The Swiss experience
By Michael Beadle Editor’s note: Smoky Mountain News Writer Michael Beadle recently traveled to Europe. The following is the first…
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A+ arts schools Call me biased, but Central Elementary School in downtown Waynesville is a great place. All three of…
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Crafty, curious Codetalkers
By Chris Cooper To say that Col. Bruce Hampton has carved a colorful swath through the music industry is likely…
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Achtung Elf! Lessons in learning a foreign language
By Michael Beadle One thing that paralyzes American tourists about visiting foreign countries is the language barrier.
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Child’s Play: Swain youth is champion picker
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer At age 12, Seth Taylor is a quiet, tanned, tow-headed boy. He seems well…
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Ebay Egad, it’s more addictive than heroin. My family always had a penchant for what some might refer to as…
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Spring One diversion in my life this past month was the weather. Surely this spring is among the most gorgeous…
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Five CDs that deserve a spin
I’m going to take a brief detour from the regular album/show review format and present five CDs that I feel…
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The media is the muse: Jackson County potter will set up studios at Green Energy Park
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer From behind the waist-high counter that divides his studio and gallery in half, potter…
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The Bard is in: Atlanta Shakespeare Company wraps up week-long residency at Cherokee High School
By Michael Beadle Last week, Cherokee students found themselves stretching, swooning, thrusting imaginary swords and spouting 400-year-old Elizabethan English. All…
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Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Powerhouse blues prodigy leaves WCU’s Ramsey Center in his wake
First, an admission: I didn’t get to talk to Kenny Wayne Shepherd at all. No interview or anything. Kind of…
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HART opens main stage season with a ‘Miracle’
By Michael Beadle Helen Keller is an unruly child. She eats food with her fingers, drops her silverware on purpose,…
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Back-buying Have you ever noticed that people, for the most part, solidify their tastes — in music, and clothing, and…
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Leonard Cohen What can you say about a man in his 70’s who is an international sex symbol in Paris,…
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Howle’s character, craftsmanship shines through no matter the genre
By Chris Cooper I’ve seen Danielle Howle completely abandon the stage and microphone in the middle of a song and…
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Cherokee on stage: WCU student project depicts Cherokee lore theatrically
Western Carolina University students are filming the last scenes from the Theatre in Education Company’s performance of “Young Cherokee,” concluding…
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Words on the wind: New Cherokee youth radio program offers students a chance to record and broadcast news reports, tribal culture and local history
By Michael Beadle It’s Thursday morning and Cherokee High School junior Brandi Oocumma is preparing to read a news story…
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Drive-By Truckers: A Blessing and a Curse I first saw the Truckers eight or nine years ago in a little…
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Stillwell earns fans the hard way
By Chris Cooper What do the words “music career” mean to you? For many it’s big fancy studios, nice cars…
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National Poetry Month April may have been “the cruelest month” for poet T.S. Eliot, but for me it is truly…
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Solid country from outside the Nashville machine
By Chris Cooper The name Radney Foster takes me back to the earlier days of home satellite dishes and music…
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‘Doctors for Doc’ takes the lead in Watson concert fundraising
As part of an innovative fundraising effort called “Doctors for Doc,” Haywood County physicians affiliated with Haywood Regional Medical Center…
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The Doc is still in: Legendary Appalachian musician scheduled to play in Haywood County for Arts Council benefit concert
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer There are two things Arthel Watson fans are sure to mention when asked about…
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Rash draws on his own Civil War ties in his new novel, The World Made Straight
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer History books and literature long have recounted and regaled the Civil War, examined its…
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The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism Haynes Johnson’s 2005 book isn’t frightening, but it should at least make thinking…
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High-caliber creativity and fearless fretsmanship shine on Grass
By Chris Cooper Silly, psychedelic and monstrously musical, the teaming of Keller Williams with Larry and Jenny Keel on Grass…
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A moveable feast: Mélange of the Mountains returns to Balsam Mountain Inn March 23
By Michael Beadle Succulent shrimp. Marinated roast beef. Creamy soups and sweet vegetables. And don’t forget dessert.
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Tea Leaf Green’s mixed bag contains a few nuggets for jam band disciples
By Chris Cooper It’s tricky when you find the word “hype” used repeatedly in the glowing fan reviews of a…
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“Fortunes of War” Based upon the autobiographical novels of Olivia Manning, this BBC production tells the story of Guy Pringle…
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Ali Farka Toure Guitarist Ali Farka Toure has been hailed for his distinctive mix of Arabic-influenced Malian sound and American…
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The Life Cycle: HART studio presents two shows in one night
By Michael Beadle A farm girl recounts her memories of a special calf named Rupert and a gravedigger tells of…
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Sheik’s musical soup takes swings with brutal honesty
By Chris Cooper Duncan Sheik demonstrates a sort of understated brilliance that’s almost alarming when you hear it. Ballads slip…
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Accessible art: Macon County Art Association makes strides to bring art to everyone
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Macon County Art Association publicity manager Pat Mennenger busied herself arranging crackers on a…
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Kindergarten The other day I went to a kindergarten class for “Career Day.” I had 15 minutes to talk about…
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Enter the mystery: World-famous extraordinist Craig Karges comes to Western Carolina University
By Michael Beadle OK, first things first — Craig Karges is not a comedian though he makes his audiences laugh.…
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Biggers on Appalachia: New book studies Appalachia’s national significance
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Travel writer and National Public Radio commentator Jeff Biggers spent 20 years collecting and…
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A well-crafted, if not adventurous, electronic trip
By Chris Cooper The brainchild of programmers Robert Smith (no, not the guy from the Cure) and Bill Walters, Blue…
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Joni Mitchell “Anything that moves me, influences me.” — Joni Mitchell
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Pivot points: WCU art museum presents poetry and painting from three inter-related generations
By Michael Beadle “Pivot Points” is not your typical art exhibit. Then again, the new Fine Art Museum on the…
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Boggs represents country music’s greatest hope
Though it’s become a standard target for critical blasting, not all of modern country music is bad. Keith Urban turned…
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“Bubble” Director Steven Soderbergh, the darling of the Sundance film festival, had an audacious idea. Take a bare bones script…
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New talent and old influences enter jam genre
By Chris Cooper Approaching the “jam band” thing from some very different angles, Umphrey’s McGee manage to bring shades of…
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Unto These Hills gets a facelift: Changes to include script rewrite, more Cherokee actors, better marketing plans, and more community involvement
By Michael Beadle For 56 years, the outdoor historical drama known as “Unto These Hills” has been a fixture for…
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A changing audience
“Unto These Hills” first opened on July 1, 1950, as an outdoor drama to celebrate the history and honor the…
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Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein If you love the goofy wordplay of Spoonerisms — switching the beginning sounds of words…
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Hayseed’s latest falls flat on its grass
Some jokes are really, really funny. Some even get better with age, as if their repeated telling somehow increases the…
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Most Secret I was given this book over Christmas and finally got around to reading it. It’s a fascinating tale…
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A Mysterious Island: ‘The Tempest’ twists and turns in WCU’s Hoey Auditorium Feb. 8-12
By Michael Beadle The Duke of Milan and his daughter have been shipwrecked on a strange island far from civilization.…
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A little frisky — much better than fair
By Chris Cooper It’s harder than you would think to write a song. As a musician, it is tempting to…
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