Arts + Entertainment
Jimmy Lai’s extraordinary struggle for freedom
At the opening of a documentary on the life of Jimmy Lai, pronounced “Lie,” we hear words from a Chinese proverb. “If you are a bird, you would rather die singing than living a quiet life.”
Lai was never destined to live a quiet life, as we learn in “The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom,” released in 2022 by Acton Films. He was born in China in 1948, the son of a successful businessman. The next year, the Communists under Mao Zedong overthrew the government.
Ramblin' woman: A conversation with Kelsey Waldon
The first time I ever spoke to renowned Americana/country singer-songwriter Kelsey Waldon was in the spring of 2020. I’d only scratched the surface of her music and talent when we scheduled a phone interview. In truth, I was an instant fan from what I’d heard. And I’ve never forgotten that interaction.
Frozen: Two survival sagas from Antarctica
In January, in the middle of the week-long subfreezing temps and the snow that froze into ice, one of my sons gave me a belated Christmas gift, Alfred Lansing’s “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (Basic Books, 2015, 416 pages). Originally published in 1959, this account of explorer Ernest Shackleton and his 27-man crew and their long battle for survival in Antarctica sold moderately well, then took off with the public after its reappearance in the late 1980s. Many of you readers have likely read this tale of heroism and resilience, but I was a come-lately to its pages.
'The Billy Effect': Reflecting on Billy Strings' recent Asheville run
Approaching the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in downtown Asheville last Wednesday evening, a mob scene had overtaken the sidewalks surrounding the venue.
The entry line stretched down the hill on Flint Street, across the Interstate 240 overpass and around the Asheville Skatepark on Cherry Street. Thousands of joyous faces aiming to witness one of the “must-see” live acts of the modern era — Billy Strings.
A deep dive into the world of art
Thomas Schlesser’s “Mona’s Eyes” is a slow motion read that will baffle readers looking for a conventional pathway to storytelling.
Ten-year-old Mona lives with her parents, Camille and Paul, in Paris. One day, she inexplicably goes blind. Her worried parents rush her off to the doctor, but on their arrival Mona regains her vision. The doctor and staff of the hospital are baffled; the parents and Mona are terrified.
‘No plugs, no pedals, only bluegrass:’ Asheville Mountain Boys release new album
The Asheville Mountain Boys’ self-titled debut album drops on Feb. 12, heralding the arrival of a new era of old-school bluegrass from the Buncombe County quartet.
Recorded at The Shop Studio with master bluegrass engineer Van Atkins (Doyle Lawson, Balsam Range, Town Mountain), the record blends heartfelt originals about love and loss with a hand-picked selection of bluegrass standards and deep cuts from the catalogs of the band’s musical heroes.
‘I wanna know what love is…’
“I wanna know what love is/
I want you to show me.”
— Foreigner
There’s love and then there’s Love. In Glenn Aparicio Parry’s book “Original Love: A Timeless Source of Wholeness” (SelectBooks Inc., New York, 2026), he gives us the full monty of what this means, as if looking at the Earth from outer space through enlightened eyes.
Stecoah welcomes Cherokee Historical Association
On the morning of Monday, Jan. 12, a group from Cherokee Historical Association visited the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville.
Both CHA and SVC are nonprofits dedicated to the preservation of history and culture. Thus, the CHA representatives’ focus was on how Cherokee history and culture was being presented at SVC.
I built a world: A conversation with Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Whirlwind. Virtuoso. Rollicking. Heartfelt.
Those were some of the sentiments I had ricocheting around my mind watching Bronwyn Keith-Hynes perform earlier this winter at The Orange Peel in Asheville. A renowned fiddler/singer, Keith-Hynes is headlong into a solo career with the recent disbanding of her former band, the Grammy-winning Americana/bluegrass act Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway.
