O U R 2 0 T H Y E A R O F W E E K LY I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S , A R T S & E V E N T S F O R W E S T E R N N O R T H C A R O L I N A V O L . 2 1 N O . 6 S E P T 3 - S E P T. 9 , 2 0 1 4
Gee’s Bend quilts — in print | 48
Saving an historic African-American cemetery | 8
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Asheville memories Everyone in Asheville seems to march to their own drum, yet, in the city’s last 20 years or so, we’ve come together as a community and, among many accomplishments, revived what was once a boarded-up downtown. In this issue, Xpress shares the memories of the some of the people who were part of the transformation.
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8 STONES AND BONES Volunteers help resurrect local African-American history
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14 WISH LISTS & INCENTIVES Asheville City Council sets it legislative agenda, approves RAD lofts incentives
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36 ROOFTOP GARDENS Growing veggies on top of the Flatiron building
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42 THE LONG HELLO City permitting issues drag on for South Slope ventures
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48 BLANKET STATEMENT Dual local exhibits showcase Gee’s Bend quilts as prints
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50 THE SING-OFF Brown Bag Songwriting Competition begins a new season
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OPINION
Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com. STAFF
PUBLISHER: Jeff Fobes ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson MANAGING EDITOR: Margaret Williams A&E EDITOR/WRITER: Alli Marshall FOOD EDITOR/WRITER: Gina Smith STAFF REPORTERS/WRITERS: Hayley Benton, Carrie Eidson, Jake Frankel, Lea McLellan, Kat McReynolds EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: Hayley Benton, Grady Cooper, Carrie Eidson, Jake Frankel, Michael McDonald, Lea McLellan, Kat McReynolds MOVIE REVIEWER & COORDINATOR: Ken Hanke CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Peter Gregutt, Rob Mikulak, Tracy Rose
CARTOON BY RANDY MOLTON
About the right to bare breasts in public Excuse me, but what’s the beef here (no pun intended)? Women want equal rights to bare their breasts in public because men can walk around without wearing a shirt? The point escapes me. Let me get this straight: Nature endowed women with two breasts, primarily to provide milk to nurture their young. Any other “titillation” (again, pardon my pun), is beside the point. For all intents and purposes, women already bare their breasts in public. They wear sheer blouses through which their brassieres are visible, sport halter tops or tank tops with no bra underneath and erect nipples plainly evident. Women wear barely-there bikini tops at the beach or swimming pool and openingly nurse infants in public. I could go on, but I think you get my drift. I’m no prude, but women get away with flaunting it already. If they want to walk around in public with no tops on, I doubt many men (or some women) would complain. If you want to see boobs, buy an issue of Playboy or go to a topless bar. I just think there are larger issues that deserve public demon-
strations of support: a living wage for workers, affordable health and medical care, local jobs that are not driven by hospitals, tourism or real estate, and reasonable rents for those not fortunate enough to be able to afford million-dollar homes in Asheville. I don’t expect you to print this, but I had to get my 2 cents’ worth in. Have a good day. And yes, I do think ladies are beautiful. Chuck Waters Weaverville
Avoid campaign push polls During the primary, someone called me to ask if I’d be less likely to support Commissioner David King if I knew he had taken a “vacation to France paid for by special interests.” That’s called a push poll. It’s designed to “push” public opinion by implying something that is not always true. Usually this takes place just prior to the election so there is not enough time for the other party to refute the implication. A business trip is very different from a vacation — you don’t generally go on vacation with the lieutenant governor instead of your
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Jonathan Ammons, Edwin Arnaudin, Jacqui Castle, Jesse Farthing, Dorothy FoltzGray, Susan Foster,Alicia Funderburk, Doug Gibson, Steph Guinan, Cameron Huntley, Cindy Kunst, Emily Nichols, Josh O’Connor, Thom O’Hearn, Erik Peake, Kyle Petersen, Rich Rennicks, Tim Robison, Kyle Sherard, Toni Sherwood, Justin Souther ART & DESIGN MANAGER: Megan Kirby GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Laura Barry, Lori Deaton, Susan McBride ADVERTISING MANAGER: Susan Hutchinson ONLINE SALES MANAGER: Jordan Foltz MARKETING ASSOCIATES: Nichole Civiello, Bryant Cooper, Tim Navaille, Kat McReynolds, Brian Palmieri, Aiyanna Sezak-Blatt, John Varner INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES MANAGER: Stefan Colosimo WEB TEAM: Kyle Kirkpatrick, Brad Messenger OFFICE MANAGER & BOOKKEEPER: Patty Levesque
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spouse. Commissioner King made the trip to serve as Buncombe County’s representative, at the request of GE Aviation, for their announcement of the plan to build a $125 million manufacturing facility in Asheville. The destination of the trip, France, is where GE Aviation’s partner company in this project is headquartered. And the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce is the “special interest” referred to in the misleading poll, taken by supporters of the Miranda DeBruhl campaign. King was doing what we wish commissioners would do: Be more concerned about Buncombe County than party politics. If someone calls me again and asks if I’ll be more likely to vote for a candidate “if I knew about something,” I’ll simply tell them I don’t support campaigns that use push polls. One has to wonder whether Debruhl would have the integrity to place Buncombe County’s best interest over partisan politics. What a great opportunity Buncombe County residents now have to elect Nancy Waldrop, an independent commissioner who is not obligated by party politics, is a former business owner and has a 30-year history of teaching in the public school system.
CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN
In the general election on Nov. 4, voters will have a choice between partisan politics and an independent voice. I support Nancy Waldrop because she supports job creation in Buncombe County. Beverly Gottfried Candler
Twenty years for Earthaven and Xpress Congratulations to everyone at Mountain Xpress, past and present, who contributed to encouraging and celebrating the emergence over the last 20 years of a vibrant and mostly open-minded culture in our Western North Carolina urban hub. Although at first I was sad to see the simplicity of Green Line shift into the more popular style of the Xpress (it also took me some time to get used to the intense modernization of our funky town), I’ve found our version of a progressiveoriented news-and-entertainment weekly to be way ahead of those I’ve seen in other, larger towns throughout the Southeast.
Meanwhile, in appreciation of local “institutions” that have survived and thrived here for the last 20 years, I want to join past and current residents and neighbors in the Taylor Creek watershed community in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of WNC’s own thriving ecovillage, Earthaven, nestled in the forest between Black Mountain and Old Fort. Home to scores of landand people-loving communitarians of all ages (newborn to 98!), Earthaven has also survived phas-
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es of transformation in its organization and appearance, while literally serving thousands of visitors and students over its young life with tours, classes, workshops, internships and extended trainings in permaculture, natural and green building, self-governance modalities and communications technologies. Please join us in wishing Earthaven another 20 healthy years of local blessings, and c’mon out for a tour when you’ve got a few hours to wander through our woods with us. — Arjuna da Silva Earthaven Ecovillage Co-Founder
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N E W S
Stones and bones Volunteers help resurrect local AfricanAmerican history
BY JAKE FRANKEL
jfrankel@mountainx.com 251-1333 ext. 115
A normally quiet corner of Asheville’s Kenilworth neighborhood has been humming in recent weeks as volunteers wield weed whackers and hammers. Their work is part of the latest effort to rescue Western North Carolina’s oldest known AfricanAmerican cemetery from the ravages of neglect and obscurity. Between at least the mid-1800s and 1943, nearly 2,000 human bodies were crammed into the 2-acre patch of land at the end of Dalton Street, adjacent to the St. John “A” Baptist Church. Most of the graves are unmarked; many contain the last remains of slaves and other black citizens whose lives and contributions to the community have been largely unrecognized. In the decades since its final burial, the cemetery fell victim to the relentless spread of poison ivy, kudzu and briars. George Gibson, who helped bury bodies there as a boy, says that when he revisited the site in 1986, he was disturbed to see it “in a shamble”
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and vowed “to get it back to how I had seen it: A clean cemetery.” It began as a one-man mission: “I came out there with just a hedge clipper, a pair of loppers,” he recalls. Gibson was soon joined by his friend George Taylor, who also grew up nearby. But the property was too far gone by then for two pairs of hands to be able to save it, and though groups of volunteers have since intermittently gotten involved, the results have been mixed. Several times they’ve beaten back the weeds, only to see them reclaim the site soon after (see “If Stones Could Talk,” Sept. 23, 1998, Xpress). Now 86 and blind, Gibson can no longer help with the hard physical labor of clearing brush, but he’s hopeful that the revived efforts of the allvolunteer South Asheville Cemetery Association will achieve what he’s always dreamed of.
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MAPPING THE PAST: A new website features an interactive map of WNC’s oldest-known African-American cemetery and each of its nearly 2,000 graves. Photos by Hayley Benton
As a child, Gibson worked alongside George Avery, a former slave who, upon gaining his freedom, served as the cemetery’s primary caretaker until his death in 1940 at age 96. And in a development the two of them couldn’t have imagined back when they were burying those dead, a class of Warren Wilson College students recently completed a website that features an interactive map of the cemetery and a digital guide to each of its graves. (To date, 1,963 have been identified — two of them since the
map was completed — and it’s possible that a few more might turn up.) A LIVING MEMORY The idea behind the website (southashevillecemetery.net) is to “nurture a living memory of AfricanAmerican history in this region and promote awareness about it,” says global studies professor Jeff Keith, who led the project. “It’s a place of great spiritual and historical value. My goal is to celebrate that. … I’m hoping the website can make it a place that people can access, even if they don’t come to Dalton Street. My hope is that this will result in it being maintained forever.” Keith’s student team built on the work done by archaeology professor David Moore and his students. Throughout the late ’90s and early 2000s, they probed the ground to discover and catalog the graves, all
UNRECOGNIZED CONTRIBUTIONS: Some stones at South Asheville Cemetery are marked with nothing more than masonic symbols, suggested that many buried there once worked as skilled builders.
but 93 of which lacked tombstones. Because the bodies were often buried in pine coffins and wicker baskets, however, they decomposed quickly, leaving measurable cavities in the earth. The archaeology team pinpointed where the bodies had been placed. But their blueprint remained largely inaccessible to the public until the new website harnessed GIS and Google Earth technology to readily display the map to anyone with computer access. Users can now explore the cemetery digitally, zooming in on each grave and clicking it to see what information archaeologists were able to unearth. That data, however, is limited: The digital record indicates whether there’s a carved tombstone, a simple unmarked fieldstone or any other noticeable marking. Any information on the headstones is recorded. Some give names as well as birth and death dates; others bear only simple carved hints, such as “mother” or “our darling.” It isn’t known how many of the deceased were slaves. “I find it fantastic to use the tools of the 21st century to tell stories of the 19th century. It’s also a huge challenge,” says Keith. “This is a unique effort in Western North Carolina. I don’t know of another AfricanAmerican cemetery that’s being investigated this way.”
SEGREGATED IMAGINATIONS
that defy those assumptions.” The cemetery, he adds, “prompts people to ask questions about the past that they might not otherwise consider.” The new website was inspired by a partnership between Buncombe County and The Center for Diversity Education at UNC Asheville last year, which resulted in the digitization of local slave deeds (see “Bought & Sold: Forgotten Documents Highlight Local Slave History,” April 9, 2013, Xpress). The records attested to the thousands of slaves who toiled in Buncombe County as masons, cooks, farmers, tour guides, maids, blacksmiths, tailors, miners, farmers, road builders and more. They also underscored the fact that many of the prominent names assigned to city streets and buildings are those of some of the area’s biggest slaveholders. The land encompassing the South Asheville Cemetery once belonged to William McDowell, who also owned Avery and an untold number of other slaves buried there. The Confederate major’s name now graces one of Asheville’s main thoroughfares, and
his former mansion, built by slave labor, is now a history museum. “In Asheville, everything’s named after white people, and we don’t have an awareness of the important contributions of slaves. This is what motivated [Register of Deeds] Drew [Reisinger], and it also motivates me,” says Keith. “I hope that the tools of the digital humanities and, in general, use of the Internet will allow us to create greater awareness about the complexities of the past and the many different types of people who’ve contributed to the American story.” BUILDING COMMUNITY FROM SEGREGATED ROOTS When David Quinn, president of the South Asheville Cemetery Association, greeted a group of seven AmeriCorps volunteers who came to town last month to help renovate the site, one of the first things he did was take them on a tour of Riverside Cemetery. Overlooking the French Broad River, the 87 acres of rolling hills in Montford are immaculately maintained by the city of
Although much of that history has been “lost to time,” notes Keith, “The cemetery offers some clues to what African-Americans have done for Buncombe County.” A dozen or so stones, for example, are marked with masonic symbols suggesting, he says, “that there were builders there who probably contributed to some of the iconic buildings of downtown Asheville.” And the sheer scale of the burial ground, continues Keith, also goes a long way toward countering the claim that slavery barely existed here. Because WNC lacked the large-scale plantations that popular culture often associates with the institution of bondage, he says, he often encounters people who believe there was no slavery in the mountains. “I think Appalachia, as a place, is often racialized to be white by media representations. … Sometimes people move here and they don’t have a clear awareness of the tremendous contributions that African-Americans made to this place,” says Keith. “We have segregated imaginations: We think about the past in ways that are limited by our assumptions. But when you really engage with the past, you find all kinds of exciting stories
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Asheville, the green lawns punctuated by intricately carved headstones and majestic oaks. An air of respect, honor and history reigns at Riverside, the final resting place of many prominent area residents, including author Thomas Wolfe and Gov. Zebulon Vance. “That’s what we need to eventually get to,” Quinn told the volunteers before they began constructing a wooden fence around the South Asheville Cemetery’s perimeter. “That’s the kind of look and respect we’re going for.” Owned by the city, Riverside Cemetery also has a cutting-edge website featuring comprehensive records of its inhabitants, photos and interactive GIS maps. Although the facility did start accepting the bodies of African-Americans in 1885, they were limited to a segregated section until 1952. But as Gibson remembers it, the South Asheville Cemetery presented the only affordable burial option most local blacks had for more than 100 years. When he worked there, plots went for $7, $5 of which went to the McDowell family; the other $2 was divided among the gravediggers, he says. In contrast with Riverside’s well-marked grounds, diggers in South Asheville often had to rely on Avery’s memory to know where previous burials had taken place, sometimes accidentally encountering remains as they dug new holes, Gibson recalls. The Kenilworth site is roughly six times as densely packed with bodies as Riverside. And that fact, says Keith, demonstrates “something about the perceived value of people: We segregated people in the afterlife. It shows how ingrained segregation had become. It invites us to think about inequality.”
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The new fence surrounding the South Asheville Cemetery (which the association now owns) and the native grass to be planted there (perhaps this fall) are being funded by $13,000 in donations raised recently from various sources, says Quinn, who’s been working at the site for 16 years. He believes the current efforts will succeed where others failed, because there’s more community interest now than he’s ever seen, with volunteers coming from a wide range of schools and churches. The website project was even featured on National Public Radio. And though its origins are rooted in segregation, “The cemetery is becoming a vehicle to bring the community together. It’s a community builder,” says Quinn. Still, for the group to maintain the necessary momentum, they’ll need to continue to grow that community of support. Assistance from the city, the National Register of Historic Places and any other organizations or individuals would be very appreciated, says Keith, who’s also an association member. “It’s almost like these are forgotten people, and it’s important that they have a place that’s taken care of, a resting place that’s right,” says Gibson’s daughter, Olivia Metz, who’s also an association member. Her father, meanwhile, sees the progress as nothing less than a dream come true. “God is blessing us with volunteers, help. … It was my dream that somebody would come,” says Gibson. “I was taught that God would make a way, and that’s what he’s showing me now: that what I desired to do, to see, is now coming to pass.” X
Grand Opening! Crest Mountain Dinner Show Wednesday, Sept. 10
Learning how to live The history of the South Asheville Cemetery is inextricably linked to that of the adjacent St. John “A” Baptist Church. The traditionally black institution is a cornerstone of the Kenilworth community, and many of its deacons have served lengthy terms as cemetery caretakers. The congregation celebrated its 100th anniversary Aug. 30-31, and a group of its most active elders shared memories and thoughts on reaching that milestone.
GEORGE GIBSON “I’ve been at this church since my birth. … We coordinated together; the kids played together. We had vacations from school together, all the activities together. And that’s what made the church so special — not just somewhere to go, but somewhere that you learned how to live.”
GEORGE LOVE “When I was a boy we didn’t have television, that sort of thing, to keep us home. The only time we’d get to see each other or really have conversation and talk to each other was at this church. When I was a boy, the only time I’d get to talk to a girl that I liked, I had to talk to her at church. … Very few people back then had automobiles. You better ask the girl’s father — not her mother — if you could walk the girl home.”
LUCILLE MILLER “I remember back in the 1940s … when there weren’t as many cars, and people walked to church. One family walked from Haw Creek all the way out here because they loved to come to church. … We are like a big family, and we have the brotherly love that we should have for each other. … It’s called a little church with a big heart. When people come in they say, ‘Everyone’s so friendly.’ You can feel it: It’s love. God is love, and God is in this church.”
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OLIVIA METZ “I was born and raised in this church. I remember days we’d come here … and some of the deacons would turn the rope for us to jump rope; they would play kickball with us. … The doors were always open. That’s just something you don’t hardly see these days. ... I’m thankful to God that … so many of our elder people are still together here in the same place for so long. It’s thanksgiving, and worship.”
GEORGE TAYLOR “It means something that there’s so many people who have been in this church for such a length of time, and they’re still here — quite a few of them since I was a little baby.”
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In our town out of sight past Wyoming Street
I rise from my couch of restless sleep. I rise from my doing from the mundane task of washing clothes.
up on the hill behind St. John’s Baptist Church lay aged bricks, rocks and baskets of bones, where the dead are not truly dead,
I rise because I cannot wash my hands of this
their silent mouths far from quiet.
souls littered across the land
Speaking crow they wrestle the blueness from night
calling to open skies, open hearts,
and lift sorrow from its deeply veiled sleep. Through Kenilworth runs an Indian trail, a forested hill I could call my own. I don’t. Not too far from downtown living beneath the tangled brush a cemetery of slaves merge with the Cherokee and their trail unmarked lines carrying both streams of blood that course unceasingly through my veins. Both trails have found my heart intersecting where spirit meets bone
as to how they have not rested in life or death; how they have not claimed this land or purchased a stone to mark their passing. Lost on a hill behind a church in a town in these mountains. This cry is not made of “i” it is made of a glorious tormented collective of a blueblack and red “we.” Spirits torn into a cry so bitterly ruined
putting down feet and prayer
of broken wings, cracked bones and splintered dreams.
on both foreign and familiar ground. On this walk I am found,
Screaming the woes of heavy air and the pain it takes to turn gospel into blues;
by an urgent need quite like death and birth.
a weight only crows can carry on their blueblack backs
Call it a bitter dream I keep reliving try to pin it on the past
singing the harsh call to be heard the call of crows
remind myself of the passage,
chanting through unpleasant beaks the unsingable to us,
the dead will bury their own they haven’t so the crow flies, pecks and caws on my forgetfulness calls to me through shutters tilted open.
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any vessel open
and I have taken to walking the block
joined, graced and haunted
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these spirit bodies hovering
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we who are on earth walking are indeed the dead in need of waking.
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NEWS
by Jake Frankel
jfrankel@mountainx.com
Wish lists and incentives
RAD MAKEOVER: Harry Pilos pitched Asheville City Council on incentives for his development in the River Arts District. Photo by Alicia Funderburk
Green light for RAD Lofts incentives
Asheville City Council helped pave the way for major growth in the River Arts District Aug. 26, approving a roughly $764,000 incentive package for RAD Lofts. The mixed-use development at the intersection of Roberts Street and Clingman Extension will include 209 apartments as well as 48,000 square feet of commercial space and a parking garage. All told, developer Harry Pilos said he’s planning to invest roughly $52 million in the project. At the meeting he also revealed new details, saying the building will likely include a small grocery store operated by West Village Market, a sushi restau-
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rant and a novelty store/tattoo parlor. It will also include office space and other retail outlets. “It will all create a synergy I’m going for in the project. … I’ve been as thoughtful as can be. We’re not just chasing dollars here, we’re trying to do a good project,” said Pilos. In exchange for the incentives, which will mostly come in the form of tax refunds, Pilos agreed to keep rents in 198 apartment units at “workforce” levels and 11 units at “affordable” standards. Based on the city’s rules for “workforce housing,” that translates to a maximum rent of $1,267 per month for a one-bedroom apartment and up to $1,418 for a two-bedroom, according to Asheville Public Works Director Cathy Ball. Rents in the “affordable” units would be capped at $819 for a one-bedroom and $914 for a two-bedroom.
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In order to receive the tax refunds, the development will also need to comply with Energy Star environmental requirements. Before construction can begin, contaminants will have to be cleaned from the site, which was the former Dave Steel Co. Without the city incentives, Pilos said that he would have to charge higher rents to make the project feasible. No residents spoke out against the plan during a public hearing on the matter, and Council members were generally supportive. However, Council member Jan Davis did express concerns that the novelty shop could be “less than a good neighbor,” worrying that it could attract people into “drugs and loud music.” In response, Pilos asserted that there will be “no problem with that,” saying if such problems occurred, “I’ll shut them down before you do.” He previously did consider building an underground music club at the site, but decided against it, he said. Davis ended up voting in favor. Vice Mayor Marc Hunt praised the city’s efforts “to be proactive” in attracting investment in the area. “We may be on the front end of the River Arts District we’ve been hoping to see for many many years,” he said. Council members Gordon Smith and Gwen Wisler cast the only dissenting votes against the incentive package. The project was eligible for the money through the city’s Land Use Incentive program, but they favored giving Pilos a portion of the requested funding directly from the city’s general fund. Smith said he thought that approach would be more consistent with previous development deals but added, “I certainly do support the project.” The next Asheville City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9.
Asheville Council sends priority list to Raleigh
Opposing priorities between Asheville and state government took center stage Aug. 26, as Asheville City Council heard an update on recent moves by the General Assembly and approved a list of actions it would like lawmakers to take next year.
The city is represented in Raleigh by lobbyist Jack Cozort, who warned Council that he anticipates state legislators will continue “re-evaluating the authority cities have enjoyed for a long amount of time.” He added that his job as a lobbyist “is to protect what you have done and help you continue your role.” A recent mandate from Raleigh lowering how much Asheville and other municipalities can charge businesses for operating licenses will cost the city more than $1 million per year in revenue, said Cozort. The sunsetting of historic rehabilitation tax credits and changes to the state’s film incentive program are also likely to hurt city coffers, he said. Amid ongoing tension with state legislators over control of the city’s water system, Cozort recommended that the city focus its efforts to find common ground on strengthening graffiti penalties and increasing education funding. Council subsequently voted unanimously to submit a priority list that included those items and more to the North Carolina League of Municipalities, an association that advocates for city interests at the state level. Another hot topic on the wish list is a request for state lawmakers to allow cities to regulate new “digital dispatching services” like Uber, a ride-sharing business that began operating in Asheville two weeks ago. Current law allows the city to regulate traditional taxi services but not those like Uber, which connects drivers and riders online. In addition, Council asked the N.C. League of Municipalities to push for: • “Clarifying laws related to public toplessness, including, but not limited to, clarification of indecent exposure law.” • “Continuing to seek legislation that strengthens the requirements for the appropriate cleanup and disposal of coal ash in coal ash ponds that is equitable to ratepayers.” • “Preserving municipal authority to regulate environmental standards such as erosion control or stormwater quality.” • “Preserving municipal ability to regulate design and aesthetic controls in historic districts.” • “Restoring programs such as film tax credits and historic building tax credits.” X
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SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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Asheville
A LOOK BACK 20+ YEARS
A word from the publisher
How did Asheville find its groove? Given that everyone in Asheville seems to be marching to the beat of their own drum, how did we come together to form such a vibrant community? Are our individualistic tendencies a handicap, or have we learned to blend them into communal inspiration? For the next few weeks, we hope to gain some insights into Asheville’s evolution by listening to the reminiscences of key residents who planned, fomented, induced or otherwise helped bring about the historic changes we live with today. Asheville’s metamorphosis is a complex story, with many people contributing to it. Letting them tell their stories will take some time. And that’s without any ensuing discussions. Over the coming weeks of coverage, if you’d like to contribute your views, please email or add your comments to our online coverage at mountainx.com. — Jeff Fobes, publisher X
| Pritchard Park today. Photo by Nick King
Black Dome Mountain Sports Black Dome is Asheville’s full-service outdoor outfitter, carrying all major brands, plus many lesser known and local suppliers. Always family-owned and operated, Black Dome is a living-wage employer. And we’re located just a halfmile through the Beaucatcher Tunnel from historic downtown Asheville. Our store is fully stocked with the best in outerwear, sportswear, packs, sleeping bags, tents, backcountry gear, sunglasses, all types of outdoor footwear, telemark, crosscountry skis, plus the most comprehensive collection of climbing gear in the Southeast. And now, we have added CONSPIRACY, our beer-andwine bar, great for a quick pint or enjoying outdoor -themed action films on our super HDTV. CONSPIRACY can also host birthdays, group get-togethers or fundraisers.
140 Tunnel Road • (828) 251-2001 info@blackdome.com • http://blackdome.com 16
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MOUNTAINX.COM
Black Dome is open seven days a week, and our knowledgeable staff will be glad to answer any questions you might have or give you some tips about where to go hiking, riding or climbing around WNC. We love to help you get the most from your outdoor dollar. Save money by getting the right fit and the right gear the first time. Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.- 7 p.m. and Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
“Quality, value, selection and experience” has been our motto for over 30 years.
Asheville
A LOOK BACK 20+ YEARS
The view from the county commission
ThE Folk SChool changes you.
BY DAVID GANTT
Downtown Asheville was largely boarded up in 1994 but starting to show signs of life. I had purchased my law office building on Church Street eight years earlier and was starting to see a decrease in uninvited overnight guests who “rested” in my parking lot or occasionally on the office front porch. Thankfully, my office staff witnessed fewer instances of drug dealing, and less evidence of prostitution and other criminal activity in the Church Street area by then. The city was beginning to take shape and position for the current prosperity we routinely enjoy today. President Clinton was in office, and I was two years out from my first election to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. My good friend Oscar Wong started Highland Brewing Co. as the first postProhibition brewery in Asheville in 1994 to very little fanfare or understanding of the ramifications of this pioneer business. Highland’s first kegs rolled out that December, a toast to the beginning of a beer lover’s paradise era, which now provides great employment, business and imbibing possibilities for citizens and visitors alike. In 1994, City Council continued its ongoing discussions about the Interstate 240 interchange, employed Tim Moffitt to narrow down city manager applicants from 268 candidates to nine, and held ongoing negotiations with Hendersonville over drinking water issues, among many other considerations. Jim Westbrook was selected to succeed Doug Bean as city manager at a salary of $99,000 per year, generating some controversy since the compensation was more than the governor of North Carolina made at the time. Mayor Russ Martin and Council member Barbara Field were the subject of outrage and a rally of 1,300 angry people after they announced support for a city employment policy banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Later in 1994, this clause was removed. Years later, both City Council and the county Board of Commissioners
Engaging hands and hearts since 1925. Come enjoy making crafts and good friends on 300 natural, scenic acres in western North Carolina.
