OUR 25TH YEAR OF WEE KLY INDEPE NDE NT NEWS, ARTS & EVE NTS FOR WE STE RN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 25 NO. 39 APRIL 17-23, 2019
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PAGE 22 GREEN IS THE NEW WHITE Thousands of couples get hitched in Asheville each year. But these festive events can also generate a hefty carbon footprint — leading some couples to consider the options for going green when they tie the knot in WNC. On the cover: Niki Irving, owner of Flourish Flower Farm in Asheville. COVER PHOTO Meghan Rolfe COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick
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OPINION
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Commuters strain city budget It’s budget time again, so [Asheville City] Council and its staff roll out presentations to demonstrate that — as ever — there isn’t enough money for what needs to be done. In the preamble, they show us a chart that purports to show how the city’s daytime population is divided between residents, commuters and tourists; the numbers are credited to a — no doubt expensive — consultant’s study some years ago. The Tourism Development Authority’s figures suggest that tourists make a positive contribution to the city, so let’s ignore them for now. We can get the other numbers for free from the Census Bureau website, and while the city’s chart claims that roughly 40,000 commuters come into the city every day, the latest estimates from the Census Bureau suggest that in 2017, that number was more like 60,000. Since the number of residents who work in the city in 2017 was estimated at 45,000, that difference is quite important. It means that more than half of the jobs in the city are filled by commuters. Such a proportion will have effects on both the city’s economy and its finances. For the economy, it would explain the constant need to cajole or even bribe companies to pay something approaching a living wage. It’s cheaper to live
outside the city, so commuters in general will be willing to work for less than residents, with the resulting downward pressure on wages. For the city’s finances, the situation is more complex. Commuters consume water, sewer, solid waste, streets, fire and police services provided by the city, so those services must be sized for the city’s daytime population ... rather than the permanent population of 90,000. Those five services add up to $105 million in the latest budget — $40 million of that total is to support the commuters’ consumption of those services (there are more complex models that give different answers, but the size of the problem is clear). How much do they contribute to this total? There aren’t any publicly available figures, but we know that they will only be contributing through sales taxes, 95% of which are confiscated by the state and county before they make it to the city’s coffers. Let’s assume that a commuter spends $20 a day in the city — for coffee, sandwiches or whatever. Combined, then, over a year they would contribute something like $1 million toward the $40 million the city spends on them. Larceny on a epic scale: It can only have one result —the city, missing that $40 million a year, will be able to do less and less. The city’s economy, unable to offer living wages to its residents, will wither. The last time that happened,
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OPI N I ON
Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com.
it took half a century to recover — this time, since this shortfall is imposed on us deliberately by the state, we may never recover. But if Asheville’s economy collapses, so does WNC’s and the 60,000, who imagine themselves to be so clever at getting free lunches out of the system, will be faced with some very hard choices. Alternatively, given the state of North Carolina politics, $40 million a year ought to be enough to buy some serious changes in the General Statutes. — Geoff Kemmish Asheville
LGBTQ coalition promotes legislative mischief Asheville’s LGBTQ lobby recently doubled down on their bullying practices with a press conference held in a confused epicenter of activism — the First Congregational United Church of Christ [see avl.mx/5we]. Their mission: to sell the uninformed a lemon basket of legislative mischief. Mind if I suggest this special interest group’s reputation is wrapped in a rainbow — not reality? One agenda is elimination of what they like to call conversion therapy. Their claim: It’s not possible to convert a person from their true sexual leanings and that great harm is done to great numbers of people caught up in this illconceived scam. They’re half-right. Psychologists are not infrequently faced with gender confusion issues. Our job is to help the thus afflicted sort through their inner entanglements — not outcome advocacy. In fact, bar one particularly vocal group, I don’t personally know anyone who practices conversion therapy. The exception: Asheville’s LGBTQ activists. How so? Well, who else do you know working so hard to convert women into men and men into women? Who else is trying to convert ladies’ restrooms into a full-access resource for those with a penis? Who else do you know is validating the practice of converting children into gender fluidity during their supervulnerable formative years? The original LGBTQ movement had a rightful mission of challenging the bias and abuse faced by those not fitting into nature’s clear preference for two genders. Somewhere along the line,
they evolved into an angry advocacy movement determined to recruit acolytes and market a false narrative. The deception: that the LGBTQ community is far bigger than it really is and that hate guides anyone who dares question their compass. Christians — at least those who ground their faith in the Bible — are subject to strenuous antagonism and misinformation coming out of the LGBTQ propaganda machine. Dissenting with how some choose to behave is not hate — it’s simply disagreement. And though the Bible offers a very clear challenge on same-sex behavior pretty much in line with nature’s message, our sourcebook permits neither hate, judgment nor condemnation by people of faith. Authentic culturists understand that real social advancement comes out of truth, education and open debate. Thanks to the hate and smoke coming out of the LGBTQ coalition, we haven’t had anything approaching honest discussion on this issue in decades. Don’t believe it? Try setting up a structured debate where both angles of view are in the house. Sorry UNC Asheville, the usual fake debate where four leftleaners sit at a table and echo hollow comfort rhetoric doesn’t count. What we are left with is an unchallenged predatory propaganda machine brandishing rainbow camouflage and victim pretense. For those who more genuinely care about this issue, may one offer a few reliable truisms? It is simply not possible to get to good places through bad means, truly loving agendas are never framed with anger and malice, and you can’t protect the vulnerable with a bodyguard of lies. — Carl Mumpower Asheville
Racism with a capital ‘R’ I am writing in response to Jerry Sternberg’s opinion regarding racism with a capital “R” [“Parsing the R-word: The Gospel According to Jerry,” March 27, Xpress]. He stated that Lynne Patton, an African American female, was used as a pawn by Rep. Mark Meadows. How despicable to think that a grown woman cannot make her own
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C A R T O O N B Y B R E NT B R O W N statement about her interpretation and experience regarding working with President Trump. Mr. Sternberg says he is a recovering racist. He has not recovered, and he is also a sexist. The audacity of comparing her to a slave on the auction block makes me sick to my stomach. I am surprised this man is allowed to write in your paper. — Maria Bips Weaverville
Asheville’s creative thinkers and global warming People have been around a really long time, not just in the mountains but
Clarification An article in our March 6 issue, “Hidden Hunger: WNC’s Unexpected Faces of Food Insecurity,” contained incomplete information about when Trish Harwood’s business, Clay Spa Salon Inc., changed hands. According to the N.C. Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, Harwood co-owned the business until 2012.
all over the world, some of that time without fire or heat. They did not succumb to the challenges of their day. I think the creative thinkers of any time rise up to the probing questions of their day. They study the facts and come to a logical conclusion. The “not so smarts” of the day always predict doom and failure. People have survived so many obstacles that most people cannot even fathom it. Creative thinkers get us through, while the naysayers would just as soon bury all of us. I think stupidity destroys us, but I know there is still a remnant around that thinks things through. Asheville, I know, has many creative thinkers and problem-solvers. Asheville, stay positive and keep your hearts sunny! — Susan Greenelsh Asheville
Correction In our April 10 review of Alice in Wonderland at Asheville Community Theatre, a photo caption should have identified Sadie Medlock as the actress who plays Alice.
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OPINION
Get moving BY CATHY HOLT People of Asheville and beyond: Let’s awaken from our fossil-fuel-induced trance, in which we feel powerless and victimized, and begin creating a world where renewable energy is everywhere and our most important needs are met. Both Asheville and Buncombe County governments have passed resolutions to achieve 100% renewable energy for municipal and county government operations, respectively, by 2030. And Buncombe County commissioners have set 2042 to achieve that goal for all homes and businesses in the county. What will be the path to get there? Last October, Buncombe County hired consulting company The Cadmus Group to craft a “reasonable and actionable plan” to reach its renewable energy goals. Since then, city and county staffers, plus a few “stakeholders,” have met with Cadmus, which has a track record with several other cities moving toward renewables. The focus is largely on electricity; Asheville Sustainability
A call for equity in clean energy plans
Officer Amber Weaver says that public transportation is not being discussed at this time.
inadequate diet, stress, racist harassment and worse health. Because of deregulation, industrial jobs have been outsourced overseas, shrinking the good, blue-collar jobs. The absence of economic opportunity and the “school to prison pipeline” result in youths of color disproportionately imprisoned. It’s not the teachers’ fault. Most people in prison are poor; incarceration is a profitable business and a modern form of slavery. If comfortable white activists fail to unite with our sisters and brothers of color and low wealth to make common cause for a future that values community over fossil fuel, our humanity is lacking and our movements will fail. We must embrace their needs and priorities, come out of our silos and build a common movement.
EQUITY AND ENERGY Meanwhile, some community conversations on equity and energy are happening. A diverse group met at the Arthur R. Edington Education & Career Center in January to brainstorm priorities. The meeting was organized by members of the WNC Renewables Coalition to discuss “climate resolutions.” After discussing how race, income and other factors shape our attitudes about the environment and climate change, participants created a list of priorities for the transition to renewables. The group was clear that big changes must happen within the next five years! Equity was a top priority. The group’s priorities have been shared with members of city’s Sustainability Advisory Committee on Energy and the Environment and the city’s and county’s sustainability officers.
CATHY HOLT What if more conversations in various communities, especially communities of color, were held and results were given to decision-makers? Conversations about how to provide for the basic needs of all of our communities and neighborhoods, including weatherization of homes to save energy and money, and great affordable mass transit. What kind of a movement will it take? Duke Energy plans to build gas pipelines and gas-fired power plants that lock us into at least 30 more years of climatedestroying gas-fired electricity. What can we do ourselves, with or without help from government, to meet our needs without fossil fuels — rendering those plants obsolete, stranded assets? I heard a friend say, “All we can do is vote.” I don’t agree. We can begin to listen to what the biggest needs and priorities are of those most marginalized, applying the lens of equity. We can start creating the world we want to live in — with abundant individual and community gardens, cooperation and teamwork to meet needs such as transportation — and prioritizing the care of our low-income, disabled, impoverished and ill members. WEALTH DISPARITY People of color have suffered first and worst, here and around the world, from climate change, racism and American colonialist/extractive foreign policy. People on the financial margin suffer from poor living and working conditions,
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EQUITY AND TRANSPORTATION Excellent, frequent, reliable, affordable public transportation provides an alternative to car ownership for low-income people, youths and the disabled, helping people access jobs, services and recreation. It must be so good that everyone uses it. I grew up in Boston, a city with vast networks of electric trolley lines, where even the mayor took the “T” to work. Residents in the three U.S. cities rated “most socially equitable” — New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston — spend up to 47% of their income on housing, according to an article on the website takepart.com (avl.mx/5wi). But low-cost public transit (abut 18% of average earnings) offsets the high cost of housing. In Pittsburgh, however, although housing costs less than 35% of residents’ earnings, the cost of transportation climbs above 30% of earnings, so it’s not among the top 10 socially equitable cities. A truly excellent transportation system is reliable, affordable and runs frequently. (It also creates jobs.) Here in Asheville, travel by bus can take 90 minutes, versus 20 minutes by car. People have lost their jobs due to unreliability of bus service. Equity means transportation for those without drivers’ licenses (including undocumented workers, who cannot get them). Asheville’s Transit Master Plan, adopted last July, sets out a schedule for adding routes and improving frequency over the next 10 years, with four major corridors seeing bus service every 15
FULL TIME STORE MANAGER WANTED minutes by 2023. However, the first year’s implementation has been pushed back from this July until next January. To avert climate disaster, we must get out of our cars! ELECTRIFIED MASS TRANSIT Electric buses, of which Asheville is acquiring several, have great advantages. Purchased from Proterra in Greenville, S.C., with a battery contract, these quiet buses are five times more efficient than diesel and save more than $24,000 per bus per year in fuel cost alone, according to the Environment and Energy Study Institute and the Chicago Transit Authority. With far fewer moving parts, electric vehicles break down much less often and last longer. They produce zero emissions, meaning cleaner air in our neighborhoods. A study by U.S. PIRG (United States Public Interest Research Group) estimates U.S. school districts could save roughly $2.9 billion annually if the entire national fleet were converted from diesel to electric. Imagine the drop in childhood asthma if our children no longer had to breathe diesel fumes!
Replacing all U.S. school buses with electric buses would avoid 5.3 million tons of emissions annually (even with electricity generated from fossil fuels), U.S. PIRG also reports. Even more emissions will be avoided as the electric grid becomes increasingly powered by renewable energy. Some speculate that as China goes wholesale into electric buses and other vehicles, we will witness the internal combustion engine going the way of the horse and buggy. As batteries improve and prices drop, the economics alone will create this revolution. Gov. Roy Cooper, in an executive order issued last fall, has called for 80,000 more zero-emission vehicles statewide by 2025. Shouldn’t many of these be mass transit vehicles? A major investment in electric public transportation will make a huge difference in equity and in achieving our goal of 100% renewable energy! So I invite all who value both social and environmental justice to insist on funding for great, electrified public transportation. X Cathy Holt is a passionate water protector and social-environmental justice activist who also loves coaching people to nurture their health, resilience and connections with self and others.
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NEWS
City urges greener, denser development
BY MARK BARRETT markbarrett@charter.net For most Asheville residents, trips to work, the drugstore, a bar or a restaurant all start the same way: inserting the key in the ignition and hitting the gas. If a city government initiative is successful, however, more and more people may be able to accomplish those same tasks just by walking out the door and making the rounds of their “urban center” neighborhood on foot or by catching a bus. The city has taken initial steps toward rezoning real estate in four places around town in hopes of encouraging new development that would offer a denser mix of housing, shops and office space, similar to Biltmore Park Town Square or Reynolds Village in Woodfin. The targeted properties are: Innsbruck Mall on Tunnel Road,
BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL: This Kmart store closed in late 2018, leaving a Dollar General store as the only tenant in the shopping center near the corner of Louisiana and Patton avenues. A Wells Fargo bank sits on property there that the bank owns. Photo by Mark Barrett
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Riverbend Marketplace on Swannanoa River Road, the former Kmart site on Patton Avenue in West Asheville and the shopping district north and west of the Merrimon Avenue/Beaverdam Road intersection in North Asheville. The idea is to create more housing where there’s both space to put it and
infrastructure to support it, while boosting the tax base and generating fewer negative environmental impacts than you’d get by building single-family homes and strip shopping centers out to the horizon. Compared with most post-World War II development, the kind the city now wants to encourage takes up less land, is more energy-efficient and is better suited to foot, bus and bicycle travel. A bus passes by each site at least once every 30 minutes, and that frequency would increase if the city succeeds in fully funding its Transit Master Plan. The Living Asheville comprehensive plan that City Council adopted last year calls for more intensive development along key city corridors to accommodate expected population growth, so folks who work in Asheville wouldn’t have to drive outside the city to find a place to rest their heads. Supporters say the proposed urban centers would help make living in Asheville more affordable by increasing the overall supply of homes and reducing the need for residents to own cars. People forced to move outside the city to find something they can afford are “saving money on housing but spending a whole lot more on transportation costs,” notes Mary Weber, a local landscape architect
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“Asheville wants to move in a direction that is more urban, that is more walkable, that has a greater mix of uses.” — city planner Vaidila Satvika who serves on the city’s Multimodal Transportation Commission. The plan suggests that buildings in the urban centers should be at least two stories, with parking to the side or rear, and be placed close to primary streets.
In addition, developments should be designed to encourage travel by means other than a car.
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The Blue Horizons Project is all about making a clean energy future a reality in Buncombe County and preserving our skies and waters for generations to come, and everyone has a part to play. In our region, it’s winter that presents the greatest challenge. On the coldest winter mornings, the amount of electricity we need to heat our homes spikes sharply. To solve our peak demand problem, we can find ways to lower our energy demand or generate more energy. But is it a good idea to construct another fossil-fuel power plant just to meet energy demand on the coldest winter mornings? We don’t think so – not when there are better ways – and we have some. Take advantage of free energy efficiency programs and resources for your home and business.
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N EWS Public input received as the plan was being written showed that “Asheville wants to move in a direction that is more urban, that is more walkable, that has a greater mix of uses,” says city planning staffer Vaidila Satvika. But early reaction to the proposed zoning changes and to development plans for the former Sears property at the Asheville Mall — a project that would include many of the features the city plan favors — suggests a disconnect between what property owners and some city residents want and what the Living Asheville plan envisions. The city will solicit public input next month on what specific tools to encourage urban centers should be included in the new zoning rules, which it hopes to have in place by year’s end. NOT ONLY THE LONELY All of the targeted sites include acres of parking. The Walmart parking lot alone is bigger than two aircraft carrier flight decks. But the prospects for redeveloping individual properties in those
AMERICA’S LARGEST CHAIN: There is no shortage of shoppers at the Walmart in Riverbend Marketplace in East Asheville, but some other retail space in the shopping center sits empty. Photo by Mark Barrett
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areas vary widely. Some are home to active and apparently successful businesses. In or near others, the wind blows trash and dust through empty parking lots. At the Innsbruck Mall, an escalator still runs from the ground floor to the tired-looking upper level, but hardly anyone uses it. Only four of the upstairs spaces have tenants, and none appear to generate much foot traffic. Tenants say there was talk of the property being redeveloped several years ago, but the project was apparently dropped. A parking lot on the north side of the building looks like a good place for your teenager’s first driving lesson: no obstacles other than a few light poles, and almost no traffic.
But the Ingles next door is usually bustling, nearby businesses on targeted parcels see varying levels of activity, and even the Innsbruck Mall’s ground floor is almost fully leased. The gigantic parking lot at the former West Asheville Kmart, which closed last year, is another lonely place. In the entire strip shopping center on Patton Avenue, only a Dollar General store is still open. Elsewhere along Patton, however, banks, restaurants and retailers (including the Harry’s on the Hill car dealership) occupy other parcels the city is looking to rezone. Over on the other side of town, there’s plenty of traffic in and out of the Walmart in Riverbend Marketplace. The buildings there are less than 20
LET’S TALK ... The city has scheduled two public meetings to discuss ways to encourage the development of urban centers: Tuesday, May 7, at the Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave.; and Wednesday, May 8, at the West Asheville Public Library, 942 Haywood Road. Both will run 6-7 p.m. The city will also hold less formal “open office hours” when people can look at concepts and provide their opinions. Those sessions will be held at the Planning Department on the fifth floor of City Hall 9-11 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. on Monday, May 13; Wednesday, May 15; and Friday, May 17. X
“I understand what the city’s trying to do, but I don’t know that what they’re trying to do fits every property where they’re trying to do it.” — Pat Grimes, president, Harry’s on the Hill years old, and although there are a handful of empty storefronts, several businesses appear to be doing well. It’s too early to say how most property owners will react to the city’s initiative, but opposition seems likely; some have already raised objections. The city initially tried to get stopgap rules in place to head off any conflicting redevelopment proposals that might surface while planners were drawing up more permanent rules. That effort was dropped after some property owners complained that the city was moving too fast and that they hadn’t received adequate notice concerning the planned changes. In November, an attorney representing the owners of buildings housing a Sav-Mor grocery store and a bank on Merrimon Avenue
told the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission that his clients were concerned because the proposed rezoning would leave their holdings out of compliance. Although existing properties would be grandfathered, the rezoning would apply to any new structures or major renovations. Wyatt Stevens, an attorney for the company that owns Harry’s on the Hill, wrote the city in January saying that while his clients want to cooperate, it “makes no sense” to adopt rules that would threaten a business that’s been there since 1967. “In the event of a fire or ... a major renovation — which could be mandated by General Motors — [the com-
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TAKING ACTION
Chris Smith takes a stand for okra diversity Chris Smith recalls the moment he tried okra for the first time after moving to the U.S. from England six years ago. The possibilities, says the marketing and communications manager at Sow True Seed, seemed limitless. “You can eat the leaves, the flowers — the pods are delicious. There’s so many culinary cultures to draw from when you’re looking for recipes. You can dry the seeds and grind them for flour and press them for oil,” Smith says, beaming. “It’s just this wondrous crop, and yet everyone seems to think it’s terrible and yucky. I felt like somebody needed to stand up for it.” Last summer, Smith took his love for okra to new heights through his work with the Utopian Seed Project, a organization that aims to create diverse and integrated food systems. He catalogued more than 75 varieties of the vegetable, which he hopes will promote resilience against pests, disease and climate change while providing greater food security. “To walk into my okra field was just to be astounded by these totally different okras. There were different plant
MORE THAN OK: Since moving to the U.S. from England six years ago, Chris Smith has become an advocate for variety in okra. Photo courtesy of Smith heights, leaf shapes, pod colors, stem colors,” Smith says. “From a botanical standpoint, there was definite genetic diversity between all of the different crops, and that was very exciting.”
— Brooke Randle X
MOUNTAINX.COM
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
13
N EWS pany] could not rebuild the dealership. The zoning designation could, in effect, kill the operation of this successfully family-owned business,” Stevens wrote. Meanwhile, company President Pat Grimes says, “I understand what the city’s trying to do, but I don’t know that what they’re trying to do fits every property where they’re trying to do it.” TOO TALL, TOO SHORT OR BOTH?
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
MOUNTAINX.COM
The debate over a recent proposal to redevelop the former Sears property at the Asheville Mall illustrates some of the pressures the proposed urban centers may face. Opposition can come from various directions. Neighbors often react negatively to proposals for denser development along commercial corridors near their homes, and developers may be put off by excessive restrictions. For planners and city officials, that can mean striking a balance between mandating that projects include certain desired features and recognizing that overly strict rules might end up killing development altogether.
“We don’t want to make something so restrictive that nothing ever happens,” notes Satvika. On March 12, City Council postponed a decision on plans for a movie theater, several commercial buildings and a sixstory apartment building, all set around an outdoor courtyard on the nearly 16-acre Sears site. The plan calls for 205 apartments, 21 of which would meet city affordability guidelines. The developer, Seritage Growth Properties, proposes demolishing the existing Sears building, converting the former Sears Auto Center into retail space and constructing six new buildings, all but one of which would be one story tall. City staff recommended denial, saying some of the new buildings should be at least two stories tall and placed closer to South Tunnel Road. Staff also wanted Seritage to improve pedestrian and bicycle connections to the road and to neighboring properties. Neighbors and other critics, however, argued that the project would aggravate traffic congestion and that the six-story structure would be out of scale. East Asheville resident Barber Melton, a longtime neighbor-
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DEAD MALL: Only four of the spaces on the upper level of Innsbruck Mall in East Asheville are occupied by tenants. Photo by Mark Barrett hood activist, said it would “look like a bandaged finger.” Council member Keith Young said the required number of affordable apartments should be quadru-
pled, from 10 percent to 40 percent. The chair of the development
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N EWS company, he pointed out, also heads the company that owns Sears, whose bankruptcy put many local people out of work. In April, former Asheville Mayor Lou Bissette, an attorney who’s representing Seritage, said company officials will consider that request. He declined to speculate on whether it would be financially feasible. Other Council members were more encouraging. “If the mall is a pig, this is a tremendous amount of really good lipstick. It’s just so much better,” said Council member Julie Mayfield. But she stopped short of endorsing the proposal without changes, telling the developers, “You’re kind of the test case, and … if we say yes to this that doesn’t have the density, the height, the feel that we’re looking for, I feel like we’ve shot ourselves in the foot going forward.”
In an interview, Bissette said the company is looking at changes, and he’s optimistic that the developers will be able to satisfy most of Council’s concerns. The project, he said, would quadruple the value of the property and inject life into unused land. “The old Sears building is sitting out there vacant. It’s not good for anybody,” he pointed out. STEERING THE OCEAN LINER The Asheville City Development Plan 2025, which City Council adopted in 2003, also calls for more densely developed urban centers along key corridors. It even includes a drawing by then-city planner Alan Glines showing what redevelopment of Innsbruck Mall might look like under that plan’s “new urbanist” guidelines. It also speaks of an “urban vil-
TAKING ACTION
Sunil Patel pieces together an Asheville urban farm Sunil Patel has always believed in urban farmers — he just didn’t plan on being one. “I’ve been farming for many years in different locations and I thought urban farming was one of the most important things that should happen in the world,” he says. “I never thought I would be doing it myself; I liked being in the country.” But when Patel landed in Asheville in 2013, he got a job at a permaculture demonstration site downtown and oversaw some urban farming education. “I thought a lot about what urban farming should look like and put out some feelers on a Facebook page looking for patches I could farm,” he says. Patel received dozens of responses to that initial call as people signed up to barter the use of their land for a share of the produce. He describes the result, Patchwork Urban Farms, as “one farm with many patches.” Landowners get credit toward any PUF products, while the farm makes income by selling produce through a community-supported agriculture program and Asheville tailgate markets. PUF also works with Ujamaa Freedom Market to serve urban food deserts. “In designing food systems, the foods that need to be freshest when we
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
MOUNTAINX.COM
PIECE BY PIECE: Patchwork Urban Farms, the brainchild of Sunil Patel, combines the produce of small patches throughout Asheville to supply a community-supported agriculture program and tailgate market stands. Photo courtesy of Patel eat them, the quick-turnaround crops, should be placed close to where we live,” he says. “I didn’t really think the farm would be as broad and idealistic as it turned out to be, but I’m pretty idealistic, so it has naturally turned into that.”
— Kay West X
ROOM TO GROW? Traffic levels on major roads near Asheville properties targeted for denser, mixed-use development are typically down from a few years ago. This graphic shows the average number of vehicles per day counted by the state Department of Transportation in 2002 and 2016, as well as the year during that period that had the highest daily traffic levels.
DAILY AVERAGE OF VEHICLES (2002 and 2016) Tunnel Road near Innsbruck Mall
Merrimon Ave. near Beaverdam Road
– 4,000
+1,000
2002 16,000
2016 17,000
2002 19,000
Peak 20,000 (2004)
2016 15,000
Peak 17,000 (2012)
Patton Ave. near Kmart site
– 5,000
2002 52,000
2016 47,000
Peak 52,000 (2010)
Tunnel Road near White Pine Dr. (Sears site)
– 1,000
2002 18,000
2016 17,000
Peak 20,000 (2006)
lage” around the Merrimon Avenue/ Beaverdam Road intersection. Many of those hopes were never realized, although Gerber Village and Biltmore Park Town Square have opened since then. Both developments were already in the works when the city plan came out. For at least 10 years, the city has offered to let developers build more densely along key streets in exchange for including some affordable housing in their projects, but there have been few takers. Satvika, the city planner, says that’s partly because the rules are so complex. Although mixed-use developments are becoming more common around the country, both Satvika and Glines note that many developers specialize in only one type of project and aren’t willing to tackle the more complex challenge of combining retail and residential facilities on the same site. That reluctance comes despite evidence that there’s a robust market for housing units in such new-style development. Demand for the 120 rental apartments in Biltmore Park Town Square is “very, very high,” says Brad Galbraith of Biltmore Farms, the project’s developer. Recent sales suggest that condominiums completed in 2009 have increased in value by an average of
Swannanoa River Road near Riverbend Marketplace
+2,100
2002 9,900
2016 12,000
Peak 15,000 (2006)
34.5%, according to figures compiled by Carol Fisk of Beverly-Hanks & Associates. The mostly two-bedroom units are now selling for just under $390,000. Retail space there was more affected by the Great Recession, says Galbraith, who is Biltmore Farms’ vice president for community development. Almost all the retail space is now occupied, he reports, and the office space is 99% leased. Over in Woodfin, however, several retail spaces at Reynolds Village sit empty. Part of the problem with the previous call for urban centers, says Satvika, was that the city didn’t follow through with strategies to encourage their construction. In addition to the rezoning effort, he explains, the city and other government agencies are beginning studies of key corridors with an eye toward identifying specific steps that could help shift development patterns. Changing what gets built amounts to “a cultural shift,” he points out — no easy task. “How do you make something walkable when it’s on an autooriented corridor?” asks Satvika. “We’re at the beginning of redirecting a massive ship.” X MOUNTAINX.COM
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
17
BUNCOMBE BEAT
Council explores new bonds, property taxes at budget session The way City Manager Debra Campbell, speaking at City Council’s April 9 budget work session, described Asheville’s search for funding evoked the image of a late-night scramble among the couch cushions for drive-thru money. “We are looking under every rock, every pillow, everywhere we can find to see if we can do as much and as many of those things as possible,” she said. “We’ve been struggling.” With the city’s major anticipated source of new money, the property and sales taxes resulting from the sale of Mission Health to for-profit HCA Healthcare, coming in at half of initial estimates for fiscal year 201920 — $2.5 million instead of $5 million, according to the Buncombe County tax office — Campbell explained that Council members would have to curb their initial spending plans for fiscal year 2020 and beyond. Moving forward, she and other officials stressed the importance of additional revenue streams to meet city needs.
