The 50th annual Smoky Mountain Folk Festival will be held on Aug. 30-31 at the Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat…
Heartbroken and stunned. That’s about all I can say or feel at this moment with the tragic passing of singer-songwriter…
In bluegrass, there are pioneers and there are pillars — Becky Buller is both. A beloved singer/fiddler, the Minnesota native…
Please allow me to reintroduce myself. I started this column back around Memorial Day of 2013. So, by the calendar…
Standing in the lobby of the Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville this past Monday morning, owner Greg Israel is putting…
The hardest part of being a journalist, and especially one whose core focus is music, is seeing those you were…
The history of rock-n-roll music is as wide and deep as an ocean, each drop of water a band, song…
Sliding into the booth at Waffle House, I cracked open Larry McMurtry’s novel All My Friends Are Going to Be…
Simply put, singer/guitarist Denny Laine is one of those mystical characters you cross paths with almost serendipitously. He’s an old…
On Monday morning, as I woke up, packed and said goodbye to Bonnaroo for this year, I can say —…
Sitting high up in the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville last Thursday night, I couldn’t help but wonder what my…
The world has gone haywire and David Crosby is mad as hell about it. And though the years may change…
With the wind howling in my face, the Polaris ATV rounded the third curve of the Rockingham Speedway. The odometer…
Halfway up a steep hill in downtown Waynesville, and just a stone’s throw from the Haywood County Historic Courthouse, sits…
There has been a lot of deep thoughts and emotions running through my mind this past week. And I don’t…
Last Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of the shooting massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. It’s been on…
When it comes to the truly innovative and distinct jam acts of the modern era, Perpetual Groove is a name…
After a long week and weekend grinding away, I had to bust out and disappear into the woods. And yet,…
In a leap of faith move last summer, Americana/indie act The Brothers Gillespie left its native Waynesville and took off…
Pulling off US-11E and into some random person’s backyard last Saturday afternoon, I handed the woman $10 and was directed…
The voice of Claire Lynch is incredibly soothing — in conversation and in front of a microphone. With a songbird…
This past Saturday, I went on a first date. It had been a very long time since I’d actually gone…
So, there I was last Saturday afternoon, sitting on a couch in the depths of country music legend Marty Stuart’s…
Renowned singer-songwriters Claire Lynch, Jerry Salley and Irene Kelley will perform on Saturday, April 6, in the Queen Auditorium at…
When you run through the gamut of truly great rock bands, the name Foreigner tends to usually be somewhere near…
Right around this time of year, journalists from across the state gather at the North Carolina Press Association awards ceremony…
Arguably the hardest working man in rock-n-roll, guitar legend Warren Haynes has never been one to shy away from testing…
It was 60 years ago this past weekend (March 2, 1959) when Miles Davis’ seminal “Kind of Blue” album was…
The hardest balance for a rock band is to straddle the line between honest emotions in your lyrics and also…
In a recent New York Times article, “What Charles Bukowski’s Glamorous Displays of Alcoholism Left Out,” the piece analyzed and…
Ah, Valentine’s Day. Upstate New York in the late 1990s. Middle school and Valentine’s Day dances in that a-typical gymnasium.…
The Sylva-based Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet will present a concert celebrating 25 years of music, travel and fun together on…
Why does it seem we’re all so unhappy these days? Is it that we’re just more aware of our emotions…
Tucked up along a hillside overlooking Richland Creek and the Frog Level district of Waynesville is a cozy bungalow. The…
Standing in front of the ancient waterfall, I watched the lagoon sparkle like some long-lost stash of emeralds and sapphires.…
In a day and age where everything that glistens and captures society’s short attention span is seemingly a smoke screen…
Meandering down the desolate Route 8 in the southern Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York last weekend, my truck came…
Coming into seven years together, the members of Porch 40 continue to hold steady and elevate each other’s craft, with…
It’s like getting hit in the face with a frying pan. Stepping out of my parents’ farmhouse in Upstate New…
Just off Main Street in Waynesville, tucked down the hill below Bogart’s, and across the street from American Legion Post…
She’s known as “Wild Kathy.” At least, that’s what she was nicknamed while joyously roaming Bourbon Street in New Orleans…
Adjusting his baseball cap, Graham Sharp leans forward and takes another sip of coffee. It’s late morning at the Tastee…
This week marks just over 20 years since The Great Ice Storm of 1998. In early January of that year,…
In a year of turmoil, trepidation and tragedy, thankfully we can retreat into the one thing that can shift any…
For someone as sentimental as I am, New Year’s Eve always seems to resonate the deepest. The idea of leaving…
This year has been quite the whirlwind. It felt like 2018 was a rollercoaster I either didn’t buy a ticket…
Following a second “Entertainer of the Year” award from the International Bluegrass Music Association this past September in Raleigh, the…
The core of any sincere and determined musical circle is a simple formula: camaraderie + compassion = musicianship. Anyone who…
So, amid the whirlwind this past week of being published by Rolling Stone — my biggest dream and top bucket…
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