John C. Campbell Folk SChool folkschool.org • 1-800-Folk-SCh BraSSTowN • NorTh CaroliNa
THEN: This long-vacant Biltmore Avenue building became The Orange Peel. Photo courtesy of Public Interest Projects
amended their respective employment policies to include anti-discrimination language based on sexual orientation and to recognize domestic partners. That year, county commissioners helped greet the Tour DuPont professional bike race that ended in City/County Plaza. The county considered joining the “NC Information Highway,” but tabled the notion for several years to permit the state to get the bugs out of the system. Commissioners studied the merger of city and county recreation departments and employed the Institute of Government to finalize a plan to accomplish the merger. Public comment challenged the use of county funds to support economic development. Commissioners reluctantly accepted a petition to bring to a district vote the continuation of a supplemental school tax in Enka. And on Nov. 4, voters abolished this additional funding. Chairman Gene Rainey joined a unanimous vote to approve tire and curbside recycling, a program considered cutting-edge for counties at the time. Commissioners pondered and eventually decided to purchase
land in Alexander for a new landfill to succeed the one in Woodfin. Alexander residents expressed outrage that two north Buncombe neighborhoods were being dumped on. Noting the poor condition of the Recreation Park pool, commissioners allocated $1.2 million to replace the aging facility and agreed to consider another pool in the Owen district. The latter was built several years later. Assistant County Manager Wanda Greene helped present a $168 million budget that featured a 73-cent tax rate (currently we have a 60.4 cent rate and a $367 million budget), which included payments for the first of two jail additions over the course of 10 years. While Asheville and Buncombe County have steadily improved our partnerships, business climate, quality of life, greenways, environmental awareness and equality measures since 1994, many issues from that era remain on our present-day agendas. David Gantt is a lawyer and the chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. He was first elected to the board in 1996. X MOUNTAINX.COM
Your Favorite Local & Organic Market Magical Music in the Garden
Saturday, September 13 4-8 pm Local Musicians Juice Bar Creations Vendor Samplings
Come Share our Bounty 151 S. Ridgeway Ave. Black Mountain, NC 28711 (828) 664-0060 Mon-Sat: 10am – 6pm • Sun: 12pm-5pm SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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Asheville
A LOOK BACK 20+ YEARS
Getting from then to now
Eliada Homes 2 Compton Drive • (828) 254-5356 info@eliada.org • www.eliada.org/
CHANGE: Until its 1990s renovation, the Earth Guild building (once home to Bon Marché) was shuttered and covered (2014 photo by Hayley Benton; older photo courtesy of Karen Tessier)
BY BARBARA FIELD
Eliada Homes’ mission is Helping Children Succeed. Originally maintained as an orphanage, Eliada used to raise funds by producing milk for Biltmore Dairy from its herd of prized Guernsey cows. Today, 110 years later, Eliada still serves the most vulnerable children in our region through treatment, child development services, and specialized education. The agency now raises funds at the Annual Corn Maze with a “prized” Cow Train. This year’s Maze opens Friday, Sept. 5.
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Haywood Street was virtually empty two decades ago. In 1990, we (the members of Earth Guild) bought the old Bon Marché building. We renovated the Haywood Street level for Earth Guild, which we moved from its original location on Tingle Alley. We made our home on the top floor. In the mid-’90s, the second floor and basement level were renovated into office suites and, in 2002, the basement was redeveloped for the N.C. Stage Company. The building became a model for mixed use in downtown and spurred the redevelopment of many other buildings in its block and on adjacent blocks. I was first elected to Asheville City Council in November 1991 and served for the next 10 years. Mayor Ken Michalove, in his wisdom, appointed me to chair the Asheville Urban Area Transportation Advisory Committee, and my first task was to set up a stakeholders participation process, funded by a $50,000 federal grant, to select
the route for the Interstate 26 Connector. You can see where that got us — 23 years later and still no solution. He also appointed me to the Buncombe County Environmental Affairs Committee that sited Buncombe County’s current awardwinning landfill and initiated recycling for the city and county. Once elected to Council, I was immediately thrown into the controversy around the widening of Broadway from UNC Asheville into downtown and the fight for and against putting ballfields in North Asheville. Charlie Worley chaired the Unified Development Ordinance Committee — a much-needed update of our antiquated 1950s-era planning ordinances and an attempt to put all development rules into one document. There was a drawn-out fight over the sign ordinance and the amortization of billboards in the city. After a marathon City Council meeting that lasted almost until midnight, we finally passed the UDO. We lived through the firing of the best city manager in North Carolina, Doug Bean, and the attempt to recall the four City Council members who voted to dismiss him. (Gene Ellison taught me to count to four.)
Asheville
A LOOK BACK 20+ YEARS
It was rough, it was a ghost town was dilapidated and condemned — but awe-inspiring with potential.
BY HOWARD HANGER
I moved to Asheville in 1973. Here’s some of what I remember: • Most of downtown was boarded up. • Wall Street was an alley — some of it not paved. • Downtown after dark was like a ghost town. • There was a single store on Wall Street. I think it was a health food store (just ahead of its time). • My neighborhood (Chicken Hill/Park Avenue) was rough. There was a murder in the street just three weeks after I moved in. IN THE ‘TOONS: Asheville Council members, says former Vice Mayor Barbara Field, looked forward to seeing who was the center of a Randy Molton cartoon each week in Xpress.
I will never forget the City Council meeting at the Civic Center where several hundred people came to comment on the proposed nondiscrimination ordinance — which we adopted later that night. This document put in writing Council’s commitment to “prohibit discrimination against any person for any reason that is not related to bona fide occupational qualifications” in its hiring practices. There were threats against the Council and, while we sat on the stage listening to input from many speakers, police officers were lined up in front of us on the floor of the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium to prevent anyone from approaching us. The present-day downtown emerged from many building projects in the ’90s. Pack Place opened and spurred development along Biltmore Avenue. The Haywood Park Hotel complex on Haywood Street was renovated in 1984. In 1993, the new 28,000-squarefoot Public Works complex on South Charlotte street demonstrated the city’s commitment to its urban core. That was followed by the renovation of the Municipal Building, the creation of a new Bus Transfer Center on Coxe Avenue, the redesign of Pritchard Park and the renovation of Stephens Lee into a new community center. And there was the Blizzard of ’93. Everyone found out that I went to Woodstock in the fall of 1994 by reading Barbara Blake’s full-page article in the Asheville Citizen-Times. I think more people remember that about me than anything I did during my 10 years on City Council.
During the mid-’90s, there were ongoing efforts to look at the future of the Civic Center and to position it in the regional market. There were dozens of citizenparticipation meetings, which ended up with several unimplemented plans for both renovation and new construction. Prince Charles visited the Biltmore Estate in 1996. The city’s greenway was established along Weaver Boulevard and Broadway and, in 1998, a comprehensive Greenway Master Plan was passed. The Pedestrian Thoroughfare Plan, which assures an accessible and walkable community, was passed in 1999. Asheville became an All American City in 1997. A cell-tower ordinance was spearheaded by Chuck Cloninger in 1996, and Asheville ended up with one of the strongest in the Southeast. Of course, that didn’t happen without a fight. Going from partisan City Council elections with two-year terms to nonpartisan, staggered four-year terms happened in 1997. And every week, each of us on Council looked forward to opening the Mountain Xpress and finding out which one of us was the center of a Molton cartoon. Barbara Field worked as an architect at SPACEPLAN Architects from 1980 to 2005. She opened her own practice in 2006. Besides serving on Asheville City Council for 10 years, she also served as vice mayor. Along with six others, she owns Earth Guild, a national craft-supply center selling the tools, materials and books for traditional and contemporary crafts. X
• The whole neighborhood, from the city bus garage to the river, was zoned “Heavy Industrial,” so none of the (mostly poor) residents could even get a building permit to improve their property. • My home (a 29-room Victorian mansion)
• The city let me and my band move into our home without a Certicate of Occupancy, hoping that we could save and restore it. Nothing was up to code. • Downtown revitalization started in the early-to-mid ‘80s when Leslie Anderson was hired as director of Downtown Development. • When Jubilee! moved into 46 Wall St. in 1989, there were only two or three other stores open. No parking deck, no street improvements. Where the parking deck now stands was an asphalt parking lot where gay men hooked up in their cars late at night. The lot got to be called “Knob Hill.” Howard Hanger founded the music performance/recording business Jazz Fantasy, the interfaith church Jubilee! Community, a cooperative housing group at Hanger Hall and Hanger Hall School for Girls. X
Locally Owned 47 Years Photo 1981
Fashion may have changed… but not our focus on you our customer. Thanks for Voting us #1 Music Store 10 Years in a Row!!! 319 Merrimon Ave Asheville NC 28801 (828) 252-1249 www.musiciansworkshop.com MOUNTAINX.COM
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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Asheville
Homeward Bound ends homelessness in Western North Carolina. Homelessness ends with a home — that’s a simple fact. But we also build relationships with our clients and provide practical support to help them stay in their homes. We are turning our eyes to an often hidden population — families experiencing homelessness. Parents and children who are homeless often live in their car or a motel — or they couch-surf with friends and family. They’re dealing with problems that can impact multiple generations in our community. Homeward Bound PO Box 1166, Asheville, NC 28802 (828) 258-1695 beth@homewardboundwnc.org homewardboundwnc.org
TWENTY YEARS AGO,
Citizens saved downtown Join us Thursday, Nov. 6, at our Forum on Family Homelessness, which will be held at Celine and Company Catering (49 Broadway) and is sponsored by the law firm Chitwood and Fairbairn (wncdisability. com). Your $20 ticket gets you a meal and access to community and regional leaders examining the issue of family homelessness — and exploring how we can end it together. To find out more, visit our website.
Frank Badr opened Jerusalem Garden Café as a small shop and deli that sold trinkets, rugs and delicious falafel sandwiches. It soon became clear that Asheville loves Frank’s authentic Middle Eastern cooking, and the restaurant took a new form. Down came the rugs and up went the colorful tapestries that decorate our Moroccan tent room, which features traditional floor seating. The restaurant became full-service, with live music and belly dancing every weekend.
And now, we’re entering a third phase in Jerusalem Garden history. We have local beers on tap and brunch like no other. We’ve just introduced our new tapas menu, offering more recipes from the homeland — in small portions or full entrees. And still, after all these years, Frank can be found in the kitchen every morning, tinkering with old recipes and formulating new ones. Thanks for a great 20 years, Asheville — to the next 20!
828-254-0255 • JerusalemGardenCafe.com • 78 Patton Ave. Downtown 20
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
A LOOK BACK 20+ YEARS
MOUNTAINX.COM
PEOPLE POWER: Ashevillearea residents organized and stopped a project that would have decimated much of the downtown. Photo by R. Anne Martin, courtesy of of the N.C. Collection, Pack Memorial Public Library. In the map, right, light green indicates the proposed development boundary, and dark green indicates the mall building. Map by Lance Wille
BY EDWARD HAY
I’ve always thought that the turning point for Asheville, especially downtown, was when the downtown Strouse-Greenberg mall project was voted down in November 1981. An outside developer proposed to tear down 11 blocks in downtown, basically from Broadway west, College north to Interstate 240 (see map) and build a downtown shopping mall. The plan had the support of all the business leaders, including even some downtown merchants, the CitizenTimes, WLOS-TV, City Council and the Chamber of Commerce. A vote approving the project was required and an ad hoc citizens group organized to oppose it. The proposal was to defeated by a 2-to-1 major-
ity and, in its wake, the revitalization of downtown got started. This was the first time that an organized citizens group had challenged local leaders and the first time that there was general agreement that downtown was special and worth protecting. An amazing group of energetic, visionary and creative people seized the opportunity to turn downtown into what it is today. There was a spirit downtown, and Green Line/Mountain Xpress captured that spirit. Ed Hay is a lawyer practicing in downtown Asheville since 1976. He served on Asheville City Council from 1996 until 2001, including a term as vice mayor. X
Asheville
A LOOK BACK 20+ YEARS
Growing up in Asheville BY JAN DAVIS
Congratulations on 20 years! It seems Green Line and Mountain Xpress have been a big part of the community far longer. I suspect that comes from my political side, though. I appreciate the opportunity to reminisce about the city and 20 years of memories about the place I love —particularly downtown and West Asheville. A favorite Xpress memory was the story about the last Chimney Rock Hillclimb in April 1995. In all its glory, my bright yellow, much-modified VW Rabbit was included, with the Mountain Xpress logo on its flared rear fenders. It may have had some to do with the amount I was spending on advertising the tire store in the Xpress. For those new to the area, the Chimney Rock Hillclimb was a sports car race up the side of the famous monolith from the meadow to the top at high speed. Held every last weekend in April from 1956 to 1995, it was the right of spring to many of us growing up in Asheville. Drivers from throughout the country competed with a lot of local entrants and became the entry for many local drivers to compete in Sports Car Club of America racing national events. Another great event the Xpress and I saw was the departure of the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament and its return. SoCon loved the community — even enough to locate its offices here. But SoCon’s head was turned by pretty new arenas and the allure of new money. We could not compete. In 2010, I had the pleasure of being one of the presenters for a bid for the tournament’s return. We got the bid on the presumption Asheville could modernize the Civic Center — a daunting and scary task that we accomplished with lots of community partnerships. SoCon loves us again. I was there to see us awarded the contract for another three years last year but, better still, Asheville has a much-improved arena. The French Broad River was just beginning to be considered a resource rather than a dumping ground in ’90s. People questioned my sanity for wade fishing and floating for smallmouth bass. Now it is a huge recreational resource,
with a hipster stew on inner tubes most summer days. Don’t tell anyone but the fishing is still great. Sadly, the iconic New Asheville Speedway no longer runs Late Model feature events on Friday night with 5,000 avid fans in attendance every week of the 20-some week season. However, it has become our most-used and well-loved Carrier Park. The Speedway Memorial pays homage to that glorious past, but there is no track to fill the Speedway’s void today. I would love to see the latemodel guys go at it one more time. I would even enjoy peeing into the trough type urinal against the wall of the men’s restroom outside the first turn bleachers after several Buds (craft beers weren’t available there). Having spent my career in the downtown, with the last 30 years in my own small business on Patton Avenue, I have a many fond memories of our downtown, along with a few bad ones. Homelessness was present way back then but was more representative of the chronic homeless than the transient population today. Yes, like today, we knew their names. Fish Hook and Tree are gone, replaced by Cowboy and Little Tennessee. I was chairing the Planning and Zoning Commission when the public hearing for Wal-Mart on the old Sayles Bleachery property was heard. P&Z had two hearings, standing-room only, with people bused to the Public Works Building to be heard, with many opposed and very vocal. Two months later, the Target zoning was heard with two people mildly opposed to it at the hearing. Funny how we perceive things. The Water Authority did a comprehensive cleaning of all the system’s main lines on one weekend, called the “Big Flush,” complete with T-shirts. It didn’t take much to entertain us back then. Hazel Fobes was one of my sharpest critics and a good friend at the same time. She left a great fingerprint on community activism in our wonderful community. The ’90s brought the 2010 Comprehensive Plan, the birth of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and ushered in the 2025 Plan; in spite of their faults, these documents have made Asheville a better place to live, work and raise a family. Some of my favorite memories are of those early Downtown After Fives, intended to keep workers downtown on Friday evenings once a month. They were incredible parties, much smaller than today but grow-
BOARDED UP: In this 1980s view from the Vance Monument, the buildings around Pack Square were boarded up and vacant. Photo courtesy of Karen Tessier
ing to completely fill Pack Square, which is still my favorite venue. One of the best early day events was on top of the Rankin Street parking garage. Bele Chere was the high point of summer and one of the biggest reasons people started coming back downtown after the exodus to the mall in the ’70s. I attended every Bele Chere and for many years closed my shop on Saturday and part of Friday because local people felt they couldn’t get downtown to do business. The festival did bring people back to town the rest of the year, though. I still have a lump in my throat having gone through July with no Bele Chere. It was really best when you had to buy beer in Gatsby’s while bands were playing in the adjacent parking lot, when Sonny Sparacino’s outdoor courtyard was the place to spend Sunday afternoon, Reverend Billy was young and really funny at Magnolia’s, when we had wine-waiter races, when we autcrossed on South Charlotte St., when we had hot-air balloon festivals, when the stage was on Page Avenue, watching Bo Diddley and John Mayall, when you could hang out on Rick and Todd’s balcony and headquarter at the Bier Garden. What wasn’t fun was the failed experiment of only buying beer in the “beer garden” and you had to drink it there under umbrellas. There has always been an excitement for me in being downtown, even in those days just after the mall took the retailers and activity from our center city. There were great restaurants, though — not huge numbers but more than I could afford to eat at regularly. Grosvenor’s later became the City Club atop the Northwestern Bank Building which is now the BB&T. The Market Place on Market Street became Vincenzo’s by the early ’90s. Then Mark [Rosenstein] moved the Market Place to Wall Street, Jared’s on Haywood Street became the Flying Frog and there was MOUNTAINX.COM
another favorite, Café on the Square, to name a few. It was not all fine dining but great food — like Barley’s, Chickadee and Rye, the Paradise, Tom’s Grill, the Med, and Three Brothers (which I miss terribly). Be Here Now was the first great listening room, and 45 Cherry and Cinjades were great late-night spots. We would go to Vincent’s Ear to hear our son’s band, which never started until well after 11; I was never certain if it was being cool or their limited repertoire. It is remarkable that West Asheville has changed as much since the early ’90s and yet retained a lot of what it was like. The majority of businesses there were small locally owned and family-operated. I miss buying appliances at Ace Appliance where Second Gear is now, Demos Appliances would loan you a replacement should your TV need to be repaired, and the business association paid for crisscrossed multicolored lights the length of Haywood Road during the Christmas season. Bennett’s Drug Store, famous for hot dogs, where Spagnola’s is today, became Delores and Jose’s Mexican restaurant. They kept the hot dogs, then moved down the street and became, under new ownership, a local favorite, Zia. And, the Tastee Diner keeps on being an icon of West Asheville dining with incredible food and prices. My mother took me there for lunch on our walk back home after pre-registering me for elementary school at Aycock Elementary, now the Learning Center at the corner of Haywood Road and Interstate 240. It has been a great run for the downtown and the Xpress. I can go on for pages of neat and quirky things about our city. Jan Davis is an Asheville native, a 30-year, downtown family-business owner. He is former vice mayor and current member of the Asheville City Council since 2003. X SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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Asheville
A LOOK BACK 20+ YEARS
Proving the naysayers wrong, one property at a time BY PAT WHALEN
The early ’90s was an interesting time. So much work had been done in the ’80s, particularly by the city, trying to bring downtown back, but it was still pretty much a ghost town, particularly after 5 o’clock. The buildings on the corner where Malaprop’s and Mobilia are now had stood empty and boarded up for years. The Fine Arts Theatre was empty and boarded up. There was a tree growing in the building where the City Bakery is now. A new group of
restaurants, like Café on the Square, had opened on Pack Square. But people said business owners who tried to make a go of it downtown were crazy, particularly in thinking they could get people to come downtown to eat. You could park anywhere at night because all the spaces were empty. What little downtown residential space there was the early ’90s was low-income housing. And the few people who lived in upstairs spaces kept a low profile because many of those spaces didn’t meet code. Julian Price was one of the pioneers in living downtown. He converted a space upstairs on Battery Park Avenue into a
And so it all began in 1994. As Hector Diaz walked down Patton Avenue, he came to 6 Patton. Here he encountered a man who offered him the space to start his own business. With no money to make it happen, the Asheville community rallied around Diaz and lent him the capital to start his dream of owning his own restaurant — Salsas. From that modest beginning, Hector later opened Modesto Trattoria, Chorizo Latin Fare and Bomba. And here he is 20 years later — still creating, still passionate, still bringing the freshest ingredients and still thankful for the community that has embraced him. We look forward to the next 20!
6 Patton Ave. downtown Asheville (828) 252-9805 • salsasnc.com
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MOUNTAINX.COM
BEFORE & AFTER: Renovation of this building — first a men’s club, then a department store — gave Malaprop’s Bookstore and Café a street-level home, with three floors of affordable rental housing above. Above photo courtesy of Karen Tessier; right photo by Public Interest Projects
residential apartment. People making a racket, cruising around the bricked-up Federal Building (the Grove Arcade) used to drive him crazy at night. Julian invested in lots of downtown properties through Public Interest Projects, calling it just enlightened self-interest, since he lived there. But he also believed a downtown in which people wanted to live would provide the community with big environmental and economic benefits. We had great entrepreneurs with energy and ideas, like Bob and Ellen Carr at Tops for Shoes; Emoke B’racz at Malaprop’s; Marc Rosenstein at The Market Place; and John Cram at Blue Spiral 1 and the Fine Arts Theatre. But in the early ’90s, banks were not lending on downtown development. When Public Interest Projects was trying to help get the Grove Arcade reopened, we approached a local bank for some financing help. The bank said it would help if we not only put up as collateral the other buildings we’d already renovated and filled, but also deposited with it an amount equal to the loan we were seeking. Public Interest Projects helped businesses open storefronts and bought some of the boarded-up buildings to
convert the upstairs into residences. We turned one of those spaces into the Laughing Seed with Joan and Joe Eckert. People told us it would never work, that Asheville would never support a vegetarian restaurant. Twenty years later, it’s still going strong. Because people were, in fact, waiting for the chance to live downtown, every apartment building we renovated was fully rented before we finished it. Talented local entrepreneurs and the pioneers who opted to live downtown, together with brave investments by people like the Armstrongs, McGuires and Lantziuses, turned the tide. By the late ’90s, the change was striking. Sitting outside Mellow Mushroom one weeknight in April in ’98 or ’99, I couldn’t get over the number of people on the sidewalks. Downtown was coming back. The naysayers were wrong. Downtown Asheville was clearly coming alive. Pat Whalen has been an Asheville resident since 1976. He has been president of Public Interest Projects Inc. (founded by Julian Price) since 1991 and active in downtown revitalization efforts since 1984. He is a former chairman of the Asheville Downtown Commission. X
Asheville
A LOOK BACK 20+ YEARS
The rise of the literary scene
GET LITERARY: The literary scene got a boost from such events as this 1992 Writers Workshop program, when UNC Asheville students Matt Orbach and Jenny Morris introduced Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko at the Asheville Community Theatre. Photo courtesy of the Writers Workshop
BY KAREN ACKERSON
In the 1980s, Asheville was a sleepy little town with not much going on — parking was free, there weren’t coffee shops on every corner, and few people were to be seen on the streets after dark. Not much going on culturally either, especially when it came to writing. There were no writing classes or groups and few writers to be found. By 1990, Asheville’s writing scene had been born, thanks to literary legend Peter Matthiessen. The Writers’ Workshop had invited the renowned author and explorer to Asheville in 1987 to read a rough draft of Killing Mr. Watson, which later won the National Book Award as part of Shadow Country. I was thrilled to be his driver to South Carolina and Georgia, where he continued his research for the book. Together, we scoured library archives and ancient cemeteries for clues to explain the diabolical nature of Watson. That summer, over dinner one night at his home in Sagaponack, N.Y., Matthiessen introduced me to his friends Kurt Vonnegut, E.L. Doctorow and Don DeLillo. They also agreed to come to Asheville to read and answer poignant questions from the audience. Vonnegut flew into Asheville from Charlotte, where he’d had a reading engagement. As he sank onto a bench outside our office in the Flat Iron Building, he said, “What a great town! I would have been depressed if I’d just gone home [to New York] from Charlotte — what a bleak city, no atmosphere.
You guys were smart to keep your historic buildings intact. Now where’s Thomas Wolfe’s home?” We invited Alex Haley, and he came to read from Roots, to the largest mixed–race audience Asheville had ever seen. While here, he dedicated the Jesse Ray room at the YMI Cultural Center. We also hosted Eudora Welty, Reynolds Price, John le Carre, Gail Godwin, Wilma Dykeman, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Joseph Bathanti, Sue Monk Kidd and John Ehle — each drawing huge crowds. Soon, visitors to Asheville were exclaiming what a wonderful literary community we must have to bring in such stellar authors who all gave benefit appearances for The Writers’ Workshop. These writers later formed our advisory board. The ongoing workshops and contests we provided to the community became very popular in the ’90s. Many writers groups formed from these classes, some of which are still meeting today. Since 1985, over 25,000 people have participated in our workshops, readings and contests, and our membership has grown to nearly 1,000 people. The Writers’ Workshop hires published, professional writers from the area to teach classes in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, playwriting, journal writing and more. Our workshops are designed to help children and adults improve their writing skills, regardless of age, race or background. We provide financial assistance to low-income writers through our work-exchange program. For more info about The Writers’ Workshop, please visit twwoa.org. Karen Ackerson is the founder and executive director of The Writers’ Workshop. X
It was 2002; I was working with Julie Parker on a website for my then-business, The Natural Home. Her friend, Sandra Grace, suggested that she start a magazine for women in WNC. Was I interested in participating? I hesitated for two heartbeats ... and gave a resounding, “Yes!” We gathered a number of women together to hear what they wanted in a publication — what issues, what focus. We received enthusiastic support, great suggestions and garnered writers who have been with the magazine ever since!
WNC Woman magazine PO Box 951, Marshall NC 28753 (828) 649-9555 sandi@wncwoman.com http://www.wncwoman.com MOUNTAINX.COM
Thanksgiving 2002 — the first issue of this very grassroots, free publication —“magically” appeared on the stands. Magic and hard work have resulted in a publication voted in the top three Best Of every year since. In 2010, I took over alone, as Julie went on to other projects. I appreciate this opportunity to support community and make connections among women, businesses and local organizations. Thanks! SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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Asheville
A LOOK BACK 20+ YEARS
Asheville’s culture grew out of its public spaces BY WALLY BOWEN
It’s no surprise that downtown Asheville was the birthplace of Mountain Xpress. In the 1990s, downtown was an incubator for alternative media and independent voices. I moved to an office on Battery Park Avenue in the spring of 1991 to launch a nonprofit called Citizens for Media Literacy, thanks to a grant from Julian Price, who was also a benefactor to Mountain Xpress. CML aimed to help people, young and old, think critically about mass media and to act on that critical awareness to create new avenues for citizen speech controlled by Main Street instead of Wall Street. This idea was inspired by the German philosopher Jurgen Habermas and his theory of the “public sphere” as the essence of participatory democracy. According to Habermas, the public sphere has three critical ingredients: public spaces — such as coffee shops, pubs and town squares — where people from all walks of life can gather and informally share information; access to diverse ideas and views via a variety of media (books, newspapers, radio/TV and lectures/debates); and good journalism to help focus public attention on the issues that matter most.