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
NOT EASY BEING GREEN: Asheville city government staff has identified $330 million in currently unfunded capital needs, shown in green, through fiscal year 2024. Graphic courtesy of the city of Asheville City Chief Financial Officer Barbara Whitehorn proposed that Asheville institute a program of regularly issued general obligation bonds to support
MOUNTAINX.COM
capital improvement projects. Staff has identified $330 million in currently unfunded capital needs through fiscal year 2024, she said, and many partially funded projects will require significantly more money than expected. Whitehorn noted that the new Fire Station 13 on Broadway, which would also provide space for a police substation and an emergency operations center, is now projected to cost $11.4 million — $8 million over its current $3.4 million budget. “Additional investment in capital is really essential to providing our core services, and that routine bond program addresses the gap between investments and resources,” she said. According to state law, bond referendums can only be placed on the ballot in association with a regular election. The General Assembly changed Asheville’s municipal elec-
tions from odd to even years when it imposed districts on the city in June, meaning that residents could not vote on any new bonds until 2020 at the earliest. Regarding the city’s operating budget, Council member Julie Mayfield pointed out that Asheville wouldn’t have to wait for new money if the property tax rate were increased. “It feels to me like we’re not talking about an obvious solution,” she said. “I just don’t think we should keep kicking the can down the road and starving ourselves.” But others on Council were less than enthusiastic about the prospect of a tax hike. Keith Young, referencing his remarks at the group’s March retreat, said he wouldn’t support an increase, while Mayor Esther Manheimer said higher property taxes seemed “like a sledgehammer” of a tool to cover immediate city spending goals. Council member Vijay Kapoor countered that Mayfield should give more thought to cutting current city programs before proposing higher taxes. “I would have a very hard time supporting that without you spending a lot of time going through and asking, ‘Are we doing things right now that we shouldn’t be doing?’” he said. With economists pegging the threat of a recession within the next year at its highest level since 2008, Kapoor added, now is not the time to increase Asheville’s spending. “When that rainy day hits, and it will, we’re going to be in a tougher spot,” he said. Campbell agreed with those remarks: “With the economy progressing the way that it is, it could storm.”
— Daniel Walton X
Council hears update on Memorial Stadium parking
Find these & more 7 days a week! FIELD OF MACHINES: Parks and Recreation Director Roderick Simmons confirmed that Asheville Tourists staff and volunteers had been allowed to park on the turf at Memorial Stadium. Photo by Stirling Barlow Parks and Recreation Director Roderick Simmons fielded criticism over parking changes from community members and athletic groups who use Memorial Stadium during a presentation at Asheville City Council’s April 9 meeting. The city’s efforts to reduce the burden of event parking in the East End, Edgehill, Hunt Hill and Oakhurst neighborhoods, said multiple commenters, had hampered their access to the athletic facility. Simmons said his department had acted after numerous complaints from area residents about parking in and around their neighborhoods during major events. The largest impact, he said, come from the Asheville Tourists minor league baseball team, which hosts 70 games at McCormick Field from April-August that draw 2,000-3,000 people each. To contain the impacts of Tourists staff and volunteers parking on these neighborhoods during game days, Simmons explained, the city designated parking areas for them at Mountainside Park and Memorial Stadium. Those areas are now barricaded 24 hours ahead of scheduled games — for up to seven consecutive games — and no public parking is allowed. Pedestrian access to these areas remains open. Simmons noted that the change has displaced as many as seven organized athletic groups from Memorial Stadium due to parking availability
but does not limit use of or restrict access to the field. He said those groups have been accommodated through relocation to UNC Asheville and other area fields. While reports and presentations to Council are usually not open for public comment, Mayor Esther Manheimer chose to suspend the rule for the parking issue. “This is under presentation because there is no Council action. It is not typically the role of council to dip into Parks and Rec’s weeds — no pun intended — but we have been lately,” Manheimer said. “We don’t normally take speakers during presentations, but it’s a little disjointed to wait until the end of the council meeting to have you speak on this item.” One of the speakers, Ann Sitler, who sits on the board of directors for the nonprofit Asheville Ultimate Club, said that her organization had been adversely impacted by the move. “We have been asked for almost half of our nights to be canceled or moved to other locations if possible. We have not been given solutions for every single night,” Sitler explained. “And while I am a big supporter of the Asheville Tourists, I love going to the games, I just don’t feel that it’s right to get rid of our space.” “What I’ve seen happen is that they’re limiting use of the field,
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
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NEWS BRIEFS
N EWS whether they admit to it or not,” added Asheville resident Stirling Barlow. “My son’s lacrosse league has not been able to go up there; the men’s lacrosse league hasn’t been able to have their season up there. They said they were limiting use of the field to prevent cars from being damaged, and now that the cars are pulled back, I don’t understand why we can’t have full use of the facilities.” Other speakers took issue with Tourists staff and volunteers straying from the asphalt surrounding Memorial Stadium to park on the field surface itself, which underwent minor renovations in 2017. Simmons confirmed that Parks and Recreation staff had allowed this parking, adding that the facility was scheduled for major upgrades next spring. “Please don’t park cars on the only place we can play our sports,” said Seth Gleason of the Asheville Ultimate Club. “You can park a car on a gravel lot, but you can’t play ultimate and soccer on a gravel lot.”
— Brooke Randle X
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
by News staff | news@mountainx.com CITY RAISES FEES, MOVES CLOSER TO 2019-20 BUDGET As Asheville City Council continues deliberations on its budget for fiscal year 2019-20, which begins July 1, Council members passed increases to some city fees on April 9. Changes to water and stormwater fees (which are billed together on a combined utility statement) will become effective Sept. 1. According to a city press release, “The impact per household is estimated to be 70 cents a month — or $8.40 for the year.” Irrigation, commercial and manufacturing water and stormwater rates rose as well. Other changes will go into effect July 1 and include adjustments to rental charges for city facilities and fees related to permits and development. The proposed 2019-20 budget will be published online by Friday, May 10, the city said. A budget public hearing will be held Tuesday, May 28, at City Council’s regular meeting. Finally, Council will vote on the budget Tuesday, June 11, at its regular meeting. ASHEVILLE 14TH-BEST CITY FOR LGBTQ RETIREES SeniorAdvice.com released its third annual list of top American cities for gayfriendly retirement, ranking Asheville No. 14 for its number of same-sex couples and lesbian officials. New Orleans topped the list. “Although there is still room for some progress when it comes to advocacy and protections for the LGBTQ community in North Carolina,” the report advised, Asheville’s abundance of both breweries and seniors earned it major lifestyle points. “Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, elected its first openly lesbian county commissioner, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, in 2016, and in 2015, lesbian Tammy Hooper became the first female Asheville police chief. O. Henry’s, one of the oldest gay bars in the country, was established in 1976 in Asheville,” the
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STUDENT PROJECT: Students from four local schools gathered on April 3 for the dedication of the Habitat home in Arden they helped raise funds for and build. Photo courtesy of Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity report said. Hooper resigned her post in January; the city is currently seeking its next police chief. YWCA TAKES STAND AGAINST RACISM In partnership with YWCA Associations nationwide, YWCA Asheville again observes the annual Stand Against Racism event, which builds community among those working for racial justice and encourages awareness of the negative impact of institutional and structural racism. This year’s event places a special focus on immigration and racism and ways in which the two intersect. A few of the events planned for Asheville include: • Talking to young kids about race, hosted by Rainbow Community School and the Buncombe Partnership for Children, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, 60 State St. Child
care provided. Register at avl.mx/5wk. • West Side Walk for Peace, hosted by Asheville Primary, Vance Elementary, Hall Fletcher Elementary and Rainbow Community schools and others, 10-10:30 a.m., Friday, April 26, 441 Haywood Road. • Film screening and panel discussion of Immigrant Prisons, 4-6 p.m. Sunday, April 28, Grail Moviehouse, 45 S. French Broad Ave. To register your own event or look up a participating site, visit www.StandAgainstRacism. org. For more information on Asheville’s Stand, contact Gerry Leonard at g.leonard@ ywcaofasheville.org. STUDENTS BUILD HABITAT HOME Future homeowner Kerri Collosso can thank a group of students from Asheville Christian Academy, Christ
School, Carolina Day School and the Franklin School of Innovation for raising $55,000 in funding and volunteering to build her new home. Collosso’s two-bedroom, 884-square-foot house completes the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity community on Jon Kraus Way in Arden, which has been under construction since 2017. According to a press release from Asheville Habitat, “Even before the house began construction last year, students were already fundraising and learning about affordable housing through workshops with Asheville Habitat staff. Students raised money at school sporting events and came up with fundraising initiatives of their own. At Franklin School of Innovation, some teachers have integrated housing issues into their curriculum, particularly focusing on gentrification in Asheville and the resulting barriers to homeownership that many people face.” X
FEA T U RE S
ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com
The Bellyache Heard ’Round the World Babe Ruth’s short-lived death in Asheville, 1925 “Preparations are being made to handle one of the largest crowds ever assembled on McCormick Field,” declared the April 5, 1925, edition of The Sunday Citizen. “Plenty of ushers will be on hand to relieve congestion in the grandstands, while sufficient number of ticket sellers will be in action to prevent delays.” The source of excitement, the paper reported, was the Tuesday exhibition game between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The teams’ combined talents, The Sunday Citizen continued, would result in “possibly the greatest collection of baseball stars ... assembled on McCormick Field in one day.” Among the long list of talented sluggers was George Herman “Babe” Ruth. As any baseball expert (or fan of the 1993 film “The Sandlot”) can tell you, “Babe” was just one of Ruth’s many nicknames. Others included: The Sultan of Swat, The Titan of Terror, The Colossus of Clout, The King of Crash and The Great Bambino. Sadly, the Babe didn’t make it out onto the diamond for the April 7, 1925, game. Earlier that morning, as the team pulled into Asheville by train, The Great Bambino collapsed. Unconscious, he was rushed to the Battery Park Hotel, where he received medical attention by Dr. Charles Jordan. In Jane Leavy’s 2018 biography, The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created, the author writes that the incident “became a season-long feeding frenzy, a steady diet of column inches about Ruthian excess.” Far from a shock, Leavy argues Ruth’s collapse was inevitable: “Inevitable because everything about him had become overstated: the meals, beer, pounds, spending, and even the linguistic entitlements. He had begun speaking of himself in the third person, a disease that has become endemic to the modern locker room. ‘The Babe can’t disappoint his fans,’ he declaimed the day before he passed out in Asheville, North Carolina, as the Yankees headed north from spring training.” The incident became known as The Bellyache Heard ’Round the World and was followed by rumors of Ruth’s death. The short-lived hoax was quickly rebutted in print. One example, an April 9 headline in Ohio’s The Portsmouth Daily
THE GREAT BAMBINO: In 1925, Babe Ruth arrived in Asheville for an exhibition game. Health issues would prevent him from playing. The baseball legend returned six years later for a pair of games against the Tourists. Photo courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Times read, “Reports that ‘Babe’ had died on train denied by Ruth himself.” Ruth was back in New York shortly after his collapse in Asheville. But health issues continued to plague the baseball star, resulting in a six-week stint at St. Vincent Hospital, where he underwent surgery for an intestinal abscess. According to Leavy, the hospital stay cost the Yankees $1,107.03, as well as the American League pennant. Ruth was released from the hospital on May 25, 1925, and returned to the team’s lineup on June 1.
Six years later, in April 1931, the Yankees returned to Asheville for a two-game expo against the Tourists. “Babe Ruth, the left fielder who hits homers, who draws 80,000 bucks a year … will be here, too,” The Asheville Citizen promised its readers. The first game was held on April 7. The Yankees defeated the Tourists, 5-2. “The booming bat of Babe Ruth lived up to expectations,” the following day’s paper declared. On April 8, the two teams met again for their second and final game. Both Ruth and teammate Lou Gehrig nailed home runs in the third inning. “The Babe’s smash was lofted to the crest of the right field embankment, while Gehrig’s blow carried … eventually [landing] 30 feet up a bank behind deep centerfield,” The Asheville Citizen wrote. Later, during the seventh inning stretch, a group of kids rushed Ruth “and put him to work autographing baseballs, scoreboard and whatever else they happened to carry in pants pockets,” the paper noted. By day’s end, the Yankees defeated the Tourists yet again, 11-3. But the true winner, proclaimed the April 12, 1931, edition of The Asheville Citizen, was the city itself. In the throes of the Great Depression, the paper wrote: “From a purely financial viewpoint a good business man has said that the Yankees did not take any money out of Asheville. Their share of the gate receipts amounted to more than $2,000.00 but when you figure that the fifty in the party remained here three days and spent perhaps $20 per day, the balance, if any, is in favor of the city. Hence those fans who pushed their buck through the wicket in return for a ticket to the game, not only got their dollar’s worth of entertainment, but contributed to the financial comeback of the community.” Editor’s note: Peculiarities of spelling and punctuation are preserved from the original documents.X
MOUNTAINX.COM
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
21
FE AT U RES
GREEN IS THE NEW WHITE
Conscious couples say ‘I do’ to eco-friendly weddings
BY BROOKE RANDLE brandle@mountainx.com The coming of spring means love is in the air, and in Asheville, that signals the start of another busy wedding season. Last year alone, Asheville was the site of more than 4,000 nuptials, according to The Wedding Report, an online market research company that compiles data from across the country. But while beauty and romance are typically the focus, these festive events can also generate a hefty carbon footprint. Kate Harrison, who wrote The Green Bride Guide, estimates that the average wedding can produce 400 pounds of trash and more than 60 tons of carbon dioxide. That’s leading some couples to think about going green when they go matrimonial. “Weddings are large events that produce a lot of trash, for sure,” says Arica Haro, director of events at Olivette, a 346-acre planned community that also serves as an eco-friendly wedding venue. “But we are in the mecca of wedding vendors and opportunities, so I would say shop your vendors, find out their practices and find like-minded people to collaborate with on your wedding.” BEYOND CONFETTI Olivette, which sits just north of Asheville in Woodfin, includes about 40 acres of organic vegetable, fruit and flower farmland, notes Haro, and local caterers can incorporate that farmfresh food to create a hyperlocalized wedding experience.
MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN: Venue costs for couples who wed at the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s Community Farm in Alexander will go toward conservations efforts across WNC. Photo courtesy of SAHC
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“We’re a fully functioning organic farm, so we encourage brides to look to us to get that full farm-to-table feel of everything coming right from Olivette,” she explains. And with the French Broad River “less than a stone’s throw away,” she continues, it’s important to avoid using harsh chemicals and pesticides that could end up in the river. Instead, the venue opts for nontoxic cleaning and pest control products. “We’re very mindful about the water quality,” says Haro, stressing that the goal is to keep Olivette’s Rosebay Park “looking pristine without harming the French Broad that’s right by it.” Andy Owensby also knows a thing or two about the challenges of maintaining an environmentally conscious venue. Owensby, who owns The Cabin Ridge in Hendersonville, says that creating an environmentally sound wedding requires a lot of elbow grease plus some help from Mother Nature. The family-run, seasonal wedding facility harvests about 5,000 gallons of rainwater annually — enough to run two bathrooms during the season and provide water for the flowers and grounds. “If I have 100 guests, it takes approximately 500-600 gallons of water,” Owensby explains. “It’s a lot of work. There’s a lot of attention that has to be given to all of that, but it all works well.” Despite its rural setting close to Chimney Rock State Park, notes Owensby, Cabin Ridge’s rustic pavilion boasts solar panels that make it energy efficient without limiting wedding day fun. “I think people are pretty surprised when I say there’s solar here,” she reveals. “I’ve had like three DJs tell me that it’s the purest power they’ve ever used because they don’t have any variation” in the current. STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES A less obvious environmental impact of weddings, however, is something most folks might simply see as a salute to nature. “About 80% of the flowers we consume in the U.S. are imported, usually from South America,” says Niki Irving of Flourish Flower Farm in Asheville. Before making their way into the hands of a bride, she points out, “They’ve traveled thousands of
“If I have 100 guests, it takes approximately 500-600 gallons of water.” — Andy Owensby, The Cabin Ridge miles and used however many gallons of fossil fuels.” To accommodate that, she explains, most imported flowers are harvested anywhere from weeks to months before they’re transformed into romantic flower crowns or groomsmen’s boutonnieres. “They’re not very fresh. I don’t know if you’ve ever bought flowers at the grocery store, but they look very pretty, and you think they’re going to open up, but they have to spray them with so many chemicals to keep them alive for all of those weeks that they’re never going to
open,” Irving maintains. “When you buy local flowers, they’re harvested fresh, so it’s a very, very different product.” Emily Copus, who runs Carolina Flowers in the quaint town of Marshall, agrees, stressing that the environmental and social costs of the pesticides and chemicals imported flowers require are not reflected in the price. “Although the flowers may be cheap in a big-box store, it’s cheap because there are all these
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TAKING ACTION
Susan Dobroski drives Toybrary lending service
BUS FULL OF JOY: Susan Dobroski had the Toybrary of Asheville wrapped in bright turquoise, with branding created by one of her sons. Photo courtesy of Dobroski After raising two boys, Susan Dobroski knows that sharing toys is the key to sibling harmony. But on a larger scale, she also believes that toy sharing supports community sustainability. Enter the Toybrary of Asheville, a mobile toy exchange she launched in August based on her family’s experience with the idea in Rochester, N.Y. “When I moved here in 2014, I was stunned to find that no one in Asheville had even heard of toy libraries,” Dobroski recalls. That realization, combined with a desire to put her environmental education degree and professional therapeutic recreation experience to new use, eventually led her to make a late-night web search for “mobile toy unit” — yielding a cus-
tomized van stocked with high-quality early-childhood toys being sold by a nonprofit in Joplin, Miss. Dobroski had the toy-mobile wrapped in bright turquoise with branding created by one of her sons, a move that succeeded in catching Asheville’s eye. On her first test run to a Whole Foods parking lot, she says, “so many people wanted to see inside I was there for an hour.” But Dobroski welcomes the curiosity. “The average family spends well over $1,000 a year on toys,” she points out. “A Toybrary lets you check out three toys at a time for a couple of weeks — it saves money and keeps toys out of the landfill.”
— Kay West X
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FE AT U RES global issues with fuel and labor that are kind of out of whack.” There may also be concerns about exposure, notes Copus. “There are a lot of photos right now where workers are packaging roses and things like that in full protective gear: massive orange gloves and face masks. We don’t think as much about what goes into their production as we might with food, but you do put flowers near your face and next to your body, and kids touch them,” she points out. To ward off pests, she continues, her farm relies as much as possible on natural products such as neem oil. For Copus, though, buying local also means buying seasonally. And while this necessitates greater flexibility on the couple’s part, she believes it also helps create a deeper experience. “We encourage people to do flowers that are in season because they have a more authentic feeling,” Copus explains. “We talk a lot about sense of place in our business and how we can communicate and support our Appalachian roots. I think people who are coming to Asheville to get married, they’re coming to experience the mountains and Appalachia and the beautiful nature that we have here, and buying local flowers is an extension of that.” In addition, says Irving, couples concerned about discarding freshcut flowers after only a few hours of use also have the option of donating them. She partners with a community organization called the Power Flower Project, which picks up the flowers after an event and distributes them to schools, hospitals or simply via random acts of kindness. “A lot of our brides love that because sometimes they’re traveling and can’t take them home,” Irving says. “I would hate to throw them away, so it’s so great to be able to give these flowers another life.”
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this isn’t really something they need to worry about anymore,” she says. But Moody also cites the growing popularity of less traditional gemstones such as Montana blue sapphires, rubies and tanzanite, as well as alternative forms such as sliced, raw or salt-and-pepper diamonds. “You don’t have to buy a diamond!” she exclaims. “Using these stones is a great way to show your uniqueness and style, while often spending a lot less than you would on a white diamond.” LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
PUT A RING ON IT: While diamond rings may be traditional, jewelry designer Lauren Moody invites couples to get creative when choosing engagement rings. Photo courtesy of Fox & Beaux Boutique DOWN ON ONE KNEE Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but for decades they’ve also been embroiled in ethical controversies concerning child labor, human rights abuses and even war. Nonetheless, diamond mining remains a more than $80 billion global industry, according to a 2018 report from the De Beers Group, an international diamond company. Younger people may be moving in a different direction, however. Jewelry designer Lauren Moody of Fox & Beaux Boutique in downtown Asheville says her decision to work only with “conflictfree” diamonds stemmed in part from the demands of socially conscious customers. “Often these customers are well aware of the social and ethical issues of the
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past, and they want to be sure they are being as responsible as possible when purchasing diamonds,” says Moody, who specializes in custom rings for weddings, engagements, anniversaries and other special occasions. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, she explains, is an international attempt to divert the flow of money to rebel military groups that seek to delegitimize United Nations-recognized governments in Africa and other diamondproducing areas. Implemented in 2003, it employs strict guidelines and sanctions to regulate the diamond industry. Thanks to these efforts, notes Moody, 99% of the diamonds in the marketplace are now considered conflict-free. “Many people are relieved when they learn how successful it has been and that
And for conscious couples with a love of the outdoors, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy now offers a way to channel wedding expenditures toward preserving the area’s natural beauty. The nonprofit, which has preserved more than 75,000 acres of farmland and scenic beauty in the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains since 1974, recently opened its Community Farm to the public for eco-friendly weddings. Located just 10 miles outside Asheville in Alexander, the educational property features 100 acres of sustainable farmland, more than 3,000 feet of restored streams and a shortleaf pine reforestation project. But the environmental benefits don’t end at the property line: The venue fees help fund conservation efforts throughout the region. “Asheville is a huge place for weddings, not just for people that live here but really for everyone that’s coming from afar,” notes Lauren McTigue, the conservancy’s nature experience director. “We just thought, ’What a cool concept for you to have your wedding [help protect] the landscape that you love.’” The money also supports educational programs such as partnerships with the YMCA and local schools that
aim to encourage youths to get outside and develop a passion for the outdoors. Another educational effort, the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion program, involves “going into the community to learn about people who don’t get out into nature and what they need from us,” says McTigue. “We just like the thought of putting people into a place where they can have an experience that hopefully makes them love and feel something for the nature surrounding them.” Couples don’t have to sacrifice aesthetics in the name of conservation, either, stresses McTigue. Whether it’s spring wildflowers or deep purple
grasses and evergreens in the fall, the Community Farm provides a beautiful wedding backdrop. But to be able to enjoy a splendid setting while also doing good is an unbeatable combination, she maintains. “We’ve had such great feedback, and I definitely think that part of it is that their money can go toward conservation. That’s huge, especially for folks who live around here. These are the mountains that we play in, and it’s almost hard to play in these mountains on a regular basis and not touch land that our organization had a part in preserving.” X
TAKING ACTION
Bill Fleming builds community through Get Off the Grid Fest When Bill Fleming and his wife, Jacquelyn Howard, built their off-grid house in Appalachian north Georgia, they learned two things. First, the high interest many rural residents shared in living off the grid wasn’t matched by the available technology in the region; second, no one gets off the grid alone. “Getting off the grid is a community effort,” he says. With the launch of the three-day Get Off the Grid Fest in August 2017 — coinciding with a total solar eclipse — in Blairsville, Ga., Fleming sought to foster that community by linking people with off-grid interest to people with know-how. The second biennial GOTG Fest, Friday-Sunday, Aug. 9-11, moves northeast to Warren Wilson College’s 16-acre Big Berea Pasture. Panel discussions, presentations and workshops will explore not only the energy aspects of off-grid living, but also independence in food and health. In addition, three stages will spotlight an eclectic lineup of performers such as Rising Appalachia, Strung Like a Horse and Sol Driven Train. “Culture is the closest to my heart,” says Fleming, who plays steel guitar.
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OFF-GRID GURU: Bill Fleming’s conviction that off-grid living is a community effort led him to establish the Get Off the Grid Fest in 2017. Photo by Tom Harper Photography, courtesy of Fleming “The best way to build the culture of a community is through music and dance, and we have an incredibly strong line-up. It’s an empowering and joyful event.”
— Kay West X
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR APRIL 17 - 25, 2019
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 ASHEVILLE ANIMAL RIGHTS READING GROUP • 3rd FRIDAYS, 6-7:30pm - Animal Rights Reading Group. Free to attend. Held at Firestorm Books & Coffee, 610 Haywood Road
BENEFITS FRIENDS OF THE LAKE 5K RACE, WALK & KIDS FUN RUN • SA (4/20), 9am Proceeds from the Friends of the Lake 5K
Race, walk and kids fun run benefit the Friends of the Lake. $30/$15 students. Held at Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat Center, 91 N. Lakeshore Drive, Lake Junaluska TALENT! A SHOW | BENEFIT FOR OUR VOICE • MO (4/22), 7:30pm Proceeds from Talent! A Show, an evening of curated performances featuring trapeze, juggling, live music, dance and stand-up comedy benefit Our Voice. Admission by donation. Held at The Mothlight, 701 Haywood Road
BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY A-B TECH SMALL BUSINESS CENTER 828-398-7950, abtech.edu/sbc • WE (4/17), 5:308:30pm - SCORE: Marketing Your Business with Google, seminar. Registration required. Free. Held at A-B Tech Madison Site, 4646 US Highway 25/70, Marshall • TH (4/18), 11am-1pm - Instagram Basics for Your Small Business, seminar. Registration required. Free. Held at A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Road, Candler • TU (4/23), 9am-noon Outdoor Industry Entrepreneurship - Level 2, seminar. Registration required. Free. Held at A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Road, Candler • TU (4/23), 5:30pm - How to Find Your Customers, seminar.
Registration required. Free. Held at A-B Tech Madison Site, 4646 US Highway 25/70, Marshall ECONOMIC CRYSTAL BALL SEMINAR • TH (4/18), 6:15pm 35th Annual Economic Crystal Ball Seminar with lectures and forecasts by economists David W. Berson and James F. Smith. Reception at 6:15pm. Lecture at 7pm. Questions at 8pm. Registration required: 828-251-6550 or kmoore@unca.edu. Free. Held at Lipinsky Auditorium at UNC Asheville, 300 Library Lane FLETCHER AREA BUSINESS ASSOCIATION • 4th THURSDAYS, 11:30-noon - General meeting. Free. Held at YMCA Mission Pardee Health Campus, 2775 Hendersonville Road, Arden
GOOD EGG: Asheville’s 10th annual Easter on the Green will be held, Saturday, April 20, 2-5 p.m. at Roger McGuire Green in Pack Square Park. Age-specific Easter egg hunts will be held throughout the afternoon as well as opportunities to meet the Easter Bunny. This family-friendly event is free and open to the public. For information about Easter on the Green and for the egg hunt schedule, visit ashevilledowntown.org. Photo courtesy of IMA Photo and Images (p. 28) HAYWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOB FAIR • WE (4/24), 10am-2pm - Job fair with local businesses. Free. Held in the library. Held at Haywood Community College, 185 Freedlander Drive, Clyde
CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS EMOTIONAL AND AROMA FREEDOM TECHNIQUE WORKSHOP (PD.) Hosted by Nancy Allen and Deana Johnson for a journey of self discovery. To register call/text 828-691-8581. $40 cash. April 25th, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Crystal Visions in Hendersonville. EMPYREAN ARTS DROP-IN CLASSES (PD.) INTRO TO POLE FITNESS on Tuesdays 7:15pm and Saturdays 11:30am. AERIAL FLEXIBILITY on Mondays 6:00pm and Fridays 1:00pm. AERIAL KIDS on Wednesdays 4:30pm.
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LIQUID MOTION / FLOOR CONNECTION on Sundays 3:30pm. EMPYREANARTS. ORG. 828.782.3321. 32 Banks Avenue, Studio 108. ANNUAL MEETING OF WNC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION • TH (4/18), 6pm Annual meeting of WNC Historical Association, includes a business meeting followed by refreshments and self guided tours. Information: 828-253-9231 or tim@wnchistory.org. Held at Smith-McDowell House Museum, 283 Victoria Road ASHEVILLE FRIENDS OF ASTROLOGY • FR (4/19), 7-9pm General meeting with Ron Tiggle speaking on calculating secondary and solar arc progressions and directions. Free to attend. Held at EarthFare - Westgate, 66 Westgate Parkway AUTISM MOVIE NIGHT • SA (4/20), 4pm Autism Movie Night.
