawned a six-piece “electro-coustic orchestral pop band” that melds acoustic folk stylings with live electronics and dance-inducing percussion.…

While I chatted with Jay Weatherly at his business, High Five Coffee Bar, he cheerfully greeted half a dozen people as neighbors and friends. He petted their dogs and asked…

Smiling Hara began in a shoebox. Yancey says she was hooked after she tried the fresh tempeh. With a little patience, you can grow your own tempeh in an incubator.…

Pamela Lalik of Wingbean makes seitan in large batches at the Blue Ridge Food Ventures test kitchen, where she prepares meals for home delivery. For home cooks working on a…

Protein Tofu Tempeh Seitan Textured vegetable protein (TVP) What is it? Concentrated protein from soy milk Fermented, fungus-covered legumes (soy or otherwise) Concentrated protein (gluten) from wheat flour Dehydrated, concentrated…

Tofish 'n Chips: 1 lb extra-firm tofu Nori seaweed Fish 'n chips batter mix Your favorite local beer Cut tofu into 8 slabs. Press and drain. Freeze tofu overnight and…

For 48 hours, Sarah Yancey tends her tempeh as it forms. It starts out as a bag of soybeans; as it ferments, fine white threads of fungus envelope the beans…

Three Seattle transplants are behind Burial Beer. They chose a scythe for the logo and their website has a lot of black. But when they open their doors in late…

Chicken and waffles harbor a lot of mystique. No one's quite sure where the combination originated or why it tastes so good together. What is sure, though, is that they're…

If Cary Grant were to saunter out of Notorious and onto the streets of Asheville, Josh Wright wants to make sure he'd have somewhere to get a martini. Wright opened…

Let the thrill of a contest pique your appetite. Whether you like sweets or savories, this week offers dining competitions for all palates. Cupcakes vs. Cancer On Saturday, March 16,…

Kevin Grant loves tacos for their broad appeal. When he imagines his customers, he thinks about a family of five, or a pair of 15-year-olds on their first date, or…

Veg-In-Out has been rechristened. The vegan meal delivery service now goes by Eden-Out. Founder and chef William Najger sold Veg-In-Out in 2010. But in December, he returned to Asheville and…

You may know that there are more tailgate markets operating in WNC this winter than ever before. But did you know that they offer all of the same local foods…

English muffins may not be a Southern staple, but sometimes even the hungriest among us get overloaded on biscuits (blasphemy, perhaps, but it's happened to the best of us). When…

From bees to to orchards, Organic Growers School has it all If you've always wanted to grow garlic, set up a homestead, raise goats or save seeds, Organic Growers School…

Asheville resident Jasmine George knows firsthand that mold in your home means something’s wrong. When she returned from a four-day Thanksgiving visit with family a few years ago, the walls…

Brasstown’s residents didn’t have much cash in the 1920s to build a school, but the tiny community at the westernmost tip of North Carolina managed to build one anyway. Neighbors…

Once the Asheville High School marching band left, few observers remained as City Council members got an early look Feb. 26 at the budget and legislative challenges they face this…

Are you helping keep investment dollars in Western North Carolina? Are you exploring ways to grow our community by keeping capital right here where we live, work and play —…

Openings Allgood Coffee, 10-B S. Main St. allgoodcoffee-nc.com. Gallery Mugen and Yazu Patisserie, 122 Riverside Drive, Studio C. http://www.akirasatake.com or http://www.yuzubycynthia.com. Smash Box food truck. Visit smasheventsinc.com/smashBox for locations. Closings…

WHAT: Learn how socially responsible investing can make a difference while it makes you money. Three panelists will discuss and lead a conversation on ethical investing at on Thursday, March…

After sharing 42 slides worth of charts, data and graphs, an independent economic consultant speaking to local doctors, health advocates, politicians and board members at the Feb. 22 meeting of…

Loopholes in Rep. Moffitt’s anti-nipple bill

I won't regale you with stories of an idealized past, laud our many golf courses, or tout our “vibrant” local economy. I'd like to tell a different story. I am…

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Of the 27…

Thank you for covering the launch of window in your Feb. 27 State of the Arts column. As the founder of this site-specific “gallery,” I’m excited to see what comes…

As a parent of a fourth-grader and a third-grader at Isaac Dickson Elementary School, I was extremely disappointed to read some of the comments made by it's principal, Brad Johnson…

Evidently, the young lady wrote the letter in favor of me, but she called it wrong [“Be Respectful or Be Gone,” Jan. 30 Xpress]. What she says was not exactly…

Let me get this straight: In Asheville it is legal to be publicly intoxicated. It is only a misdemeanor to assault females, bruise and draw blood from children, abuse animals…