So, what is there to do around here?
By Chris Cooper Though Sylva might not qualify as a simmering hotbed of musical and cultural hipness, to a degree…
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Freakonomics OK, I’m often late to the game, but this book published a few years is just fascinating. While working…
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Old instruments sing again: Community band effort provides new homes for neglected instruments
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Jacob Clark, a sixth-grader at Waynesville Middle School, likes the trumpet. “It’s easy to…
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From the pick of the old time pickin’ litter
By Chris Cooper Rafe Stefanini: Ladies Fancy Rafe Stefanini is something of a walking encyclopedia of old-time fiddle and banjo…
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Book By Book Michael Dirda, a reviewer for The Washington Post Book World and winner of a Pulitzer Prize for…
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Raging rockabilly courtesy of Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys
By Chris Cooper “Timeless” is one of those words tossed around a lot in reference to music. Everybody wants to…
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The landscapes of our lives
By Michael Beadle Shafts of sun pierce through a misty forest. A thick river of fog rolls through ancient mountains.…
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A Tall One Earlier this month North Carolina won five medals at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival Competition —
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Makin’ tracks: Musician/traveler/artist Jim Stoltz brings his cross-country experience to life with a multimedia show and fund raiser for the Jackson/Macon Conservation Alliance
Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, Jim Stoltz first learned to appreciate nature on family camping trips.
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Lauderdale’s Country Super is super country
By Chris Cooper The stellar songwriting talents of Jim Lauderdale have been tapped by a “who’s who” of country music…
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Sports I’m sorry, I am an unabashed sports fan. Not one of those people who paints themselves in their team’s…
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Southern Cross set to test its metal
By Chris Cooper If you can imagine an even more ticked-off Phil Anselmo fronting a hybrid of COC and Black…
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Art all day: 4th annual Bryson City Art Walk is Oct. 14
By Michael Beadle With the blaze of leaf season in full swing, inspiration is all around — especially for local…
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In the driver’s seat: ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ hits the Bryson City stage
By Michael Beadle Miss Daisy Werthan is an elderly Jewish widow who has gotten too old to drive herself, so…
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If you do a lot of surfing on the Internet, you probably know that astonishing changes are taking place there.…
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Haywood Open Studios Tour features more than 30 artists
By Michael Beadle The world where artists create can often be a private place off limits to the general public.
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New moon rising: Frazier’s long-awaited second novel is in bookstores now
By Michael Beadle It’s a gorgeous autumn afternoon in Asheville just a few days before author Charles Frazier begins an…
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The eighties uncovered
By Chris Cooper It’s all too easy to dismiss the ‘80s as an era of day-glow clothes, poofy hair and…
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When a book becomes an industry
By Michael Beadle “Where is Cold Mountain?” Nearly a decade after Charles Frazier’s debut novel became an international success, folks…
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Los Lobos: The Town and the City Remembered by most as “that band that revived ‘La Bamba’,” this criminally under-appreciated…
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Pickin’ and Tellin’ — Appalachian style ‘Smoky Mountain Gypsy’ Jerry Harmon plays Eaglenest Sept. 30
By Michael Beadle Appalachian storyteller and musician Jerry Harmon will perform at Eaglenest in Maggie Valley for one special performance…
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HART: Thinking outside of the (ticket) box
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer In most rural small-town communities, local theater isn’t known for being particularly racy, daring,…
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Fine playing on a Kinky collaboration
By Chris Cooper I have to admit — I really don’t know much about Kinky Friedman. I mean, most of…
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Bare necessities: HART pushes the envelope with staging of ‘The Full Monty’
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer It’s late at night and Georgie is standing at the door waiting for Dave…
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'An Inconvenient Truth’ Regardless of where you may stand on political issues, one very important truth is making itself abundantly…
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Local pickers’ uncommon talent
By Chris Cooper It would be pretty tough to find someone around here that hasn’t heard at least a little…
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Myspace Surely you’ve heard of Myspace. It’s that Internet phenomenon where people can find out a little too much about…
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Putting on a show: Mickey and Jan Rooney come to WCU’s Fine and Performing Arts Center Sept. 17 for a night of songs, reminiscences and jazz
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Mickey Rooney. Chances are that if you’re into classic Hollywood you’ve seen at least…
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Newgrass with strong roots
It seems that in the realm of jam-oriented “newgrass” music, there are very clear lines between the things that work…
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All aboard! Bryson City celebrates railroad history and firefighter pride this weekend with Railfest and Fireman’s Day
By Michael Beadle Take to the rails through Western North Carolina, and you’re bound to hear some history. In the…
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Scene changes: Revised ‘Unto These Hills’ garners bigger audiences and mixed reviews
By Michael Beadle Ticket sales and attendance were both up this season for Cherokee’s long-running outdoor drama “Unto These Hills,”…
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Tsali Recreation Area One of my wife’s best household accomplishments in the last few years has been reducing the car…
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Unique bluegrass musicianship
By Chris Cooper For all practical purposes, the County bluegrass label is also the Rebel Records label. CD’s bearing the…
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Art Money: Local artists encouraged to pursue national grant money during Aug. 29 workshop
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer There’s money to be had. That’s what National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana…
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Steep Canyon Rangers climb to the top
The Steep Canyon Rangers, the host band of the upcoming Mountain Song Festival in Brevard, continues to carve out their…
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“Crash” Sometimes a movie or a book can rock us like a hook to the jaw. This movie, which tells…
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The Joy of Jammin’: Smoky Mountain Folk Festival celebrates 35 years of music and dance at Lake Junaluska
By Michael Beadle What keeps people coming back year after year to the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival at Lake Junaluska…
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Eric Johnson: Live at the Orange Peel 8/30/06
By Chris Cooper OK, the title of this one is a bit misleading, seeing as how Eric Johnson’s appearance at…
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Charlie Daniels rocks Canton Sept. 1
The Town of Canton’s Labor Day celebrations reach fever pitch this weekend with the Paper Bowl — the football game…
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“Scoop” The world’s been in need of a good Woody Allen film and this murder-mystery/comedy fabulously fills the void. As…
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Strange happenings in music today
By Chris Cooper Here are a few things about “modern” rock and pop that I’ve found interesting (in a morbid…
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TrueBlueGrass: 24th annual Cherokee Bluegrass Festival draws on traditional roots
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer For the past 24 years, crowds have gathered at Happy Holiday Campground in Cherokee…
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Storytelling The term “storytelling” has been acquired by a diverse number of creative folks from musicians (the late Harry Chapin,…
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HCC Film and Video students finish film by one of their own
Students in Haywood Community College’s Film and Video Production Technology Program just finished an original film written by one of…
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Remarkable talent shines in Rosser’s latest
By Chris Cooper Man, I don’t want to start off with the whole “He’s done it again!” thing. You know,…
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Hands on the wheel For less than $20, you can buy a decent hands-free earset for your cellular phone. I’m…
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Knight rolls with the punches
By Chris Cooper It’s pretty rough going for the characters in Chris Knight’s songwriting. There’s booze, violence and regret lurking…
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Ebony, ivory and ... chocolate
When world-renowned pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski comes to the Performing Arts Center in Waynesville this weekend, audiences will get a good…
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Books by Larry Brown It’s probably a prejudice on my part, but it seems to me there are more good…
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A stripped-down, heartfelt message from Kate Campbell
By Chris Cooper Kate Campbell’s roots in southern storytelling and musical tradition run deep. Her earlier albums, specifically Songs From…
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