Free and open to the public. Held at Arms Around ASD, 191 Charlotte St. BIG IVY COMMUNITY CENTER BOARD MEETING • 4th MONDAYS, 7pm - Community center board meeting. Free. Held at Big Ivy Community Center, 540 Dillingham Road, Barnardsville BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES • 4th TUESDAYS, 6-8pm - Sit-n-Stitch, informal, self-guided gathering for knitters and crocheters. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR ADULT CARE HOMES • 3rd FRIDAYS, 9-10:30am - Community Advisory Committee for Adult Care Homes, meeting. Registration: julia@landofsky. org. Free. Held at Land-Of-Sky Regional Council Offices, 339
New Leicester Highway, Suite 140 GRADUATE STUDENT SHOWCASE • WE (4/24), 5-7pm - Graduate student showcase, featuring a multidisciplinary display of projects. Free. Held at Lenoir Rhyne University, 36 Montford Ave. HOMINY VALLEY RECREATION PARK • 3rd THURSDAYS, 7pm - Hominy Valley board meeting. Free. Held at Hominy Valley Recreation Park, 25 Twin Lakes Drive, Candler LEICESTER HISTORY GATHERING • 3rd THURSDAYS, 7pm - The Leicester History Gathering, general meeting. Free. Held at Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Highway, Leicester NC ASSOCIATION OF VOLUNTEER ADMINISTRATORS • TU (4/23), 2-4pm - Land of the Sky Association of Volunteer Administrators
bi-monthly meeting. Registration: kisrael@ fourseasonscfl.org. Held at Henderson County United Way, 32 Smyth Ave., #100, Hendersonville ONTRACK WNC 50 S. French Broad Ave., 828-255-5166, ontrackwnc.org • TH (4/18), noon1:30pm - Introduction to Homebuying, workshop. Registration required. Free. • MO (4/22), noon1:30pm - Budgeting and Debt, class. Registration required. Free. • MO (4/22), 5:307pm - Understanding Credit. Get it. Keep it. Improve it. Seminar. Registration required. Free. • WE (4/24), 5:307pm - Introduction to Homebuying, workshop. Registration required. Free. PROFESSIONAL CRAFT ARTIST SUMMIT • WE (4/24), 12:307pm - Professional Craft Artist Summit: Your Creative Small Business Journey, held in the Creative Arts Building. Registration: sbc.haywood. edu. Free. Held at Haywood Community College, 185 Freedlander Drive, Clyde PUBLIC RELATIONS SOCIETY OF AMERICA FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA • TU (4/23), 5:307:30pm - Meet and greet to support the formation of a new chapter of the Public Relations Society of America for Western North Carolina. Free. Held in room 204 Held at WCU Health and Human Sciences Building, 3971 Little Savannah Road, Cullowhee THE STEADY COLLECTIVE • WE (4/17), 7pm Sometimes We Win: A Celebration of Harm Reduction and Survival, celebration event with The Steady Collection. Free to attend. Held
at Odditorium, 1045 Haywood Road
FOOD & BEER COMMUNITY EASTER MEAL • FR (4/19), 4:305:30pm - Community Easter meal. Free. Held at Western Carolina Rescue Ministries, 225 Patton Ave. INFUSED IN HISTORY: A TEA EXHIBIT • WE (4/24) through SA (9/28) - Learn about tea and tea history with displays and informative panels in each of SmithMcDowell House period rooms. Admission fees apply. Held at Smith-McDowell House Museum, 283 Victoria Road
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WELCOME TABLE FREE MEAL • WEDNESDAYS, 11:30am-1pm Welcome Table, community meal. Free. Held at Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Highway, Leicester YMCA OF WNC 828-210-2265, ymcawnc.org • WE (4/24), 1:152:15pm - Feed Your Gut, workshop with a dietician regarding the importance of a healthy gut biome. $15/$10 members. Held at Woodfin YMCA, 40 North Merrimon Ave., Suite 101 • TH (4/25), 5:30-7pm - Adult cooking class. Registration required: 828-575-2939 or lfurgiuele@ymcawnc. org. $25/$15 members. Held at YMCA - Asheville, 30 Woodfin St.
FESTIVALS 5TH ANNUAL EARTH DAY KID'S FESTIVAL • SA (4/20), 10am2pm - Family-friendly, Earth Day festival with environmental education, arts and crafts, performances, and exhibition of winners from the Voices of
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CONSCIOUS PARTY I’LL TAKE THE LAKE: The Friends of the Lake 5K Road Race, Walk and Fun Run, in its 12th year, is a fundraiser for the Lake Junaluska Walking Trail, a privately owned recreation site in Western North Carolina. All proceeds from the 5K run go toward improvements and annual maintenance of the trail. Friends of the Lake 5K invites participants of all ages and abilities to participate in the race which takes place at Lake Junaluska on Saturday, April 20. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. The race starts at 9:05 a.m. A kids fun run with the Easter bunny takes place at 9:45 a.m. Registration is $30 for adults, $18 for students and the Kids Fun Run for ages 10 and under is free. The Fun Run is part of Easter weekend festivities at Lake Junaluska and includes children’s Easter egg hunts, a sunrise service and a buffet lunch. For registration visit: avl.mx/5wn. Photo courtesy of Lake Junaluska (p. 26)
the River Art and Poetry Contest. Information: WNCforthePlanet.org. Free to attend. Held at Salvage Station, 468 Riverside Drive DILLSBORO EASTER HAT PARADE • SA (4/20), 10am-4pm - Dillsboro Easter Celebration with the Easter Hat parade, egg hunts, face painting and the Easter Bunny. Parade at 2pm. Eggs hunts every half hour. Participants encouraged to wear Easter hats. Information: discoverjacksonnc.com. Free to attend. EASTER ON THE GREEN • SA (4/20), 2-5pm Easter on the Green, age-specific Easter egg hunts, bouncy houses and family-friendly activities. Free to attend. Held at Pack Square Park, 121 College St. EGG HUNT AND SPRING FLING • SA (4/20), 2-4pm - Easter egg hunt with games and crafts for kids. Free. Held at Groce United Methodist Church, 954 Tunnel Road MINDFULNESS FESTIVAL • SA (4/20), 10am11:45pm - Earth day Mindfulness Festival featuring performances, wellness demonstrations, interactive movement classes and art activities. Information:
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bit.ly/2KnRD1D. Free to attend. Held at UNCA, 1 University Heights SPRING ARTS FEST • FR (4/19), 11am-7pm - Arts Fest, festival celebrating the arts through student presentations, exhibitions, workshops, art sales and interactive installations. Free. Held at Lipinsky Auditorium at UNC Asheville, 300 Library Lane
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS DEMOCRAT WOMEN OF BUNCOMBE COUNTY • TH (4/18), 5:15pm Monthly meeting, third Thursday each month, registration 5:15pm, dinner 5:30pm, program 6pm. Catered dinner $12 members/$15 non-members. Held at Buncombe County Democratic Headquarters, 951 Old Fairview Road HENDERSON COUNTY LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS lwvhcnc.org • TH (4/18), 4-5:30pm Walk and update on the Oklawaha Greenways master plan. Free. Held at Patton Park, Asheville Highway, Hendersonville • TU (4/23), 2:30-4pm Program on NC Fair District Reform, the history of gerrymandering and the need for bipartisan
reform. Free. Held at Fletcher Town Hall, 300 Old Cane Creek Road, Fletcher • TH (4/25), 6-7:30pm - Program on NC Fair District Reform, the history of gerrymandering and the need for bipartisan reform. Free. Held at Henderson County Public Library, 301 N. Washington St., Hendersonville TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FORUM • WE (4/24), 6pm - ReImagine the TDA, public forum with the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library - Lord Auditorium, 67 Haywood St.
KIDS BEGINNER TENNIS • Through FR (4/26) - Open registration for tennis beginners instructional program for juniors seven to 17-years-old. Classes held Sundays (4/28) until (6/2), 3-4pm. Registration: Trytennis. net or AvlJuniorTennis@ gmail.com. $40. Held at Asheville Racquet Club, 200 Racquet Club Road BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library
• MO (4/1) through FR (4/26) - Submissions accepted from students and homeschoolers in Fairview Area Schools grade K -12 for a book design challenge that represents their favorite element of a book. Held at Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Road, Fairview • 4th TUESDAYS, 1pm - Homeschoolers' book club. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. • TUESDAYS until (4/30) - High school exam study hour in the NC Room. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. • 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. CHILDREN'S EASTER EGG HUNT • SA (4/20), 11:30am - Easter egg hunts and photos with the Easter Bunny. Free. Held near Stuart Auditorium Held at Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat Center, 91 North Lakeshore Drive, Lake Junaluska KERRY MADDENLUNSFORD AUTHOR EVENTS • WE (4/17), 10am Kerry Madden-Lunsford
C OMMU N IT Y CA L EN D AR
will share her recent book, Ernestine’s Milky Way, set in 1940’s Maggie Valley. Free to attend. Held at Malaprop’s Bookstore and Cafe, 55 Haywood St. • TH (4/18), 8am-noon Kerry Madden-Lunsford presents her children’s book, Ernestine’s Milky Way. Free to attend. Held at Joey’s Pancake House, 4309 Soco Road, Maggie Valley • SA (4/20), 3pm - Kerry Madden-Lunsford presents her children's book, Ernestine's Milky Way. Free to attend. Held at Blue Ridge Books, 428 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville PARENT CHILD TENNIS • 3rd FRIDAYS (4/19) through (11/15) - Open registration for parents and children to play tennis against other parent child doubles teams. Registration: avltennis. com or AvlJuniorTennis@ gmail.com. $10 for parents/Free for kids.
by Deborah Robertson
Held at Aston Park, 336 Hilliard Ave. PISGAH CENTER FOR WILDLIFE EDUCATION 1401 Fish Hatchery Road, Pisgah Forest, 828-877-4423 • WE (4/17), 10am3pm - On the Water: Tuckasegee, fly-fishing for ages 12 and older. Registration required. Free. • TH (4/18), 10am-3pm - Casting for Beginners: Level I, fly fishing for ages 12 and older. Registration required. Free.• MO (4/22), 10am-2pm - Outdoor Skills Series: Map and Compass, class for ages 12 and older. Registration required. Free. • WE (4/24), 9amnoon - Fly-Tying for the Beginner, class for ages 12 and up. Registration required. Free. 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. • MONDAYS, 5:30-7pm - Homework Diner. Free. Held at Erwin Middle School, 20 Erwin Hills Road • THURSDAYS, 5:30-7pm - Homework Diner. Free. Held at Owen Middle School, 730 Old US Highway 70, Swannanoa
OUTDOORS CHIMNEY ROCK AT CHIMNEY ROCK STATE PARK (PD.) Join professional photographer Chuck Hill for the Dusk to Dawn Photo Workshop on Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28. Info at chimneyrockpark.com
BOTANY BY FAMILY • SA (4/20), 2pm - Botany by Family, class led by Ethnobiologist Marc Williams. Registration required: ashevillebotanicalgardens.org. $20/$15 members. Held at Asheville Botanical Gardens, 151 WT Weaver Blvd. CONSERVING CAROLINA’S DISCOVERY WALK: THE SECRET LIFE OF BERKELEY PARK • MO (4/22), 10am2:30pm - Conserving Carolina’s Discovery Walk: The Secret Life of Berkeley Park, outdoor walk, lunch and volunteer clean-up event. Registration required. Free/Bring your own lunch. Held at Conserving Carolina, 847 Case St., Hendersonville SWANNANOA VALLEY BIRD WALK • SA (4/20), 8-10am - Bird walk. Free. Held at Charles D. Owen Park, 875 Warren Wilson Road, Swannanoa
WILD EDIBLES HIKE • SA (4/20) & SA (4/27), 1pm - Wild edibles hike led by David Grasty with WNC Bushcraft and Survival. Register at the community center or call 828-400-5790 $15. Held at Fines Creek Community Center, 190 Fines Creek Road, Clyde
PUBLIC LECTURES BRYAN STEVENSON, FOUNDER OF THE EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE • TH (4/25), 7-9pm Public lecture by Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. Free. Held at UNC Asheville Sherrill Center, 227 Campus Drive HISTORY CAFE: BEACON BLANKETS • MO (4/22), 10:3011:30am - A presentation on the history of Swannanoa’s Beacon Blanket mill from writer and director Rebecca Williams and share short clips from Blanket Town:
The Rise and Fall of an American Mill Town. Registration: avl.mx/5wm. $5. Held at Swannanoa Valley Museum, 223 W State St., Black Mountain HOT TOPIC SERIES: SCHOOL SAFETY • TH (4/25), 6:30-8pm School Safety: What are the local County and City School Systems Doing to Keep Our Children Safe, discussion with local school leaders. Free. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. INTERFAITH COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO OPIOID USE DISORDER AND OVERDOSE • TU (4/23), 11am1:30pm - Interfaith Community Response to Opioid Use Disorder and Overdose, presentation regarding prevention, treatment and harm reduction. Registration required: bit.ly/2IoH2kD. Free/includes lunch. Held at Trinity United
Methodist Church, 587 Haywood Road SCIENCE PUB • FR (4/19), 5:30pm - Science Pub: Wake, artist Mel Chin's installation in Times Square, presentation by the UNC Asheville STEAM Studio. Free to attend. Held at The Collider, 1 Haywood St., Suite 401 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM • TU (4/23), 8am5:30pm - Undergraduate Research Symposium, event featuring hundreds of undergraduate research and creative project presentations. Information: bit.ly/2D5bKvF. Free. Held at UNC Asheville Sherrill Center, 227 Campus Drive UNITED WAY COMMUNITY CHAT • TH (4/18), 8:30am Community chat with the chief executive officer of United Way of Transylvania County
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to address community needs. Free to attend. Held at Country Skillet, Old Rosman Highway, Rosman WILDLIFE CONNECTIVITY PROJECT PANEL DISCUSSION • SA (4/20), 10am - Jeff Hunter, senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, presents and leads a panel discussion on the increase in mammal deaths caused by vehicle collisions and the need for wildlife corridors, specifically the 28-mile stretch of I-40 near Pigeon River Gorge. Free. Held at The Strand @ 38 Main, North Main St., Waynesville
SENIORS ASHEVILLE NEW FRIENDS (PD.) Offers active senior residents of the Asheville area opportunities to make new friends and explore new interests
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COM M U N I TY CA LEN DA R through a program of varied social, cultural, and outdoor activities. Visit ashevillenewfriends.org
Held at Dances of Universal Peace, 5 Ravenscroft Drive
ADVANCE CARE AND ESTATE PLANNING • FR (4/19), 11:30am12:30pm - Advance Care and Estate Planning, workshop. Registration: 828-692-6178. Free. Held at Four Seasons Compassion for Life, 571 S. Allen Road, Flat Rock
• SU (4/21), 7am Easter sunrise service. Free. Held at the Amphitheater near the Lake Junaluska Cross. Rain location is Memorial Chapel. Held at Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat Center, 91 North Lakeshore Drive, Lake Junaluska
CHAIR YOGA FOR SENIORS • THURSDAYS, 2pm - Chair Yoga for Seniors. Free. Held at Weaverville Public Library, 41 N. Main St., Weaverville
SPIRITUALITY 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. ashevillemeditation. com, info@ ashevillemeditation. com. LEARN TO MEDITATE (PD.) Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation class at Asheville Insight Meditation Center, 1st Mondays of each month at 7pm – 8:30pm. ashevillemeditation. com, info@ ashevillemeditation. com. DANCES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE • 3rd SATURDAYS, 7:30-9:30pm - Dances of Universal Peace, spiritual group dances that blend chanting, live music and movement. No experience necessary. Admission by donation.
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EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UCC OF HENDERSONVILLE 1735 5th Ave. W., Hendersonville, 828-6928630, fcchendersonville. org • TH (4/18), 6:30pm - Maundy Thursday Tennebrae shared worship and communion. Free. • SU (4/21), 6am Outdoor Easter sunrise service. Free. Held at Jump Off Rock, 4433 Laurel Park Highway, Laurel Park GOOD FRIDAY WALK • FR (4/19), 11am One-mile, Good Friday community walk with the cross through downtown Hendersonville. Reception at 10am. Free. Held at First United Methodist Church of Hendersonville, 204 6th Ave. W., Hendersonville MEDITATION AND COMMUNITY • THURSDAYS, 7-8:30pm & SUNDAYS, 10am-noon - Meditation and community. Admission by donation. Held at Shambhala Meditation Center, 60 N. Merrimon Ave., #113 MONTHLY SPIRITUALITY GROUP FOR TEEN GIRLS • 3rd SUNDAYS, 11:30am - Monthly group for teen girls ages 13-18 from any background or tradition to recognize spiritual gifts and a sense of purpose. Facilitated by Sharon Oxendine, an elder from the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina. Free. Held at Unity of the Blue Ridge, 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Road, Mills River
by Deborah Robertson SONGS & SILENCE, ALL FAITH TAIZE SERVICE • THURSDAYS, 6:307:15 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 5/2 (10am) or 5/6 (5:30pm) RSVP: volunteers@litcouncil. com. Learn more: www.litcouncil.com. ARMS AROUND ASD • SA (4/20), 4-6pm - Volunteers needed twice a month to help with teen group and movie night. ASHEVILLE PRISON BOOKS • 3rd SUNDAYS, 1-3pm - Volunteer to send books to inmates in North and South Carolina. Information: avlcommunityaction. com or ashevilleprisonbooks@ gmail.com. Held at Firestorm Books & Coffee, 610 Haywood Road CONSERVING CAROLINA’S DISCOVERY WALK: THE SECRET LIFE OF BERKELEY PARK • MO (4/22), 10am2:30pm - Conserving Carolina’s Discovery Walk: The Secret Life of Berkeley Park, outdoor walk, lunch and volunteer clean-up event. Registration required. Free/Bring your own lunch. Held at Conserving Carolina, 847 Case St., Hendersonville DOWNTOWN CLEAN UP DAY • TH (4/18), 11am-1pm - Downtown Clean Up Day as part of Earth Month. Pizza lunch and prizes offered for participants. Register online: bit.ly/2HVKtQo. Free. Held at Pritchard Park, 4 College St.
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. PLANTING DAY • MO (4/22), noon-5pm - Five volunteers needed to plant seeds and plants in the garden. Registration: volunteer@ thefreeclinics.org. Held at The Free Clinics, 841 Case St., Hendersonville RAIN GARDEN AT VANCE • TH (4/25), 10am - Volunteer to help students install a rain garden. Register online. Held at Vance Elementary School, 98 Sulphur Springs Road RECRUITING ‘SANDBURG STEWARD’ VOLUNTEER • WE (4/24), 2-4pm & TH (4/25), 10am-noon - Recruiting candidates for Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site new volunteer position, the “Sandburg Steward.” Held in the garage behind the Carl Sandburg Home NHS, 1800 Little River Road, Flat Rock TRANZMISSION PRISON PROJECT • 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 UNITED WAY OF HENDERSONVILLE DAY OF CARING • Through TH (5/9) - Open registration for volunteers for the United Way Day of Caring, community wide volunteering event on Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11. Register online: volunteerhendo. org.
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WELLNESS
BEG, BORROW OR STEAL? Concerns over appropriation of wellness rituals spark conversation among local practitioners
KEEPING WITH TRADITION: Many New Age and holistic wellness practices incorporate rituals and knowledge from a variety of cultures.
BY BROOKE RANDLE brandle@mountainx.com Asheville resident Kristina Crabtree, who goes by the name Binah Love, is a self-described multidimensional healer, yoga teacher, beauty specialist — and cacao priestess.
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That’s right — Love leads a ritual based on consuming the bean used to make chocolate. A 2019 USA Today article points out that cacao has been used in ceremonies and medicinal treatments in Central and South America for thousands of years. Raw cacao is a stimulant that some of its fans say pro-
duces heightened senses, though it is not psychoactive. Today, cacao ceremonies such as those offered by Love are part of a growing industry at the intersection of health, wellness and spirituality. But as the practice gains popularity around Asheville, Love has run into pushback about whether it’s appropriate for her to
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500 use indigenous, non-Western practices for commercial purposes. MISTAKEN IDENTITY? Many New Age healing and alternative medicine techniques incorporate ancient rituals and diverse cultural practices, says Asheville resident Tanya Rodriguez. And though Rodriguez says she doesn’t have a problem with people appreciating the customs of other places and cultures, she speaks out against what she sees as inappropriate uses. She created and moderates the Global Decolonization Initiative, a nearly 500-member Facebook group that aims to promote awareness and sensitivity for various cultural practices and identities. While Rodriguez was aware of the practice of cacao ceremonies, she first stumbled upon the local offerings in late 2018 on social media, which is where she also made her concerns known to some area practitioners, including Love. “We started to notice that people were having ceremonies of certain lineages that they had no connection to — and charging for them,” Rodriguez explains. “And so I asked them a question like,
‘What gives you the right to hold this ceremony if you don’t hold lineage from this culture?’” Love says the question — and the heated discussions that followed it — puzzled her. “I think that’s a surprising thing to say as an American, because most of us are about five different nationalities mixed together,” she explains. “So what belongs to who?” SHARING IS CARING Cissy Majebe, the founder and president of Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts in Asheville, also questions whether wellness and healing practices should be confined to one culture. Considering the advances that have resulted from sharing health and wellness knowledge across continents throughout history, Majebe says, “It’s a benefit to the world and it kind of supersedes the cultural appropriation.” John Wood, professor of anthropology at UNC Asheville, makes a similar point. “All of our knowledge, in some ways, is appropriated from other peo-
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WELLN ESS ple. Our anti-malaria medicine, quinine, originated from indigenous knowledge in South America,” Wood explains. “For as long as there have been people, we have been appropriating other people’s knowledge.” While borrowing from other cultures isn’t inherently problematic, he continues, in certain cases it can be. “I think it’s useful to think about when it becomes a problem and when is it not a problem and what are the reasons,” he says. A major sticking point can be the use of another culture’s knowledge for profit, Wood says, especially when the borrower exploits “inequalities to the advantage of the privileged at the expense of the marginalized.” “The people who originated these things may not be in position to say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, we need to get a share of this if you’re making money on our knowledge,’” Wood points out. MONEY MATTERS
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Love says charging for her cacao ceremonies was definitely among the concerns that were raised by Rodriguez’s group on social media. Prices for the service are based on a sliding scale and
range from free or donation-based up to $55, Love says. She expresses gratitude for teachers and practitioners who made learning opportunities affordable for her early in her career and says she wants to do the same for others. At the same time, the realities of living and working in a capitalist society require charging a fee to offset the costs of offering the service, she says. “When you’re working with a studio that has to pay rent, everything’s got to be supported in a certain way, and people want to know what is the cost,” she explains. Love also makes a point of buying cacao from a source that she says supports communities in South America. Because the history of the cacao ceremony is “not totally clear,” Love adds, there isn’t a defined tradition or lineage devoted to passing on its teaching, meaning she’s not diverting proceeds from indigenous practitioners. “We just know that these South American and Central American cultures revered this plant and used it in ceremony, but there’s not any specific lineage teachers who are passing on the teaching of cacao ceremony,” she says.
Mountain Xpress presents SHARING THE MEDICINE Bruce Akitchitay Carlino, whose background includes the Taíno people of the Caribbean and Cherokee, doesn’t charge for the sweat lodge ceremonies he’s been hosting for the last 15 years. Employed as a locksmith and musician, he doesn’t see himself as a spiritual healer, but rather as someone who provides a platform so that others can “achieve their own healing.” People of all races, ethnicities and belief systems are welcome at Carlino’s ceremonies; he says he feels that all people have the need to move past trauma and facilitate inner growth. “Sometimes people come in really dire straits. People can be suicidal. Some people are [emergency medical
technicians]; sometimes we get police officers that roll through,” Carlino explains. “We can’t be turning people away. When I’m turning someone away, and then maybe they might do something really terrible to themselves or somebody else. In a way, that’s not really good for me.” First introduced to purification ceremonies using sweat lodges by family members at the age of 9, Carlino says carrying forward such practices shouldn’t be taken lightly. “When you follow these traditions, there’s steps and things that you go through. If you’re patient enough to go through maybe eight to 10 years of learning and partici-
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PANEL DISCUSSION: The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville voted last year to finance solar panels on the church’s roof, thanks largely to the advocacy of Dan Clere. Photo courtesy of Clere Green home builder Dan Clere, a 14-year member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, put his faith into action when he spearheaded a project to put solar panels on the roof of his church’s nearly 50-yearold main building. He calls the effort a “natural outgrowth” from the last of the seven Unitarian Universalist Principles: “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” What started as gentle lobbying grew into a crusade as Clere engaged other solar eco-enthusiasts, creating a netzero subcommittee to move the project forward and explore Duke Energy rebate incentives. A congregational vote
on Memorial Day 2018 won the approval to proceed with financing, and by Labor Day, they had achieved their goal. “We used easy math,” Clere recalls. “After the Duke rebate, our cost was $70,000: We had to find 100 people to give $700 each.” Ultimately, some families partnered to ‘buy’ a panel, and some bought in honor of their children or grandchildren. Installation of the church’s 105 panels was completed in March. “When the system is brought online, it will cover about 85% of our [electricity] use on an annual basis,” Clere says. “This is very much part of the fabric of our faith.”
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W ELL NESS pating and being involved, then you’re pretty much prepared to go on your own under the supervision of elders,” he says. CONTEXT IS KEY Rodriguez, who has taught yoga since 2004, has changed how she describes her practice. As mainstream yoga has increasingly focused more on exercise and physical fitness than spirituality, she has redefined her
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offering as “an asana-based practice — asana meaning posture-based — instead of calling it yoga,” Rodriguez explains. Continuing to call her practice yoga without providing in-depth spiritual guidance and historical context, Rodriguez says, is like “handing someone a branch and saying, ‘Here’s a tree.’ It’s missing the whole tree and it has no roots.” The word shaman provides another example of how Rodriguez believes language can obfuscate the origins and meanings of spiritual practices. Now used as a catchall phrase for Native American spirituality, the word originally referred to indigenous holy men in Siberia. “That was the beginning of spiritual colonialism, because they erased the terminology of the indigenous people so that they no longer have the traditional name. Instead, they’re called shaman,” Rodriguez says. Careful use of language, she posits, can help practitioners avoid the pitfalls of misappropriation. “You don’t have to call it ceremony. You can change the name. You don’t have to call yourself a shaman. You can change the name,” Rodriguez maintains. “It comes back to the language. It comes back to honoring that history.”
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“With the cacao ceremony here, one of the things that happened that sparked my attention was when I looked at the invite list and there were no brown people,” says Rodriguez, who’s descended from the Taíno people of Borinquen (the native name for Puerto Rico). “If you’re not from a lineage and you’re going to have a ‘pay to pray’ ceremony and not have anybody representative of the lineage that you’re bringing, that’s not right.” Love maintains that her classes are open to all people and her participants have generally reflected a diversity of gender, age, race and ethnicity. Still, she doesn’t disagree that more diversity would provide a richer experience. “Overall, my experience is that Asheville just doesn’t have a lot of diversity,” she says. “There’s a shortage of actual representatives for these indigenous traditions. If there were more real medicine men coming from wherever that had the capacity to hold space for everyone that’s needing support, I think the need is endless, and there’s actually a shortage of real quality teachers, real quality lineage holders.” Carlino offers a different perspective. He says that while being from a lineage is important, he too has experienced people questioning his authenticity and family history. “I get beat up more by my own people than anybody else. Indigenous cultures come from everywhere in the world. In England, they were the witches, and those people were desecrated as they were because they were the medicine people. All of us come from some indigenous culture at some point back in time,” Carlino points out. “I know people that have no Native American
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[ancestry], and it doesn’t matter to me. I would sit with some people that have no native blood in ceremony because of how they’re honorable and their loyalty to the path more than I would sit with some native people that don’t have that loyalty to that path.” MODERN TIMES While Love says she welcomes deeper understanding and conversation regarding what is and isn’t appropriation, a lot can be misinterpreted through the glow of a computer screen. When she was called out by Rodriguez’s group, “It was Facebook, so everything you’re saying is just based on an image that you’re seeing,” Love recalls. Majebe reflects that social platforms like Facebook, YouTube and others have created unprecedented connectivity among cultures and people. “We’re in a world where I can know right now what’s happening in some jungle in the Amazon because someone is live-streaming it,” Majebe says. “Cultural appropriation is kind of hard now, because we’re no longer as separate as we used to be.” Rodriguez, on the other hand, argues that the broader availability of cultural information brings with it an increased responsibility to seek out answers and deepen our understanding regarding cultural practices before participating. She also advises seekers to be prepared to listen if they unintentionally offend or hurt minority populations. “If we’re not holding each other accountable, we’re enabling behavior that may not be healthy to ourselves and the people who come in as students or the people who come in as teachers,” Rodriguez says. X
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EDUCATIONAL EVENT ON RUNNING • MO (4/22), noon-1pm - Educational event on running and how to ensure athletes of all ages are performing at their full potential. Registration: 844-414-3627. Free/Lunch included. Held at Harris Regional Hospital, 68 Hospital Road, Sylva
• 4th WEDNESDAYS, 11:30am-noon - Coffee and conversation on wellness topics. Free. Held at Ferguson Family YMCA,
GOOD FRIDAY FOOT CARE CLINIC • FR (4/19), noon-3pm - Foot care clinic for individuals in need to get
• THURSDAYS until (4/25) - Beginner's tai chi classes. Registration required. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St.
by nurses, and then fitted and running shoes. Free. Held at Western Carolina Rescue Ministries, 225 Patton Ave. OPEN MINDFULNESS MEDITATION • WEDNESDAYS, 3:305pm & 6:30-8pm - Open mindfulness meditation. Admission by donation. Held at The Center for Art and Spirit at St. George's Episcopal Church, 1 School Road
WELL NESS CA L E N DA R PARDEE SEMINAR: OPTIONS FOR MANAGING JOINT PAIN • TH (4/25), 5:30-7pm - Options for Managing Joint Pain, presentation by Dr. Gregory Lavigne. Registration required: pardeehospital.org/ classes-events. Free. Held at Henderson County Health Sciences Center, 805 6th Ave. W., Room 2003, Hendersonville
PEACE EDUCATION PROGRAM • TUESDAYS through (6/18), 6:30pm - Find Peace in Your World, inner peace video-based drop-in educational program presented by Peace is Possible NC. Information: pep.asheville@gmail.com or 828-777-0021. Free. Held at North Asheville Recreation Center, 37 E. Larchmont Road
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, 2:303:30pm - Slow Flow Yoga, yoga class adapted for all ages and abilities.
