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C O NT E NT S
PAGE 22 HEALTHY CHANGE Over the past five years, funky West Asheville has attracted a growing cluster of businesses focused on wellness and health. On the cover: Letitia Walker, center, launched Purna Yoga 828 on Haywood Road in November 2017. COVER PHOTO Paola Nazati COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick
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26 ELECTRIC SHUFFLE WNC residents demand more from state Clean Energy Plan
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32 SMALL BITES PennyCup Coffee owner Amber Arthur opens an English-style soccer bar downtown
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39 WATCHING THE (BLUE) GRASS GROW Unspoken Tradition celebrates its third album
40 CROSS-POLLINATORS UNITE Connect Beyond Festival returns for a second year
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13 DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE Ahead of meeting, DOT backs off four lanes for Amboy and Meadow roads
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OPINION
Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com. STA F F PUBLISHER: Jeff Fobes ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson MANAGING EDITOR: Virginia Daffron A&E EDITOR: Alli Marshall FOOD EDITOR: Gina Smith GREEN SCENE EDITOR: Daniel Walton OPINION EDITOR: Tracy Rose STAFF REPORTERS: Able Allen, Edwin Arnaudin, Thomas Calder, David Floyd, Brooke Randle, Daniel Walton COMMUNITY CALENDAR EDITOR: Deborah Robertson
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Think outside the box for education funding Our local teaching supplements are half the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system’s. Our area teachers are better than that. Our state’s per-pupil spending is hanging around the Mississippi, Alabama levels. Our kids are no better than theirs, but they are certainly worth more than this. Our local teaching supplements and per-pupil spending are just another knock against our regional image. I enjoy the backhanded, “drowning in the cesspool” remarks. It’s funny. What is not funny: the undeniable truths hurting our community. Chickenpox outbreaks and the lack of educational funding are the two issues that currently keep me awake at night. Local supplements can be significantly increased if we vote for it. Detractors will say that our communities are too poor to support this action. Just think where this current trend takes us 10 years from now. Twenty years. The middle class will fade away and leave us with what? I know that our most financially challenged neighbors want what is right for their children. No one expects any added sacrifice from them. Let us, the middle class, do what we always do and hold this community up on our backs. It would be appreciated if our com-
munity leaders will publicly commit to donating to our public schools as well. The local elite can make the most significant push in raising educational supplements. I will be first in line to eat at a restaurant that puts their money where their mouth is. Use those tourist dollars to give back to the schools. Plaster your support on every billboard and utility pole you can find. We have a lot of wealthy neighbors, through inheritance or capitalism, who could do the morally responsible thing and take care of this embarrassing issue. If we demand more from ourselves, then real change will return back to us two-fold. Mountain Xpress: Will you please consider creating a new, and dare I say, meaningful competition between our local leaders and businesses? The top three winners can come from private and public sectors. Restaurant versus restaurant. Brewery versus brewery. Politician against politician. Let’s title it: “Most funding raised for public education.” — Jeff Bloomer Mills River Editor’s note: Thank you for sharing your passion and intriguing idea. Xpress has devoted significant resources and space to covering Asheville City Schools in recent months, including four articles (see “Hard Lessons,” on Page 15 of this issue), a commentary from a community member last week and a commentary from our news staff
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OPINION
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calling on the system to provide more information and transparency; ACS responded by posting five years of budget information on its website and fulfilling outstanding public information requests. Our mission is to promote dialogue and encourage our readers to see themselves as activists in building a better community. We look forward to continuing to report on ACS and community efforts to help the system achieve its goals.
Amen’s diversity celebration delivered On March 10, an International Women’s Celebration Concert for Human Harmony took place at Ambrose West [with] producer Rah Amen [“Cosmic connections: Diversity Productions’ Multicultural Musical Events Promote Harmony,” Jan. 23, Xpress]. He was asked by friends to duplicate in Asheville his successful
events that also addressed and welcomed diversity. Since his arrival, he has been organizing and fundraising for a series of these events. He pulled a wealth of regional talent together on a shoestring budget. A striking poster highlighted the show, which included Glenis Redmond protege poet Starry Walker. Laced with intensity, her poetry portrayed strong images from ancestral to current times. Nigerian priestess Yeye Osunyemi shared earth wisdom woven
NCDOT TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON MARCH 28 REGARDING THE PROPOSAL TO WIDEN AMBOY ROAD/MEADOW ROAD (S.R. 3556) FROM I-240 TO N.C. 81/BILTMORE AVENUE (S.R. 3214) WITH A NEW BRIDGE OVER THE FRENCH BROAD RIVER IN ASHEVILLE, BUNCOMBE COUNTY
STIP Project No. U-4739 The N.C. Department of Transportation proposes to widen Amboy Road/Meadow Road (S.R. 3556) to multi-lanes between I-240 and N.C. 81/Biltmore Avenue (S.R. 3214) with a new bridge over the French Broad River in Asheville, Buncombe County. A public meeting will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, March 28 at DoubleTree by Hilton – Asheville-Biltmore, 115 Hendersonville Road. The purpose of this meeting is to inform the public of the project and gather input on the proposed design. As information becomes available, it may be viewed online at the NCDOT public meeting webpage: http://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings. The public may attend at any time during the public meeting hours, as no formal presentation will be made. NCDOT representatives will be available to answer questions and receive comments. The comments and information received will be taken into consideration as work on the project develops. The opportunity to submit written comments will be provided at the meeting or can be done via phone, email, or mail by April 26, 2019. For additional information, please contact Beverly Robinson, NCDOT Project Management Team Lead for Division 13 at 1582 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1582, 919-707-6041 or brobinson@ncdot.gov. NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this workshop. Anyone requiring special services should contact Matthew LeShure, Environmental Analysis Unit, at 1598 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1598, at 919-707-6087 or maleshure@ncdot.gov as early as possible so that arrangements can be made. Persons who do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494. Aquellas personas no hablan inglés, o tienen limitaciones para leer, hablar o entender inglés, podrían recibir servicios de interpretación si los solicitan antes de la reunión llamando al 1-800-481-6494. 6
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into prayers. Dance band April B. & the Cool and a host of others provided original, cultural and connecting music, prose and poetry. This concert offered connection to others’ pain, ways of life, herstory, creativity and wisdom. This event shared a richness and broadening of lives, with opportunities for deep listening. Rah Amen is fundraising to create more concerts, inviting people to come together in celebration of humanity, diversity and acceptance. Check the Ambrose West calendar and don’t miss the next one! — Roberta Greenspan Asheville
Hearing loss and tinnitus should be addressed ASAP World Hearing Day was on March 3. A recent blog by Katherine Bouton notes that The Lancet has reported on the launching of a commission. “Worldwide, more than 1.3 billion people have hearing loss and more than half a billion have disabling hearing loss. We usually think of hearing loss in terms of our own country, where the numbers are large — around 50 million — but minuscule in proportion to the staggering global numbers.” Bouton writes: “For children, a disabling loss affects their ability to learn to speak, resulting in lower literacy and lower quality of life. For adults, a disabling loss can lead to profound isolation, withdrawal from community and family, an increased risk of psychological illness, and of cognitive decline, including dementia.” “The new commission,” she says, “will include experts in otology, audiology, neuroscience, engineering, public health and public policy. Half the commissioners will be from low-income and middle-income countries. More than 80 percent of those with hearing loss are from these countries. The(ir) report is expected to be released on World Hearing Day in 2021.” In the United States, May is designated as Speech and Hearing Month. April lies between these two points that emphasize the importance of hearing loss, including outright deafness, and efforts to treat it. A related condition that can be disabling is tinnitus, the sound individuals hear that others don’t. This is the focus of a meeting offered by
C A R T O O N B Y B R E NT B R O W N the Asheville Chapter of The Hearing Loss Association of America at Care Partners at 10:15 a.m. on April 3. For more, see this paper’s calendar page or email hlasheville@gmail. com. But note: This is just one of several meetings in the year dealing with various aspects of hearing loss. In May, an audiologist will discuss over-the-counter hearing aid offerings that are expected soon to become widely available. Speech and Hearing Month could usefully have “noise” added into its name, because all with hearing loss struggle with the noise around them, and noise is often the main cause of hearing loss in younger people, due to the battlefield or too-loud music. It’s important to learn how to deal with noise in the best ways known, including use of assistive listening devices. But tinnitus is a particular noise phenomenon. It can be treated, though not cured, and one way is to find a cognitive therapy psychologist with special experience of this condition. The Veterans Administration uses this as part of its effective Progressive Tinnitus Management. Tinnitus overlaps with hearing loss. Sometimes getting hearing aids will fix it because these two conditions can be closely related. But each exists without the other. Through meetings attuned to various hearing issues or
other means like blogs, it’s important to learn, getting to understand what underlies someone’s particular condition and how to manage it. This might be a good time to begin. Experts say that hearing loss should be addressed as soon as possible. Dealing with it requires brain adaptation that becomes more difficult over time. Infants are tested now, and many who might otherwise be completely deaf receive cochlear implants and are introduced to the hearing world very early on. Usually, they can lead normal lives. So don’t wait. Both hearing loss and tinnitus require the earliest intervention possible to initiate effective treatment. — Ann Karson Candler Editor’s note: Carson reports that she can be contacted at akarson57@ gmail.com or 828-665-8699.
Correction Our March 20 issue contained an incorrect email address for the Asheville Music School summer camps in our kids camp listings. The correct address is: programs@ ashevillemusicschool.org.
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OPINION
Parsing the R-word BY JERRY STERNBERG I was shocked and dismayed by the optics when, while watching the Michael Cohen congressional hearing, Mark Meadows, our own 11th District representative, paraded an AfricanAmerican lady before the assemblage like a life-size cardboard cutout. The woman in question, Lynne Patton, stood silently before the House of Representatives as Meadows asserted, on her behalf, that she was empirical evidence that President Donald Trump could not be a racist, because she worked for him and she wouldn’t work for a racist. I had an eerie vision of a scene like this taking place 170 years ago, when some unfortunate woman might have been standing in the public market while an auctioneer proclaimed, “Here we have a fine black wench who you can see is young, strong, has good bones and is fecund. She will be a good worker and will produce many valuable offspring.”
When Meadows was challenged over his obviously racist act, he declared in his defense that he couldn’t possibly be a racist because he has nieces and nephews who are people of color. I would remind the congressman that Sen. Strom Thurmond, who had a half-Strom/half-black daughter, was an avowed racist who defended our Jim Crow laws with every fiber of his being. I go back far enough to remember when it was considered prestigious for certain white men to have their own “personal Negro” who would follow them around and ride with them, doing menial tasks, waiting on them hand and foot and agreeing with everything they said. At one of Trump’s rallies, he stood at the lectern, looking out over a sea of white faces, and said: “Look at my African-American over here. Look at him. Are you the greatest?” I think Trump figured he merited respect because he had his own “personal African-American.”
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The Gospel According to Jerry
JERRY STERNBERG I’ve admitted in previous columns that I am a recovering racist. I was born here in the South, and though my parents tried to instill in me tolerance and racial understanding, I was also schooled by our culture. I didn’t dare drink out of a black water fountain or sit in the back of the bus. I attended an all-white school, because black children were somehow not as good or as smart as we were, and I never questioned why black people couldn’t eat in a white restaurant. Even the churches were segregated, and some still are, because those dark-skinned folks are considered children of a lesser god. Many people who have drug and alcohol issues eventually recognize how destructive their problem has become and wish to make a change. To help those folks control their impulses, we have Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs. And although there is a 12-step program called Racists Anonymous, for the most part, we have to rely on our teachers, our parents and our political leaders to serve as examples, inform us and make us aware that racism is toxic, unpatriotic and serves neither ourselves nor our fellow Americans. To combat this evil, all of us — particularly white
people — must unceasingly teach that just because many people are different from us, they still want to live and be respected, just the same as we do. Sadly, however, what we currently have is the exact opposite situation: Some of our leaders have gone so far as to institute a two-step fear-andhatred program. When our president demeans people from “shithole countries” and characterizes our brown brothers and sisters to the south as rapists, murderers and drug smugglers, we hear his dog whistle loud and clear. He believes that encouraging distrust and abhorrence is better than implementing reasonable border controls and a workable immigration program. When Rep. Mark Meadows declares that we should send Barack Obama back to Kenya or wherever he came from, and when he blows his own dog whistle with a demeaning, ill-advised appearance at a congressional hearing, he isn’t doing a very good job of convincing us that he’s not a racist. Congressman, we understand that you were elected from the artfully gerrymandered 11th District, which is more than 90 percent white. We understand that you have little fear of backlash from your minority constituency. We also understand that you were elected to represent all of the people in your district, no matter their race or ethnicity. I could take a page out of your own playbook and suggest that you be sent back to Kenya or Verdun or wherever it is that you came from, but I would rather see you rethink your current attitude, truly embrace people different from yourself (not just your nieces and nephews), and show your love for your dear friend Rep. Elijah Cummings by becoming an articulate spokesman for racial acceptance and diversity — not only in the 11th District but in our entire Great America. X Asheville native Jerry Sternberg, a longtime observer of the local scene, can be reached at gospeljerry@aol.com.
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NEWS
MOVING ON
Brother Wolf recruits new director
BY BROOKE RANDLE brandle@mountainx.com Even if you love something, sometimes you need to let it go. That sentiment has apparently rung true for Denise Bitz, who announced in early January that she was stepping down as president and executive director of Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, the organization she founded. “As you can imagine, it was a difficult decision,” says Bitz. “Brother Wolf, it sounds kind of silly to call it my baby, but it is my baby.” The nonprofit, which Bitz launched in her basement 12 years ago with the goal of reducing shelter animal deaths in Buncombe County, has since ballooned into a multimillion-dollar enterprise with about 75 paid staff and thousands of volunteers spread across four chapters. Today, Brother Wolf bills itself as the largest no-kill rescue organization in North Carolina, providing services to more than 6,000 animals a year through adoptions, rapid response efforts and a dedicated network of foster care providers and other volunteers. Despite Brother Wolf’s remarkable record of success, however, the nonprofit has also seen its share of controversy in recent years, including questions about financial transparency and a feeling among some staff, donors, volunteers and other community members that the organization had strayed from its core mission. Xpress contacted a number of those critics, few of whom were willing to go on the record. In a Feb. 19 press release, Brother Wolf declared its intention to return to its roots. The way Bitz explains it, after more than a decade of championing companion animals such as cats and dogs, she gradually began to broaden her scope. “I think Brother Wolf has been a reflection of my own personal evolution toward animals. I think, when I started Brother Wolf, I would label myself as an animal welfare advocate. That was 12 years ago,” Bitz says. “Now, I would label myself more like an animal rights activist and an environmental activist because of everything I’ve learned over the years about other animals and the devastation on our planet as a result of animal agriculture.” And for Brother Wolf to continue to grow, she maintains, a change of leadership was needed. 10
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STEPPING UP: Leah Craig Fieser has joined Brother Wolf as executive director, succeeding founder Denise Bitz. Fieser plans to focus on the organization’s original mission of helping companion animals. Photo courtesy of Brother Wolf Animal Rescue “I feel really, really grateful to have had this opportunity to help take a community from one that was killing around 85 percent of its companion animals to, now, a community that consistently saves greater than 90 percent,” notes Bitz. “But it was the best decision and in the best interest of the organization.” NEW BLOOD Bitz tapped Leah Craig Fieser to take the reins as Brother Wolf’s executive director. Fieser, who started work in late January, has a strong background working with nonprofits, including stints with the Friends of the Western North Carolina Nature Center, Eliada, the Catskill Animal Sanctuary and The Children’s Museum of Wilmington. She previously studied communications and animal science at N.C. State University and served as Brother Wolf’s event director from May 2015 to July 2017. “I always knew that I wanted to work on behalf of animals, but I didn’t know what exactly that was going to look like,” says Fieser. “I just have always loved the nonprofit world. It’s been such a good fit for me, and I feel like it’s a good fit for my skill set and for my heart. I’m really excited now to step into the role.”
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Both women say the decision to step down was Bitz’s and that they’ve been working together to ensure a smooth transition. According to Fieser, Bitz had “really accomplished what she wanted to accomplish. ... It was her decision that this was the right time for her, and it was her decision to reach out to me and then to get the board involved in that process. She’s definitely blessed all of this.” A TURBULENT FEW YEARS The nonprofit has weathered many storms over the years, including a breakin and theft of about 2,000 pounds of pet food in 2017 and the controversial decision last year to initially file a police report against a woman who’d dropped off kittens during the night. Brian McDermott, the organization’s animal care supervisor, says he’s seen many ups and downs during his more than five years with Brother Wolf. Among the biggest changes, he maintains, has been the expansion of animal rescue services beyond local cats and dogs. “When I started, we were primarily a companion animal type rescue,” McDermott recalls. “Over the years, especially over the last couple of years, I think we’ve branched out more into doing a lot more farmed animals and rapid response
and hurricane relief and forest fire relief, stuff like that.” Asheville resident Dana Smith, a longtime supporter of the organization, says, “We always loved Brother Wolf. When there was stuff that needed to be donated or whatever, we would take it there. But then everything kind of got crazy.” Some of those changes began around the time that Paul Berry, the former CEO of Best Friends Animal Society in Utah, was hired as executive director in late 2013, with Bitz serving as president. Tax filings show that Berry was given an initial salary and benefits of nearly $86,000. Berry, who’s been in the animal rescue business for decades, gained notoriety through his Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts and rehabilitation of animals rescued from convicted dogfighter Michael Vick. A nationally televised series, "DogTown", focused on Berry’s work with Best Friends. After serving as Best Friends’ CEO for three years, Berry left the organization in 2009. A January 2009 article from the Deseret News in Utah said the group was looking for a leader who was “more about generating stability” rather than being an agent of change. He then served as interim executive director of Alley Cat Allies, a national cat advocacy group, before joining Brother Wolf six years ago. Berry left Brother Wolf in July of last year without a formal announcement or explanation. Both current and former employees declined to comment on what led to his departure, and Berry wasn’t willing to be interviewed. CHANGING COURSE? During Berry’s tenure, some employees and volunteers took issue with what they saw as a shift in Brother Wolf’s overall mission, Xpress reported in December 2017. Among other things, the organization adopted a vegan-only policy, which Fieser maintains simply means that only vegan food is served at events and that staff, volunteers and visitors are asked to only bring veganfriendly food onto the premises. Asheville resident Debbie Johnson, a Brother Wolf volunteer, foster care provider and donor for five years, says she began scaling back her involvement after learning that funding and other resources were being used for vegan outreach.
SHAKE-UPS But a diversifying mission hasn’t been the only source of controversy. Back in 2017, concerns were also raised about the organization’s financial stability and why a number of volunteers and staff had recently quit or been let go. Teresa Owen, who volunteered with Brother Wolf from 2015-17, says the trouble began when a small group of foster care providers and other vol-
unteers began asking specific questions about Brother Wolf’s finances and how certain animals were being cared for. After receiving no response from the leadership, Owen says the group began speaking out publicly. Soon after, she reports, many of those critics said they were no longer receiving emails regarding new animals in need or had been informed that their help wasn’t needed anymore. “It was a huge part of our lives, of our identities,” says Owen. “Losing that connection, whether by being fired, being ghosted or leaving because of our difference in ideology, was devastating for us: It felt like a divorce or a death. I wish great success for Brother Wolf, but I can’t imagine us going back.” Lodato, however, maintains that the main disagreements had to do with how Brother Wolf managed certain animals through its pet retention program, which provides support aimed at keeping pets out of the shelter system. “Sometimes going through that process can be complicated, and not everybody is always going to agree with the way that is [done],” she says. Since leaving the organization, some former employees and volunteers have formed new rescue groups or joined other existing efforts. More than a dozen former employees and volunteers who were contacted by Xpress declined to comment publicly, including some who said they feared retaliation for speaking out. Others simply signaled a desire to move on. Lodato, meanwhile, stresses that while there may have been disagreements in the past, saving animals
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remains the bottom line for everyone involved. “Really we’re all on the same team. Everybody wants the same thing, which is for there not to be animals euthanized unnecessarily in Buncombe County, and the more resources that can be developed around that, the better,” she says. SANCTUARY STALLED In 2015, Brother Wolf announced ambitious plans for a sanctuary after an anonymous donor provided $500,000 to buy a more than 80-acre property that was valued at around $600,000. The proposed dog and cat village would have space for 1,200 animals, an on-site veterinary clinic, guest cabins, a memorial garden and a welcome center. The estimated cost was nearly $5 million. Bitz says she was “given some bad advice” concerning basic infrastructure, which resulted in delays and miscalculations. The first phase of the project was originally supposed to be completed by 2016. Deltec Homes was listed on Brother Wolf’s website as a partner and contractor for the sanctuary project. Dallam Hart, the company’s director of sales
and commercial specialist, says that Deltec has yet to even break ground on the property, citing long wait times for building permits. Hart says the company is also waiting for the go-ahead from Brother Wolf. And while Hart is no longer heading up the project for the company, he says Deltec officials met with Brother Wolf’s new leadership several weeks ago to start planning how to move forward. Hart also emphasizes that delays are not unusual in large-scale developments. “I don’t think it’s any more delayed or that it’s anything out of the ordinary for this scope of a project. I’ve been doing this for 22 years, and even on residential projects that I’ve worked on, generally speaking it takes two to three times as long as people anticipate,” he points out. As of December 2017, Brother Wolf had raised about $2.55 million — 51 percent of the funding goal — for the project, Xpress reported at the time. But on Feb. 15 of this year, information about sanctuary funds and projections was removed from the website and replaced with a statement from Fieser asking for patience as she
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“I’ve learned a lot about veganism from some of the programs they have sponsored and put on,” notes Johnson. “I think it’s a worthwhile educational piece. It’s just that you need to be a little more upfront about the fact that you’re spending some significant money in that area when people think they’re just donating to dog and cat rescue.” Smith agrees. “Everybody has always thought that they were saving dogs and cats. I’m not anti-vegan: I respect that completely, but you can’t take people’s money when we’re all thinking it’s for dogs and cats,” says Smith. Audrey Lodato, Brother Wolf’s director of animal care, offers a different perspective. “I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding about it, because 99 percent of the work that we do is around companion animals. Our primary focus now and always has been building no-kill communities and stopping the killing of shelter animals,” says Lodato, who oversees the daily operations of the adoption center at 31 Glendale Ave. in Asheville as well as other chapter locations.
