Haywood Arts director retires

Leigh Forrester, who served as executive director of the Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) for four years has announced her…
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Interested in metal art?

A new grant from the Center for Craft is supporting an effort to share traditional metal working techniques with the…
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This must be the place: I never ever saw the stars so bright, in the farmhouse, things will be alright

It was a flood of memories I hadn’t thought of in years. There I was on a date with this…
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Just like the days: Papadosio celebrates milestone with Haywood drive-in show

In its 15 years together, Papadosio has remained on a steady, upward trajectory as one of the premier jam-bands currently…
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This must be the place: Look in the mirror, who do you see? Someone familiar, surely not me

The sound of thunder and a heavy rain awoke me from a deep slumber. Opening my eyes, I relaxed into…
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How can it be wrong if it grows wild: An afternoon with Songs From The Road Band

On March 14, 2020, Songs From The Road Band jumped onstage in the backroom of the Wicked Weed Funkatorium in…
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This must be the place: We sit together forever, by the color TV glow, telling stories, allegories

Stepping out of my old apartment in downtown Waynesville on Monday afternoon, I placed my old laundry basket on the…
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Tale of two signs: Local restaurants, breweries hold steady a year into shutdown

Wander along Everett Street in downtown Bryson City these days and you’ll be hard-pressed to find two things: a parking…
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It’s like I’m falling out of bed from a long and vivid dream

It was probably one of the most uneasy beers I’d ever drank. Sitting on the back porch of Frog Level…
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Patience, passion and pork: Big Nick’s Barbecue carries on family tradition

Coming off Exit 85 on the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, a funny thing happens to drivers when they’re about halfway…
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This must be the place: You are the rock on the riverbed, growing smoother every year

Sunday morning. Sunshine and blue skies piercing through my dusty bedroom window. I’ve been up an hour or so. And…
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Reggae, soul rolls into WNC

The Natti Love Joys will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 20, at Lazy Hiker Brewing in Franklin.
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Franklin art classes

There will be a wide array of new and ongoing art classes offered in the coming weeks and months at…
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Been a long time since I rock and rolled: Facing uncertainty amid the shutdown, WNC bands aim even higher

In the depths of The One Stop in downtown Asheville on Saturday, members of the Travers Brothership and Abby Bryant…
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This must be the place: Ode to ‘Big Jack,’ ode to $100 felines

Rest easy, “Big Jack” (aka: “Jack Kerouac”). Goodbye to my beloved cat, who passed away this week back in my…
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The human canvas: Sylva artist channels creative spirit through tattooing

It’s Monday evening. A heavy rain is soaking Sylva and greater Jackson County. Passing by the Sylva Shopping Area, the…
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Jackson County art grants

The Jackson County Arts Council has awarded $50,250.06 in business interruption grants to local nonprofit arts organizations, other organizations with…
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SCC launches Heritage Arts Endowed Fund

Over the past decade at Southwestern Community College, serving as Heritage Arts Department Chair has become much more than a…
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What lies beneath: The Get Right Band to play Grey Eagle live stream

Before the pandemic and eventual shutdown, The Get Right Band was one of the hardest work musical acts in Western…
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This must be the place: Turn my head into sound, I don’t know when I lay down on the ground

When the trail bends sharply to the right, I know the waterfall is just behind the brush. I can’t see…
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This must be the place: Welcome to my life, tattoo, we’ve a long time together, me and you

Hoisting myself up onto the leather chair, I flipped over and laid on my stomach. I could feel the sharp…
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Haywood art studio tour

The Haywood County Arts Council invites all Haywood County studio artists to participate in the annual Haywood County Studio Tour…
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May your belly be full, your cup runneth over: Amici’s brings fine Italian to Waynesville

It’s 8:45 a.m. and 28 degrees outside of Amici’s in the Hazelwood neighborhood of Waynesville. The sidewalk has been shoveled,…
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This must be the place: Bein’ a decrepit old bag of bones, that’s what’s ridiculous, gettin’ old

Late Thursday night. I’m sitting in my recliner. Netflix and the half-full lukewarm beer next to the chair have both…
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The things I’ve Seen: Pink Beds release debut rock album