Free. Held at Senior Opportunity Center, 36 Grove St. 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
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GREEN SCENE
WHAT GOES AROUND
WNC adjusts to shifts in recycling market
BY DANIEL WALTON dwalton@mountainx.com A sword is dangling over the businesses, nonprofits and municipalities involved in Western North Carolina’s recycling sector — a metaphorical blade, but one that still presents a real challenge. China, for years one of the largest markets for U.S. recyclables, enacted a policy known as “National Sword” in early 2018, which halted imports of numerous scrap materials and placed tight cleanliness standards on many others. Eric Bradford, director of operations at local environmental nonprofit Asheville GreenWorks, calls China’s move a wake-up call for domestic recyclers. He says that the country’s previously lax import standards had created an artificially generous market for low-quality and contaminated material — garbage in the guise of recycling. “They were picking through it, taking some of the items to be recycled, and the majority of it was being landfilled,” Bradford explains. “We were basically paying China to be our landfill for these ‘recyclables,’ and we felt good about it.” As the changes wrought by National Sword slash through the U.S. recycling sector, WNC organizations are examining how to respond. Asheville City Council member Brian Haynes, speaking at a February meeting in support of the city’s application for a $30,000 N.C. Department of Environmental Quality grant to reduce recycling contamination, referred to the current situation as “a crisis stage.”
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TALL ORDER: Piles of recyclables await sorting and distribution at Curbside Management’s facility in Woodfin. Photo by Hayley Benton In crisis, however, some see opportunity. “We learned a valuable lesson from the Chinese sword, that we’ve got to recycle right. It’s got to be clean; it’s got to be better material,” says Mike Greene, recycling business development specialist with the N.C. DEQ’s Recycling Business Assistance Center. “Right now, we’re just rebuilding everything to what it really should’ve been to begin with.” REGION OF INTEREST WNC is better poised than many other parts of the country to make these
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adjustments, Greene says. While the region did send some of its recyclables to China before National Sword, its distance from the West Coast made overseas shipping less cost-effective compared to domestic sales in the Southeast. As a result, the area’s materials recovery facilities — MRFs — already had relatively close destinations for their products. Ron Moore, owner of American Recycling of WNC in Candler, estimates that 80% to 90% of his MRF’s sales go to regional buyers. Cardboard, for example, is shipped to mills in Sylva and Cowpens, S.C., both less than 75 miles away. The No. 1 plastic used for most beverage bottles goes to Reidsville and Troy, Ala., while the No. 2 plastic found in milk jugs and detergent containers is split between two North Carolina processing plants. The biggest impact of National Sword for WNC recyclers, Moore explains, is the flooding of the domestic market with material that previously went abroad. Demand hasn’t yet caught up to this vastly increased supply, causing prices to plummet for commodities such as cardboard, newsprint and mixed paper. “Those margins are squeezed, and right now, they’re to the point where we’re selling them for below what it
costs us to sort,” Moore says. “It’s not a winning model for the long term.” In response, Moore is expanding his capacity for processing still-profitable plastics, adding a new optical sorting machine with the help of a $40,000 N.C. DEQ grant. He’s also slowing down the MRF’s processing speed so that its yield of mixed paper, which he previously sold to China, will contain fewer contaminants and be more valuable to domestic buyers. Greene says the DEQ is working to build overall end-user demand for recyclables in the state, particularly for plastics and mixed paper. He anticipates that domestic processors will eventually pick up the China-created slack in the market but acknowledges that the shift will take time. “With China taking everything cheap, quick and easy, it was just an easy process,” Greene says. “It’s always an evolving process and it will stay an evolving process as technology improves and people’s consumption habits change with that.” CLEANING COSTS Barry Lawson, co-owner of Curbside Recycling — the MRF,
better known as Curbie, that serves the city of Asheville and unincorporated Buncombe County — emphasizes that he’s still able to find end users for all currently accepted recyclables. (See the full list at curbie. com.) Market changes, however, have made his commitment to keeping material out of the landfill considerably more expensive. Lawson says that Curbie has always lost money on mixed glass and that revenue from No. 3-7 plastics was never sufficient to cover all processing expenses. But lower prices for other commodities, which once subsidized the recycling of these “negative materials,” no longer offset the cost. “At some points, when commodities prices were a lot higher, we were able to share revenue off of the material with haulers or with municipalities,” Lawson says. “Now that it’s dropped so much, they’re being charged.” Even if the commodities market were stronger, Lawson continues, upward pressure on WNC wages has raised operating costs for his labor-intensive business. Curbie has reduced its profit margins to absorb some of the expense, he says, but some costs must be passed on to its customers. “All fees will increase,” Lawson says. “We’ll see that as contracts come up and are rebid. You’re seeing that in Buncombe County right now, and we’ll see how their contract comes back.” Moore, whose MRF processes recyclables from Henderson, Transylvania and Madison counties, projects that his next contracts with those governments may change to reduce the number of accepted materials. Without viable markets, he says, theoretically recyclable material has nowhere to go but the dump; he notes that American Recycling is
landfilling some of the mixed plastics it previously sold to China. “You hate to cut things out that eventually we’ll have markets for. But right now, we’re hauling stuff, bringing it in, sorting it, and then sending it back out to the landfill, and that’s not good,” he says. “Hopefully, the markets will change prior to [contract renegotiations]. If they don’t come back by then, there’ll probably be some changes.” CUT IT OUT As MRF owners wait for the economic situation to improve, they say one way citizens can help is to reduce material contamination by placing soiled items in the trash rather than the recycling bin. “If something comes across with lots of food in it, it’s going to end up going out in the trash,” Moore says. “And then there’s people that just don’t care — they throw a bag of dirty diapers in there, like that’s something that’s recyclable.” In Asheville, says GreenWorks Director of Education Joéle Emma, much of that contamination comes from a lack of understanding about what can go into the city’s blue single-stream recycling bins. Items such as plastic grocery bags and foam containers, for example, carry a recycling symbol but aren’t accepted by Curbie. “If we were looking at it on the positive side, it would be because people are wishful-cycling. They really want to recycle as much as they can, so they’re putting in those plastic bags,” Emma says. City figures put Asheville’s contamination rate at 8%, up from a low of 5% in recent years; the average national contamination rate, according to the National Waste
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and Recycling Association trade group, is roughly 25%. Jes Foster, Asheville’s solid waste director, says the city is engaging with GreenWorks, as well as national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership, to bring that rate back down. If the city receives its DEQ grant, she adds, residents can expect annual mailers, newspaper and radio ads, refrigerator magnets and other educational materials. “Maintaining a low contamination rate requires constant education and outreach so that residents know what they can and can’t recycle,” Foster says. “We will need to increase and really focus our outreach programs to address the rising contamination rate.”
As part of that work, GreenWorks plans to pilot an “oops tag” program in the Malvern Hills and Kenilworth neighborhoods. Volunteers would look into residents’ blue bins to check for contaminants, then leave personalized feedback notes about what can’t be recycled through Curbie and where to take those materials. “People are obviously wanting to do the right thing, so you need to get that information out about how to do it,” Emma says. She stresses that the tags won’t come with any negative consequences but will exclusively focus on delivering targeted advice.
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TAKING ACTION
John Mahshie supports servicemembers through Veterans Healing Farm
VEGGIES FOR VETS: Veterans Healing Farm, founded by John Mahshie, far left, has donated over 35,000 pounds of produce through the Charles George VA Medical Center. Photo courtesy of Mahshie A grievous loss soon after John Mahshie joined the Air Force in 2000 planted the seed for Veterans Healing Farm, the multifaceted nonprofit he launched in 2013. “My father passed away, and I was really struggling,” he recounts. “On a service trip to Mexico with my base chaplain, I put in a little garden for a family there. Connecting with the earth, having my hands in soil, giving back, was very therapeutic.” After returning from the service, Mahshie cultivated his vision on family land in Hendersonville, recruiting 13 families — veterans and civilians alike — to each invest $100 and sweat equity in exchange for a season’s worth of produce. With the farm up and running, he and his supporters started to give back: Since 2015, the farm has donated over
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35,000 pounds of produce to veterans and their caregivers. Every Tuesday morning during the growing season, the VHF van unloads vegetables, fruits and flower bouquets at the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville for a free open-air market. In addition to civilians and vets farming and volunteering side by side, the farm offers veterans-exclusive boot camps in beekeeping, medicinal herbs and making guitars out of cigar boxes. “These boot camps are empowering,” Mahshie says. “After they leave the farm, they can be part of a bee club, a medicinal herb meetup or [play with] other musicians. They are healthy, healing ways for vets to connect with community.”
— Kay West X
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BINS AND OUTS: Asheville officials are working to educate residents about proper recycling through materials such as this bin sticker and magnet design. Graphic courtesy of the city of Asheville No such program has previously been deployed in Asheville, but Kata Bates, director of marketing for The Recycling Partnership, says a pilot effort in selected Atlanta communities led to a 57% decrease in overall recycling contamination. In March, the nonprofit announced a $4 million donation to Atlanta’s government for similar work throughout the city. WASTE NOT Recycling plays a key role in Asheville’s Municipal Waste Reduction Goal, adopted in 2014, which calls for the city to reduce the amount of material it sends to the landfill by 50% from 2010 levels by 2035. The goal establishes a target of 15% reduction by 2020; Foster reports that the city had cut its waste by just 3.83% as of 2018. “Reaching this goal will require a comprehensive solid-waste master plan to lay out action steps over the next 15 years,” Foster says. “Additionally, given Asheville’s growth in recent years, I think we may need to revisit this goal to account for population growth and look at a goal that is similar in intention but per-capita based.” Funding such a plan would cost roughly $100,000, according to figures
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presented at a March 26 City Council budget worksession. No Council member voiced support for the plan during deliberations at that meeting. Emma agrees that the area’s swelling population leads to challenges for recycling and waste reduction. She recalls seeing new neighbors put out their first recycling bin with the jetsam of their move — piled high with plastic bags and packing foam. Learned recycling habits from parts of the country with different accepted items die hard, she adds, potentially leading to even more contamination. GreenWorks is exploring ways to reach new arrivals and visitors to Asheville, as well as strengthening its outreach to those who already live here. Bradford points out that the nonprofit recently launched a Plastic Reduction Task Force, a group of volunteers working to cut use of the material in area restaurants and other businesses. However, he admits that education is a constant challenge, especially given the changes to recycling going on behind the scenes. “We have a pretty complex recycling system, as far as what can and cannot go into the bin.” Bradford says. “At this point, we’re asking people to ‘when in doubt, keep it out.’” X
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FARM & GARDEN
ASK THE MASTERS
Garden Helpline and info tables provide resources for growers
BY LAURA HACKETT laurafaye15@gmail.com Tomato blight getting you down? Pesky black spots on your roses? Don’t give up hope on your green thumb just yet. The Buncombe County Extension Master Gardeners might be able to squash your troubles. “We like to say we’re growing gardeners,” says Pat Strang, who has been an area master gardener since 2015 and chairs the Garden Helpline and its sister service, the Info Tables. “Our mission is to educate the people in Buncombe County on sustainable gardening practices. Everything we do is research-based. We don’t just make things up or do them our own way.” During the March to September growing season, about 35 master gardeners tend the helpline, a free phone service available to anyone in the county. Volunteers are available only two days a week, but callers can always leave a voice message or send an email, and a volunteer or Extension Agent Alison Arnold will typically respond with a well-researched answer within the week. The research database and library, located on Mount Carmel Road, is largely sourced from N.C. State University. Working in tandem with the goals of the helpline, Master Gardener Info Tables program volunteers make frequent appearances at the Asheville City, North Asheville and Black Mountain farmers markets and set up at special events such as plant sales and garden shows. Neither the helpline nor the information booths are new, but Strang says the Info Tables program has undergone some
SEEDS OF KNOWLEDGE: Master gardeners Carol Barley and Donna Sapp volunteer their garden knowledge at the Asheville Herb Festival. The Buncombe County Master Gardener Info Table program sends volunteers to local tailgate markets and events to answer gardening questions. Photo by Mary Koppenheffer key changes under her leadership in the past three years. “In the past, the Info Tables were more of a place where we passed out pamphlets. Now we have hands-on displays and welcome people bringing in live samples and photographs for identification,” Strang says. “We also publish our schedule online so people can find us more easily.” Nancy Good, another master gardener, says that she often brings a shoebox of worms to the table, which she uses in her permaculture practice. “Kids are fascinated by them, and it’s such a good way to enrich your soil, just throwing them in your garden,” she says. Other volunteers have created displays on plant cuttings, rooting compounds and techniques for sharpening and repairing rusty tools. The booths
also offer free soil test kits, which are analyzed at N.C. State’s test lab, so gardeners can figure out what amendments they might need to optimize their soil chemistry.
ECO 6TH ANNUAL EARTH DAY MOVIE: ‘TOMORROW’ - THE DOCUMENTARY • WE (4/17), 6:30pm Earth Day Movie: Tomorrow, documentary film screening. Free. Held at Lenoir Rhyne University, 36 Montford Ave. GREAT MADISON COUNTY LITTER SWEEP CONTEST • Through SA (4/27) Great Madison County Litter Sweep Contest. Prizes for groups that collect the most trash and recycling. Information: facebook.com/ littersweepmcnc. GREEN OPPORTUNITIES TRAINING PROGRAM INFORMATION SESSION • 3rd WEDNESDAYS, 3:30-4:30pm - Green Opportunities holds a Training Program Information Session to
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learn about training and employment pathways. Free. Held at Arthur R. Edington Education and Career Center, 133 Livingston St. MAKE & MINGLE: EARTH DAY ART! • TU (4/23), 7-9pm - Make & Mingle: Earth Day Art, 21-and-up only event to make up-cycled jewelry in honor of Earth Day. Held at Asheville Museum of Science, 43 Patton Ave.
FARM & GARDEN ANNUAL SPRING PLANT SALE • THURSDAY through SATURDAY (4/25) until (4/27), 9am-5pm - Spring plant sale featuring native and non-native perennials, more than 20 varieties of tomatoes and other vegetable starts, herbs, unusual annuals and small trees and shrubs. Free to attend. Held at Bullington
“We have all these microclimates, and you really have to take that into consideration,” says Strang. “One of the first questions we ask is what’s your elevation and what’s your soil like? There’s a lot of places that are rocky or have clay that people aren’t used to.” To achieve master gardener status, volunteers must first make it through a waiting list of about 70 prospects. Of those, 20 will undergo rigorous training that includes 35 hours of classes on soil, diseases and pests along with at least 40 volunteer hours. Arnold usually leads classes for the program, which is funded by the N.C. Cooperative Extension. “Most of us come from a different occupation than gardening — we’re doctors, stay-at-home parents, bankers,” says Good. “We all really like gardening and enjoy helping other people out.” For the Garden Helpline, call 828255-5522 Mondays and Thursdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Find the Info Tables schedule and details about the Master Gardeners program at buncombemastergardener.org. X
Gardens, 95 Upper Red Oak Trail Hendersonville BOTANICAL WALK WITH KAITA COLLIER • WE (4/24), 10-11am - Botanical gardens walk with Horticulture Assistant, Kaita Collier. Registration: ashevillebotanicalgardens. org. $20/$15 members. Held at Asheville Botanical Gardens, 151 WT Weaver Blvd. BUNCOMBE COUNTY EXTENSION MASTER GARDENERS 828-255-5522, buncombemastergardener.org, BuncombeMasterGardeners@gmail.com • SA (4/20), 10am-1pm - Backyard composting demonstration. Free to attend. Held at Jesse Israel Garden Center at WNC Farmer’s Market, 570 Brevard Road • TU (4/23), 1-3pm - Growing Roses in Containers, workshop.
Registration required. Free. Held at Buncombe County Cooperative Extension Center, 49 Mt. Carmel Road, Suite 102 CLIMATE RESILIENCE & REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE • SU (4/21), 2-5pm Mutual Aid Learning Circle Series: Climate Resilience & Regenerative Agriculture, workshop. Registration required: zev@Co-operateWNC. org. Admission by donation. Held at Earthaven Ecovillage, 5 Consensus Circle, Black Mountain POLK COUNTY FRIENDS OF AGRICULTURE BREAKFAST • 3rd WEDNESDAYS, 7-8am - Monthly breakfast with presentations on agriculture. Admission by donation. Held at Green Creek Community Center, 25 Shields Road, Columbus
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FOOD
ON THE SHOULDERS OF BREWING GIANTS Asheville’s newest breweries see room for continued industry growth
GOOD NEIGHBORS: From left, Zillicoah Beer Co.’s Jeremy Chassner, John Parks and Jonathan Chassner have built a loyal customer base in Woodfin and see room for continued growth within the local industry. Photo by Sheila Mraz Photography
BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN earnaudin@mountainx.com The second part of the beer industry sustainability series explores the challenges and successes of new breweries entering an established, competitive market. Zillicoah Beer Co. opened a few miles outside downtown Asheville on the banks of the French Broad River in late October 2017, just as the weather was turning cold. The start date was later in the year than Jeremy Chassner and his fellow co-owners anticipated, and that had them nervous from a business perspective. But, as it turned out, their worries were for naught. “The surrounding neighborhoods showed up every day and kept us afloat through our first winter. That meant everything to us, and we try to be really cognizant of that and strive to keep them happy,” Chassner says. “We have countless familiar faces in every day of the week [and] have neighborhood folks tell us pretty often how happy they are that we’re here.” 46
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The outpouring of support from the Woodfin community is one sign of a continued desire among area beer drinkers for new breweries in an established, competitive and increasingly crowded market. “The Asheville area is a great place to be involved in beer,” Chassner says. “Craft beer has been infused into this community for some time now. There’s still a strong interest, support system and desire for great beer from both locals and tourists, and it’s very much a way of life around here.” LOCAL PERKS The same sense of community and joining the ranks of institutions like Highland Brewing Co., Green Man Brewery and Pisgah Brewing Co. that forged the local beer culture is part of what attracted the DSSOLVR team of co-founder/head brewer Vince Tursi and co-founder/creative director Michael Semenec to Asheville. Aiming to open their brewery on the
Lexington Avenue side of the historic Tyler Building in late 2019, the duo were also drawn south by Asheville’s relative affordability compared with their native Boston. Tursi and Semenec initially considered opening a brewery in Boston in 2010, then set their sights on Portland, Maine, and nearly signed a lease on a property just up the street from Alagash Brewing Co. But neither location panned out, and the industry climate changed to where, Tursi says, a massive taproom and significant distribution were required for formerly small breweries to remain economically viable. So the business partners looked elsewhere. In Asheville, they saw the potential to realize their long-held dream of a downtown space on a budget that Tursi says “wouldn’t have put [them] near the city of Boston.” Further appealing was the freedom to escape New England’s prohibitive stylistic scene, where he notes that by popular demand the eponymous cloudy IPAs compose over 60% of practically every brewery’s portfolio.
“Because we’re drawing in people from such a wide breadth in terms of where tourists are coming in, and, in general, just how many cities we’re completely surrounded by and how much of a rich, diverse culture is being consistently brought in to Asheville, we had the opportunity to kind of brew whatever we want and not be stylistically limited and be welcomed with significantly more open arms,” Tursi says. “It seems like Asheville is the perfect place to kind of have no rules and invent yourself and do everything.” With that creative independence, however, comes great responsibility. As the city is undergoing significant growth and adjusting to life on a national scale in terms of of visibility — augmented all the more by players with significant marketing budgets and bandwidths like Wicked Weed Brewing and the incoming CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective — the proverbial playing field has been elevated. “You can’t half-ass this shit anymore — pardon my French. If you’re coming into Asheville, you have to have experience. You have to know what you’re doing, you have to be hitting on multiple levels, you have to have a reason to draw people to you,” Tursi says. “The barrier of entry is that minimum bar is just consistently — as much growth as we’re seeing — that bar is going way up. It’s forcing people to give it increased brand equity, increased visibility, actually supply money into marketing and grow and evolve as a business. On one hand, it’s kind of a pro. On the other hand, it’s kind of a con. You
can’t be stagnant or comfortable anymore. You just have to be driven now.” Chassner concurs with the strong presence of that competitive spirit, which he notes arises despite the exceptional camaraderie and hospitality among Asheville’s high concentration of breweries. “There’s definitely an undying pressure to continue to separate yourself and draw customers into your brewery,” he says. “But in reality, and we talk about this often at the brewery, we don’t see this as a con. It drives us to refuse to rest on our laurels, continue to work on making better beer and continue to improve our customer experience.” The DSSOLVR team also stresses the importance of a positive taproom experience to help create brand attachment, ensure repeat business and distance oneself from the field. In addition to brewing high-quality beer, they firmly believe that developing a brand voice has become an important component in a brewery’s success, and doing so early, say Semenc and Tursi, has helped DSSOLVR significantly in the beginning of its launch. “We can essentially try to hype our business so when we do open up, people know who we are,” Semenec says. “We’re really pushing on the outside of Asheville and even outside of North Carolina to try to draw in some more of the tourists that are thinking about coming to visit. That’s more to the fact about the growth of these newer breweries: Tourists are always going to want a newer, fresher experience. The more that’s opened up and rotated through, I’d say the better for the indus-
try as a whole within North Carolina and Asheville particularly.” THE BIGGER PICTURE While the influx of visitors who come to Asheville primarily for its beer is rising and can seem overwhelming on any given weekend, taprooms rank well below the city’s other attractions in terms of popularity. Marla Tambellini, deputy director and vice president
of marketing for Explore Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau, notes that her group has worked closely with local craft breweries since Highland’s inception 25 years ago, but in context with the city’s overall food and beverage industry, not as a singular entity. “We ask visitors what their primary motivation is for coming to the area. A decade ago, culinary and beer were
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at the very bottom. They’ve come up a little bit but are outpaced by many primary motivators like the mountains, the Biltmore House and going downtown,” Tambellini says. “That doesn’t exclude other contributing experiences they want to add to their itinerary, but it’s hard to tease that out. Markets familiar with us are more likely to indicate food and beer, but for markets further away, it doesn’t generally rise to a key motivator.” On the economic side, Clark Duncan, executive director and senior vice president of the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County, reports that brewery employment growth remains an important part of the Asheville region’s prosperity. “Year-over-year job growth in advanced manufacturing in the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area as of July 2018 was 6.3% — outpacing both health care and hospitality sectors,” Duncan says. “This is good news because the advanced manufacturing sector pays higher wages and attracts greater capital investment than other leading employment sectors in the Asheville Metro. Beverage manufacturing, motor vehicle parts manufacturing and plastic product manufacturing were driving that growth — and at rates two to three times the state and national averages.” Duncan adds that the craft brewing industry has also made an impact on the startup scene with new innovation coming from such tech startups as Craftpeak and BrewStream. Meanwhile, nationally recognized brands like White Labs and Riverbend Malt House strengthen the supply chain, diversifying the local economy and bringing collaboration, savings and greater efficiencies to the area brewers. Duncan sees continued growth potential in fortifying those brewing support services, in turn benefiting the breweries themselves. Asheville-based attorney Derek Allen of Ward and Smith, P.A., who works with nearly every local brewery, is also optimistic about new businesses joining the scene, as long as they make quality products and offer an authentic experience. But as Asheville’s existing breweries seek to expand their distribution and enter new markets, he sees an analog on the West Coast. “I think San Diego is a good model for us to look at in terms of what happens when you have that many breweries in the same area. They start to open up second, third, fourth and fifth locations. That was the Stone [Brewing Co.] model, that was the Ballast Point [Brewing Co.] model, and I don’t think we’re any different,” Allen says. “That retail space where you are at a brewery, delivering the experience in a place where you can brew the beer
OPENING SOON: Vince Tursi, co-founder/ head brewer of DSSOLVR, stands outside his business’s Lexington Avenue doors. Tursi and co-founder/creative director Michael Semenec aim to have the brewery open by the end of 2019. Photo courtesy of DSSOLVR and put it into the consumers’ hands directly is a very powerful experience. And without that, you’ll have a very difficult time forming that relationship with your customer, and it’s going to feel like there’s no room in the market.” Though Zillicoah has successfully entered this field and DSSOLVR is setting itself up to achieve its goals, both brewery’s representatives see space for more peers — at least on a certain modest level. Tursi thinks the local industry is all full when it comes to midtier breweries that have grown reliant on distribution to turn a profit. “But to be able to open up and have a taproom with minimal distribution that can cater and create an experience for people?” he posits. “I do not think we’re anywhere near a saturation point for that.” Chassner takes a similar tack. “To me, ‘saturated’ means that one more [brewery] can’t be in without one going out. I don’t think this is the case,” he says. “It’s definitely a crowded market, though. The effects are definitely felt by way of someone coming to the brewery for just a beer or two, and then moving along to the next place. There’s just so many options around town that consumers are often struck by the paradox of choice. As long as there’s a thirst for beer, and breweries are doing right by quality, there’s probably room.” X
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FOOD
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In 1774, Penelope Barker led America’s first documented women’s political protest, known as the Edenton Tea Party. Barker and 50 of her female friends gathered in Edenton, N.C., and, while sipping infusions brewed from local herbs and mulberry leaves, signed a statement supporting the colonial boycott of imported British tea. The resolution was not ignored. Newspapers in the colonies applauded the women, while the British press mocked their efforts, according to the Western North Carolina Historical Association’s Infused in History: A Tea Exhibit, which opens Wednesday, April 24, at the SmithMcDowell House. The exhibit, which runs through the end of September, joins an upcoming event from the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center in showcasing both camellia sinensis and the history of Western North Carolina. Although an import from China, and later India, tea is tied, both as an economic commodity and a social ritual, to Asheville’s past, says exhibit co-coordinator Lynn Karegeannes. In the early 1800s, when the brick mansion now known as the Smith-McDowell House (then called Buck House) was built by wealthy landowner and businessman James McConnell Smith, “taking afternoon tea was very popular in this area,” she says. A history buff and tea blogger at mylifeintea.com, Karegeannes dreamed up the Infused in History exhibit with WNC Historical Association education coordinator Lisa Whitfield. Together they tracked down old local newspaper ads showing that tea was sold by Asheville merchants at the time. “It was for sale [in Asheville] in the early 19th century, but it was expensive,” says Karegeannes. “Green tea ran anywhere from $1 to $1.25 a pound, and black tea ran from 75 cents to $1 a pound at that time,” adds Whitfield. (A dollar in 1840 was equivalent to about $29 in 2019, according to officialdata.org’s inflation calculator.) Several pounds of green and black tea were recorded among Smith’s holdings at the time of his death in 1856, Karegeannes notes. The exhibit will unfold throughout the rambling house, which devotes its rooms to historic representations of specific decades between the 1840s and 1890s. Each room will contain one or two vignettes featuring antique and reproduction tea sets from the appropriate time period, some from the museum’s large collection and others donated by local residents. Sheffield silver, Blue Willow
MOUNTAINX.COM
Local museum events blend tea and history
TEA FOR TWO: WNC Historical Association education coordinator Lisa Whitfield, left, and local tea blogger Lynn Karegeannes teamed up to coordinate Infused in History: A Tea Exhibit at the Smith-McDowell House. The exhibit runs April 24-Sept. 28. Photo by Luke Van Hine china and Meissen porcelain are just a few of the varieties on display. Karegeannes recruited tea business owners from Asheville and from farther afield to research a range of topics for the vignettes. Among them are Kym Brown of A Southern Cup Fine Teas in Hendersonville, who wrote about the evolution of afternoon tea. Jill Wasilewski of Ivory Road Café and Kitchen in Arden researched tea
etiquette. (Spoiler: Lifting your pinkie when drinking tea has never been considered socially acceptable, she writes). And Karegeannes herself dug into the preparation of tea at the SmithMcDowell House. And of course, there’s the part about Penelope Barker and her groundbreaking political activism, which was written by 3 Mountains and Tima Teas owner Sara Stender. “I was looking
Mountain Xpress presents grandfather’s legacy, and will additionally perform some Scottish tunes on the cello with another musician on fiddle. Although it’s not required, guests are encouraged to get into the spirit of an afternoon tea by dressing up “with white gloves and spring finery,” says Smith. X
WHAT Infused in History: A Tea Exhibit
BEST OF
WNC E VOTW
international flavors local ingredients
NO
mountainx.com/ bestofwnc
81 Patton Ave 828-258-2500
WHERE Smith-McDowell House, 283 Victoria Road, wnchistory.org
VOTE FOR US!