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N EWS works through years of records related to the project. “To better understand the entirety of the sanctuary project, I will be reviewing financials, meeting with past and present project contractors, speaking with donors who gave to the project and conferring with Brother Wolf’s board of directors, management team and staff members,” the statement explains. “I value honesty and transparency and believe our community deserves it. I will know more about the status of the project within a few months and will keep you updated about how we will be moving forward.” The page also includes a link to an anonymous online survey to gather public comment, which Lodato says will help guide the project. “We wanted to give people the chance to speak about it and give their input,”she explains. ADOPTION CENTER TO REMAIN OPEN While the future of the sanctuary project remains unclear, Fieser confirmed in the Feb. 19 press release that the Glendale Avenue adoption center will remain open, reversing previous plans to close the facility. The adoption center, says Fieser, is “a critical need for our community, and so we are fully committed to being here and running our operations out of Glendale. It’s still a long-term goal to have a state-of-the-art facility for our animals that will allow us to expand our programs and to serve more.” The press release also predicted that with the recent addition of a mobile spay-and-neuter clinic and a staff veterinarian, Brother Wolf will positively affect roughly 10,000 animals this year, a more than 65 percent increase from the number served in 2018. According to the release, the mobile clinic performs about 30 surgeries a day. TAKING STOCK As Bitz reflects on letting go of the organization she birthed, she says, “I have mixed emotions, but the overall feeling that I have is gratitude: I feel really grateful and really proud. I feel really confident in not just the leadership that’s there now but also the other staff that are the backbone of the organization, who are in the trenches at the adoption center, who are working on our new mobile spay-and-neuter clinic.” Bitz, who worked as a registered nurse before creating Brother Wolf, says she plans to get back into health care and focus on promoting a vegan diet and other lifestyle changes to treat 12
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disease and chronic illnesses. Her ambition is twofold: to help people implement healthy behaviors while reducing the impact of animal agriculture on climate change. “I think, as an RN, I can work with a team who believes that diet can help save the future of this planet by what we eat three times a day,” says Bitz. “I think that I can have a bigger impact on helping animals and helping the planet.” Bitz says she plans to volunteer with other animal and environmental groups and will also continue to donate to Brother Wolf, but she’s in no rush to step into a new job. “I might take a couple of weeks off,” she says with a laugh. RETURNING TO THE ROOTS Meanwhile, it remains to be seen what the new leadership brings to the organization. Asheville resident Ryan Jaskot, who has provided foster care for dogs through Brother Wolf in the past, says that while he’s looking forward to changes at the nonprofit, he’s also hoping for more accountability. “To me, the absolute best thing the new director could do would be to come in and say, ‘We know that things did not go how they were supposed to go in the past, and I’m here to let you know that we’re cleaning it up,’” Jaskot says. For her part, former volunteer Johnson says that while she hopes she and others can eventually renew their support for the nonprofit, that may take time. “I’m so excited that [Fieser] is on board, because I think she’s a wonderful person and I think she will get Brother Wolf back to its roots, but it will be a tough road to navigate,” says Johnson. Owen sounds a similar note. “I’ve heard positive things about Leah, and I’m very hopeful that the organization can refocus,” she says, adding, “I’m hoping for a lot more transparency and accountability with regard to finances.” Despite all the challenges facing her, however, Fieser says she’s ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work. “This year we’ll be focusing on embracing our roots of companion animal rescue and our core mission of building no-kill communities.” Brother Wolf, she continues, “has done incredible work in this community, and the staff members and volunteers are so skilled and so passionate. What I really want to do is gather all of that in the most meaningful way possible. There’s so many good things going on at Brother Wolf, and I plan to start streamlining it and organizing it and getting to know our donors and our incredible staff. I’m just really looking forward to it.” X
by Mark Barrett
markbarrett@charter.net
DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE West Asheville residents expecting to encounter lots of orange-and-white construction barrels in their part of town when the state widens Interstate 240 in a few years may be in for a surprise: still more barrels along Amboy and Meadow roads. The N.C. Department of Transportation has begun planning for a project intended to improve traffic flow and add facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists along the corridor that connects West Asheville and Biltmore Village. But with neighbors gearing up to oppose what they feared would be a plan to widen both roads to four lanes, a DOT engineer says the agency has already taken that option off the table. DOT has advertised a public meeting to be held Thursday, March 28, as a chance for people to provide feedback on the idea of widening Amboy and Meadow to multiple lanes. But Steve Cannon, the Asheville-based division project development engineer for DOT, says department officials have “pretty well come to the conclusion that it’s not going to be multi-lane.” TWO, THREE OR FOUR? Traffic counts on the corridor are not high enough to require a four-lane road, and there is not much room for a wider road in places, Cannon says. Furthermore, impacts to parks and other features along the corridor would be problematic, he adds. The current leading options would keep Amboy and Meadow at two lanes, Cannon says. Questions to be decided include whether to install a landscaped median, the type of shoulder the corridor should have (curbs and gutters or paved), where turn lanes might be installed and what should be done for people on foot or a bicycle. DOT’s long-range plan calls for spending an estimated $49.3 million to widen Amboy and Meadow and replace the Amboy Road bridge over the French Broad River, with construction to begin in 2025. Those plans sparked worries among West Asheville residents that a stream of fast-moving traffic would separate homes and the string of parks lining the French Broad, as well as that a wider road would gobble up some parkland. “There are a lot of neighborhoods that are within a walkable distance
Ahead of meeting, DOT backs off four lanes for Amboy and Meadow roads
AFTERNOON BOTTLENECK: Traffic on Meadow Road snakes between Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore and the construction site of a 112-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel in the Biltmore Village area. Cars often back up on Meadow west of its intersection with Biltmore Avenue and the Swannanoa River during the evening rush hour. Photo by Mark Barrett
what he heard during a recent conference call on the project with DOT and other officials suggested widening was a strong possibility at that time. RiverLink helped establish the chain of parks along the French Broad in West Asheville, which are among the most popular parks in the city. “We’re concerned that maybe [DOT officials] want to do more than would be good for that series of parks,” Artz says. “My experience with NCDOT is they’re very focused on highway transportation and the time it takes to get from one place to another.” A sampling of West Asheville residents and park users seems generally skeptical of a wider Amboy Road and, to a lesser extent, Meadow Road. Some back turning lanes and better pedestrian crossings instead. West Asheville resident Bryan Doe says he would not endorse widening to
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to Carrier Park, and those people have every incentive” to get to the park on foot, says Ted Figura, a resident of the East West Asheville neighborhood. But if Amboy Road were widened to four lanes, a walk to the park could end in disaster, he says. “Realistically, drivers on four-lane divided highways do not expect to have to stop for pedestrian crossings,” and some inevitably wouldn’t, Figura says. Stephen Edge, a past president of the East West Asheville Neighborhood Association, says residents had already begun contacting DOT with concerns about impacts from a three- or four-lane road. Had DOT not shifted its thinking, “there was going to be a large hell-raising” at the March 28 meeting, he says. Whatever plan DOT decides on could set a precedent for the transportation network along the rest of the Swannanoa River’s course through the city. DOT’s draft long-range transportation plan, to be adopted later this year, calls for $37.7 million to be spent on changes to state Highway 81 between Biltmore Village and Tunnel Road over the next seven years. RUSH HOUR Garrett Artz, executive director of conservation nonprofit RiverLink, says MOUNTAINX.COM
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N EWS deal with problems he says occur for only a short period each day. Traffic on Amboy “probably gets bad at about 5 p.m.,” he says, “but really it doesn’t get too bad at any other time I can think of.” Jeff Santiago, another West Asheville resident, says “sometimes it’s a little tough” to reach Carrier Park, but a fourlane road would just encourage more people to use Amboy as an alternative to major highways. That would mean “more flow, more traffic, higher speeds” and make parks less inviting, he says. During a recent afternoon rush hour, traffic backups developed at each end of Meadow Road, sometimes causing longer delays, sometimes not. There were few problems on Amboy. DOT rates congestion at major intersections on Amboy and Meadow as an “F,” the lowest possible grade and one traffic engineers generally consider unacceptable. A study of the corridor done for DOT last year predicted traffic volumes would increase roughly 19-23 percent by 2040 if no changes to roads were made. The number of cars counted was in the range where traffic engineers often start considering widening two-lane roads. But less detailed traffic counts DOT performs across the county every couple of years give little indication that a big increase in vehicles on Amboy and Meadow lies ahead. The average number of vehicles a day at some points on the corridor was the same in 2016 as in 2002 and at others had risen less than 10 percent. ‘TELL US NOW’ The March 28 public meeting on Amboy and Meadow comes at a relatively early stage. Beverly Robinson, a DOT engineer coordinating planning for the project, says the agency is working with city government and wants “to really engage the public and communities around the project” to identify issues and concerns early on. Dan Baechtold, a traffic planner with city government, says the city has not yet taken a formal position but is encouraging DOT to focus on improvements to intersections and more facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists on the corridor. “It looks like two through lanes would be sufficient with possibly additional turning lanes at the intersections, but also we want to hear what the public has to say,” he notes. A well-used paved greenway path parallels Amboy Road, but there are no sidewalks in the corridor other than a very short stretch where Meadow Road crosses over railroad tracks. In places, particularly at the eastern end of Meadow, the proximity of buildings will limit DOT’s 14
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ability to widen the road unless it tears down structures. DOT’s draft long-range plan says construction on I-240 as part of the I-26 Connector, which will also include a new crossing of the French Broad River west of downtown and a revamped I-26/I-40/I-240 interchange, will run from 2022 through 2026. That would overlap with work on Amboy and Meadow roads. Artz says DOT does appear to be genuinely interested in including paths for pedestrians and bicyclists along Amboy and Meadow and he hopes other changes will not harm parks. “Parks are places of retreat and renewal, to get away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. To put a busy road next to [riverfront parks] would take something away,” he says. X
YOUR TWO CENTS
CHANGE OF PLAN: Although an NCDOT graphic indicates Amboy and Meadow roads will be widened, engineers now say that idea is off the table. Graphic provided by NCDOT The state Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting to tell people about a project to widen Amboy and Meadow roads and get feedback about possible designs 4-7 p.m. Thursday, March 28, at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 115 Hendersonville Road. People can come to the drop-in meeting at any time. No formal presentation will be made. Comments may also be sent to DOT by Friday, April 26, in care of Beverly Robinson, NCDOT Project Management Team, 1582 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699; 919-707-6041 or brobinson@ ncdot.gov. More information about the project is available at www.ncdot.gov/news/ public-meetings. X
by Virginia Daffron
vdaffron@mountainx.com
HARD LESSONS Parking was at a premium outside the Stephens-Lee Recreation Center just before noon on March 20. Prominent members of the intersecting worlds of black Asheville, local government, business and nonprofits jockeyed for spots as they streamed in for a lunch meeting, the second session of a new effort to address the Asheville City Schools’ catastrophic racial achievement gap. The initiative, which doesn’t yet have a formal name, grew out of a Jan. 22 joint meeting of Asheville City Council and the Board of Education (see avl.mx/5ua). Only 12 percent of the city’s African-American students in grades three to eight score as “proficient” or higher on end-of-grade exams, compared with 73 percent of white students. Inside Stephens-Lee, the networking was in full force. About 30 placards marked spots at the table for invited participants, while a handful of community members sat around the edges of the room. Hugs and smiles gave way to a more serious mood as Asheville City Board of Education Chair Shaunda Sandford welcomed the group, which she said aims to tackle the achievement gap “not just necessarily as a school system, but as a community.” Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell recapped some of the takeaways from the group’s first meeting on Feb. 12. She asked for input on the group’s purpose — “Collaborative effort to eliminate the opportunity gap that exists between black and white youths in the Asheville community by addressing racial inequities” — its goals and who should take part. Over the next 90 minutes, attendees mulled over how much the initiative could realistically hope to accomplish. Those affiliated with Asheville City Schools and some nonprofits hoped that the effort would funnel new resources to connect children living in violent, high-poverty neighborhoods with mental health and behavioral support, as well as services such as health care, housing and transportation. Others, more focused on the nuts and bolts of assembling a public-private partnership to meet
Asheville government, schools, nonprofits launch effort to address racial achievement gap the local business community’s need for a well-educated workforce, argued that the initiative should focus on making a strong business case for increased private investment in Asheville’s students. TALES OUT OF SCHOOL
FACILITATING CHANGE: Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell has taken on a challenging assignment: coordinating an effort to develop a community response to the educational achievement gap between the Asheville City Schools’ white and black students. Photo by Virginia Daffron
“Let’s just think about this week,” said Eric Howard, director of student support services for Asheville City Schools. “There was a shooting last night, there was a shooting Monday night, and there was a shooting over the weekend. So our kids see and hear that from when they’re little.” As much as the school system tries to support children who have had traumatic experiences, he continued, trying to get kids who are “constantly in that fight-or-flight
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NEWS mode” to sit calmly and “do math” can be an almost impossible task. “Our kids are struggling every day for their survival,” commented Keynon Lake, who runs the nonprofit My Daddy Taught Me That. Sandford said she wants the group to identify community resources for funding “to provide our own behavioral and mental health services within our schools so that we can create what we need it to look like and how we want it to look like without having to bill Vaya [Health] or Medicaid.” Nicole Cush, principal at the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville, didn’t beat around the bush: “Obviously, the bottom line is we need more money.” The 10 schools in the Asheville district share four emotional and social support workers, she said, and most of those workers don’t look like the communities they serve. Based on its annual budget of $71,546,197 for the 2018-19 school year, Asheville City Schools spends $16,092 on each of its 4,446 students. Buncombe County Schools, by contrast, spends just $6,246 per student, based on a total budget of $150,302,530 for 24,064 students. Local taxpayers’ supplemental contribution to the Asheville City Schools’ budget is the second-highest in the state on a per-pupil basis. In the current school year, local taxpayers will contribute $24,732,399 to the system, alongside $29,098,225 from the state and $3,413,564 from federal grants. BEST IN CLASS
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UNC Asheville associate professor of education Tiece Ruffin highlighted the diversity gap in Asheville’s teaching staff. Only 5 percent of the system’s teachers are black, compared with 20 percent of its students. Studies show black students tend to perform better when taught by black teachers, Ruffin said. But in the absence of more African-American educators, she urged the system to analyze which of its white teachers are most effectively closing the achievement gap between black and white students. Those teachers, she said, could mentor their peers in more effective practices. Asheville City Schools Superintendent Denise Patterson and Derek Edwards, principal of Claxton Elementary, responded that ACS does use the state’s EVAAS (Education Value-Added Assessment System) to identify how individual teachers are performing with high-,
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middle- and low-achieving students. It’s also possible to analyze that data along racial lines, Edwards said. Clearly, Ruffin said, “We have to increase teacher diversity.” Lake agreed, adding that hiring black teachers is only half the battle — keeping them here is equally challenging. Given Asheville’s high cost of living and other drivers of a declining African-American population in the area, he asked, “How do we get past that?” Lake also observed that some important voices have so far not been invited to participate. He called for the inclusion of representatives from law enforcement, parents and youths. Kate Fisher, a longtime volunteer in the city schools, added from the sidelines, "And teachers." BUSINESS EDUCATION Ultimately, Asheville City Council member Sheneika Smith pointed out, “The capital arm is what’s going to drive this.” Community member and retired Michigan State University professor Steve Kaagan agreed, saying, “If there were three or four CEOs around this table, it would help a great deal. There are also plenty of examples around the country where the achievement gap has been attacked by business, education, government coalitions.” Representing the newly formed Dogwood Health Trust — which will manage roughly $1.5 billion in proceeds from HCA Healthcare’s purchase of nonprofit Mission Health — Lakesha McDay said, “The business case and the bottom line are what speaks to the people who are going to spend the money.” “Our economic development future, as well as our social fabric, hinges upon creating a good labor force,” Campbell noted. Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kit
Cramer observed that the group needs to refine its focus before calling on business leaders to invest. “We’re a small-business community,” she said. “Those small-business owners are running their businesses, and so to ask them to take a couple of hours out of their day and to delve into minutiae is probably not going to get them back again.” Cramer also noted the need to educate local business owners, who she said are “barely” aware of the existence of the achievement gap. At the same time, Cramer said, “Because we have record-low unemployment rates, [business owners are] struggling to fill the jobs they have, and they’re having a literal mental disconnect between why there’s still people who need to look for jobs when there are jobs and they are just crying to fill them.” Speaking after the meeting, Cramer said she feared the initiative would bog down in efforts to do too much at once or, as she put it, “boil the ocean.” Trying to simultaneously take on issues like health care, housing and transportation would make the project too large for the nonprofits at the table to address effectively, she said. Instead, Cramer suggested that the effort focus on a single model with well-defined goals — perhaps replicating the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County’s Middle Grades Network in local elementary schools — to make tangible progress. Campbell also seemed wary of mission creep. “We’re trying to find the sweet spot of not being so vanilla and broad that we end up actually not doing much of anything,” she told the group. “I want us to truly understand and figure out: What can this group realistically do by next year or the next year to make a difference?” X
MORE MEETINGS City Manager Debra Campbell said the date for the next meeting of the collaborative group would be “out in the next week if at all possible.” Bruce Waller of the United Way also announced upcoming opportunities for family input into the discussion on factors driving the racial achievement gap: • “Living at the Intersection of Privilege and Oppression” free training, 5 p.m. Saturday, March 30. • Monthly Homework Diner session, 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 23. The family sessions will take place at Asheville Middle School, and all are welcome to attend, Waller said. X
FEA T U RE S
ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com
Parties, poetry and pie
The Biltmore Estate and its earliest houseguests Richard Morris Hunt) includes elaborate praise for both the estate’s hosts as well as their dessert options, reading:
AFTERNOON TEA: In May 1903, the Vanderbilts entertained their most recent group of guests. Pictured, from left, are Edith Vanderbilt, Mademoiselle Rambaud (Edith’s former chaperone), Lila Vanderbilt Webb (George Vanderbilt’s sister), Mary Webb (Lila’s sister-in-law), Isabella Stewart Gardner, William Blodgett II and George Vanderbilt. Photo courtesy of The Biltmore Co. When a wealthy bachelor builds a home with 33 guest rooms, company is a given. Such was the case in 1889, when George Vanderbilt began construction on his castle in the mountains. In fact, says Lauren Henry, associate curator at The Biltmore Co., the estate “was very much created with entertaining in mind.” Indeed, Vanderbilt celebrated the home’s official 1895 opening with a joyous Christmas party. Before the festivities, however, he oversaw the estate’s final touches. “[A]ll hours have been made daytime with the crops of decorators, carvers, joiners and florists,” reported The Asheville Daily Citizen on Dec. 19, 1895. But the busiest mind on the property, the paper contended, was Mr. Vanderbilt’s own. “He has efficiently directed the preparations of making ready for the homecoming, and the completion of the mansion for present use is now but the matter of a day.” About 40 family members were scheduled to arrive that week, the article stated. Along with relatives, the paper reported that Vanderbilt planned to invite his employees and their families (an estimated 250 people total) to the house on Christmas Day. On Jan. 1, 1896, The Asheville Daily Citizen resumed its coverage of the property and its owner. “Gay scenes were present by the guest party at Biltmore House during the hours that bade farewell to ’95 and ushered in the snowy New Year morning,” the paper read. According to the article, the evening had been marked by an elaborate dinner, live music and dance, along with quieter moments spent playing cards and chess. Tragically, Vanderbilt and his guests would depart for New York the following day, when it was learned that his 16-year-
old niece Alice Twombly had died on New Year’s Day from health complications due to pneumonia. Throughout Vanderbilt’s life in Asheville, local and national newspapers (including The New York Times) informed readers about the estate’s prominent callers. Writers Henry James, Edith Wharton and Paul Leicester Ford were among the ever-rotating cast. Ambassadors, entertainers and social figures were also visitors to the house. The estate’s Nonsense Book is among the surviving archival documents that capture elements of these visits. Filled with handwritten poems and limericks, along with illustrations, telegrams and photographs, the book was a way for guests to commemorate their stay. It also captures the personalities of those who visited, while simultaneously offering a glimpse into their experiences while at Biltmore. “We don’t quite know how it came into the Vanderbilts' possession,” says Henry. “My hunch has been that it was gifted to them as a wedding present.” The associate curator notes that the first entry, dated Dec. 2, 1898, came six months after Vanderbilt and Edith Dresser wed. One piece, written in 1902 by Katherine Hunt (widow of Biltmore architect
“Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie Knows how to make the minutes fly. Pudding every day of the week Pie for those who pie do seek, Mountains and rivers and lovely drives, Honey from Biltmore’s famous hives, And a marvelous house beyond compare To match the Master and Mistress there.”
More recently, The Biltmore Co. acquired a March 20, 1905, letter written by Edith Vanderbilt’s sister, Pauline Merrill. The missive, addressed to a friend, describes her latest visit to the house. Along with descriptions of the property and many of its rooms, Merrill notes the idyllic nature of her time spent at Biltmore. “When 1030 or 11 comes, I go out, either driving, or walking, or sauntering down with the children to feed the swans, or settle on the library terrace with lots of books, & read & read & read,” she writes. Near the end of her letter, Merrill continues: “So the days pass, & life does not seem much of a problem, for the guests at all events. There is the bowling alley & swimming pool downstairs to look forward to, in case of bad weather, & absolutely Everything unpleasant is eliminated, all of which is exceedingly bad for ones mental make-up & ones inborn sense of responsibility! However apart from the purely material Comfort, which I don’t believe any of us are perfect enough to honestly despise, it is a Keen pleasure to me to be with my two Sisters & their children & feel again that goodfellowship which we have not been able to realize for eight years. So you see the influence is not wholly detrimental!”
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Editor’s note: Peculiarities of spelling and punctuation are preserved from the original documents. X
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The revelry continues The latest exhibit, A Vanderbilt House Party, is now on display at The Biltmore Estate. The feature runs through Monday, May 27. Visitors will experience reproductions of clothing from both the Vanderbilts’ own wardrobes, as well as that of their guests. Meanwhile, the exhibit’s audio guide takes patrons through a busy day at the estate, as staff and houseguests alike prepare for an elaborate evening’s celebration. For more, visit avl.mx/5ti. X
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR MARCH 27 - APRIL 4, 2019
Registration at 9:30am. Free. Held at Cummings United Methodist Church, 3 Banner Farm Road, Horse Shoe
CALENDAR GUIDELINES For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/calendar. For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, ext. 137. For questions about paid calendar listings, please call 828-251-1333, ext. 320.
ANIMALS FALCONRY: SPORT OF KINGS • SA (3/30), 11am Falconer Eric Harrold presents the history of falconry. Free. Held at Black Mountain Public Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain
BENEFITS 28TH ANNUAL SPELLING BEE • WE (4/3), 6-9pm - Proceeds from this spelling bee benefits the Literacy Council of Buncombe County. $10. Held at The Mothlight, 701 Haywood Road APPALACHIAN STORYTELLING EXTRAVAGANZA • TH (3/28), 7pm - Proceeds from the Appalachian Storytelling Extravaganza featuring storytelling by Freeman Owle, Ronnie Pepper and Michael Williams benefit the film project, River Heroes of the South. $15. Held at Bo Thomas Auditorium, Blue Ridge Community College, 180 W. Campus Drive, Flat Rock BIRDS OF THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL • TH (4/4), 6:30pm - “North with Spring: Birds of the Appalachian Trail,” presentation by Mark Hopey of the Southern Appalachian Raptor Center. Proceeds benefit Friends of the Hot Springs Library. Free. Held at Hot Springs Welcome Center, 106 Bridge St., Hot Springs
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BUSKERS PLUS+ CONCERT • MO (4/1), 7:30pm - Proceeds from the Buskers Plus+ concert featuring local buskers Bobby Sax, Ginnie Waite, Rah Amen, Eben Heasley, Raeph McDowell, John Donald and Micaaa, benefit Zamani Refuge. $12/$10 advance. Held at The Mothlight, 701 Haywood Road DUPONT FOREST 12K TRAIL RACE • SA (3/30), 10am - Proceeds from the Dupont Forest 12k trail race benefit Dupont Forest. Registration: bit.ly/2UJMbah. $35. Held at DuPont State Recreational Forest, Entrance: 1400 Staton Road, Cedar Mountain EM-POWER LUNCH BENEFIT • TU (4/2), 11am1pm - Proceeds from this luncheon event with networking and speakers benefit Women for Women Endowment Fund, which is part of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. Registration: bit.ly/2HGS1Fz. $25. Held at Pack's Tavern, 20 S. Spruce St. FRIENDS OF THE MOUNTAIN LIBRARY • TH (4/4), 11am1:30pm - Proceeds from this book talk with author Kimmery Martin and a luncheon benefit the Friends of the Mountains Branch Library. Registration required. $25. Held at Lake Lure Inn and Spa, 2771 Memorial Highway, Lake Lure TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY COMMUNITY ART SHOW • SA (3/30), 1pm Proceeds from the
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THE PATERFAMILIAS: Western North Carolina is home to an abundance of state parks. Two of our parks were owned and managed privately until this century. Blue Ridge National Heritage Area presents “Our State Parks and Their Family Roots: A Historic Perspective of Chimney Rock and Grandfather Mountain” at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center on Thursday, March 28, 10:30 a.m.-noon. Todd Morse, former owner of Chimney Rock Park and author of For the Love of Chimney Rock, speaks about the history of the property and his family’s 100-year ownership of the site before it became a state park. Then Jesse Pope, Grandfather Mountain’s first naturalist and current executive director of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, details that park’s history, the relationship that developed over the years with the Blue Ridge Parkway and how Grandfather Mountain is operating and sustained today as part of the state park system. Reservations requested at 828-298-5330, ext. 303, or amy@blueridgeheritage.com. Transgender Day of Visibility community art show featuring artworks by local trans artists benefit Tranzmission. $5-$25. Held at Taylor Gallery, 122 Riverside Drive, Suite A
BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY A-B TECH SMALL BUSINESS CENTER 828-398-7950, abtech.edu/sbc • WE (4/3), 5:30-8:30pm - "SCORE: Branding Your Business," seminar. Registration required. Free. Held at A-B Tech Madison Site, 4646 US Highway 25/70, Marshall • WE (4/3), 5:30-8:30pm - "How to Start a Nonprofit," seminar. Registration required. Free. Held at A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Road, Candler ADCLUB WNC PRESENTS: SESAME WORKSHOP'S VERONICA WULFF • TH (3/28), 6:30-8pm Presentation by Producer of Sesame Street, Veronica Wulff. $15. Held at Mojo Coworking, 60 N. Market St. ASHEVILLE SCORE COUNSELORS TO SMALL BUSINESS A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Road, Candler, 828-271-4786, ashevillescore.org • WE (3/27), 6-9pm Marketing best practices,
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tips, strategies and free tools that track and evaluate the success of your social media efforts. Registration required. Free. • SA (3/30), 9am-noon - A creatively-inspired, actionable journey for your business through the areas of Passion, Purpose, Practice, People, Projects, Portfolio and Prosperity. Registration required. Free. CONSTRUCTION CAREER DAY • WE (3/27), 1-5pm - 30+ local employers offering construction career opportunities. Free. Held at WNC Agricultural Center, 1301 Fanning Bridge Road FLETCHER AREA BUSINESS ASSOCIATION • 4th THURSDAYS, 11:30noon - General meeting. Free. Held at YMCA Mission Pardee Health Campus, 2775 Hendersonville Road, Arden
CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS EMPYREAN ARTS CLASSES (PD.) INTRO to POLE FITNESS on Tuesdays 7:15pm, Saturdays 11:30am & Sundays 2:15pm. SULTRY POLE on Mondays 6:00pm. BEGINNING AERIAL ARTS on Tuesdays 1:00pm, Wednesdays 7:30pm, Thursdays 5:15pm, Saturdays 2:30pm & Sundays 2:15pm.
AERIAL FLEXIBILITY on Mondays 6:00pm & Fridays 1:00pm. EMPYREANARTS. ORG. 828.782.3321. 32 Banks Avenue, #107&108. WCA RETIREMENT PLANNING WORKSHOP (PD.) Western Carolina University at Biltmore Park. A three evening course, April 2, 4 and 9. • 5:30pm-8:30pm. • $79 per person/couple. Call 828-227-7397 or Register Online: pdp.wcu.edu ASHEVILLE ROTARY CLUB • THURSDAYS, noon1:30pm - General meeting. Free. Held at Renaissance Asheville Hotel, 31 Woodfin St. ASHEVILLE SUBMARINE VETERANS • 1st TUESDAYS, 6-7pm Social meeting for US Navy submarine veterans. Free to attend. Held at Ryan's Steakhouse, 1000 Brevard Road BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library • WE (3/27), 6pm - A beginner-friendly introduction to Adobe Photoshop, an easy introduction to this industry-standard software. Free. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. • Every other TUESDAY, 4pm - Basic computer skills class. Free. Held at
Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. • 1st & 3rd THURSDAYS, 5pm - Spanish Conversation Group for adults. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. CARL SANDBURG HOME PUBLIC MEETING • WE (3/27), 5-7pm - Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site and Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara share park and fundraising updates and the park’s 2019 writer-inresidence, Susan Polizzotto, gives a presentation. Free. Held at Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce, 204 Kanuga Road, Hendersonville COMMUNITY YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING • MO (4/1), 8:30am-4pm - Community youth mental health first aid training hosted by Henderson County Public Schools. Workshop to assist adults to recognize, understand and support young people, coworkers, family and friends facing a behavioral health concern or crisis. Registration required: bit.ly/2CtvfO2. $20. Held at Mills River Academy, 96 School House Road, Mills River LAUREL CHAPTER OF THE EMBROIDERERS' GUILD OF AMERICA • TH (4/4), 10am - General meeting and introduction to silk ribbon embroidery.
MARS HILL UNIVERSITY SPRING VISIT DAY • SA (3/30), 8:30am2pm - Open house for prospective students. Free to attend. Held at Mars Hill University, 265 Cascade St., Mars Hill SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE • TUESDAYS, 10am-noon - Educating and organizing white people for racial justice. Free to attend. Held at Firestorm Books & Coffee, 610 Haywood Road TRIVIA NIGHT • TUESDAYS, 7pm Trivia night. Free. Held at VFW Post 9157, 165 Cragmont Road, Black Mountain UNDERSTANDING CREDIT. GET IT. KEEP IT. IMPROVE IT. • TH (3/28), noon1:30pm - "Understanding Credit. Get it. Keep it. Improve it." Seminar. Registration required. Free. Held at OnTrack WNC, 50 S. French Broad Ave.
FOOD & BEER ADULT COOKING CLASS - ALL ABOUT CAULIFLOWER! • TH (3/28), 6-7:30pm - "All About Cauliflower," adult cooking class. Registration: 828575-2939 or lfurgiuele@ ymcawnc.org. $15/$10 members. Held at YMCA - Asheville, 30 Woodfin St.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS CITIZENS-POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE • 1st WEDNESDAYS, 5pm - Citizens-Police Advisory Committee meeting. Free. Meets in the 1st Floor Conference Room. Held at Public Works Building, 161 S. Charlotte St.