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By 1991, the U.S. public sphere had become, in Habermas’ words, an “empty facade.” Public spaces were being abandoned for the privatized, apolitical world of the shopping mall, while corporate media served up tepid journalism based on official sources and “he said/she said” reporting. CML’s goal, therefore, was to reclaim the public sphere at the local level by creating new spaces for grassroots journalism via public-access TV, lowpower FM radio and the Internet. Downtown Asheville was a great place to begin this work in 1991. Green Line, which would become Mountain Xpress, had moved into the Miles Building down the street from my office. As an early Green Line volunteer, I was pleased to have alternative media colleagues nearby. Downtown had all the ingredients for a robust public sphere. Foremost was a critical mass of “third places,” a term popularized by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his 1991 book, The Great Good Place. For Oldenburg, home and work are the first and second places of our lives, but they are more or less private, where access is controlled and, in the case of work, time is tightly scheduled. Third places, by contrast, are the informal gathering spots of Habermas’ public sphere — the coffee shops, diners, pubs and other public spaces that form the crucible of a democratic culture. They tend to have a regular clientele and an informal, even playful, mood, says Oldenburg. Though radically different, “the third place is remarkably similar to a good home in the psychological comfort and support that it extends. [Third places] are the heart of a community’s social vitality, the grassroots of democracy, but sadly, they constitute a diminishing aspect of the American social landscape.” Social capital is an invaluable resource created with the help of third places, where information sharing, trust and reciprocity are common, as in the sitcom Cheers, “where everybody knows your name.” Critical to MOUNTAINX.COM
RENAISSANCE: Occupied by the federal government for decades, with interior space dedicated to such agencies as the National Climatic Data Center but exterior spaces vacant and boarded up, the Grove Arcade has become a commercial and residential gem. Photo courtesy of Karen Tessier
this social-capital formation in downtown Asheville was a growing cadre of local business owners. These familiar faces made downtown a true neighborhood, imparting a sense of community and authenticity so glaringly absent in the anonymity and sterility of a shopping mall. In downtown Asheville in the early 1990s, third places were alive and well — and growing, thanks to the cheap rents and available spaces as the city awakened from decades of slumber. My favorites included the downstairs café of Malaprop’s Bookstore, where a young poet named Laura Hope-Gill served cappuccinos and organized weekly open-mic sessions for aspiring writers and musicians. Stone Soup at the corner of Broadway and Walnut, and later on Wall Street, was a lunch and breakfast spot popular with local progressives. Laughing Seed and Jack of the Wood soon followed, as did popular coffee shops, such as Beanstreets, Gold Hill and Old Europe. Some of the most democratic spaces were the basketball court and locker room at the YMCA, where activists routinely rubbed shoulders with establishment types such as judges, lawyers and elected officials. Other important third places for me were Jubilee! Community, Be Here Now’s weekly contra dances and poetry slam nights at the green door. One of the most important public spaces was Pack Library’s Lord
Auditorium, named for Anthony “Tony” Lord, the Asheville architect and advocate for making downtown a “people place.” Lord Auditorium became the heart of CML’s community organizing. It hosted the first community meeting in 1993 to brainstorm how the Internet could be harnessed for citizens’ speech, grassroots democracy and community problem-solving. These meetings gave birth in 1995 to the Mountain Area Information Network, one of the nation’s first online community networks. Similar meetings were held in 1996 to raise awareness about the arcane issue of cable-TV franchise renewals, which the city and county would negotiate with the powerful cable companies. This sevenyear organizing effort led to the creation of local government TV channels, enabling local residents to view live City Council and county commission meetings. It also led to the 2003 launch of URTV, the first public-access TV channel west of Charlotte. A turning point in this struggle was a chance encounter I had with Nathan Ramsey, then chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, in the men’s locker room of the YMCA; he agreed to review evidence that the cable contract negotiated by the county’s consultant was flawed. That review led commissioners to reject the proposed contract and to create a citizens task force to give input to staff for a new contract that ensured adequate
funding for a public-access channel, plus expanded broadband access for county schools. Other important downtown venues were Jubilee! Community and Pack Place, which enriched the local public sphere by hosting notable CML speakers such as Bill McKibben, Howard Zinn, Andre Codrescu and Leslie Savan, author of The Sponsored Life: Ads, TV and American Culture. Several of these events were broadcast live by WCQS, including a memorable talk by the Rev. W.W. Finlator, pastor of Raleigh’s Pullen Memorial Baptist Church and a legendary First Amendment advocate. Perhaps the greatest third places were downtown’s sidewalks, where meaningful chance encounters were so common that I constantly felt blessed by the Goddess of Serendipity. If I had a project that needed a certain talent or skill set, it wasn’t long before the person or persons I needed appeared. Social scientists would no doubt attribute this phenomenon to a strong social network, but it still seemed magical to me. In the early 1990s, these chance encounters invariably ended with, “I will call you,” or a similar pledge for continued conversation and collaboration. By the end of the decade, these encounters were more likely to end with “I will email you.” Jurgen Habermas turned 85 this past June, an occasion he marked by giving an interview on the “The Public Sphere and What the Web Can’t Do.” “After the inventions of writing and printing,” said Habermas, “digital communications represents the third great innovation on the media plane.” For the first time in history, he said, “we see a sort of ‘activation’ in which readers themselves become authors.” But this has produced “billions of digital archipelagos” and a chaos of “digital noises.” As a result, said Habermas, “the Web actually dispels and distracts” the public sphere’s essential purpose: to concentrate public attention on “politically important questions.” What’s missing is the “inclusive force of a public sphere highlighting what things are actually important.” What is this inclusive force? “The skills of good old journalism — as necessary today as they were yesterday,” said Habermas. That’s why we all should wish Mountain Xpress all the best for the next 20 years. Wally Bowen is the founder of the Mountain Area Information Network and MAIN-FM 103.7. X MOUNTAINX.COM
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Asheville
A LOOK BACK 20+ YEARS
Oh Asheville, my Asheville BY ANDREA HELM
Almost 25 years ago, I rode a Greyhound bus from Jackson, Miss., to Asheville with nothing but two suitcases of clothes and a plastic pink flamingo. My friend picked me up from the bus station and drove me through downtown to West Asheville, where I would live in Malvern Hills. It was just daybreak as we drove through the tunnel and I was treated to my first view of my new home — sunrise spilling light over snow-covered mountains, as it has done for billions of years, and the art deco city hall building glowing dusty rose. I oohed and aahed at the gargoyles on the Jackson Building. It was day one
of a lifelong love affair with this city and the people who call it home. It’s hard to imagine now, but in those days, Lexington Avenue was pretty much boarded up from College Street all the way down to the Interstate 240 on-ramp. The few businesses that were downtown closed by 3 p.m. on Saturday, and the only thing open on Sunday was church. West Asheville was called Worst Asheville, and Haywood Road was dead; only the really poor people who couldn’t afford to live in North Asheville lived there. Only a few brave souls like Constance Ensner, who owned Constance Boutique on Haywood Street, took a chance on downtown in the early 1990s. There was Malaprop’s, a few doors north of where it is now, Jewels
That Dance by the library, the Haywood Park Hotel and the gay bar O’Henry’s. There was a Woolworth’s, Tops for Shoes and not much else. I moved to Asheville in 1990 fresh out of college, never having been here, through a friend’s invitation; I didn’t even have a job when I first came here. But a young Jeff Fobes took a chance and gave me my first reporting job. Through my work as a reporter with Green Line and my other job at another alternative newspaper, Out ‘n About, I met so many talented people during those early years — like Connie Bostic, a Fairview artist who owned an art gallery across the street from John Cram’s gallery on Biltmore Avenue. It was at Connie’s gallery that I first saw a performance by notorious Asheville female impersonator Cookie LaRue, who preached the virtues of not wasting tissue paper to blow your nose but using your finger instead (“as nature intended”), coaxing 30 or so squirming, laughing audience members to stick their own fingers up their own noses. “Now, I ask youse, ain’t that a perfect fit?” That kind of humor doesn’t appeal to everyone’s aesthetic, but the vibrant arts scene that Asheville enjoys today would not exist without people like John Cram and Connie Bostic, who took risks and
Harmony Motors
Our dealership has been doing business with families in Asheville for almost 70 years. When Green Line (the precursor to Mountain Xpress) started printing three decades ago, we were located on Merrimon Avenue. Back then, we went by a different name and offered a range of other car lines. Since then, we have shifted our focus to the three brands we were most passionate about — Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche.
We are now at a larger facility located on Brevard Road near the Farmer’s Market and adjacent to the Biltmore Estate property. Our most recent progression was the transition of ownership to Scott and Linda Wilkerson. With that transfer came our new name, Harmony Motors, which represents their philosophy for the business: They consider our involvement with our community an aspect of social responsibility. The Wilkersons also believe serving the community that supports us encourages a healthy and sustainable Asheville. In respect to that, we are heavily involved with various local community organizations throughout Western North Carolina — OpenDoors of Asheville, the Mission Foundation, Ladies Night Out, ABYSA, the
Asheville Symphony, local schools, and many other organizations. Even our Volkswagen showroom reflects that axiom with custom art work done by local artists. Stop by and say “hi,” check out the artwork, our vintage cars and gas pumps — and the people who make Harmony Motors a special place to do business.
621 Brevard Rd, Asheville, NC 28806 • (828) 232-4000 • www.harmonymotors.us 26
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MOUNTAINX.COM
SUNSHINE ON CITY HALL: Former Xpress staffer Andrea Helm’s first view of Asheville included its art deco city hall. File photo
were willing to step outside the safe-fortourists art genre. (Seriously, she’s a dang goddess and you should send her money right now; mail it to Art Goddess Connie Bostic, c/o Mountain Xpress, PO Box 144, Asheville NC 28802. Anyone making art in Asheville today owes her a huge debt.) Cookie and I rode in the lead car of the Gay Pride parade and were welcomed by some Jerks for Jesus standing in front of the old Woolworth’s building with their handmade “Fagit” signs. At the Christian Pride rally the next week, my gay friend wore his handmade T-shirt that proudly proclaimed his “Fagit” status. I still remember the sign held by the woman who told us loudly with great conviction that we were going to hell: “Almighty Indignation Will Destroy the Sodomites.” Back then, Asheville had few places to party and eat, and fewer places to eat late-night. Our mainstay was the Hot Shot Café in Biltmore, open 24 hours back then. After the bars closed, we’d eat some deliciously greasy diner eggs cooked by a griddle chef who, just an hour earlier, had likely been onstage at O’Henry’s singing a rousing patriotic “God Bless America/Looking for a City/ I’ll Fly Away” medley wearing nothing but a jock strap, American flag, tiara and size-13 white pumps. Because it was Fourth of July weekend in America. Rest
in peace, Cousin It. When your spoon stood upright on its own in your bowl of gravy at the Hot Shot Café, you knew it was time to pay your tab and stumble home. Years later I revisited the Hot Shot, when it reopened after being flooded in 2004. The diner was no longer open 24 hours a day, and it eventually closed, another victim of the rent inflation and upscalification that was happening all over the city. I spoke with one of the waitresses I thought I recognized from the old days and told her that I used to come there when it was an all-night diner. She said, “Oh lord, honey, those were the days! I would go home so tired, but I loved it so much. My customers were so much fun, and they tipped good too!” We were all earning minimum wage and living paycheck to paycheck. With limited resources, we made our own fun. We’d play on the playground equipment at Montford Park at 3 a.m. We’d steal flowers from the meticulous landscaping of Biltmore Forest homes. We broke into empty buildings and scavenged for anything of use. One night we came across what we thought was a dead body, but it was just a sleeping homeless guy wrapped in a piece of carpet he’d cut from the floor.
We smoked weed and rolled downhill on the Grove Park Inn golf course, before they put up a fence. We ate magic mushrooms on the Blue Ridge Parkway, marveling at the family of koalas we saw in the treetops. We took photos to send to National Geographic to document our discovery of koalas living in the trees on the Blue Ridge Parkway! We were going to be famous! Someone asked what a group of koalas was called and no one knew, but one of our friends said it had to be a “koalaition.” Later, we laughed ourselves silly when we had our photos developed and realized that our miraculous koalas were, in reality, squirrels’ nests. We sang along with The Staple Singers and fell in love with Bo Diddley at Bele Chere. We saw Blondie, and then Lou Reed, at The Orange Peel. We heard Koko Taylor sing the blues at 45 Cherry, birthplace of the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam, which is now, sadly, a gated parking lot. We danced to the Neville Brothers and B.B. King at the Civic Center. I remember Asheville. I remember my first sight of the city on that cold winter morning. I remember whitewater rapids on the Nantahala. I remember soaking in a hot tub at Hot Springs on the bank of the French Broad River, sipping cognac with my sweetie and watching the stars appear. I remember endless bagels at Malaprop’s and countless beers at Gatsby’s. I remember Julian Price, a gentle giant who helped fund so many projects and nonprofit groups that helped make Asheville a better place to live. I remember drinking char moonshine with the men who distilled it. I remember friends getting married on a mountaintop, I remember the surrealistic Tim Burton vistas of the Blue Ridge Parkway under a harvest moon, and I remember the fellowship of many good friends. They represent the best that this city has to offer. Most of all, I remember having the time of my life. I remember Asheville for all it was, is and will ever be. You can grouse all you want about not enough parking or too many hipsters or the way things used to be. In a city with growing pains, these may be valid complaints. But love it. Just love it. Love it for all you’re worth. Asheville will always love you back. Andrea Helm was a staff reporter for Green Line (predecessor of Mountain Xpress) from 1990 to 1992, where she was a frequent thorn in the side of coworkers, employers and various city officials. Due to circus dances beyond her control, she no longer resides in Asheville. She misses it every day. X MOUNTAINX.COM
Get your brass on down to BIMCO BY VONNA FISHER CLONINGER
In the ’90s, recycling was starting to boom in WNC, to become the “in” thing. All of a sudden Biltmore Iron and Metal was the place to be for first-time recyclers, artists, mechanics and “shoppers.” BIMCO is a family business, in operation since 1929. I am the third generation (the first was my great-uncle, then my father, John Fisher Sr., and then me). Now, our fourth generation is in the business (my sons, Blake and Jonah). When I was growing up, we were called a “junkyard,” in the ’90s we became “scrap metal processors,” and now we’re “recyclers.” One person’s junk is another’s treasure! We had other sayings, too: “Got junk in your trunk, bring it to BIMCO,” and “Get your brass on down to BIMCO.” BIMCO shipped lots of rail cars full of steel — we kept Norfolk Southern busy in Biltmore. We still have four tracks in our yard. But, nowadays, in contrast to our overall recycling activity, our industrial scrap steel business has decreased drastically in volume since the ’90s due to manufacturing facilities closing in our area. Also, while more buildings are being built, fewer are being torn down. However, we are seeing more cars being recycled nowadays and more small industries coming to the area. Aluminum cans were really popular to recycle in the ’90s and still are. We recycled 14 million to 15 million cans per month back then — compared with about 11 million now, a drop that’s most likely due to beer being bottled in glass by local brewers. In general, we notice more cans being recycled when the economy worsens, weather is colder (people staying in) or weather is extremely hot. Recycling education became big in the schools back then: We helped educate kids about different metals. School tours of our facility were popular in the ’90s and early 2000s, although current insurance regulations make it almost impossible to have children in the yard while our equipment is running. We had about 50 or so employees in the 1990s. We don’t have as many now due to the latest and greatest labor-saving scrap-metal-processing equipment and computers. Vonna Fisher Cloninger is CEO of Biltmore Iron and Metal Co. X
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C O M M U N I T Y
C A L E N D A R
SEPT. 3 - SEPT. 9, 2014
Calendar Deadlines In order to qualify for a FREE LISTING, an event must benefit or be sponsored by a nonprofit or noncommercial community group. In the spirit of Xpress’ commitment to support the work of grassroots community organizations, we will also list events our staff consider to be of value or interest to the public, including local theater performances and art exhibits even if hosted by a for-profit group or business. All events must cost no more than $40 to attend in order to qualify for free listings, with the one exception of events that benefit nonprofits. Commercial endeavors and promotional events do not qualify for free listings. FREE LISTINGS will be edited by Xpress staff to conform to our style guidelines and length. Free listings appear in the publication covering the date range in which the event occurs. Events may be submitted via EMAIL to calendar@mountainx.com or through our ONLINE submission form at mountainx. com/calendar. The deadline for free listings is the Wednesday one week prior to publication at 5 p.m. For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/ calendar. For questions about free listings, call 251-1333, ext. 110. For questions about paid calendar listings, please call 251-1333, ext. 320.
ANIMALS DOGGIE DIP AT RECREATION PARK POOL 259-5800 • SA (9/6), noon-5pm - Pool is open for dogs. Proof of vaccinations & spayed/neutered required. Schedule based on weight class. Contact for details. $10/ $5 advance. Held at Recreation Park Pool, 65 Gashes Creek
BENEFITS FEASTING FOR FEAST feastasheville.com • TH (9/4), 6-9pm - Tickets to this local food and wine event benefit healthy eating programs for kids. $35. Held at The Pillar, 46 Haywood St. FRIENDS OF THE SMOKIES 452-0720, friendsofthesmokies. org, outreach.nc@friendsofthes-
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A THRILLING VISIT: Author James Patterson, known for his psychological thrillers including the Alex Cross novels, will be in Asheville on Friday, Sept. 5 and Saturday, Sept. 6 to support literacy and independent bookstores. On Friday, Patterson will speak at the Authors for Literacy Dinner, a fundraiser for the Literacy Council of Buncombe County. The event starts at 6 p.m. and tickets are $75. The first 30 people willing to match Patterson’s $500 donation to the Council will be invited to an exclusive reception before the event. On Saturday, look for Patterson at Malaprop’s Bookstore and Cafe from 6-8 p.m. where he’ll be celebrating Malaprop’s recent renovations — paid for by a grant he awarded the bookstore earlier this year. (p.28)
mokies.org • SU (9/7), 8am - Gran Fondo National Championship Series bike races to benefit Friends of the Smokies and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Registration required. $75-$120. Held at Pack Square Park, 121 College St. GROVE PARK - SUNSET MOUNTAIN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION 254-4400, sescovitz@charter.net • SU (9/7), 11am-5pm - Tickets to this tour of homes benefit neighborhood beautification projects. $20/$15 advance. Starts at Grove Park Inn, 290 Macon Ave. AUTHORS FOR LITERACY DINNER 254-3442, lily@litcouncil.com • FR (9/5), 6pm - Tickets to this dinner, silent auction and presentation with author James Patterson benefit the Literacy Council of Buncombe County. $75. Private reception with the author: $500 donation. Held at Renaissance Asheville Hotel, 31
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
Woodfin St. OUR VOICE 252-0562, ourvoicenc.org • TH (9/4), 6pm - "40 Years of Starting Conversations," anniversary celebration with keynote speaker Anita Hill. $50. Held at Diana Wortham Theatre, 2 South Pack Square OUT OF THE DARKNESS COMMUNITY WALK 274-9567, gleroy@carepartners. org • SA (9/6), 10am-noon Donations and pledges for this 3-mile awareness walk support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Free to attend. Held at Carrier Park, 220 Amboy Road. ROCK THE QUARRY 5K AND KIDS RUN active.com • Through (9/20) - Registration is open for this run to benefit the Black Mountain Home for Children and the Colburn Earth Science Museum. $35/$30
MOUNTAINX.COM
advance. Held Sept. 20 at Grove Stone & Sand Company. WNC RUN/WALK FOR AUTISM 5K 800-442-2762, wncrunwalkforautism.com • Through (9/13) - Registration is open for this race to benefit the Autism Society of North Carolina and families affected by autism. Call to register. $25. Held at UNCA on Sept. 13.
BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
A-B TECH SMALL BUSINESS CENTER 1465 Sand Hill Road, Candler, 398-7950, abtech.edu/sbc Unless otherwise noted, classes are free. • WE (9/10), 6-8pm - Biotech business structure seminar. Registration required.
ONTRACK WNC 50 S. French Broad Ave., 2555166, ontrackwnc.org • TUESDAYS through (9/9), 5:30-8pm - "Dreaming of Debt Free Living," financial and emotional impacts of debt from the Women's Financial Empowerment Center. Free. Registration required. SCORE COUNSELORS TO SMALL BUSINESS 271-4786, ashevillescore.org Held in A-B Tech's Small Business Center, Enka campus. Registration required. Free. • SATURDAYS (9/6) through (9/27), 9am-12pm - Business planning workshop series. Held at A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Road, Candler
CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS ACTING, IMPROV, VOICEOVER, WRITING,
FILMMAKING AND MORE: (pd.) Free week of workshops at NYS3 September 8-12 Register at www.nys3.com (828) 276-1212 A NEW ART SCHOOL IN ASHEVILLE! (pd.) Weekly classes at Astoria Art Center, East Asheville. $210 for 6 classes. Free supplies and all levels welcome. Thursdays 7-10 PM. 718-956-8539 astoriaartcenter.com FACILITATION SKILLS TRAINING (pd.) At The Mediation Center. Well-led meetings help organizations improve planning, encourage collaboration, and manage conflict. For more info and to register, (828) 251-6089 or www. mediatewnc.org LINDA PANNULLO MOSAICS AND WORKSHOPS (pd.) • Concrete Leaf Class, September 13, create a bird bath or garden centerpiece • Carol Shelkin Realism in Mosaics class; September 20 and 21. • Mosaic Jewelry class, September 19. •
Linda's Mosaic Mirror class, all levels, October 20. • Deb Aldo, Pebble Mosaic Mandala workshop, November 8 and 9. For info and registration, call 828-337-6749. www.lindapannullomosaics.com AMERICAN BUSINESS WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION abwaskyhy.com, abwaskyhychapter@gmail.com • TH (9/11), 5:30-7:30pm - "A Woman Reporter, In a Man's Field," dinner meeting with Megan Sheiring. $25. Held at Crowne Plaza Resort, 1 Resort Drive ASHEVILLE BROWNS BACKERS CLUB 658-4149, ashevillebbw@gmail. com • SUNDAYS - Meets during Cleveland Browns games. Contact for specific times. Held at The Fairview Tavern, 831 Old Fairview Road. ASHEVILLE OBJECTIVISTS ashevilleobjectivists.wordpress. com, avlobj@att.net • TU (9/9), 6pm - A discussion of the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Free. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. CAROLINA JEWS FOR JUSTICE - WEST carolinajewsforjustice.org • SU (9/7), 10am-noon Monthly meeting. Held at Jewish Community Center, 236 Charlotte St. GOODWILL CAREER CLASSES 828-298-9023, ext. 1106 • TUESDAYS through THURSDAYS, 9am-noon - Adult basic education/ high school equivalency classes. Registration required. • MONDAYS & WEDNESDAYS, 5:30-8:30pm - ESL classes. Registration required. • ONGOING - Classes for careers in the food and hotel industries. Includes American Hotel and Lodging Association Certification. Call for times. $25. • TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS, 12:30-3:30pm - Medical office support career classes. Registration required. LAUREL CHAPTER OF THE EMBROIDERERS' GUILD OF AMERICA 654-9788, egacarolinas.org • TH (9/4), 10am - Monthly meeting and sale of needlework. Held at Cummings United Methodist Church, 3 Banner Farm Road, Horse Shoe MOUNTAIN AREA VOLUNTEER LAWYERS 210-3429, morgan@pisgahlegal. org
• 1st THURSDAYS, 12-2pm - "Debt 101" clinic, includes discussion of debtor rights, resources and options. Free. Held at Pisgah Legal Services, 62 Charlotte St. MOVE TO AMEND OF BUNCOMBE COUNTY 299-1242, movetoamend.org/ nc-asheville, mabco@movetoamend.org • FR (9/5), 5:30pm - Petitioning and puppet head pantomime theater. Free. Held at Vance Monument, 1 Pack Square • MO (9/8), 7pm - MABCO general meeting. Free. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. SWANNANOA LIBRARY 101 West Charleston St., Swannanoa, 250-6486 • WE (9/3), 5pm - Swannanoa Knitters, knitting and needlework for all skill levels. WCU MOUNTAIN HERITAGE CENTER 227-7129 • TH (9/4), 7pm - Canton town history with author Michael Beadle. Free. WESTERN CAROLINIANS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST mepeacewnc.org • WE (9/10), 9:30am - General meeting. Held at Black Mountain Presbyterian, 117 Montreat Road, Black Mountain WNC KNITTERS AND CROCHETERS FOR OTHERS 575-9195 • MO (9/8), 7-9pm - Held at New Hope Presbyterian Church, 3070 Sweeten Creek Road YOUTH OUTRIGHT youthoutright.org • SUNDAYS, 4-6pm - Weekly meeting for LGBTQ youth and straight allies. Held at First Congregational UCC of Asheville, 20 Oak St.
DANCE ROCOCO BALLROOM PARTNER DANCING (pd.) Rococo Ballroom has opened in Reynolds Mountain offering all forms of partner dancing. Call 828-575-0905 to schedule a FREE sample lesson with one of our highly trained instructors. STUDIO ZAHIYA, DOWNTOWN DANCE CLASSES (pd.) Monday 6pm Hip Hop Wkt • Tuesday 9am Hip Hop Wkt 6pm Intro to Bellydance 7pm Bellydance 2 8pm West
African • Wednesday 6pm Bellydance 3 • Thursday 9am Hip Hop Wrkt 4pm Kid's Dance 6pm Intro to Bellydance 7pm West African • Saturday 9am Hip Hop Wrkt 10:30am Bellydance • Sunday 10am Intro to West African • $13 for 60 minute classes, Hip Hop Wkrt $5. 90 1/2 N. Lexington Avenue. www.studiozahiya. com :: 828.242.7595
The VAPOR EXPERTS are now HERE in Asheville! New ville East Ashe ! location
el Rd, 271 Tunnhili’s! behind C
CIRCLE 8'S SQUARE DANCE CLUB circle8s.info, garwoods2@ yahoo.com • TUESDAYS, 7:30-9pm Weekly dance classes. $5. Held at Oakley United Methodist Church, 607 Fairview Road INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCING connielwiley@gmail.com • MONDAYS, 2:15-4pm & TUESDAYS, 7:30-9:30pm- Free with donations. Held at Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Road SOUTHERN LIGHTS SQUARE AND ROUND DANCE CLUB 697-7732, southernlights.org • SA (9/16), 6pm - "Tailgate Party" dance. Free. Held at the Whitmire Building, Lily Pond Road, Hendersonville. TOY BOAT COMMUNITY ARTS SPACE 101 Fairview Road, Suite B, 505-8659, toyboatcommunityartspace.com • SUNDAYS (9/7) through (9/28), 1-2pm - Focuses on Chicago-style moves from the 1940s. $40.
E-Cigs, North Carolina-sourced ORGANIC E-Juice, Mods and Rebuildables, in a Polished Environment.
Saturdays 15% Off ALL E-JUICE! No Coupon Necessary!
ECO CANARY COALITION 631-3447, canarycoalition.org • FR (9/5), 6:30-8pm - Fracking hearing testimony training. Free. Held at Jackson County Public Library, 310 Keener St., Sylva ENVIRONMENTAL & CONSERVATION ORGANIZATION 692-0385, eco-wnc.org • SA (9/6) - "Blue Ridge Big Sweep," stream cleanup event. Free. Multiple locations. Registration required. NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK EVENTS 606-8939, facebook.com/ groups/blueridgeevclub • WE (9/10), 5:30-7:30pm Owners of electric cars will discuss their vehicles. Held at Oskar Blues Brewery, 342 Mountain Industrial Drive, Brevard
West: 1334 Patton Ave. Suite 110 Asheville NC 28806 East: 271 Tunnel Rd. Asheville NC 28805
Mon-Sat 10AM - 7PM • Sun 12PM - 5PM facebook.com/madvapesavl 10% OFF with Coupon
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR
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SKYLAND/SOUTH BUNCOMBE LIBRARY 260 Overlook Road, 250-6488 • TU (9/9), 2:30pm - "Bring Back the Monarch," interactive presentation. TEN YEARS LATER SYMPOSIUM nemac.unca.edu, gdobson@ unca.edu • FR (9/5), 8:30am-12:30pm - UNCA's NEMAC and the Atmospheric Sciences department lead "The Asheville Floods of September 2004: 10 Years of Action, Research, and Mitigation." Free. Held in UNCA's Sherill Center. WILD SOUTH 258-2667, wildsouth.org • TU (9/9), 5pm - A presentation on the organization's preservation efforts. Free. Held at Asheville Friends Meetinghouse, 227 Edgewood Road
The gran journey
WNC SIERRA CLUB 251-8289, wenoca.org • WE (9/3), 7-9pm - Includes presentation from the city of Asheville and GreenWorks on solid waste reduction and composting. Free. Held at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place
FESTIVALS
WHAT: The Gran Fondo Asheville WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 7, starting at 8 a.m. WHERE: Departs Square Park
from
Pack
WHY: If you’re looking for a new way to experience the scenic outdoors of Western North Carolina, and support Friends of the Smokies and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, look no further. Asheville will host its first Gran Fondo cycling event with courses covering 30-mile, 60-mile and 110-mile journeys. “This is the first year Friends of the Smokies is hosting a Gran Fondo, and it’s also the first time a Gran Fondo has been brought to the Asheville area,” says Holly Demuth, the nonprofit’s N.C. director. A Gran Fondo is a “fun, festival bicycle race,” Demuth explains. Each of the three courses in the Asheville Gran Fondo has been chosen by the Gran Fondo National Championship Series. But don’t let that frighten you — Demuth says you don’t need to be an elite athlete to participate in the event.