WHEN 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday, April 24-Sept. 28, $9 adults, $5 children ages 8 and older. Tea is offered at the end of the self-guided tour. –––––––––––––––––––––WHAT Tea lecture by Bruce Richardson and appraisal fair
BREVARD :
WHERE Brunk Auctions 117 Tunnel Road wnchistory.org
33 Times Arcade Alley | 828.884.6172
Additional events for the Infused in History exhibit include a Teacup Fairy Garden tea party for children on Saturday, May 18; an Afternoon Tea Party Friday, June 7; and a tea silver lecture and appraisal on Saturday, July 13. Visit wnchistory.org or call 828-253-9231 for details. –––––––––––––––––––––WHAT A Tea With a View: Far Horizons
SO U
WHEN Lecture at 2 p.m., appraisal fair 3-5 p.m., Saturday, May 11. Lecture is free, appraisal fair costs $10 per item or $25 for three items with proceeds benefiting the Smith-McDowell House.
SLOPE COF H T
E FE
for women in tea in the U.S. who made an impact, and she inspired me as an early pioneer and entrepreneur,” says Stender, adding that she found the project particularly interesting as both the owner of a business that sources teas directly from growers in Rwanda and as the founder of the nonprofit Africa Healing Exchange. The research “tied together how tea came to be in the U.S. and the connection to how Africans came to be in the U.S. It was all related and was rooted in corporate profit-seeking,” she says. All the information was fact-checked by tea historian Bruce Richardson of the Kentucky-based Elmwood Inn Fine Teas. As part of the exhibit’s programming, which includes a variety of events (see sidebar for details), Richardson will present a lecture on Saturday, May 11, at Brunk Auctions followed by an appraisal fair to benefit the Smith-McDowell House. Meanwhile in Black Mountain, the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center is set to host its second spring tea event in two years, A Tea With a View: Far Horizons. As the name suggests, the event will take place at Far Horizons, the historic home of Blue Ridge Assembly founder Willis Weatherford Sr. As with all SVMHC programming, the idea behind this event was to create an opportunity for people to visit a historically significant location within the Swannanoa Valley that is not usually open to the public, says SVMHC Executive Director Anne Chesky Smith. “Last year we did it at Whitemont Lodge [in Swannanoa], which is privately owned but was originally built off the books as a gentlemen’s club during the Prohibition era,” she explains. Far Horizons, which is on the campus of the Blue Ridge Assembly, is a log house constructed as a retirement home around 1939-40, according to Weatherford’s granddaughter, Julia Weatherford. At that time, she says, her grandmother, Julia Pearl McCrory Weatherford, was in a wheelchair, so the home was designed on one level with easy-to-navigate slate walkways. “He built this house with a gorgeous view with her in mind because she couldn’t get out and about,” says Weatherford. The tea will feature savory and cherry scones — “a secret recipe that was very popular last year,” says Smith — with local honey and clotted cream. There will also be two courses of savory and sweet finger foods, all prepared by volunteers and served on a variety of fancy china that’s been donated to the museum by members of the community for the occasion. Weatherford will give a talk about the history of Far Horizons and her
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
51
SMALL BITES
FOOD
by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com
Doughnut duel at Asheville Masonic Temple Stu Helm is no Mason, but lately the Asheville Food Fan has spent plenty of time at the Asheville Masonic Temple. Since January, he’s hosted a series of on-site food-related competitions, which double as fundraisers for the restoration of the temple’s historical handpainted theater backdrops. To date, the events have raised $1,200. By year’s end, Helm hopes to secure between $5,000 and $8,000 for the project. On Wednesday, April 24, the local food connoisseur is back at it with his latest culinary contest, the 2019 Asheville Do-nut Thro-down and Bake Sale. The free afternoon event, notes Helm, is co-produced by Shay Brown Events and is co-sponsored by Takeout Central, Dig Local Asheville, WPVM 103.7 and Farm to Home Milk. Competing local eateries include Geraldine’s Bakery, Hemingway’s Cuba, The Underground Cafe with DoughP Doughnuts and Vortex Doughnuts, as well as Hendough Chicken & Donuts of Hendersonville and Mr. Bob’s Donuts of Marion. Conspicuously missing from the list, notes Helm, is Hole Doughnuts. The shop’s unique, made-to-order approach prevented the local business from participating in the competition. “Hole is a complicated beast and kind of a unicorn,” Helm explains. On the day of the event, competitors will submit two doughnuts — a classic and a specialty — for evaluation by a three-judge panel that includes Buxton Hall Barbecue’s head pastry chef, Ashley Capps, Mission Hospital nurse Stephanie Grant and Officer Joe Silberman of the Asheville Police Department. “High-stress jobs require doughnuts,” Helm says, explaining the diverse backgrounds and levels of expertise that each judge brings. Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase the remaining five dozen doughnuts that competitors are required to bring. All proceeds from the bake sale portion of the event will benefit the Masonic Temple’s theater backdrops. “It’s not a huge festival,” Helm emphasizes. “There is going to be a limited number of doughnuts, and when they’re gone, they’re gone.” 52
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will feature dishes prepared by Robyn Harris, founder and CEO of GirlGoCook LLC, as well as Sonjia Brewton, owner of Sonjia B’s Catering. Menu highlights include shrimp and grits, chicken bog, potato soup, bread pudding and Key lime pie. Tickets are $75 per person or $350 for a table of six. The dinner runs 6-9 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at the YMI Cultural Center, 39 S. Market St. To purchase tickets, visit avl.mx/5vt.
Cupcake and beer pairing Spring has arrived, and to celebrate, Catawba Brewing Co. and Three Eggs Cakery of Asheville are teaming up for a four-course spring-themed beer and cupcake pairing. Pairings include: Pilsner and shortcake with strawberry whipped topping; Rising Sun and a lavender lemon cake with cream cheese buttercream; Tropical Milkshake IPA and a classic vanilla cake with a creamsicle buttercream; and Brown Bear Ale paired with mocha cake with a salted caramel buttercream topped with an almond brittle. Tickets are $25. The pairing runs 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, at Catawba Brewing Co., 32 Banks Ave., #105. For tickets, visit avl.mx/5vs.
Chef Ramp Dinner returns SUGAR RUSH: Asheville Food Fan Stu Helm will host the 2019 Do-nut Thro-down and Bake Sale at the Asheville Masonic Temple on Wednesday, April 24, 1:30-3:30 p.m. Photo by Thomas Calder The 2019 Asheville Do-nut Throdown and Bake Sale runs 1:30-3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, at the Asheville Masonic Temple, 80 Broadway. For more, visit avl.mx/5vw.
Taste of Black Asheville On Saturday, April 20, the YMI Cultural Center will host the Taste of Black Asheville as part of YMI’s 365 Days of Black History initiative. The dinner
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Five local chefs will join forces to create a five-course meal for the second consecutive Chef Ramp Dinner on Tuesday, April 23. Participating chefs include Brian Crow of Chestnut, Josh Chapman of Corner Kitchen, Kenneth Blalock of Copper Crown, Duane Fernandes of Hemingway’s Cuba and Ryan Kline of Zambra Tapas Wine & Bar. The menu will feature deviled ramp quail eggs, spring pea and ramp tortellini, crispy smoked frog legs, Cuban-style baby back ribs and braised lamb neck. Each course will be paired with an alcoholic beverage. Tickets are $125 and include food, alcohol, tax and gratuity. The dinner runs 6-10 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, at Chestnut, 48 Biltmore Ave. To purchase tickets, visit avl.mx/5vu.
OWL Bakery announces expansion Old World Levain Bakery recently announced plans to expand its bread program. The West Asheville bakery will relocate the bread-making portion of its operations to Make Space, a commissary kitchen in Woodfin founded by Charlie Hodge, owner of Sovereign Remedies and Ole Shakey’s Getaway. According to OWL’s website, the expansion will allow the bakery to produce a greater variety of breads. OWL co-owner Susannah Gebhart says no official date has been set for the move, but she hopes to be up and running by early May. Once the new program is operational, loaves from the new production location will arrive each morning and afternoon to the bakery’s West Asheville shop. On April 20, OWL Bakery will also join the North Asheville Tailgate Market as a bread vendor. OWL Bakery is at 295 Haywood Road. Make Space is at 943 Riverside Drive, Woodfin. For updates on OWL’s expansion, visit avl.mx/5vv.
Easter roundup To celebrate Easter, Roux, 43 Town Square Blvd., will serve a Sunday brunch buffet featuring a mix of locally and regionally sourced goods, including barbecued Scottish salmon, carved-to-order Virginia ham and bananas foster French toast. Cost is $49.95 for adults, $16.95 for children ages 6-12 and free for those younger than 5 (avl.mx/5vn). Biltmore Village Mediterranean restaurant Rezaz will also offer a buffet 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for $32 per person, $14 for children (rezaz. com). Golden Fleece, 111 Grovewood Road, will serve an a la carte brunch menu featuring slow-roasted lamb (avl.mx/5vo). In Sylva, The Cut Cocktail Lounge, 610 W. Main St., plans to host an adult Easter egg hunt, as well as an egg decorating event. The lounge will also offer expanded brunch menu items, along with holiday-themed cocktails (avl.mx/5vp). A similar egg hunt will take place at Milton’s Black Mountain, 308 W. State St. In addition, the restaurant will offer a curated brunch for $39 per person, with dishes including spring pea bisque, whole roasted beef tenderloin, braised leg of lamb and lemon poppyseed cake (avl.mx/5vq). Easter is Sunday, April 21. For specific times and menus, see provided links. X
MOUNTAINX.COM
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
53
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
NOT-SO-HIDDEN TALENT
Variety show spotlights local artists and benefits Our VOICE
BY ALLI MARSHALL amarshall@mountainx.com For weeks following the inaugural Talent! A Show, event co-producer Mandy Gardner would overhear people telling friends, “I went to this awesome thing. There was juggling and Tina & Her Pony …” Others would come up to her and co-creator Leah Shapiro to volunteer their skills for the next iteration. The show in question is a benefit for Our VOICE. The second iteration is slated for Monday, April 22, at The Mothlight. This year’s roster of performers (with some new acts and many returning artists) includes musicians Chris Rodrigues and Abby the Spoon Lady, Laura Blackley and Tina & Her Pony; jugglers Forty Fingers & a Missing Tooth; comedian Hilliary Begley; comedian/thereminist Tom Peters; dancer Josh McClure of Jus Twerk; pole dancer Kathleen Hahn of Danceclub Asheville; poet Kevin Evans; and aerialist Lauren Napoli of Aerial Space. Gardner and Shapiro will emcee. The idea for Talent! A Show originated with parties in Gardner’s backyard where “I’d invite people to come over and bring whatever their talent was,” she recalls. “I had everything from hula-hooping to people reciting Beowulf in Old English. … I loved the variety show format.” One day, Gardner said to Shapiro (who was then volunteering as a crisis advocate for Our VOICE and is now on the board of directors), “We could do this.” The idea of creating such a show as a fundraiser for the local organization that serves victims and supports survivors of rape and sexual assault
SKILL SET: Musicians, comedians and dancers aside, “My favorite thing about last year was the sense of community that came together all of a sudden,” says Talent! A Show co-producer Mandy Gardner. The 10-plus acts performing at this year’s event include twerk dancer Josh McClure, left, and aerialist Lauren Napoli. Photos courtesy of the artists seemed perfect to both — though neither Gardner nor Shapiro had produced an event before. The lack of experience wasn’t a problem. The friends (who are also co-workers
at JB Media Group) tapped their network to perform and promote. They also reached out to local businesses to donate items for the loud (read: not silent) auction. “Everyone said yes,” says Gardner.
“Everyone knows somebody who’s been affected by sexual violence. … People are grateful to Our VOICE because they know someone who has benefited from the service.” The Mothlight, the venue last year as well, even donated the cost of space rental. The inaugural Talent! A Show raised more than $1,400 for Our VOICE after compensating the performers — something that’s important to both Gardner and Shapiro. Many artists, in return, donated their share of the proceeds back to the fundraiser. Shapiro points out, “We know that we could pay people more if we charged at the door, and we might do that in the future. But it feels like part of this is spreading awareness about [Our VOICE’s] prevention, education and outreach programs.” So, for now, attendees donate what they can at the door. The loud auction, which started as a way to fill in onstage between acts, also generates money. Gardner and Shapiro are grouping items in themed baskets (the hangover helper is one) and Shapiro has been watching YouTube videos to hone her auctioneering skills. But it’s the entertainers who draw the crowd. “New this year is comedy, a twerk performer and a trapeze artist,” Shapiro says. Among the returning artists, Evans “has a couple pieces he’s excited about performing for this event.” Those poems are “both challenging in subject matter but also liberating when regarding repression, oppression, miscommunication, historical trauma, denial and unaddressed/unchecked pain,” Evans said in a statement. Pointing to the inspiration she took away from the recent talk given by
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#MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke, as part of Our VOICE’s Break the Silence Speaker Series, Gardner says, “She had an amazing message about how the movement [requires] understanding of survivors of sexual violence as people who are not only grappling with pain but can also experience joy as well.” Our VOICE is an organization undertaking serious work while Talent! A Show “is a fun event, but it’s really important to learn to encompass joy and sorrow and process it all through art — that’s the good stuff.” Gardner continues, “Add in the extra layer of community, and that’s just beautiful.” In fact, with the discontinuation of the local annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes challenge, Talent! A Show’s financial contribution to Our VOICE becomes more imperative. April “is sexual assault awareness month, so there [will be] a ton of grassroots events happening,” to help increase awareness and raise additional funds, says Shapiro. Will any of those other undertakings involve a portable dancing pole, though? Or juggling? Or The Spoon Lady? Not to mention elaborate attire. For those who recall Shapiro’s and
Gardner’s Bjork-tribute swan dresses from last year’s show, the two emcees have another feat of apparel planned for April 22. Apparently, they have a joke between them that Shapiro always makes a slightly wonky version of the couple’s costume for Gardner. “Leah’s swan was gorgeous. It had this silky soft fur, and it was beautiful,” Gardner explains. “Mine was literally made out of a tube sock, and it had goggly eyes, and one was bigger than the other.” “This year we’re aiming for an equally entertaining ...” Shapiro begins. “... humiliating,” Gardner interjects. “Duo,” they finish in tandem. X
WHAT Talent! A Show avl.mx/5v7 WHERE The Mothlight 701 Haywood Road themothlight.com WHEN Monday, April 22, 7 p.m. By donation
MOUNTAINX.COM
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
55
A&E
by Bill Kopp
bill@musoscribe.com
WATER IS LIFE Though it’s easy to take water for granted — just turn on the tap, and there it is — for hundreds of millions of the Earth’s people, access to clean water is a goal, not a reality. The United Nations considers universal access to clean drinking water a human right, but that doesn’t magically make it happen. In observance of Earth Day, local roots collective Rising Appalachia plays a show to raise funds for clean water for Africa. The benefit concert takes place Saturday, April 20, at Salvage Station. With local corporate sponsorship, plus support from Asheville-based nonprofit MountainTrue, previous French Broad Riverkeeper benefit concerts have funded a half-dozen drinking water wells in the sub-Saharan African countries of Togo and Uganda. Karim Olaechea, communications director for MountainTrue, notes that proceeds from ticket sales at this year’s event will fund additional wells there, providing clean drinking water for thousands of people.
Rising Appalachia plays an Earth Day benefit concert for clean water
Sisters Leah and Chloe Smith, leaders of Rising Appalachia, are known for their active support for environmental and social justice initiatives. “As environmentalists and as activists, we have always been invested in creating a more sustainable world and a more sustainable future at large,” says Leah. “Water is a resource that’s deeply, deeply tied to our ability to be alive. And it feels very natural for us to be involved in any kind of water upkeep [initiative].” Leah says that the Standing Rock movement in South Dakota was “the tipping point that brought water-as-life and clean water issues to the forefront of contemporary culture, activism and analysis.” Rising Appalachia provided on-the-ground support for that movement and encouraged its fan base to get involved as well. The band “works at the forefront of a lot of different causes,” Leah continues. “Our work is to be the storytellers and the message bearers. Our work is to tell the stories, create catharsis and
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
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create a place where people can have deeper conversations around the issues at hand.” “We were activists before we were musicians,” explains Chloe. “So there’s always been a natural instinct for us to be aware of what’s going on in our surroundings and take part in movements and missions to make the world a better place.” The members of Rising Appalachia collectively recognize the power the group has to share issues of importance. “We want to use that momentum to do more than just feed our own image and ego,” Chloe says. “Our mission has always been to be catalysts,” Leah says. “We use music, culture and conversation to bring people
closer together, to narrow our differences and showcase our similarities.” Chloe and Leah aim to practice sustainability on and off the road. When touring, the band endeavors to live according to the principles of its “Slow Music Movement,” traveling at a deliberate pace and using trains and other alternative-by-current-standards modes of transportation. “It’s a way for us to sort of talk to the music industry — and work within it — to encourage slowing down a bit and consider sustainability,” Chloe says. At home, many of the same values apply. “I have a small house, and I live on a working farm outside of Asheville,”
Chloe says. “My mission, when I get home, is to live light and live simple.” With so many worthy causes of global import to choose from, it’s sometimes difficult to settle on which ones to support. Leah and Chloe see part of their role as doing the research and then providing real-world ways for like-minded fans to support various efforts. The group seeks to take into consideration all of the nuances of activism, Leah says, “because it’s not a cookie cutter way to move in the world; it’s very nuanced.” Leah emphasizes that Rising Appalachia’s audiences are already doing their part. “We are consistently inspired by the work of our fan base,” she says. “Often, the people who know our music and come to our shows are the people who are on the ground doing profoundly well-thought-out work, action and cultivation in their own communities. It’s really a two-way street.” A benefit for clean water is merely one of many sustainability initiatives supported by Rising Appalachia. “[We] have never said, ‘We are specifically for clean
water,’ or, ‘We are specifically for prison justice,” Chloe emphasizes. “We have a wider net that we cast; it’s ever evolving, and that helps us stay authentic.” Leah offers an apt metaphor to make her point. “We’re not the deeply rooted, sturdy, stable, large-trunked oak tree,” she says. “We’re the pollinators. We go from community to community, collecting their pollen in their stories and their magic. And then we share those stories in a way that, hopefully, carries good ideas and inspiration.” X
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WHO Rising Appalachia WHERE Salvage Station 466 Riverside Drive salvagestation.com WHEN Saturday, April 20, at 5 p.m. $25
EARTH DAY EVENTS • UNC Asheville, 1 University Heights, holds its spring Artsfest on Friday, April 19, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Events take place in and around Lipinsky Hall and include performances of music, poetry, prose and dance. There will a Global Art Challenges lecture, solar prints and pinwheels, a new media exhibit reception and more. Free. Schedule and details at avl.mx/5vd • RiverLink holds its Earth Day Kid’s Festival at Salvage Station, 466 Riverside Drive, on Saturday, April 20, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The annual gathering “began five years ago as a way to bring the community together in celebration of our natural environment,” according to a press release. Expect environmental education activities, games, arts and crafts and live music from Susana and Timmy Abell of Silver Trout Arts. Free. riverlink.org • OM Sanctuary, 87 Richmond Hill Drive, hosts an Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 20, noon-6 p.m. The Facebook invite promises “three forest-based presentations, live music, slacklining, Appalachian medicine chai chat, face painting, qi gong, chair massage, rock painting, prayer rock circle ceremony” and more. $10 with
proceeds going to forest restoration. Schedule and details at avl.mx/5vb • Join the Love Your Mama: Earth Day Workday at BeLoved Asheville, 39 Grove St., on Sunday, April 21, 1-5 p.m. Those interested should “bring veggies plants, gloves, gardening tools for planting. Bring your carpentry skills and help finish the ramp for friends in wheelchairs to garden at the Elder and Sage Gardens,” according to an event invite. The kid-friendly project includes an Easter egg hunt. avl.mx/5ve • The Earth Day Celebration with Cousin Earth at One World Brewing West, 520 Haywood Road, offers “an out-of-this-world showcase of talent and a celebration for our amazing planet.” The show is Monday, April 22, 8:30 p.m. $5. oneworldbrewing.com • Green Mother Goods, 21 Battery Park Ave., Suite 101, holds an Earth Day Jamboree on Friday, April 26, 4-9 p.m. The work of local artist Stuart Engel will be featured, along with festivities such as live music, guest speakers, an upcycled craft station for kids and local food. greenmothergoodsavl.com X
MOUNTAINX.COM
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
57
A&E
by Mike Schoeffel
mikeschoeffel89@gmail.com
RED CARPET READY When Kelly Denson took over as the producer of Music Video Asheville seven years ago, every submitted video was shown on the night of the event. Nowadays, the number of submissions has increased to such an extent that only about 25% of the videos appear on the big screen. This year, 82 videos were reportedly turned in, and the anonymous selection committee has been working hard to decide which ones will make the cut. Such has been the evolution of Music Video Asheville, which Denson calls “a family reunion for the Asheville music scene.” The annual red carpet affair brings out Asheville’s most talented musicians and filmmakers in a freewheeling celebration of the city’s creative spirit “that’s more like the MTV Music Awards than the Grammys,” as Denson puts it. The 12th iteration of the event, presented by Prestige Subaru, will be held Wednesday, April 24, at Diana Wortham Theatre. “This is my passion project,” says Denson, whose full-time job is executive producer for All-American Food Fights. “I love doing it because it’s a way to highlight the creative people in this area.” The gist behind the event is simple: locally produced music videos of all genres — “everything from hip-hop to bluegrass,” as Denson puts it — are submitted and then whittled down to the best 90 minutes. That hourand-a-half collection is played on the night of the event, and a panel of five judges picks a winner (known as the “Judges’ Choice”) with the prize being a day of free recording at Echo Mountain Recording.
GRAND ENTRANCE: Alyx Madison Smith, left, and Ian Ridenhour are pictured arriving at last year’s Music Video Asheville. Pre-show festivities include a red carpet with photo ops, music by DJ Molly Parti and networking. Along with the videos, this year’s event will include live performances by Stephanie Morgan, Virtuous and C. Shreve. Photo by Max Ganly This year’s judging panel consists of Brian Adam Smith (an independent musician and videographer), Alli Marshall (Xpress’ arts and entertainment editor), Heather Anders (host on 98.1 The River), David Saich (WLOS videographer) and one person yet to be named. Other awards include Founder’s Achievement, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Design, Best Soundtrack and People’s
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
Music Video Asheville returns to Diana Wortham Theatre
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Choice. “It’s a curation of the arts,” Denson explains. Stephanie Morgan of the band Pink Mercury is scheduled to perform, and Denson is building up Morgan’s appearance as a “visual feast.” Denson hinted that the audience may be in for a surprise, though she wasn’t willing to go into more detail. This will be the “fourth or fifth year” that the event has been held at the Diana Wortham Theatre. In the past, it’s been hosted by The Fine Arts Theatre, as well as Cinnebarre, where it was “basically just one microphone and a podium,” Denson says. It’s progressed from a relatively low-key affair into a glitzy undertaking featuring a red carpet (which initially started as a joke), a small army of photographers and the city’s creative glitterati dressed to the nines — albeit it in oddball Asheville style. “When you first walk in, you feel that vibrancy, and you realize you’re in the middle of something really exciting,” Denson says. Jack Victor and his now-disbanded group, Midnight Snack, won the Judge’s Choice Award last year. The musicians
had to take a long journey to accept it. “We didn’t know in advance that the winners would go onstage,” Victor recalls. “So we sat way up in the balcony, and when we got called, the whole band literally ran from where we were seated, down the staircase in the hallway, and jogged onto the stage.” Their music video, a well-executed stop-motion papier-maché production for the song “Magic,” was a collaborative effort. Synthesizer and guitar player Mike Henry Johnson came up with the concept and wrote the storyline, and received help from bassist Peter Brownlee and guitar player Zack Kardon to build the set — essentially, a miniature world for a miniature papier-maché man. It was a tedious undertaking that’s representative of the immense artistic talent present in Asheville. “Mike filmed me and my partner, Coco, on his iPhone doing all of these motions in the backyard that he would later turn into hundreds of stills,” Victor says. Johnson then printed those out on paper, “cut out those tiny images of us, and then animated the images into a stop-motion.” The band members have since amicably gone their separate ways “to diversify our musical lives a bit,” as Victor puts it, though they still occasionally collaborate. Victor says it was an honor to win the award, especially given the stiff competition he and his band were up against. Denson bemoans the breakup of Midnight Snack — she was admittedly a huge fan — but knows the show must go on and that somewhere within this year’s submission pool is another video waiting to take home top honors. “The creativity never ceases to amaze me,” she says. “This is something that I look forward to all year, every year.” X
WHAT Music Video Asheville WHERE Diana Wortham Theatre 18 Biltmore Ave. dwtheatre.com WHEN Wednesday, April 24, 5-10 p.m. $20 advance/$15 day of event
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
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A&E
by Patricia Furnish
drpatriqua@yahoo.com
SOMETHING HAPPENING HERE UNCA students create a Black Mountain College-inspired production UNC Asheville students are planning “a happening” — in the form of a theatrical performance titled Nothing’s Happening. Every traditional expectation of theater is up for reconsideration in this homage to the history and legacy of Black Mountain College, the experimental, interdisciplinary school that operated 1933-57 in Western North Carolina. Stagings of the production will run Thursday-Saturday, April 18-20, in the university’s Carol Belk Theatre. It will also be performed in August at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Recently, 15 drama, music, mass communications and new media students gathered to practice with Leon Ingulsrud, UNCA’s current Black Mountain College Legacy Fellow. Since January, Ingulsrud, co-artistic director of SITI Company, has traveled back and forth from New York City to
WHAT’S HAPPENING? UNC Asheville students, from left, Lea Gilbert, Rebecca Boyce and Dakota Mann, rehearse for Nothing’s Happening. The students will perform the show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer. Photo courtesy of TheatreUNCA at UNC Asheville work with the students. According to Lise Kloeppel, associate professor of drama at UNCA, members of the SITI Company “consider themselves the artistic grandchildren of Black Mountain College.” Ingulsrud also took the local students to the Black Mountain College archives to learn more about artists, such as composer John Cage, whose work informs Nothing’s Happening. In fact, the frame for the UNCA production is Cage’s “Lecture on Nothing,” first delivered in 1949 or ’50 as a piece of experimental literature and oratory, and later published in his 1961 book, Silence. It begins with the lines, “I am here, and there is nothing to say. Those who wish to get somewhere, let them leave at any moment.” According to a press release, the performance will develop “as the students, working in small groups, come up with gestures and changes of tone and volume to add meaning and drama as they discover it, or bring it to the mysterious text. As the work continues, some of these gestures may grow into character sketches, short scenes, songs or who knows?” The theatrical event defies labels like “play” or “musical.” The term “happen60
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ing” frees the collaboration from expectations. It will occur in a traditional theater space, but, beyond that, the students and Ingulsrud will craft, through nontraditional methods, an interpretation of Cage’s words and composition. They are making something almost entirely new. Dakota Mann, a junior at UNCA, says he learned about Black Mountain College only a couple of years ago. “It’s surprising to me that this school isn’t often taught as a significant part of our history,” he says by email. “As a native of Buncombe County, I feel it’s important to acknowledge the cultural impact left by Black Mountain College.” “Now I see the legacy of Black Mountain College through their eyes,” says Ingulsrud, who describes himself as an artistic guide — more of a collaborator than a director. “My view was limited to its accomplishments. [The UNCA students] see the people. They see them as peers in the past.” The defunct experimental school’s artistic and philosophical emphasis on the avant-garde inspires the UNCA students’ practice with Ingulsrud. As part of the preparation for the show, the student ensemble uses two training modali-
ties — the Suzuki method (inspired by Japanese music training for violin) and Viewpoints (improvisational, postmodern dance techniques). Unlike professional actors, Ingulsrud says students are more open to different ways of thinking. They’re not set on a process. “We are trying to train the whole actor,” he says. Following the Belk Theatre performances, the production will travel to Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe — the largest arts festival in the world, according to the World Fringe Alliance. All the students will attend the festival as an 11-day study abroad, says Kloeppel. Each student is paying for part of the trip, with additional support from university-endowed funds and a major gift from an anonymous donor. The department is also working to raise $40,000 to help cover some of the costs. But the group will travel light: “Everything we need for the show needs to fit in our checked or carry-on luggage,” Kloeppel says. Mann and senior Grace Siplon find Black Mountain College’s legacy inspiring. “I was shocked to see how a small, local school became a global phenomenon even with its short-lived tenure,” Mann says. “Everyone seemed to be lured to this obscure school hidden in the Appalachian Mountains, including guest lecturers who were titans in their fields, such as Albert Einstein and Aldous Huxley.” The UNCA student ensemble, with Ingulsrud as a guide, is ready to share its regionally inspired creation with peers across the pond. “Black Mountain College was a little slice of history,” Siplon says, “but its legacy spread across the world.” X
WHAT Nothing’s Happening: A Black Mountain Project WHERE Carol Belk Theatre, 1 University Heights, drama.unca.edu WHEN Thursday and Friday, April 18 and 19, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, April 20, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. $7-$12
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
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SMART BETS
A&E
by Edwin Arnaudin | Send your arts news to ae@mountainx.com
Marley Carroll Marley Carroll’s latest solo album, Flight Patterns, was recorded at the instrumentalist/producer/DJ’s East Asheville home studio and released in mid-November. Stacked with tracks both danceable and chill, the eight cohesive songs incorporate field recordings, gongs, basses, wooden percussion, analog synths and — true to its title — bird songs. “Ecstatic” to be on what he calls his “first proper tour in years,” Carroll has been opening for Portland, Ore.-based electronica artist Little People throughout April. The string of shows started in Colorado, moved down the West Coast and has recently redirected eastward, looping in a stop at Asheville Music Hall on Thursday, April 18, at 10 p.m. $13 advance/$15 day of show. ashevillemusichall.com. Photo by Nicole McConville
Carsie Blanton The bio of New Orleans-based singer-songwriter Carsie Blanton describes her new album, Buck Up, as “at the crossroads of nihilism and determination.” But if that sounds bleak, don’t be fooled. Songs like the sassy, sex-positive “Jacket” celebrate the female gaze, while the title track offers something of a pep talk to those, like the songwriter, who are disillusioned by the current socio-political climate. But, despite the singer-songwriter title and political leanings, don’t expect gentle, earnest warbling. Instead, Blanton — a self-described “socialist feminist hedonist” — embodies smart, badass self-determination and unfettered fun. She will perform at Isis Music Hall on Friday, April 19, 8:30 p.m. $15 advance/$18 day of show. isisasheville.com. Photo by Jason Albus. Go to mountainx.com for a full story on the musician.