HENDERSON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY OPEN HOUSE • SA (3/30), 11am1pm - Open house with live music, chili, cornbread and ice cream. Meet the newly elected County Board. Free. Held at Henderson County Democratic Party, 1216 6th Ave. W., Suite 600, Hendersonville INDIVISIBLE COMMON GROUNDWNC • 1st WEDNESDAYS, 6:30-8pm - General meeting. Free. Held at St. David's Episcopal Church, 286 Forest Hills Road, Sylva JACKSON COUNTY REPUBLICAN CONVENTION • FR (3/29), 5:30pm - Jackson County Republican convention and precinct meetings. Registration at 5pm. Buffet dinner served. Information: 828-7436491. Held at Jackson County Senior Center, 100 County Services Park, Sylva LIVING ASHEVILLE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN KICK OFF • TH (3/28), 4-5:30pm - Living Asheville Comprehensive Plan kick off with public meetings by the City’s Planning & Urban Design Department and the NC Historic Preservation Office, undertaking an architectural survey of our historically African American neighborhoods. Residents learn about the project and sign up to provide their oral history. Free. Held at Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave. • WE (3/27), 6-7:30pm - Living Asheville Comprehensive Plan kick off with public meetings by the City’s Planning & Urban Design Department and the NC Historic Preservation Office, undertaking an architectural survey of our historically African American neighborhoods. Residents learn about the project and sign up to provide their oral history. Free. Held
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CONSCIOUS PARTY WITH BRAVE WINGS SHE FLIES: Migratory birds return each spring from Central and South America to nest in the forests of the high Southern Appalachians, including along the Appalachian Trail. Mark Hopey of Southern Appalachian Raptor Research gets up close and personal with many of these feathered travelers during his ongoing efforts to band birds at the Big Bald Banding Station on the Madison-Yancey county border. Hopey will discuss how he works with schoolchildren and community volunteers conducting scientific research. Friends of Hot Springs Library presents a talk by Hopey at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4, at the Hot Springs Welcome Center. Proceeds benefit the Friends of Hot Springs Library’s Birds for Books, which takes place the last weekend of April. The group is raising funds to purchase a permanent home for the hiker-friendly branch library in downtown Hot Springs. Photo courtesy of Tedi McManus (p. 18)
at Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St. MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA • MO (4/1) 6pm - Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, general meeting. Free to attend. Held at The BLOCK off biltmore, 39 South Market St. PUBLIC INPUT MEETING • TH (3/28), 4-7pm - NCDOT public input opportunity for the project U-4739, Amboy/Meadow Road improvements. Free. Held at Doubletree by Hilton- Asheville-Biltmore, 115 Hendersonville Road VETERANS FOR PEACE • TUESDAYS, 5pm Weekly peace vigil. Free. Held at the Vance Monument in Pack Square.
KIDS APPLE VALLEY MODEL RAILROAD & MUSEUM • WEDNESDAYS, 1-3pm & SATURDAYS, 10am-2pm - Open house featuring operating model trains and historic memorabilia. Free. Held at Apple Valley Model Railroad & Museum, 650 Maple St., Hendersonville
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BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library • 2nd SATURDAYS, 1-4pm & LAST WEDNESDAYS, 4-6pm - Teen Dungeons and Dragons for ages 12 and up. Registration required: 828-250-4720. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. • FR (3/29), 3:30pm - Art Adventures for Kids, a monthly art club for ages 8-12. Free. Held at Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Road, Fairview • MO (4/1) through FR (4/26) - Submissions accepted from students and homeschoolers in Fairview, grades K -12, for a book design challenge. Held at Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Road, Fairview • MONDAYS, 10:30am - "Mother Goose Time," storytime for 4-18 month olds. Free. Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road • TUESDAYS (4/2) until (4/2) - High school exam study hour in the NC Room. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. • 1st WEDNESDAY, 4pm - After school craft throughout the school year. Children ages 5 and up. Registration required. Free. Held at East Asheville Library, 902 Tunnel Road
• 1st WEDNESDAYS, 4-5:30pm - Heroes Unlimited, role playing game for grades 6-12. Registration required. Free. Held at Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Road, Fairview CLIMATE-THEMED STORYTIME • WE (4/3), 10am - A special climate-themed Storytime event, as part of The Collider’s 10-day Climate City Expo, features kid-appropriate books related to climate change and environmental issues. Free to attend. Held at Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe, 55 Haywood St. PLAYDATES • MONDAYS, 9-10am - "Playdates," family fun activities. Free to attend. Held at Whole Foods Market, 4 S. Tunnel Road UNITED WAY OF ASHEVILLE & BUNCOMBE COUNTY 828-255-0696, unitedwayabc.org Homework Diner Program a strategy to support students and their families with tutoring, building parent-teacher relationships, a nutritious meal, community resources and workforce readiness. Free. • THURSDAYS, 5:30-7pm - Homework Diner. Free. Held at Owen Middle School, 730 Old US Highway 70 Swannanoa • MONDAYS, 5:30-7pm - Homework Diner. Free. Held at Erwin Middle
School, 20 Erwin Hills Road • TUESDAYS, 5-7pm Homework Diner. Free. Held at Asheville Middle School, 211 S French Broad Ave. • TUESDAYS, 5:30-7pm - Homework Diner. Free. Held at Enka Middle School, 390 Asbury Road, Candler
OUTDOORS CHIMNEY ROCK AT CHIMNEY ROCK STATE PARK (PD.) Enjoy guided hikes, daypack demonstrations and more during this fundraiser for the Kids in Parks Track Trail program on Saturday,March 30. from 11am-2pm. Info at chimneyrockpark.com BIRDS OF THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL • TH (4/4), 6:30pm - "North with Spring: Birds of the Appalachian Trail," presentation by Mark Hopey of the Southern Appalachian Raptor Center. Proceeds benefit Friends of the Hot Springs Library. Free. Held at Hot Springs Welcome Center, 106 Bridge St., Hot Springs BOATING SAFETY COURSES • WE (4/3) & TH (4/4), 6-9pm - Boating safety course. Held in building 3300, room 3322. Participants must attend
C OMMU N IT Y CA L EN D AR two consecutive evenings. Registration required: ncwildlife.org. Free. Held at Haywood Community College, 185 Freedlander Drive, Clyde OUR STATE PARKS AND THEIR FAMILY ROOTS • TH (3/28), 10:30amnoon - 'Our State Parks and Their Family Roots: A Historic Perspective of Chimney Rock and Grandfather Mountain' presentations by Todd Morse and Jesse Pope. Registration: 828-2985330, ext. 303 or amy@ blueridgeheritage.com. Free. Held at Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, Milepost 384 PISGAH CENTER FOR WILDLIFE EDUCATION 1401 Fish Hatchery Road, Pisgah Forest, 828-8774423 • MO (4/1), 9am-noon - "Fly Selection 101," fly fishing workshop for all ages 12 and up. Registration required. Free. • MO (4/1), 10am-2pm Learn the basics of various fly patterns, including when and how to use them. Ages 12 and up. Registration required. Free. • TH (4/4), 9am-3pm "Intro to fly fishing," fly fishing workshop for all ages 12 and up. Registration required. Free.
PARENTING CELEBRATE PREGNANCY & CHILDBIRTH 3-DAY CLASS • SUNDAYS through (3/31), 1-5pm - This threesession, 12-hour childbirth course offers essentials to prepare you for labor, childbirth and the care of your newborn. Free. Held at AdventHealth Hendersonville, 100 Hospital Drive, Hendersonville HAYWOOD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER 262 Leroy George Drive, Clyde, 828-452-8440, myhaywoodregional.com • THURSDAYS, 11:30am1:30pm - Social gathering for mothers and their babies. Registration required. Free to attend. • TH (4/4), 7-9pm - Your Amazing Newborn. Registration required. Free to attend.
by Deborah Robertson
FRANKLIN SCHOOL OF INNOVATION TOUR FOR PROSPECTIVE FAMILIES • TU (4/2), 9-10am - Tour for prospective families. Free to attend. Held at The Franklin School of Innovation, 21 Innovation Rd (GPS address: 265 Sardis Road)
PUBLIC LECTURES 'POLITICS, TRAGEDY AND CHICKEN TENDERS': TALK BY HISTORIAN BRYANT SIMON • TH (3/28), noon-1pm - Historian Bryant Simon examines the causes and consequences of NC’s deadliest industrial accident from his book, The Hamlet Fire. Free. Held at Karpen Hall, UNC Asheville A CONVERSATION WITH BILL NYE: EXTREME WEATHER • MO (4/1), 7pm "Extreme Weather," a conversation with Bill Nye moderated by Greta Johnsen of WBEZ Chicago. $36/$100 Platinum tickets. Held at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, 87 Haywood St. APPALACHIAN EVENINGS: THE EVOLUTION OF CHEROKEE ARTS AND CRAFTS • TH (4/4), 6-7pm Appalachian Evenings Series: "The Evolution of Cherokee Arts and Crafts," lecture by Tonya E. Carroll. Free. Held at The Ramsey Center in Renfro Library, 100 Athletic St., Mars Hill CELEBRATING THE UNSEEN WOMEN OF APPALACHIA • TH (3/28), 5-7pm “Celebrating the Unseen Women of Appalachia," panel discussion about the women who have impacted Western North Carolina and the importance of community storytelling. Free. Held at Museum of the Cherokee Indian, 589 Tsali Blvd., Cherokee ROGER MAY, RENOWNED APPALACHIAN PHOTOGRAPHER AND WRITER • TH (3/28), 5:30-6:30pm - Public lecture by Appalachian photographer and writer, Roger May. Free.
Held at Karpen Hall, UNC Asheville
SENIORS SENIORS BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library • THURSDAYS (3/7) until (4/11) - Chair yoga classes for seniors. Free. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. • TU (4/2) & TU (4/5), 11am - Geri-Fit exercise class for seniors. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. • TH (4/4), 10:30-11:30am - Theatre workshop for seniors. Free. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. COUNCIL ON AGING, MEDICARE CLASSES • FR (3/29), 4pm - Medicare Choices Made Easy. Free. Held at Goodwill Career Training Center, 1616 Patton Ave. FOCUS ON FLEXIBILITY • TUESDAYS, 2:30pm - "Focus on Flexibility," exercise class focused on balance, breathing and body alignment. Information: 828-299-4844. Free. Held at Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Road
SPIRITUALITY ANATTASATI MAGGA (PD.) Sujata Yasa (Nancy Spence). Zen Buddhism. Weekly meditations and services; Daily recitations w/ mala. Urban Retreats. 32 Mineral Dust Drive, Asheville, NC 28806. 828-367-7718. info@ anattasatimagga.org • www.anattasatimagga. org ASTRO-COUNSELING (PD.) Licensed counselor and accredited professional astrologer uses your chart when counseling for additional insight into yourself, your relationships and life directions. Stellar Counseling Services. Christy Gunther, MA, LPC. (828) 258-3229. DE-STRESS, GET HAPPY & CONNECT! (PD.) Mindfulness Meditation at the Asheville Insight Meditation Center. Group
Meditation: Weekly on Thursdays at 7pm & Sundays at 10am. www. ashevillemeditation.com, info@ashevillemeditation. com.
12 BASKETS CAFE VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION • TUESDAYS 10:30am - Volunteer orientation. Held at 12 Baskets Cafe, 610 Haywood Road
LEARN TO MEDITATE (PD.) Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation class at Asheville Insight Meditation Center, 1st Mondays of each month at 7pm - 8:30pm. www. ashevillemeditation.com, info@ashevillemeditation. com.
HAYWOOD ROAD CLEANUP • SU (3/31), 10am-noon - Volunteer cleanup of Haywood Road with breakfast for volunteers. Free. Held at Zia Taqueria, 521 Haywood Road
HOMEWARD BOUND OF WNC • THURSDAYS, 11am, 2nd TUESDAYS, 5:30pm & 3rd WEDNESDAYS, 8:30am - "Welcome Home Tour," tours to find out how Homeward Bound is working to end homelessness and how the public can help. Registration required: tours@ homewardboundwnc. org or 828-785-9840. Free. Held at Homeward
Bound of WNC, 218 Patton Ave.
Held at First Presbyterian Church, 40 Church St.
SATURDAY SANCTUARY
TRANZMISSION PRISON PROJECT
• SATURDAYS - Volunteers needed to cook, serve, play and clean up for Saturday Sanctuary, hospitality to the homeless. Registration required: avl.mx/5ig, sanctuarysaturday@gmail. com or 828-253-1431.
• Fourth THURSDAYS, 6-9pm - Monthly meeting to prepare packages of books and zines for mailing to prisons across the US. Free to attend. Held at Firestorm Books & Coffee, 610 Haywood Road
HOW TO LIVE: LESSONS FROM THE JATAKAS • SA (3/30), 3-5pm - The Jataka Tales, presented by the Venerable George Churinoff, are stories about the past lifetimes of Buddha Shakyamuni. Admission by donation. Held at Urban Dharma, 77 W. Walnut St. MEDITATION AND COMMUNITY • THURSDAYS, 7-8:30pm & SUNDAYS, 10amnoon - Meditation and community. Admission by donation. Held at Shambhala Meditation Center, 60 N. Merrimon Ave., #113 MOUNTAIN MINDFULNESS SANGHA • TUESDAYS 7-8:30pm - Mountain Mindfulness Sangha. Admission by donation. Held at The Center for Art and Spirit at St. George's Episcopal Church, 1 School Road SONGS & SILENCE, ALL FAITH TAIZE SERVICE • THURSDAYS, 6:30-7:15 pm - All faith Taize service of meditation and music. Free. Held at Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 6th Ave W., Hendersonville
VOLUNTEERING TUTOR ADULTS IN NEED WITH THE LITERACY COUNCIL (PD.) 43% of adults with low literacy live in poverty. Volunteer and help our neighbors rise above the confines of poverty. Orientation 4/8 (10am) or 4/11 (5:30pm) RSVP: volunteers@litcouncil. com. Learn more: www. litcouncil.com.
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WELLNESS
HEALTHY CHANGE West Asheville’s developing wellness corridor
BERI GOOD FOR YOU: Diners clad in yoga gear are a common sight inside West Asheville’s gluten-free eatery BimBeriBon, perhaps customers of Purna Yoga 828 just a few doors down. Chef Reza Setayesh opened the restaurant in 2017, and Purna moved into the same strip mall a few months later. Photo by Jen Brooks
BY KAY WEST kswest55@comcast.net The big window in the Center for Holistic Medicine on the second floor of the Bledsoe Building frames an aerial view of the corner of Sand Hill Road and Haywood Road. The streetscape, says center founder Nancy Hyton, has changed dramatically since she ran a group practice downstairs in what is now Westville Pub’s Triple 7 Brewhouse. Eleven years ago, a homeless man had taken to sleeping in the men’s room of what was then a brake shop. “The area in front of the building was cracked concrete, littered with bottles and broken glass,” Hyton recalls. “The back of the building had trash and boxes piled up. The bathroom had an exterior door, and every morning the man would stumble out, sit on the curb and smoke his first cigarette of the day.” Today, Universal Joint — a familyfriendly neighborhood pub — straddles that corner. Its white brick façade, bright blue roof, cheery red umbrellas on the clean, canine-welcoming patio adorned with trees, shrubbery and swaths of grass bear little resemblance to that 22
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dilapidated brake shop. “Anytime we can create green space, that’s a healthy change,” says Hyton. Beyond that, however, “healthy change” could be a branding opportunity for the commercial artery that traverses West Asheville and one that neatly taps into the city’s history. “Tourism in Asheville these days has a lot to do with beer,” says Andrew Snavely, who with his wife, Lyndsey Thomas, co-owns Dobra Tea’s downtown and West Asheville locations. “But back in the early 20th century, people came to Asheville for healing, for the water, the mountains, the springs, the spas. I’d like to see a return to that. I think West Asheville has a lot of businesses devoted to wellness and healing, and I’d like that to be a draw to the neighborhood.” BEND AND SIP In the past five years, Haywood Road has seen a wave of new businesses promoting health and wellness in various ways. From pioneers like West Asheville Yoga and the Center for Holistic Medicine to newbies like Asheville Dispensary and the Simple Café & Juice Bar, they are consciously seeking to strike the tricky
balance of respecting and accommodating neighborhood residents, courting clients and customers from other parts of town and attracting a portion of the tourist trade — all without compromising the community’s intimate feel. West Asheville Yoga opened 12 years ago and still retains many of the original teachers and students. In January, founder Cat Matlock sold the business to fellow teacher and studio manager Sue Ann Fisher. “Cat and I had been talking about it for a while, and we agreed it was time to give the studio a new life,” says Fisher. “This place has a special place in the community, so I feel honored she believed in me to keep it running.” Most students, notes Fisher, live in and around the neighborhood and walk or bike to classes. But she’s noticed a bump in visitors from other parts of town and even points beyond. “We introduced online registration in January and have seen people who are visiting Asheville signing up for a class. Asheville is known for yoga generally, and when people who practice come here, they want to take a class. Some of our teachers have an internet presence, and with our online registration, they can actually take a class in person with that teacher.”
The newly painted, cornflower blue stucco building that’s home to the Simple Café & Juice Bar can be seen from West Asheville Yoga’s storefront window. Since opening last August, the café has become a before- or afterclass stop for students and teachers, as well as neighbors and fans of co-owner Suzy Phillips, whose popular Gypsy Queen restaurant sits less than a mile away on Patton Avenue. “This space had been a few things, but it was frequently unoccupied,” says Phillips, sitting in the cozy, lightfilled main room. She and business partner Nate Kelly, she says, “were attracted to this neighborhood: There is such a good feel to it. The kitchen has no gas, so it’s challenging. But I love juices, salads, sandwiches. We can focus on healthy and keep it simple. The name, Simple, describes who we are and what we do: simple ingredients, simple good food. We have lots of neighborhood business, and because a lot of what we do is vegan, we have people from other areas who are looking for that but might be avoiding downtown.” West Asheville business owners aren’t throwing shade on downtown or the ever-growing numbers of tour-
ists crowding its streets and filling its restaurants, but they do cite increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic there, along with rising rents, as reasons they opted to look elsewhere. BRAIN BREAK From the vestibule at 707 Haywood Road, open the door on the left and descend the stairs to the subterranean sanctuary of the Asheville School of Massage & Yoga. Shala Worsley came to Asheville in 1996 armed with a degree in anthropology and the desire to take, as she called it, a “brain break.” She did that via massage school, fell in love with the town, enrolled in a yoga teacher training program and, in 2005, opened her business downtown. The school — which offers certifications for massage therapists and ayurveda wellness counselors, both of which integrate yoga as a form of self-care — proved so successful that it outgrew its original space. “We looked all over for a really long time,” says Worsley. “My friend and architect, Maria Rusafova, lives in West Asheville, and we came to see this
space. It was bad. A dirt floor, mud, crusty brick walls. We had to climb down a ladder! But she saw the classroom, the treatment rooms, the back courtyard. She had the vision; I didn’t. “What I did love was that West Asheville felt to me like the old downtown, which I missed. I love the neighborhood feel, the locals, knowing other business owners on the street. For what
CONTINUES ON PAGE 24
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W ELL NESS
we do, something quieter and calmer suits us. West Asheville felt like the right speed for us.” She signed the lease in spring 2015. Renovations started immediately and the business moved in September, without missing a single day of class. “What I didn’t anticipate was how much we would grow once we had more room, or how many like-minded businesses would come over here to West Asheville.” Worsley had a direct hand in persuading one of those businesses to become her neighbor. In the 707 vestibule, the door on the right leads to Dobra Tea’s West Asheville outpost, which Snavely and Thomas opened in the summer of 2015. “To me, Lexington is the heart of downtown, the funkiest, hippest, rawest street, with kind of a network of local businesses that work well together,” Snavely explains. “But downtown has become increasingly crowded and increasingly a tourist destination. We wanted to open a second location, and we looked specifically at West Asheville. We loved the feeling of old Asheville. I’m good friends with Shala, and when the space next to her became available, she gave me the landlord’s number.” Dobra’s Haywood location offers the same global tea repertoire but with a much larger food menu. “We were the first to bring 100 percent glutenfree and vegetarian to Haywood,” says Snavely. “We wanted this place to be different than downtown. We want people to take time. Tea takes time to prepare; the high quality of organic
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socio-economically diverse,” he notes. “It has all ages, it’s walkable and values a healthy lifestyle.” TOTAL NOURISHMENT
GET THE MASSAGE: The Asheville School of Massage & Yoga moved into its space at 707 Haywood Road in 2015. The school offers certifications for massage therapists and ayurveda wellness counselors. Photo courtesy of Asheville School of Massage & Yoga food takes time to prepare. This place is a refuge.” Worsley welcomed her friend and his business, both personally and professionally. “We needed a healthy student cafeteria!” she says with a laugh, adding, “We are thrilled with BimBeriBon, too.”
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SOMETHING THAT MATTERS Reza Setayesh’s reputation as a consciousness-raising, environmentally responsible, healthy-eating guru, chef and restaurateur who simultaneously creates delectable food had preceded him. He opened his first Asheville restaurant, Rezaz, in Biltmore Village in 2002 but sold it in 2015, looking to launch a new chapter in his life. “When I decided to do a new place, the ideology was to do something that matters,” he explains during a lull between lunch and dinner at BimBeriBon. The all-day, fast-casual eatery opened up two doors down from Dobra in September 2017. “I wanted to make sure that what we do here not only pleases your palate but that your body benefits from the nutrients in the food. We are 100 percent gluten-free, 100 percent refined cane sugar-free and nutrient-dense. We want to be a respite from ingredients that can trigger and contribute to many health problems. We use nothing with preservatives; we make everything in-house. Our menu is real feel-good food that is good while you’re eating it and feels good after.” When Setayesh was seeking a space for his new restaurant, he says he was open to any part of town but found the perfect match in West Asheville. “This neighborhood is dynamic, eclectic, racially and
It was Setayesh’s staking a claim at one end of the little strip mall next door to Ingles that persuaded Letitia Walker to open Purna Yoga 828 at the other end. “I’ve been teaching yoga since 2004, in a studio in east West Asheville and other places downtown,” she explains. “The studio was going to be torn down, so in mid-2017, I started looking for a place for my own studio. I wasn’t sure about this plaza; it still seemed kind of sketchy. But I heard Reza was going into the space at the end and I said, ‘If Reza is in, we’re in.’ If you pay attention to food, you know who he is and how he thinks about food and nourishment. BimBeriBon seemed like such a lovely complement to our vision.” Purna, which means whole or complete in Sanskrit, is the style of yoga taught there. One of six Purna studios in the country, it is alignment-focused and relies heavily on props, including a unique “Great Yoga Wall.” “I’ve lived in West Asheville for 21 years and didn’t want to be anywhere but here,” says Walker. “It still has the funk and charm that drew me here and is not overly saturated with yoga studios, though we are happy to welcome all practitioners of health and wellness to this area.” ALTERNATIVE SPACES That includes the newest member of West Asheville’s wellness community, Asheville Dispensary, which sits at the far end of Haywood on the ground floor of the Haywood Village condos. Having been in real estate for 12 years, Jimmy Gallagher is quite familiar with the adage “location, location, location.” And when he was honing his concept for the dispensary, he knew where he wanted to be. “West Asheville has a very conscious feel of wellness to it. I believed our concept would be well-received here, and the space is perfect for everything we do.” The retail component offers assorted CBD products; the bar serves up CBD tinctures, coffees and teas. And, thanks to a partnership with Jill TrAshley, founder of The NOHM Project, there’s also a selection of nonalcoholic cocktail elixirs such as Plant Pop and Goji Okay. All this is presented in a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. The sofas,
chairs and tables invite customers to stake out a place, either solo or with friends, or to attend events such as Afro dance classes and CanaComedy night. As of March 15, says Gallagher, the dispensary moved its opening time to 8 a.m., offering its full menu of espresso drinks and NOHM Project elixirs. In the meantime, the nightly 5:307 happy hour is popular with neighbors, and when the weather warms, he’ll place café tables on the sidewalk. “In the growing health and wellness community,” says Gallagher, “we are creating an alternative space for people who want to gather but don’t want it to be around alcohol. You can meet your friends here and have an elixir that does nice things for you in a healthy manner.” PARKING PRESSURES Even healthy growth poses challenges, however, including a shortage of places to park. “West Asheville is a small neighborhood,” Worsley
points out. “Haywood is a destination street with residents on the side streets. We ask our students to be respectful of the residents and don’t park in front of their houses or across their driveways. Neighborhood parking should be reserved for people who live there. But it’s a challenge as more businesses open. We’d like to see City Council work with us to find a solution — a parking garage or a community parking lot.” Others say they’d like to see more green space, perhaps incorporated into a West Asheville welcome center with parking, merchant directories and public restrooms. “This is increasingly a wellness corridor,” says Setayesh. Local entrepreneurs, he notes, “have invested in businesses that promote a lifestyle and environment that includes the whole being, whether it’s acupuncture, massage, food, yoga. This is a neighborhood that helps people move, make healthy choices and thrive.” X
WELL NE S S CA L E N DA R PILATES CLASSES AT HAPPY BODY (PD.) Individualized, comfortable Reformer, Tower and Mat classes. Call 277-5741. Details at www. AshevilleHappyBody.com SHOJI SPA & LODGE • 7 DAYS A WEEK (PD.) Private Japanese-style outdoor hot tubs, cold plunge, sauna and lodging. 8 minutes from town. Bring a friend to escape and renew! Best massages in Asheville! 828-299-0999. shojiretreats.com SOUND HEALING • SATURDAY • SUNDAY (PD.) Every Saturday, 11am and Sundays, 12 noon. Experience deep relaxation with crystal bowls, gongs, didgeridoo and other peaceful instruments. • Donation suggested. At Skinny Beats Sound Shop, 4 Eagle Street. www. skinnybeatsdrums.com WAVE STUDIOS (PD.) Offers Beginner Ballroom, Latin and Swing group class every Monday at 6pm - no partner necessary. • New class on Wednesdays at 2pm - Ballroom Technique. All classes $10/person. • Full schedule: www. waveasheville.com
BE MINDFUL • TUESDAYS, 7:30-8:30pm - Guided, non-religious sitting and walking meditation. Admission by donation. Held at Urban Dharma, 77 W. Walnut St. BEGINNER TAI CHI • WEDNESDAYS, 3-4:30pm - Beginner tai chi class and information session for the class series. First class is free. Held at Town and Mountain Training Center, 261 Asheland Ave. BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library • SA (3/30), 11am - Learn the fundamentals of Pilates or deepen your practice in this mixed level class. Registration required. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. • THURSDAYS (4/4) until (4/25), 11am - Beginner's tai chi classes. Registration required. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. COFFEE AND CONVERSATION: AMONG FRIENDS • 4th WEDNESDAYS, 11:30am-noon - Coffee
and conversation on wellness topics. Free. Held at Ferguson Family YMCA, 31 Westridge Market Place, Candler GENTLE FLOW YOGA • MONDAYS, 5:30-6:30pm - Gentle Flow Yoga. $5. Held at Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Highway, Leicester LIVEWELL EXPO • SA (3/30), 9am-4pm - 100 local vendors, live entertainment, cooking demos and free health screenings. Free to attend. Held at WNC Agricultural Center, 1301 Fanning Bridge Road PEACE EDUCATION PROGRAM jtfbuilder@gmail.com • WEDNESDAYS through (3/27), 6:30-7:30pm "Discover Your Inner Resources," inner peace educational program. Information: jtfbuilder@ gmail.com. Free. Held at Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Drive RICEVILLE COMMUNITY WORKOUT • THURSDAYS, 6pm Community workout for all ages and fitness levels. Bring yoga mat and water.