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“Part of the routes are timed for people wishing to race, but it’s all-inclusive,” Demuth explains. “Multiple routes mean it’s open to lots of ability levels.” All the routes will begin by following the French Broad River and Old Leicester Highway and end by returning to downtown. The longest route will include segments of the national park, but Demuth says all the routes are scenic. The Gran Fondo also aligns with OrganicFest in Pack Square, so cyclists can head for the festival as they finish their routes. “We were pleased to coordinate with OrganicFest,” Demuth says. “When the riders finish the race, they can come back downtown, cool off and enjoy the festival and live music.” The Gran Fondo includes four timed sections and prizes for overall and age-group winners. Registration is required and costs $75 for the 30-mile race, $100 for the 60-mile race and $120 for the 110-mile race. Advance rates are $10 lower. For more information visit granfondonationalchampionshipseries.com/ gran-fondo-asheville or call 4520720. — Carrie Eidson
MOUNTAINX.COM
GREEN CREEK HERITAGE FESTIVAL 817-0194, facebook.com/ GreenCreekCommunityCenter • SA (9/6), 9am-3pm - Includes food and craft vendors. Proceeds support the Green Creek Community Center. Free to attend. Held at Green Creek Family Life Center, Inc, 25 Shields Drive Unit 5, Tryon
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS CAROLINA JEWS FOR JUSTICE - WEST carolinajewsforjustice.org • TU (9/9), 6-8pm - Voter training session. Free. Held at YWCA, 185 S. French Broad Ave. HENDERSON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY 692-6424, myhcdp.com • SU (9/7), 9am-8pm Democratic candidate meet and greet at Mountain State Fair. $8. Held at WNC Agricultural Center, 1301 Fanning Bridge Road • WE (9/10), 8am - Democratic discussion group. Free to attend. Held at Mike's on Main, 303 N. Main St, Hendersonville
HENDERSON COUNTY WOMEN DEMOCRATS 692-6424, hcdp.com • TU (9/9), 5:30-7pm - Discussion on the importance of midterm elections. Free to attend. Held at Three Chopt Sandwich Shoppe, 103 3rd Ave. E, Hendersonville WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY 1 University Way, Cullowhee, 227-7211 • TH (9/4), 7pm - Public debate for the 11th Congressional District seat. Free.
KIDS CELEBRATION SINGERS OF ASHEVILLE 230-5778, singasheville.org • TH (9/4), 5-6pm - Ages 7-14 may audition for the youth chorus. Sheet music not provided. Free. Held at First Congregational UCC of Asheville, 20 Oak St. FLETCHER LIBRARY 120 Library Road, Fletcher, 687-1218 • SA (9/6), 11am - Hawaiian storyteller. Free. LEGO CLUB AT THE LIBRARY 250-4700 • WE (9/3), 3:30pm - For ages 5 and up. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. SPELLBOUND CHILDREN'S BOOKSHOP 50 N. Merrimon Ave., 708-7570, spellboundchildrensbookshop. com • SA (9/6), 10:30am - Interactive music workshop with The Moozic Lady. For ages 3-7. $5 per family. THOMAS WOLFE MEMORIAL 52 N. Market St, 253-8304, wolfememorial.com • Through FR (9/26) - Students in grades 4-12 may submit works of fiction to the Telling Our Tales writing competition. Must be inspired by The Sun and the Rain. Contact for details.
OUTDOORS BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY RANGER PROGRAMS 295-3782, ggapio@gmail.com • SA (9/6), 7pm - "Wilderness Skills: Knot Another One," demonstration on useful knots for everyday situations. Held at Linville Falls Campground Amphitheater, Milepost 316 Blue Ridge Parkway
CHEROKEE STICKBALL DEMONSTRATION ladcock1@unca.edu • TH (9/4), 6pm - Featuring the Wa Le Lu “Hummingbird” team. Held at UNCA's Intramural Field. Free. FRIENDS OF THE SMOKIES 452-0720, friendsofthesmokies. org, outreach.nc@friendsofthesmokies.org • TU (9/9), 9:30am - 7.2 mile moderate hike of Forney Ridge Trail to benefit the Smokies Trails Forever program. Meets at Clingmans Dome parking lot. $10 members/$35 non-members.
PUBLIC LECTURES PUBLIC LECTURES AT UNCA unca.edu Free unless otherwise noted. • TH (9/4), 4:30pm - "New Developments in Ground-Based Astronomy." Reuter Center. • FR (9/5), 11:25am - "Post Colonialism and the Cold War: Imperial Imperatives and Untold Narratives." Humanities Lecture Hall. • FR (9/5), 11:25am "Industrialization, Capitalism, and Alienation." Lipinsky Auditorium. • MO (9/8), 11:25am - "Celestial Kingdom: China." Lipinsky Auditorium. • TH (9/11), 4:30pm - "New Developments in Space-Based Astronomy." Reuter Center.
SENIORS GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH 1245 Sixth Ave. W., Hendersonville, 693-4890, gracelutherannc.com • WE (9/3), 7-8pm - Healthy aging seminar. Registration required by Sept. 2. Free. • TH (9/4), 10:30-11:30am - Healthy aging seminar. Registration required by Sept. 2. Free.
SPIRITUALITY PSYCHIC MEDIUMS (pd.) Jennifer Shaffer, Jill M. Jackson, & Katherine Glass will deliver messages from departed loved ones in a Public gallery style reading demonstration at the Masonic Temple! Connect with 3 award winning Psychic Mediums who are tested & approved members of Shay Parker's Best American Psychics! Tickets 800-838-3006 Advance $33! Door price $44
ABOUT THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION TECHNIQUE: FREE INTRODUCTORY TALK (pd.) Thursday, 6:30 p.m., Asheville TM Center, 165 E. Chestnut. 828-254-4350 or MeditationAsheville.org AIM MEDITATION CLASSES (pd.) Ramp up your meditation practice with AIM’s Meditation’s Classes: Mindfulness 101- Basics of Mindfulness Meditation, Mindfulness 102 - More advanced, intermediate class. Class dates and times: www. ashevillemeditation.com/events, (828) 808-4444 ASHEVILLE COMPASSIONATE COMMUNICATION CENTER (pd.) Free practice group. Learn ways to create understanding and clarity in your relationships, work, and community by practicing compassionate communication (nonviolent communication). 252-0538 or www. ashevilleccc.com • 2nd and 4th Thursdays, 5:00-6:00pm. ASHEVILLE INSIGHT MEDITATION (pd.) Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation. Learn how to get a Mindfulness Meditation practice started. 1st & 3rd Mondays. 7pm – 8:30. Asheville Insight Meditation, 29 Ravenscroft Dr, Suite 200, (828) 808-4444, www.ashevillemeditation.com ASHEVILLE OPEN HEART MEDITATION (pd.) Experience effortless techniques that connect you to your heart and the Divine within you. Your experience will deepen as you are gently guided in this complete practice. Love Offering 7-8pm Tuesdays, 5 Covington St. 296-0017 heartsanctuary.org. ASTRO-COUNSELING (pd.) Licensed counselor and accredited professional astrologer uses your chart when counseling for additional insight into yourself, your relationships and life directions. Readings also available. Christy Gunther, MA, LPC. (828) 258-3229. AWAKENING DEEPEST NATURE MEDITATION CLASS (pd.) Consciousness teacher and columnist Bill Walz. Healing into life through deepened stillness and presence. Meditation and lessons in unorthodox enlightenment. Mondays, 6:30-7:30pm, Asheville Friends Meeting House at 227 Edgewood Ave. (off Merrimon). Donation. (828) 258-3241, healing@billwalz.com www.billwalz.com
AWARENESS GROUP (pd.) With Isa Soler, LPC, CHT, lCAS. Join me as we utilize the transformative effects of breathwork, guided meditation and Tibetan and crystal bowl sound healing, facilitating increased awareness of our connection to source and our innate potential to heal. • Saturday, September 6, 3pm-4:30pm. At: Co-luminate, 69A Biltmore Avenue. Cost: $20. co-luminate. com CRYSTAL VISIONS BOOKS AND EVENT CENTER (pd.) New and Used Metaphysical Books • Music • Crystals • Jewelry • Gifts • Incense • Tarot. Visit our Labyrinth and Garden. 828687-1193. For events, Intuitive Readers and Vibrational Healing providers: www.crystalvisionsbooks.com ECKANKAR WORSHIP SERVICE • “OPENING THE DOOR OF SOUL TO FIND TRUTH” (pd.) “Each of us is a unique individual, with our own peculiar combination of experiences accumulated over many lifetimes. The truth of ECK comes to each of us like a special key, custom-designed with millions of little notches and grooves. It is the only key that will fit the lock, turn it, and open the door of Soul.” Experience stories from the heart, creative arts and more, followed by fellowship and a pot-luck lunch. (Donations accepted). Date: Sunday, September 7, 2014, 11am-12 noon, Eckankar Center of Asheville, 797 Haywood Rd. (lower level), Asheville NC 28806, 828-254-6775. www. eckankar-nc.org LOOKING FOR GENUINE SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE AND HELP? (pd.) We are in a beautiful area about 10 minutes from downtown Asheville,very close to Warren Wilson College. www. truththomas.org 828-299-4359 MINDFULNESS MEDITATION (pd.) ASHEVILLE INSIGHT MEDITATION Deepen your authentic presence, and cultivate a happier, more peaceful mind by practicing Insight (Vipassana) Meditation in a supportive community. Group Meditation. Thursdays, 7pm-8:30pm. Sundays, 10am11:30pm. 29 Ravenscroft Dr., Suite 200, Asheville, (828) 8084444, www.ashevillemeditation. com ASHEVILLE HARE KRISHNA 506-0996, gopalonetwo@yahoo. com
• SUNDAYS, noon - Includes chanting, discussion and a vegetarian meal. Free. Held at Kuntao Arts, 211 Merrimon Ave. AWARENESS GROUP 318-9572 • SA (9/6), 3-4:30pm - Workshop on breathwork, guided meditation and sound healing. $20 donation. Held at Co-Luminate, 69 Biltmore Ave. FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UCC OF HENDERSONVILLE 1735 5t Ave. W., Hendersonville, 692-8630, fccendersonville.com • WE (9/3), 10-11:30am Discussion of Marcus Borg's Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but not Literally. Free. • WE (9/3), 5-6:30pm - Biblical survey study with Rev. Barbara Rathbun. Free. MOUNTAIN MINDFULNESS SANGHA mountainmindfulness.org • MONDAYS, 7-8:30pm & THURSDAYS, 8-8:40am - In the tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. All levels. Free. Held at Urban Dharma, 29 Page Ave. SHAMBHALA MEDITATION CENTER 19 Westwood Place, 490-4587, shambhalaashvl@gmail.com • 1st THURSDAYS, 6-7pm Public group sitting and Dharma reading/discussion. Free. • SUNDAYS, 10-noon - Morning sitting meditation. Instruction provided. Free.
ASTONISHING FINDS...
...from Furniture to Collectibles
TAG SALE!
PREVIEW PARTY WED, SEPT 3 • 5-7PM SALE DATES
THURSDAY, SEPT 4 SATURDAY, SEPT 6 9AM - 5PM EACH DAY
Proceeds benefit CarePartners Foundation and CarePartners Hospice
Hospice Thrift Store has special deals every Thurs - Sat
105 Fairview Rd • Below the Screen Door in Biltmore cpestatesales.org for sale times, dates & special offers
SPOKEN & WRITTEN WORD CANTON BRANCH OF HAYWOOD COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 11 Pennsylvania Ave., Canton, 648-2924, haywoodlibrary.org • TUESDAYS (9/9) through (10/14), 4pm - Memoir writing class. Meets every other week. Registration required. Free. CAROLINA MOUNTAINS LITERARY FESTIVAL 208-4731, cmlitfest.org • FR (9/5) & SA (9/6), 9am9pm - Readings, discussions and exhibits regional authors & illustrators. Free. Optional workshops and banquet, $25-30. Contact for full schedule. Held in downtown Burnsville. COURTYARD GALLERY In the Phil Mechanic Building 109 Roberts St., 273-3332, ashevillecourtyard.com • MONDAYS, 8pm - True Home Open Mic.
Kitchen Ugly? Don’t replace... REFACE! 1 New look for about /3 the cost of new cabinets Paul Caron • The Furniture Magician • 828.669.4625 MOUNTAINX.COM
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR
EAST ASHEVILLE LIBRARY 902 Tunnel Road, 250-4738 • TH (9/4), 6:30pm - Book Club: The Likeness by Tana French. FLETCHER LIBRARY 120 Library Road, Fletcher, 687-1218 • TU (9/9), 2pm - Mary Joyce discusses her book Cherokee Little People Were Real. • TH (9/11), 2:30pm - Book Club. • TH (9/11), 1:30-3:30pm Writer's guild. FRIENDS OF HENDERSON COUNTY LIBRARY 697-4725 • SA (9/6), 10am-4:30pm & SU (9/7), 1-4:30pm - Fall Book Sale to benefit the library. Includes DVDs, CDs and other mediums. Held at 1940 Spartanburg Highway, Hendersonville. LEICESTER LIBRARY 1561 Alexander Road, Leicester, 683-8874 • TU (9/9), 1pm - Book Club: The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson. MALAPROP'S BOOKSTORE AND CAFE 55 Haywood St., 254-6734, malaprops.com Events are free, unless otherwise noted. • WE (9/3), 1-2pm - Autism Bookclub: Not Even Wrong: A Father's Journey into the Lost History of Autism by Paul Collins. • WE (9/3), 7pm - Malaprop's Bookclub: Beloved by Toni Morrison. • TH (9/4), 7pm - Tony Earley discusses his book Mr. Tall: A Novella and Stories. • SA (9/6), 6-8pm - Champagne toast and book signing with author James Patterson. Reception free. Signing line requires Patterson book purchase. Prices vary. • SU (9/7), 3pm - "POETRIO," reading and signing by poets Anne Harding Woodworth, Quitman Marshall and Pasckie Pascua. • MO (9/8), 7pm - Mystery Bookclub: Defending Jacob by William Landay. • TU (9/9), 7pm - Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the
by Carrie Eidson & Michael McDonald
Civil War, interview with author Karen Abbott. • WE (9/10), 5:30-6:30pm "Mindfulness Practices for ADHD," monthly series on ADD/ADHD with coach Rudy Rodriguez. • WE (9/10), 7pm - Salon discussion: Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. PACK MEMORIAL LIBRARY 67 Haywood St. • TH (9/11), 5:30pm - Book discussion program: The Classic Fairy Tales by Iona and Peter Opie. SPELLBOUND CHILDREN'S BOOKSHOP 50 N. Merrimon Ave., 708-7570, spellboundchildrensbookshop. com • SU (9/7), 4pm - ROYAL BookClub: We Were Liars by E.Lockhart. For adult readers of YA. THE UGLY MUG 2425 Asheville Highway, Hendersonville, 693-9999 • FR (9/5), 9am - "Skeletons in the Closet? Teach them to Dance!" memoir writing workshop. WEAVERVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY 41 N Main St., Weaverville, 250-6482 • WE (9/3), 3pm - Afternoon Book Club: The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan.
VOLUNTEERING ASHEVILLE CITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION Julia.Shuster@asheville.k12. nc.us, 350-6135 Works to create strong public schools and break the cycle of poverty. • WE (9/3), 12:30pm & TH (9/4), 5:30pm - Open house for those interested in being a volunteer teacher assistant, tutor or mentor. Held at the ACSF central office, 85 Mountain St. ASHEVILLE GREENWORKS 254-1776, ashevillegreenworks. org Organizes environmental volunteer clean-up projects.
• FR (9/5), 7-10:30pm Volunteers needed to oversee recycling at New Belgium's Film and Beer Tour night. Volunteers are given T-shirts, food and beer. Registration required. • SU (9/7), 10am-6pm Volunteers needed to manage trash pickup and composting during Organicfest. Shifts are 2 hours. BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF HENDERSON COUNTY bbbswnc.org, 696-1675 • WE (9/10), noon - Information session for volunteers interested in mentoring youth. Held in room 213 at the United Way building, 50 S. French Broad Ave. HANDS ON ASHEVILLEBUNCOMBE 2-1-1, handsonasheville.org The volunteer center for the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County. • SA (9/6), 10am-1pm Volunteering needed to unpacked and price merchandise. Held at Ten Thousand Villages, 10 College St. • SA (9/6), 10:30am-12pm Volunteers needed for book sorting and distribution. Ages 16+. Held at Stowaway Storage, 40 Wilmington St. • MO (9/8), 6:30-8pm Volunteers needed to bake cookies for families staying at Rathbun House. Registration required. Held at Lewis Rathbun Center, 121 Sherwood Road. • TU (9/9), 4-6pm - Volunteers needed to unpacked and price merchandise. Held at Ten Thousand Villages, 10 College St. LAND-OF-SKY REGIONAL COUNCIL OFFICES 339 New Leicester Highway, Suite 140 • TH (9/11), 9am-noon Donations of comfort items for soldiers from NC will be collected. Contact for full list of items. For more volunteering opportunities, visit mountainx.com/ volunteering.
"Locally Owned, Regional Reach, Personal Touch" www.1350wzgm.com
Community Talk Official NASCAR Station for WNC
20% off
all regular Salt Cave Sessions fo r adults, se niors and childre n througho ut the month of Se ptember
Celebrating our 2nd Anniversary You dream a dream. You have a goal. That dream becomes a reality ! Come share what we have brought to the city of asheville and enhance your well being
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Asheville Disclaimer by Tom Scheve
HUMOR
One Day
Absolute Estate Auction! Saturday, September 6 at 4 p.m. This sale will include items from the deceased Estate of Timothy Storrs in Titusville, Florida. Firearms from a living estate in Abingdon, VA, a living estate in Weaverville, NC plus additional quality consignments
Preview: Friday Sept 5, 10 to 5 and Saturday Sept 6, 1 pm until time of sale We will begin selling firearms at 4pm. Please visit our website or auctionzip.com auctioneer ID# 12759 for a complete listing and pictures Regular session begins at 5pm.
we have over 20 years in the antique business.
1098 New Stock Rd. Weaverville, NC 28787 828-645-0695 Check our website for information & pictures, for our upcoming monthly sales/auctions: wilsonandterryauction.net NCAL FIRM 6909
Find local standup comedy info at DisclaimerComedy.com • Twitter @AVLdisclaimer The Most Beloved Half-page on this Page
asheville disclaimer
Briefs Tattoo ink infection threatens Asheville with total overnight depopulation Seeking to solve school bus-driver shortage, Buncombe County opens hiring to dreamy, downtrodden types immune to noise-filled, claustrophobic work environs Team Ecco Ocean Center and Aquarium in Hendersonville undertakes major renovation, adding tiny pirate skeleton who repeatedly opens trunk to release air bubbles into tank New Duke Energy hospitality grant requires recipients to upsell delicious, non-toxic, coal-ash smoothies Carrowinds to build world’s largest, fastest roller coaster, then compare head sizes with Six Flags
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tomscheve@gmail.com
Asheville Citizen-Times changes job titles of editors to ‘writing coaches’ Several AC-T writing coaches suspected of placing bets against own team In a shake-up of AC-T newsroom responsibilities, some editors will be changing title to Writing Coach. Among their new duties:
• Rousing halftime speeches • Hurriedly drawing indiscernible diagrams on a whiteboard • Scowling into the distance, arms folded, with non-functional headset around neck • Grabbing a guy’s facemask and shaking it violently while making key edits to his copy • Repeatedly blowing an Acme Thunderer brand whistle during writing exercises • Portraying “loveable father figure” persona as set-up for “bad cop” humiliation routine • Driving writers into hate-filled, competitive frenzy by displaying negative taunts from editors of the Asheville Tribune • Getting tips from former Tourists’ manager Joe Mikuluk on both tantrums and tirades • Using positive reinforcement, but only if too physically exhausted to kick any more ass • Pretending not to notice as employees sneak up with giant ice bucket following successful workday
Online schools poised to start in NC, giving opportunity for pajamaclad robots to lazily instruct students from remote locations
Buncombe County schools evacuated after stray peanut discovered in student’s bookbag
Asheville Disclaimer is parody/satire Contact: tomscheve@gmail.com Contributing this week: Joe Shelton, Tom Scheve
Asheville, Monday – Hazmat teams were airlifted to regional schools on Monday after a teacher discovered a potentially deadly peanut deep inside the folds of a kindergartener’s bookbag. CONT. ON P. 66
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ALL WAR IS WEIRD, BUT THIS ISIS WAR ... As a Vox.com writer put it: “The absurdity runs deep.” America uses American military equipment to bomb American military equipment that ISIS captured (from inept Iraqi soldiers, inept in part since America disbanded Iraq’s professional military in 2003). America’s Kurdish allies, fighting ISIS, use inferior Russian weapons they captured in the 1980s. ISIS has a safer haven in Syria because America declined to arm moderate Syrian rebels out of fear that radicals like the future ISIS would capture weapons America provided. COMPELLING EXPLANATIONS • Thomas Clark, 28, of Crawley, England, was acquitted of voyeurism charges in July despite admitting that he’d hidden a video camera in a workplace rest room — and evidence that he’d formerly worked in the pornography industry. Clark persuaded a Horsham Magistrates Court judge that he suffers an extreme phobia of diarrhea and vomit and that he’d only hidden the camera to ensure that the rest room was clean before entering. • In America, We’re All Great Parents: (1) Kayla McKenzie, 22, was charged with DUI in Bismarck, North Dakota, after crashing into five different vehicles or structures on Aug. 12 — with, police said, three unsecured children in her car, including a 1-year-old riding in her lap. Nonetheless, said the 0.252 bloodalcohol driver, “I look like a bad mother, but I’m not. I’m actually a really good mom.” (2) Rayvon Campos, 22, pleaded guilty in San Antonio in August to first-degree felony assault of his 1-month-old daughter that resulted in brain hemorrhaging. “This is the first time I’ve ever been in trouble,” he told the judge. “I’m a real good dude.” SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED • A fire hydrant at 393 University Ave. has generated more park-
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ing ticket revenue since 2008 than any other in Toronto: $289,620 from 2,962 violations, according to an August Toronto Star report. The hydrant sits about 20 feet from the curb, in the middle of a sidewalk, obscured by a tree in an 8-foot-long planter. Nonetheless, the law treats the hydrant as if it were curbside and plainly visible. • A woman hiking in Down Valley Park near Placerville, Colorado, told Denver’s KUSA-TV in August of her narrow escape from a mountain lion that had stalked her for a halfhour (crouching menacingly each time she attempted to retreat). At the closest point, Kyra Kopestonsky recalled, it was about 8 feet away. At that point, she told the reporter, “I don’t know why,” but “I just started singing opera really loud.” The mountain lion “sort of put its ears down and ... backed away.”
McCoy, 21, sought by police near Boise, Idaho, in July on a probation violation, took off running, forcing officers to chase him onto the Eagle Hills Golf Course. McCoy sought “refuge” in a pond as deputies tried to coax him out, but it took a halfhour of standing there waist-deep before he concluded that he lacked a Plan B. THE BOY WHO WASN’T BULLIED ENOUGH IN SCHOOL Walker Harnden, 19, a sophomore at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, was recognized in April by Guinness Word Records for the highest note ever whistled (B7). Harnden, who told Raleigh’s News & Observer that he’s “irritated his parents and friends for years,” admits that he whistles up to four or five hours a day. THE NEW NORMAL In 2010, the village of West Lafayette, Ohio, barred residents from keeping fowl and farm animals, but Iraq war veteran Darin Welker, 36, says his 14 pet ducks
help him cope with his post-war depression and trauma. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which paid for Welker’s back surgery, declined to provide physical therapy and counseling; Welker says the ducks motivate him to get out of the house and take care of them. Nonetheless, village officials cited him in June for misdemeanor fowl-housing. PERSPECTIVE Workers at the state-of-the-art solar plant in California’s Mojave Desert say “streamers” are birds that cross the path of the 300,000 garage-door-sized mirrors, which magnify the sun’s rays to produce steam that powers 140,000 homes. Instantly fried, the birds vanish in plumes of smoke at the rate of perhaps one every two minutes, according to an August Associated Press dispatch. Federal wildlife officials say the plant’s bright light attracts insects, which then attract more birds. The operator, BrightSource Energy, said there’s no feasible way to protect the birds.X
POLICE REPORT • Arrest Him at Your Peril: In July, a Brooklyn, New York, jury awarded Kevin Jarman, 50, $510,000 from the city for the broken ankle he suffered during his arrest for shoplifting in May 2011 (a charge to which he eventually pleaded guilty). Among his other New York City income: a $20,000 settlement for false arrest on a drug charge in 2013 and another, for $15,000, in 2005. • I Know the Feeling, But: German truck driver Michael Harry K., 58, went to trial in August in Würzburg, Bavaria, charged with firing his gun in the direction of drivers more than 700 times in five years to express displeasure with their driving. He never actually hit anyone, but police said he caused at least one serious injury by frightening a driver into a collision. • Immature: (1) Princeton University professor John Mulvey, 67, was charged in July with stealing 21 yard signs for a computer repair business owned by a man he was feuding with. (2) Nathan
READ DAILY Read News of the Weird daily with Chuck Shepherd at www.weirduniverse.net. Send items to weirdnews@earthlink.net or PO Box 18737, Tampa FL 33679.