Helltrap Nightmare Advertised as “Chicago’s favorite disgusting freak-show,” the ensemble Helltrap Nightmare is hitting the road to bring its monthly Windy City brand of horror-comedy to East Coast audiences. Hosted by Comedy Central’s “Adult Swim” veteran Sarah Squirm, the event promises “some of the weirdest underground comedy from around the country,” the results of which “you will certainly never forget, no matter how hard you try.” Also on the bill is Chicago-based rapper Mister Wallace, pictured, whose live show blends dance, performance art and exaggerated theatrics. Additional performers at The Mothlight on Tuesday, April 23, at 8 p.m., include The Shrimp Boys (Wyatt Fair, Luke Taylor and David Brown), Scott Egleston and Ruby McCollister. $8 advance/$10 day of show. themothlight.com. Photo courtesy of the artist
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Springtopia Springtopia is the brainchild of Jimbo Ledford, owner of Franklin’s first alternative outdoor music venue, Altered Frequencies. The event returns for a second year to the Macon County seat. Ledford calls Springtopia an alternative to “the bustle of city festivals,” featuring “clean air and real hospitality.” The three-day “feast for the eyes, ears and palate” starts Friday, April 19, with a lineup building to Madison County purveyors of holler boogie, White Oak Splits. For Saturday, April 20, eclectic Asheville power duo The Paper Crowns, pictured, are among the acts playing before festival headliner, revered jam band Perpetual Groove. The good times continue Sunday, April 21, closing out with indie-folk trio Wildeyes. Tickets range from $8 individual day general admission to a $60 VIP weekend pass. springtopia2.eventbrite.com. Photo by Mod Photography
THEATER REVIEW by Jeff Messer | upstge@yahoo.com
‘SYLVIA’ BY FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE Flat Rock Playhouse kicks off its 2019 season with A.R. Gurney’s comedic tale of a man and man’s best friend — the titular Sylvia. The show runs through Saturday, April 20. Directed by Michael Kostroff, the play focuses on the intimacy between Greg and his empty-nest life with his wife, Kate. Greg brings home a stray dog in an to attempt to deal with his growing midlife crisis. Sylvia quickly consumes Greg’s life, becoming his singular focus and passion as he becomes disenchanted with his job and seeks an emotional lifeline. Michael MacCauley plays Greg with a gentle ease that makes him both endearing and a bit tragic. His crisis is somewhat overlooked by his driven wife. Leslie Marie Collins inhabits the role of Kate so smoothly that we instantly are charmed by the bookish and passionate educator who is determined to bring Shakespeare into urban schools. She nearly misses the root of Greg’s problems as she focuses on her own emotional challenges, and she blames Sylvia for wreaking havoc in their lives. As Sylvia, Keri Safran embodies the dog in this triangle with an appropriately hyperactive performance. She also takes on human qualities, which further highlight the “other woman” aspect that drives the subtext of the story. As such, Sylvia speaks to both Greg and Kate, which they seemingly understand. She is every bit as human as they are in that regard, though she moves about and maintains the typically short attention span of a dog. There are struggles with whether or not Sylvia can sit on the sofa, and there are amusing encounters with an unseen cat that receives Sylvia’s instant ire, as well as a sexual awakening scene with another dog. As this action takes place offstage, we are only treated to Greg’s horrified commentary as he watches Sylvia and a dog named Bowser go at it in the local dog park. Preston Dyar plays a variety of characters who come and go, offering some outside perspective on Greg and Kate’s life with Sylvia. He delivers a lot of laughs in each role, giving levity to what might otherwise be bogged down by an abstract central concept. By the end of the production, we find ourselves relating to Kate’s growing frustration over her crumbling marriage and Greg’s affections toward
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A DOG’S LIFE: In the play Sylvia, Michael MacCauley questions the concept of man’s best friend when the titular canine (played by Keri Safran) takes over his life. Photo by Scott Treadway Sylvia. We understand her pain and annoyance. We also end up as emotionally attached to Sylvia as Greg is. All three are on a collision course that could impact everyone’s lives permanently. The show is a bit of a throwback. It feels like something from Neil Simon’s heyday when the shows had as much heart as humor. There’s even a Cole Porter musical number in the middle of the show that feels like a Bob Hope TV special from the early 1980s. The magical combo of wistful nostalgia mixed with a hint of the comically absurd makes this show is a charmer, whether the viewer is a dog lover or not. X
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
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A & E CALENDAR
A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY: The Neo-Pastiche: Changes in American Music festival, curated by Alec Sturgis and Jack Callahan, features presentations by living American composers and performers working outside of academic or popular music contexts. The festival brings together a diverse group of musicians from around the country and takes place over the course of four days at the Black Mountain College Museum. The festival kicks off with Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by John Cage performed by the S.E.M. Ensemble on Thursday, April 25, followed each night by a different set of performers. See avl.mx/5wg for details and tickets. Tickets are $12 per show or a prefestival four-day pass is $45. Photo courtesy of Camille Blake (p. 65)
ART IKENOBO IKEBANA • TH (4/18), 10am - Ikenobo 101.201, monthly meeting and presentation. Free to attend. Held at First Congregational UCC of Hendersonville, 1735 5th Ave. W., Hendersonville THE PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY • Fourth TUESDAYS, 10am - Volunteer to knit or crochet prayer shawls for community members in need. Free. Held at Grace Lutheran
Church, 1245 6th Ave W., Hendersonville
8pm. Dance 8 to 10:30.
VISITING ARTIST LECTURE • MO (4/22), 4pm - Artist and author, Bige Burnette, talks about ceramics and surface design. Free. Held at Creative Arts Building, Room 7105, Haywood Community College, 185 Freedlander Drive, Clyde
Sweeten Creek Road.
Asheville Ballroom, 291 $11 online, $13 at door. 828-333-0715, www.DanceForLife.net LEARN TO DANCE AT WAVE (PD.) N. Asheville. Beginners classes on Thu., 4/18, 6pm for Rumba and Mon. 4/22, 6pm for
DANCE COUNTRY DANCE W/ TWO-STEP (PD.) Lesson – Saturday, April 20th. Lesson 7 to
Club Swing. No partner needed. $10/person. Zumba on Mon/Wed am. Full schedule at www.waveasheville.com.
FINES CREEK DANCE NIGHT • SA (4/20), 6pm - Dance night featuring live music by Running Wolf and the Renegades. $5. Held at Fines Creek Community Center, 190 Fines Creek Road, Clyde OLD FARMERS BALL CONTRA DANCE • THURSDAYS, 7:3011pm - Old Farmers Ball, contra dance. $8/$7 members/$1 Warren Wilson Community. Held in Bryson Gym Held at Warren Wilson College, 701 Warren Wilson Road, Swannanoa
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STEPHENS LEE RECREATION CENTER 30 George Washington Carver Ave. • THURSDAYS, noon-1pm - Improver contemporary line dancing. $5. • THURSDAYS, 1:30-2:30pm - Beginner contemporary line dancing. $5.
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.
BLUE RIDGE ORCHESTRA blueridgeorchestra.com • WE (4/17), 7-9:30pm - Open rehearsal. Free. Held at Lipinsky Auditorium at UNC Asheville, 300 Library Lane • WE (4/24), 7-9:30pm - Open rehearsal. Free. Held at Lipinsky Auditorium at UNC Asheville, 300 Library Lane BLUE RIDGE SYMPHONIC BRASS • TH (4/25), 7:30pm Blue Ridge Symphonic Brass concert. Free. Held at Porter Center at Brevard College, 1 Brevard College Drive, Brevard MUSIC AT UNCA 828-251-6432, unca.edu • MO (4/22), 7pm - UNC Asheville student Guitar Ensemble concert-inthe-round. $10. Held at Lipinsky Auditorium at UNC Asheville, 300 Library Lane • TU (4/23), 7pm - UNC Asheville music students perform their own compositions. Free.
Held in room 018. Held at Lipinsky Auditorium at UNC Asheville, 300 Library Lane NEO-PASTICHE: CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA BY JOHN CAGE • TH (4/25), 7pm - Part of Neo-Pastiche: Changes in American Music Festival. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by John Cage performed by the S.E.M. Ensemble. $12. Held at Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center, 120 College St. PAUL THORN BAND • TH (4/25), 8pm - Paul Thorn Band, concert. $30-$35. Held at Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave. RAMP STUDIOS 821 Riverside Drive, 828-548-0090, therampstudios.com • TH (4/18), 8pm - Lucas Brode, guitar, with Emmalee Hunnicutt, cello. $10.
• SA (4/20), 8pm AHRKH, solo project of AP Macarte, with Elisa Faires, noise experimentalists. $10. ROCK LUV TOUR • TH (4/18), 7:30-9:30pm - Proceeds from the One Voice concert benefit Word on the Street. Admission by donation. Held at The BLOCK off biltmore, 39 South Market St. • SA (4/20), noon-3pm Proceeds from the Rock Luv finale concert benefit YMI Cultural Center. Admission by donation. Held at The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave.
SPOKEN & WRITTEN WORD ASHEVILLE POETRY SLAM • TH (4/18), 8pm Asheville Poetry Slam, poetry event. $5/$10 to compete. Held at LaZoom Room, 76 Biltmore Ave.
BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library • WE (4/17), 3pm - Black Mountain Afternoon Book Club. Free. Held at Black Mountain Public Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain • WE (4/17), 3pm - Enka Candler History Book Club: Katharine of Ara-
gon: The True Queen, by Allison Weir. Free. Held at Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sandhill Road, Candler • TH (4/18), 2:30-4pm Skyland Book Club: Lila, by Marilynn Robinson. Free. Held at Skyland/ South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road
FIRESTORM BOOKS & COFFEE 610 Haywood Road, 828-255-8115, firestorm. coop • TH (4/18), 6:30pm Brandon Amico presents his poetry collection, Disappearing, Inc. Free to attend. • FR (4/19), 6pm - Shani Robinson and journalist Anna Simonton present
their book, None of the Above. Free to attend. • TU (4/23), 6pm - YWCA of Asheville Book Club: Just Mercy. Free to attend. ‘GOING SOUTH’ • TH (4/18), 7-9pm - Why There are Words Asheville presents Going South, a salon style reading featuring essayist Randon Billings-Noble, fiction
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writer Michael Carroll, essayist Erika Howsare, novelist Silas House and novelist Kathryn Schwille. Free to attend. Held at Trade & Lore Coffee House, 37 Wall St. LISTEN TO THIS: STORIES ON STAGE • TH (4/25), 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., 828254-6734, malaprops.com • WE (4/17), 6pm - Frank Harmon presents his book, Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See. Free to attend. • TH (4/18), 6pm - Andrew Reynolds presents his book, The Children of Harvey Milk: How LGBTQ Politicians Changed the World, in conversation with Jasmine Beach-Ferrara. Free to attend.
by Deborah Robertson
• TH (4/18), 7pm - The pick for April is Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured by Kathryn Harrison. Free to attend. • FR (4/19), 3pm - Presenting the 2019 issue of The Rhapsodist — A-B Tech's literature and arts journal by students, alumni and faculty. Free to attend. • MO (4/22), 6pm - Jeff Mann and Julia Watts present LGBTQ fiction and poetry from Appalachia. Free to attend. • TU (4/23), 6pm - Bonnie Kistler presents her book, House on Fire, in conversation with Mark de Castrique. Free to attend. • TU (4/23), 7pm - Discussion of Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Free to attend. • TH (4/25), 7pm - This month's pick is The Emissary by Yoko Tawada, translated by Margaret Mitsutani. Free to attend. SALUDA TRAIN TALES • 3rd FRIDAYS, 7pm - Saluda Train Tales, sto-
rytelling to help educate the community of the importance of Saluda’s railroad history and the Saluda Grade. Free. Held at Saluda Historic Depot, 32 W. Main St., Saluda
THEATER 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND' • FRIDAYS through SUNDAYS until (4/21) - Alice in Wonderland. Fri. & Sat.: 7:30pm. Sun.: 2:30pm. $26/$12 children. Held at Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E. Walnut St. 'ALL IN ONE' • SU (4/21), 7pm - All In One, one-woman cabaret production. $15. Held at The BLOCK off biltmore, 39 South Market St. 'AN ILIAD' • THURSDAYS through SUNDAYS until (4/21) - An Iliad, produced by Rarely Theatre. Thurs.-Sat.: 7:30pm. Sun.: 2:30pm. $18. Held at
35below, 35 E. Walnut St. ASHEVILLE VAUDEVILLE • SU (4/21), 8pm Asheville Vaudeville Peeps show featuring burlesque, stand-up comedy, dance and clowning. $15. Held at The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave. ‘BROKEN BONE BATHTUB’ • FRIDAYS through SUNDAYS until (4/28) - Broken Bone Bathtub, one-woman show by Siobhan O’Loughlin. Fri. & Sat.: 7 & 9pm, Sun.: 2 & 4pm. Reservations: brokenbonebathtub. com. $30. Register for location. 'NOTHING'S HAPPENING: A BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE PROJECT' • THURSDAY through SATURDAY (4/18) until (4/20) - Nothing's Happening: A Black Mountain College Project, performance by students in collabora-
Airstream Season Nightly Supper starting at 5PM
Sunday Brunch from 10:30-3:30PM
Closed Mondays 828-350-0315 SMOKYPARK.COM 66
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Retail wine shop & wine bar tion with guest director Leon Ingulsrud. Thurs.Sat.: 7:30pm. Sat.: 2pm. $12/$7 students. Held at Belk Theatre, UNC Asheville Campus, One University Heights, CPO1700 ‘ON THE RAZZLE’ • THURSDAY through SUNDAY (4/25) until 4/28) - On the Razzle, all-ages comedy. Thurs.Sat.: 7:30pm. Sun.:
2:30pm. $10. Held at Kittredge Theatre at Warren Wilson College, 701 Warren Wilson Road, Swannanoa 'PLAY ON!' • FRIDAYS through SUNDAYS until (4/28) - Play On!, comedy. Fri. & Sat.: 7:30pm. Sun.: 3pm. $18/$12 student/$6 children. Held at Brevard Little
Theatre, 55 E. Jordan St., Brevard 'SYLVIA' • WEDNESDAYS through SUNDAY until (4/20) - Sylvia, comedy. Wed., Thurs., Sat. & Sun.: 2pm. Wed. & Thurs.: 7:30pm. Fri. & Sat.: 8pm. $20 and up. Held at Flat Rock Playhouse, 2661 Highway 225, Flat Rock
'THE WARP & THE WEFT' • THURSDAYS through SUNDAYS (4/19) until (4/28) - The Warp & The Weft, 60-minute mosaic of puppetry, live music, video and physical theater for ages 8+. Fri.: 7pm. Sat. & Sun.: 1pm. Thurs.: 5pm. $23/$12 student. Held at Magnetic 375, 375 Depot St.
in Historic Biltmore Village
Shop our selection of organic wines Easter Sunday OPEN • 11am-7pm 5 All Souls Crescent, Asheville NC 28803 (Off-street parking in rear of building) (828) 552-3905 • ashevillewinesalon.com
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GALLERY DIRECTORY AMERICAN FOLK ART AND FRAMING • 7th Annual Face Jug Show, exhibition of southern face jugs. April 4-April 18 64 Biltmore Ave.
March 30-April 30 • Simple Things, Joseph Pintz’s functional and sculptural ceramic works. March 30-May 5
ART AT MARS HILL UNIVERSITY • Student art exhibition including painting, drawing, graphic arts, ceramics, sculpture, photography and mixed-media. March 27-April 19 265 Cascade St., Mars Hill
• Three WCU MFA candidates exhibit their theses. April 13-May 3 821 Riverside Drive
RAMP STUDIOS
SMITH-MCDOWELL HOUSE MUSEUM • Infused in History, exhibition regarding tea and tea history. April 24-May 22 283 Victoria Road
ART AT WCU • MFA thesis exhibitions. April 9-May 3 199 Centennial Drive, Cullowhee
SWANNANOA VALLEY MUSEUM • Beacon Blankets: The Mill, Beacon Manufacturing Company operated in Swannanoa from 1924-2002 and was once the largest blanket manufacturer in the world. Exhibit about the Beacon blanket mill and its impact on the Swannanoa Valley. April 13-November 1 223 W. State St., Black Mountain
ASHEVILLE GALLERY OF ART • A Visual Contemplation: Land, Sea and Sky, exhibition of works by Karen Keil Brown and Gayle Havens. April 1-April 29 82 Patton Ave. BLACK MOUNTAIN CENTER FOR THE ARTS • Becoming Whole: A Study of Art and Healing, exhibition of works focused on mental health curated by The Black Mountain Counseling Center. April 12-May 10 225 W. State St., Black Mountain DISTRICT WINE BAR • James Daniel drawings and paintings. April 4-May 4 37 Paynes Way, Suite 9
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DOWNTOWN BOOKS & NEWS • Noble Beasts, exhibition of oil paintings by Elizabeth Albright. April 5-April 30 67 N. Lexington Ave. FLOW GALLERY • Light 'Em Up, exhibition of lamps and lighting fixtures from seven artists in a variety of mediums. Reception: Friday, April 19, 5:30-7:30pm. April 19-May 17 14 South Main St., Marshall GALLERY 1 • Exhibition of photographs by Jennifer Robin. April 5-April 30 604 W. Main St., Sylva GRAND BOHEMIAN GALLERY • Exhibition of paintings by Stefan Horik. April 12-May 10 11 Boston Way
THE TRYON DEPOT ROOM • Exhibition of the paintings of Gary Cooley. April 3-April 30 22 Depot St., Tryon
IF LIGHT IS IN YOUR HEART, YOU WILL FIND YOUR WAY HOME: Flow Gallery in downtown Marshall presents Light ‘Em Up!, a show featuring handmade lamps and light fixtures by seven local artists that include gallery member Kathy Goodson, silk painting; Brian Leonard of Appalachian Ironworks; David Westmeier’s high-fired porcelain; Madison County potters Jim and Shirl Parmentier; Kathryn Adams, of North Carolina Glass Center; Leah Baker of Luminosa Lighting and woodworker Jason Green from Boone. The gallery is also home to local artists working in basketry, jewelry, fiber, glass, metal, pottery, painting, paper, photography, printmaking, drawing, sculpture, wood and body care products. The opening reception for Light ‘Em Up! will be held Friday, April 19, 5:30-7:30 p.m. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Photo courtesy of the artists, Jim and Shirl Parmentier. GROVEWOOD GALLERY • All Together Now: A Pediatric Patients' Art Show. April 6-April 30 111 Grovewood Road HAYWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE • Professional crafts faculty exhibition. March 27-April 17 185 Freedlander Drive, Clyde HAYWOOD COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL • Inspired Art Ministry, exhibition of work by Char Avrunin and students.
April 5-April 27 86 N. Main St., Waynesville MARK BETTIS STUDIO & GALLERY • 828, exhibition of works by five local artists with over 50 8x8 works. April 13-May 11 123 Roberts St. MICA FINE CONTEMPORARY CRAFT • Work by Sondra Dorn, Terry Gess and Bryant Holsenbeck. April 5-June 17 37 N. Mitchell Ave., Bakersville
MUSEUM OF THE CHEROKEE INDIAN • People of the Clay: Contemporary Cherokee Potters, exhibition featuring works by over 60 potters from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee Nation. April 6-May 11 589 Tsali Blvd., Cherokee PENLAND SCHOOL OF CRAFTS 67 Doras Trail, Bakersville • Compose | Decompose, a mixed-media sculpture and sound installation.
THE WEDGE STUDIOS • Grasses and Marsh, pastels by Elise Okrend. April 2-30 129 Roberts St. TOE RIVER ARTS COUNCIL • Toe River Arts’ 13th Annual Blacksmith Exhibition. March 30-April 27 269 Oak Ave, Spruce Pine TRACEY MORGAN GALLERY • Upstate, exhibition of photographs by Tema Stauffer. April 12-May 10 188 Coxe Ave. 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
FOR SERIOUS: Formed in the 1980s at UNC Chapel Hill, Southern Culture On The Skids, pictured, has spent more than 30 years poking fun at all things Southern (including throwing fried chicken at raucous shows). The rockabilly-meets-party-rock outfit recently released Bootleggers Choice with 17 of the group’s hits. Locals George Terry and the Zealots (celebrating the new album Plow) open the Saturday, April 20, concert at The Grey Eagle. 9 p.m. $17 advance/$20 day of show. thegreyeagle.com. Photo courtesy of the group
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Les Amis (African folk music), 8:00PM ALLEY CAT WINE BAR Karoake w/ Kitty Savage, 8:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Chili Slaw Sessions w/ Tom Kirschbaum & Friends, 6:00PM ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Ghost Light, 9:30PM BYWATER Open Can of Jam, 9:00PM CORK & KEG 3 Cool Cats, 7:30PM CROW & QUILL Black Sea Beat Society, 9:00PM DOUBLE CROWN Western Wednesday w/ the Note Ropers + DJ, 9:00PM FUNKATORIUM The Saylor Brothers, 6:30PM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Woody Wood Wednesday, 6:00PM
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 Steady Collective Awareness Show, 8:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Disclaimer Lounge Comedy Open Mic, 9:00PM ORANGE PEEL Soja w/ Passafyre & Iya Terra, 8:00PM OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Competition Karaoke Benefit for Julia, 4:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY French Broad Valley Music Association Mountain Music Jam, 6:00PM
STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Stray Mutt & Friends, 6:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Asheville's Most Wanted Funk Bandits, Kazz & Unk, 8:00PM
BYWATER Open Electric Country Jam hosted by John Duncan, 7:00PM
THE GREY EAGLE Cave Twins w/ Maggie Valley Band, 8:00PM
DOUBLE CROWN OLD GOLD w/ DJ Jasper (killer rock n' soul vinyl), 10:00PM
THE MOTHLIGHT Rempis w/ Lopez & Packard, 9:00PM TOWN PUMP Open Mic wi/ David, 9:00PM TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Blues & Soul Jam, 9:00PM UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY Music Bingo, 8:00PM
THURSDAY, APRIL 18 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Pleasure Chest, (blues, rock, soul), 8:00PM
LAZY DIAMOND Killer Karaoke w/ KJ TimO, 10:00PM
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night hosted by Jason DeCristofaro, 6:30PM
ARCHETYPE BREWING Canned Heat Vinyl Night, 5:00PM
LIPINSKY AUDITORIUM AT UNC ASHEVILLE Blue Ridge Orchestra Open Rehearsal, 7:00PM
STATIC AGE RECORDS Alison Shearer w/ Effigy Seed (hip-hop, funk), 9:00PM
ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Will Ray & the Space Cooties, 7:00PM
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old Time Jam, 5:00PM
BEN'S TUNE UP SakeOke (Karaoke), 8:00PM
THE GOLDEN FLEECE Scots-Baroque ChamberFolk w/ The Tune Shepherds, 7:00PM
SLY GROG LOUNGE Stella Blue Presents: Weedeater, Beitthmeans, Isabelle's Gift & Harriers of Discord, 8:00PM Get Weird Wednesdays at Sly Grog! Electronic collaboration, 9:00PM
ISIS MUSIC HALL AND KITCHEN 743 Wyatt Edmondson & Laura Rabell, 7:00PM
ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Little People w/ Marley Carroll, Koresma & Captain EZ, 9:00PM
AMBROSE WEST 420 Boogie Pre Party w/ Groove Feitsh, NOCAB RD, 8:00PM
ASHEVILLE CLUB Live Cello, 4:30PM
FLEETWOOD'S Crooked Ghost, The Big Lonesome & ila Minori, 9:00PM FLOOD GALLERY FINE ART CENTER True Home Open Mic, 6:30PM FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Ryan Ward, 7:00PM FUNKATORIUM Hot club of Asheville, 6:00pm HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Thursday Night blues w/ The Patrick Dodd Trio, 7:00PM ISIS MUSIC HALL AND KITCHEN 743 Jon Shain and FJ Ventre, 7:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Bluegrass Jam, 7:00PM LAZOOM ROOM Asheville Poetry Slam Vol. 6, 8:00PM LAZY DIAMOND 80's INVASION (80's dance party), 10:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Hank Bones, 6:30PM
MOUNTAINX.COM
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
69
C LUBLAND LOCAL 604 BOTTLE SHOP Vinyl Record Night, 7:00PM NOBLE KAVA Cuttlefish Collective: Beat Workshop & Show, 7:30PM ODDITORIUM Party Foul Weekly Drag, 9:00PM
COMING SOON WED 4/17 5:00PM–SUSHI NIGHT 7:00PM–WYATT EDMONSON & LAURA RABELL
THU 4/18 7:00PM–JON SHAIN AND FJ VENTRE
FRI 4/19 7:00PM–BETTMAN & HALPIN, AMERICANA SONGS & STORIES
ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Mitch's Totally Rad Trivia, 7:00PM Mike Dillon Band w/ Claude Coleman Jr. & Brad Houser, 10:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING OWB Downtown: Rahm Squad, 9:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: West Side Funk Jam, 9:00PM ORANGE PEEL The Tallest Man on Earth, 9:00PM OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Jef Chandler, 6:00PM PACK'S TAVERN Hope Griffin Duo, 8:00PM PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR Fwuit, 7:00PM
CARSIE BLANTON
9:00PM- CARSIE BLANTON SAT 4/20 9:00PM–BRIE CAPONE FAREWELL SHOW FEAT. KISMET
SUN 4/21 6:00PM–JON SHAIN AND FJ VENTRE 7:30PM–ALIEN MUSIC CLUB
TUE 4/23 7:30PM–TUES.BLUEGRASS W/ MASON VIA & HOT TRAIL MIX
WED 4/24 7:00PM–GYPSY & ME WITH BIRD IN HAND
THU 4/25 7:00PM–ERIN MCKEOWN 8:30PM–MILE TWELVE WITH ZOE AND CLOYD
FRI 4/26 7:00PM–MICAH SCOTT AND CHRIS WILHELM 8:30PM–CHARLIE TRAVELER PRESENTS: JONATHAN EDWARDS
SAT 4/27 7:00PM–ROD PICOTT WITH RACHEL SAGE 8:30PM–QUEEN BEE AND THE HONEYLOVERS“ASHEVILLE” ALBUM RELEASE PARTY
SUN 4/28 7:00PM–BETH SNAPP BAND & GREG KLYMA
TUE 4/30 7:30PM–TUES.BLUEGRASS W/ THE THOMAS CASSELL BAND
ISISASHEVILLE.COM DINNER MENU TIL 9:30PM LATE NIGHT MENU TIL 12AM
TUES-SUN 5PM-until 743 HAYWOOD RD 828-575-2737
70
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
MOUNTAINX.COM
PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Preachervan (formerly the Georgia Flood), 8:00PM PURPLE ONION CAFE Jeff Thompson Trio, 8:00PM SALVAGE STATION Billy Strings: Road to Shakori, 9:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Ben Phan, 7:00PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Wormholes, 9:00PM STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Acoustic Jam, 6:30PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE AVL FM 103.3: Socialize with Us, 7:00PM Rock Luv Tour Benefitting Word on the Street, 7:30PM Phantom Pantone's Make Music Not Walls Dance Party, 9:30PM THE BARRELHOUSE Ter-rific Trivia, 7:00PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE The Burger Kings (rock n' roll), 9:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT The Moth: True Stories Told Live (Theme: Bamboozled), 7:30PM TOWN PUMP Megan Jean and the KFB, 9:00PM
TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Jesse Barry & The Jam, 9:00PM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Abby the Spoon Lady w/ Chris Rodriguez, 7:30PM
FRIDAY, APRIL 19 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Lyric, (Soul, funk), 9:00PM AMBROSE WEST Worthwhile Sounds Presents: Charlie Hunter Trio w/ Lucy Woodward, 8:00PM ASHEVILLE CLUB Live Classical Guitar, 4:30PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Chris Wilhelm and Friends, 8:00PM ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Come to Life Presents: Arouna Biko Album Release Party, 9:30PM 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 Erin Kinard, 7:00PM CAPELLA ON 9 @ THE AC HOTEL DJ Dance Party w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 9:00PM CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Shiloh Hill, 7:00PM CORK & KEG Dennis Straughtmatt & Friends, 8:30PM CROW & QUILL The Balismen, 9:00PM DOUBLE CROWN Rock n' Soul Obscurities w/ Wild Vinyl DJ, 10:00PM FLEETWOOD'S Hair Metal Karaoke, 9:00PM FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Cosmic Shift (funk, jam), 10:00PM FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Colby Deitz Band, 7:00PM FUNKATORIUM Shelby Rae Moore Band, 8:00PM GINGER'S REVENGE Sarah Tucker (folk, pop), 7:30PM
MON
W/ MAGGIE VALLEY BAND
22
OPEN MIC NIGHT
FRI
SOUTHERN AVENUE
TUE
KOLARS + MO LOWDA AND THE HUMBLE + SEEPEOPLES
SAT
THE ONE VOICE PROJECT, 11:30AM
WED
SHAKE THE BABY TIL THE LOVE COMES OUT, SHUTTERINGS, JAEB, LOWERCASE NUMBERS
SAT
SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE SKIDS
THU
25
MICHAELA ANNE
FRI
HEROES AND VILLAINS
THU
18 HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Lord Huron [SOLD OUT], 7:00PM Lord Huron After Party w/ Gold Rose, 10:00PM HOPEY & CO Open Mic Night hosted by Heather Taylor, 7:00PM ISIS MUSIC HALL AND KITCHEN 743 Bettman & Halpin, Americana Songs & Stories, 7:00PM Carsie Blanton, 8:30PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Laura Blackley & The Wildflowers w/ Desdimona (two sets), 7:00PM LAZOOM ROOM LaZoom Comedy Night: Shane Torres, 7:30PM LAZY DIAMOND Hot n' Nasty (rock n' soul vinyl) w/ DJ Hissy Cruise, 10:00PM LIPINSKY AUDITORIUM AT UNC ASHEVILLE Spring Arts Fest 2019, 5:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Hillbilly Diamonds, 6:30PM LOCAL 604 BOTTLE SHOP R.D. Johnston, 8:00PM MAD CO BREW HOUSE Fortune & Glory, 6:00PM MAGNETIC 375 The Warp & The Weft, 7:00PM MOE'S ORIGINAL BBQ WOODFIN Gene Holdway, 7:00PM NEW BELGIUM BREWERY Lord Nelson, 5:30PM NOBLE KAVA Bad Comedy Night, 9:00PM
THIS WEEK AT AVL MUSIC HALL & THE ONE STOP!!!