Free. Held at Riceville Fire Department, 2251 Riceville Road SLOW FLOW YOGA • THURSDAYS, 2:30-3:30pm - "Slow Flow Yoga," yoga class adapted for all ages and abilities. Free. Held at Senior Opportunity Center, 36 Grove St.
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SPECIAL OLYMPICS ADAPTIVE CROSSFIT CLASSES • WEDNESDAYS, 3-4pm - Adaptive crossfit classes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Free. Held at South Slope CrossFit, 217 Coxe Ave., Suite B THE SHIFT FROM FEAR TO LOVE • SU (3/31), 2-6pm - The Shift from Fear to Love, a transformative community experience featuring live music, dance and community activists. $39. Held at Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave. WALKING CLASS • TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS, 9am - Walking exercise class. Free. Held at Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 6th Ave W., Hendersonville
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MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
25
GREEN SCENE
ELECTRIC SHUFFLE
WNC residents demand more from state Clean Energy Plan
BY DANIEL WALTON dwalton@mountainx.com Executive Order 80, enacted by Gov. Roy Cooper in October, was meant to announce a major shift for North Carolina. As the only executive order that Cooper “has personally and publicly signed,” according to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Sushma Masemore, the document signaled the governor’s particular urgency in transitioning the state to a clean energy economy and addressing climate change. Its objectives include reducing North Carolina’s greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 2005 levels, registering at least 80,000 zero-emission vehicles and cutting energy use by 40 percent in state buildings by 2025. But during a March 14 listening session at The Collider in downtown Asheville about the DEQ’s Clean Energy Plan, a key provision of Cooper’s order, many of the roughly 70 Western North Carolina residents in attendance expressed frustration that the state wasn’t doing enough. Before the conversation even began, protesters with the Mars Hill-based Alliance to Protect Our People and the Places We Live unfurled a banner calling for Cooper to revoke a state permit issued under his administration for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The ACP, which is not mentioned in the executive order, would create a new route for an estimated 1.5 billion daily cubic feet of natural gas from West Virginia through
BANNER TO BAN: Activists with the Alliance to Protect Our People and the Places We Live call for Gov. Roy Cooper to rescind his administration’s approval of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Photo by Daniel Walton eastern Virginia and North Carolina. Activist Steve Norris said that the project would increase annual global greenhouse gas emissions by more than 12 times the savings projected to result from EO80. Other commenters raised concerns about the basic assumptions of the executive order, which Masemore said will consider “market drivers” and the economic feasibility of clean energy alongside environmental and climate concerns. Ned Ryan Doyle, Technology Working Group co-chair for the joint Duke Energy/Asheville/Buncombe County
Energy Innovation Task Force, said “the mentality that only short-term profits matter” is a major hurdle to progress. “There’s no full-cycle accounting for the actual costs and benefits of clean energy versus the way the system is right now. It’s very broken up; it’s just not the right way to do the math,” Doyle said. “When that is how all of this is worked out — how [utility companies] are going to make a return on their investment, without full-cycle accounting — that’s a barrier to moving forward.” Masemore said her team would relay the crowd’s concerns back to Raleigh but encouraged them to “think about pragmatic and practical solutions” for clean energy. “If you want a dramatic change overnight … all the things that need to line up in order to make that effect will take time,” she said. PHONING IT IN The clearest expressions of the audience’s displeasure with the status quo came through a series of live polls conducted via text message. Nearly three-quarters of those in attendance, for example, disagreed that the state’s current electricity sys-
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MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
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tem “supports the procurement of clean energy from a regulatory/utility business model perspective.” Only 9 percent strongly agreed with that statement. “The ways that we have procured our energy up to now have not been clean for people who live next to coal ash plants or who live near smokestacks. The business model has not taken those externalized costs into consideration,” explained one attendee about her vote. “The regulatory agency that is supposed to look into the business model of our public utilities has consistently failed to do that in a rigorous way.” Only 3 percent of attendees strongly agreed that the state gives customers “options for controlling their energy use and the source of their energy,” while 76 percent disagreed, with one commenter remarking that the question unfairly combined two topics. Asked if North Carolina’s electricity system “suitably addresses equity concerns,” 82 percent responded that it does not. “From the fracking fields that feed the gas plants to the mountaintop removal sites that feed the coal plants, [the system] disproportionately impacts low-income folks and communities of color,” commented an attendee. DEQ employees responded that the Asheville crowd was not alone in its critiques. “What we’re seeing so far is very similar values across the state,” Masemore said about previous community input sessions in Charlotte, Hickory and Raleigh. Climate and equity, she noted, were “at the top” of citizen concerns. However, Masemore added that the legislation regulating the state’s power system specifies “adequate, reliable and economical” service — not environmental protection — as the goal of public utilities. Larger shifts of the system’s priorities, she said, would likely require legislative action by the General Assembly. VALUE PROPOSITIONS Compounding the challenge, Masemore explained, is North Carolina’s outsized appetite for
power. Although ranked eighth in the nation in terms of electricity generation, she said, the state must import additional power equal to 10 percent of its own production to meet its needs. That demand, Masemore said, means additional burning of gas or coal. While the continuing development of utility-scale solar and wind will make clean options more viable, she continued, “we don’t have an ability to bring in internal energy resources to generate our own power” at the current time. Pauline Hannemann, co-founder and principal consultant at Aasha Advisors, suggested that the conversation about economic feasibility was rooted in the priorities of utility companies and their investors. Several audience members applauded when she called the DEQ’s input session “still stuck in the old thought process” and urged those in attendance to ask new questions. “We have to put social first: our community, our safety, our health,” Hannemann continued. “Those things have to come first, or 30
CLIMATE CONVERSATION CONTINUES AT THE COLLIDER The Collider will also serve as the headquarters for over a week of events focused on the nongovernmental response to climate change. Climate City Expo, a reimagining of last year’s ClimateCon, runs from Friday, March 29, through Sunday, April 7, at multiple venues throughout Asheville. Highlights include a presentation by Bill Nye “The Science Guy” about extreme weather and climate change at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium on Monday, April 1; a talk by Project Drawdown Vice President Katherine Wilkinson at the Diana Wortham Theatre on Tuesday, April 2; and the CCx: Business conference at The Collider itself April 2-3. A full schedule is available at avl.mx/5tw. Josh Dorfman, CEO of The Collider, says this year’s expo will draw more investors and entrepreneurs — both as attendees and presenters — to help spur startup innovation around climate data. “We view the audience and the conversations that are going to happen really as the vanguard of those who are using data and technology to drive insights around climate adaptation and resilience,” he explains. X
years from now people will be wondering, ‘What the heck did they do?’” Masemore noted that the DEQ has discussed the role of environmental benefits with the N.C. Utilities Commission as the body regulates power production in the state. However, she added, “it’s a continuing dialogue in their interpretation of the statute.”
PACE OF PROGRESS The Clean Energy Plan itself will come together on a relatively fast timeline. Masemore explained that most other states take two to three years to develop similar plans, but Cooper’s executive order calls for receiving a final version in October.
Public input opportunities will continue through July, with another Asheville listening session scheduled at The Collider on Wednesday, June 5, from 1-3:30 p.m. Individuals and organizations can apply to participate in facilitated workshops about the plan in Raleigh, and all North Carolina residents can provide public comment on the DEQ website (avl.mx/5tv) through July 31. “We can’t tell you exactly how we’re going to use this at this time,” acknowledged Lori Collins, a consultant working with the DEQ, about the public input. “This is a guidance to help us understand where our constituencies are coming from, what’s going to bubble to the top.” Near the end of the discussion, one commenter suggested that North Carolina's legislators should be listening to the clean energy demand just as closely as its regulators. “I think we have a majority of people in this country who want a paradigm shift, and they want a paradigm shift rapidly,” she said. “We have to have democracy and money out of politics and people in power who represent those of us who want this.” X
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AvlDispensary.com MOUNTAINX.COM
828-335-2696 MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
27
ADULT WILDERNESS WORKSHOPS
2019 SCHEDULE APR 27 Reed Pack Baskets
MAY 16-19 Hide Tanning: Buckskin
MAY 2-5 Survival 101
MAY 24-27 Women’s Wilderness Wisdom
FARM & GARDEN
WATER'S WAKE Local farmers look to new business models after last year’s flooding
MAY 11-12 Wild Food Foraging
Full class schedule listed online
FRESH APPROACH: Cane Creek Valley Farm owners Amanda and Jeremy Sizemore, pictured with their children, Emma and Judson, are shifting to a more community-focused business model after heavy rains and flooding in 2018 decreased their farm’s production by 60 percent. Photo courtesy of the Sizemores
At Holistic Survival School (HoSS) we believe it is your birthright to have a physical, emotional, and spiritual connection to your wild landscape. We teach handson-Earth-based skills to foster connection to yourself, your community and the natural world.
BY KIM WINTER MAKO kwint69@hotmail.com
All are welcome!
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email: HolisticSurvivalSchool@gmail.com Instagram: @Luke.Holistic.Survival.School. Also find us on Facebook, Meetup and Youtube
www.HolisticSurvivalSchool.com 28
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
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Last year proved to be the wettest one on record for Western North Carolina. Through much of 2018, farmland in the region got doused as rivers and streams repeatedly crested their banks, drowning crops, saturating fields and killing livestock. The trouble began in mid-May when days of consistent rain were followed by Tropical Storm Alberto. Farmers were still picking up the pieces when Hurricane Florence barreled through in mid-September. To add insult to injury, December brought about 12 inches of snow, followed by even more rain, bringing 2018’s grand total of rainfall to the record-breaking 80-inch mark in various counties. According to U.S.
Climate Data, a normal year of rainfall is around 37 inches. Cane Creek Valley Farm was among the local farms that suffered from the excess precipitation. The small Fletcher operation experienced a 60 percent drop in production due to the waterlogged conditions. “An early-season crop of greens, a midseason crop of squash and tomatoes and a late-season crop of greens were flooded out or oversaturated, causing stunted growth or disease,” says owner Amanda Sizemore. Sizemore and her nuclear family are the current caretakers of the farm that has been in Amanda’s family line for 105 years. The property was first farmed in 1903 and returned to its roots 13 years ago when the family began cultivating 2.5 acres of certified organic land. Today, the farm markets its produce in stores throughout
the Southeast, but in the wake of the unrelenting water, Sizemore is re-evaluating her business model and plans to add a new facet to the business. In April, Cane Creek will open two of the organic fields on its 60 acres to the community through a new gardenshare program. “We hope that with this new venture of gardening with the community, we can replace lost capital as well as create a fun experience for all,” says Sizemore. Through November, she and her husband, Jeremy, will rent out 624-square-foot plots — sized 52 by 12 feet. In addition to use of the land, the $650 fee includes organic gardening guidance in the form of classes, hands-on learning opportunities for all ages and morning talk-and-walks through the gardens. Participants will also receive additional weekly support with needs such as fertility and water. “In the beginning, our farm was rooted in the desire to farm in a way that included the community,” says Sizemore. “We have done that in various ways over the past 12 years while the farm evolved and changed. We have always enjoyed the connection that was created when our farm was open and shared with its neighbors.”
Cane Creek is not alone. Many WNC farms are rethinking their game plans, coming up with new and innovative ways to counterbalance the impact of severe weather. According to Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project program director Molly Nicholie, some ideas in the works for farmers include greater diversification of crops, relocating planting fields farther from riverbanks and incorporating agritourism. North River Farms in Mills River is another farm making changes. “We are currently focused on repairing farmland that was damaged during the floods,” says owner Jason Davis, adding that he hopes — weather permitting — to keep his spring crops on schedule. The farm’s vegetable division, he says, will see the most restructuring due to 2018 losses. “Our risks are being managed to the best of our ability,” he says. “We’ll be growing more corn and hay and focusing on our livestock and agritourism divisions.” For more information on Cane Creek Valley Farm and its garden-share program, visit canecreekorganics.com. Learn more about North River Farms at northriverfarms.co. X
Happy Spring!
NURSERY & GIFT SHOP
Spring-flowering Trees & Shrubs, Fruit Trees, Creeping Phlox & other Happy Plants!
ADULT FORUM: GLOBAL WARMING: PART IV • SU (3/31), 9-10:15am - The fourth in a series of FCUCC Adult Forums inspired by Matthew Fox’s book, The Order of the Sacred Earth. Free to attend. Held at First Congregational UCC of Hendersonville, 1735 5th Ave. W., Hendersonville CCX: BILL NYE • MO (4/1), 6:30-8pm - “Extreme Weather; A Conversation with Bill Nye The Science Guy,” moderated by Greta Johnsen of WBEZ Chicago and host of the NERDette podcast. Registration: bit.ly/2Cqxth8. $34.50 and up. Held at US Cellular Center, 87 Haywood St. CCX: HACK • SU (3/31), 8:30am5pm - Climate City Expo, second annual climate data hackathon. $12. Held at The Collider, 1 Haywood St., Suite 401
CCX: KATHARINE WILKINSON • TU (4/2), 6:30-8pm Climate City Expo lecture by author, speaker and strategist Katharine Wilkinson. $10-$18. Held at Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave. CCX: SCIENCE PUB • FR (3/29), 5:30-7pm Special edition of Science Pub, 'The National Climate Assessment as a Case Study in Data Transparency and Accessibility.' Free. Held at The Collider, 1 Haywood St., Suite 401 CLIMATE INTERACTIVE ROLE PLAYING • SU (3/31), 5:30-7:30pm - “Climate and Spirit,” interactive role playing in collaboration with CCx Faith Track. Free. Held at First Congregational UCC of Asheville, 20 Oak St. CLIMATE LISTENING PROJECT PORTRAITURE PREMIERE • WE (4/3), 6-8pm Climate Listening Project
Portraiture, exhibition of six graphite portraits featuring science and storytelling by Shannon Bodeau. Free to attend. Held at Gastro Pub at Hopey, 45 S. French Broad Ave. HOPE FOR OUR CLIMATE • TH (4/4), 7-9pm “Hope for Our Climate,” presentation by Drew Jones, co-founder of Climate Interactive. Free. Held at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place STREAM MONITORING EXCHANGE TRAINING • SA (3/30), 9am-4pm - Stream Monitoring Information Exchange training. Registration required: 828-692-0385 x 1001. Free. Held in the microbiology lab, Blue Ridge Community College, 180 W Campus Drive, Flat Rock WNC FOR THE PLANET • SU (3/31), noon-2pm - WNC for the Planet
kickoff party for Earth Month with a costume contest and activities for all ages. Information: WNCforthePlanet.org. Free to attend. Held at New Belgium Brewery, 21 Craven St.
76 Monticello Rd. Weaverville, NC I-26/Exit 18 828-645-3937 www.reemscreek.com
Nature’s Vitamins & Herbs [FORMERLY NATURE’S PHARMACY]
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23 YEARS
Professional advice on CBD oil & supplements! Carrying 4 Top Brands: Charlotte’s Web, Palmetto Harmony, Kingdom Harvest & Green Mountain CBD Available as: creams /salves • oral liquid oral capsules • liquid for vaping Owners:
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We stock great vitamin brands including: Gaia, Pure Encapsulations, Thorne Research, Barleans, Professional Brands and more!
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752 Biltmore Avenue • 828-251-0094 • www.naturesvitaminsandherbs.com
FARM & GARDEN BIRD FRIENDLY GARDENING • TH (3/28), 6pm - Learn about native plants and actions to take to make your yard a haven for birds. Free. Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road SOIL HEALTH FIELD DAY • TH (4/4), 8:30am Henderson Soil and Water Conservation District hosts the “Soil Health Field Day” focused on cover crops. Registration required: 828-697-4949. Free. Held at Whitaker Farms, 90 Dalton Road, Horse Shoe
MOUNTAINX.COM
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
29
FOOD
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE Farm to Home Milk finds a sustainable model for a whimsical notion
Sweeten Creek Location
CLOSING
Come see us before March 30th
BIG CLOSE OUT SALES! Come see us at our other locations on S. French Broad & in Black Mountain
HOME AGAIN: This month, Farm to Home Milk reboots its home delivery routes with a refreshed design for its truck. The company abandoned home service in 2016 to focus on its wholesale business, but owner Jonathon Flaum missed the human interaction aspect of delivering to private homes. "I see it as a way to insert poetry back into the business, approaching it as an act of service,” says Flaum. Photo by Tami England Flaum
BY LAURA HACKETT laurafaye15@gmail.com
lunch dinner brunch bar & patio “Giving Back Night” Monday 4/1 4:30-9:30 Proceeds to benefit
Sleep Tight Kids 828.505.7531 coppercrownavl.com 30
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
Neighborhoods in Asheville once brimmed with fleets of bright yellowand black-striped trucks that delivered dairy products from Biltmore Farms straight to people’s front porches and iceboxes. For nearly 100 years, this was the norm, until the mid-1980s, when the company shut down its bottling plant in the face of modern refrigeration and the dominance of supermarkets. Odds are, milkmen will never again be our sole source of dairy as they were in the 1900s. Nonetheless, Jonathon Flaum, founder and owner of Farm to Home Milk, sees home delivery as an act of service and, within that, an opportunity to cultivate mindfulness, connection and even poetry. Starting in April, Flaum’s business will resurrect the home delivery route — in a truck that doubles as a vehicle for cow-moo-nity.
MOUNTAINX.COM
“My grandfather grew up in the Bronx in the 1920s and used to tell me stories when I was a kid about the iceman and the milkman. He told me how everybody knew everybody, and how his entire world was within eight blocks. No car, TV or telephone was necessary — your neighbors were your friends, entertainment and refuge. I wanted a life like that after leaving my corporate job.” says Flaum, who worked as a corporate speechwriter for 12 years before starting his business in 2011. “It wasn’t superpractical. It was a poetic idea.” To get started, he connected with a few area dairy farmers, most notably the Hostetler family from Wholesome Country Creamery, which has supplied grass-fed and minimally processed milk for wholesalers since 1979. He got his first tiny delivery van, a 2011 Nissan NV, and met with the original Asheville milk maven, the late George Cecil, who greeted Flaum’s idea with equal doses enthusiasm and skepticism.
“[Cecil] wished me well and was really glad we were doing it, but he thought we’d have a real hard time making a living,” says Flaum. When the business launched, Flaum got huge support from the community, most of whom hadn’t experienced the joy of a milk truck in decades — or ever. “It was a family ritual that we would all look forward to,” says Margaret Gibbs, one of Flaum’s first customers. “When my two kids knew it was delivery day, they would constantly run out and check the metal cooler to see if the milkman had been to our home. ... Being able to meet him, hearing the stories of where the milk comes from — it felt so good to have that. It was a great connector.” Wholesale buyers have also played an important role in the business. Flaum says relationships with grocery stores, bakeries, coffee shops and restaurants are what’s allowed Farm to Home Milk to stay afloat financially. Today, he shut-
tles an average of 1,200 to 1,400 gallons of dairy products to them weekly. But it turned out that Cecil was right about home delivery. Halfway through 2016, Flaum had to end the service. “There’s a time when you’re so busy that you have to be practical,” he says. “We were all mutually sad to have to stop it, but something had to give. We were so busy trying to figure out the best systems to get the milk around town ... and it was clear the wholesale was what was going to make the business sustainable.” “We were totally heartbroken,” says Gibbs. “We totally understood where [Flaum] was coming from ... but it took us a while to remember to buy milk. And everything we bought was so inferior.” Nearly three years later, the Gibbs family can rejoice once more with a creamy, cold glass of the good stuff. “In the last six or seven months, I’ve finally had more time to take a step back from the business,” says Flaum. “I have great employees who have taken leadership, so I have had to put out less fires on the front lines.” With this extra time, Flaum says, he wrote a lot of poems about his grandfather along with his own experience as a milkman, and that reflection inspired him to bring back the home delivery. “We really want to have that same sense of service, care and community connection. Why I want to return is there’s something about bringing products to someone’s house, particularly milk and glass. You’ve got to keep it cold and fresh and deliver it mindfully. That was a great practice ... doing it in such a
way that people feel gratitude,” he says. “I see it as a way to insert poetry back into the business, approaching it as an act of service, dedicating one or two days a week to give the community a taste of what it’s like to have a milkman.” A new box-style, 16-foot Isuzu delivery truck will also serve as a literal vehicle for the poetry Flaum seeks to create. In a collaboration with local designer Jenny Fares, Flaum has wrapped the truck with the phrases “Compassion is Possible,” “Everything is Singing” and “Today is Happening.” “I was like, you know, we’re essentially driving a billboard around town. So what message do we want to send? That’s where those phrases come from,” says Flaum. “Right here and now we can greet each other in the simple and present moment of what’s in hand — in our case, it’s a bottle of milk. Our focus in this next chapter of business is the way of delivery itself, to allow it to awaken us and the customers we serve to something that my grandfather took for granted 100 years ago: intimate community connection without the need for pretense or appointment,” Flaum reflects. Farm to Home Milk resumes delivery service on Monday, April 15. In a new partnership, Button Bagels and its specialty cream cheese will also be available for purchase. Initially, delivery will be available in the 28801, 28802, 28803, 28804, 28805 and 28806 ZIP codes along with a special route in Burnsville. Sign up for dairy deliveries and learn more at farmtohome.deliverybizpro.com. X
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SMALL BITES by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com
Olde London Road set to open
Thanks, Asheville! VOTED BEST INDIAN EVERY YEAR SINCE 2006
melaasheville.com 70 N. LEXINGTON AVENUE 828.225.8880
The old saying goes: If you want something done right, do it yourself. With this philosophy in mind, Amber Arthur, coowner of PennyCup Coffee, launches her latest business, Olde London Road. The English-style soccer bar is set to open in downtown Asheville on Monday, April 1. Arthur, a longtime resident of the city, says the concept has been in the back of her mind for years. “There’s just never been a proper place in town for football fans to go,” she asserts. “So my friends and I always joked that we were just going to have to do it ourselves.” The bar will be equipped with a 110inch screen for main matches, with sound broadcast throughout the space (including the loo, Arthur notes proudly). Meanwhile, seven additional televisions will air games from all over the world. In between matches, patrons can play pool or throw darts in the venue’s back section. The bar’s beer menu will focus primarily on European pours. Guinness, Old Speckled Hen, Delirium, Samuel Smith and Ayinger are among the 16 brews to be featured on tap. Local options will include Hi-Wire Brewing and New Belgium Brewing Co. Along with beer, bar manager Catie Conroy is currently designing the venue’s cocktail menu. Gin will be the featured liquor. “We’ll have English classics with some modern twists,” she says. English dishes, including meat-andcheese platters, sausage rolls and biscuits, will also be available. Coffee and tea will be served during early morning games as well. “We really want to stress that if there is a match on, we will be playing it,” says Arthur. “We’ll be open and we’ll have the sound on. … We are 100 percent football-focused here.” Olde London Road is scheduled to open Monday, April 1, on the lower floor at 5 Biltmore Ave. Hours are Monday-Friday, 1 p.m.-midnight, and Saturday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-2 a.m. For more, visit avl.mx/5ts.
All things cauliflower On Thursday, March 28, the YMCA of WNC Nutrition will host a cooking workshop focused on cauliflower dishes. The evening course will also discuss the nutritional benefits of the vegetable. The class runs 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28, at YMCA of WNC Nutrition, 30 Woodfin St., Room 2. Cost is $10 for
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LONDON CALLING: Amber Arthur, left, says her new bar, Olde London Road, will be the premier place to watch European football in Asheville. She is joined by her team of bartenders, from left, Daryl Tyler, Steve Hedrick and Catie Conroy. The group sits before the venue’s 110-inch screen. Photo by Thomas Calder YMCA members/$15 for nonmembers. Participants must be at least 16 years old. For more information or to register, call 828-575-2939 or email lfurgiuele@ ymcawnc.org.
Crawfish boil at One World Brewing West The fifth annual Crawfish Hottub Party will take place at One World Brewing West on Sunday, March 31. Boilmaster Matthew Bambarger of Bebettes Beignets & Coffee will prepare the day’s feast. Preorders, which include 3 pounds of crawfish with corn and potatoes, can be made online. The crawfish boil runs noon-7 p.m. Sunday, March 31, at One World Brewing West, 520 Haywood Road. Orders are $35. For more information, visit avl.mx/5tn.
The Grazing Camel Michael Harlove, sous chef at Table, will debut a monthly pop-up dinner series Sunday, March 31, inside the restaurant’s downtown location. The Grazing Camel will take place the last Sunday of each month, March-August. According to a press release, the everchanging menu will explore international food trends through the lens of Mediterranean cuisine with heavy influences from the Middle East. The popup will also feature wines with both bottle and glass offerings. Prices on the a la carte menu will range from $2-$20. Family-style options, which can feed three to four people, will also be available for $65. All dietary restrictions can be accommodated. The inaugural pop-up runs 5-10 p.m. Sunday, March 31, at Table, 48 College St. For more information, visit avl.mx/5tp.
Experience Downtown Asheville’s Most Unique Dining Experience
Chefs in Action For a second straight year, local chefs will come together to raise funds for Food Connection, an organization that works to reduce waste and ease hunger. Participating restaurants and culinary programs include Pack’s Tavern, Deerfield, The Omni Grove Park Inn, My Event Solutions & Catering, Sierra Nevada and Ultimate Ice Cream. Along with food, the evening will feature live music by Abby the Spoon Lady and Chris Rodrigues and a Dig Local raffle. The fundraiser will conclude with dancing with Jr. James & The Late Guitar and the Rhythm Grill. The event’s leftover food will be retrieved by Asheville Taxi and delivered to community partners. Since 2014, Food Connection has recovered over 100,000 meals in Asheville. Chefs in Action runs 6-9 p.m. Thursday, April 4, at Celine & Company Catering, 49 Broadway. Tickets are $75 per person or $125 per couple. To purchase, visit avl.mx/5to.
Bomba launches new menu Chicken is the main feature of Bomba’s latest menu overhaul. The restaurant, which is back up and running after closing for several weeks in preparation for the reboot, will offer both dark and white local organic poultry al carbon. Diners can order birds in quarters, halves or whole. Prices range from $10-$26 and include two to four sides. Bomba is at 1 S.W. Pack Square. The restaurant is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. For more, visit avl.mx/5tq.
