Red-Hot Ribfest

The ribs were hot and so was the weather at fifth annual Carolina Mountain Ribfest, held July 8–10 at the WNC Agricultural Center Fairgrounds in Fletcher near the Asheville Airport. Barbecue, music, and a carnival atmosphere prevailed ... read more

Sanctum Sully's Sound Entertains

Named after a Southern saying for a corn liquor that drinks down smooth, Sanctum Sully’s sound does just that. With a sound all its own and a slogan of traditionally untraditional, the group is not your dad’s bluegrass band. "We respect the idea of traditional ... read more

The Cleverlys Bring Humor and Music to Asheville

To give you a quick idea of what The Cleverlys are about, the five-piece bluegrass band calls itself The Cleverly Trio. Yes, you just read that right—it's a five-piece group. These guys have a multilayered act but the primary facts are that they ... read more

Makin' It: Chase Rice

Chase Rice had a typical life life growing up in the Asheville suburb of Fairview, a place he calls "a Wal-Mart parking lot kind of town." Besides Wal-Mart, he went to the mall, took in a few movies, occasionally went bowling or hunting, and hung out ... read more

Mountain Farm Enjoys Sixth Lavender Festival

The sweet aroma of the fields filled the air as guests wandered through the lavender labyrinth, browsed the gift shop for products such as lavender soaps and insect repellent, and cooled off with a glass of lavender-infused lemonade. The lavender theme is ever ... read more

Drive-By Truckers Roll Their Rock Show Into Asheville

The performance on June 24 (which saw Athens, Georgia, rockers Bloodkin open the show while fellow Athens band The Futurebirds opened the Saturday show), cranked up with "The Southern Thing," which gives perspective on these redneck liberals. Never straying ... read more

Montford Comes Alive in Spring Festival

What does an excavated 1760s featheredge pendant, renovated pineapple-themed art ambulance, oriental salt and pepper shakers, Lebanese Chicken Shawalma, and an old-time string band have in common? More than you’d think. For starters, all were ... read more

Going Nuts at the White Squirrel Festival

While Memorial Day weekend is a busy time for events and family fun, one area festival that should not be missed is the annual White Squirrel Festival in Brevard. Each year on the Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend the event takes place ... read more

LEAF Once Again Offers Family Fun

The Spring 2011 Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) was everything it's become famous for: music, kids' activities, food, camping, arts vendors, and rain. Yes, while rain was a daily visitor to the event, it never stuck around long enough to dampen the spirits of ... read more

Mountain Sports Festival - 2011

The festival is designed as a celebration of community, athletics, and local business with music and sports as the heart of the event. In its 11th year, the spring festival offered a slew of bands and numerous athletic events ranging from dodgeball to cyclocross to a triathlon.Some attendees came primarily for the music, which included top local talent such as Big Daddy Love, Kellin Watson ... read more

The Gourds Play to Enthusiastic Crowd

Although the heat broke briefly on July 15 after weeks of warm weather, the action inside The Grey Eagle in Asheville was smokin' hot with The Gourds, the hard-drinkin', fun-lovin', good-time party band from Austin, Texas. The five-piece group has received scant radio airplay in the 14 or so years that it's been producing albums, but the guys have generated quite a ... read more

Asheville's Red June Launches Tour

Sometimes music just doesn’t fit into a single genre. It rejects simplistic categories and instead melts qualities together. Listen to Red June, and you’ll understand. The group oscillates between bluegrass, folk, Americana, and country, dipping into the artistic backgrounds and musical passions of each member. John Cloyd Miller, Will Straughan, and Natalya Weinstein ... read more

Asheville's The Nova Echo

There’s more to the Asheville music scene than bluegrass. On Saturday, July 16, The Nova Echo, with its post-electronic space sound, will take the stage at The Grey Eagle for an all-ages performance. Uh-huh Baby Yeah! from Louisville and Roland from Asheville will open for The Nova Echo, which artfully explodes with synth effects ... read more