ODDITORIUM Curious Folk Present: Wild Realms, 9:00PM
ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Free Dead Fridays feat. members of Phuncle Sam acoustic, 5:30PM AKITA w/ Shabudikah, 10:00PM
THE GREY EAGLE Southern Avenue w/ Ashley Heath & Her Heathens, 9:00PM
ONE WORLD BREWING OWB Downtown: Billingsley, 9:00PM
THE MOTHLIGHT HEX: Dance Party Benefit for Word on the Street, 9:00PM
THE IMPERIAL LIFE DJ Dance Party w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 9:00PM
ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: April B. & The Cool, 9:00PM ORANGE PEEL The Claypool Lennon Delirium, [SOLD OUT] 9:00PM OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Electronic Park, 6:00PM PACK'S TAVERN DJ RexxStep, 9:30PM PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR The Realtorz, 6:30PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Delta Moon, 8:30PM SALVAGE STATION Gruda Tree, 8:30PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Mama Danger, 8:00PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Ancient Torture Techniques, Harsh Realm & Earth Collider (punk, metal), 9:00PM STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Straightaway Cafe's 10 Year Anniversary Weekend, 6:00PM SLY GROG LOUNGE Hit This Pizza Box Party, 9:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Friday Vintage Dance Night w/ Peggy Ratusz & Daddy Longlegs Rockin’ Swingin’ Blues (lesson 6:30PM), 7:30PM
TOWN PUMP Rossdafareye, 9:00PM TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES The Vines w/ Rachel Waterhouse, 7:30PM Jim Arrendell & The Cheap Suits, 10:00PM UNCA Spring Arts Fest 2019, 5:00PM UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY Old Sap, 9:00PM URBAN ORCHARD CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE De' Rumba Dance Party w/ DJ Malinalli, 9:00PM WEAVER HOUSE Siamese Sound Club (R&B, neo-soul, jazz), 8:00PM WINE & OYSTER Adi the Monk (blues), 9:00PM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Linda & Larry Cammarata, 8:00PM ZAMBRA Jason Moore & 1st Person Soother (jazz), 8:00PM
SATURDAY, APRIL 20 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Fwuit, (retro soul), 9:00PM
THE BARRELHOUSE Blind Liver, 7:00PM
AUX BAR DJ New Millen (dance party), 11:00PM
THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE Daddy Rabbit, 8:00PM
ASHEVILLE CLUB Mr Jimmy, 4:00PM Live Blues, 4:30PM
Ghost Light
ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Swing Step (the band) followed by Jody Carroll deep roots and blues, 5:00PM
20
ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Off With Your Radiohead Presents: The Bends, 10:00PM
23
W/ ASHLEY HEATH AND HER HEATHENS
20
24
W/ GEORGE TERRY AND THE ZEALOTS, 8:00PM
ASHEVILLE VAUDEVILLE
SUN
BANKS AVE SES: Satisfaction Every Saturday, 9:00PM
21
W/ TODD ALBRIGHT
26 BURLESQUE
Asheville’s longest running live music venue • 185 Clingman Ave TICKETS AVAILABLE AT HARVEST RECORDS & THEGREYEAGLE.COM
BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Ionize, 7:00PM CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Further to Fly, 7:00PM
WEST
CORK & KEG The Barsters, 8:30PM CROW & QUILL Drayton & the Dreamboats, 9:00PM
ASHEVILLE
520 HAYWOOD RD
DOUBLE CROWN Soul Motion Dance Party w/ DJ Dr. Filth, 10:00PM FINES CREEK COMMUNITY CENTER Fines Creek Dance Night feat. Running Wolf and the Renegades, 6:00PM FLEETWOOD'S Fleetwood's Lo-Fi Farmers Market, 12:00PM Jon Worthy and the Bends, Tan Universe & Electric Karma & Sleepy Poetry, 9:00PM FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Africa Unplugged, 10:00PM
Thu. 4/18
9pm- West Side Funk Jam $3 Selected Pints
Fri. 4/19
9pm- April B. & The Cool 9pm- Light it UP: Easter Costume Party
Sat. 4/20
feat. DJ Bowie, Bunsen Burn£r & Lucas Ledford
8:15pm- Cousin Earth’s Earth Day Celebration
Mon. 4/22
GINGER'S REVENGE Lo Wolf (pop, country), 2:30PM HARMON FIELD IN TRYON Spring Arts & Flowers Festival (music, yoga, children's activities, baby goats!), 10:00AM
$3 Select Pints All Day!
HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY David Zoll Trio, 7:00PM
Always Free! Always Funky!
ISIS MUSIC HALL AND KITCHEN 743 Brie Capone Farewell Show Featuring Kismet, 9:00PM
Little People, Mike Dillon Band w/ Marley Carroll, Claude Coleman Jr Koresma & Captain EZ & Brad Houser
WED, 4/17 - SHOW: 9: 30 pm THU, 4/18 - SHOW: 10 pm (DOORS: 8:30pm ) - adv. $15 (DOORS: 9pm ) - adv. $13
19
CAVE TWINS
For more information visit www.oneworldbrewing.com
Come to Life Presents:
Arouna x Biko Album Release
THU, 4/18 - SHOW: 10 pm FRI, 4/19 - SHOW: 9 pm (DOORS: 8pm ) - tickets $10 tickets $10
AKITA x Shabudikah
Off with your Radiohead
Jacks River Band
FRI, 4/19 - SHOW: 10 pm CA$ H DONATION $
SAT, 4/20 - SHOW: 10 pm (DOORS: 9pm ) - adv. $12
SAT, 4/20 - SHOW: 10 pm CA$ 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: 4/25 BoomBox w/ BomBassic • 4/26 Andy Frasco & the U.N. • 5/2 Jeff Austin Band w/ Front Country • 5/4 The Crystal Method • 5/9 Con Brio • 5/11 Dr. Bacon w/ Metaphonia
F ree Dead F riday - 5pm
TICKETS & FULL CALENDAR AVAILABLE AT ASHEVILLEMUSICHALL.COM
@AVLMusicHall MOUNTAINX.COM
@OneStopAVL APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
71
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Local
MOUNTAIN DEW: The town of Sylva hosts its 22nd annual Greening Up The Mountains festival. Arts, crafts and food vendors will fill the streets, as will a 5K race and a youth talent contest. Two stages of music include regional acts such as The Maggie Valley Band, Fuzzy Peppers, Ol’ Dirty Bathtub and Darren and the Buttered Toast (pictured). The festivities take place on Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. greeningupthemountains.com Photo by James Cuellar
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB 4:20 Party w/ The Brick Weed Brothers, 9:00PM 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 MAGNETIC 375 The Warp & The Weft, 1:00PM
UPCOMING SHOWS: DOORS 7PM
APR 16
WORTHWHILE SOUNDS PRESENTS:
WILL HOGE
WITH BRANDY ZDAN
SHOW 8PM
APR 16
DOORS 7PM PRESENTED BY CAROLINA HEMP COMPANY: SHOW 8PM
APR 18
420 BOOGIE PRE-PARTY WITH GROOVE FETISH + NOCAB RD
APR 18
DOORS 7PM
WORTHWHILE SOUNDS PRESENTS:
SHOW 8PM
HUSTLE SOULS + DOWNTOWN ABBY & THE ECHOES + STEVIE LEE COMBS
SHOW 9PM
APR 19
DOORS 8PM
APR 26
CHARLIE HUNTER + LUCY WOODWARD
DOORS 7PM
APR 19 APR 26
SHOW 8PM
APR REASONABLY PRICED BABIES APR IMPROV COMEDY 27 27
TICKETS SOLD HERE: W W W. A M B R O S E W E S T. C O M BOX OFFICES: T H E H O N E Y P O T & T H E C I RC L E
BOOK YOUR WEDDING OR EVENT NOW: 828.332.3090 312 HAYWOOD ROAD
72
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
MOUNTAINX.COM
NEW BELGIUM BREWERY Teddy and the Rough Riders, 3:00PM OM SANCTUARY Earth Day Celebration at OM Sanctuary, 12:00PM ODDITORIUM Covenator, Behind the Sun, Velvet Reaper, Human Pelts (metal), 9:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Jacks River Band, 10:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: Light it UP! Easter Eggstravaganza (DJ sets & costume contest), 9:00PM ORANGE PEEL Phosphorescent, 9:00PM OSKAR BLUES BREWERY 4/20 JAHvanilla FIDY Release Party w/ Dottie & Schnoz Mahal, 4:00PM PACK'S TAVERN A Social Function, 9:30PM
PEACOCK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Songwriter Showcase hosted by Rob Tiger, 7:00PM PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR Up Jumped Three, 7:00PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Pisgah Brewing's 14th Anniversary Party w/ Keller Williams Grateful Grass feat. Love Cannon, John Medeski's Mad Skillet & Knower, 5:30PM PURPLE ONION CAFE Citizen Mojo, 8:00PM SALVAGE STATION 5th Annual Earth Day Kid's Festival, 10:00AM Rising Appalachia's Earthday Celebration for Clean Water, 5:00PM Garaj Mahal, 10:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY DJ Sumsun, 8:00PM SLY GROG LOUNGE Okilly Dokilly with Bear Ghost 420 Matinee, 4:15PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Melted Magazine Festival (indie, pop, psych, folk, surf, punk), 5:00PM
THE MOTHLIGHT The Wild Reeds w/ Valley Queen, 9:00PM
ARCHETYPE BREWING Post-Brunch Blues, 4:00PM
TOWN PUMP Tom Waits 4 No Man, 9:00PM
ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Pot Luck & Musician's Jam, 3:30PM
TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Lenny Pettinelli, 7:30PM What The Funk w/Ruby Mayfield, 10:00PM TWISTED LAUREL DJ Dance Party w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 11:00PM TWIN LEAF BREWING Showers on Mars (all ages), 9:00PM UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY 420 Boogie AVL, 12:00AM URBAN ORCHARD CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE Local Love Outdoor Concert Series, 5:00PM W XYZ BAR AT ALOFT GypsyGrass (Gypsy jazz, bluegrass), 8:00PM WEAVER HOUSE HempFest w/ Station Underground, 7:00PM
STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Straightaway Cafe's 10 Year Anniversary Weekend, 1:00PM
WINE & OYSTER Steven Alvarez Trio (jazz) 9:00PM
THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE 420 Party w/ Pop up Dispensary, 4:00PM CommUNITY Salsa/Latin Night w/ DJ Edi Fuentes, (Salsa lesson, 9pm), 9:30PM
YACHT CLUB Iggy Radio, 3:00PM
THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE Brotherwise, 8:00PM THE GREY EAGLE The One Voice Project: Rock Luv Tour, 12:00PM Southern Culture on the Skids and The Zealots, 9:00PM
WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Joshua Messick, 8:00PM
ZAMBRA Killawatts (jazz), 8:00PM
SUNDAY, APRIL 21 5 WALNUT WINE BAR The Get Right Band, (psychedelic indie rock), 7:00PM
BEN'S TUNE UP Good Vibe Sundays w/ DJ Oso Rey (reggae), 3:00PM BYWATER Sunday Bluegrass Jam, 4:00PM CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Brother Oliver, 6:00PM CORK & KEG Sunday Matinee Show w/ Brody Hunt & The Handfuls, 8:30PM DOUBLE CROWN Killer Karaoke w/ KJ TIM O, 10:00PM FUNKATORIUM Bluegrass Brunch w/ Gary Macfiddle, 11:00AM HARMON FIELD IN TRYON Spring Arts & Flowers Festival (music, yoga, children's activities, baby goats!), 11:00AM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Reggae Sunday w/ Chalwa, 1:00PM HILTON ASHEVILLE BILTMORE PARK Live at Roux, 11:00AM ISIS MUSIC HALL AND KITCHEN 743 Frank & Allie Lee, 6:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Irish Session, 3:00PM Game of Thrones (screening, food, costume contest), 9:00PM JARGON Sunday Blunch: Mark Guest & Mary Pearson (jazz), 11:00AM
LAZY DIAMOND Nox Boys, Nate & The Nightmares, Paint Fumes, DJ Lilo (rock n roll), 10:00PM Punk Night w/ DJ Chubberbird, 10:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Phil Alley, 6:30PM MAGNETIC 375 The Warp & The Weft, 1:00PM NOBLE KAVA Monthly Reggae Sunday feat. DJ Zion Rose (Caribbean food, music), 4:00PM ODDITORIUM Woorms, Night Beers, Deathtapes, Ape Vermin (metal), 9:00PM OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Roots & Dore, 12:00PM PACK'S TAVERN Sunday Social Club, 4:30PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Pisgah Brewing Jam hosted by Jeff Sipe, 6:30PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Plant Based Pantry Sunday Pop Up, 1:00PM Wayne Banks Trio, 1:00PM SLY GROG LOUNGE Sly Grog Open Open Mic, 6:30PM STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Straightaway Cafe's 10 Year Anniversary Weekend, 1:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE All in One: Comedy Show w/ Kristin Reitter, 7:00PM THE BARRELHOUSE Open Jam, 6:00PM THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE Tools on Stools, 3:00PM THE GREY EAGLE Asheville Vaudeville, 8:00PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE DJ Dance Party w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 9:00PM YACHT CLUB Iggy Radio, 3:00PM
MONDAY, APRIL 22 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Siamese Sound Club, 8-10 (R&B, soul, jazz), 8:00PM ARCHETYPE BREWING Old Time Jam, 5:00PM
ASHEVILLE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE Make & Mingle: Earth Day Art!, 7:00PM CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Musicians in the Round, 5:30PM DOUBLE CROWN Country Karaoke w/ KJ Tim-O, 10:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Quizzo, 7:30PM Open Mic, 9:30PM LIPINSKY AUDITORIUM AT UNC ASHEVILLE Guitar Ensemble 360 Degrees – Concert-inthe-Round, 7:00PM
TAVERN Downtown on the Park Eclectic Menu • Over 30 Taps • Patio 15 TV’s • Sports Room • 110” Projector Event Space • Shuffleboard Open 7 Days 11am - Late Night THE SUNDAY SOCIAL LUB C IC ON THE P MUS ATIO @ 4:30PM
THU. 4/18 Hope Griffin Duo (acoustic rock)
FRI. 4/19 DJ RexxStep
LOBSTER TRAP Bobby Miller and Friends, 6:30PM NOBLE KAVA Stage Fright Open Mic 730PM Sign Up/8PM Mic, 8:00PM
(dance hits, pop)
SAT. 4/20 A Social Function
(classic party hits, rock ‘n roll)
ODDITORIUM Risque Monday Burlesque Hosted By Deb Au Nare, 9:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: An Earth Day Celebration w/ Cousin Earth, 8:30PM OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Trivia Night, 5:00PM Mountain Music Mondays Open Jam, 6:00PM
20 S. Spruce St. • 225.6944 packStavern.com
SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Open Mic w/ It Takes All Kinds, 7:00PM THE GREY EAGLE Open Mic Night, 6:00PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE Leo Johnson (Gypsy jazz), 9:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Talent! A Show |Benefit for Our VOICE, 7:30PM
TUESDAY, APRIL 23 5 WALNUT WINE BAR The John Henrys, 8-10 (hot jazz), 8:00PM ALLEY CAT WINE BAR Open Mic Tuesday Nights, 8:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Gypsy Jazz Jam w/ Steve Karla & Phil Alley, 8:00PM ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Tuesday Night Funk Jam, 11:00PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Luke Wood, 7:00PM
PRESENTS
APR
THE DEL McCOURY BAND
20
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS
THE GIBSON BROTHERS, SIERRA HULL, JUSTIN MOSES, DRE ANDERS AND CODY KILBY
MAY
31
JOHN SCHNEIDER SPECIAL GUEST KAITLYN BAKER
THE ALLMAN BETTS BAND
AUG
02
JUN
25
TAB BENOIT
GET THE LED OUT THE AMERICAN LED ZEPPELIN
AUG
09
TICKETS ONLINE 24/7 @ PARAMOUNTBRISTOL.ORG
BOX OFFICE: 423 274 8920 • 518 STATE ST, BRISTOL, TN • TUE–FRI NOON–6 MOUNTAINX.COM
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
73
C L UB L AND
Thanks, Asheville! VOTED BEST INDIAN EVERY YEAR SINCE 2006
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BOLD ROCK HARD CIDER Trivia Night, 6:30PM
LAZY DIAMOND Noiz Oasis w/ DJ Salty Stax (post-punk vinyl), 10:00PM
DOUBLE CROWN Sonic Satan Stew w/ DJ Alien Brain, 10:00PM
LIPINSKY AUDITORIUM AT UNC ASHEVILLE Composers Concert, 7:00PM
ISIS MUSIC HALL AND KITCHEN 743 Tuesday Bluegrass Sessions hosted by Mason Via & Hot Trail Mix, 7:30PM
LOCAL 604 BOTTLE SHOP Synth Jam, 7:00PM NOBLE KAVA Open Jam, 8:00PM
SALVAGE STATION Trivia, 7:00PM
THE IMPERIAL LIFE Leo Johnson (Gypsy jazz), 9:00PM
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Cajun Creole jam, 7:00PM
ODDITORIUM Free Open Mic Comedy, 9:00PM
SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Josh Dunkin, 7:00PM
THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Open Mic hosted by Clint Bussey, 8:00PM
ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Turntable Tuesday, 10:00PM ROOM IX International Dance Night (feat. local dancers & school dance teams), 9:00PM
THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Swing AVL Tuesday Dance w/ The Lovebugs, (Swing lessons: 7PM; 8PM), 9:00PM THE GREY EAGLE KOLARS, Mo Lowda and The Humble, SeepeopleS, 8:00PM
THE MOTHLIGHT Helltrap, 9:00PM TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Early Funk Jam, 9:00PM TWIN LEAF BREWERY Robert's Twin Leaf Trivia, 8:00PM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Irish Jam, 6:30PM Open Mic, 8:30PM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Les Amis, 8-10 (African folk music), 8:00PM ALLEY CAT WINE BAR Karoake w/ Kitty Savage, 8:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Chili Slaw Sessions w/ Tom Kirschbaum & Friends, 6:00PM 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 CROW & QUILL Black Sea Beat Society, 9:00PM DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE 12th Annual Music Video Asheville, 7:30PM DOUBLE CROWN Western Wednesday w/ Steel’n Time + 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 Gypsy & Me w/ Bird in Hand, 7:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old Time Jam, 5:00PM LAZY DIAMOND Killer Karaoke w/ KJ Tim-O, 10:00PM LIPINSKY AUDITORIUM AT UNC ASHEVILLE Blue Ridge Orchestra Open Rehearsal, 7:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Cigar Brothers, 6:30PM
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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 Squidling Bros Circus Sideshow, Viva Le Vox, 9:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Disclaimer Comedy Open Mic, 9:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: Latin Dance Night w/ DJ Oscar (Salsa, Bachata, Merengue), 9:00PM PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR Kind, Clean Gentlemen, 6:30PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY French Broad Valley Music Association Mountain Music Jam, 6:00PM SLY GROG LOUNGE Foxy & Co. Electronic Skills Class #2, 5:30PM Get Weird Wednesdays at Sly Grog! Electronic collaboration, 9:00PM SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night hosted by Jason DeCristofaro, 6:30PM THE GOLDEN FLEECE Scots-Baroque Chamber-Folk w/ The Tune Shepherds, 7:00PM THE GREY EAGLE Shake The Baby Til The Love Comes Out, Shutterings, Jaeb & Lowercase Numbers, 8:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Movie Trivia: Casey's Cinememory Recall Challenge, 8:00PM TOWN PUMP open Mic with David, 9:00PM
MOVIE REVIEWS
Hosted by the Asheville Movie Guys HHHHH
EDWIN ARNAUDIN earnaudin@mountainx.com
= MAX RATING
H PICK OF THE WEEK H
Little HHHH DIRECTOR: Tina Gordon Chism PLAYERS: Regina Hall, Issa Rae, Marsai Martin COMEDY RATED PG-13 Issa Rae’s star was already plenty bright from her comedic work on HBO’s “Insecure,” but it reaches supernova status with her consistently hilarious performance in Little. A reverse twist on, well, Big (1988), the entertaining film from director/co-writer Tina Gordon Chism (Peeples) lets Rae’s gift with one-liners and nervous ramblings shine early and often as April, the long-suffering assistant to tech mogul Jordan (Regina Hall, Girls Trip). Having rudely bossed around one person too many, Jordan awakes one day transformed into her 13-yearold self — a mind-boggling scenario that smartly blends adult and tween humor and is handled with shrunken grown-up aplomb by Marsai Martin (ABC’s “Black-ish”). With a fabulously flabbergasted April serving as Lil’ Jordan’s confidante, taking her place in the office while the kiddo is forced to re-enroll at her former middle school — the scene of a humiliating experience years prior that inspired her future selfish ways — the duo earn big laughs individually
and especially together as they adapt to their new dynamic. Though the race against time to pitch the right app to potentially departing top client Connor (Mikey Day, “SNL”) is fairly basic, as is the parallel storyline of Jordan’s fellow junior high pariahs’ quest for popularity, Little keeps the jokes and comedic set pieces coming until they nearly make one forget that they’re in the service of such rote plotting. Furthermore, fantastical as the premise may be, the film is so funny, breezy and natural that it doesn’t need the script’s blatant moralizing to spell out its lessons — suggesting the filmmakers have a bit of growing up to do themselves. REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM
After HS DIRECTOR: Jenny Gage PLAYERS: Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Josephine Langford DRAMA/ROMANCE RATED PG-13 The new young adult romance After is not quite dullsville, but it assiduously avoids real drama. Any time the storyline sets up the potential for explosive
THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS
BRUCE STEELE bcsteele@gmail.com
Kristina Guckenberger
conflict — a wedding cake begging to be toppled, a mother walking in on her daughter astride a half-naked young man — the characters turn away. What should be the movie’s hot moments are barely spiced. The plot is simple: Only-child Tessa (Josephine Langford) heads to college with a wardrobe of sister-wife dresses, where her sizzling-hot lesbian roomie (Khadijha Red Thunder) introduces her to broody British hunk Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin). He seduces Tessa by showing her his favorite lake, a good excuse to bare his lean torso and two dozen benign tattoos. Tessa suddenly acquires a Ramones T-shirt, denim jacket and shorter skirts. They practice safe sex (thank you). People try to tear them apart. Et cetera. After began as fan fiction about Harry Styles, the tattooed pin-up from U.K. boy-band One Direction, here renamed “Hardin,” perhaps because “Dick” and “Peter” seemed too on the nose. Whether Tiffin and Langford can parlay this milquetoast effort into an actual movie career is anyone’s guess. They’re both model perfect and credibly cast and don’t embarrass themselves. So, maybe. At least that would justify the movie’s unhelpful title. Read the full review at ashevillemovies.com REVIEWED BY BRUCE STEELE BCSTEELE@GMAIL.COM
Chris Maiorana
Marcianne Miller
STARTING FRIDAY High Life (R) HH JUST ANNOUNCED Breakthrough (PG) A mother prays for her son to return from the brink of death. The Brink (NR) A documentarian shadows Steve Bannon for a year. At Grail Moviehouse. The Curse of La Llorona (R) A social worker and her children are tormented by a supernatural entity. Penguins (G) An Adélie penguin searches for a life partner.