Buxton Hall tops the list Southern Living recently named Buxton Hall Barbecue Best BBQ Joint in North Carolina. The lifestyle magazine encourages travelers to try pitmaster Elliot Moss’ “Carolina-style wholehog barbecue.” The write-up also notes Buxton’s James Beard Awardnominated pastry chef Ashely Capps. For the complete list, visit avl.mx/5tr. X
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MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
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APPETITE FOR LIFE
F OOD
by Susi Gott Séguret | sgseguret@gmail.com
ANGLES OF APPETITE The word “appetite,” as defined by Webster, has a few angles: a desire for food or drink; a desire to satisfy any bodily need or craving; a desire or liking for something; fondness; taste. The Cambridge English three-prong definition is: the feeling that you want to eat food; the feeling of wanting or needing something; a desire or need for something. So appetite, it would seem, boils down to a feeling or a desire more than a physical need. Some of the many synonyms used for appetite are: craving, longing, yearning, hankering, hunger, thirst, passion, relish, lust, love, zest, gusto, avidity, ardor and ache. Given these powerful words, which evoke a visceral reaction in most of us, we might deduce that appetite is what drives us, what keeps us going through thick and thin, what makes us rise from our beds in the morning. This monthly column will explore the zest that fuels our hunger for food and — by extension, since food fuels not only our very cells but our minds and our spirits as well — all other aspects of our daily lives. In finetuning our understanding of nourishment, we can savor more, serve more, celebrate more. Tapping into our local community, I asked a chef and three artists what the word “appetite” conjures up for them. Chef Mark Rosenstein, former owner of The Market Place restaurant, thinks of appetite as “yearning memories,
A chef and three artists weigh in on how hunger sparks creation
FRESH BEGINNINGS: Chef and author Susi Gott Séguret offers a recipe for a classic risotto celebrating two favorite spring vegetables. Photo by Susi Gott Séguret promises fulfilled, the taste of lusciousness, shared company, satisfying desire.” Jerry Read Smith, an instrument builder, recording artist and producer, looks at appetite as a refined way to view hunger. “You can satisfy hunger,” he says, “or you can consider what might satiate hunger; appetite directs the way I
fulfill that hunger, be it for music, recording or instrument design.” Painter Karen Weihs, from Cashiers via Charleston, S.C., who's known as the “Colorist of the Carolinas,” views appetite as “how I feel about art, from a hungry artist’s standpoint, always interested in feeding the appetite well, of enjoying
without overdoing. Having appetite and the good fortune to enjoy it is nurturing; it gives me a sense of home.” Poet Keith Flynn, an author, singer and longtime editor of the Asheville Poetry Review, says: “To an artist, the idea of curbing one’s appetite is anathema to the very idea of creation. … Who would ask that Da Vinci curb his appetite for learning, as he was drawn from one idea to the next, his mind and imagination skipping from one curiosity to another, like a thrown rock barely touching the surface of a pond?” As spring rounds the bend, let’s consider the role of the appetizer. An appetizer reels us in, sets the stage, creates a longing, leaves us wanting more. It is a teaser for the pièce de résistance. To illustrate, here is a recipe for a spring risotto, which can be prepared with or without the suggested truffle. Look for fresh radishes and asparagus at your local market. April is the peak season for this latter ingredient, so take advantage of its ubiquitousness to garnish all the dishes you can. Choose firm spears with tight heads and bright green hues. X Chef, musician and author Susi Gott Séguret is founder of the Seasonal School of Culinary Arts and organizes the Asheville Truffle Experience and other events. Originally from Madison County, she lived for over 20 years in France, where she earned a diploma from the Cordon Bleu.
SPRING RISOTTO WITH ASPARAGUS SPEARS AND BRAISED RADISHES Risotto is a dish of basic Italian goodness that can be dressed up in many guises. There is nothing complicated about the making of risotto. Just make sure you have plenty of time to introduce the liquid so the grains of rice are swelling with savory goodness at the end. Pour a glass of your favorite beverage to sip while you stir and invite a friend to keep you company. Your dish will be the richer for the addition of these human elements. I’ve added, for intrigue, a touch of truffle — if you should happen to be lucky enough to have one — that fruity, musky, floral, earthy, pungent,
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feral, elusive, captivating subterranean fungus, prized by the French and Italians for centuries, which is now making headway in our own Appalachian mountains. Outside of truffle season, which is pretty well wrapped up by April, you might think of sprinkling on a bit of truffle salt, available at the Spice and Tea Exchange of Asheville and at Williams-Sonoma. Truffle butter is an option as well and can be found at both Williams-Sonoma and Whole Foods. (Beware of synthetic truffle oils, which can mask the tender flavors of your spring dish.)
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• 2 cups arborio rice • One shallot • A few tablespoons butter • 1 cup white wine, heated • Several cups chicken broth, heated • Salt and white pepper to taste • Generous grating fresh Parmesan • 1 ounce grated truffle or a touch of truffle butter or truffle salt (optional) • A bunch of asparagus • A bunch of radishes • Extra butter for braising Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Throw in the minced shallots and stir until translucent. Add rice and stir again until translucent. Pour in the heated white
wine, then begin adding heated broth, a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently and always keeping the broth level up to the top of the rice. When the ensemble becomes creamy and tender, stir in the Parmesan, salt and pepper, and lastly, the grated truffle, or a spoonful of truffle butter, or yet again, a sprinkling of truffle salt. Meanwhile, sauté or roast asparagus slivers in olive oil and salt, and braise radishes in butter until tender but still crisp inside. To serve, fan asparagus spears out from the center of the plate, place a spoonful of risotto in the center, and decorate with the braised radishes, finishing off with a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar and a few fine leaves of parsley. X
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS The ninth {Re}HAPPENING explores global sound and cross-genre collaboration BY ALLI MARSHALL amarshall@mountainx.com The annual {Re}HAPPENING is, in part, a re-envisioning of an experimental music event, staged by John Cage at Black Mountain College in the 1950s. The first Happening “was meant to explore ‘purposeful purposelessness,’” according to the Rauschenberg Foundation website. In that spirit of exploration, many of the {Re}HAPPENING’s concerts and exhibitions delve into and build off of the concepts engaged by midcentury Black Mountain College teachers and students. This year, for the {Re} HAPPENING’s ninth iteration, the daylong art immersive offers “an emphasis on global sound and its influence on Black Mountain College visionaries like John Cage and David Tudor,” according to a press release. The event takes place at Camp Rockmont (the former site of the BMC campus) on Saturday, March 30. It features dance, film, collaborative performance, interactive experiments and — among many sonic offerings — two trios based in Asian sounds. Award-winning South Indian classical (Carnatic) musician Kiranavali Vidyasankar, who has lived in the U.S. since 2002, says, “American audiences have been receptive to Indian music.” She finds that when she lectures on the music (a melodic system that doesn’t use harmony) it can be a little too complex for the nonacademic listeners, “but their response to the performance has always been very positive.” For the {Re}HAPPENING, Kiranavali (on vocals) — with Sandhya Anand (violin) and Vinod Seetharaman (mridangam, a percussion instrument) — does plan to offer some background on each song. “For example, I can help [the audience] understand the rhythm I’m going to use … or I’ll probably give them some information about what is the composed part and what is the creative part.” Once considered a child prodigy, Kiranavali comes from a renowned musical lineage. She could identify more than 200 ragas by age 2 and began her singing career at 36
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IT’S ALL HAPPENING: The lineup for this year’s {Re}HAPPENING includes global music from artists such as Kiranavali Vidyasankar, top left, and Arooj Aftab, bottom right, as well as a dance, music and sculpture collaboration initiated by Daniel Homero, top right, and the interactive installation “Untitled Toilet Piece” by DJ Kutsu, among many other exhibitions, performances and experiments. Photos courtesy of the artists 5, according to her bio. But though Kiranavali performs and teaches a style of music that dates back 2,000 years, she explains there’s plenty of room for experimentation.
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“Depending on the venue, the audience and the occasions, the ratio between compositions and creativity can go from 80/20 to 20/80,” she says. “I can vary the amount of creative music I’m giving.”
The musician also enjoys collaborating across genres. “So far everything has been positive,” she notes. “Because [South Indian musicians’] music involves a lot of creative improvisations, we go to the stage with an open mind and an idea we can pick it up and improvise. We tend to do less rehearsal ahead of time because everything is not fixed.” That’s not to say she doesn’t prepare, Kiranavali points out. “But there have been times I can gauge the comfort level of the person I’m collaborating with. … Even though there’s creative stuff involved, I do my homework.” Less in keeping with any particular tradition, Arooj Aftab “is a neo-Sufi and minimalist composer/singer who gracefully experiments and bends the lines between ancient mystic poetry, South Asian classical, jazz, soul and electronic dreamscape musics,” according to her bio. Of blending venerable verse and contemporary instrumentation, Aftab reveals, “I’ve just begun doing it, after thinking on it for many years. I’ve felt that a lot of classical South Asian voice and poetry has been used alongside electronic music over time, and I’ve been trying to sort of build out a newer and more careful way to do it.” She continues, “The analog synthscape is great, though. It [can] dramatically emphasize the harmonic concepts of the melodies and bring more depth and nuance to the poetry. It also does have the ability to become cacophonous, which kind of startles us and our listeners, too, since the music is expected to always be soothing and beautiful. “But,” she adds, “It’s very fun to go there, too — to disrupt expectations.” And it’s that spirit of adventure that makes Aftab’s project an apt fit for the art-filled day at Lake Eden. This is not the first visit to Western North Carolina for the New Yorkbased musician. In October, she performed The Jacob Lawrence of Jacob Lawrence with Jace Clayton, aka DJ Rupture. The piece — a hand-drawn animation with texts accompanied by a live, sonic presentation — was created by Clayton in response to the BMCM+AC’s Jacob Lawrence exhibition. “That’s how I became acquainted with [the center’s executive director] Jeff Arnal, and we’ve been looking for
ited Asheville twice. He’s taken part in the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival and two years ago, attended a {Re} HAPPENING. “I really loved the experience and I knew that one day I would be collaborating and being part of this incredible event,” he says. Through Miller, he connected with George and Hennessey. Initial chats among the four artists — three of whom are based in WNC — revealed that “we had a profound respect for nature, so we decided to create a project where all what we feel about the destruction of the Earth could be said in one performance,” Homero explains. “I think it’s wonderful to create with artists of different backgrounds and the interactions that can be developed.” Much of the project will be fleshed out online, through emailed videos and cellphone rehearsals. Homero will arrive in Asheville a week before the {Re}HAPPENING for final, in-person refining. But there’s also room for improv as “that’s mainly what all the artists involved do,” he says. “Personally, I love improvisation scores where we can let ourselves interact with the moment and the space that surround us.”
an opportunity to program something together,” Aftab says. That chance came with this year’s {Re}HAPPENING, where Aftab will perform with Anjna Swaminathan (violinist, composer, multidisciplinary artist) and Rafiq Bhatia (composer, producer, guitarist). “The trio setting … is this very crazy and beautiful amalgamation, where all three of us kind of move into a post-state of the music we usually perform separately from each other in a more traditional way,” Aftab explains. “The result is a sort of minimal, fragmented, improvisational, journey-esque new music which can speak to listeners on many planes.” The production The plants are going to win is a group effort of another variety. Artist and dancer Daniel Homero, dancer Alexis Miller, nature builder Karen George and musician Marc Hennessey will pool their talents to explore “the power of nature, our blindness to it and, ultimately, our oneness with it,” according to the piece’s description. Homero, who lives in Merida, Mexico (where he has performed with Miller and other members of the Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre), has vis-
A happening allows for the element of chance to be a key player, Homer explains — a sentiment in keeping with the Black Mountain College aesthetic of more than 60 years ago. “We are including all of these concepts in the piece we are presenting,” Homero says. “Just part of the piece is being rehearsed, and the other will have a chance to be transformed by the interaction with the audience.” X
WHAT Ninth annual {Re}HAPPENING WHERE Camp Rockmont 375 Lake Eden Road Black Mountain $15 on-site parking/free shuttles leave and return to the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s lower lot, 36 Montford Ave. Reserve online
Live Music • Local Drinks • Events WED 3/27
W.I.L.D. (Wednesday Interactive Love Dance), 7:30-9:30pm
THU 3/28
YES SHE DID! All Female Comedy Review w/ Hillary Begley, 8pm
FRI 3/29
Bill Mattocks and The Strut, 7:30pm Funk Bandits, (Aaron “A..J.” Mills & Kevin Collins), 11pm
SAT 3/30
CommUNITY Salsa/Latin Night w/ DJ Edi Fuentes, 9:30pm (Salsa Lesson, 9pm)
SUN 3/31
Connections Tour w/ Minton Sparks: Brunch, Music, Spoken Word & Conversation, 12:30-5pm
TUE 4/2
Swing AVL Tuesday Dance w/ Community Jazz Jam (western swing), 9pm (Swing lessons: Advanced, 7pm • Beginner, 8pm)
WHEN Saturday, March 30, 3-10 p.m. $15 youth and students/$20 adult advance tickets/$25 adults at the gate. rehappening.com
FREE PARKING! Municipal Lots
(Spruce & Marjorie and Eagle & Charlotte)
After 5pm Weekdays & All Day Sat & Sun
39 S. Market St., Asheville, NC 28801 254-9277 • theblockoffbiltmore.com
Making Meaningful
CHANGE
How God’s love can change your life and the world A Talk on Christian Science BY
Mark L. McCurties, CS from Ann Arbor, MI
THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019 @ 5:30-6:30 PM Jubilee! Community Church 46 Wall Street, Asheville Sponsored by
First Church of Christ, Scientist-Asheville Info: 828-252-3391 christianscienceasheville.com
MOUNTAINX.COM
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A&E
by Mike Schoeffel
mikeschoeffel89@gmail.com
KID LOGIC Hannah Mohan has a perfectly sound reason for why people should check out her band, And the Kids, when the group plays The Mothlight Saturday, March 30. “A 10-year old girl said we’re better live,” she says. “It was so funny to hear a blatant comment like that from a young girl. But a kid isn’t going to lie to you, so you know it’s a legitimate compliment.” There are plenty of other reasons for seeing And the Kids, the Northampton, Mass.-based indie darling whose third album, When This Life Is Over, was released last month (to glowing reviews from Paste magazine and Consequence of Sound). Mohan’s soaring, crystalline voice, which she put on display during an NPR Tiny Desk Concert in 2015, is one of them. Another is the band’s talent for constructing tight, earworm-heavy tunes that feature concise-yet-poignant lyrics such as, “Life is a bastard/life wants to kill you/don’t get old.” Those lines come from “Champagne Ladies,” a tune off the new record. The key to good songwriting, Mohan said, is getting out of your own way. “I hate to be cliche, but sometimes songs write themselves,” she says. “You shouldn’t fight the lyrics. If you try to do that, you end up with stuff you don’t like. Sometimes you might not understand the lyrics that are coming to you, but I’ve found that it’s best to just give into them.” When This Life Is Over, which features Mohan’s dog on the cover, was a decided effort to shirk convention — or, in Mohan’s words, an exercise in “doing whatever the hell we want.” The album was recorded in
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Massachusetts-based indie-rockers return to Asheville
FIRST THOUGHT, BEST THOUGHT: The key to good songwriting, says Hannah Mohan, right, with Rebecca Lasaponaro of indie-rock outfit And the Kids, is getting out of your own way. “I hate to be cliche, but sometimes songs write themselves,” she says. “You shouldn’t fight the lyrics.” The group returns to Asheville on March 30. Photo courtesy of the band several different places, and Mohan’s main focus was to create something that remained true to And the Kids’ high-energy, whimsical spirit — which really shines through during the band’s live shows. “It’s really incredible when you don’t put rules on yourself and stop worrying about people questioning whether an album is cohesive or not,” she says. “When you’re writing, all these different thoughts are flowing out of you … and there’s a coolness to that.” Mohan’s love for music began during a middle school band class, where she played the flute, and Rebecca Lasaponaro (And the Kids’ drummer) performed percussion. Mohan didn’t mind the flute, but then one day, the
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teacher brought a guitar into the room. That ignited a spark within her. “I wanted so badly to be one of the kids that really got it,” Mohan says. “They taught us a little noodle, or whatever, and I wanted to be the student who stood out. I thought it was just the coolest thing.” Mohan spent some of her early years playing music on the street, before eventually graduating to bars and then proper music venues. During those formative days — before the Tiny Desk Concert, the rave Paste review, and so on — Mohan admits to envisioning herself, and the band, doing big things. So would she offer any advice to her street-singing self of yesteryear? “I don’t think so,” she says. “I learned so much, and I had an absolute blast.” And the Kids is currently in the midst of its fourth American tour. The musicians have been through Asheville before and are no strangers to The Mothlight, having played there during a previous cross-country romp. Mohan digs Asheville’s “pretty liberal, pretty hippie vibe,” as she calls it, because it’s reminiscent of Northampton. “Asheville is like a mini-Austin, and our town is like a mini-Asheville,” she says. This tour has been particularly eventful — so much so that Mohan has been keeping a journal of interesting things that she’s experienced. The most notable occurrence thus far was
when she and her bandmates, with the help of a man of faith, flipped over a woman’s car that had turned upside down on a snowbank. “We started pushing, and we realized we needed one more person,” she says. “And this guy started running toward us, and he ends up helping us flip it back over. We found out he was a reverend, so we were like, ‘Oh my goodness, God just gave us the strength to lift a car off a snowbank.’” Then there was the time a drunk guy approached her at the merch table after a show and offered to buy the hat off her head. “I was like, ‘Fine: $50,’” she says. “And he actually did it.” Overall, And the Kids loves the touring experience. “It’s been super stressfree,” Mohan says of this outing. “It’s like a bunch of friends getting into a car and going on a road trip.” X
WHO And The Kids WHERE The Mothlight 701 Haywood Road themothlight.com WHEN Saturday, March 30, 9 p.m. $10 advance/$12 day of show
by Bill Kopp
bill@musoscribe.com
WATCHING THE (BLUE) GRASS GROW Unspoken Tradition celebrates its third album It’s something of a tightrope walk to move forward musically within the confines of bluegrass: There’s a subset of the genre’s fan base that resists change. But Unspoken Tradition confidently masters that path, with a sound that’s firmly rooted in history, yet also forward-looking. The group celebrates the release of its latest album, Myths We Tell Our Young, with a Sunday, March 31, show at Isis Music Hall. Ty Gilpin, the band’s mandolin player, makes the point that all forms of music — even bluegrass — are constantly evolving. “There was a time when bluegrass music was considered [to be] made only by rural folks who lived in more isolated communities,” he says. “It’s what they did for their own entertainment. And the music was passed down generation to generation in the songs that they play, the way that they play them and even the subject matter.” But in recent years, bluegrass has taken on more of an international character. “As the genre has grown, there’s room for influences [in addition to] the handed-down traditions,” Gilpin says. “Unspoken Tradition still loves to sing about things that matter to us: our community, hearth and home, the love of the place that we’re from.” But the group’s lyrical and musical worldviews expand to take in more, as well. A representative example of that approach is “Land,” the second track off Myths We Tell Our Young. “It’s basically the same kind of song as the old bluegrass classic, ‘Little Cabin Home on the Hill,’” Gilpin explains, “but it doesn’t have just your three chords and repeat of the same verse-chorus-verse-chorus. It’s got a different structure. “You can only listen to those I-IV-V traditional bluegrass chord changes over and over for so long,” Gilpin says with a chuckle. On other songs, Unspoken Tradition follows a traditional musical path, but explores modern-day subject matter. Gilpin mentions another new track, “Cold Mountain Town.” He says that the song’s lyrics “directly address the changes that Asheville has witnessed in recent years. Decades ago, it was
THE MOUNTAINS WIN AGAIN: With its third release, bluegrass quintet Unspoken Tradition continues its deft balance of tradition and modernity. The band celebrates the release of Myths We Tell Our Young on March 31 at Isis Music Hall. Photo by Sandlin Gaither a more quaint mountain community where we had a lot of artists and arts and crafts,” he says. “Now it’s becoming a lot more gentrified; the influence of people moving into the area is having a prominent effect.” Both of those approaches gently update traditional bluegrass while holding onto the qualities that make it special. “So not only is the music evolving,” Gilpin says, “but the subject matter of the music is also changing to reflect what’s happening in the world today.” Like many musicians, Gilpin isn’t overly fond of genre labels. “I don’t see that there’s anything wrong with breaking the mold a little bit,” he says. “People ask us, ‘Are you guys traditional bluegrass? Or are you progressive bluegrass?’ We like to use the word ‘original’ because we write a lot of our songs, and throughout a performance, we’ll land in both camps: traditional music and something that’s influenced by something other than bluegrass.” The band arranges its material together, but most of Unspoken Tradition’s songs are written by guitarist Audie McGinnis, Gilpin or bassist Lee Shuford. (Shuford was recently replaced by Sav Sankaran; the band’s lineup is rounded out by Zane McGinnis on banjo and fiddler Tim Gardner.) Gilpin says that McGinnis’ songs are “a bit experimental” and tend to spotlight his vocals. “He’s got an authentic country sound with some gravelly blues texture,” he says.
As for his own songwriting style, “I’m a little bit more influenced by traditional stuff,” Gilpin says. From the perspective of many music fans, Gilpin isn’t just Unspoken Tradition’s mandolinist. He’s also the public face of Crossroads Entertainment, the parent company of the band’s label. Part of the company’s marketing team, he coordinates many public events associated with album releases. But Gilpin emphasizes that he wasn’t at all involved in Myths We Tell Our Young being released on Mountain Home. “I didn’t even approach the people who make the decisions at the label,” he says. “I was in absentia on that one.” But he’s fully involved in Unspoken Tradition’s bluegrass mission. “The
fact that it’s lasted is because it’s participatory music,” Gilpin says. “It’s not just ‘listening’ music. People can get up there and play.” X
WHO Unspoken Tradition WHERE Isis Music Hall 743 Haywood Road isisasheville.com WHEN Sunday, March 31, 8:30 p.m., $10
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A&E
by Edwin Arnaudin
earnaudin@mountainx.com
CROSS-POLLINATORS UNITE For founder Jessica Tomasin, the inaugural edition of Connect Beyond Festival in 2018 felt successful on numerous fronts. The convergence of artists and figures from a range of disciplines interacting and building lasting relationships distinguished itself from other festivals and produced consistently positive feedback. “The main challenge was getting people to understand it,” Tomasin says. “It’s a tough concept to explain in just a few words.” Indeed, the “About” page on the festival’s website describes Connect Beyond as “a movement to develop a network of people inspired by creative mediums and united in the pursuit of equality and social justice,” with a central goal “to inspire a sense of community and personal engagement.” Previously known as the Connect Beyond the Page Festival, the second iteration returns to downtown Asheville — with “the Page” dropped from its name — Friday, April 5, to Sunday, April 7. Tomasin says the more streamlined title is better for marketing and more accurately reflects the wide-ranging mediums through which its participants are intersecting. Before the concept was put to the test, it appealed to Bob Boilen, host of NPR’s “All Songs Considered” and “Tiny Desk Concert,” who interviewed pop duo Sylvan Esso and singer-songwriter Christopher Paul Stelling in 2018 as an offshoot of his book Your Song Changed My Life. Tomasin says Boilen was one of the first people to recommit for 2019 and will lead a fireside chat with black roots musician Fantastic Negrito.