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The sand mandala Building the palace of the ‘Medicine Buddha’ — Asheville-style
BY JORDAN FOLTZ
jfoltz@mountainx.com 251-1333 ext. 141
Perhaps you’ve seen footage of Tibetan monks creating a sand mandala, or even have had the opportunity to see the ritual in person. If you haven’t, then attend Urban Dharma’s Circles of Healing: Medicine Buddha Sand Mandala and Wellness Festival, which kicks off Thursday, Sept. 4. The celebration will include the construction of a 3-by-3-foot sand mandala, as well as lectures, presentations and classes on varying wellness and spirituality themes. While it may be riveting to observe the monks as they lay the sand and create an intricate image, placing primary attention around the creation of the actual image is mostly a Western phenomenon, says Dr. Hun Lye, a dorjé lopön in the Drikung Kagyu tradition and spiritual director of Urban Dharma. In traditional Tibetan societies, people don’t really show up to ogle the monks as they work. “It would be like going to a house-building site to watch house building — why? You go to the house warming!” says Lye, who founded Urban Dharma in 2010. “But, being part of the team that makes the mandala, I understand
WHAT Circles of Healing: Medicine Buddha Sand Mandala and Wellness Festival WHERE Urban Dharma, 29 Page Ave., Asheville WHEN Thursday, Sept. 4, through Sunday, Sept. 14
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SPIRITUAL DETAILS: Tibetan monks Lama Sonam, left, and Khenpo Choephel, right, lay sand for a Mandala of Compassion. On Sept. 6, they’ll help create a Medicine Buddha mandala at Urban Dharma in downtown Asheville. Photo courtesy of Hun Lye
that it is really captivating from our [Western] point of view. But in the traditional sense — no, you come for the empowerment.” Lye will be one of three spiritual leaders who will create the mandala during the festival. The construction begins Saturday morning, Sept. 6, and will last through the following Thursday, says Lye. For the first two days, the work consists only of drawing and preparing the grid for the framework that will hold the sand. He explains, “It’s not very exciting for most people. ... Although, technically, it’s very interesting to see.” Lye says that it likely will not be until Monday morning, Sept. 8, that they actually start to lay down the colorful sand that will help bring the image to life. Urban Dharma last hosted a sand mandala construction two years ago, when marking its first anniversary. Monks built what is called the Mandala of Compassion, depicting a particular manifesta-
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tion of the Buddha that embodies pure compassion. This year, they’re raising the stakes, hoping to create a liturgy that specifically resonates with the Asheville community in a way that can yield the effects and intent that traditional mandala construction offers. “Here you have to adapt,” says Lye. “It’s not a given that people will come to the sand mandala and do intensive prayers and meditation and ritual, [as is done in Tibet], because it’s a completely different cultural context. So how do we translate that whole experience?” The “experiment” as Lye puts it, is to offer a range of activities that reflect how this community sees itself, which will take place alongside the mandala’s construction. The festival will have two workshop “tracks” — wellness and spiritual, including 10 courses that range in topic from “Tibetan Healing for Modern Disorders” to “Uncovering the Myth Within:
Mysticism, Spirituality and Desire,” led by healers and instructors from the Asheville area and beyond. “As Buddhism or Tibetan Buddhism enters into a different culture, I feel that after an initial stage of mimicking, it needs to be rooted and assimilated into the local context,” says Lye. “Otherwise it’s always going to be, at best a curiosity, and at worst, a circus.” Engaging the community’s attention and intention, these two workshop tracks will be serving to undergird the building of the actual mandala — further empowering it as the community invests attention, care and thought into the classes. The festival elements, as a whole, aim to comprise a unique, customized liturgy that is grounded in an ancient tradition and ritual. You may be asking, “Why does the mandala need to be ‘empowered?’” Isn’t a sand mandala just a metaphor for impermanence? A philosophical statement? A theological symbol? Not so, says Lye. “You don’t have to go through all of that trouble to see impermanence. Just look around. It’s a common misconception, and it gets repeated ad nauseam,” he says. The sand mandala is a community empowerment and healing ritual far more than it is a philosophical lesson. That Westerners have characterized it as such points more to the differences between two cultures rather than any explicit intent of the sand mandala ritual itself, Lye explains. “The reason for creating the sand mandala,” he continues, “is the sand mandala becomes, you could say, the nexus for, in this case, the Medicine Buddha to manifest in the physical space. It’s the place where the enlightened powers temporarily manifest in the physical world.” Traditionally, all of the attention and care that the monks put into building the sand mandala is a useful investment of power and intention — the more of which is invested, the more powerfully a deity can manifest in a particular mandala. In Tibet, once a mandala is completed, the monks will do 10 days to a month of intensive meditation and prayer while people from the neighboring
villages come as often as possible to receive the blessings that are building around the mandala. At the end of this period, explains Lye, “There is a big empowerment to bless everyone in the community, and then the mandala is swept up. Why? Because — mission accomplished.” Tibetans aren’t the only ones to employ this ritual. Rituals that use sand or mineral powders to create deity-invoking images can be seen in many South Asian societies, predating Buddhism. Some families construct a specific graphic, pattern or picture in or in front of their house each morning as a way to invoke a particular deity of abundance, protection or what have you, says Lye. “It’s a folk tradition, really. ... So when Buddhism picked up this means of expressing its own set of values, it [was] brought to Tibet, and the Tibetans further refined it.” In the Circles of Healing Festival, one thing not to be missed will be the Medicine Buddha Blessing Empowerment on Friday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m. “That’s when the enlightened powers from the 10 directions all descend into the mandala, [which is] a bird’s-eye view of the palace, the divine mansion of this Buddha,” says Lye. Whereas some wealthier monasteries have used crushed semiprecious stones for mandala construction, the reason for using pulverized rock goes beyond just the potential to accommodate a valuable physical investment. Indeed, why not just use paint to create these mandalas? “You can see, psychologically, the more you invest in it, as everybody starts participating, you reach this climax whereby power and blessings
are distributed to the whole community,” says Lye. Not only does using sand allow for plentiful, meticulous investment from the builders and community, but it also offers a unique potential when it is dissolved — each grain of sand carries the power of the monks’ blessing, the community and the invoked deities. “We believe that through the empowerment, every grain of sand becomes an identical copy of the mandala. So in a way, there isn’t just one sand mandala — as many grains as there were used to create it, in each one there exists a complete mandala. And so this holographic effect happens.” In the traditional fashion, when the palace of the Medicine Buddha sand mandala is swept up at Urban Dharma at the end of the empowerment blessing, the sand will be taken down to the French Broad River, back to the water, the source of life, which will carry the blessings onward. Info: urbandharmanc.com X
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The only thing that separates nearby Lake Logan dam from Sunburst Trout Farm is a high, locked gate but the cold clear mountain lake water, tested once per year, is pumped into their trout runs. Sunburst feed their trout fish meal, fish oil and wheat middlings - a byproduct of wheat milling. The feed contains no animal by-products, hormones or antibiotics. Sunburst supplies fresh mountain trout and value-added products like trout jerky, trout dip, smoked trout, and trout sausage to numerous Southeast restaurants, and retailers like Ingles Markets. You might also see them at a tailgate market and can visit their retail shop in downtown Waynesville. I asked Wes Eason of Sunburst Farms, what he would most like people to know about Sunburst Trout, “Definitely the short amount of time that it takes for that trout to go from swimming in our trout runs to their restaurant or Ingles. Many people are also scared of the term farmed fish because of something they read or saw in the media that scared them, but this is sustainable fish farming...our fish have not been given any antibiotics or hormones and are healthy. I get that people want wild caught, but our oceans can’t support that type of demand for fresh fish for it still to be considered sustainable.”
Nia classes on Mondays at 5:30 pm & Tuesdays & Thursdays at 11 am. MOUNTAINX.COM
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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WELLNESS CALENDAR
by Carrie Eidson & Michael McDonald
WELLNESS ABOUT THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION TECHNIQUE: FREE INTRODUCTORY LECTURE (pd.) Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation. Learn about the authentic TM technique. It’s not concentrating, trying to be mindful, or common mantra practice. It’s an effortless, non-religious, evidencebased technique for heightened wellbeing and a spiritually fulfilled life. The only meditation recommended by the American Heart Association. • Topics: How the major forms of meditation differ—in practice and results; What science says about TM, stress, anxiety and depression; Meditation and brain research; What is Enlightenment? • Thursday, 6:30-7:30pm, Asheville TM Center, 165 E. Chestnut. 828-254-4350 or MeditationAsheville.org ASHEVILLE BIRTHKEEPERS • 2nd & 4th WEDNESDAYS, 5:307:30pm - Meets at the Spiral Center for Conscious Beginnings, 167A Haywood Road. ASHEVILLE COMMUNITY YOGA CENTER 8 Brookdale Road, ashevillecommunityyoga.com Asheville Community Yoga Theatre • WEDNESDAYS (8/20) through (9/3), 6:30-7:30pm - Laughter yoga. $11/ $30 for series. • THURSDAYS through (9/25), 6-7:30pm - Yoga for trauma recovery. $40 for series. CIRCLES OF HEALING WELLNESS FESTIVAL 225-6422, udharmanc.com • TH (9/4) through SU (9/14) - Includes a Sand Mandala demonstration and speakers focusing on various healing modalities. $0-20. Contact for full schedule. COUNCIL ON AGING MEDICARE CLASSES 277-8288, coabc.org Free. Registration required. • MO (9/6), 6:30-8:30pm - Big Ivy Community Club, 540 Dillingham Road,
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Barndardsville. ENKA-CANDLER LIBRARY 1404 Sandhill Road, Candler • TU (9/9), 5:30pm - Presentation on natural solutions to digestive and bowel disorders. Free PARK RIDGE HEALTH EVENTS 298-2339, parkridgehealth.org • WE (9/3), 1-4pm - Bone density screenings for osteoporosis. Free. Held at Walmart, 125 Bleachery Blvd. SIDE-BY-SIDE SINGING FOR WELLNESS sidebysidesinging.wordpress.com • WEDNESDAYS, 1:30-3pm - For people with dementia, Alzheimer’s or brain damage and their care-partners. Free. Held at Unitarian Univeralist Fellowship of Hendersonville, 2021 Kanuga Road, Hendersonville SWANNANOA LIBRARY 101 West Charleston St., Swannanoa, 250-6486 • TH (9/11), 6:30pm - Discussion of Mindful Eating: Mindful Life by Mary Ann Wallace, MD, Free.
SUPPORT GROUPS ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS & DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES For people who grew up in an alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional home. Info: adultchildren.org. Visit mountainx.com/support for full listings. AL-ANON/ ALATEEN FAMILY GROUP A support group for the family and friends of alcoholics. Info: wnc-alanon. org or 800-286-1326. Visit mountainx. com/support for full listings. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS For a full list of meetings in WNC, call 254-8539 or aancmco.org. ASHEVILLE WOMEN FOR SOBRIETY 215-536-8026, www.womenforsobriety.org • THURSDAYS, 6:30-8 p.m. – YWCA of Asheville, 185 S. French Broad Ave. ASPERGER’S ADULTS UNITED facebook.com/ WncAspergersAdultsUnited • 2nd & 4th SATURDAYS, 2-4:30pm Held at Hyphen, 81 Patton Ave. ASPERGER’S TEENS UNITED facebook.com/groups/ AspergersTeensUnited • SATURDAYS, 6-9pm – For teens (1319) and their parents. Meets every 3 weeks starting June 28. CHRONIC PAIN SUPPORT deb.casaccia@gmail.com or 989-1555 • 2nd WEDNESDAYS, 6 p.m. – Held in a private home. Contact for directions. DEBTORS ANONYMOUS debtorsanonymous.org • MONDAYS, 7 p.m. – First
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Congregational UCC, 20 Oak St., Room 101 DEPRESSION AND BIPOLAR SUPPORT ALLIANCE magneticminds.weebly.com or 367-7660 • WEDNESDAYS, 7 p.m. & SATURDAYS, 4 p.m. – 1316-C Parkwood Road DIABETES SUPPORT laura.tolle@msj.org or 213-4788 • 3rd WEDNESDAYS, 3:30pm – Mission Health, 1 Hospital Drive. Room 3-B. EATING DISORDER SUPPORT GROUPS Info: thecenternc.weebly.com or 3374685. Visit mountainx.com/support for full listings. ELECTRO-SENSITIVITY SUPPORT For electrosensitive individuals. For location and info contact hopefulandwired@ gmail.com or 255-3350. EMOTIONS ANONYMOUS For anyone desiring to live a healthier emotional life. Info: 631-434-5294 • TUESDAYS, 7 p.m. – Oak Forest Presbyterian Church, 880 Sandhill Road FOOD ADDICTS ANONYMOUS 423-6191 or 301-4084 • THURSDAYS, 6 p.m. – Asheville 12 Step Club, 1340A Patton Ave. HEART OF RECOVERY MEDITATION GROUP Teaches how to integrate meditation with any 12-step recovery program. asheville.shambhala.org • TUESDAYS, 6 p.m.- Shambhala Meditation Center, 19 Westwood Place. HEART SUPPORT For individuals living with heart failure. 274-6000. • 1st TUESDAYS, 2-4pm – Asheville Cardiology Associates, 5 Vanderbilt Drive. LIVING WITH CHRONIC PAIN Hosted by American Chronic Pain Association. 776-4809. • 2nd WEDNESDAYS, 6:30 p.m. – Swannanoa Library, 101 W. Charleston Ave. MEMORY LOSS CAREGIVERS For caregivers of those with memory loss or dementia. network@memorycare. org • 2nd TUESDAYS, 9:30am – Highland Farms Retirement Community, 200 Tabernacle Road, Black Mountain MEN WORKING ON LIFE’S ISSUES 273-5334 or 231-8434 • TUESDAYS, 6-8pm – Held in a private home. Contact for directions. MISSION HEALTH FAMILY GROUP NIGHT For caregivers of children with social health needs or development concerns. 213-9787 • 1st TUESDAYS, 5:30 p.m. – Mission Rueter Children’s Center, 11 Vanderbilt
Park Drive. NAR-ANON FAMILY GROUPS For relatives and friends concerned about the addiction or drug problem of a loved one. Info: nar-anon.org. Visit mountainx.com/support for full listings. NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS For people living with mental health issues and their loved ones. Info: namiwnc.org or 505-7353. Visit mountainx. com/support for full listings. OVERCOMES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE For anyone who is dealing with physical and/or emotional abuse. 665-9499. • WEDNESDAYS, noon-1pm – The First Christian Church, 470 Enka Lake Road, Candler. OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS Info: 258-4821. Visit mountainx.com/support for full listings. RECOVERING COUPLES ANONYMOUS For couples where at least one member is recovering from addiction. Info: recovering-couples.org • MONDAYS, 6pm – Foster Seventh Day Adventists Church, 376 Hendersonville Road. S-ANON FAMILY GROUPS For those affected by another’s sexaholism. Four confidential meetings are available weekly in WNC. For dates, times and locations contact wncsanon@gmail. com or 258-5117. SMART RECOVERY Helps individuals gain independence from all types of addictive behavior. Visit mountainx.com/support for full listings. ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH • SATURDAYS, 6-9pm - Asperger’s Teens United. For teens (13-19) and their parents. Meets every three weeks. STRENGTH IN SURVIVORSHIP For cancer survivors. Strengthinsurvivorship@yahoo.com or 808-7673 • 1st & 3rd SATURDAYS, 11am-noon – Mills River Library, 124 Town Drive, Mills River SYLVA GRIEF SUPPORT Hosted by Four Seasons Compassion for Life. melee@fourseasonscfl.org • TUESDAYS, 10:30am. - Jackson County Department on Aging, 100 Country Services Park, Sylva UNDEREARNERS ANONYMOUS underearnersanonymous.org • TUESDAYS, 6 p.m. – First Congregational UCC, 20 Oak St., Room 102 To add information about your support group, call 251-1333, ext. 114. Support groups must be free of charge to be listed.
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Why I grow: rooftop gardening Growing veggies on top of the Flatiron Building BY CARRIE EIDSON Send your garden news to ceidson@mountainx.com
More and more of Asheville’s downtown dwellers are finding creative ways to use their urban spaces for growing food. Russell Thomas, owner of the Flatiron Building, tells Xpress how he and his staff are converting the rooftop of the historic building into a hydroponic and raised-bed garden that is a source of both veggies and renewable energy for the building and its businesses.
Mountain Xpress: Tell us about the history of this space. What made you decide to put a garden on the roof? Thomas: I’ve owned the building for 29 years. My office is up there, so I would go out on the roof and enjoy the view, but it was just an empty, flat space. Last year we installed solar panels up there to help with heating the building’s hot water, and we tried putting out just a couple of plants. That didn’t yield much, but it made us realize the space was viable. I think we put the garden in just because the time is right. Sustainability is a big thing in Asheville, and as a community, we’re getting smarter and smarter every year. I would love for the Flatiron Building to be an environment where everyone in the building is working in support of being more sustainable. UP ON THE ROOF: World Coffee employees harvest basil and hydroponic lettuce from their crop on top of the Flatiron Building. “We put the garden in just because the time is right,” says the building’s owner Russell Thomas. Photo courtesy of World Coffee
What do you grow? Since we grow for World Coffee Cafe and the Sky Bar, tomatoes and basil are our biggest crops. We started there because we have lots of tomato needs and they are expensive. But we want to try something new every year and keep building it. Kelsey Hunn and Andon Crislip, my electrician and carpenter, took the lead on the garden. They built their own set up and tried a bunch of things. We have raised beds and planters, but they also built a hydroponic system to grow lettuce. What are some of the challenges of rooftop gardening? Well, watering is the big one. We don’t have a lot of hoses, so we’re fighting with dragging hoses from here to there. But we’ve always had this garage mechanic kind of mindset where we want to try building new things. We’re working on building a sprinkler system for the garden, but we want to make sure to reuse that water and the water that’s coming from the air conditioners. Right now we’re building a hydro-electric turbine
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and generator for the roof that would use that water to power the lights in the hallway. Do you think this is something other downtown business owners and residents would be interested in? Should we expect to see more rooftop gardens? The biggest advantage to being the owner of a building is having a space to hang out on the roof. When the world is crazy down here, you can go up there and escape. It’s a quality-oflife bonus, for sure. So yeah, I think people would be interested in making these spaces when they can. And I think more and more businesses are going to do this because ultimately the price of produce keeps rising, and Asheville has really embraced farmto-table. If a tomato costs you $3, why wouldn’t you grow your own? What do you have planned for next season and the future? Our crew has their hands full, and they do this as a labor of love, so we see these things as our ongoing projects. But at some point we want to have a massive garden full of veg-
REEMS CREEK
shop. plant. bloom! etables and flowers. For next year, we want to increase the number of raised beds. And we really want to get more people in the building involved so that this can be more of a community garden. We don’t like to stay still for too long, so this garden is just one of the things we want to do to make this place a little neater and more sustainable.
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For more information on the Flatiron Building rooftop garden, visit flatironbuilding.org. X
Garden Calendar
ASHEVILLE GARDEN CLUB 550-3459 • WE (9/9), 9:30am - Includes a discussion of NC wildflowers and herbs. Free. Held at North Asheville Community Center, 37 E. Larchmont Road ASHEVILLE MUSHROOM CLUB 298-9988, ashevillemushroomclub.com • WE (9/3), 6pm - Workshop: Radical Mycopermaculture. Discusses how to integrate fungi for a more sustainable lifestyle. $10-30. Held at The Landing, 68D Kentucky Drive BAMBOO WALKING TOUR 685-3053 • SATURDAYS through (9/28), 1:30-3pm - Tour of the bamboo garden at Haiku Bamboo Nursery led by Keiji Oshima from Oshima Bamboo School. $20. Held at 468 Rhodes Mountain Road, Hendersonville. HARVEST CONFERENCE PRECONFERENCE WORKSHOPS 564-1179, organicgrowersschool.org/ events/harvest-conference Held at Warren Wilson College Registration required. • FR (9/5), 9am-noon or 2-5pm - “Wild
Organic Growers School will hold their first annual Harvest Conference at AB-Tech on Saturday, Sept. 6, with pre-conference workshops at Warren Wilson on Friday, Sept. 5. The two-day event is geared toward backyard and urban growers and homesteaders. Check our website for an interview with keynote speaker Janisse Ray, as well as Saturday coverage from writer Josh O’Conner at both mountainx.com and on Twitter @mxnews and @joshoconner.
Mushrooms: A Magical Mystery Tour,” with Alan Muskat. $40. • FR (9/5), 2-5:30pm - “Wild Abundance: Reliance on the Foods Around Us,” with Natalie Bogwalker. $40. • FR (9/5), 9am-12:30pm - “Magic Drinks: Super Natural Sodas & Fermented Brews,” with Marc Williams. $40. ORGANICFEST 253-2267, organicfest.org • SU (9/7), 10am-6pm - Includes live music, cooking demonstrations, organic food vendors and kids activities. Free to attend. Held at Pack Square Park, 121 College St.
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The long hello City permitting issues drag on for South Slope ventures BY JONATHAN AMMONS
jonathanammons@gmail.com
By now, you’ve probably heard about the bars, breweries and grub hubs that are planning to open in the old Standard Paper Sales building on the South Slope. Perhaps you’ve suddenly caught yourself daydreaming about Vortex Doughnuts or salivating at the thought of the eagerly anticipated Buxton Hall Barbecue. And surely, you’ve thought about how nice it’ll be, after a few ESBs at Green Man, to just walk around the corner and sip on a White Zombie or a Firewater IPA once Catawba Brewing opens its new facility there. For my part, I’d hoped I could already be enjoying the patio at Public School, the newest watering hole set to settle into 32 Banks Ave. Driving by, you can see construction workers carrying equipment in and out and hear the sounds of loud machinery. But Vortex had originally planned to open in June, and subsequently, all four businesses were definitely setting their sights on September. So, as the summer slips away, you can’t help but wonder what’s holding up those projects. “My understanding is that the building itself requires what they call the shell permit, which needs to be granted first before the individual tenants can be issued their certificates of occupancy,” says Meherwan Irani, who co-owns Chai Pani and MG Road and is working with chef Elliott Moss to launch Buxton Hall Barbecue. Knowing they’d probably be the last of the four to open, Irani and his team have quite easily come to terms with the situation. Considering how much hype Buxton Hall has already generated, opening in winter shouldn’t be an insurmountable problem for them. But what about the other three?
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“All these other businesses aren’t relying as much on the weather as we are,” says Mike Piroli, one of Public School’s three partners. “We’re a bar with a big patio: If we open in January, that isn’t a good look for us!” Although Buxton Hall has dominated the advance talk, Public School also seems to have garnered some attention. “There’s a real need for just a down-home locals bar here that isn’t ‘divey,’” notes Piroli. “I love to go sit in the dark at a great dive bar, but I think we need something that feels a little lighter. I want to go someplace where I can just be comfortable, that’s quiet and cool.” Piroli, who came to Asheville five years ago, has a background in marketing and journalism, with stints at the noteworthy hip-hop magazines Elemental and XXL. And though he’s partnering with LAB General Manager Benjy Greene and Scandals bartender Scott Thomas, Piroli warns future patrons not to expect the LAB’s high ceilings and glossy façade. The space, he says,
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UP IN THE AIR: Scott Thomas, left, and Mike Piroli, right, had hoped to open the Public School bar at the old Standard Paper Sales Co. building on Banks Avenue this fall, but city paperwork has put the project behindschedule. Photo by Cindy Kunst
“has all this exposed brick, hardwood floors, skylights and old windows. It’s a really exceptional space as is, and we just want to let it ride like that. … We want to open a bar that is, first and foremost, for people who are from here and not for out-of-towners. I just think there’s a need in Asheville for a bar that’s for us.” Accordingly, continues Piroli, Public School will also be decidedly more blue-collar. “So many of us here are service industry people,” he explains, “and when you’re in the service industry, you just don’t have the money to pay $10 for a cocktail, even though that cocktail may be the
most delicious thing you’ve ever had in your life.” The shell permit was expected to be issued by early September, but, as Irani explains, “I think that has been pushed back a bit. ... I know that a lot of the other tenants have actually been struggling to get open within a certain time frame, but for us, it feels good to be in a position where we are not under the gun to open.” Meanwhile, despite the frustrations, the city, the landlords and tenants do seem to have found common ground. “From my understanding, they could have split the building in the beginning if they had wanted to,” Irani continues, “but they chose not to, because they really are committed to revitalizing the South Slope, to preserving an historic building, and to building something that is going to last for a while, and I think the rest of us are on that same page.” For now, however, it appears that eager patrons will just have to stay patient, even though, as Tom Petty put it, “The waiting is the hardest part.” X
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by Gina Smith
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gsmith@mountainx.com
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plant restaurant innovative & sophisticated 165 merrimon avenue | 828.258.7500 | www.plantisfood.com
tues & weds 5pm - 2am thurs, fri & Sat 12noon - 2 am sunday 11am - 12midnight
MOJO KITCHEN & LOUNGE
55 College St, Downtown Asheville 828-255-7767 parking at the rankin ramp
wednesdays kids eat free! 5 - 9pm (one child per adult, purchase of $8 or more) check our website for weekly dinner specials and events:
mojokitchen.biz
FRUIT OF THE HARVEST: Back for its second year, CiderFest NC is expanding to include more cider makers and welcome more guests in its new venue at the WNC Farmers Market. Photo courtesy of WNC Green Building Council
THE RETURN OF CIDERFEST NC After last year’s inaugural CiderFest NC sold out days before the event, the WNC Green Building Council decided to go bigger for its second go-around. This year’s apple-centric fundraising bash, slated for Sunday, Nov. 2, will move from its previous home at the Echoview Fiber Mill in Weaverville to more spacious accommodations at the WNC Farmers Market. To fill the larger venue, 650 tickets will be available — 250 more than last year — and a dozen hardcider makers from the Carolinas and Virginia will be on hand to share samples of their wares. Event organizer Nina Zinn says CiderFest began as an idea to hold a cider-and-cheese event for about 60 people. From there, says Zinn, the notion caught fire and morphed into what became the first hardcider festival in North Carolina. “There was so much enthusiasm from all the local cider makers, we ended up having a sold-out event
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for more than 400 people,” Zinn say. “What we have found is that the cider makers are very supportive of us organizing this event, which is promoting their craft product as well as bringing awareness of this rapidly growing industry here in our region.” So far, participating cider makers include: Naked Apple Hard Cider, Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards, Black Mountain Ciderworks, Windy Hill Orchard & Cider Mill, Bull City Ciderworks, Fishing Creek Cider, Urban Orchard Cider Co., Noble Cider, Three Sisters Cidery, Bold Rock Hard Cider, Red Clay Ciderworks and Sourwood Brewing Co. Local apple growers will offer fresh, organic nonalcoholic cider and Underground Baking Co. will make apple-cider pretzels for the occasion. Activities will include cider tastings with locally made artisan cheeses, bread and crackers; a cheese-making demonstration; Hard Cider 101; hard-cider
evaluations and awards by the French Broad Vignerons; and autumn-themed activities for kids. Live music will be provided by the Jon Stickley Trio. The event goes on rain or shine. Tickets are $30 for ages 21 and up; children and adults ages 20 and younger are free. Tickets go on sale Sept. 15 and are expected to sell out. All proceeds will support the WNC Green Building Council’s work to promote environmentally sustainable and health-conscious building practices. CiderFest NC happens 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2, at the WNC Farmers Market, 570 Brevard Road. Tickets: ciderfest.wncgbc. org DOUGH EXPANDS HOURS, MENU Dough, the multitasking eatery/ bakery/market/takeout joint on Merrimon Avenue, is expanding its hours to include evening dinner service. Starting Wednesday, Sept. 3, Dough will be open until 9 p.m. weekdays, featuring a nighttime menu of soups, salads and oven-baked entrees, including pizzas, calzones and strombolis. There will be nightly dessert specials, and beer and wine will be available as well as a full coffee bar. Dough will also begin offering theme nights as follows: Mondays — Southern Comfort Menu; Tuesdays — Taco Truck Tuesdays (but without the truck); Wednesdays — Breakfast for Dinner; Thursdays — Old-School Italian Night; Fridays — Fish and Chips. On Friday evenings, kids will eat free with the purchase of one adult meal. Dough is at 372 Merrimon Ave. Hours are 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday– Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. doughasheville.com HARVEST MOON AT A-B TECH The A-B Tech Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management departments will host the annual Autumn in Asheville Harvest Moon fundraising event on Thursday, Oct. 2, to benefit the A-B Tech Foundation’s scholarship programs and the two departments. At the event, interactive food stations will highlight
the skills of A-B Tech culinary and hospitality students, and guests can bid on vacation packages and other items in a live auction. Tickets are $75. Attendance is limited. Autumn in Asheville’s Harvest Moon, 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, A-B Tech Community College Brumit Center for Culinary Arts and Hospitality, 340 Victoria Road. Abtech.edu/autumninasheville TASTE OF ASHEVILLE Asheville Independent Restaurants has scheduled its annual Taste of Asheville culinary event for 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, at The Venue downtown. The event will bring together 40 Asheville chefs to offer samples and tastings. Also in November, look for 2015 AIR Passports to go on sale. The coupon books offer buy-oneget-one-free deals at participating AIR restaurants. For details on Taste of Asheville tickets and AIR Passports, visit airasheville.org.X
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Food served til 11 pM nightly Monday $3 pint night Tuesday cask night Wednesday $2 oFF growler & chugger reFills Thursday $4 well drinks Saturday and Sunday $5 MiMosas & bloodies
$12/ dozen Mon-Fri 3-6pm! (828) 575-9370 625 Haywood Rd • West Asheville Mon-Thur 3-11 • Fri 3-12 • Sat 12-12 • Sun 12-11 oysterhousebeers.com MOUNTAINX.COM
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Send your beer news to avlbeerscout@gmail.com or @thomohearn on Twitter.