CURRENTLY IN THEATERS Alita: Battle Angel (PG-13) HHHH After (PG-13) HS The Aftermath (R) HHHS The Best of Enemies (PG-13) HS Captain Marvel (PG-13) HHHS Diane (NR) HHH Dumbo (PG) HS Hellboy (R) HHHH
Diane HHH DIRECTOR: Kent Jones PLAYERS: Mary Kay Place, Jake Lacy DRAMA NOT RATED “What’s wrong?” This line is the first bit of dialogue uttered in Diane, the debut narrative feature film from movie critic/documentarian Kent Jones, and it is the sentiment that lingers over viewers for 95 long minutes. The film stars the exceptional Mary Kay Place in a rare leading role as the titular widowed, middle-aged woman who seemingly puts everyone and everything before herself. From her drug-addicted son (Jake Lacy, Carol) to her cancer-ridden cousin (Deirdre O’Connell, Showtime’s “The Affair”), with plentiful casserole deliveries in
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (PG) HHHH Little (PG-13) HHHH (Pick of the Week) Missing Link (PG) HHHH The Mustang (R) HHH Pet Sematary (R) HHH The Public (PG-13) HHH Shazam! (PG-13) HHH Transit (NR) HHHH Us (R) HHHH Vice (R) HHHH
MOUNTAINX.COM
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MOVIES
T H E A T E R IN F O ASHEVILLE PIZZA & BREWING CO. (254-1281) CARMIKE CINEMA 10 (298-4452) CAROLINA CINEMAS (274-9500) CO-ED CINEMA BREVARD (883-2200) EPIC OF HENDERSONVILLE (693-1146) FINE ARTS THEATRE (232-1536) FLAT ROCK CINEMA (697-2463) GRAIL MOVIEHOUSE (239-9392) REGAL BILTMORE GRANDE STADIUM 15 (684-1298)
between, she spreads her time and patience too thin for any one person to manage. Almost everyone has a “Diane” in his or her life, and while she tirelessly serves those around her as some sort of silent penance, we the viewers are tasked with uncovering just what exactly this self-imposed martyr is reconciling. Clues arise through Diane’s frequent journaling, and in one of these scenes we see her write the phrase “my one terrible sin,” implying that all of Diane’s good deeds are shrouded in repentance for something heavy, dark and painful.
As such, her incessant stewardship is not nearly as selfless as it appears on its surface — it is her lonesome quest for absolution. Death, regret and isolation are prominent themes inflicted upon nearly every character here, none more so than our protagonist. Viewers watch Diane deal with incredibly stressful events with deeply relatable human emotion — including a screaming match while serving soup at a homeless shelter and a dive bar breakdown to the tunes of Bob Dylan and Right Said Fred — but ultimately, we never really get to the core of her. We’re left on the outside, looking in, wondering who Diane truly is. She remains a mundane enigma, a woman still scourging herself with a shameful past, still searching for peace in the dark woods. While effective in delivering its message, the pitfalls of Diane arise through its sluggish, sometimes painfully slow pacing and heavy religious overtones. The progression of the film’s most dramatic moments are executed with choppy, highly stylized transitions and eerie church bell interludes, but ultimately they don’t accomplish the artistic effect for which the filmmakers were obviously aiming.
Read the full review at mountainx. com/movies/reviews Now playing at Grail Moviehouse REVIEWED BY KRISTINA GUCKENBERGER KRISTINA.GUCKENBERGER@GMAIL.COM
Hellboy HHHH DIRECTOR: Neil Marshall PLAYERS: David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane ACTION/ADVENTURE RATED R The nice thing about reboots is that they can piggyback a little on their predecessors while hopefully managing to hold their own. Such is the case with Neil Marshall’s Hellboy, which pivots from Guillermo del Toro’s PG-13 Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) to an R-rated demon exploitation flick that ups the violence, blood, giblets and vulgarity. The excessive gore, however, doesn’t detract from the gallantry and grit one expects from a superhero movie, assets that comes courtesy of David Harbour (Netflix’s “Stranger Things”), barely recognizable under the iconic red makeup. In contrast to Ron Perlman’s
innocent, conflicted man-child take on Hellboy, we now have a hard-drinking, grunting, growling badass with an affected Goth rock look reminiscent of Misfits founder Glenn Danzig. But there’s more than machismo here. Harbour strikes a balance between muscle and soul as he struggles with a moral dilemma: Join the forces of hell or respect his humanity. Consistent with this different character interpretation of Mike Mignola’s source comic, fans of the first two Hellboy outings will note a significant shift in style. Departing from del Toro’s gilded, fantastical realms, we enter a world of pulpy action horror schlock that borders on Sam Raimi territory (and that’s not a bad thing). Marshall (The Descent) and screenwriter Andrew Cosby (creator of the Syfy series “Eureka”) wisely retain the earlier films’ satanic lore, World War II origin story and comical midfight commentary from the titular character. And speaking of fight scenes, there are a lot of them. If you’re craving a heaping dose of punching, kicking, guns blazing and objects flying through the air, you’re in for a treat. Thrilling as the action is, at times the plot feels a bit convoluted. But in total,
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SCREEN SCENE you can ignore most of the digressions without missing the main thrust of evil Blood Queen Nimue (Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil) rising to destroy humanity and the demon monster hero who will either stop her or become her ally. With such a fantastical baseline off which to play, the film’s plentiful special effects yield such memorable imagery as Nimue addressing a demon throng in Miltonic fashion and beasts from the underworld ripping apart handfuls of bystanders on the London streets. Just as stunning are teenage psychic Alice (Sasha Lane, Hearts Beat Loud) playing puppet for the dead via an intestinal voice box protruding from her mouth, and Hellboy riding a demon bird and swinging a flaming sword. Though the critical consensus suggests otherwise, all of the above make for a wildly entertaining time at the movies and a creative appetizer for the upcoming summer buffet of more traditional superhero fare. REVIEWED BY CHRIS MAIORANA STANORDAN@GMAIL.COM
High Life HH DIRECTOR: Claire Denis PLAYERS: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin SCI-FI/DRAMA RATED R Keen to support women filmmakers, I was eager to review High Life, the 14th feature film and the first in English from the 73-year-old darlingauteur of French cinema, Claire Denis (Let the Sunshine In). The early reviews were raves — happy me. Then I saw its R rating “for disturbing sexual and violent content including sexual assault, graphic nudity and language.” Uh-oh … A baby squeals in a playpen set up in a spaceship that has seen better days. Making repairs outside the vessel, her space-suited father (Robert Pattinson) coos to her. Lovely, eh? It’s haunting and unforgettable, too, but only after suffering through the entire film do you realize these endearing early images anesthetized you to the horrid images that follow. Was such numbness, God forbid, the purpose of the film? The premise of High Life is classic sci-fi: The government offers a deal to death row inmates, trading execution for a trip into space as medical guinea pigs. The ultimate destination, however, is an encounter with a black hole to see what happens — surely a mission with a low potential for success. The positives: Cinematography, sound and music are top-notch. All actors, including the international
supporting cast, are terrific. Pattinson is outstanding as the solitary prisoner who finds hope in raising his daughter Willow (played as a 14-month old by Scarlett Lindsey and as a teen by Jessie Ross). Unfortunately, I do wish I could forget the brilliant performance of Juliette Binoche, my favorite actress, who is too convincing as Dr. Dibs, the insidious reproductionobsessed crew doctor. Denis claims High Life is about what it means to be human. (Life in really high places — get it?) The loving father/daughter thread exquisitely portrays humanity at its best, but the surrounding story is humanity wallowing in its worst. The crew’s unending isolation means life is nothing more than maintaining existence. It’s 24 hours a day of being a hopeless victim, insanely seeking relief in drug addiction, endless exploration of bodily fluids, masturbation, rape, murder and suicide. Without even one ounce of humor, High Life is 110 minutes of emotional pummeling. You’ve been warned. Starts April 19 at the Fine Arts Theatre REVIEWED BY MARCIANNE MILLER MARCI@AQUAMYSTIQUE.COM
The Mustang HHH DIRECTOR: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre PLAYERS: Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Mitchell, Bruce Dern DRAMA RATED R An angry, anti-social inmate. An angry, unbroken horse. A program to have prisoners train wild mustangs to be sold at auction, rather than euthanized. You know where The Mustang is going. Except you don’t, really. The movie, from Belgian actress-turned-director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, takes some unexpected turns and either minimizes or rethinks a lot of the expected man-beast bonding points. For a debut feature, it’s also a remarkably assured and visually creative work. The movie also has an agenda, beginning and ending with title cards about the actual mustang training program that inspired it, but it plays as a deeply human — and deeply equine — drama, not propaganda. Now playing at Grail Moviehouse Read the full review at ashevillemovies.com REVIEWED BY BRUCE STEELE BCSTEELE@GMAIL.COM
by Edwin Arnaudin | earnaudin@mountainx.com
MOUNTAINTOP BEATS: A still from Hip Hop Gone Wild, one of the selections at the No Man’s Land Film Festival on April 25 at New Belgium Brewing Co. Photo courtesy of No Man’s Land Film Festival • The Amphitheater of Linville Gorge, the third documentary produced by Black Dome Mountain Sports’ Carolina Climbing Museum, will be shown on Saturday, April 20, at 11 a.m., at Grail Moviehouse, 45 S. French Broad Ave. The 81-minute film explores the rich history of climbing in the Carolinas, and the screening will be followed by a Q&A with producer Mike Fischesser. Tickets are $8 and available online and at the Grail box office. Half of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Carolina Climbers Coalition. grailmoviehouse.com
FILM 6TH ANNUAL EARTH DAY MOVIE: 'TOMORROW' DOCUMENTARY BY CYRIL DION AND MELANIE LAURENT • WE (4/17), 6:30pm - Tomorrow, deals with issues linked to climate change and optimistically identifies concrete solutions to environmental and social issues. Free. Held at Lenoir-Rhyne University, 36 Montford Ave.
FLOOD GALLERY FINE ART CENTER • FR (4/19), 8-9:30pm Classic World Cinema: The End of Summer, Yasujiro Ozu’s 1962 drama. Admission by donation. Held at Flood Gallery, 850 Blue Ridge Road, Unit A-13, Black Mountain MUSIC VIDEO ASHEVILLE • WE (4/24), 7:3010pm - Music Video Asheville, local music video screening and awards event. Networking party: 5-7pm. Screening: 7:30-9pm. Awards:
• The No Man’s Land Film Festival celebrates its second year in Western North Carolina on Thursday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. at New Belgium Brewing Co., 21 Craven St. Co-hosted by MountainTrue, the premier all-women adventure film festival features short films about inspirational women adventurers. Tickets are $20 and available online. Weather permitting, films will also be screened for free on the lawn in front of the brewhouse at 8 p.m. mountaintrue.org/nmlff19 X
9-10pm. $20/$40 VIP. Held at Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave. NO MAN'S LAND FILM FESTIVAL • TH (4/25), 6:30pm - Proceeds from No Man's Land Film Festival benefit MountainTrue. Ticketed indoor screening includes seating, hors d’oeuvres, and a beer. Weather permitting, films will also be screened for free on the lawn in front of the Brewhouse. $20.
MOUNTAINX.COM
Held at New Belgium Brewery, 21 Craven St. ‘RESILIENCE’ • TH (4/25), 5:307:30pm - Resilience: The Biology of Stress and The Science of Hope, film screening. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. ‘YEMANJÁ’ • FR (4/19), 7pm Yemanjá, documentary film screening. Free. Held at Highsmith Student Union, The Grotto, 1 University Heights
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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): French writer Simone de Beauvoir sent a letter to her lover, Aries author Nelson Algren. She wrote, “I like so much the way you are so greedy about life and yet so quiet, your eager greediness and your patience, and your way of not asking much of life and yet taking much because you are so human and alive that you find much in everything.” I’d love to see you embody that state in the coming weeks, Aries. In my astrological opinion, you have a mandate to be both utterly relaxed and totally thrilled; both satisfied with what life brings you and skillfully avid to extract the most out of it; both at peace with what you already have and primed to grab for much more. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The Beat Generation of American poets arose in the late 1940s as a rebellion against materialistic mainstream culture and academic poetry. It embraced sexual liberation, Eastern spirituality, ecological awareness, political activism and psychedelic drugs. One of its members, Jack Kerouac, tweaked and ennobled the word “beat” to serve as the code name for their movement. In its old colloquial usage, “beat” meant tired or exhausted. But Kerouac re-consecrated it to mean “upbeat” and “beatific,” borrowing from the Italian word beato, translated as “beatific.” I bring this to your attention, Taurus, because you’re on the verge of a similar transition: from the old meaning of “beat” to the new. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “Scattered through the ordinary world, there are books and artifacts and perhaps people who are like doorways into impossible realms, of impossible and contradictory truth.” Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges said that, and now I’m passing it on to you — just in time for your entrance into a phase when such doorways will be far more available than usual. I hope you will use Borges’ counsel as a reminder to be alert for everyday situations and normal people that could lead you to intriguing experiences and extraordinary revelations and life-changing blessings. CANCER (June 21-July 22): The Free Will Astrology Committee To Boldly Promote Cancerian’s Success is glad to see that you’re not politely waiting for opportunities to come to you. Rather, you’re tracking them down and proactively wrangling them into a form that’s workable for your needs. You seem to have realized that what you had assumed was your fair share isn’t actually fair; that you want and deserve more. Although you’re not being mean and manipulative, neither are you being overly nice and amenable; you’re pushing harder to do things your way. I approve! And I endorse your efforts to take it even further. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Many experts who have studied the art and science of running fast believe that it’s best if a runner’s legs are symmetrical and identical in their mechanics. But that theory is not supported by the success of champion sprinter Usain Bolt. Because he has suffered from scoliosis, his left leg is a half-inch longer than his right. With each stride, his left leg stays on the track longer than his right, and his right hits the track with more force. Some scientists speculate that this unevenness not only doesn’t slow him down, but may in fact enhance his speed. In accordance with current astrological variables, I suspect you will be able to thrive on your asymmetry in the coming weeks, just as your fellow Leo Usain Bolt does. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo adventurer Jason Lewis traveled around the world using transportation powered solely by his own body. He walked, bicycled, skated, rowed, pedaled and swam more than 46,000 miles. I propose that we make him your role model for the next four weeks. You’re primed to accomplish gradual breakthroughs through the use of simple, persistent, incremental actions. Harnessing the power of your physical vitality will be an important factor in your success.
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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Curcumin is a chemical found in the plant turmeric. When ingested by humans, it may diminish inflammation, lower the risk of diabetes, support cardiovascular health and treat digestive disorders. But there’s a problem: the body is inefficient in absorbing and using curcumin — unless it’s ingested along with piperine, a chemical in black pepper. Then it’s far more available. What would be the metaphorical equivalent to curcumin in your life? An influence that could be good for you, but that would be even better if you synergized it with a certain additional influence? And what would be the metaphorical equivalent of that additional influence? Now is a good time to investigate these questions. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “I have the usual capacity for wanting what may not even exist,” wrote poet Galway Kinnell. How abut you, Scorpio? Do you, too, have an uncanny ability to long for hypothetical, invisible, mythical and illusory things? If so, I will ask you to downplay that amazing power of yours for a while. It’s crucial for your future development that you focus on yearning for actual experiences, real people and substantive possibilities. Please understand: I’m not suggesting you’re bad or wrong for having those seemingly impossible desires. I’m simply saying that for now you will thrive on being attracted to things that are genuinely available. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in,” wrote Sagittarian novelist Jane Austen. I’m guessing you’ve had that experience — maybe more than usual, of late. But I suspect you’ll soon be finding ways to express those embryonic feelings. Congrats in advance! You’ll discover secrets you’ve been concealing from yourself. You’ll receive missing information whose absence has made it hard to understand the whole story. Your unconscious mind will reveal the rest of what it has thus far merely been hinting at. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): All over the world, rivers and lakes are drying up. Sources of water are shrinking. Droughts are becoming more common and prolonged. Why? Mostly because of climate change. The good news is that lots of people are responding to the crisis with alacrity. Among them is an engineer in India named Ramveer Tanwar. Since 2014, he has organized efforts leading to the rejuvenation of 12 dead lakes and ponds. I propose we make him your role model for the coming weeks. I hope he will inspire you to engage in idealistic pursuits that benefit other people. And I hope you’ll be motivated to foster fluidity and flow and wetness everywhere you go. The astrological time is ripe for such activities. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): A blogger named Caramelizee offered her definition of elegance: “being proud of both your feminine and masculine qualities; seeing life as a non-ending university and learning everything you can; caring for yourself with tender precision; respecting and taking advantage of silences; tuning in to your emotions without being oversensitive; owning your personal space and being generous enough to allow other people to own their personal space.” This definition of elegance will be especially apropos and useful for you Aquarians in the coming weeks. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You Pisceans have been summoning heroic levels of creative intensity. You’ve been working extra hard and extra smart. But it seems that you haven’t been fully recognized or appreciated for your efforts. I’m sorry about that. Please don’t let it discourage you from continuing to express great integrity and authenticity. Keep pushing for your noble cause and offering your best gifts. I’m proud of you! And although you may not yet have reaped all the benefits you will ultimately sow, three months from now I bet you’ll be pleased you pushed so hard to be such a righteous servant of the greater good.
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REA L ESTATE | REN TA L S | R O O M M ATES | SER VI C ES JOB S | A N N OU N CEM ENTS | M I ND, BO DY, SPI R I T CL A SSES & WORKSH OPS | M USI C I ANS’ SER VI C ES PETS | A U TOMOTI VE | X C HANG E | ADULT Want to advertise in Marketplace? 828-251-1333 x141 cbailey@mountainx.com • mountainx.com/classifieds RENTALS HOMES FOR RENT COUNTRY HOME 2bdrm,2ba, on 12 acres in 28709. Owner lives in basement apartment. Artisans, gardeners, goat lovers paradise. $1800/mo. Kathykane303@gmail.com
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EMPLOYMENT GENERAL TROLLEY TOUR GUIDES If you are a "people person," love Asheville, have a valid Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and clean driving record you could be a great Tour Guide. Full-time and seasonal part-time positions available. Training provided. Contact us today! 828 251-8687. Info@GrayLineAsheville.com www.GrayLineAsheville.com
SKILLED LABOR/ TRADES EXPERIENCED PET GROOMER NEEDED Professional pet groomer needed @ busy salon. Clientele not needed. Must have 2 years experience and be willing to learn and further their skill. Customer service skills are priority. www.shampoodlessalon.com shampoodlessalon@gmail. com
ADMINISTRATIVE/ OFFICE PROGRAM COORDINATOR Join the North Carolina Glass Center team! NCGC is a nonprofit, public access glass art facility and gallery. Seeking a part time program coordinator. For full job description visit ncglasscenter.org
RESTAURANT/ FOOD DISHWASHER-PART TIME DISHWASHERS at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. play an important role in the success of our Taproom & Restaurant. This entry-level position allows you the opportunity to
FULL TIME STORE MANAGER WANTED Job Description: Ski Country Sports offers prospects the opportunity to work in a beautiful location, to grow their skills and to share a passion for skiing and biking. Ideal candidates are leaders in the work place that wish to join a unique, values-driven organization.
Responsibilities & Qualifications: • Supervise team of retail sales workers • Track monthly results and trends for business forecasting • Previous experience in retail, customer service, or other related fields • Strong leadership qualities
828-254-2771 1000 Merrimon Ave • AVL, NC 28804
www.skicountrysports.com craig@skicountrysports.com
learn how our kitchen works, gain and improve your culinary skills, and show your dedication toward a long-term kitchen career. Dishwashers thoroughly clean and inspect dishes, silverware, glasses and kitchen equipment. To Apply- Please visit our website https://sierranevada.com/ careers HOST We are looking for friendly, service oriented people who want to be a part of the brewery experience by joining our team as a part-time Host in our high-volume Taproom & Restaurant. This fastpaced position requires the ability to provide exceptional customer service while multitasking, and a willingness to learn. TO APPLY: Please visit our website sierranevada. com/careers The Host is the first employee to interact with arriving guests as they enter the Taproom. It is the job of the host to greet arriving guests, welcome them into the establishment and seat them according to established guidelines. The guests typically receive their first impression of the service of the restaurant by their exchange with the host. TAPROOM SUPPORT-SIERRA NEVADA BREWING CO. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is looking for friendly, service oriented people who want to be a part of the brewery experience by joining our Front of House Taproom & Restaurant service team in a parttime Taproom Support role. Ensures guests are seated at a clean, properly set table within the shortest amount of time possible. • Offers assistance to guest by clearing away dishes and glassware. • Cleans and reset tables and the bar top once guests have left. • Delivers food to tables and beer to guests. TO APPLY: Please visit our website https://sierranevada.com/ careers
MEDICAL/ HEALTH CARE PARAPROFESSIONAL NEEDED Full time Benefitted position available to provide support for adults wit disabilities, assists residents with daily living skills, med administration. Overnights required, along with High School diploma and auto insurance. 828778-0260
HUMAN SERVICES OVERNIGHT AWAKE CASE MANAGER POSITION The Overnight Awake Case Manager is an hourly, non-exempt position reporting directly to the Shelter Coordinator. This employee must be awake and available at all times to respond to emergencies. The primary responsibilities of the Overnight Awake Case Manager are to ensure effective facility operations/organization and to provide support and service coordination for domestic violence survivors
within the shelter setting and through the crisis hotline as needed after hours. This position may also be assigned specialized tasks to forward the overall functioning of the shelter. This is an awake position, working as the only staff on shift, three nights a week for 12 hours at a time. If you are interested, please submit a resume and cover letter to helpmateasheville@gmail. com by 5:00 PM on April 30th. Spanish fluency is desired and incentivized in pay. Diverse candidates are encouraged to apply. SUWS OF THE CAROLINAS IS HIRING FOR A SEASONAL INTAKE COORDINATOR SUWS of the Carolinas is currently hiring for a seasonal evenings/weekends Intake Coordinator position. We are a wilderness therapy company that operates in the Pisgah National Forest and serves youth and adolescents ages 10-17. Applicants must be extremely organized, flexible, and work well in a fast paced environment. Clear communication, sensitivity, and people skills are a must as you will be interacting one-on-one with parents. Schedule is primarily 8:30am-5:00pm Sat/Sun, and 10:30am-7:00pm M, Th, Fr. This is a seasonal full time position that runs approximately mid-May through July depending on need. Previous work in a therapeutic setting preferred. Job duties to include, but not limited to: being an essential contact for all clientele, facilitating family orientations for new arrivals, general office duties/ data entry. Must pass a preemployment background check and drug screen. www.suwscarolinas.com/
TEACHING/ EDUCATION AIRLINE CAREERS begin here – Get started by training as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for qualified students. Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance 800725-1563
INTERESTED IN WORKING AT A-B TECH? Full-Time, PartTime and Adjunct Positions available. Come help people achieve their dreams! Apply for open positions at https:// abtcc.peopleadmin.com
RETAIL GALLERY SALES ASSISTANT The Kress Emporium is hiring a retail sales assistant. The position will require helping customers, handling cash register, cleaning, displays, and other daily duties. Must have great customer service skills, and reliable transportation. This is a part time position 2-4
THE N EW Y OR K TIME S C ROSSWORD P UZ Z LE days per week. Please bring resume to 19 Patton Ave. Asheville 28801. 828-2812252 PART TIME SALES POSITION CURRENTLY AVAILABLE Must have knowledge of music, musical instruments and musical equipment. Sales experience preferred. Must be very customer oriented. Must be able to work Saturdays 10a-5p. Spanish as a second language is a plus. Compensation: Hourly + commission based upon experience. Email becky@ musiciansworkshop.com for application becky@ musiciansworkshop.com.
SERVICES EDUCATION/ TUTORING MATH TUTORING Exam season is upon us! Andie Lambeth has extensive experience in Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra, & Pre-calc. If you or your child need help this exam season, please contact me! andie.lambeth@gmail.com
HOME IMPROVEMENT HANDY MAN HIRE A HUSBAND • HANDYMAN SERVICES Since 1993. Multiple skill sets. Reliable, trustworthy, quality results. Insured. References and estimates available. Stephen Houpis, (828) 280-2254.
(4/22, 4/23, 4/29, 4/30) 6-8 pm at FreeBody 619 Haywood Rd. Receive personalized vibrational mantra based on your birth information. Pat Parker, Chopra Center Certified 619-8940892 details.
FOR MUSICIANS MUSICAL SERVICES
ANNOUNCEMENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS A PLACE FOR MOM Has helped over a million families find senior living. Our trusted, local advisors help find solutions to your unique needs at no cost to you. 1-855993-2495 (AAN CAN) POETRY/OPEN MIC POETRY/OPEN MIC NIGHT @ ST. JAMES AME APRIL 26, 2019 6PM-8PM $2.00 ADMIN, FREE SNACKS, FOR MORE INFOR CALL 828-838-0290
MIND, BODY, SPIRIT COUNSELING SERVICES
POSITIVE HYPNOSIS | EFT | NLP Michelle Payton, M.A., D.C.H., Author | 828-6811728 | www.MichellePayton. com | Michelle’s Mind Over Matter Solutions include: Hypnosis, Self-Hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Technique, Neuro- Linguistic Programming, Acupressure Hypnosis, Past Life Regression. Find Michelle’s books, educational audio and videos, sessions and workshops on her website.
SPIRITUAL
LANDSCAPING TREE AND SHRUB REMOVAL SERVICE 30 years experience in cutting trees in people’s yards in Asheville and WNC. • Free quotes. Call Eddy Kieffer: 684-7151.
consultation! (828-6108228) Reaching out can be hard, flexibility can make it easier. Varied appointment hours, Insurance or sliding fees, and multiple payment options will help! nicolemdixon@ createamindfullife.com www.createamindfullife. com
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NOW ACCEPTING STUDENTS IN JAZZ PIANO, COMPOSITION, AND IMPROVISATION (ALL INSTRUMENTS). Michael Jefry Stevens, “WNC Best Composer 2016” and “Steinway Artist”, now accepting students in jazz piano, composition, and improvisation (all instruments). 35 years experience. M.A. from Queens College (NYC). Over 90 cds released. 9179161363. michaeljefrystevens.com
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edited by Will Shortz
No. 0313
ACROSS
1 Metallic waste 6 Isn’t a bystander 10 Longtime Syrian leader 15 Preferred seating request 16 Get ready for planting 17 In ___ (developing) 18 Understood 19 Ithaca, to Odysseus 20 Odysseus, to Ithaca 21 Les ___-Unis 22 Patent preceder 23 Girder type 24 Lineage-based women’s grp. 25 “___ be my pleasure!” 27 “Star Trek: ___” (syndicated series of the ’80s-’90s) 29 Draft org. 30 Pizza chain 31 Stumblebum 33 Rare craps throws 36 Like Mercury among all the planets 41 Legendary Manhattan music club 45 “Here comes trouble!” 46 Distance for Captain Nemo 47 ___ package 48 Big name in mortgages? 49 TV host Ryan 51 Singer Carly ___ Jepsen 52 Hide away 54 Place to go to swim, informally 55 Mythical figure known for ribaldry 57 Writer Edgar ___ Poe 59 Places where streams flow 60 Indirect comment … or a hint to this puzzle’s circled letters 66 Org. for students in uniform 67 Danish money 68 Blackberrys, e.g., for short 69 Spread in a spread 70 27 Chopin works 71 Bombard
PUZZLE BY JEFFREY WECHSLER
72 Acorn, essentially 73 Deals with 74 Indulged to excess, with “on”
DOWN
1 Like the slang “da bomb” and “tubular, man!” 2 Vaquero’s item 3 Award for Washington and Lee 4 Pupil of a lizard, e.g. 5 Becomes established 6 Garden pest 7 Dummkopf 8 “Personally …” 9 Worry about, informally 10 The Charioteer constellation 11 Bit of theater detritus 12 Tennis Hallof-Famer with a palindromic name 13 Arts and hard sciences, e.g. 14 Sides of some quads 26 Pictorial fabric 28 Studying aid 30 Grp. that gets the show on the road 32 Recipient of media complaints, for short
33 Some turkeys 34 [Yawn!] 35 1-1 37 Well-organized 38 Eponymous physicist Ernst 39 Horrid sort 40 Chop ___ 42 Made the rounds, say? 43 It varies from black to white 44 Ballpark purchase 49 N.B.A. Hall-ofFamer with four rap albums, informally
50 “The Tale of ___ Saltan” (RimskyKorsakov opera) 53 Like some golf shots and most bread 56 City under siege from 2012 to ’16 58 “No ___” (bumper sticker) 59 Page 2, 4 or 6, generally 60 Space balls 61 Art Deco notable 62 Dissolute man 63 Butts 64 “Dogs” 65 Abbr. on a brewery sign
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS NY TIMES PUZZLE
MOUNTAINX.COM
APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
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APRIL 17 - 23, 2019
MOUNTAINX.COM