This must be the place: Driving down a corduroy road, Ferris wheel is rusting off in the distance
Yesterday, at the corner of Brown Avenue and Hazelview Drive in Waynesville, this weird feeling washed over me. The thought…
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‘Connecting Legacies’: New art exhibit shines light on Black Mountain College
From 1933-1957, Black Mountain College was formed and thrived within the context of its seemingly unconventional methods and ways, only…
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This must be the place: Ode to Mr. P, ode to never sacrificing the gift
It is with an extremely heavy heart that I share the news of the passing last Friday morning of Brian…
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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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