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by Thom O’Hearn
Clips is coming New Belgium’s signature short film event returns to Pack Square Park
A stop-motion movie featuring a banana, a taste of Coconut Curry Hefeweizen and donating money to Asheville on Bikes: It’s all part of New Belgium’s Clips Beer & Film Tour, which returns to Asheville on Friday, Sept. 5. “The short films this year are really good,” says Jesse Claeys, one of the festival’s producers. “We’ve got 20 clips with everything from a dance video with a guy in spandex to a unique Colorado race where participants are attached to donkeys.” While humorous, the films are also family-friendly, says Claeys. They’ll also be easy to see from a variety of vantage points thanks to the 35-foot screen New Belgium will set up on the green. The films, the winners of a nationwide contest, only run for the first half of the event. The other half lets attendees focus on the wide variety of beers. “The short films do a good job of setting a stage for the beers,” Claeys says. “We’re passionate about both. … They’re both [creative and] handmade.” In addition to the New Belgium offerings you normally see in stores, Yuzu Berliner Weisse, Wild Dubbel, FOCOllaboration IPA, Gruit, Gratzer, Le Terrior, Coconut Curry Hefeweizen and La Folie will also be pouring. The festival is tokenbased, which means you trade cash for wooden tokens at one of the tents. Then one token is good for a 3-ounce pour of beer or four tokens can be traded for a 12-ounce pour. Food will be provided from local food trucks and carts, including Gypsy Queen Cuisine, Pho Ya Belly and Avery’s Dogs. In addition to the clips and beer samples, there are a variety of interactive tents. A mystery beer tent challenges tasters to guess a secret mix of three different beers. The
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NOW POURING: A marquee displays the wide variety of beers available for sampling at New Belgium’s Clips event. Photo courtesy of New Belgium Brewing Co.
Snapshot Photo Booth, which has toured the country with silly props and backgrounds, will also be there. But the biggest draw might be The Sour Experience booth, a multitent event that presents an educational beer journey through New Belgium’s sour beer production process. “We’ll have a sour-beer expert on hand from our main brewery in Fort Collins, [Colo.] … to guide people through the process of wood-barrel aging a beer or stainless-steel aging a beer on its way to becoming a sour,” says Claeys. “And of course we’ll be pouring sour beers in that tent.” Two local organizations will partner with New Belgium on the event. Asheville GreenWorks will be the waste partner, which means it will try to divert as much festival waste as possible from the landfill. Last year, Asheville GreenWorks recycled or composted 92 percent, which beat the nationwide festival average of 85 percent according to Claeys. Asheville on Bikes is the charity partner for Asheville, so it will receive all proceeds from the beer sales at this festival stop. Last year AoB received more than $10,000, and New Belgium donated $400,000 to nonprofit organizations nationwide
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with the Clips Beer & Film Tour. “It’s great to have a national company championing the value of active transportation,” says Asheville on Bikes Director Mike Sule. “[We’re] thrilled to continue working with New Belgium.” Clips will be Friday, Sept. 5, 7:3010:30 on Roger McGuire Green at Pack Square Park. WHOLE FOODS OPENS WITH TUNNEL ROAD TAP HAUS Three-foot-tall hops crafted from wood hang on the wall above a walk-in beer cooler at the new Whole Foods on Tunnel Road. The store, which opened last week, is Whole Foods’ first full-size store in the Asheville area. Since the company tries to tailor their stores somewhat to the cities it’s in, the Asheville store has a substantial beer component. Beer is the star of the show for the restaurant concept in the secondfloor loft: the Tunnel Road Tap Haus. As you might expect from the name, it’s a blend of Asheville beer culture and a German beer hall. The food takes its cue from German drinking traditions, with seven
sausages forming the core of the menu. (Since this is Asheville, any can also be ordered with vegetarian sausage instead.) Other foods also skew toward traditional drinking fare, such as a soft pretzel, German potato salad and, of course, french fries. On the beer side, the focus is on Western North Carolina breweries according to specialty team leader Sean Stanley, “With all the brewing talent in this area, it makes the most sense to pour what’s local.” The initial six taps (two taps are reserved for local cider or kombucha) nearly all came from Asheville-area breweries, including Catawba, Hi-Wire, Highland, Pisgah and Sierra Nevada. Pour prices vary by the beer, and flight boards and pitchers are available in addition to the standard pint. Beer dinners, tap takeovers and other collaborations with Asheville brewers are a sure thing once the store gets past the opening rush, says Stanley. X
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WEDNESDAY ASHEVILLE BREWING: New Brew: Sister Bad Habit collab w/ Thirsty Monk (ale); Wet Nose Wednesday: dog day at Coxe Ave. patio 5-8pm; $3.50 all pints at Coxe location FRENCH BROAD: $7 growler fills GREEN MAN: Food Truck: Tin Can Pizzeria, 3pm LEXINGTON AVE (LAB): $3 pints all day OSKAR BLUES: Wednesday night bike ride, 6pm OYSTER HOUSE: $2 off growler fills PISGAH: Live Music: Bruce Nemerov, 6pm WEDGE: Food Truck: Root Down (comfort food, Cajun)
THURSDAY
OYSTER HOUSE: $5 mimosas & bloody Marys
ASHEVILLE BREWING: $3.50 pints at Merrimon location; New Brew: United Way Ale release party & benefit @ The Millroom, 5pm
WEDGE: Food Truck: Cecilia's Culinary Tour (crepes, tamales); Live Music: Vollie McKenzie & Hank Bones (acoustic jazz, swing), 6pm
CATAWBA: French Broad Brew Fest pre-party w/ live music & food, 5-10pm FRENCH BROAD: Live Music: Tree Reed, 6-8pm GREEN MAN: Food Truck: Taste & See, 3pm OYSTER HOUSE: $4 well drinks PISGAH: Live Music: The New Familiars w/ Bread & Butter Band (bluegrass, folk, Americana), 9pm; Food Truck: Bombus
MONDAY ALTAMONT: Live Music: Old-time jam, 8pm CATAWBA: Mixed-Up Mondays: beer infusions FRENCH BROAD: $2.50 pints OSKAR BLUES: Mountain Music Mondays, 6pm
WEDGE: Food Truck: Tin Can Pizzeria
OYSTER HOUSE: $3 pint night
FRIDAY
TUESDAY
FRENCH BROAD: Live Music: The Low Counts (rock), 6-8pm
ALTAMONT: Live Music: Open mic w/ Chris O'Neill, 8:30pm
GREEN MAN: Food Truck: Root Down (Cajun, comfort food), 3pm
ASHEVILLE BREWING: $2.50 Tuesday: $2.50 two-topping pizza slices & house cans
HIGHLAND: Live Music: One Leg Up (jazz), 6:30pm
CATAWBA: $2 off growler fills
PISGAH: Live Comedy: Reasonably Priced Babies, 8pm
GREEN MAN: Food Truck: Taste & See, 3pm
WEDGE: Food Truck: Cecilia's Culinary Tour (crepes, tamales)
HI-WIRE: $2.50 house pints HIGHLAND: Bend & Brew Yoga ($15, includes beer tasting), 5:30pm
SATURDAY CATAWBA: Live Music: Black Robin Hero, 4-7pm FRENCH BROAD: Live Music: LeMaster Plan (alternative, folk-rock), 6pm GREEN MAN: Food Truck: Melt Your Heart (gourmet grilled cheese), 3pm HIGHLAND: Wee Bit Louder Fest 2014 w/ The Hermit Kings, Doc Aquatic & Invisible III; Food Trucks: Gypsy Queen, Smashbox & Cici's Culinary Tour
OYSTER HOUSE: Cask night WEDGE: Food Truck: Tin Can Pizzeria
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OYSTER HOUSE: $5 mimosas & bloody Marys WEDGE: Food Truck: El Kimchi (Korean/Mexican street food) WICKED WEED: Bend & Brew Yoga ($15, includes beer tasting), 11am
SUNDAY HI-WIRE: Bend & Brew Yoga ($15, includes beer tasting), 12:15pm; Live Music:Â Matt A. Foster (Americana, blues), 5-7pm LEXINGTON AVE (LAB): Live Music: Bluegrass brunch; $10 pitchers all day
Check our website this Saturday for the latest in our Web Bites video series shot at Selina Naturally. Local gardeners Nan Chase and DeNeice Guest, authors of Drink the Harvest, will show us how to make garden wine from fresh blackberries.
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Blanket statement Dual local exhibits showcase Gee’s Bend quilts as prints
BY KYLE SHERARD
kyle.sherard@gmail.com
It’s been 12 years since the art world first heard about Boykin, Ala. — better known as Gee’s Bend. This small, unincorporated community tucked deep within a river bend is home to the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective, a multigenerational group of African-American women made famous by the Houston Museum of Fine Arts’ 2002 show The Quilts of Gee’s Bend. In the years since, these quilts have become a sort of crown jewel of Southern vernacular art. Much of that acclaim is due to a series of exhibits spotlighting the quilts, framed by the artists’ rural backgrounds. But while that storied backdrop helped catapult the quilts and their makers into the international limelight, it also overemphasized the quilts’ functional utility at the expense of the artists’ creative intentions. This, in turn, fostered a persistent uncertainty over whether these women ever even saw themselves as artists. That notion, though, is put to rest in Gee’s Bend: From Quilts to Prints,
WHAT Gee’s Bend: From Quilts to Prints WHERE Warren Wilson College warren-wilson.edu; and The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design, craftcreativitydesign.org WHEN CCCD: opening reception Friday, Sept. 5, 5:30-7:30, show runs through Jan. 10, 2015. WWC: opening reception Friday, Sept. 19, 5:30-7:30, show runs through Dec. 20
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a new dual-site exhibit organized by The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design and Warren Wilson College. They hold openings on Fridays, Sept. 5 and Sept. 19, respectively. “This definitely is an answer to that,” says Warren Wilson art professor Julie Levin-Caro, who co-curated the displays with Marilyn Zapf, the center’s assistant director. “It shows not only that some of the women have continued to make the quilts outside of the need but that they’ve even developed it beyond, into another medium.” Simply put, adds Zapf, “This exhibition is about translation” — from one medium to the next and from one way of thinking to another. FROM GEE’S BEND TO BERKELEY As the exhibit’s name suggests, prints — not quilts — take center
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ART MEETS CRAFT: Gee’s Bend quilter Mary Lee Bendolph signs a print. “We ended up looking at the printmaking process itself and reflecting on the ‘art-versus-craft’ debates that these quilts stirred up by being in museums in the first place,” says exhibit co-curator Marilyn Zapf. Photo courtesy of Warren Wilson College
stage. More than 25 etchings and serigraphs are featured, alongside nine quilts made by Gee’s Bend artists Louisiana P. Bendolph, Mary Lee Bendolph, Loretta Bennett and Loretta Pettway. The works are evenly divided between Warren Wilson’s Elizabeth Holden Gallery and the center’s Benchspace Gallery and Workshop.
The prints range in size from 24-inch squares to massive rectangular works more than 4 feet wide. They’re accompanied by several maquettes (small-scale models used to test the design) and assorted printmaking paraphernalia: copper plates, brushes and hand tools. “The prints have been made since 2005,” says Caro. “They’ve only been shown in one major exhibition, Gee’s Bend and the Architecture of the Quilt, which was in 2006.” Several are on view for the first time, having been produced mere weeks ago at the Paulson Bott Press in Berkeley, Calif., where the artists have periodically traveled while working on the project over the past nine years. Matt Arnett and his father, Bill Arnett, first met the Gee’s Bend artists in 1998. And by the mid-2000s, Matt was looking for a way to introduce some of the quilters to other
mediums. “Despite the wonderful reviews The Quilts of Gee’s Bend received, there was still this idea among some viewers that the brilliance of the quilts, which almost no one disputed, was somehow lucky or accidental,” he says. “I started wondering what might happen if the women tried other creative outlets.” So he recruited a handful of Gee’s Bend artists for a multiyear printmaking project aimed at further developing the collective’s aesthetic. First, though, they had to find the right press. “After doing a lot of research about printing techniques and styles, good fortune would play a major part in the process,” says Arnett. Meanwhile, Pam Paulson, the owner of the Berkeley press, was fresh off viewing a Gee’s Bend exhibit at the Whitney Museum in New York. Interested in applying those design motifs to printmaking, Paulson was eager to connect with the quilters. Arnett’s moment of good fortune came over dinner one night with his friend Radcliffe Bailey, an artist with a long-standing connection to the Paulson Bott Press. After that, says Bennett, “Matt asked [us] to consider the possibility of going to Paulson Press. I was really nervous: This was very different than making quilts.” But a few phone calls and several weeks later, Arnett headed to California with Louisiana and Mary Lee Bendolph. Bennett and Pettway followed later.
decessors, they harness the same abstract, improvised patterning as the “Housetop,” “Bricklayer” and “Work Clothes” quilts. But unlike the quilts, says Caro, the prints’ “only function is within the world of contemporary art.” “We were looking at these artists and how their particular vision and design sensibility translated from quiltmaking to this print project,” says Zapf. “We ended up looking at the printmaking process itself and reflecting on the art vs. craft debates that these quilts stirred up by being in museums in the first place.” When the artists stepped away from the quilts’ functional basis and into the 2-D aesthetic of printing, she says, they exchanged the craftsman label for that of artist. What’s more, the prints further entrench the works and the Gee’s Bend aesthetic into a fine arts setting. And it’s those prints, Caro and Zapf say, that will enable gallerygoers to look beyond function and craft and see these pieces in a new light: as intentional fine art. “There’s never been an exhibition that focused on the relationship of the two,” says Caro. Arnett agrees: “I think that once people see the prints, which are obviously made as art rather than something with a utilitarian purpose, they will see the quilts differently.” X
ments of threadbare clothing to help keep their families warm during winters in drafty, unheated homes. Due to geographical isolation, they did so out of view of the arts world. That changed in 1998, when Atlanta-based collectors Bill and Matt Arnett found an image of a Gee’s Bend quilt in a book they’d used while researching another project. The image led them to Alabama, where they found hundreds more quilts. In 2002, the Arnetts partnered with Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts and debuted The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, an exhibition that changed the face and history of American quilting. The quilts and quilters themselves are heralded for their improvisational designs, bold and contrasting colors and the ragged, textured fabrics. It’s those designs that have ultimately defined the groups’ collective aesthetic and carried its work from one small corner of southern Ala. to cities like Houston, Mobile, New York and San Francisco. — K.S.
A stitch in time
QUILTS IN CONTEXT The process proved to be much like the quilting that Bennett and the other artists had been doing their entire lives, only on a much smaller scale. The artists gathered fabrics from Berkeley thrift stores, then created fabric maquettes, which look like miniature quilts. “I go about my quilting the same as before,” says Bennett. “I like to add pieces that are different shapes, sizes and sometimes just one color that makes it pop.” The maquettes were then pressed into copper etching plates covered with a soft-ground medium that visually transferred the textures, stitching and cloth layering. “The end products are both breathtaking pieces,” Bennett says. Although the prints are significantly smaller than their 3-D pre-
COLOR SCHEME: Gee’s Bend quilt print “Forever (For Old Lady Sally)” by Loretta Bennett. Image courtesy of Warren Wilson College
For generations the women of Gee’s Bend, Ala. quilted out of necessity, patching together frag-
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by Alli Marshall
amarshall@mountainx.com
The sing-off Brown Bag Songwriting Competition begins a new season
Music Video Asheville — a hugely popular celebration that pairs creative ingenuity, artistry and local pride — has a lesserknown but equally important sister event: the Brown Bag Songwriting Competition. Every Monday for 11 weeks, starting Sept. 8, new and seasoned musicians showcase original songs in front of an audience and panel of judges. “It strokes and crushes egos,” says a press release. The finale sees each round’s winner back to compete (possibly in front of a celebrity judge) for prizes and bragging rights. Now in its eighth year (depending on how you count — there were a couple of hiatuses), Brown Bag launched at the Root Bar. Atlanta transplant Jenny Fares (née Jenny Greer of Jen and the Juice) was looking to re-create a listening-room setting like Eddie’s Attic in her previous hometown. The first season’s winner was Woody Wood, with Will Bradford of SeepeopleS named crowd favorite. Other winners, over the years, have included Chelsea La Bate of Ten Cent Poetry and Alex Krug, who currently hosts the series. In fact, this year Brown Bag amps up at Asheville Music Hall (moving upstairs from One Stop) with three
hosts — Krug, Debrissa McKinney and Eric Janoski — who will share the charge of finding judges for each week’s show. Advanced signups for musicians are encouraged (though a few slots are saved for walk-ins) and, over the course of the evening, 10-12 artists perform for about 10 minutes each. “There are no rules,” Fares says of the audience. “You can listen for originality or listen for something that you like.” One benefit to signing up in advance means being able to invite potential fans. “You can get all your friends to come out and pick you,” Fares says. So yes, the contest could be weighted. But talent often trumps popularity: “It’s magical. I’ve noticed there is that person who did an amazing job, but they’re not in the final three. Then they get the crowd favorite.” There are plenty of reasons for the local community to be invested in Brown Bag. “I think there are people who are looking for talent. They want to see what’s new,” says Fares. “Or maybe there are musicians who want to be inspired. And there are a lot of people in this town who just freaking love music.” And, she adds, “If musicians come out to this, and they do, it helps to build the music scene.” She can point to groups of artists who jelled around seasons of Brown Bag: Brian McGee, Ryan Barrington Cox, Utah Green and Moses Atwood, among others, came together at the Root Bar shows.
LOCAL VOCALS: Brown Bag Songwriting Competition hosts Eric Janoski, Debrissa McKinney and Alex Krug will help to usher in the next group of up-andcoming singer-songwriters. Photo by Hayley Benton
Amanda Platt of The Honeycutters, The Moon and You and Now You See Them took part in the Mo Daddy’s series. Soul singer Lyric was a favorite at that location; the Mo Daddy’s events were supported by Katherine “KP” Powell, who worked at the venue. When she went on to co-found Asheville Music
WHAT Brown Bag Songwriting Competition WHERE Asheville Music Hall ashevillmusichall.com
Also: Any Way You Wanna Shake It: An Artful Investigation of Salt and Pepper Sets Opening Gala on Friday, September 12 Sept. 13-Oct.10, 2014 Free and Open to the Public
Collectors Preview Gala Friday, September 12 6:30 - 9:00pm
20x20 Invitational Clay Exhibit and Sale
Fine food and drinks, music, an outstanding selection of ceramic works, mingling and more.Tickets at explorearts.org
Saturday, Sept. 13, 9a.m. - 5p.m. Free and Open to the Public Select from over 400 ceramic art pieces created by N.C. and S.C. artisits features in this event. Breakfast and lunch will be available.
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WHEN Every Monday, Sept. 8-Nov. 17. 7 p.m. sign-up; 7:30-10 p.m. show. Finals showcase on Sunday, Nov. 23, 8 p.m. Free; donations encouraged
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212 Butler Street, Clemson, SC 29631 864.633.5051 info@explorearts.org EXPLOREARTS.ORG f / ClemsonArtsCenter @ ArtsInClemson
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Hall, it made sense to Brown Bag’s creators to follow her. “We are moving the event ... upstairs at the Asheville Music Hall to offer players a chance to be heard in the most real way possible,” says Powell. “We have seen what has
started at the Brown Bag and want to see it grow. It also gives our booking agents a place to send new acts and traveling bands, so we can scope them out.” While the series culminates with finalists competing for cash and prizes, including studio time at Echo Mountain (a supporter of Brown Bag since its inception), each week comes with its own rewards. Performers contribute $3 apiece to (naturally) a brown paper bag, which is then passed through the audience for tips. “People put a lot of money in there sometimes,” says Fares — La Bate purchased an electric guitar with her winnings. Winners have gone on to play Jack of the Wood, the All Go West Festival and were part of NewSong Presents: LEAF SingerSongwriter Competition at this year’s festival in Black Mountain. But the ultimate winners may be the audience, who will get a first listen to Asheville’s newly hatched songs. It’s wide open, genrewise (though full bands are discouraged due to the oneoff setup), says Fares. “So come down with your raps and your metal songs and go acoustic for the night.” X
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by Rich Rennicks
richrennicks@gmail.com
Get lit Carolina Mountains Literary Festival returns to Burnsville Unlike larger book festivals, the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival deliberately sets out to create a “festival of ideas.” As anyone who has attended a previous festival knows (the gathering is now in its ninth year), events are informal, and are more akin to conversations than presentations. According to author liaison Lucy Doll, the goal is to bring “writers and readers
WHAT Carolina Mountains Literary Festival WHERE Burnsville WHEN Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5-6. Most discussions are free, tickets required for select events. cmlitfest.org
together in intimate settings.” Rather than hiding away in some green room, visiting authors attend many of the programs, and discussions tend to flow from one venue to another — and often into the restaurants of Burnsville, as well. To get started, a first-time visitor will need to grab both a copy of the schedule and a map of the town: Readings, talks and workshops take place in several locations, including the Design Gallery and the First Baptist Church. In years past, the festival has had as many as nine events occurring simultaneously, leading to difficult choices for fans. When the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival returns on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5 and 6, its happenings will take place in only four venues, making it easier for attendees to hear from more of the invited authors.
This year’s theme is “Let’s Remember,” placing an emphasis on oral history, regional lore and storytelling. This focus on memoir and the importance of memories in creating art is clear in the first events scheduled for Friday morning. Right away, festivalgoers have to choose between Tommy Hays (executive director of the Great Smokies Writing Program at UNC Asheville) reviewing the real places and memories that informed his young-adult novel, What I Came to Tell You; poet Allan Wolf discussing his book-length poem, The Watch That Ends the Night, about the Titanic tragedy; and author Katey Schultz talking about her short story collection, Flashes of War, which includes stories set in Western North Carolina, Iraq and Afghanistan. The rest of the weekend features even more diverse events with authors expounding on the use of history and memoir to present different spheres of human experience. One special event, which Doll is particularly excited about, is a performance of Ivy Rowe by actor Barbara Bates Smith and musician Jeff Sebens. Smith adapted the material from Lee Smith’s novel, Fair and Tender Ladies — she has been touring and performing her versions of Lee’s work for the last 25 years. The New York Times called the play “a rare and heartfelt performance that pays tribute to the women of Appalachia,” and it is being staged for free in in Burnsville’s Town Center Legacy Room. Along with music and theater, the festival boasts a strong poetry contingent. In fact, fully half of this year’s
THE WRITE STUFF: Poet Glenis Redmond gives the keynote address as part of this year’s Carolina Mountains Literary Festival, held in four venues around Burnsville. Photo courtesy of Redmond
events are poetry-themed, including appearances from outgoing North Carolina Poet Laureate Joseph Bathanti, Richard Chess (professor and director of UNCA’s Center for Jewish Studies), and renowned poet and teaching artist Glenis Redmond, who is the keynote speaker at Saturday night’s closing banquet. As well as readings and discussions of individual writer’s work, the festival includes several work-
shops and master classes on various disciplines, including memoir writing, fiction and poetry. Although most events are free, there is a charge for and limited room in these workshops, so check the cmlitfest.org website for more information. Doll encourages people to sign up for workshops ahead of time because “registration is limited to 15 people, and they always fill up!” X
ATTENTION THERAPISTS AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS
The Nature of Grief
Join authors, Gary and Mary Clare Ferguson, for this daylong workshop designed to investigate the intersection of Nature and Grief. For those with a passion for the healing power of the natural world and helping those who may be struggling to heal from a variety of losses.
Tuesday, September 16 • 10am-4pm Lenoir-Rhyne University, 36 Montford Avenue Lunch will be provided
Gary Ferguson, Author, Shouting at the Sky, Mary Clare Ferguson, Author, Professor
6 CEU’S $50
For information and registration, contact Deara Ball: dball@suwscarolinas.com MOUNTAINX.COM
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by Alli Marshall
amarshall@mountainx.com
Outside voices New Mountain hosts an outdoor stage through October Labor Day is behind us, but there is still plenty of fair weather ahead. In fact, it’s easy to make the argument that October’s crisp air and bright foliage make for some of the year’s best days — that’s why it’s perfect timing for New Mountain to launch its outdoor stage series. The venue, which moved into the complex formerly occupied by Hairspray and other nightclubs in January, has been quietly hosting shows, building its brand and finding a toehold. The development process is still underway, with plans for landscaping, hardscaping, interior
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work and developing a consistent show schedule. An outdoor stage was originally in the works for a July debut but the permitting process took longer than expected, says New Mountain managing partner Manning Moxley. Still, “we didn’t want the entire season to go by without doing something.” No time like the present. The Larry Keel Experience launched New Mountain’s outdoor series on Aug. 24. The stage, brought in for each production by Stewart Sound Inc., is set up in the venue’s north parking lot. New Mountain’s team recently tore off one old patio and has plans for a second to become a beer garden — but that’s most likely in the cards for spring 2015, along with tearing up asphalt and, according to Moxley, “getting a more natural look.”
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STAGED RIGHT: Local bluegrass, rock and jazz fusion act Brushfire Stankgrass performs this weekend as part of New Mountain’s outdoor series. Photo courtesy of the band
For now, the outdoor series, which runs through the end of October, promises to be down-home and family-friendly. “For these first few outdoor concerts I wanted to focus on local and roots for the most part,” says Arieh Samson, who is booking the series (along with other concerts for New Mountain). “We have some stellar two- and threeband bills lined up — about 75 percent of the acts playing are local.” Samson adds, “I’m very excited to get very diverse with the booking for 2015. We’ll be doing sunset shows throughout the week and sometimes on the weekend.” But these first outdoor events will give the New Mountain team information on how to streamline operations. “We need to learn some things about the space — where it’s working and where it’s not working — so we can make improvements,” says Moxley. “We need to make sure there’s no bottlenecks to get a beer. Having these events will give us a lot of data.” Not that the audience will have to act as test subjects. Think sunshine, cold drinks and bands like Brushfire Stankgrass, Camel City Collective featuring Oteil Burbridge, Sirius.B and others. Plus the shows, mostly on Sundays, have 5 p.m. start times and $5 general admission prices. “We’re not looking to make a lot of ruckus out there,” says Moxley. “If we want an electronic or rock show with a lot of volume, it makes sense to do that inside.” The indoor stage is also available — and just a few feet
away — should inclement weather threaten an outdoor event. Moxley says that while New Mountain has a vision, “We’ll probably try a little bit of everything and see what works out best for us and for the public.” The outdoor stage, with its festive lineup and casual atmosphere, is a confident step in that direction. According to Moxley, “This is about, ‘Let’s have a good time and get people home at a decent hour.’” X
Upcoming Shows
Concerts in this series begin at 5 p.m. (doors at 4 p.m.) and cover is $5 advance/$10 day of show. • Brushfire Stankgrass with Taylor Martin’s Acoustic Band and Josh Phillips & Suzanna Baum on Sunday, Sept. 7. • Camel City Collective featuring Oteil Burbridge with Marvelous Funkshun and Shane Pruitt on Saturday, Sept. 27. • Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band on Friday, Oct. 3. • Sirius.B with Hank West & The Smokin’ Hots and Shake It Like a Caveman on Sunday, Oct. 5. • Josh Daniel & Mark Schimick Project with The Billy Sea and Jon Stickley Acoustic Quartet on Sunday, Oct. 12. Full schedule at newmountainavl. com — A.M.
