Blow the tannery whistle: A tale of two Abrahams

I remember a day in March when I was in the seventh grade. We were on the second floor of the…
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A Cullowhee Christmas: The holidays are in full swing at WCU

As fall is slowly transitioning to winter, so, too, comes the holiday cheer. And although Thanksgiving Day, the official kickoff…
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Get in the holiday spirit

•  “The Merry Buccaneers Holiday Heist” stage production will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 22-23 at the Swain Arts…
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The Parton sisters’ cookbook

About 10 years ago, Dolly Parton became one of my heroines. It wasn’t her music, or her movies, or her…
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Cataloochee Ranch welcomes bluegrass legend

Americana/bluegrass act the Darren Nicholson Band will hit the stage for a special intimate performance at 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov.…
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Stecoah Drive-About Tour

The annual “Stecoah Arts & Crafts Drive-About Tour” will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 29-30 at featured…
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Americana, folk at Frog Level

Rising singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alma Russ will hit the stage at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 27, at Frog Level Brewing…
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City Lights welcomes Woloch, Sunshine

The following readings will occur at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. • Poets Cecilia Woloch and Louise Morgan Runyon will…
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Haywood Arts to offer Helene support grants

The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) in Waynesville has announced the launch of the HCAC Helene Support Grant. Designed to…
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HCAC ‘Small Works’ exhibit

The Haywood County Arts Council’s (HCAC) “Small Works” exhibit will run through Dec. 31 at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts…
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WCU student art showcase

The “Bachelor of Fine Art Portfolio Exhibition” will be displayed through Dec. 6 at the Western Carolina University Fine Art…
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Mountain power: Hundreds of artists come together for 'Caverns of Gold' album

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, there has been numerous initiatives put forth by local Western North Carolina musicians to…
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‘Rock for Relief’ raises over $32K

The recent “Rock for Relief: A WNC Flood Benefit Festival” was able to garner more than $32,000 in its one-day…
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An inside look at life in a Christian convent

If you ever wondered what it would be like to live as a monk or a nun, this book delves…
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Handmade Holiday Sale

The 15th annual “Handmade Holiday Sale” will be held from noon to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, in the Bardo…
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Being kind: A conversation with Larry Keel

When it comes to bluegrass guitar pickin’-n-grinnin’ — hell, acoustic guitar playing, in general — one name high atop the…
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Of war and peace: novels for Veterans Day

According to surveys and government data cited in the online article “The Changing Face of America’s Veteran Population,” 40 years…
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Coming together: 'Rock for Relief' rolls through WNC

When record-breaking floodwaters tore through Western North Carolina last month in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, it was only a…
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A book of peace in hard times

Given the harrowing natural disasters in the South, I thought a good book to review this month would be one…
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Interested in learning to write?

Award-winning poet Cecilia Woloch will offer a workshop for local writers, “Our Lives Which Can Never Run Dry: Workshop for…
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All-star music compilation to benefit flood victims

With the recent floods ravaging Western North Carolina due to Hurricane Helene, there’s been countless avenues by which artists and…
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The forgotten victims of violent death

Approximately 20,000 murders occurred in the United States in 2023. These killings ranged in scope from gang battles to domestic…
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'A shelf on which to rest': Writing through trauma

As the life-threatening emergency faced in the wake Hurricane Helene ebbs in Haywood County and the reality of the long…
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Giving the present to the future

No book review today. Instead, some words about the importance of words — yours. If you’re reading these words and…
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Bryson City community jam

A community jam will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.…
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A proclamation about women as artists

As I peruse the shelves in the Jackson County Library’s “new releases” section, it is evident to me that there…
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Planting the seeds of tomorrow: A community comes together post-Helene

On Friday evening, downtown Waynesville was in kind of a festive spirit — a far cry from what all of…
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Mountain Heritage Day celebrates 50 years

A beloved long-time Western North Carolina tradition, Mountain Heritage Day will spotlight its 50th anniversary from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.…
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A thoughtful farewell to summer

The change of season, especially to autumn, is always a welcome and refreshing time for me. Traveling diminishes, darkness encroaches…
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Debut novel deals with opioid crisis

Rick Childers will share his debut novel, “Turkeyfoot,” in conversation with Meagan Lucas at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at…
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A blank canvas: The world of paint and sip

On a sunny morning, I met Robin Arramae at Panacea Coffee House in the Frog Level District of Waynesville. We…
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Teaching manners and other life skills

Recently I had the opportunity to speak by phone with writer and podcaster Jennifer L. Scott. The author of the…
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It's Only Fear That Makes You Run: A conversation with Melissa Etheridge

If there’s one word to describe singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, it would be persistent. From humble and hardscrabble beginnings as a…
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A new take on an old issue

Glass half-full or glass half-empty? For the past 20 years, we’ve heard from academics, some politicians and various commentators that…
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Smokies Life publishes George Masa biography

Smokies Life has announced the publication of “George Masa: A Life Reimagined,” the first comprehensively researched biography of the visionary…
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Shine your light: Patton Magee of The Nude Party

It’s a hot, early evening at FloydFest, the storied independently-run music festival held each July in the backwoods of rural…
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Living off the grid for 40 years

In a book written in a first-person, vulnerable and intimately entertaining narrative oral storytelling voice, Ken Smith takes us through…
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Melodies of love: Asheville Mountain Boys to play Sylva

The sheer beauty and fundamental foundation of bluegrass music resides in one simple truth about the tones, textures and talents…
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In this book, old-time means good time

Over 30 years ago, I read Helen Hooven Santmyer’s “And Ladies of the Club,” a doorstopper of a book chronicling…
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Spread it heavy: WNC rockers Porch 40 return

It was a special time and place when rock-n-funk act Porch 40 emerged onto the vast, vibrant Western North Carolina…
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A scary, page-turner of a story

Sometimes life seems too short to read every novel and author on your list. Oftentimes, I tend towards classics and…
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Mission in the Rain: Sam Grisman Project to play Earl Scruggs Fest

When stand-up bassist Sam Grisman wanted to start his band, aptly titled the Sam Grisman Project (SGP), he had one…
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‘An Imaginative Proclivity’: Gary Carden and “Stories I Lived to Tell”

In “Stories I Lived to Tell: An Appalachian Memoir” (The University of North Carolina Press, 2024, 152 pages), 89-year-old storyteller…
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Porch 40 returns to the stage

After an extended hiatus, one of Western North Carolina’s most popular rock acts, Porch 40, will host a special performance…
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Jokes, laughter, happiness and good health

As part of my gifts for Father’s Day this year, my daughter bought me a book. She apologized before handing…
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Love you madly: A retrospective on rock rebels Cake

In the vast annals of American rock music, alternative rock act Cake remains a beacon of eccentricity — this sonic…
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‘The Anxious Generation’ — Part 2

Editor’s note: This first part of this review was published in the July 24 edition of The Smoky Mountain News…
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The ‘Anxious Generation’ – Part 1

A month ago I called my brother-in-law, known to all the family as Uncle Jim, to ask a favor. He readily…
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Carry this together: Zoe and Cloyd

With their latest album, “Songs of Our Grandfathers,” rising Asheville Americana/folk duo Zoe & Cloyd decided to take a different…
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A bird’s eye view of feathered friends

In a remarkable book that combines eco-poetry, poetic prose and personal and scientific information by award-winning African-American ornithologist and professor…
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