Simple Life Revealed at Black Mountain Show

Annual festivals such as the Black Mountain Arts and Crafts Show remind us of the “good ol' days” filled with creative leisure and passed-down traditional skills. In these Arcadian environments, people could find consolation in their artistic designs and implementations. Where, however, do people have the time for such activities ... read more

Nonprofit Group Promotes Local Agriculture

With signs in nearly every downtown business window promoting local—as “the new black,” for instance—Asheville residents appreciate the significance of local small businesses. For Ashevillians, the concept of fresh produce and local food isn’t an exotic one either. But somehow, that message of where and how to obtain local produce must be heard ... read more

LEAF Reaches Out to Community

Education, music, and empowerment have never come together so harmoniously as they do with the local, family-oriented, feel-good festival LEAF (Lake Eden Arts Festival). LEAF is a twice-a-year gathering in Black Mountain for artists, music lovers, and families near and far to come together and celebrate local music and art while learning and experiencing ... read more

Fanatics Flock to Fanaticon2

By 10 a.m. the mist breaks and it is too bright for a Bat Signal in downtown Asheville. But even without the cover of darkness there’s no shortage of crusaders: pint-sized Spideys demurely clasp their parents' hands, and little Lanterns adjust the narrow, white rubber bands on their masks. Thor poses for snap-shots on the red-brick bulls-eye outside Pack Square ... read more

Cindy Riccardelli: All Dolled Up

Doll stands, vintage fabric, a glass torch, sheep wool, acrylic paint, and tiny tree limbs are just a few, seemingly random and unrelated items that fill the home studio of artist Cindy Riccardelli. To Cindy, however, these objects are anything but arbitrary and irrelevant. She uses them daily to create her beautifully unique art dolls. Cindy often describes herself ... read more

Yoga for All, All for Yoga

The Asheville Community Yoga Center (ACYC) strives to be all about free—in more ways than one. Since its inception in March 2010, ACYC, a non-profit organization in Woodfin, has grown into a true community center offering free daily classes, frequent workshops, student immersion programs, as well as social events ... read more

Pritchard Park Offers Thursday Concerts

This summer you'll find free live music every Thursday in downtown Asheville as part of the Pritchard Park Cultural Arts Program presented by the Asheville Downtown Association. Local acts will provide entertainment for visitors and locals alike from 6 - 8 p.m. in Pritchard Park, home to the weekly Friday night drum circle. This event features artists ... read more

Breaking Into the Art Scene: Joy Moser

Often you hear of the established artists in Western North Carolina, so it's a pleasure to bring you the story of an artist who is breaking into the art scene here in the mountains. Joy Moser is not a new artist. She is, however, relatively new to Weaverville. She and her family had lived their lives in the Charlotte area but always had a penchant for the mountains ... read more

Local Act Floating Action to Perform at Bele Chere

As soon as you get a chance, stop what you’re listening to and snag a track from Floating Action’s latest CD Desert Etiquette. Sit back and melt to Seth Kauffman’s soulful twangs and rustic lyrics or stand up and sway to his hip-bouncing blend of up-tempo riffs and solid bass lines. The ten-track album was electronically released this past February under ... read more

Art Professors Team Up for New Exhibit at BMCA

A pair of artists who work in very different mediums have discovered they have similar expressions of their work in content, color, and visual impact. Warren Wilson College art professors Bette Bates and Karen ... read more

Works by Lawrence Danecke at The Design Gallery

The Design Gallery in downtown Burnsville is presenting In the Details, works by Lawrence Danecke. The exhibit will run through August 2, with an opening reception for the public from 5–7 p.m. on July 2. ... read more

Digital Heritage Moment: Appalachian Fruit

Fruit has long been an important staple of the Appalachian diet. Early pioneers found wild crab apples, black cherries, plums, persimmons, paw paws, as well as peaches that had been introduced in the sixteenth century by Spanish explorers ... read more