What started out as a casual jam to entertain a keg party has morphed itself into one of the most…
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WCU teams with Blue Ridge Pride Center

A collaboration between Western Carolina University, the University of North Carolina Asheville and the Blue Ridge Pride Center will gather…
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This must be the place: Ode to mighty Erica, ode to the Waldrops

Western North Carolina has lost a truly kind and beautiful soul. Erica Waldrop passed away in a tragic car accident…
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Shuttered for almost a year, HART Theatre aims to reopen

In his over 30 years of being part of the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville, longtime Executive Director Steven…
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This must be the place: Oh California I’m coming home, oh make me feel good rock-n-roll band

It was just about a month ago when I received a text from a dear friend, a truly cosmic and…
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Local singer named international semifinalist

The nonprofit Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center (OHMTEC) recently announced the semifinalists in our international solo contest. 
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Show me the way to go home: WNC’s last real ‘dive bar’ turns 15

It’s a label that some avoid at any and all costs. But, for Becky Robinson, it’s a sincere and genuine…
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This must be the place: Ode to Vermont live music, ode to School Street jams

I didn’t grow up, nor have I ever lived, in the state of Vermont. That, and I’m not a musician,…
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Rehearsal studio opens in historic former Asheville motel

An internationally beloved musician, Claude Coleman, Jr. would often find himself in Asheville while on tour drumming with his band,…
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‘A Decade in Fiber’ exhibition

Haywood Community College in Clyde recently wrapped up an exhibition to celebrate graduates in the Professional Crafts Fiber program from…
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This must be the place: Sometimes the righteous win; most times, it’s a losing battle

Finishing up my second cup of coffee at Orchard in Waynesville, I gazed out the large bay window onto Depot…
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Proof is in the pie: Dough Boys artisanal pizza opens in Waynesville

Grabbing a seat inside Mad Anthony’s Taproom in downtown Waynesville one recent evening, Benji Boessel and Alex Tinsley can’t help…
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Strike not our brother down: Steve McMurry of Acoustic Syndicate

In the pantheon of legendary jam-grass acts, a handful of pioneering bands broke new ground in the 1980s and 1990s…
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This must be the place: One hundred years from this day, will the people still feel this way

It was somewhere around the the second mile of my New Year’s Eve jog that I realized that day marked…
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This must be the place: You would do anything, you’d give up everything for god knows why

Christmas Eve. Downtown Waynesville. Sitting alone in my one-bedroom apartment, I was bummed that I couldn’t be back home in…
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This must be the place: There’s too much in this world I can’t seem to shake

I live in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Waynesville. Been here going on eight and a half years. Aside from…
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Cowee School awards art grants

The Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center recently announced the 2020-21 NC Arts Council Artist Support Grant Recipients for Region…
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Compelled, but not defeated: A conversation with Mike Cooley

For the better part of the last 25 years, the Drive-By Truckers has remained a melodic beacon of truth and…
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This must be the place: No regrets, coyote, we just come from such different sets of circumstance

I looked at my smart phone. Monday evening. It nearing 9 o’clock and it was high time I made it…
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This must be the place: Turn your head to the cries of loneliness in the night

Stepping out of my truck, it was a cold wind rolling off the nearby mountains late Monday afternoon. A stiff…
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Coast to Coast and Carolina, too: The Rivers & Rails Tavern opens in Dillsboro

Sitting at a table in the dining room of The Rivers & Rails Tavern in Dillsboro, Craig Szymanski looked out…
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This must be the place: Olden times and ancient rhymes, of love and dreams to share

Though the baseboard heat was on in the living room, my downtown Waynesville apartment was quite chilly come Tuesday morning.…
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Staying true to your roots: Lazy Hiker Brewing celebrates milestone, pushes ahead

It’s an unusually warm and sunny day for late November in Macon County. The patio tables at Lazy Hiker Brewing…
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New Waynesville art studio

Do you want to make a crafty project with friends, but don’t have the materials, space or know-how? CRE828, a…
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From bean to table: Steamline Coffee Co. opens in Waynesville

Friday morning in downtown Waynesville and Orchard Coffee is bustling. There are those entering and waiting patiently for strong coffee…
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