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Mutual Benefit There’s an achingly gorgeous crest and fall to Love’s Crushing Diamond, the most recent release by Mutual Benefit. Take the song “Advanced Falconry,” with its cool updrafts, keening strings, gentle percussion and bittersweet vocals — it’s a perfect example of how, though the music is masterminded by singer-songwriter Jordan Lee, it’s hardly a solo effort. Jordan assembles a band for each project (Love’s Crushing Diamond includes credits for “inspirational electronics” and “sound hunting”). He and his group du jour are currently on tour in support of the re-release of the 2011 EP, The Cowboy’s Prayer, “the real introduction of the lush orchestral folk sound” of Mutual Benefit, according to a press release. The band plays The Mothlight on Friday, Sept. 5, at 9:30 p.m. Dent May and Soft Cat also perform. $10/$12. themothlight.com. Photo by Danny Dorsa
Creepoid If you’re going to check out Creepoid at the band’s Odditorium show, plan to spend at least half of the concert attempting to identify all of the ’90s rock icons conjured by the group’s most recent releases. They’re all in there somewhere — the breathy vocals of Billy Corgan’s “Tonight, Tonight,” the dissonant acoustic strummings of Pavement and even some heavy-duty Bush-era power chords. The Philadelphia-based quartet has a penchant for using elementary inputs to sculpt a hauntingly graceful sound, which it promptly (and purposefully) shatters by thrusting a wailing electric guitar into the listener’s ear. Creepoid’s unassuming tunes offer a breath of fresh air to combat the ever-present vacuum of ostentatious rock music. The band plays The Odditorium on Sunday, Sept. 7, at 8 p.m. ashevilleodditorium.com. Photo courtesy of the band
Dan Rice Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center is proud to demonstrate its artistic legacy by presenting the work of alumnus and former teacher Dan Rice. According to the exhibit’s press release, Rice, who died in 2003, was an underappreciated painter who paid his rent by stretching canvases, mixing paints and building frames for his more acclaimed contemporaries. Rice explained his all-consuming relationship with painting as a “means of expressing the ineffable” and shunned the “abstract expressionist” label that followed him, claiming that his work wasn’t an outlet for self-expression. A curated assemblage of Rice’s elaborately colored whirlwinds will be exhibited at the BMC Museum + Arts Center through Jan. 10 with a free opening reception on Friday, Sept. 5, from 5-8 p.m. blackmountaincollege. org. Image of “Untitled” from 1960 courtesy of Hilary D. Rice
Julie Armbruster Painter Julie Armbruster uses mixed media to create human-animal hybrid characters that appear distressed because they are inspired by the artist’s “paranoia and curiosity,” according to her website. Or perhaps the characters are bewildered because the Wedge Studios artist enjoys displaying her artwork in unconventional settings like skate shops, bars and record stores. In Asheville, her illustrations have wandered the walls of such venues as Harvest Records, Clingman Café, Early Girl Eatery and Over Easy Café, with permanent displays at Mission Children’s Hospital and the United Way building. Armbruster’s latest show, Puddles and Projections will be featured in the F.W. Front Gallery at Woolworth Walk for the duration of September, with a meet-and-greet reception on Friday, Sept. 5, from 5-7 p.m. woolworthwalk.com. Image courtesy of Armbruster
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A&E CALENDAR
by Carrie Eidson & Michael McDonald
CREATE. PERFORM. INSPIRE: Asheville Puppet Club will kick off their fall guest artists series with a field trip to the River Arts District studio of puppeteer Madison Cripp. Cripp creates handcarved marionettes and has been a professional puppeteer since 2006. The tour meets at the Phil Mechanic building on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. Photo courtesy of Cripps Puppets. (p.54)
ART ASHEVILLE PUPPETRY CLUB 367-4910 • TH (9/4), 7pm - Studio tour with puppet designer Madison Cripp. Free. Held at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St. ASHEVILLE URBAN LANDSCAPE PROJECT 458-0111, ashevillearts.com/asheville-paint-outs Open air painting events, held in various public green spaces and hosted by different Asheville area artists. Free. • TU (9/9), 9:30am-noon - With artist Deborah Squier. Held at French Broad River Park. Free. PACK MEMORIAL LIBRARY 67 Haywood St. • SA (9/6), 2-4pm - Launch party and art show for the Teen Library Collective. TARHEEL PIECEMAKERS QUILT CLUB tarheelpiecemakers.wordpress.com • WE (9/10), 10am-noon - Monthly meeting. Held at Balfour United Methodist Church, 2567 Asheville Highway, Hendersonville
CALDWELL ARTS COUNCIL 754-2486, caldwellarts.com • Through TU (9/30) - Applications will be accepted for up to three outdoor sculpture installations. Contact for guidelines. CAROLINA CONCERT CHOIR 607-351-2585, carolinaconcertchoir.org • TU (9/9) & (9/11), 2-5pm - Auditions for the 2014-2015 season. Contact to schedule a time. Directions given with registration.
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Chuck Marting, black and white photography by the Asheville Traditional Photographers Group. • Through FR (9/19) - Exhibition of works by UNCA faculty. In the S. Tucker Cooke Gallery.
ST. MATTHIAS CHURCH 1 Dundee St., 285-0033, stmatthiasepiscopal.com • SU (9/7), 3pm - Works by Arriaga and Mendelssohn for string quartet. Free.
ARTETUDE GALLERY 89 Patton Ave., 252-1466, artetudegallery.com • Through SU (9/28) - Abstractions, works by Barbara Fisher, Robert Winkler, and Pat Zalisko. Artist reception: Sept. 19, 6-8pm.
TOE RIVER ARTS COUNCIL 765-0520, toeriverarts.org • TU (9/9), 7pm - Sara Grey, traditional. $10. Held at Arts Resource Center, 269 Oak Ave., Spruce Pine
ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL GALLERY 1 Page Ave., 258-0710, ashevillearts.com • Through SA (9/20) - Camped Out on Greasy Grass: A Series of Portraits, works by artists from closed Lyman Avenue studios.
THEATER ASHEVILLE PLAYBACK THEATRE 273-0995, ashevilleplayback.org • TH (9/11), 6:30-7:30pm - Improv theater based on personal stories from the audience. Free. Held at Henderson County Public Library, 301 N. Washington St., Hendersonville
HENDERSONVILLE SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA 393-5222, hendersonvillesymphony.org/hsyo • SA (9/6) - Open auditions for all instrumentalists up to age 21. Contact for an appointment. Held at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 900 Blythe St., Hendersonville
FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE DOWNTOWN 125 S. Main St., Hendersonville, 693-0731, flatrockplayhouse.org • THURSDAYS through SUNDAYS until (9/14) - The Mystery of Irma Vep, Wed.-Sat.: 8pm; Thurs., Sat. & Sun.: 2pm. $40/$38 seniors/$25 students.
READING ANIMALS avl.mx/0e9, simkha@riseup.net • Through TH (9/18) - Writers are asked to submit fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry on animals and animal rights for upcoming public reading. Contact for guidelines.
MONTFORD PARK PLAYERS 254-5146, montfordparkplayers.org • FRIDAYS through SUNDAYS until (9/20), 7:30pm - Coriolanus. Free. Held at Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, 92 Gay St.
THE HEART OF HORSE SENSE heartofhorsesense.org • Through (11/5) - Artists may donate works to be displayed and auctioned at Zuma Coffee in Marshall. Proceeds benefit this nonprofit animal therapy program for veterans and at-risk youth. Contact for details.
MUSIC FLETCHER COMMUNITY CHORUS
AUDITIONS & CALL TO ARTISTS
PAN HARMONIA 254-7123, pan-harmonia.org, office@panharmonia.org • FR (9/5), 6:30pm - "Arts + Music" concert. $26/$24 advance/ $8 students. Held at Haen Gallery Brevard, 200 King St., Brevard • MO (9/8), 6:30pm - "Arts + Music" concert. $26/$24 advance/$8 students. Held at Haen Gallery Asheville, 52 Biltmore Ave.
fletchercommunitychorus.com • THURSDAYS, 7pm - Fall season rehearsals, open to the pubic and interested members. Held at Calvary Episcopal Church, 2840 Hendersonville Road, Fletcher MUSIC AT UNCA 251-6432, unca.edu • WE (9/3), 12:25pm - Patrick Dodd, with Anne Coombs, Harry Lewis and Wayne Kirby, blues/ southern rock. Held in Lipinsky Auditorium. Free. • WEDNESDAYS through (9/17), 7pm - Blue Ridge Orchestra open rehearsal. Held in the Reuter Center. Free.
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TOY BOAT COMMUNITY ART SPACE 101 Fairview Road, Suite B, 505-8659, toyboatcommunityartspace.com • FR (9/5), 7:30pm - "Tales and Ales," open-mic storytelling. Free. • TH (9/11), 7:35pm - Reason to Think, 9/11 performance piece homage. Free.
GALLERY DIRECTORY
ART AT BREVARD COLLEGE 884-8188, brevard.edu/art • FR (9/5) through FR (9/26) - Running on Tybee, works by Tim Murray. In the Spiers Gallery. Opening reception: Sept. 5, 5:30pm. ART AT MARS HIL 689-1304, mhc.edu/art/weizenblatt-gallery • Through TU (9/30), 10am-4pm - Cardiac Comfort, large-scale sculpture installation by Jason Adams. Artist's reception: Sept. 11, 6pm. ART AT UNCA art.unca.edu • TU (9/2) through TU (9/30) - Honoring
ART AT WCU 227-3591, fineartmuseum.wcu.edu • TH (9/4) through FR (11/7) - Teetering on the Edge of the Uncanny, street art and murals. Opening reception: Sept. 4, 7pm in the Bardo Arts Center.
ASHEVILLE ART MUSEUM 2 N. Pack Square, 253-3227, ashevilleart.org • ONGOING - Sol LeWitt: Creating Place, Wall Drawing #618, conceptual art. • Through SA (1/4) - Humans and Machines: The Robotic Worlds of Adrianne Wortzel, mixed media. • Through Su (1/11) - Hands, Hearts, Mind: Cherokee Artistry, basket weaving, ceramics and sculpture. ASHEVILLE GALLERY OF ART 16 College St., 251-5796, ashevillegallery-of-art. com • Through TU (9/30) - Paintings by Sahar Fakhoury. Opening reception: Sept. 5, 5pm. BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE MUSEUM + ARTS CENTER 56 Broadway, 350-8484, blackmountaincollege. org • Through SA (1/10) - Dan Rice at Black Mountain College: Painter Among the Poets, abstract expressionism paintings. Opening reception: Sept. 5, 5pm. CASTELL PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY 2C Wilson Alley, 255-1188, castellphotographygallery.com • Through TU (9/30) - Merge, vintage and contemporary photography. COURTYARD GALLERY In the Phil Mechanic Building, 109 Roberts St., ashevillecourtyard.com, 273-3332 • ONGOING- Anything Goes, Everything Shows, mailed-in, mixed media. Opening reception: Sept. 6, 6-9pm. GREEN SAGE CAFE - WESTGATE 70 Westgate Parkway, 785-1780, greensagecafe. com • Through WE (10/15) - ZOOM IN: An Exhibition of Asheville Street Photography, works by six local photographers. Opening reception: Sept. 7, 4-6pm. HANDMADE IN AMERICA 125 S Lexington Ave #101, 252-0121, handmadeinamerica.org • FR (9/5) through WE (11/26) - Within the Lines: Creative Perspectives on Wilderness, works by regional artists. Opening reception: Sept. 5, 6pm. IZZY'S COFFEE DEN 74 N. Lexington Ave., 258-2004
• Through TU (9/30) - Along the Way, long exposure photography by Chukk Bruursema. Opening reception: Sept. 5, 7pm. LEXINGTON AVE BREWERY (LAB) 39 N. Lexington Ave., 252-0212 Lexington Avenue Brewery (LAB) • Through TU (9/9) - Serendipitous Accretion, paintings by Amanda Seckington. Free. MADISON COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL 90 S. Main St., Marshall, 649-1301, madisoncountyarts.com • Through FR (9/26) - Linear-Geometric Abstraction & Geometric Color Field Painting, a Resurrection and Resurgence, works by Matthew Zelder. MICA FINE CONTEMPORARY CRAFT 37 N. Mitchell Ave., Bakersville, 688-6422, micagallerync.com • TH (9/4) through FR (11/14) - What I Know, photography by Dana Moore. ODYSSEY COOPERATIVE ART GALLERY 238 Clingman Ave, 285-9700, facebook.com/odysseycoopgallery • ONGOING - Gallery members' ceramics. PUSH SKATE SHOP & GALLERY 25 Patton Ave., 225-5509, pushtoyproject.com • FR (9/5) through FR (10/10) - Systems and Portraits, works by Lance Turner. Opening reception: Sept. 5, 7-10pm.
RED HOUSE STUDIOS AND GALLERY 310 W. State St., Black Mountain, 699-0351, svfalarts.org • FR (9/5) through MO (9/29) - Shapes and Shadows, works by Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League members. THE CENTER FOR CRAFT, CREATIVITY & DESIGN 67 Broadway, 785-1357, craftcreativitydesign.org • FR (9/5) through SA (1/10) Gee’s Bend: From Quilts to Prints, quilts and quilt-inspired printmaking. Opening reception: Sept. 5, 5:30 pm. THE GRAND BOHEMIAN GALLERY 11 Boston Way, 877-274-1242, bohemianhotelasheville.com • Through SU (9/14) - Imagined Circus and Travelers, paintings by Diana LaRose-Weaver. TOE RIVER ARTS COUNCIL 765-0520, toeriverarts.org • Through SA (9/20) - Works by Barbara Littledeer. Held at Burnsville TRAC Gallery, 102 W. Main St., Burnsville • Through SA (9/20) - Edwina Bringle Retrospective, weaving. Held at Spruce Pine TRAC Gallery, 269 Oak Ave., Spruce Pine TRYON FINE ARTS CENTER 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon, 859-8322, tryonarts.org • Through SA (10/11) - Handmade rugs and tapestries from Mills Mosseller Studio. Contact the galleries for hours and admission fees.
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SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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C L U B L A N D JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Bluegrass jam, 7pm
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
LEX 18 Michael Jefry Stevens & Paula Hanke (jazz, chanteuse), 8pm
5 WALNUT WINE BAR Wine tasting w/ Drayton & The Dragons (folk), 5pm Juan Benavides Trio (Latin), 8pm
LOBSTER TRAP Hank Bones ("The man of 1,000 songs"), 7pm
BEN'S TUNE-UP Live band karaoke w/ The Diagnostics, 9pm
MARKET PLACE Ben Hovey (dub jazz, beats), 7pm
BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Buncombe County Boyz (folk, bluegrass), 7:30pm
ODDITORIUM Zombie Queen w/ The Damned Angels (punk), 9pm
BYWATER Soul night w/ DJ Whitney, 8:30pm
OFF THE WAGON Dueling pianos, 9pm
CLASSIC WINESELLER "The Grape Divide" wine tasting w/ Wendy Dunn, 6:30pm
OLIVE OR TWIST Pop the Clutch (beach, jazz, swing), 7:30pm
CORK & KEG Irish jam w/ Beanie, Vincent & Jean, 7pm
ONE STOP DELI & BAR Phish 'n' Chips (Phish covers), 6pm First Thursdays w/ Phuncle Sam (Grateful Dead covers), 10pm
DOUBLE CROWN DJs Greg Cartwright & David Wayne Gay (country), 10pm
PACK'S TAVERN Jason Whittaker (acoustic-rock), 9pm
DUGOUT Karaoke, 9pm FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Lyric (pop, soul, funk), 9pm GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Pat Reedy & The Longtime Goners w/ Hearst Gone South (country), 7pm GRIND CAFE Trivia night, 7pm IRON HORSE STATION Jason York (Americana), 6pm ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL Acoustic on the Patio w/ Taylor Martin & friends, 7pm Lyndsay Pruett Stolen Fiddle Fundraiser (singer songwriter), 7pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old-time session, 5pm
VINCENZO'S BISTRO Lenny Petenelli (high-energy piano), 7pm
MOUNTAIN MOJO COFFEEHOUSE Open mic, 6:30pm
OLIVE OR TWIST Swing dance lessons w/ Bobby Wood, 7:30pm 3 Cool Cats (vintage rock), 8pm
WILD WING CAFE Karaoke, 9pm
NOBLE KAVA Open mic w/ Caleb Beissert, 9pm
ORANGE PEEL Delta Spirit (indie), 9pm
ODDITORIUM The Letdowns & Hashbrown Belly Boys (punk), 9pm
PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Bruce Nemerov (singer songwriter), 6pm
To qualify for a free listing, a venue must be predominately dedicated to the performing arts. Bookstores and cafés with regular open mics and musical events are also allowed / To limit confusion, events must be submitted by the venue owner or a representative of that venue / Events must be submitted in written form by e-mail (clubland@mountainx.com), fax, snail mail or hand-delivered to the Clubland Editor Hayley Benton at 2 Wall St., Room 209, Asheville, NC 28801. Events submitted to other staff members are not assured of inclusion in Clubland / Clubs must hold at least TWO events per week to qualify for listing space. Any venue that is inactive in Clubland for one month will be removed / The Clubland Editor reserves the right to edit or exclude events or venues / Deadline is by noon on Monday for that Wednesday’s publication. This is a firm deadline.
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
PURPLE ONION CAFE Jennings & Keller (folk, Americana), 7pm RENAISSANCE ASHEVILLE HOTEL David Allen Buckner (country), 6:30pm SCANDALS NIGHTCLUB DJ dance party & drag show, 10pm THE MOTHLIGHT Ecstatic Vision, Expo ’70, GYMSHORTS (trance, psychedelic, world), 9:30pm THE SOCIAL Open mic w/ Scooter Haywood, 8pm THE SOUTHERN DJ Leslie Snipes (dance), 10pm
OFF THE WAGON Piano show, 9pm
LOBSTER TRAP Ben Hovey (dub-jazz, trumpet, beats), 7pm
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RAW RIFFS: Ready for Free Mothlight Monday? On Monday, Sept. 8, at 9 p.m., The Mothlight will bring three punky, garage-y bands to you free of charge: Potty Mouth, The Young and Aye Nako. Having been through more than one stylistic shift, Austin, Texas’s The Young has gone through many changes in genre. After a bout in full-on punk, the band went into a phase of a self-descriped “masterpiece of exhumation that uses once-dead sonic vehicles to communicate uncalculated, uncontrollable soul, inspiration, sadness, and what can only be called ‘real shit’ [that] ... staked a claim for The Young being the-next-great-American-psychedelic-wonder.” The band’s bio goes on to say, “There’s echoes of things you’ve heard and loved, ... but I don’t think you’ve ever heard it all coming together in a manner so crafted or explosive.”
PISGAH BREWING COMPANY The new Familiars w/ Bread and Butter Band (Americana, rock n roll), 9pm
SLY GROG LOUNGE Open mic, 7pm TALLGARY'S CANTINA Open mic & jam, 7pm THE MOTHLIGHT Sunburned Hand Of The Man w/ Ma Turner, Common Visions (indie, garage), 9:30pm
WILD WING CAFE SOUTH Skinny Wednesday w/ J LUKE, 6pm
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 185 KING STREET Farm to Fork dinner w/ Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, 8pm 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Hank West & The Smokin' Hots (jazz exotica), 8pm ALLEY KATS TAVERN Open mic night, 7pm
TIGER MOUNTAIN New Wave dance w/ Cliff (80s pop, postpunk, punk-rock, synthpop), 10pm TIMO'S HOUSE Unity Thursdays w/ Asheville Drum 'n' Bass Collective, 9pm TOWN PUMP Hunter Bagley, 9pm TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES The Westsound Revue (Motown, blues), 9pm URBAN ORCHARD Stevie Lee Combs (acoustic, Americana), 6:30pm VINCENZO'S BISTRO Ginny McAfee (guitar, vocals), 7pm
THE PHOENIX Jazz night, 8pm
BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Karaoke, 9pm
THE SOCIAL Get Vocal Karaoke, 9:30pm
BLUE KUDZU SAKE COMPANY Trivia night, 8pm
185 KING STREET 49 Winchester, 8pm
TIGER MOUNTAIN Sean Dail (classic punk, power-pop, rock), 10pm
CORK & KEG Honey Swamp Stompers (country, blues, jazz), 8pm
5 WALNUT WINE BAR Jeff Thompson Trio (rock), 9pm
TIMO'S HOUSE Release AVL w/ Dam Good (dance party), 9pm
CROW & QUILL Dr. Sketchy's live model drawing, 7pm
TOWN PUMP Open mic w/ Aaron, 9pm
DOUBLE CROWN 33 and 1/3 Thursdays w/ DJs Devyn & Oakley, 10pm
ALLEY KATS TAVERN Randy Beaumont (traditional country), 8:30pm Amos & The Mixx Live, 9:30pm
TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Blues & soul jam w/ Al Coffee & Da Grind, 8:30pm
ELAINE'S DUELING PIANO BAR Dueling Pianos, 9pm
URBAN ORCHARD Poetry on Demand w/ Eddie Cabbage, 6:30pm
FRENCH BROAD BREWERY TASTING ROOM Tree Reed, 6pm
MOUNTAINX.COM
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Makayan w/ URTH (jam, rock, funk), 10pm ATHENA'S CLUB Mark Appleford (singer-songwriter, Americana, blues), 7pm
NEWEST VAPE SHOP IN EAST ASHEVILLE Cozy Lounge!
is for the people Give Aways!
Handcrafted E juice made on site. Great Prices on hardware & tanks. Buy 3 juices, get one free (non-organic)
1070 Tunnel Road #30 • (828) 785-1536
HOOKAH JOE’S
BRINGING BACK BELLY DANCING ON SUNDAY NIGHTS FIRST SHOW @ 8:30 PM SECOND SHOW @ 9:30 PM
FULL BAR TRADITIONAL HOOKAHS
5 pm - 2 am 7 days • 79 Coxe Ave * Next to Asheville Brewing
POWERFUL ASHEVILLE LEADERS
E N WOIM N
BUSINESS COMING
OCTOBER 1
advertise@mountainx.com MOUNTAINX.COM
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
57
CLUBLAND
WED • SEPT 3 WOODY WOOD WEDNESDAY (5:30-7:30) FRI• SEPT 5 ONE LEG UP (6:30-8:30) SAT• SEPT 6 WEE BIT LOUDER FEST (6-10) (FREE EVENT! TASTING ROOM OPEN AT 2)
SUN• SEPT 7 OPEN FROM 1-6 WED • SEPT 10 WOODY WOOD WEDNESDAY (5:30-7:30)
CLUB DIRECTORY BOILER ROOM Back to School (school-themed costume party), 9pm CLASSIC WINESELLER Dan Keller (jazz), 7pm
10/25 Sarah Lee Guthrie 9/5 FIRST FIRKIN W/ 10/25 Sarah LeeFRIDAY Guthrie SPECIAL Irion GUESTS TERRAPIN & Johnny & Johnny Irion GEORGIA) BREWERY (ATHENS, w/ Battlefield •• 9pm w/ Battlefield 9pm $10 $10 5 P.M.FREE (DONATIONS ENCOURAGED) 10/26 Firecracker Jazz Band DRYFirecracker HOPPED GOLDEN ALE WILL BE TAPPED 10/26 Jazz Band & HALLOWEEN Costume & HALLOWEEN Costume W/ 9/5 STRING BAND BONANZA Party & Contest •• 9pm Party & Contest 9pm $8 $8 TODD DAY WAITS PIGPEN & 10/27 Vinegar Creek • 9pm THE BLUE RIDGE ENTERTAINERS 10/27 Vinegar Creek • 9pm FREE FREE W/Mustard THE PLATE SCRAPPERS 10/28 Plug • 9pm $8 10/289 P.M.$7 Mustard Plug • 9pm $8 w/ Crazy w/ Crazy Tom Tom Banana Banana Pants Pants 9/6 KELLEY AND THE COWBOYS 10/29 Singer Songwriters 10/299PMSinger Songwriters $5 in the Round 7-9pm FREE FREE in the Round •• 7-9pm w/ Anthony Tripi, 9/9 KEVIN SCANLON w/ Anthony Tripi, Elise Elise Davis Davis (DONATIONS Mud Tea FREE Mud9 P.M.FREE Tea •• 9pm 9pm FREE ENCOURAGED) Open Open Mon-Thurs Mon-Thurs at at 3 3 •• Fri-Sun Fri-Sun at at Noon Noon SUN SUN Celtic Celtic Irish Irish Session Session 5pm 5pm til til ?? MON MON Quizzo! Quizzo! 7-9p 7-9p • • WED WED Old-Time Old-Time 5pm 5pm SINGER SINGER SONGWRITERS SONGWRITERS 1st 1st & & 3rd 3rd TUES TUES THURS THURS Bluegrass Bluegrass Jam Jam 7pm 7pm
Open Mon-Thurs 4-8pm, Fri 4-9pm Sat 2-9pm, Sun 1-6pm
Send your listings to clubland@mountainx.com.
95 95 Patton Patton at at Coxe Coxe •• Asheville Asheville 252.5445 • jackofthewood.com 252.5445 • jackofthewood.com
CLUB ELEVEN ON GROVE First Fridays DJ jam (35+), 9pm CORK & KEG The Low-Down Sires (jazz), 8:30pm DOUBLE CROWN DJ Greg Cartwright (garage & soul obscurities), 10pm ELAINE'S DUELING PIANO BAR Dueling Pianos, 9pm FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Mark Bumgarner (Americana), 9pm FRENCH BROAD BREWERY TASTING ROOM The Low Counts (rock), 6pm GOOD STUFF Laura Thurston (singer songwriter), 8pm Flint Blade & Honeydew (psychedelic, world), 9pm GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Midnite (reggae, soul, edgy), 9pm HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY One Leg Up (jazz), 6:30pm IRON HORSE STATION Ben Wilson (Americana), 7pm ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL The Big Beat Rock & Roll Revue (rock), 8pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB First Firkin Friday (Terrapin Brewing), 5pm Todd Day Waits Pigpen & Blue Ridge Entertainers w/ The Plate Scrapers (folk), 9pm JERUSALEM GARDEN Middle Eastern music & bellydancing, 7pm LEX 18 Michael Jefry Stevens Trio (jazz), 8pm LOBSTER TRAP Riyen Roots Band (roots), 7pm
TAVERN
31 PATTON AVENUE-UPSTAIRS
DOWNTOWN ON THE PARK
METRO WINES Stand up comedy w/ Disclaimer Comedy, 7pm
Eclectic Menu • Over 30 Taps • Patio 13 TV’s • Sports Room • 110” Projector Event Space • Shuffleboard • Darts Open 7 Days 11am - Late Night
55 COLLEGE STREET-DOWNSTAIRS
3
w/The Lords of Chicken Hill and Sisterwives 10PM TBD 21+
NOBLE KAVA Space Medicine (electro-coustic, ambient improv), 8:30pm ODDITORIUM Ramlord, Occult 45, Birth (punk, metal), 9pm
10PM $7 21+
OFF THE WAGON Dueling pianos, 9pm
one stop
WED
First Thursdays
(acoustic rock)
SEPT
FRI. 9/5 DJ OCelate (pop, dance hits)
BEAT LIFE w/The Emerald Curtain, Af the Naysayer, Duel of the MPC, Brucey B and Portugal By Day 10PM $5 21+
SEPT
Makayan
4 w/Phuncle Sam THU 5 FRI 5
AMH
SAT. 9/6 Aaron LaFalce Band (rock, jam)
SEPT
FRI SEPT
one stop
THU. 9/4 Jason Whittaker
w/ URTH 10PM $5/$7 21+
Lefty Williams
6 w/The Mug
SAT ST OF
14
20 WNC
Evening with Corey Harris 6 An 9PM $12/$15 21+ SAT
SEPT
58
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
7
one stop
SEPT
20 S. SPRUCE ST. • 225.6944 PACKSTAVERN.COM
10PM $7 21+
AMH
BE
SUN
NATIVE KITCHEN & SOCIAL PUB The Mayfields (bluegrass), 7:30pm NIGHTBELL RESTAURANT & LOUNGE Resident Dulítel DJ (indie-tronic), 11pm
Pompos
one stop
SEPT
one stop
COME WATCH FOO ON ONE OF OUR TBALL 13 TV’S!