Celebrating the American Craftsmen

The Mountain Artisans Arts & Crafts show will be held July 2–3 in the Western Carolina University Ramsey Center in Cullowhee. Contemporary crafts will include jewelry making, glass art, master wood crafters, and sculpture. ... read more

Craft Fair: Scheduled Demonstrations

Asheville artist Suzie Millions will show a whimsical blend of mixed media and Japanese-inspired Appalachian crafts. Potter Mimke Lalone will demonstrate throwing, trimming, and assembling clay in the ceramic process. ... read more

Chalk It Up: Taking Sidewalk Art to a Whole New Level

What started out as a few children drawing on the sidewalk in front of their parent’s downtown store has transformed into one of Hendersonville’s most engaging events ... read more

Handmade Innovation at The Big Crafty

The Big Crafty returns on July 10 for another celebration of indie creativity. This juried festival continues to grow with this year’s event expected to draw 150 participating artists and crafters. Sponsored by the Asheville Art Museum ... read more

Decorating Made Pleasurable: High Country Furniture & Design

Our mountain communities are filled with beautiful homes. Whether quaint and cozy or grand and magnificent, they are built to reflect the beauty of their natural surroundings. For new home owners, however, the process of decorating and furnishing ... read more

Bring Us Your Best: Henderson County’s Annual Art Exhibition

The Arts Council of Henderson County’s eighth annual “Bring Us Your Best” art exhibition is being hosted by Blue Ridge Community College, 180 W. Campus Drive in Flat Rock, August 19–September 3. The opening reception will be from 5–7 P.M. on Friday ... read more

The Science and Artistry of Plants

Offering a unique and awe-inspiring perspective on how artists utilize plants in their work will be two art exhibitions showing concurrently in the Baker Exhibit Center’s Exhibit Hall through September 6 at the Arboretum ... read more

The Rathbun Center is Growing

The Rathbun Center, 121 Sherwood Road in Asheville, is the only facility in Western North Carolina that offers lodging and support at no charge to weary patients and their caregivers that come to Asheville for medical treatment ... read more

Stories on Asheville’s Front Porch

Storytelling is a treasured mountain pastime. A good storyteller keeps your attention, but a great storyteller will run you through a gamut of emotions and have you begging for more. The Asheville Storytelling Circle (ASC), a nonprofit organization ... read more

Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival in Waynesville

The Haywood County Arts Council is presenting a Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival concert at 3 p.m. on July 3 at the Performing Arts Center, 250 Pigeon Street in Waynesville. Featured performers will be the Jasper String Quartet who will be joined by the Swannanoa Chamber Players ... read more

Blue Ridge Orchestra: Inaugural Concert with Dr. Milton Crotts

The Blue Ridge Orchestra will celebrate its first concert under newly hired music director Dr. Milton Crotts by presenting an “explosive” Fourth of July Concert at White Horse Black Mountain. Dr. Crotts has selected the finale of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and ... read more

SemiPublic Gallery Presents New Exhibit: the sum of 45

The exhibit of Donna E. Price’s works—titled the sum of 45—is part retrospective as well as a window into what perhaps is yet to come in the life of this Asheville artist. Her pieces will be on display at SemiPublic Gallery, 305 Hillside Street in Asheville, through August ... read more

Park Rhythms Concert Series at Lake Tomahawk

Pack the picnic basket, load up the lawn chairs, and head to Lake Tomahawk in Black Mountain for the 16th annual Park Rhythms Concert Series hosted by the Black Mountain Recreation and Parks Department. The eight-week outdoor concert series takes place from 7–9 P.M. every Thursday evening through August 4. ... read more

Local Paintings/Foreign Films at Courtyard Gallery

Through the end of July, Courtyard Gallery is featuring an exhibit of paintings by local artist Jarrett Leone. Jarrett is studying for a degree in Fine Art and Expressive Arts Therapies so that he can explore the healing possibilities of creative expression ... read more