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Connect Beyond Festival returns for a second year
HUMAN SWISS ARMY KNIVES: Clockwise from top left, author Tim Z. Hernandez, musician Fantastic Negrito, film producer/“mompreneur” Nadia Salamanca and musician Kishi Bashi are among the performers and presenters at the 2019 Connect Beyond Festival. Hernandez and Salamanca photos courtesy of Connect Beyond Festival, Fantastic Negrito photo by DeAndre Forks, Kishi Bashi photo by Max Ritter Connect Beyond has grown from two venues to three for its second iteration, with events taking place at the Diana Wortham Theatre, The Orange Peel and the Fine Arts Theatre. Last year’s schedule had overlapping offerings where attendees had to choose between two options; this year they can go to almost every panel and performance (but will have to sacrifice some if they want to view the film screenings). While popular musicians Nick Lowe, Los Straitjackets, Victor Wooten and Daniel Levitin are likely to attract signifi-
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cant attention, Tomasin is just as excited about lesser-known programming, including music historian Jonathan Kirby’s April 6 rural Appalachian review, 7-8 p.m. at The Orange Peel. A precursor to the Boilen and Fantastic Negrito dialogue, the set features live performances by an eclectic ensemble of artists from Western North Carolina’s hills and hollers. Coinciding with that showcase, 6-7:30 p.m. at the Fine Arts Theatre, is the documentary Bellingcat, about civilian reporting and debunking fake news. The
screening is preceded by a 4:45-5:45 panel at Diana Wortham Theatre on how to spot fake news and check the validity of sources. The one-two punch aligns with Tomasin’s goal of providing access to artists who can then link attendees with resources to enact positive change, as well as sparking new works among one another. “I love connecting people,” Tomasin says. “I want them to meet, collaborate and bring their project back to debut at the festival.” As Tomasin looks ahead to future editions of Connect Beyond, she’s happy to spotlight such pre-existing relationships as the one between writer Tim Z. Hernandez and musician Johnny Irion. The two met while Hernandez was researching his book All They Will Call You, about a California plane crash in 1948 that killed all 32 passengers, 28 of whom were Mexican farmworkers being deported by the U.S. government. In response to media reports omitting the names of the Mexican passengers, Woody Guthrie wrote a poem that went on to become the protest song, “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee).” Hernandez’s digging into that musical response brought him to Guthrie’s granddaughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie, and her husband, Irion, who was inspired to write a book based on the song. “We collaborated a little bit on that, and so after that, he saw me perform and knows that, whereas a lot of writers tend to read directly from their book, I have a theater background, so I want to make it more engaging and change it every time I present it,” Hernandez says. “The book’s story is so dynamic. There’s so much involved — different types of music and different stories and visuals. So I try and perform it, and he saw me doing that and was like, ‘You should really check out this festival.’” Hernandez’s twist on the material at Connect Beyond will be shared April 6, 3-4:30 p.m., at Diana Wortham Theatre. He refers to it as “a storytelling narrative performance,” in which Irion will play accompanying music, and various slides and projections will round out the experience. The trip will mark Hernandez’s first time in Asheville. Though he’d like to explore the city to some extent, his primary focus will be getting the most out of Connect Beyond. “There are a lot of stellar, top-notch artists who’ll be there, and I’d like
to go and check out their panel and listen to them speak and shake their hand and just be involved,” Hernandez says. “The real benefit of that is the cross-pollination of different forms — film, music, books. Ultimately, what I’m always trying to aim for is exposing my work and exposing myself to new audiences or new forms of work that I’ve never considered before.” Nadia Salamanca, a film producer and “mompreneur” based in Ojai, Calif., was similarly enticed to partake in Connect Beyond by people committed to the festival. She formed a bond with the Connect Beyond programming duo of Zak Kilberg and Iz Web through the Elevate Film Festival, an annual collection of what she calls “environmentally conscious and inspiring, transformational films” that she founded in Los Angeles in 2005 alongside her husband, Mikki Willis. “We just really believe in things [Zak’s] involved with,” Salamanca says. “It’s very much about what we’re about — connecting community and focusing on the medium of music and film and storytelling to really raise awareness about specific social issues and thinking forward to how we can start these conversations and celebrate what’s good in the world.” On April 6, 6-7 p.m. at Diana Wortham Theatre, Salamanca will moderate the Elevate Women panel, described by festival organizers as a “discussion about all the myriad ways we can support women in the quest for equality, both in our communities and in our work.” She’s also the producer of The Revolution Generation, a film that she says is “about how millennials can save America and the world.” Still in pre-production, the documentary will receive an exclusive work-in-progress test audience screening on April 6 at 11 a.m. at the Fine Arts Theatre, thereby extending Tomasin’s collaborative dreams to festival attendees. X
WHAT Connect Beyond Festival connectbeyondfestival.com WHERE Diana Wortham Theatre, The Orange Peel and the Fine Arts Theatre. See website for schedule WHEN Friday, April 5, to Sunday, April 7 $99 weekend pass/$199 VIP weekend pass/individual day passes $40-55
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SMART BETS
A&E
by Edwin Arnaudin | Send your arts news to ae@mountainx.com
Sarah Louise
Appalachian Storytelling Extravaganza For its latest program, the nonprofit Center for Cultural Preservation seeks to connect community elders with younger generations, sustaining their legacies and values through the art of storytelling. On Thursday, March 28, Scots-Irish tales, African-American stories and Cherokee fables will fill the Thomas Auditorium on Blue Ridge Community College’s Flat Rock campus as part of the Appalachian Storytelling Extravaganza. On the docket are Jack Tales specialist Michael “Badhair” Williams; Cherokee elder Freeman Owle; and African-American storyteller Ronnie Pepper, who says, “Stories help people see the world through another’s eyes, allowing them to open up to the world’s possibilities.” The show starts at 7 p.m. $15. saveculture.org. Photos of Owle, left, courtesy of David Weintraub, and Pepper courtesy of Larry Ketron
Tina & Her Pony Asheville folk/Americana duo Tina Collins and Quetzal Jordan have been touring as Tina & Her Pony for nearly 10 years. After steady travel for much of that time, they granted themselves a break, accepted the offer to utilize a friend’s cabin and took a deep, explorative dive into their music and themselves. “The themes that emerged during our ‘hibernation’ were on winter, nature and love,” Jordan says. “This was a really productive time for us, and as winter thaws into spring, it feels like the right moment to share these songs with the people who have supported us the most, and that’s Asheville.” The new tunes will make their way onto the group’s next album, but first will be performed at Ambrose West on Friday, March 29. Local Appalachian blues/soul artist Laura Blackley opens the evening at 8 p.m. $12 advance/$15 day of show/$20 VIP with guaranteed seating in the first three rows. ambrosewest.com. Photo courtesy of the musicians
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Less than a year after the release of her forest-themed album, Deeper Woods, prolific Asheville-based vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Louise returns with Nighttime Birds and Morning Stars. Building on the 2018 release’s personal inspirations stemming from nature, the new pieces take a more experimental approach with Louise improvising on electric guitar in standard tuning instead of her usual 12-string acoustic guitar and song-specific tunings. Further distancing the psychedelic collection from her past work are plentiful digital manipulations. On Thursday, March 28, at The Mothlight, Louise opens for Animal Collective’s Avey Tare, whose new album Cows On Hourglass Pond was recorded at Asheville’s Laughing Gas Studio on a Tascam 48 half-inch reel-to-reel tape machine and mixed in town at Drop of Sun Studios. Louise goes onstage at 9 p.m. $18 advance/$20 day of show. themothlight.com. Photo by Katrina Ohstrom
Transgender Day of Visibility Community Art Show In 2009, transgender activist Rachel Crandall founded the International Transgender Day of Visibility as a positive, celebratory holiday to contrast with the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a solemn and mournful occurrence in which victims of transphobic violence from the past year are remembered and honored. To ring in the festive occasion, Asheville-based advocacy group Tranzmission will honor local transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming artists on Sunday, March 31, by displaying their creations at the Taylor Art Gallery. The show begins at 1 p.m. and pieces will be auctioned starting at 3 p.m. Proceeds benefit the featured artists, as well as Tranzmission, at the artists’ discretion. A 50/50 raffle will also be held to benefit the organization. $5-25 suggested donation, but no one will be turned away. tranzmission.org. Pictured, “Icaro19,” by Jékksyn Ícaro, courtesy of Tranzmission
A & E CALENDAR ART ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL 828-258-0710, ashevillearts.com • SA (3/30), 1-4pm - Drawing class for veterans. Registration required. Free. Held at Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave. • MONDAYS (4/1) until (4/15), 3-6pm - Felting class for veterans. Registration required. Free. Held at Local Cloth, 207 Coxe Ave. CLIMATE LISTENING PROJECT PORTRAITURE PREMIERE • WE (4/3), 6-8pm - Climate Listening Project Portraiture, exhibition of six graphite portraits featuring science and storytelling by Shannon Bodeau. Free to attend. Held at Gastro Pub at Hopey, 45 S. French Broad Ave. CLOTHING POP-UP SHOP • SA (3/30), 11:30am3:30pm - Handmade clothes by Asheville artist, Jude Stuecker.
CHAMBER MUSIC TUESDAYS • TU (4/2), 12:30pm Chamber Music Tuesdays including violinist Jason Posnock. Free. Held at First United Methodist Church of Hendersonville 204 6th Ave. W., Hendersonville
Held at Flow Gallery, 14 South Main St., Marshall LEICESTER COMMUNITY ART NIGHTS • 1st TUESDAYS, 6:30pm - Community art night for children and adults. Free. Held at Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Highway, Leicester MISTY MOUNTAIN RIDGES IN WATERCOLOR • TU (4/2), 10:30am - "Misty Mountain Ridges in Watercolor," workshop. Registration required. $40/$35 members. Held at Haywood County Arts Council, 86 N. Main St., Waynesville TOURS AT GROVEWOOD VILLAGE • WE (4/3) through SA (4/6), 1pm - Craft history tours at historic Grovewood Village. Free to attend. Held at Grovewood Gallery, 111 Grovewood Road {RE}HAPPENING 9 • SA (3/30), 3-10pm - A platform for contemporary artists to share their responses to the legacy of
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: Writer and photographer Roger May, began the Looking at Appalachia project during the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. Born and raised in Appalachia in the heart of Hatfield and McCoy country, it is May’s aim to establish a visual counterpoint to the outdated stereotypes instilled by Johnson’s 1964 legislation and honor the diversity of our region. The Looking at Appalachia project invites regional photographers to submit regional images in crowdsourcing fashion. May will display some of his work and discuss the issues involved in depicting Appalachia on Thursday, March 28. His presentation begins at 5:30 p.m. in UNC Asheville’s Karpen Hall, Laurel Forum, and is free and open to the public. Photo of Mingo County courtesy of the artist, Roger May (p. 21)
Black Mountain College by activating the buildings and grounds with installations, new media, music and performance. $35 and up. Held at Lake Eden, 377 Lake Eden Road, Black Mountain
DANCE LEARN TO DANCE (PD.) Ballroom • Swing • Waltz • Salsa • Wedding • Two-Step •
Special Events. Lessons, Workshops, Classes and Dance Events in Asheville. Certified instructor. Contact Richard for information: 828-333-0715. naturalrichard@mac.com • www.DanceForLife.net LINE DANCING PARTY • SA (3/30), 2:30-5:30pm - Line Dancing Party open to all dancers and non-dancers. $10. Held at Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Drive
MUSIC AFRICAN DRUM LESSONS AT SKINNY BEATS SOUND SHOP (PD.) Wednesdays 6pm. Billy Zanski teaches a fun approach to connecting with your inner rhythm. Drop-ins welcome. • Drums provided. $15/ class. (828) 768-2826. www.skinnybeatsdrums. com
ASHEVILLE DRUM CIRCLE • FRIDAYS, 6-9:50pm Asheville outdoor drum circle. Free. Held at Pritchard Park, 4 College St. BIG BAND CONCERT • TH (3/28), 7:30pm - Big Band student ensemble concert. Free. Held in Moore Auditorium, Mars Hill University, 265 Cascade St., Mars Hill
DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE 18 Biltmore Ave., 828-257-4530, dwtheatre.com • TH (3/28), 8pm - Piano Battle, an interactive musical duel between Andreas Kern and Paul Cibis. $20-$60. • SA (3/30), 7:30pm - Simrit Live, etherial, harmonic, ancient soundscapes. $30-$75. ECHOFEST • SA (3/30), 1-11pm - Blue Echo Radio's annual music festival including 16+ bands, food trucks, family activities and community vendors. Free. Held at UNCA 1 University Heights FIRST MONDAYS CONCERT SERIES • 1st MONDAYS, 12:30pm - Community concert series. Free. Held in the Porter Center, Brevard College, 1 Brevard College Drive, Brevard
JAZZ APPRECIATION MONTH • TH (4/4), 7:30pm “In The Mood,” jazz concert sponsored by the Arts Council of Henderson County. Free. Held at Blue Ridge Community College, 180 W Campus Drive, Flat Rock PIANOFORTE WITH ELIZABETH CHILD • SU (3/31), 3pm Pianoforte concert with Elizabeth Child. $16 plus tax/$8 plus tax for museum or UUCA members. Held at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place SLY GROG OPEN MIC • SUNDAYS, 7pm - Open-mic for storytellers, poets, musicians and all kinds of performance artists. Sign ups at 6:30pm. Free to attend. Held at Sly Grog Lounge, 271 Haywood St. UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHIES: RAP HISTORY • FR (3/29), 7pm - "Unauthorized Biographies," Shaun Boothe presents biographical rap songs. $20/$10 students. Held at Tryon Fine
FRIENDS OF HOT SPRINGS LIBRARY presents
NORTH WITH SPRING — APRIL IN HOT SPRINGS NC — All events free, at Hot Springs Welcome Center, 106 Bridge Street, Hot Springs THUR 4/4, 6:30pm: Birds of the Appalachian Trail
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with Mark Hopey, South Appalachian Raptor Research Kickoff for Birds for Books Library Fundraiser
FRI 4/26, 7pm: An Evening with Grandma Gatewood First woman solo thru-hiker of Appalachian Trail. Part of TRAILFEST 2019 April 26-27-28
SAT 4/27, 6am - til (Sunday 28 rain day):
BIRDS FOR BOOKS FHSL BIRD-A-THON FUNDRAISER BIRDERS & PLEDGERS NEEDED!
Visit friendsofhotspringslibrary.org for info
26 Sweeten Creek Road, Asheville, NC 28803 828.412.3939 | haikuido.com MOUNTAINX.COM
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Arts Center, 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon
SPOKEN & WRITTEN WORD ANN B. ROSS AUTHOR EVENT • TU (4/2), 5:30-7pm - Ann B. Ross presents her book, Miss Julia Takes the Wheel. Free. Held at Henderson County Public Library, 301 N. Washington St., Hendersonville APPALACHIAN STORYTELLING EXTRAVAGANZA • TH (3/28), 7pm - Local and regional storytellers with music and myths of the mountains featuring Freeman Owle, Ronnie Pepper and Michael “Badhair” Williams. Registration: avl.mx/5t8. $15. Held at Blue Ridge Community College, Bo Thomas Auditorium, College St., Flat Rock ASHEVILLEBISCUITHEAD POETRY SLAM • TH (3/28), 8pm Asheville-Biscuithead poetry slam. $5/$10 to compete. Held at LaZoom Room, 76 Biltmore Ave. BOB PLOTT AUTHOR EVENT • TH (3/28), 6pm - Author Bob Plott discusses the evolution of Smoky Mountain culture from the early 18th century 'til the end of World War II. Free to attend. Held at Blue Ridge Books, 428 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library • WE (3/27), 6pm - Participants must be able to converse in Spanish at a basic level. Older teens are welcome, children under 15 are welcome with adults. Free. Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road • TH (3/28), 6-7pm - "A Portrayal of Pauli Murray," historical presentation by Becky Stone. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St.
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GALLERY DIRECTORY
by Deborah Robertson
• TU (4/2), 5:30pm Queer Book Club: I'll Give You the Sun. Free. Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road • 1st TUESDAYS, 5:30pm - Queer Book Club for New and Young Adults, ages 14-24. April reading: I'll Give you the Sun by Jandy Nelson. Free. Held at Swannanoa Library, 101 West Charleston St., Swannanoa • TU (4/2), 7pm - EnkaCandler Book Club: Beartown by Fredrik Backman. Free. Held at Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sandhill Road, Candler • TU (4/2), 7pm Storytelling and music by Shelia Kay Adams. Tickets required due to limited seating. Free. Held at Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sandhill Road, Candler LISTEN TO THIS: STORIES ON STAGE • TH (3/28), 7:30pm 'Listen to This: Stories on Stage,' stories and songs. $15. Held at 35below, 35 E. Walnut St. MALAPROP'S BOOKSTORE AND CAFE 55 Haywood St., 828-254-6734, malaprops.com • WE (3/27), 6pm - Sarah Enni presents her book, Tell Me Everything, in conversation with Stephanie Perkins. Free to attend. • MO (4/1), 6pm - Beth Jusino presents her book Walking to the End of the World: A Thousand Miles on the Camino de Santiago. Free to attend. • MO (4/1), 7pm - April the club is reading Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith, and Family by Garrard Conley. Free to attend. • TU (4/2), 7pm - This month’s pick is How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. Free to attend. • WE (4/3), 6pm - Jessica Keener presents her book, Strangers in Budapest, in conversation with Tommy Hays. Free to attend.
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
• WE (4/3), 7pm Discussion of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Vinegar Girl: William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew Retold: A Novel by Anne Tyler. Free to attend. • TH (4/4), 6pm Christine Lynn Herman presents her book, The Devouring Gray, in conversation with Meagan Spooner. Free to attend. NEW DIMENSIONS TOASTMASTERS • THURSDAYS, noon1pm - General meeting. Information: 828-3294190. Free to attend. Held at Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, 33 Meadow Road NORTH CAROLINA WRITERS' NETWORK • TH (4/4), 6-7:30pm - Exploring Critique Groups. Free to attend/ Membership not required. Held at The BLOCK off biltmore, 39 South Market St. SOUTHERN STORYTELLER’S SERIES WITH BOB PLOTT • TH (3/28), 6pm Southern Storyteller’s Series: Dinner and storytelling by Bob Plott. $20/$18 advance. Held at Folkmoot Friendship Center, 112 Virginia Ave., Waynesville SPRING LITERARY FESTIVAL • TH (3/21) through TH (3/28) - WCU Spring Literary Festival featuring readings, lectures and workshops. See website for full schedule: litfestival.org. Free. Held at AK Hinds University Center, Memorial Drive, Cullowhee WOMEN IN LIVELY DISCUSSION BOOK CLUB • TU (4/2), 6:30pm - This month’s book, Neon in Daylight by Hermione Hoby. Free to attend. Held at Battery Park Book Exchange, 1 Page Ave., #101
THEATER 'ACTION MOVIE: THE PLAY' • FRIDAYS through SUNDAYS until (3/31) -
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MOUNTAIN ART QUILTERS • Mountain Art Quilters exhibit and Studio Art Quilters Association trunk show. Reception: March 29, 10am-3pm Central United Methodist Church, 27 Church St.
Action Movie: The Play. Fri. & Sat.: 7:30pm. Sun.: 3pm. $18/$10 students. Held at The Magnetic Theatre, 375 Depot St. 'AWAKE AND SING' • FR (3/29) & SA (3/30), 2:30pm - Awake and Sing, drama. $7. Held at 35below, 35 E. Walnut St. • SU (3/31), 2:30pm - Awake and Sing, drama. $7. Held at UNCAsheville Reuter Center, 1 Campus View Road
PENLAND SCHOOL OF CRAFTS • Compose | Decompose, a mixed-media sculpture and sound installation. Reception: Saturday, March 30, 4:30-6:30 pm. March 30-May 12 67 Doras Trail, Penland PINK DOG CREATIVE • Youth Arts Empowerment Exhibition. March 1-March 31 348 Depot St.
'SILENT SKY' • WEDNESDAYS through SUNDAYS until (4/7) - Silent Sky. Wed.-Sat.: 7:30pm. Sun.: 2pm. SA (3/30) & SA (4/6), 2pm. $17-$34. Held at North Carolina Stage Company, 15 Stage Lane 'THE ADDAMS FAMILY' • THURSDAY through SUNDAY (4/4) until (4/7) - The Addams Family, musical comedy performed by North Buncombe High School students. Thurs.-Sat.: 7pm. Sun.: 2:30pm. $12/$9 seniors & students/$8 advance. Held at North Buncombe High School, 890 Clarks Chapel Road, Weaverville 'THE JUNGLE BOOK' • FRIDAYS through SUNDAYS until (3/30) The Jungle Book. Fri. & Sat.: 7pm. Sat. & Sun.: 2pm. $28/$14. Held at Flat Rock Playhouse, 2661 Highway 225, Flat Rock ARTHUR TRACE: THE ARTFUL DECEIVER • TH (4/4), 7pm - "The Artful Deceiver," magic show by Arthur Trace. $20-$60. Held at Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave. THE HAPPY TOGETHER REVUE • SA (3/30), 6:30pm The Happy Together Revue: The Love Edition, cabaret. Tickets: htplusone.brownpapertickets. com. $20. Held at Land of Sky United Church of Christ, 15 Overbrook Place
HIGH FIBER: The Mountain Art Quilters are a group of regional fiber artists working in a variety of styles and techniques. Nineteen members have contributed 28 works to a one-day exhibit. In addition, a traveling trunk show from the national Studio Art Quilters Association is on display and includes 58 miniature quilts. The exhibition is held at Central United Methodist Church on Friday, March 29, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Artists will be present and give talks about their works and inspiration. Photo of “Summer Pathways” courtesy of the artist, Kathie Briggs AMERICAN FOLK ART AND FRAMING • 7th Annual Face Jug Show. April 4-April 18 64 Biltmore Ave. ANANDA • Daze Inn, motel-room art reconstituted by local artists. March 13-April 24 22 Broadway ART AT MARS HILL UNIVERSITY • Student Art Exhibition. March 27-April 19 265 Cascade St., Mars Hill ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL • Who’s Afraid of RED? 16 artists curated by Barbara Fisher. March 1-March 29 1 Page Ave. ASHEVILLE GALLERY OF ART 82 Patton Ave. • A Visual Contemplation: Land, Sea and Sky, exhibition of works by Karen Keil Brown and Gayle Havens. April 1-April 29 • Fresh Air features Sue Dolamore’s plein air painting. March 1-March 31 BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE MUSEUM & ARTS CENTER • Aaron Siskind: A Painter’s Photographer and Works on Paper. March 7-May 18 120 College St. DISTRICT WINE BAR • James Daniel drawings and paintings. Reception: Thursday, April 4, 6-10pm.
