This must be the place: Haynes conjures rock spirit through symphony
Arguably the hardest working man in rock-n-roll, guitar legend Warren Haynes has never been one to shy away from testing…
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This must be the place: Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there
It was 60 years ago this past weekend (March 2, 1959) when Miles Davis’ seminal “Kind of Blue” album was…
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Something to believe in: A conversation with Citizen Cope
Since he first burst out on the music scene with his debut album in 2002, soul/rock singer-songwriter Citizen Cope has…
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Collective plans artwork in Dillsboro, sets town hall meetings
In partnership with the Appalachian Women’s Museum and the Jackson County Public Library, Western Carolina University’s LIVLAB Artist Collective will…
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Devil on my shoulder: With new live album, The Get Right Band to play Boojum
The hardest balance for a rock band is to straddle the line between honest emotions in your lyrics and also…
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This must be the place: Some people never go crazy, what truly horrible lives they must lead
In a recent New York Times article, “What Charles Bukowski’s Glamorous Displays of Alcoholism Left Out,” the piece analyzed and…
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Coming down the mountain: Whiteside Brewing impacts Cashiers culture
It’s just after 5 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. 64 and N.C. 107 in the village of Cashiers. Otherwise…
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This must be the place: If I ever loved once, you know I never loved right by you
Ah, Valentine’s Day. Upstate New York in the late 1990s. Middle school and Valentine’s Day dances in that a-typical gymnasium.…
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Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet celebrates 25 years
The Sylva-based Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet will present a concert celebrating 25 years of music, travel and fun together on…
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This must be the place: Call it living the dream, call it kicking the ladder
Why does it seem we’re all so unhappy these days? Is it that we’re just more aware of our emotions…
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Outside the bounds of time: Longtime WNC songwriter releases debut album
Tucked up along a hillside overlooking Richland Creek and the Frog Level district of Waynesville is a cozy bungalow. The…
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This must be the place
Meandering down the desolate Route 8 in the southern Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York last weekend, my truck came…
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Don’t you know that God is Pooh Bear?
Standing in front of the ancient waterfall, I watched the lagoon sparkle like some long-lost stash of emeralds and sapphires.…
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In pursuit of the moment: Greg Ormont of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
In a day and age where everything that glistens and captures society’s short attention span is seemingly a smoke screen…
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What lies beyond the horizon: Porch 40 kicks off ‘Pour 40’ tour, new album
Coming into seven years together, the members of Porch 40 continue to hold steady and elevate each other’s craft, with…
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This must be the place: Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
It’s like getting hit in the face with a frying pan. Stepping out of my parents’ farmhouse in Upstate New…
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WCU’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration
Tying in with Western Carolina University’s 2018-19 campus learning theme “Defining America,” the keynote speaker for this year’s Martin Luther…
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Combining the culinary arts: Mad Anthony’s pairs craft beer, fine dining
Just off Main Street in Waynesville, tucked down the hill below Bogart’s, and across the street from American Legion Post…
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This must be the place: Ode to my best gal
She’s known as “Wild Kathy.” At least, that’s what she was nicknamed while joyously roaming Bourbon Street in New Orleans…
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Out in the open: Steep Canyon Rangers to play homecoming show
Adjusting his baseball cap, Graham Sharp leans forward and takes another sip of coffee. It’s late morning at the Tastee…
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This must be the place: That time the trees all came falling down
This week marks just over 20 years since The Great Ice Storm of 1998. In early January of that year,…
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How we got here, nobody knows: The best albums of 2018
In a year of turmoil, trepidation and tragedy, thankfully we can retreat into the one thing that can shift any…
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This must be the place: 'So, I’d give this world, just to dream a dream with you’
For someone as sentimental as I am, New Year’s Eve always seems to resonate the deepest. The idea of leaving…
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HART receives N.C. Community Theatre Award
Located in Waynesville, the renowned Haywood Arts Regional Theatre received an early Christmas present when the organization was awarded the…
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This must be the place: ‘Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away’
