The art of forgery: Jackson County blacksmiths learn the art of their business and the business of art
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Deep in the mountains that surround Jackson County’s Tuckasegee community, the sound of metal…
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Recommended diversions
TV Yeah, fine: burn your television, TV is bad. It’s mind numbing and makes us lazy. Blah blah blah. But…
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Petal to the metal: Franklin metal artist Victor Raul Moraloza grows in art as in life
By Michael Beadle For Victor Raul Moraloza, each day is a gift. From being a high school wrestling champion to…
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A mysterious masterpiece
By Chris Cooper Beautiful and alarmingly odd, Andrew Bird makes music that ambles pretty far outside description or categorization. “Chamber…
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The sounds of Jackson County: Landmark collection of local performers bands together for Jackson County library fundraising event
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Backstage at Western Carolina University’s Fine and Performing Arts Center, the rehearsal room buzzed…
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The Sounds and the stories
By Michael Beadle In gathering the performers who would help make the Sounds of Jackson County a reality, organizers invited…
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Ordinary World: twisted, welcome catharsis
By Chris Cooper When the bio sheet for a band arrives with the greeting “Dear Pop Revivalists,” I feel a…
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Adam’s 29 falls short of past achievements
By Joe Hooten When it seems like you’ve heard all there is to hear from our Carolina troubadour Mr. Ryan…
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Recommended diversions
“Firefly” As a proud member of the Star Wars generation, I enjoy a healthy dose of otherworldly sci-fi plots and…
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Work in process: In life as in art, glass artist John Nickerson is a student of methodology
By Sarah Kucharski John Nickerson is a very exacting man. Tall and solidly built, he moves with efficiency, his speech…
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Recommended diversions
King of the Hill I picked up a nasty rumor that Fox is planning to terminate my favorite cartoon show,…
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An impressive collection from a bluegrass veteran
By Chris Cooper It’s not unusual in music circles for one’s sound to be recognizable but the name to be…
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Recommended Diversions – Best Albums of 2005 Edition
1) The Hold Steady, Separation Sunday If lead singer Craig Finn weren’t fronting this band, he’d be writing short stories…
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Gypsy Bandwagon plays true to the Appalachian tradition
By Joe Hooten Throughout the 1700s, immigrants from European nations began pouring into the 13 colonies with dreams that were…
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Recommended diversions
Christmas shopping Granted it’s four days before Christmas and those of you that haven’t yet gotten your shopping done are…
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Vocal and instrumental abilities carry through a wide variety of styles
By Chris Cooper If you didn’t know already, Jamie Cullum is that kid who was on Pay-Per-View last summer. It…
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In full swing: Appalachian banjo player and singer Laura Boosinger shares memories of an old-time mountain swing band in Canton with her latest CD, Let Me Linger.
By Michael Beadle Laura Boosinger was a student at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa in the late 1970s when she…
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A mutual enterprise
By Michael Beadle Sometimes John Grant sees a bear inside a rough block of soapstone. Sometimes he sees a buffalo…
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Giving art a hand
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer David Cozzo, director of the Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources project, stands on…
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An Asheville trio’s mad swing-a-billy party
By Joe Hooten The Roaring ‘20s ushered in an era of looseness, flair, and simplistic decadence that would quickly diminish…
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(Un)RecommendedDiversions
Here’s the deal. I’m not going to be “recommending” anything in this installment of “Diversions.” I’m just going to tell…
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Larry Watson — a student of the song
By Michael Beadle It was Chet Atkins who really put the hook in Larry Watson. Atkins had that masterful style…
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Power guitar trio delivers
By Chris Cooper The G3 tours are a traveling celebration of the virtuoso rock guitarist. Joe Satriani developed the concept…
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Exploring the creative side with handcrafted jewelry
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Jewelry artist Debbie Higdon makes what she likes to wear — handmade pieces, created…
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Recommended diversions
Graham Greene Recently I have begun revisiting authors I read back in my 20’s — Thomas Wolfe, Hemingway, Faulkner, some…
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One year and all’s well: 2005 finale of Waynesville’s popular gallery stroll marks anniversary of Outer Spaces Gallery
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer On a cold, grey Sunday afternoon just before Thanksgiving, Polly Smith sits behind the…
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New Faces, Familiar places: Galleries old and new wrap up a successful year
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer This Friday (Dec. 2) marks the close of what Waynesville Gallery Association chairman David…
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NY rock quartet conjures a blast from the past
By Joe Hooten Scene: A Friday night, Firebirds and Camaros fill a Main Street parking lot after the big high…
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Bright nights in Dillsboro
By Michael Beadle Dillsboro becomes a village of glittering lights for the first two Friday and Saturday nights in December…
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Pottery, naturally
By Greg Sessoms • Correspondent Upon entering Susan Balentine’s home off of Howell Mill Road in Waynesville, one could be…
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Recommended diversions
“Elizabethtown,” Soundtrack From everything I hear, the movie turned out to be entirely less than it was cracked up to…
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Lamotte’s work branches beyond music with non-profit
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer David Lamotte is a safe driver. Headed south to Columbus, Ga., last Friday afternoon…
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Wide variety of influences leaves sump’m for everyone
By Chris Cooper Let’s just go ahead and say it: terrible title for an album. Thankfully, a lot of the…
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Triumph from tragedy: Franklin film student premiers ‘Tragedy of Glady’ to rave reviews nationwide
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The crowd held its breath, barely shifting in creaky metal chairs as a stunned,…
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Superb acting highlights HART’s ‘Three Sisters’
In The Three Sisters, Anton Chekhov tells audiences that suffering, education and work will lay the foundation for a new…
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Recommended diversions
Jack Russells I was surprised to discover that Jack Russell terriers bear the name of a 19th century English clergyman…
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CYHSY makes their own way
By Joe Hooten Popular music is made trendy by sweaty handshakes, neon dollar signs, shady deals, and artificial relationships that…
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The Language of Glass: World famous glass artist Joel Philip Myers brings impressive exhibit to WCU Fine Arts Museum
By Michael Beadle On pedestals they stand. Whimsical arrangements of colored glass bottles, leaning, bending to resemble animated statues caught…
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Exhibit by artist Jesse Wills to benefit home for autistic individuals
Jesse Wills, a local artist who has autism, will present his paintings at an art show at Hardwood Gallery at…
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To Russia, with love: HART concludes season with Chekhov's The Three Sisters
By Michael Beadle By the end of the 19th Century, the once powerful Russian aristocracy was crumbling, and playwright Anton…
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Recommended diversions
Schoolhouse Rock Growing up on mindless hours of Saturday morning cartoons, I never knew how much fun parts of speech…
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Bound Away - a great piece of work
By Chris Cooper Eric Brace writes damn fine songs. His band Last Train Home plays these songs pretty damn well,…
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All in the Family: Haywood County Arts Council presents Sanders Family Christmas at HCC
By Michael Beadle Journey back to Christmas Eve, December 1941. The United States has just entered World War II after…
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Recommended diversions
Wild animal sightings I was driving in Francis Cove near Waynesville before sunrise one day last week.
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Art for fun and profit: Study finds cultural travelers spend more
A study released earlier this month by the North Carolina Arts Council shows that cultural travelers to the state spend…
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Hurray for a Day of Clay: Dillsboro hosts inaugural Western North Carolina Pottery Festival Nov. 5
By Michael Beadle • Staff Writer As the retail industry gears up for another busy holiday season of sales, some…
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