April 4-May 30 37 Paynes Way, Suite 9 FLOOD GALLERY FINE ART CENTER • Hydrological by Matthew West March 2-April 12 850 Blue Ridge Road, Unit A-13, Black Mountain HAYWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE • Professional Crafts Faculty Exhibition. March 27-April 17 185 Freedlander Drive, Clyde HAYWOOD COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL • On The Cusp, Youth Arts Empowerment creative workshop exhibition. March 1-March 30 86 N Main St., Waynesville MADISON COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL • Traveling Postcard Exhibit March 15-April 15 90 S. Main St., Marshall MOMENTUM GALLERY 24 North Lexington Ave. • In the Landscape and Of the Landscape: glass, mixed media, painting and drawing by Jennifer Bueno, Bryce Lafferty and William Henry Price. • Vernacular: watercolors, etchings and ceramic sculpture by Phil Blank, David C. Robinson and Sasha Schilbrack-Cole. Feb. 28-April 27
POSANA CAFE • Nostalgia 1950s-60s, an exhibition of 15 local artists at the Adler Gallery. March 7-April 7 1 Biltmore Ave. SATELLITE GALLERY • The Relocated Image, a group show in painting, drawing, ceramics, glass and textiles. March 13-March 31 55 Broadway St. TAYLOR GALLERY • Transgender Day of Visibility Community Art Show. Saturday, March 30 122 Riverside Drive, Suite A THE ASHEVILLE SCHOOL • Visions of America: A Portfolio of Photographs Celebrating WPA Era Art and Artists of the '30s and '40s. March 21-April 18 360 Asheville School Road THE WEDGE AT FOUNDATION • MultiModal Unity, exhibition of photography by Eric Howard. March 18-April 15 5 Foundy St. TOE RIVER ARTS COUNCIL • Toe River Arts’ 13th Annual Blacksmith Exhibition March 30-April 27 269 Oak Ave, Spruce Pine TRANSYLVANIA COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL • Hooking in the Mountains: Traditional to Contemporary, Transylvania Community Arts Council and the Tarheel Ruggers Rug Hooking Guild present hooked rugs. March 8-March 29 349 S. Caldwell St., Brevard UPSTAIRS ARTSPACE 49 S. Trade St., Tryon • Light, Color & Action, exhibition featuring work by Linda Gritta, Patricia Kilburg and Karen Weihs. March 23-April 20 • Seem, exhibition featuring work by Susan Alta Martin and Stacey Davidson. March 23-April 20
CLUBLAND
READY FOR THE ROCK SHOW: Jam-rockers The Mantras recently announced the return of their Mantrabash Festival this summer and are currently on their Spring tour. The Greensboro-based outfit has produced four studio albums. Their latest effort, Be The Light, focuses on humility and transformation. Of the record, band members say, “A humble heart beats any curse in our chest.” Opposite Box opens for The Mantras at Asheville Music Hall on Saturday, March 30, at 10 p.m. $12 advance/$15 day of show. ashevillemusichall.com. Photo by Jameson Midgett
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Les Amis, (African folk music), 8:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Chili Slaw Sessions w/ Tom Kirschbaum & Friends, 6:00PM BEN'S TUNE UP Magenta Sunshine March Residency, 8:00PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Open Mic hosted by Billy Owens, 7:00PM BYWATER Open Can of Jam, 9:00PM CORK & KEG 3 Cool Cats, 7:30PM DOUBLE CROWN Western Wednesday w/ Rebecca & The Reckoning & DJ, 9:00PM FLEETWOOD'S Marc's Groovy Movie Night, 7:00PM FUNKATORIUM The Saylor Brothers, 6:30PM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Woody Wood Wednesday, 6:00PM ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Escaping Pavement EP Release Tour, 7:00PM Art Wavey w/ Kndrgrdn (funk, jazz, R&B), 8:30PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old Time Jam, 5:00PM LAZY DIAMOND Killer Karaoke w/ KJ TimO, 10:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Cigar Brothers, 6:30PM
NANTAHALA BREWING'S ASHEVILLE OUTPOST Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7:00PM NOBLE KAVA Poetry Open Mic w/ Caleb Beissert (7:30pm sign up), 8:00PM ODDITORIUM Subutech, Standards, Shutterings, NUGNelson (rock), 9:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Disclaimer Lounge Comedy Open Mic, 9:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY French Broad Valley Music Association Mountain Music Jam, 6:00PM SLY GROG LOUNGE Weird Wednesday Jam, 5:00PM SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night hosted by Jason DeCristofaro, 6:30PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Mountain Holler (cavernous indie folk), 5:00PM
THE ROOT BAR Lucky James (blues, Americana), 8:00PM
CROW & QUILL Carolina catkins (gritty ragtime jazz), 10:00PM
TOWN PUMP Open Mic w/ David, 9:00PM
DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE Piano Battle, 8:00PM
TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Blues and Soul Jam, 9:00PM
DOUBLE CROWN OLD GOLD w/ DJ Jasper (killer rock n' soul vinyl), 10:00PM
TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic Night, 7:00PM UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY Music Bingo, 8:00PM
THURSDAY, MARCH 28 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Pleasure Chest (blues, rock, soul), 8:00PM AUX BAR DJ Lil Meow Meow (R&B, jams), 10:00PM ALLEY CAT WINE BAR Jazz night w/ Adi The Monk, 7:00PM AMBROSE WEST Worthwhile Sounds Presents: Parker Millsap, 8:00PM
STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Eric Congdon, 6:00PM
ARCHETYPE BREWING Canned Heat Vinyl Night, 5:00PM
THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Ecstatic W.I.L.D. Wednesday Interactive Love Dance, 7:30PM
ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Will Ray & the Space Cooties, 8:00PM
THE GOLDEN FLEECE Scots-Baroque ChamberFolk w/ The Tune Shepherds, 7:00PM THE GREY EAGLE Los Colognes w/ Clint Roberts, 8:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Larkin w/ cowbaby, 9:00PM
BEN'S TUNE UP SakeOke (Karaoke), 8:00PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Matt Sellars, 7:00PM BYWATER Open Electric Country Jam hosted by John Duncan, 7:00PM
FLEETWOOD'S Queering el dance floor, 9:00PM FLOOD GALLERY FINE ART CENTER True Home Open Mic, 6:30PM FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Gabriel Wiseman's Bluegrass Jam, 7:00PM FUNKATORIUM The Hot Club of Asheville, 6:00PM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Thursday Night Blues w/ The Patrick Dodd Trio, 6:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Bluegrass Jam, 7:00PM LAZOOM ROOM Asheville-Biscuithead Poetry Slam Vol. V, 8:00PM LAZY DIAMOND 80's INVASION (80's dance party), 10:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Hank Bones, 6:30PM LOCAL 604 BOTTLE SHOP Vinyl Record Night, 7:00PM NOBLE KAVA Hip Hop Night w/ ACG, Sin, Scott Damage, General Chryst & DJ Prince Tryp, 8:00PM ODDITORIUM Party Foul Weekly Drag, 9:00PM
MOUNTAINX.COM
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
45
C LUBLAND ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Mitch's Totally Rad Trivia, 7:00PM Purple, 10:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: West Side Funk Jam, 9:00PM
COMING SOON WED 3/27 5:00PM–SUSHI NIGHT 7:00PM–ESCAPING PAVEMENT EP RELEASE TOUR 8:30PM–ART WAVEY WITH KNDRGRDN
FRI 3/29 7:00PM–MATT FASSAS AND HIS GUITAR
7:00PM–BONOMO 8:30PM–UNSPOKEN TRADITION ALBUM RELEASE PARTY
SUN 3/31 6:00PM–EMILY SCOTT ROBINSON 7:30PM–THE PAGE BROTHERS
TUE 4/2 7:30PM–TUESDAY BLUEGRASS W/ STIG & FRIENDS
THU 4/4 7:00PM–HEATHER MALONEY 8:30PM–MIKE MAINS & THE BRANCHES
FRI 4/5 7:00PM–FIVE LETTER WORD
SAT 4/6 7:00PM–CHELEY TACKETT AND ANNIE MOSHER 9:00PM–FRANK SOLIVAN & DIRTY KITCHEN CD RELEASE
SUN 4/7 6:00PM–ROGER STREET FRIEDMAN DUO 7:30PM–SEAMUS EGAN PROJECT
TUE 4/9 7:30PM–TUESDAY BLUEGRASS WITH THE DARREN NICHOLSON BAND
WED 4/10 7:00PM–OLIVER PENN
THU 4/11 7:00PM–MAMA’S BROKE WITH ANNA TIVEL 8:30PM- AMY STEINBERG
ISISASHEVILLE.COM DINNER MENU TIL 9:30PM LATE NIGHT MENU TIL 12AM
TUES-SUN 5PM-until 743 HAYWOOD RD 828-575-2737
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MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
MOUNTAINX.COM
AUX BAR DJ Databoy & DJ Woodside, 10:00PM AMBROSE WEST Tina & Her Pony w/ Laura Blackley, 8:00PM
OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Owen Grooms & Mark Queen, 6:00PM
ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Bity City Blues Jam w/ host Chicago Don, 8:00PM
PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR Fwuit, 7:00PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Marvelous Funkshun, 8:00PM
SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Crystal Fountains, 7:00PM
8:30PM–NOCHE FLAMENCA WITH EDUARDO & FLAMENCO CAROLINA SAT 3/30
5 WALNUT WINE BAR Red Hot Sugar Babies (hot jazz), 9:00PM
ORANGE PEEL 10 Years w/ To Whom It May, 8:00PM
PLEB URBAN WINERY Leeda ‘Lyric’ Jones, 5:30PM
EDUARDO & FLAMENCO CAROLINA
FRIDAY, MARCH 29
SLY GROG LOUNGE Brennan Carroll Songwriter's Night / CD Release, 8:00PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Whisperer, Sleepy Poetry, Kyle Hamlett (indie, dream pop shoegaze), 9:00PM STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Open Mic Night, 7:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE YES SHE DID! All Female Comedy Review hosted by Hillary Begley w/ Minori Hinds, Kelly Morgan, Becca Steinhoff & Jas Gill, 8:00PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE The Burger Kings (rock n' roll), 9:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Avey Tare of Animal Collective w/ Sarah Louise, 9:00PM THE ROOT BAR Dennis Carbone (folk), 7:00PM THE SOCIAL LOUNGE Asheville Music School Series, 7:30PM TOWN PUMP Station Break March Residency, 9:00PM UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY Dave Desmelik Songwriter Series, 8:00PM
ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Kitchen Dwellers, 10:00PM BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Dinah's Daydream (Gypsy jazz trio), 7:00PM BEN'S TUNE UP DJ Kilby Spinning Vinyl, 10:00PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Acoustic Swing, 7:00PM BOLD ROCK HARD CIDER The Remainders, 6:00PM CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE The Paper Crowns, 7:00PM CORK & KEG John Lilly, 8:30PM CROW & QUILL Posey Quartet (swing jazz), 9:00PM DOUBLE CROWN Gospel Night w/ Archie Dale & The Tones of Joy, 10:00PM FLEETWOOD'S Gash, Sleepy Poetry, Cocordion & Son of, 8:30PM FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Unihorn (funk), 10:00PM FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Devils in Dust, 7:00PM FUNKATORIUM Jared Stout Trio, 8:00PM GINGER'S REVENGE The Jackson Grimm Band, 8:00PM ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Matt Fassas (electric guitar, singer-songwriter), 7:00PM Noche Flamenca w/ Eduardo & Flamenco Carolina, 8:30PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Dirty Dead, 9:00PM
LAZY DIAMOND Hot n' Nasty (rock n' soul vinyl) w/ DJ Hissy Cruise, 10:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Mandocyn, 6:30PM LOCAL 604 BOTTLE SHOP Daniel Sage (rock n' roll), 8:00PM LUELLA'S BAR-B-QUE Riyen Roots, 8:00PM MOE'S ORIGINAL BBQ WOODFIN Tim McWilliams, 7:00PM NEW BELGIUM BREWERY The Sufi Brothers, 5:30PM NOBLE KAVA Noble Pursuits: An Evening w/ Jason Moore, 9:00PM ODDITORIUM Asheville After Dark Presents: Perversions Kink Night, 9:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Free Dead Fridays feat. members of Phuncle Sam acoustic, 5:30PM Kendall Street Company, 10:00PM
ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Benefit for Randi Nelle w/ DJ Bowie & DJ Starseed w/ Trillum Dance Company, 9:00PM ORANGE PEEL Matthew Dear w/ Stereospread, 9:00PM PACK'S TAVERN DJ RexxStep (dance hits, pop), 9:30PM PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR The Rhoda Weaver Band, 7:00PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Universal Sigh, 8:00PM SALVAGE STATION Ol' Dirty Bathtub, 9:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY The Resonant Rogues, 8:00PM SLY GROG LOUNGE Record Prophets w/ Pomeranian Muffler, 9:00PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Tadzio, Vanishing Kids, Furnace (dark electronic, experimental), 9:00PM STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Chris Jamison, 6:00PM
THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Flashback Friday at the Block: Bill Maddocks & The Strut (dance lesson at 6:30pm), 7:30PM Funk Bandits: Aaron "AJ" Mills & Kevin Collins, 11:00PM THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE Fret Dreams, 8:00PM THE GREY EAGLE Carbon Leaf w/ Carolina Story, 8:00PM
SATURDAY, MARCH 30 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Lyric (soul funk), 9:00PM ALLEY CAT WINE BAR Melt Your Face Bass, 8:00PM AMBROSE WEST An Evening w/ Somewhat Petty at Ambrose West, 8:00PM
THE IMPERIAL LIFE Select DJ Sets, 9:00PM
ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Swing Step Band (swing standards), 5:00PM Jody Carroll (deep roots & blues), 8:00PM
THE MOTHLIGHT Cat Fly Film Fest After Dark, 9:00PM
ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL The Mantras w/ Opposite Box, 10:00PM
TOWN PUMP The Pearl Snap Prophets, 9:00PM TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Lenny Pettinelli, 7:30PM The Vines w/Ruby Mayfield, 10:00PM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Mia Rose Lynne (folk), 8:00PM ZAMBRA Blue Manouche (Gypsy jazz), 8:00PM
BANKS AVE SES: Satisfaction Every Saturday, 9:00PM BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Sunday Jazz Brunch, 2:00PM
CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Dallas Baker and Friends, 7:00PM
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Shane Pruitt Band, 9:00PM
CORK & KEG Jubilee Band, 4:00PM The Barsters, 8:30PM
LAZOOM ROOM LaZoom Comedy Night: Gilbert Lawand, 9:00PM
CROW & QUILL The Burger Kings (rock n' roll), 9:00PM DOUBLE CROWN Soul Motion Dance Party w/ DJ Dr. Filth, 10:00PM FLEETWOOD'S The Power, The Dirty Dutch Trio & Bombay Gasoline, 9:00PM FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Rahm Squad (funk, jazz), 10:00PM FUNKATORIUM KS Fontes Trio, 8:00PM
LAZY DIAMOND Saturday Swing-a-ling w/ DJs Arieh & Chrissy, 10:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Sean Mason Trio, 6:30PM LOCAL 604 BOTTLE SHOP Live Synth Saturdays, 7:00PM MG ROAD Late Night Dance Parties w/ DJ Lil Meow Meow, 10:00PM NOBLE KAVA Music Trivia, 6:00PM Shane Parish, 9:00PM
GINGER'S REVENGE Mr. Jimmy, 2:30PM
ODDITORIUM The Half That Matters, The Digital Drug, American Theory (rock), 9:00PM
BEN'S TUNE UP DJ Lyric & DJ Nex Millen, 10:00PM
HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Random Animals, 7:00PM
ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL The Wright Ave, 10:00PM
BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Ben Phan, 7:00PM
ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 BONOMO (folk, jazz), 7:00PM Unspoken Tradition Album Release Party, 8:30PM
ORANGE PEEL The Midnight w/ Violet Days, 9:00PM
BOLD ROCK HARD CIDER Royal Johnson, 6:00PM
OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Berlyn Trio, 6:00PM
MOUNTAINX.COM
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
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Local
RINGING ENDORSEMENT: Asheville FM and UNC Asheville’s Blue Echo Radio are gearing up for the annual Echofest music festival. More than 16 bands will perform on campus along with food trucks and community vendors. Hip-hop artist and activist Linqua Franqa, as will garage-pop locals Kitty Tsunami and emo-punk outfit Condado, pictured, are some of the NC artists represented. Echofest 2019 takes place on Saturday, March 30, noon-11 p.m. Free. avl.mx/5u9. Photo by Adam Perez
PACK'S TAVERN Carolina Lowdown Band (classic hits, dance), 9:30PM PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR April B & the Cool, 7:00PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Bobby Miller and the VA Daredevils, 8:00PM PURPLE ONION CAFE Rebecca & the Reckoning, 8:00PM
LOBSTER TRAP Phil Alley, 6:30PM
UNCA Echofest 2019, 1:00PM
BOLD ROCK HARD CIDER Elliot Humphries, 3:00PM BYWATER Sunday Bluegrass Jam, 4:00PM
UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY One More Saturday Night w/ Jarvis Jenkins Band & Dirty Dawg, 8:00PM
DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE The Shift from Fear to Love (art, music, dance, lectures), 2:00PM
SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Chris Wilhelm & Friends, 8:00PM
FLEETWOOD'S Kangarot, Andy Loebs, Snailmate & Herb da Wizard, 8:00PM
ZAMBRA Dinah's Daydream (Gypsy jazz), 8:00PM
FLOOD GALLERY FINE ART CENTER Learn the ukulele w/ Ash Devine, 2:00PM
THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE CommUNITY Salsa & Latin Saturday Dance Night w/DJ Edi Fuentes (lesson at 9:00pm), 9:30PM
MOUNTAINX.COM
LAZY DIAMOND Punk Night w/ DJ Chubberbird, 10:00PM
WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Mare Wakefield (folk, country), 8:00PM
STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Hope Griffin, 6:00PM
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Chris Jamison, 7:00PM
SALVAGE STATION Northside Gentlemen, 8:30PM
SLY GROG LOUNGE Forest Frequency Presents: Awaken, 9:00PM
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TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Lenny Pettinelli, 7:30PM Sweet Potataer Alligator, 10:00PM
SUNDAY, MARCH 31 5 WALNUT WINE BAR CaroMia, Ashley Heath, & Brie Capone, (folk), 7:00PM AMBROSE WEST Songful Sundays w/ Phuncle Sam Benefitting Brother Wolf Rescue, 2:00PM
FUNKATORIUM Bluegrass Brunch w/ Gary Macfiddle, 11:00AM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Reggae Sunday w/ Chalwa, 1:00PM HILTON ASHEVILLE BILTMORE PARK Live at Roux, 11:00AM
THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE Power Toolz, 8:00PM
ARCHETYPE BREWING Post-Brunch Blues, 4:00PM
ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Emily Scott Robinson, 6:00PM The Page Brothers, 7:30PM
THE MOTHLIGHT And The Kids w/ The Restless Age & Slow Packer, 9:00PM
ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Pot Luck & Musician's Jam, 3:30PM
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Traditional Irish/Celtic Jam, 3:00PM
TOWN PUMP Banjo Mitch McConnell and the Hilltop Haints, 9:00PM
BEN'S TUNE UP Good Vibe Sundays w/ DJ Oso Rey (reggae), 3:00PM
JARGON Sunday Blunch: Mark Guest & Mary Pearson (jazz), 11:00AM
NEW BELGIUM BREWERY Totally Rad Trivia Crossover, 5:00PM Total Rad Trivia, 5:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING OWB Downtown: Soul Jam (Sunday open jam), 8:00PM ORANGE PEEL Buckethead, 8:00PM OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Serious Clark, 2:00PM Trivia Night, 5:00PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Pisgah Sunday Jam, 6:30PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Trnka, Keller, & McConnell Jazz Trio, 2:30PM SLY GROG LOUNGE Sly Grog Open Mic, 6:30PM STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Lucky James, 1:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Connections Tour w/ Minton Sparks: Brunch, Music, Spoken Word, Conversation: A Live Filmed Event, 12:30PM THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE Tools on Stools, 3:00PM
27
LOS COLOGNES
THU
DBUK (SLIM CESSNA’S AUTO CLUB) + NORMAN WESTBERG (SWANS)
FRI
CARBON LEAF
FRI
BETTER OBLIVION COMMUNITY CENTER
MARY FAHL
SAT
SING ME BACK HOME:
ANDREW DUHON & LYDIA LUCE
SUN
ASHEVILLE 10-MINUTE MOVIES
17 Taps & Domestics • Nightly Drink Specials
3 DEE WHITE
MON
BURIAL BEER DINNER
1st PLACE, AWARD WINNING WING SPECIALS, 6-8pm
WED
THE GREY EAGLE Mary Fahl, 7:00PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE Select DJ Sets, 9:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Family Dance Party!, 3:00PM
MONDAY, APRIL 1 ARCHETYPE BREWING Old Time Jam, 5:00PM DOUBLE CROWN Country Karaoke w/ KJ Tim-O, 10:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Quizzo Trivia, 7:30PM Open Mic, 9:30PM LOBSTER TRAP Dave Desmelik, 6:30PM ODDITORIUM Risque Monday Burlesque Hosted By Deb Au Nare, 9:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING OWB Downtown: Open Mic Night, 7:30PM ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: Jazz Mondays hosted by Ray Ring & Jason DeCristofaro, 8:30PM OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Mountain Music Mondays Open Jam, 6:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY It Takes All Kinds Open Mic, 7:00PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE Leo Johnson (Gypsy jazz), 9:00PM
THIS WEEK AT AVL MUSIC HALL & THE ONE STOP!!!
THE MOTHLIGHT Concert for humanity Presents: Busker's Plus, 7:30PM
THOMAS WOLFE AUDITORIUM CCx Luminaries | Bill Nye, 6:00PM A Conversation w/ Bill Nye: Extreme Weather, 7:00PM
29 SUN
31 TUE
2
TUESDAY, APRIL 2
4
W/ CLINT ROBERTS
5
W/ CAROLINA STORY
6
FORMER LEAD SINGER OF OCTOBER PROJECT
7
WED
ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Evening of Classical Guitar - 1st & 3rd Tuesdays, 8:00PM ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Tuesday Night Funk Jam, 11:00PM
8
W/ LALA LALA, CHRISTIAN LEE HUTSON
THE SONGS OF MERLE HAGGARD
Asheville’s longest running live music venue • 185 Clingman Ave TICKETS AVAILABLE AT HARVEST RECORDS & THEGREYEAGLE.COM
FULL KITCHEN • OPEN LATE
Mon-Thur 4pm-2am • Fri-Sun 2pm-2am 87 Patton Ave – Downtown Asheville
The
BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Mark Bumgarner, 7:00PM BOLD ROCK HARD CIDER Trivia Night, 6:30PM DOUBLE CROWN Jackson & The Janks, Brody Hunt & The Handfuls (honky-tonk), 10:00PM HIGHSMITH STUDENT UNION Premiere Screening of Ken Burns’s New Country Music Documentary, 7:30PM
Sustainability CELEBRATING EARTH DAY 2019
WEST ASHEVILLE
Series
520 HAYWOOD RD
Every week in April
ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Tuesday Bluegrass Sessions hosted by Stig and Friends, 7:30PM ISIS MUSIC HALL AND KITCHEN 743 Tuesday Bluegrass Sessions hosted by Stig and Friends, 7:30PM
Wed. 3/27
9pm- Latin Night w/ DJ Oscar
Thu. 3/28
9pm- West Side Funk Jam
Fri. 3/29
9pm- Benefit for Randi Nelle w/ DJ Bowie & Starseed Trillium Dance Company
Sat. 3/30
9pm: The Greenliners
Sun. 3/31
5th Annual Crawfish Boil by Culture SHOCK by Vieux Carre 2-5pm music by Back South
Mon. 4/1
8:30pm: Jazz Jam
$3 Selected Pints
FUNK YES
LAZY DIAMOND Noiz Oasis w/ DJ Salty Stax (post-punk vinyl), 10:00PM
west side funk jam
LOBSTER TRAP Jay Brown, 7:00PM
every thursday night at 9pm
NOBLE KAVA Open Jam, 8:00PM
For more information visit www.oneworldbrewing.com
Purple
$3 Pints all day long
Kitchen Dwellers
w/ Red Clay Reviva & Woody Wood
THU, 3/28 - SHOW: 10 pm CA$ H DONATION $
FRI, 3/29 - SHOW: 10 pm (DOORS: 9 pm ) - adv. $10.00
KENDALL STREET COMPANY FRI, 3/29 - SHOW: 10 pm CA$ H DONATION $
The Mantras w/ Opposite Box
T he Wright Ave
SAT, 3/30 - SHOW: 10 pm (DOORS: 9 pm ) - TICKETS: $12.00
SAT, 3/30 - SHOW: 10 pm CA$ H DONATION $
Mitch’s Totally Rad Trivia - 6:30pm
FRI
disclaimer comedy - 9:30pm
THU
Tuesday Night Funk Jam - 11pm Turntable Tuesday - 10pm
WED
TUE
WEEKLY EVENTS
UPCOMING SHOWS: 4/4 SoDown w/ Dorfex Bos & Handmade Spaceship • 4/5 EarthCry, Push/Pull, Pathwey & SeedtoStage Showcase • 4/6 Ramin & Friends ft. IN PLAIN SIGHT • 4/7 CharlestheFirst, Of the Trees, tiedye ky • 4/7 Consider the Source w/ LITZ
F ree Dead F riday - 5pm
TICKETS & FULL CALENDAR AVAILABLE AT ASHEVILLEMUSICHALL.COM
@AVLMusicHall MOUNTAINX.COM
@OneStopAVL
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
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C LUBLAND
TAVERN UPCOMING SHOWS: DOORS 7PM
MAR 28
DOORS 7PM
MAR 29
DOORS 7PM
WORTHWHILE SOUNDS PRESENTS:
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W/ LAURA BLACKLEY & THE WILDFLOWERS AN EVENING WITH:
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MAR 28
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MAR 29
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MAR 31
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SAT. 3/30 Carolina Lowdown Band (classic hits, dance)
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ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Turntable Tuesday, 10:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING OWB Downtown: Pizza Karaoke, 9:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Team Trivia w/ Josh Dunkin, 7:00PM SLY GROG LOUNGE TOUCH Samadhi Psychedelic Visions (select DJ sets), 9:00PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Katabasis, Moru, Trudge (sludge, death metal), 9:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Swing AVL Tuesday Dance w/ Community Jazz Jam (Western swing, lessons 7 & 8pm)), 9:00PM
BOOK YOUR WEDDING OR EVENT NOW: 828.332.3090 312 HAYWOOD ROAD
ODDITORIUM Dakota Floyd, TRAGWAG, Do Nothing (pop-punk), 9:00PM Free Open Mic Comedy, 9:00PM
20 S. Spruce St. • 225.6944 packStavern.com
THE GREY EAGLE Andrew Duhon & Lydia Luce, 8:00PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE Leo Johnson (Gypsy jazz), 9:00PM THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Open Mic hosted by Clint Bussey, 8:00PM
Airstream Season
THE MARKET PLACE RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE Rat Alley Cats, 6:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Saintseneca w/ Okapi, 9:00PM THE ROOT BAR Papa Vay Landers (classic country), 7:00PM THE SOCIAL Open Mic w/ Riyen Roots, 8:00PM
Nightly Supper starting at 5PM
Sunday Brunch
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Irish Jam, 6:30PM Open Mic, 8:30PM
from 10:30-3:30PM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3
Closed Mondays
ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Chili Slaw Sessions w/ Tom Kirschbaum & Friends, 6:00PM
828-350-0315 SMOKYPARK.COM 50
TWIN LEAF BREWERY Robert's Twin Leaf Trivia, 8:00PM
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BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Open Mic hosted by Mark Bumngarner, 7:00PM BYWATER Open Can of Jam, 9:00PM
CORK & KEG 3 Cool Cats, 7:30PM DOUBLE CROWN Western Wednesday w/ The Big Dixie Swingers + Miss Cindy & The Knockin Boots, 9:00PM FUNKATORIUM The Saylor Brothers, 6:30PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old Time Jam, 5:00PM LAZY DIAMOND Killer Karaoke w/ KJ Tim-O, 10:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Cigar Brothers, 6:30PM NANTAHALA BREWING'S ASHEVILLE OUTPOST Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7:00PM NOBLE KAVA Poetry Open Mic w/ Caleb Beissert (7:30pm sign up), 8:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Disclaimer Lounge Comedy Open Mic, 9:00PM PULP Many A Ship w/ The Moon and You, 8:00PM PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR Kind Clean Gentlemen, 7:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY French Broad Valley Music Association Mountain Music Jam, 6:00PM SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night hosted by Jason DeCristofaro, 6:30PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Ross Hammond, Shane Parish (experimental, instrumental), 9:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Ecstatic W.I.L.D. Wednesday Interactive Love Dance, 8:00PM THE GOLDEN FLEECE Scots-Baroque Chamber-Folk w/ The Tune Shepherds, 7:00PM THE GREY EAGLE Dee White, 8:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Beauty & The Bee: 28th Annual Spelling Bee, 6:00PM THE ROOT BAR Lucky James (blues, Americana), 8:00PM TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic Night, 7:00PM
MOVIE REVIEWS THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS
Hosted by the Asheville Movie Guys HHHHH
= MAX RATING
EDWIN ARNAUDIN earnaudin@mountainx.com
BRUCE STEELE bcsteele@gmail.com
H PICK OF THE WEEK H
Us HHHH DIRECTOR: Jordan Peele PLAYERS: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker HORROR RATED R Ali McGhee: While I was watching Us, which centers on a family attacked by people who look just like them, I couldn’t stop thinking about a Jorge Luis Borges story, “Fauna of Mirrors.” It’s about a race of beings that live as our reflections inside mirrors. A prophecy mentioned in the story states that one day they’ll rebel and break free. I also thought a lot about the novella The Tain by British author China Mieville, about what happens after our enslaved reflections finally reassert control and start picking us off. Melissa Williams: That’s pretty fascinating since, as I watched, I started ruminating about how many windows and mirrors I have in my house and was freaking out a bit. My initial feeling is that writer/ director Jordan Peele’s debut Get Out was a more frightening movie, but Us is scarier — as in jump scares-scary. Also, it’s kind of gross. I’m still trying to figure out the meaning of Us’ doubles and their motivation
beyond main character Red (Lupita Nyong'o). Was she their leader? Do the doppelgängers go after everyone or just their look-alikes? Also, what about all those rabbits? And did you notice the son, Jason (Evan Alex), wears a mask all the time? (I can only assume Peele was into Friday the 13th.) There are layers and layers and layers to this movie, but I don’t know if my psyche can take another viewing anytime soon, even though I’m on the edge of my seat to hear Peele’s feature commentary on the DVD. The storytelling, overall, was not on par with Get Out, but it was still fun to watch. Lupita was amazing as both Red and human matriarch Adelaide Wilson. Ali: Related to that, I felt like while race/ racism wasn’t as obvious within the surface narrative as it was in Get Out, the film was very much about enslavement and what happens to people who are completely oppressed/repressed. What do you think? Melissa: I didn’t think racism was a focus in this movie at all, although I think the black experience was uplifted in a few ways.
Ali McGhee
First, I can’t recall a big-screen movie (certainly not with this kind of budget and buzz) that features a black family who all have dark skin and are so beautifully lit. After Black Panther, there are no excuses for not lighting black skin appropriately, let alone when you have people as stunning as Lupita and Winston Duke on the screen. Most of the time, Hollywood and the TV industry give us black families with dark-skinned men who have much lighter-skinned wives and daughters. It’s a trope that I’ve always found disturbing. Also, the music — Luniz's "I Got 5 on It,” a beloved hip-hop classic that was turned into a creepy doppelgänger of its own — and the daughter named Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and even the Howard University sweatshirt that Gabe (Duke) wore for second half of the movie are all grounded in a black experience that I totally relate to. Read the full review at mountainx.com/ movies
Melissa Williams
James Rosario
Michelle Keenan
STARTING FRIDAY The Field Guide to Evil (NR) HH The Samuel Project (NR) HHH To Dust (R) HHHS The Wedding Guest (R) HHHH Woman at War (NR) HHHH JUST ANNOUNCED Bathtubs Over Broadway (PG-13) A comedy writer discovers an amusing hidden world of entertainment. At Grail Moviehouse. Dumbo (PG) Tim Burton’s live-action take on the Disney animated classic. Unplanned (R) A Planned Parenthood director has a change of heart.