This year has been quite the whirlwind. It felt like 2018 was a rollercoaster I either didn’t buy a ticket…
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Let my life be a light: After banner year, Balsam Range release ‘Aeonic’
Following a second “Entertainer of the Year” award from the International Bluegrass Music Association this past September in Raleigh, the…
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Patience, persistence and power chords
The core of any sincere and determined musical circle is a simple formula: camaraderie + compassion = musicianship. Anyone who…
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This must be the place: ‘Didn’t wanna get me no trade, never want to be like papa’
So, amid the whirlwind this past week of being published by Rolling Stone — my biggest dream and top bucket…
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Choices and changes: A conversation with Sierra Hull
Though part of the scene most of her life, singer/mandolinist Sierra Hull has been making some big waves in the…
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This must be the place: ‘If everything could ever feel this real forever’
As a Rolling Stone magazine subscriber since I was in ninth grade, it has my biggest dream as a writer…
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‘Any old road will take you there’: Balsam Range reflects on successful past, a bright future
In 12 years together, Haywood County-based Balsam Range have played some of the biggest stages in the music industry, and…
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The face behind the lens: Longtime journalist to hold photo showcase
For over 25 years, journalist Quintin Ellison has roamed our region documenting the people, places and things that make up…
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This must be the place: ‘I will walk alone, by the black muddy river’
Many folks here in Waynesville knew Louie Bing as “the homeless guy with the dog.” Well, Louie and his Australian…
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This must be the place: ‘We’ll climb that hill, no matter how steep’
There was something so cozy about that navy blue 1992 Toyota Camry. With my mother behind the wheel of her…
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Fiddle instructor needed
A fiddle instructor is needed for the Jackson County Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program.
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Let the world decide: Travers Brothership release latest album
Just about a decade ago, on a school bus somewhere on the back roads of Black Mountain, four teenage boys…
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This must be the place: ‘Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice but to carry on’
I couldn’t believe she gave me a ticket. Thanksgiving 2001. I was 16 years old. Having just ate a quick…
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Grassroots Arts Program subgrants awarded
The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC), serving as a Designated County Partner of the North Carolina Arts Council, is pleased…
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Regional Artist Project grantees announced
The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC), administrator of this year’s Regional Artist Project Grant (RAPG), is pleased to announce grantees…
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This must be the place: ‘The air was just electric. The air was quivering.’
I was handed a telephone number and told good luck. In the fall of 2007, I was 22 years old.…
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Tapping into the past, present of Appalachia
In the six or so years I’ve lived and worked in Western North Carolina, the amount of craft breweries in…
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We are but a moment’s sunlight, fading in the grass
I was born in the wrong decade. Or so I often hear from others. Some are musicians or artists, dreamers…
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Don’t judge the book, read the book: ‘Liberal Redneck’ brings wellRED tour to WCU
What Trae Crowder, Drew Morgan and Corey Ryan Forrester are doing is artistically and politically groundbreaking in the world of…
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This must be the place: Sweet Caroline, good times never seemed so good
Let’s go Sox. Standing and shouting at the large television at a pub around the corner from my apartment in…
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Today is a video game: Vermont singer-songwriter returns to Waynesville
About six years ago, I moved from Upstate New York to Western North Carolina. I was, and remain, some 1,100…
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You can't take it when you go: Rock icon Dave Mason rolls through Asheville
Dave Mason has seen it all. As co-founder/guitarist for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group Traffic, Mason, alongside band…
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Sure Feels Good Anyway: A Conversation with Amy Ray
A true mark of a timeless artist is how well they age. Not simply by the passing years on the…
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Remember what we’ve said and done and felt about each other
The laughter ensued deep into the night.
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WCU’s high school marching band tournament
Twenty-two of the top high school marching bands from the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee will be competing for the title…
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New bluegrass book
Diving into the rich, vibrant and controversial history of bluegrass music, If You Can’t Play, Get Off the Stage: Bluegrass…
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