CURRENTLY IN THEATERS Alita: Battle Angel (PG-13) HHHH
The Field Guide to Evil HH
Apollo 11 (G) HHHS Aquaman (PG-13) HHHH Captain Marvel (PG-13) HHHS
DIRECTOR: Peter Strickland, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala PLAYERS: Birgit Minichmayr, Sarah Navratil, Jilon VanOver HORROR/ANTHOLOGY RATED NR
Captive State (PG-13) HHHS
Because I grew up watching horror anthology television programs like "Tales from the Crypt" and "Tales from the Darkside," my hopes may have been set a bit high for The Field Guide to Evil. Add to that my fondness for the darker aspects of world folklore, and I naively hoped it might land near the top of my favorite films of the year so far. While it certainly is better than those old TV shows, The Field Guide to Evil falls short of the mark in both the horror and folklore categories. In short, it’s not very scary, and the mythology isn’t much more than an afterthought. The eight international stories presented range from simply mediocre to downright bad. The better of the bunch, "The Kindler and the Virgin" (from Poland's Agnieszka Smoczyńska, director of 2017's modern mermaid fable, The Lure) and Greece's "What Ever Happened to Panagas the Pagan?" might be far from perfect, but at least they offer arresting
Green Book (PG-13) HH
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Climax (R) HHHH Fighting with My Family (PG-13) HHHH Five Feet Apart (PG-13) HHHS Gloria Bell (R) HHHH Greta (R) HH How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (PG) HHHHS Isn’t It Romantic (PG-13) HHH The Invisibles (NR) HHHS The Kid (R) HHH The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (PG) HHHH A Madea Family Funeral (PG-13) HH Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (PG) HHS Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (PG) HHHH A Tuba to Cuba (NR) HHHH The Upside (PG-13) HHHH Us (R) HHHH (Pick of the Week) Wonder Park (PG) HHH MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
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MOVIES visuals and genuine atmosphere while still feeling grounded in real, honest oral tradition. "Beware the Melonheads," (U.S.) which falls on the other side of the spectrum, isn’t much more than a glorified "Goosebumps" episode, complete with bad effects and worse writing. Somewhere in the middle are "Palace of Horrors" (India) and "Cobbler’s Lot" (Hungary). Each is reminiscent of literature and cinema from the 1920s and ’30s, which, at the very least, forces them to stand out by contrast alone. The former is a direct descendant of some of the more fun aspects of H.P. Lovecraft’s formulaic stories, while the latter boasts a morality tale that F.W. Murnau or Fritz Lang could have turned into a masterpiece. The rest are either forgettable or attempted rehashes of 2016’s The Witch or last year's wonderful November. Diehard horror fans (or remaining devotees of those old late-night horror anthologies) will no doubt have fun with The Field Guide to Evil, but its unevenness and reliance on cheap scares are tired and expected. And while I’m not as forgiving a viewer as I was when I was 12, I do have a sneaking suspicion that had some of these shorts been fleshed out into full-fledged features under better
circumstances, I could find myself getting fully behind them. But, such is not the case. Oh well. Starts March 31 at Grail Moviehouse REVIEWED BY JAMES ROSARIO JAMESROSARIO1977@GMAIL.COM
The Invisibles HHHS DIRECTOR: Claus Räfle PLAYERS: Max Mauff, Alice Dwyer HISTORICAL DRAMA RATED NR Like a less edgy, more informationbased American Animals, Claus Räfle’s The Invisibles blurs narrative and documentary lines to creatively tell a lesserknown aspect of the Holocaust. Rooted in interviews with four Jewish survivors who managed to remain in Berlin during World War II through various creative means, the film leaves plenty of drama for the quartet to navigate despite the fact that its subjects are alive and telling their stories late in life. A credit to Räfle’s filmmaking talents, the inevitable triumphs of 1940s young adults Cioma Schönhaus (Max Mauff), Hanni Lévy (Alice Dwyer), Ruth Arndt (Ruby O. Fee) and Eugen Friede (Aaron
Altaras) don’t detract from the tension of their war-era travails. Instead, the captivating action flows fairly seamlessly between them, augmented by the daring deeds of the brave citizens who help them. Impeding progress are somewhat awkward shifts in perspective, with dramatic action accompanied by scattered past-tense narration from the characters as well as speech from their real-life counterparts. Such nettlesome moments are further complicated by the white subtitle text made unreadable by the occasional matching background, but though these unintentional nods to the film’s title are unfortunate, they only slightly detract from the otherwise finely told, fact-based tale. Now playing at the Fine Arts Theatre REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM
The Samuel Project HHH
DIRECTOR: Marc Fusco PLAYERS: Hal Linden, Ryan Ochoa
DRAMA RATED PG-13 All you need to know about The Samuel Project is that Hal Linden ("Barney Miller") plays the title character, an 80-something San Diego dry cleaner. He leans into what could have been a Jewish caricature and turns Samuel into a rich portrayal of a man who has struggled to leave his past behind, guarding himself with wit and a veneer of bitterness. The movie's rather uncomplicated plot has Samuel's grandson Eli (Disney Channel grad Ryan Ochoa) getting an assignment from his high school media class at about the same time Samuel drags him along to meet a dying woman the old man hasn't seen since he was a boy during World War II. Eli, a budding animator, decides to make his grandfather's untold story the subject of his project, the culmination of which is well worth waiting for. The Samuel Project is hobbled by some student-film quality performances in lesser roles, but Ochoa holds his own as Eli. Along with the casually terrific Linden, the two elevate the wellmeaning but predictable screenplay (cowritten by director Marc Fusco) into a touching lesson about the importance of remembering.
heville M Join tfhorethAesnext Movie Noivghiet! Guys The evening includes a brief introduction by the Asheville Movie Guys, Bruce C. Steele and Edwin Arnaudin of AshevilleMovies.com, as well as a lively discussion with the audience after the credits.
GLORIA BELL Mon., 4/1, 7pm • Fine Arts Theatre 36 Biltmore Ave., Asheville
Do you want an email reminder prior to each Asheville Movie Guys night? Send an email with ‘Asheville Movie Guys’ in the subject line to ashevillemovies@gmail.com Xpress readers who say “Disco” at the box office receive a discounted ticket price of $6.50 per person. 52
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
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SCREEN SCENE Screens Thursday, March 28, at 7 p.m., and Friday, March 29, at 1 p.m. at the Fine Arts Theatre REVIEWED BY BRUCE STEELE BCSTEELE@GMAIL.COM
To Dust HHHS DIRECTOR: Shawn Snyder PLAYERS: Géza Röhrig, Matthew Broderick, Sammy Voit COMEDY/DRAMA RATED R Shawn Snyder’s directorial debut, To Dust, opens with an epigraph that sets the tone for the film. The first quote is from the Kohelet (aka Ecclesiastes): “Then the dust will return to the Earth as it was, and the spirit will return unto God who gave it.” The second is, “God is an overwhelming responsibility” — a line from none other than Jethro Tull. As suggested by the unusual pairing, what unfolds is an extremely odd and sometimes darkly comic meditation on death and grief. In the film's witty and at times painfully awkward script, Géza Röhrig (Son of Saul) plays Shmuel, a Hasidic cantor from upstate New York and recent widower. Overcome by fear that his wife's soul cannot be free until her body goes back to the earth, he becomes obsessed with learning more about decomposition. His all-consuming quest to liberate her spirit puts him at odds with his faith, family and community, and ultimately teams him with an unwitting community college science teacher named Albert (Matthew Broderick). Science, faith and culture collide to give us the backdrop for what amounts to a bizarre and macabre buddy movie — complete with the obligatory road trip. Röhrig and Broderick both possess the dramatic chops to carry the humanity of the story, while Broderick especially carries the comedic moments, balancing the absurdity of the situation with dry but broadly relatable humor. To Dust also benefits from an element of sweetness that acts as a cultural equalizer, drawing the viewer into Shmuel’s grief. There aren’t many cinematic opportunities to feature Hasidic culture and death rituals, clips of a 1937 Yiddish movie about dybbuks, pseudo-scientific experiments on decomposition with a dead pig, a body farm and buddy movie standbys all in one place. To Dust does this and more, apparently filling a previously unserved niche. If you are wondering how a film with a premise like this ever got made, it took an army of producers and a grant from the Alfred E. Sloan Foundation. If you’re wondering how it could possibly be interesting or remotely entertaining,
by Edwin Arnaudin | earnaudin@mountainx.com
it is those things, too — and it’s certainly one of the most original films you’ll see this year. Bottom line, if an unorthodox odd couple ruminating on science and spirituality sounds like your cup of tea, this is your film. To Dust is worth seeing for its uniqueness, humanity and performances. Starts March 29 at the Fine Arts Theatre REVIEWED BY MICHELLE KEENAN REELTAKES@HOTMAIL.COM
Woman at War HHHH DIRECTOR: Benedikt Erlingsson PLAYERS: Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Jóhann Sigurðarson THRILLER/DRAMA RATED NR Echoing Us’ theme of twins, but with kinder goals in mind, Woman at War features the impressive Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir in dual roles as Icelandic eco-warrior Halla and her yogi sister, Ása. Bent on toppling her country’s aluminum industry, which she views as contributing to global warming, Halla memorably introduces herself by bravely knocking out the local power grid and scampering to safety through the picturesque Highlands with authorities in helicopters thrillingly in pursuit. These and many of Halla’s other activities are made all the more intriguing by a quirky internal soundtrack, as both a polka trio and three women vocalists in traditional folk garb manifest and accompany her. Working in tandem with Halla's stoic face as she plots her next move and navigates the risks and rewards of her covert illegal actions, the unusual pairings convey her emotions better than any expository dialogue could. That she sometimes acknowledges her musical co-conspirators only adds to the fun and unpredictability of the zippy proceedings, which receive dramatic fortification via Halla’s long-delayed realization of becoming a parent as well as unexpected help from family members. Though there’s not a familiar face to be found — unless viewers subscribe to Iceland television channels — the sympathy for Halla’s motivations, the film’s natural beauty and its mildly eccentric accents combine to yield a universally appealing adventure, enacted by someone audiences would be proud to call a sister, friend or mother. Starts March 29 at the Fine Arts Theatre REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM
PRODUCTION MEETING: Cat Fly Film Fest team members, from left, Brittany Jackson, Cat Wityk, Laura Hackett, Ryan DuVal and Madeleine Richardson bring the weekendlong collection of screenings, workshops and community celebrations back to Asheville, March 29-31. Photo courtesy of Cat Fly Film Fest Now in its third year of showcasing movies, workshops and celebrations of the local filmmaking community over the course of a jampacked weekend, the Cat Fly Film Fest returns to Asheville with its most ambitious edition yet. “Cat Fly is so much more than when we first started,” says programming director Brittany Jackson. “Over the last three years, it’s been incredible to see the professional connections made at Cat Fly events bloom into collaborative projects and form a greater sense of community.” The festivities begin Friday, March 29, at the Asheville Masonic Temple, 80
FILM 'CODE BLUE: WATER IN THE MOUNTAINS' • TH (4/4), 6:30-7:30pm - Code Blue: Water in the Mountains, documentary film screening. Free. Held at Transylvania County Library, 212 S. Gaston St., Brevard ASHEVILLE FILM SOCIETY: 'AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON' • TH (3/28), 8pm Asheville Film Society: John Landis' An American Werewolf in London. Free to attend. Held at Eurisko Beer Co., 255 Short Coxe Ave. DESTINATIONS FILM SERIES • TU (4/2), 7pm Destinations Film Series: Flying Down To Rio, film showing. $6. Held at Tryon Fine Arts Center, 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon
FILM AT UNCA 828-251-6585, unca.edu • TU (4/2), 7-9pm - With All Deliberate Speed, documentary film screening. Free. Held at Highsmith Student Union, The Grotto, 1 University Heights • TU (4/2), 7:30-9:30pm Country Music, Ken Burns documentary film screening. Tickets required: countrymusicuncavl.eventbrite.com. Free. Held at Highsmith Student Union, 1 University Heights FINE ARTS THEATRE 36 Biltmore Ave., 828232-1536 • TH (3/28), 7pm & FR (3/29), 1pm - The Samuel Project, a drama about a teenager who gets to know his isolated grandfather via a school art project. $10 • TH (4/4), 7pm & FR (4/5), 1pm - Leona, a drama about a young Jewish woman in Mexico City who finds herself split between her family and
Broadway, with a red carpet reception (black tie optional), complete with refreshments at 6 p.m. and a screening of traditional narrative and documentary short films at 7 p.m. The evening continues with Cat Fly After Dark, a second block of programming, at 9 p.m. at The Mothlight, 701 Haywood Road. This West Asheville portion includes live performances and the premiere of the five-part music video series, Disco Paw. On Saturday, March 30, at 11 a.m., Gunner Willis (Netflix’s “Ozark”; HBO’s “Vice Principals”) will lead an acting workshop called Playing the Normal Dude at the Asheville School of Film, 45 S. French Broad Ave. It will be followed at 2 p.m. by a table read of a feature film script by a local screenwriter at The Asheville Studio, 12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite 75, and a filmmaker mixer. The action then shifts to New Belgium Brewing Co., 21 Craven St., for a 6 p.m. Community Night screening of horror, experimental and genre-bending creations. Cat Fly wraps up Sunday, March 31, at the Fine Arts Theatre, 36 Biltmore Ave., with a 4 p.m. screening of the feature-length film, Pop-Pop is Dead, which was filmed on location in Gaffney, S.C. Single-day tickets or VIP weekend passes can be purchased online. catflyfilmfest.com/festival X
her forbidden love with a non-Jewish man. $10 FLOOD GALLERY WORLD CINEMA: 'SUMMER INTERLUDE' • FR (3/29), 8-10pm - World Cinema: Ingmar Bergman's 1951 drama/ romance 'Summer Interlude.' Admission by donation. Held at Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, 850 Blue Ridge Road, Unit A-13, Black Mountain HENDERSONVILLE FILM SOCIETY: 'LE BAL' • SU (3/31), 2pm - Hendersonville Film Society: The 1983 silent French musical drama 'Le Bal,' told in mime and dance. Screened in the Smoky Mountain Theater. Free. Held at Lake Pointe Landing, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville HIP-HOP SERIES: 'KRUSH GROOVE' • TH (3/28), 7pm - Krush Groove, a narrative look at the genesis of Def Jam Records. Hosted by local artist and musician Gus
MOUNTAINX.COM
Cutty. $10 Held at Grail MovieHouse, 45 S. French Broad Ave. MARS HILL UNIVERSITY 265 Cascade St., Mars Hill, 828-689-1571 • TU (4/2), 4pm - WNC premiere of the documentary Bending the Arc: Paul Farmer and Partners In Health, a chronicle of aid organization Partners In Health. Free. Held in Moore Auditorium. NO MAN'S LAND FILM FESTIVAL • WE (4/3), 6:15-9:30pm - No Man's Land Film Festival, event featuring films about women adventurers. Free to attend. Held at Oskar Blues Brewery, 342 Mountain Industrial Drive, Brevard 'PARTNERS' BY HENRY HORENSTEIN • TU (4/2), 7pm - Partners documentary by Henry Horenstein. $10. Held at Revolve, 821 Riverside Drive, #179
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): Kermit the Frog from Sesame Street is the world’s most famous puppet. He has recorded songs, starred in films and TV shows, and written an autobiography. His image has appeared on postage stamps and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kermit’s beginnings were humble, however. When his creator Jim Henson first assembled him, he consisted of Henson’s mom’s green coat and two halves of a white ping pong ball. I mention this, Aries, because the current astrological omens suggest that you, too, could make a puppet that will one day have great influence. APRIL FOOL! I half-lied. Here’s the whole truth: Now isn’t a favorable time to start work on a magnificent puppet. But it is a perfect moment to launch the rough beginnings of a project that’s well-suited for your unique talents. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus businessman Chuck Feeney made a huge fortune as the entrepreneur who co-developed duty-free shopping. But at age 87, he lives frugally, having given away $8 billion to philanthropic causes. He doesn’t even own a house or car. In accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to follow his lead in the coming weeks. Be unreasonably generous and exorbitantly helpful. APRIL FOOL! I exaggerated a bit. While it’s true that now is an extra favorable time to bestow blessings on everyone, you shouldn’t go overboard. Make sure your giving is artful, not careless or compulsive.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scientific research shows that if you arrange to get bitten by thousands of mosquitoes in a relatively short time, you make yourself immune. Forever after, mosquito bites won’t itch you. Now would be an excellent time for you to launch such a project. APRIL FOOL! I lied. I don’t really think you should do that. On the contrary. You should scrupulously avoid irritations and aggravations, especially little ones. Instead, immerse yourself in comfort and ease. Be as free from vexation as you have ever been!
CANCER (June 21-July 22): When he was 20 years old, Greek military leader Alexander the Great began to conquer the world. By age 30, he ruled the vast territory between Greece and northwest India. Never shy about extolling his own glory, he named 70 cities after himself. I offer his example as a model for you. Now is a favorable time to name clouds after yourself, as well as groves of trees, stretches of highway, buses, fire hydrants, parking spaces and rocks. APRIL FOOL. I got a bit carried away. It’s true that now is a good time to assert your authority, extend your clout and put your unique stamp on every situation. But I don’t recommend that you name entire cities after yourself.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The weather is warm year-round, and the crime rate is low on Pitcairn, a remote South Pacific island that is a 30-hour boat ride away from the nearest airport. The population has been dwindling in recent years, however, which is why the government offers foreigners free land if they choose to relocate. You might want to consider taking advantage of this opportunity. APRIL FOOL! I was exaggerating. It’s true that you could get major health benefits by taking a sabbatical from civilization. But there’s no need to be so drastic about it.
MARCH 27 - APRIL 2, 2019
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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If allowed to do what comes naturally, two rabbits and their immediate descendants will produce 1,300 new rabbits in 12 months’ time. In five years, their offspring would amount to 94 million. I suspect that you will approach this level of fertility in the next four weeks, at least in a metaphorical sense. APRIL FOOL! I stretched the truth a bit. There’s no way you will produce more than 100 good new ideas and productions and gifts. At the most, you’ll generate a mere 50.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Studies show that people who love grilled cheese sandwiches engage in more sexual escapades than those who don’t gorge on grilled cheese sandwiches. So I advise you to eat a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches, because then you will have more sex than usual. And that’s important, because you are now in a phase when you will reap huge healing benefits from having as much sex as possible. APRIL FOOL! I lied when I implied that eating more grilled cheese sandwiches would motivate you to have more sex. But I wasn’t lying when I said that you should have more sex than usual. And I wasn’t lying when I said you will reap huge benefits from having as much sex as possible. (P.S. If you don’t have a partner, have sex with your fantasies or yourself.)
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If you ever spend time at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, you’ll get a chance to become a member of the 300 Club. To be eligible, you wait till the temperature outside drops to minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. When it does, you spend 20 minutes in a sauna heated to 200 degrees. Then you exit into the snow and ice wearing nothing but white rubber boots and run a few hundred feet to a ceremonial pole and back. In so doing, you expose your naked body to a swing of 300 degrees. According to my astrological analysis, now is an ideal time to pull off this feat. APRIL FOOL! I lied. I’m not really urging you to join the 300 Club. On the other hand, I do think it’s a favorable phase to go to extremes for an authentically good cause.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Now is a perfect time to start learning the Inuktitut language spoken by the indigenous people of Eastern Canada. Here are some key phrases to get you underway. 1. UllusiuKattagit inosek: Celebrate your life! 2. Pitsialagigavit, piggogutivagit!: Because you’re doing amazing things, I’m proud of you! 3. Nalligijauvutit: You are loved! 4. Kajusitsiatuinnagit: Keep it up! APRIL FOOL! I lied. Now isn’t really a better time than any other to learn the Inuktitut language. But it is an important time to talk to yourself using phrases like those I mentioned. You need to be extra kind and super positive toward yourself.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Now is an excellent time to join an exotic religion. How about the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which believes that true spiritual devotion requires an appreciation of satire? Or how about Discordianism, which worships the goddess of chaos and disorder? Then there’s the United Church of Bacon, whose members exult in the flavor of their favorite food. (Here’s a list of more: tinyurl. com/WeirdReligions.) APRIL FOOL! I wasn’t entirely truthful. It’s accurate to say that now is a great time to reinvigorate and transform your spiritual practice. But it’s better if you figure that out by yourself. There’s no need to get your ideas from a bizarre cult.
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BY ROB BREZSNY
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You don’t have to run faster than the bear that’s chasing you. You just have to run faster than the slowest person the bear is chasing. OK? So don’t worry! APRIL FOOL! What I just said wasn’t your real horoscope. I hope you know me well enough to understand that I would NEVER advise you to save your own ass by betraying or sacrificing someone else. It’s also important to note that the bear I mentioned is entirely metaphorical in nature. So please ignore what I said earlier. However, I do want you to know that there are effective ways to elude the symbolic bear that are also honorable. To discover them, meditate on calming down the beastly bear-like qualities in yourself. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Now is a favorable time to disguise yourself as a bland nerd with no vivid qualities, or a shy wallflower with no strong opinions, or a polite wimp who prefers to avoid adventure. Please don’t even consider doing anything that’s too interesting or controversial. APRIL FOOL! I lied. The truth is, I hope you’ll do the opposite of what I suggested. I think it’s time to express your deep authentic self with aggressive clarity. Be brave and candid and enterprising.
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CONDOS/ TOWNHOMES FOR RENT NORTH ASHEVILLE TOWNHOUSES 1 mile from Downtown Asheville. Hardwood floors, nice North Asheville neighborhood on busline. • No pets. 1BR/1BA: $745 • 2BR/1BA: $845 • 3BR/1BA: $945. Call 828-252-4334.
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SKILLED LABOR/ TRADES BROKEN ARCH AUCTION JOB OPENING Weaverville. This job consists of a lot of lifting, moving and carrying furniture/ boxes. Skills must include; • Friendly and professional • Flexible • Trustworthy and Motivated • Punctual • Some computer experience • Some knowledge of Antiques preferred but not required • Must be physically able to perform lifting and carrying • Starting pay is above Buncombe County living wage. Resume and references required. Pay scale to be discussed during interview process. I can be contacted by email or phone for further information or to answer questions: (828) 713-2844 or travis@ brokenarchgallery.com
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT A-B Tech is currently taking applications for a PartTime position Administrative Assistant, Allied Health. For more details and to apply: abtcc.peopleadmin.com/ postings/5052
SALES/ MARKETING CBD SALES Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to sell CBD oil, the hottest new product on the market. It’s only $49 to get started, and you receive 20% of everything you sell from day one. 828-215-3699 jennyfarmer2@charter.net cbdfarmer.greencompassglobal.com
SALES PROFESSIONAL Mountain Xpress has a salaried sales position open. Ideal candidates are personable, well-spoken, organized, motivated, and can present confidently, while working within structure. Necessary skills include clear and professional communications (via phone, email, and in-person meetings), detailed record-keeping, computer skills, and working well in a team environment. While no outside sale experience is required, experience with dealing with varied and challenging situations is helpful. The position largely entails account development and lead generation (including cold-calling), account management, and working to meet or exceed sales goals. If you are a high energy, positive, cooperative person looking to join an independent, communityminded organization, please send a resume and cover letter (no walk-ins, please) explaining why you are a good fit for Mountain Xpress to: xpressjob@mountainx. com
RESTAURANT/ FOOD COOK-PRIVATE BOARDING SCHOOL! SAGE Dining Services - Seeking FT or PT Cook in Arden, NC. Boarding school, scratch cooking. $14/ hr, benefits for FT, uniforms provided. Contact Julia: 443798-6018 or send resume to jhand@sagedining.com.
NOW HIRING COOK POSITION AT THE CREPERIE & CAFÉ IN WEAVERVILLE! Looking for a motivated individual with a flexible schedule to join our family. Must have kitchen experience. We share responsibilities here, so other tasks may be assigned such as food prep, washing dishes, putting away deliveries and helping to maintain a clean work environment. Dependability and willingness to learn are required. Must be able to work efficiently in a fast-paced environment. This is a part-time position with possible full-time opportunities. To apply, please bring a copy of your resume with references to the Creperie & Café in Weaverville at 113 North Main Street.
as parent coaching/therapy which is conducted primarily by telephone. Students are met in the field, usually requiring the therapist to hike out to rustic campsites located anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours from our base camp in Old Fort. Independent or Associate level licensure in mental health in the state of North Carolina (LPC, LPCA, LMSW, LMSWA, LMFT, LMFTA) by April 2019. This is a temporary, full-time position. Hours are typically M-F, 9a-5p, with some weekend on-call responsibilities. Must pass a pre-hire drug screen and background check including a motor vehicle record check. Apply at: suwscarolinas.com/ about/careers
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HELPMATE FULL-TIME YOUTH PREVENTION EDUCATOR Helpmate seeks a full-time Youth Prevention Educator to provide education about healthy relationships and domestic abuse. Qualified candidates must have experience working with youth and hold a Bachelor’s degree or 2 years experience in social work or related field, with preference for experience in domestic violence. Email resume and cover letter to HelpmateAsheville@ gmail.com by 5pm on April 8 with “Youth Prevention Educator” in the subject line. No phone or in person inquiries.
ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL SEEKS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The Asheville Area Arts Council seeks a dynamic and visionary leader to fulfill the position of Executive Director. Learn more and apply on our website: www.ashevillearts. com. No phone calls please.
SUPPORT ASSOCIATE A Support Associate will work directly with and support individual’s with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities with the desired outcome of assisting the individual in becoming integrated into his/her community and maintaining the least restrictive environment/lifestyle while providing support and assistance with learning or maintaining desired skills outlined in the Individual Service Plan. As a Support Associate, you will be expected to identify individual’s strengths, needs, and goals. Ensure the implementation of Individual Service Plans (ISPs) and document outcomes accurately and timely, in accordance to Medicaid guidelines.
SCHOOL FOR MASSAGE AND BODYWORK Center for Massage offers 6/7 Month classes for massage and bodywork. The COMTA accredited program leads to a license and career in the natural healing community. centerformassage.com/ apply
SUWS OF THE CAROLINAS IS HIRING FOR SEASONAL THERAPISTS SUWS of the Carolinas is hiring for seasonal therapists to work during our busy summer season. We are a wilderness therapy program that operates in the Pisgah National Forest 30 minutes east of Asheville. We work with children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 17. The Seasonal Therapist is responsible for a caseload of up to 7 students, providing individual and group therapy, as well
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XCHANGE ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES I BUY OLD PAPER MONEY Buying old paper money, notes, bonds, documents, etc. Asheville, WNC and East TN. • Top value offered. Questions welcome! Call (865) 207-8994 or papermoneybuy@gmail.com
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No. 0220
ACROSS
1 “Not so!” 8 Modifier for “film” or “pinot” 12 *Instructions for premade dinner rolls 14 *Noble couple 15 With 4-Down, each year 16 Election day in the U.S.: Abbr. 17 Workplaces for scrub nurses, for short 18 Wrestling combos 21 Come through in the ___ 24 Completely mistaken 25 With 38-Across, hex that’s hard to shake 26 Cotton gin inventor Whitney 27 Have the wheel 28 Holier-___-thou 30 Partiality 31 *Latin American side dish that combines two food staples 34 *Title pair in a 2004-07 Nickelodeon sitcom 37 Practically an eternity 38 See 25-Across 39 Set aside for later 43 Bath tissue layer 44 Earth Day’s mo. 45 Word of caution 46 Items scattered on bridal paths 48 Almond-flavored liqueur 50 Cool, in dated slang 51 Ancient kingdom in modern-day Jordan 52 Sn, to chemists 53 *Eponymous founders of a Massachusettsbased firearms manufacturer 58 *Duo of magicians who are the longest-running headliners in Las Vegas history 59 Bit of pond scum 60 Mark ___, longtime game show partner of Bill Todman
PUZZLE BY BYRON WALDEN
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DOWN
Rankle Sock tip Try to hit, as a fly See 15-Across Fills a cargo hold Unaffiliated voters: Abbr. 7 URL ending associated with the beginnings of the answers to the six starred clues 8 P.M. who inspired a 1960s jacket 9 Trilogy of tragedies by Aeschylus 10 I.C.U. drippers 11 Hi-___ monitor 12 Enter to steal from 13 Upbraid 14 Gave out hands 15 School support grps. 19 Shakes one’s booty 20 Unnervingly strange 21 Positive kind of attitude 22 Extended family 23 Sound of contemptuous disapproval 25 Hootenanny instrument 28 Barbershop quartet voice 29 Pilgrimage to Mecca
30 “Act like you’re supposed to!” 32 Sleeps in a tent, say 33 Rigel or Spica, by spectral type 34 Johnny of 2005’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” 35 Part to play 36 “Can I get you ___?” 40 Casino patron 41 Language of 15-Across 4-Down 42 School founded by Henry VI 44 ___ male
45 Caravan animals 47 Insurance giant based in Hartford 48 Supplement 49 Cut the lawn 51 Prefix meaning “within” 53 Employer of a masseur 54 Brooks with Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards 55 “Brokeback Mountain” director Lee 56 ___-pitch softball 57 One of 100 in D.C.: Abbr.
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS NY TIMES PUZZLE
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