MARKET PLACE The Sean Mason Trio (groove, jazz, funk), 7pm
Sunday Nights in September: 5IFTH 10PM $3 21+
ASHEVILLEMUSICHALL.COM MOUNTAINX.COM
OLIVE OR TWIST Late Night DJ (techno, disco), 11pm ONE STOP DELI & BAR Free Dead Fridays w/ members of Phuncle Sam (jam), 5pm BEAT LIFE w/ The Emerald Curtain, Af the Naysayer, Duel of the MPC, Brucey B, & Portugal By Day (electro, hip-hop), 10pm ORANGE PEEL Dumpstaphunk w/AJ Ghent Band (funk, jazz), 9pm PACK'S TAVERN DJ OCelate (dance, hits, pop), 8am PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Reasonably Priced Babies (comedy troupe, improv), 8pm SCANDALS NIGHTCLUB
185 KING STREET 877-1850 5 WALNUT WINE BAR 253-2593 ALTAMONT BREWING COMPANY 575-2400 THE ALTAMONT THEATRE 348-5327 ASHEVILLE CIVIC CENTER & THOMAS WOLFE AUDITORIUM 259-5544 ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL 255-7777 ATHENA’S CLUB 252-2456 BARLEY’S TAP ROOM 255-0504 BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE 669-9090 BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA 658-8777 BOILER ROOM 505-1612 BROADWAY’S 285-0400 THE BYWATER 232-6967 CORK AND KEG 254-6453 CREEKSIDE TAPHOUSE 575-2880 ADAM DALTON DISTILLERY 367-6401 DIANA WORTHAM THEATER 257-4530 DIRTY SOUTH LOUNGE 251-1777 DOUBLE CROWN 575-9060 DUGOUT 692-9262 ELEVEN ON GROVE 505-1612 FRENCH BROAD BREWERY TASTING ROOM 277-0222 GOOD STUFF 649-9711 GREEN ROOM CAFE 692-6335 GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN 232-5800 GROVE HOUSE THE GROVE PARK INN (ELAINE’S PIANO BAR/ GREAT HALL) 252-2711 HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY 299-3370 ISIS MUSIC HALL 575-2737 JACK OF THE WOOD 252-5445 LEX 18 582-0293 THE LOBSTER TRAP 350-0505 METROSHERE 258-2027 MILLROOM 555-1212 MONTE VISTA HOTEL 669-8870 MOONLIGHT MILE 335-9316 NATIVE KITCHEN & SOCIAL PUB 581-0480 NIGHTBELL 575-0375 NOBLE KAVA BAR 505-8118 ODDITORIUM 575-9299 ONEFIFTYONE 239-0239 ONE STOP BAR DELI & BAR 255-7777 O.HENRY’S/TUG 254-1891 THE ORANGE PEEL 225-5851 OSKAR BLUES BREWERY 883-2337 PACK’S TAVERN 225-6944 THE PHOENIX 877-3232 PISGAH BREWING CO. 669-0190 PULP 225-5851 PURPLE ONION CAFE 749-1179 RED STAG GRILL AT THE GRAND BOHEMIAN HOTEL 505-2949 ROOT BAR NO.1 299-7597 SCANDALS NIGHTCLUB 252-2838 SCULLY’S 251-8880 SLY GROG LOUNGE 255-8858 SMOKEY’S AFTER DARK 253-2155 THE SOCIAL 298-8780 SOUTHERN APPALACIAN BREWERY 684-1235 STATIC AGE RECORDS 254-3232 STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE 669-8856 TALLGARY’S CANTINA 232-0809 TIGER MOUNTAIN 407-0666 TIMO’S HOUSE 575-2886 TOWN PUMP 357-5075 TOY BOAT 505-8659 TREASURE CLUB 298-1400 TRESSA’S DOWNTOWN JAZZ & BLUES 254-7072
VINCENZO’S 254-4698 WESTVILLE PUB 225-9782 WHITE HORSE 669-0816 WILD WING CAFE 253-3066 WXYZ 232-2838
"Party in Pink Zumbathon" (fitness instruction w/ breast cancer awareness), 7pm DJ dance party & drag show, 10pm SCULLY'S DJ, 10pm SPRING CREEK TAVERN Kemistry (R&B), 9pm STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Lester Grass (bluegrass), 6pm TALLGARY'S CANTINA Fine Line (classic rock), 9:30pm THE MOTHLIGHT Mutual Benefit w/ Dent May, Soft Cat (pop, energy, singer songwriter), 9:30pm THE SOCIAL Get Vocal Karaoke, 9:30pm TIGER MOUNTAIN Devyn (psychedelic, indie, metal, rock), 10pm TIMO'S HOUSE Dance party, 10pm TOWN PUMP Danny Whitecotton (folk), 9pm
DOUBLE CROWN DJ Lil Lorruh (50s, 60s R&B, rock), 10pm ELAINE'S DUELING PIANO BAR Dueling Pianos, 9pm FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Supatight (funk, fusion-rock), 10pm FRENCH BROAD BREWERY TASTING ROOM LeMaster Plan (alternative, folk-rock), 6pm GREEN ROOM CAFE & COFFEEHOUSE Kevin Lorenz (jazz, pop, ragtime), 6:30pm
HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Wee Bit Louder Fest w/ The Hermit Kings, Doc Aquatic & Invisible III, 6pm IRON HORSE STATION Mark Shane (R&B), 7pm ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL On the Patio: Paper Crowns (alternative, rootsrock, folk), 7pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Kelley & The Cowboys (western swing, rockabilly), 9pm JERUSALEM GARDEN Middle Eastern music & bellydancing, 7pm LEX 18 Picante (Latin jazz), 8pm LOBSTER TRAP Sean Mason Trio (jazz), 7pm
NOBLE KAVA The Kavalactones w/ Caleb Beissert & Max Melner (electro-coustic improv), 8:30pm
185 KING STREET Megan Jean & The KFB w/ Mother Explosives (modernized old-time, acoustic), 8pm 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Sean Gaskell (kora), 6pm What It Is (jazz), 9pm ALLEY KATS TAVERN Karaoke w/ Donnie Mo Town, 8:30pm The Twisted Trail Band, 9:30pm ANDREWS BREWING CO. Antique Firearms (alternative, experimental), 6pm ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL An Evening with Corey Harris (roots, blues), 9pm ATHENA'S CLUB Mark Appleford (singer-songwriter, Americana, blues), 7pm BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE The Zealots (indie-rock), 9pm CLASSIC WINESELLER Joe Cruz (Beatles, Elton John covers), 7pm
Wednesday Sunday 1/2 OFF Martinis 5.00 Mojitos & & Bottles of Wine Bloody Marys 2.00 Domestics Thursday PintsBurke, Marilyn Monday by2.00 Delta 26 on Tap to 10.00 YugoBurger Monroe, Choose FromRene withRofe Craft Beer Friday Tuesday and Paris Pink 3.25 Flights 5.00 Margaritas 3.00 Corona Saturday Convertible, Push Ups,& 5.00 Jager Bombs Corona Light Various Prints, & Angry Balls Solids & Colors
BRAS, BRAS, BRAS!
$10.15 to $24.75
OPEN MON-SAT 12PM-8PM EXTENDED HOURS DURING SHOWS FOR TICKET HOLDERS
NEW MOUNTAIN Brazil Fest (music, workshops, dance), 5pm
WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Roy Book Binder (blues), 8pm
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
www.32ICEBAR.com
MARKET PLACE DJs (funk, R&B), 7pm
NIGHTBELL RESTAURANT & LOUNGE In Plain Sight (deep house), 11pm
WILD WING CAFE SOUTH A Social Function (acoustic), 9:30pm
Daily Drink Specials
GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Turquoise Jeep (hip-hop), 8pm
VINCENZO'S BISTRO Steve Whiddon (classic piano), 5:30pm
WILD WING CAFE Jason Ellis (acoustic), 8pm
WE WECARRY CARRY NFL NFL SUNDAYTICKET! TICKET! SUNDAY
OPEN AT 5PM FOR SUNDAY SHOWS
ODDITORIUM The Independents & Cryptoids (punk), 9pm OFF THE WAGON Dueling pianos, 9pm OLIVE OR TWIST 42nd Street (jazz, swing), 8pm Late Night DJ (techno, disco), 11pm ONE STOP DELI & BAR Reggae Family Jam, 2pm Lefty Williams w/ The Mug (rock, blues), 10pm PACK'S TAVERN Aaron LaFalce Band (rock, jam), 9pm PURPLE ONION CAFE Overmountain Men (Americana, rock), 8pm SCANDALS NIGHTCLUB DJ dance party & drag show, 10pm SCULLY'S DJ, 10pm SPRING CREEK TAVERN Pleasure Chest (soul, funk, rock), 9pm
60% OFF SELECTED LINGERIE $4.99 DVDs! Gift Cards Available for Purchase
• • OPEN 7 DAYS • •
SUN-THUR 8 AM - MIDNIGHT FRI SAT 8 AM - 3 AM (828) 684-8250
thu 9/11
fri 9/12
sun 9/14
THE ADMIRAL Soul night w/ DJ Dr. Filth, 11pm
TIGER MOUNTAIN
turquoise jeep 9pm • $15/$18
sat 9/13
TALLGARY'S CANTINA Jarvis Jenkins (Southern rock), 9:30pm
THE SOCIAL Get Vocal Karaoke, 9:30pm
sat 9/6
Inquire about our customer rewards programs
STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Ken Kiser (Americana), 6pm
THE MOTHLIGHT Saint Rich, YVETTE, MV & EE (indie, post-punk), 9:30pm
fri 9/5
pat reedy & the longtime goners w/ hearts gone south 8pm • $8 nine mile and the grey eagle present: midnite
wed 9/3
10pm • $18/$20
kris allen w/ jillian edwards • 8pm $15/$20 • $50 VIP Package
david mayfield parade & two man gentleman band w/ Curtis mcmurtry 9pm • $10/$12 antique firearms bon voyage show
w/ the black Cadillacs & stop light observations 9pm • Only $5
greg trooper & r.b. morris 8pm • $12/$15
Where Adult Dreams Come True
2334 Hendersonville Rd. (S. Asheville/Arden)
www.bedtymestories.net MOUNTAINX.COM
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
59
BEST OF WNC
CLUBLAND
Send your listings to clubland@mountainx.com.
REGIONS! Sept 10 Sept 17 Sept 24 Oct 1 Oct 8 Oct 15 Oct 22
Brevard & T ransylvania County
Weavervil le
& Woodfi
n
Madison & Yancey Coun ties
THEY NAMED IT SAINT RICH: Yet another promising show at The Mothlight, Saint Rich will perform on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 9:30 p.m., with aggressive post-punk band Yvette and folksy post-psych duo MV & EE. Saint Rich’s website describes the bands inception with a minimalist approach: “Two friends in a room now,” reads an excerpt from the bio. “Marion puts down his guitar and gets behind the drum kit. Peslak starts strumming the opening chords to ‘Dreams,’ a new song they’d finish within the hour. By the end of the weekend, neither had left the house. There were 7 new songs. And a new band. They named it Saint Rich.”
Hendersonville
Black Mountain & Swannanoa
IIIrd Wave dance night w/ Lynnnn & Sarah K (avant-dance, disco, darkwave), 10pm
MOJO KITCHEN & LOUNGE Sunday night swing, 5pm
TIMO'S HOUSE Dance party w/ Franco Nino (trap, dance, top 40), 10pm
NEW MOUNTAIN Brushfire Stankgrass w/ Taylor Martin's Acoustic Band & Josh Phillips & Suzanna Baum (bluegrass, folk, "modern mountain fusion"), 4pm
VINCENZO'S BISTRO Steve Whiddon (classic piano), 5:30pm
Haywood County
WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Benefit for Maney Family, 7:30pm
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
Jackson County
185 KING STREET NFL kickoff party, 8pm
advertise@mountainx.com 60
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
MOUNTAINX.COM
OFF THE WAGON Piano show, 9pm OLIVE OR TWIST Shag & swing lesson w/ John Dietz, 7pm Oldies & dance DJ, 8pm
5 WALNUT WINE BAR Resonant Rogues (swing, balkan, folk), 7pm
ONE STOP DELI & BAR Bluegrass brunch w/ The Pond Brothers, 11am 5ifth (electronic), 10pm
ALLEY KATS TAVERN Benefit concert & cookout for Haywood County families, 7pm
PULP Slice of Life comedy, 9pm
BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Jazz brunch w/ Mike Gray Trio, 11:30am
Coming this Fall
ODDITORIUM Creepoid & Nate Hall (punk, metal, indie), 9pm
SCANDALS NIGHTCLUB DJ dance party & drag show, 10pm
BLUE KUDZU SAKE COMPANY Karaoke & brunch, 2pm
STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Syniks, 5pm
DOUBLE CROWN Karaoke w/ Tim O, 9pm
THE MOTHLIGHT Sun Araw w/ D/P/I & Weyes Blood (psychedelic), 8pm
HI-WIRE BREWING Matt A. Foster (Americana, blues, folk), 5pm HOOKAH JOE'S Bellydancing, 8:30pm IRON HORSE STATION Mark Shane (R&B), 6pm
THE SOCIAL '80s night, 8pm TIMO'S HOUSE Asheville mic exchange w/ Musashi Zero (open mic), 9pm
ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL Jazz showcase, 6pm
TOWN PUMP Sunday Jam, 4pm
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Irish session, 5pm
VINCENZO'S BISTRO Steve Whiddon (classic piano), 5:30pm
LEX 18 MichaelJohnJazz & friends (jazz), 8pm
YACHT CLUB Steely Dan Sunday, 5pm
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 185 KING STREET Monday night laughs w/ Josh Rosenstein farewell show w/ Tom Scheve, 8pm 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Eleanor Underhill & friends (Americana), 8pm ALLEY KATS TAVERN Open mic, 8pm ALTAMONT BREWING COMPANY Old-time jam, 8pm BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Bluegrass jam w/ The Big F'n Deal Band, 7pm BYWATER Open mic w/ Taylor Martin, 9pm COURTYARD GALLERY Open mic (music, poetry, comedy, etc.), 8pm DOUBLE CROWN Punk 'n' roll w/ DJ Leo Delightful, 10pm GOOD STUFF Riverside Trivia Show, 7pm GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Contra Dance, 7pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Quizzo, 7pm ODDITORIUM Altantic Thrills, Ravi Shavi & Future West (punk, rock), 9pm
CLUB ELEVEN ON GROVE Swing lessons & dance w/ Swing Asheville, 6:30pm Tango lessons & practilonga w/ Tango Gypsies, 7pm CORK & KEG Honkytonk jam w/ Tom Pittman & friends, 6:30pm DOUBLE CROWN Punk 'n' roll w/ DJs Sean & Will, 10pm IRON HORSE STATION Open mic w/ Mark Shane, 6pm ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL Bluegrass session, 7:30pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Kevin Scanlon (folk), 9pm LEX 18 HotPoint Duo (gypsy swing), 8pm LOBSTER TRAP Jay Brown (Americana, folk), 7pm MARKET PLACE The Rat Alley Cats (jazz, Latin, swing), 7pm ODDITORIUM Comedy open mic w/ Tom Peters, 9pm OFF THE WAGON Rock 'n' roll bingo, 8pm ONE STOP DELI & BAR Tuesday night techno, 10pm SCULLY'S Open mic night w/ Jeff Anders, 9pm
OFF THE WAGON Open mic, 8pm
THE SOCIAL Ashli Rose (singer-songwriter), 7pm
OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Mountain Music Mondays (open jam), 6pm
TIMO'S HOUSE 90s Recall w/ Franco (90s dance, hip-hop, pop), 10pm
THE MOTHLIGHT Potty Mouth w/ The Young & Aye Nako (indie-rock), 9pm
TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Early Tuesday w/ Pauly Juhl & Oso, 8:30pm
THE SOCIAL Hartford bluegrass jam w/ Ben Saylor, 8pm
VINCENZO'S BISTRO Steve Whiddon (classic piano), 5:30pm
TIGER MOUNTAIN Honky-tonk (classic country & rockabilly) w/ DJ Lil Lorruh & David Wayne Gay, 10pm
WESTVILLE PUB Blues jam, 10pm
TIMO'S HOUSE Service Industry Night w/ Nex Millen (dance party), 9pm VINCENZO'S BISTRO Steve Whiddon (classic piano), 5:30pm WESTVILLE PUB Trivia night, 8pm WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Bill Bares & Justin Ray (jazz), 7:30pm WILD WING CAFE Team trivia, 8:30pm
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 5 WALNUT WINE BAR The John Henrys (ragtime, jazz), 8pm ALLEY KATS TAVERN Bluegrass Tuesday, 8pm ALTAMONT BREWING COMPANY Open mic w/ Chris O'Neill, 8pm ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Tuesday Night Funk Jam, 11pm
WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Irish sessions --- Open mic, 6:30pm WILD WING CAFE SOUTH Trivia, 8:30pm
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Wine tasting w/ Smooth Hound Smith (Americana, blues), 5pm Juan Benavides Trio (Latin), 8pm BEN'S TUNE-UP Live band karaoke w/ The Diagnostics, 9pm BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Buncombe County Boyz (folk, bluegrass), 7:30pm BYWATER Soul night w/ DJ Whitney, 8:30pm CLASSIC WINESELLER "A Barrel of Fun" wine tasting w/ Wendy Dunn, 6:30pm CORK & KEG Irish jam w/ Beanie, Vincent & Jean, 7pm
BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Trivia, 7pm
DOUBLE CROWN DJs Greg Cartwright & David Wayne Gay (country), 10pm
BUFFALO NICKEL Trivia night, 7pm
DUGOUT Karaoke, 9pm
BYWATER Fire-spinning night, 9pm
GRIND CAFE Trivia night, 7pm
MOUNTAINX.COM
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
61
CLUBLAND
Send your listings to clubland@mountainx.com.
IRON HORSE STATION The Wilhelm Brothers (indie-folk), 6pm
BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Karaoke, 9pm
ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL Acoustic on the Patio w/ Taylor Martin & friends, 7pm
BLUE KUDZU SAKE COMPANY Trivia night, 8pm
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old-time session, 5pm
LOVE YOUR LOCAL Dinner Menu till 10pm Late Night Menu till
12am
Wed 9/3 Thu 9/4 Fri 9/5 Sat 9/6
advertise@mountainx.com
Tues-Sun
5pm–12am
Full Bar
COMING SOON LYNDSAY PRUETT “ FOUND (STOLEN) FIDDLE” FUNDRAISER /COMMUNITY CELEBRATION
$10 • 7 PM
LAID BACK THURSDAYS LIVE ON THE PATIO FREE • 6:30 -9:30PM
THE BIG BEAT ROCK & ROLL REVUE
LEX 18 The Roaring Lions (jazz), 8pm
DOUBLE CROWN 33 and 1/3 Thursdays w/ DJs Devyn & Oakley, 10pm
LOBSTER TRAP Ben Hovey (dub-jazz, trumpet, beats), 7pm
ELAINE'S DUELING PIANO BAR Dueling Pianos, 9pm
MOUNTAIN MOJO COFFEEHOUSE Open mic, 6:30pm
FRENCH BROAD BREWERY TASTING ROOM Dr. Paul, 6pm
NOBLE KAVA Open mic w/ Caleb Beissert, 9pm
GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Kris Allen w/ Jillian Edwards (singer-songwriter), 8pm
ODDITORIUM Friendship Commanders, Means Well & Spooky Muddler (rock), 9pm OFF THE WAGON Piano show, 9pm OLIVE OR TWIST Swing dance lessons w/ Bobby Wood, 7:30pm 3 Cool Cats (vintage rock), 8pm ONE STOP DELI & BAR The Johnny Possum Band (Americana, bluegrass, folk), 10pm
$8/$10 • 8 PM
THE PAPER CROWNS ON THE PATIO FREE • 7pm - 9 PM
ORANGE PEEL Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue w/ Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds (jazz, funk, rap), 9pm
Thu AN EVENING WITH ADAM & KIZZIE IN THE LOUNGE $5 • 7:15 PM 9/11 ROBIN AND LINDA WILLIAMS $20/$25 • 8:30 PM
PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Hot Point Jazz Trio, 6pm
Fri KRISTINA MURRAY ON THE PATIO FREE • 7 PM 9/12 PIERCE EDENS AND THE DIRTY WORK $8/$10 • 9 PM Sat CLASSICAL BRUNCH FEAT. FRANKLIN KEEL’S “INSPIRED BY BACH” $10 • 11 AM 9/13 UNDERHILL ROSE W/ THE ACCOMPLICES $10/$12 • 9 PM Every Sunday JAZZ SHOWCASE 6pm - 11pm Every Tuesday BLUEGRASS SESSIONS 7:30pm - midnite
SLY GROG LOUNGE Open mic, 7pm STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Circus Mutt (rock), 6pm TALLGARY'S CANTINA Open mic & jam, 7pm THE MOTHLIGHT Black Cobra w/ Lo Pan (rock), 8:30pm THE PHOENIX Jazz night, 8pm
743 HAYWOOD RD • 828-575-2737 • ISISASHEVILLE.COM
BRING THIS AD IN FOR
½ OFF COVER CHARGE
A True Gentleman’s Club
DOES NOT INCLUDE UFC NIGHTS
Voted #1 Small Club in the South
EVERY UFC FIGHT
– 2014 Adult Nightclub & Exotic Dancer Awards
GREAT DRINK SPECIALS EVERY NIGHT
Mon-Thurs 6:30pm–2am Fri-Sat 6:30pm–3am
facebook.com/thetreasureclub 520 SWANNANOA RIVER RD, ASHEVILLE, NC 28805 • (828) 298-1400 62
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
THE SOCIAL Get Vocal Karaoke, 9:30pm TIGER MOUNTAIN Sean Dail (classic punk, power-pop, rock), 10pm TIMO'S HOUSE Release AVL w/ Dam Good (dance party), 9pm TOWN PUMP Open mic w/ Aaron, 9pm TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Blues & soul jam w/ Al Coffee & Da Grind, 8:30pm URBAN ORCHARD Poetry on Demand w/ Eddie Cabbage, 6:30pm
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BOGART'S RESTAURANT & TAVERN Eddie Rose & Highway Forty (bluegrass), 6:30pm
VINCENZO'S BISTRO Lenny Petenelli (high-energy piano), 7pm WILD WING CAFE Karaoke, 9pm WILD WING CAFE SOUTH Skinny Wednesday w/ J LUKE, 6pm
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 185 KING STREET Franklin Keel of Sirius B., 8pm 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Hank West & The Smokin' Hots (jazz exotica), 8pm ALLEY KATS TAVERN Open mic night, 7pm
ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL On the Patio: Ram Mandlekorn, Tim Philpott & Claude Coleman (funk, jazz, reggae), 6:30pm Adam & Kizzie ("eedo beat"), 7:15pm Robin & Linda Williams (Americana), 8:30pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Bluegrass jam, 7pm LEX 18 Michael Jefry Stevens & Misty Daniels (jazz, chanteuse), 8pm LOBSTER TRAP Hank Bones ("The man of 1,000 songs"), 7pm MARKET PLACE Ben Hovey (dub jazz, beats), 7pm ODDITORIUM Story night/Folklorika, 9pm OFF THE WAGON Dueling pianos, 9pm OLIVE OR TWIST Pop the Clutch (beach, jazz, swing), 7:30pm ONE STOP DELI & BAR Phish 'n' Chips (Phish covers), 6pm ORANGE PEEL Zappa Plays Zappa, 8pm PACK'S TAVERN Riyen Roots Duo (blues, soul), 9pm PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Tate McQueen for Congress film viewing w/ the Travers Brothership (rock), 6pm PULP Dweezil Zappa guitar masterclass, 3pm PURPLE ONION CAFE George Terry & Aaron Price, 7:30pm RENAISSANCE ASHEVILLE HOTEL TLQ + 2 (rock, blues), 6:30pm SCANDALS NIGHTCLUB DJ dance party & drag show, 10pm THE SOCIAL Open mic w/ Scooter Haywood, 8pm THE SOUTHERN DJ Leslie Snipes (dance), 10pm THE STRAND @ 38 MAIN Jamie Laval (Celtic fiddler), 7:45pm TIGER MOUNTAIN New Wave dance w/ Cliff (80s pop, post-punk, punk-rock, synthpop), 10pm TIMO'S HOUSE Unity Thursdays w/ Asheville Drum 'n' Bass Collective, 9pm TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES The Westsound Revue (Motown, blues), 9pm URBAN ORCHARD Stevie Lee Combs (acoustic, Americana), 6:30pm VINCENZO'S BISTRO Ginny McAfee (guitar, vocals), 7pm
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HHHHH = max rating contact xpressmovies@aol.com
PICK OF THE WEEK
THEATER LISTINGS
Mood Indigo
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
HHHHH
Due to possible scheduling changes, moviegoers may want to confirm showtimes with theaters.
DIRECTOR: Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
ASHEVILLE PIZZA & BREWING CO. (254-
PLAYERS: Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, Omar Sy, Aïssa Maïga, Charlotte Le Bon
1281)
ROMANTIC COMEDY TRAGEDY FANTASY RATED NR
CARMIKE CINEMA 10 (298-4452)
THE STORY: The fanciful — and doomed — romance of a wealthy young man and the girl he falls for. THE LOWDOWN: There is more pure invention in the first five minutes of Mood Indigo than in just about all the other films this year put together. That’s both its magical greatness and why some viewers will find it altogether too much. For those up to it, though, it’s wonderful.
In a time when so much filmmaking is marked by rampant laziness, it’s both refreshing and a little daunting to encounter a film of such nonstop invention and creativity as Michel Gondry’s Mood Indigo. Some may find the film perplexing in its fantasy. Others may find the constant invention exhausting. In the latter regard, I freely confess that my initial viewing of Mood Indigo was ... startling, to put it mildly. The first five minutes just never slowed down, to the point that it seemed like overkill. (Some will doubtless say that it is overkill.) But I quickly realized that the only way to approach the film was just to surrender to it and go with the flow. Immediately after that first viewing — but before tackling the whole thing a second time — I took a second look at the beginning and its fast-paced flood of fantasticated images (all set to Duke Ellington’s
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CAROLINA CINEMAS (274-9500) CO-ED CINEMA BREVARD (883-2200)
ROMAIN DURIS and AUDREY TAUTOU in Michel Gondry’s breathless romantic comedy-tragedy fantasy Mood Indigo -- probably the year’s most purely creative film.
EPIC OF HENDERSONVILLE (693-1146) FINE ARTS THEATRE (232-1536) Boyhood (R) 7:20
“Take the A Train”). Having a feel for the whole movie and knowing where it was going, the opening felt just right on a second viewing — neither exhausting, nor overkill. Gondry’s film is an adaptation of Boris Vian’s 1947 novel L’Écume des jours (Froth on the Daydream), which may account for the fact that while three Duke Ellington recordings appear in the film, “Mood Indigo” does not. (This may also be due to cutting, since I understand the U.S. version is considerably shortened from the French original.) Regardless, the title Mood Indigo ultimately suits the tone of the movie. While the film never loses its sense of invention, what starts — or seems to start — as quirky, hyperstylized fantasy becomes increasingly dark as the film progresses. This is deceptive, too, because the undercurrent of darkness is there all along, but the characters — and to some degree the audience — don’t see it. And while I’ve described the film as comedy-tragedy, the ending is more bittersweet and weirdly celebratory than tragic. While, yes, the film grows very dark — so dark that the color is slowly drained from the film — I would never call it depressing.
The film starts with a quote from Boris Vian announcing, “This story is completely true, since I made it up from beginning to end.” But what is the story? Well, stripped of most things that make Mood Indigo a breathlessly mesmerizing film, the story is pretty simple and — Gondry suggests in the way it’s pieced together from bits of a manuscript being written by lots of scribes with constantly moving typewriters on a kind of assembly line — more universal than it might seem. Colin (Romain Duris) is a comfortably-off young man, living in a marvelous set of apartments apparently joined by a train car. He has a personal chef, Nicolas (Omar Sy), who prepares fantastic meals with the help of a strangely interactive TV chef (Alain Chabat) and a hyperintelligent mouse (Sacha Bourdo) of indeterminate gender. (The mouse, in fact, is one of the film’s most likable characters.) He has a good friend, Chick (Gad Elmaleh), and he has a good time inventing strange Rube Goldberg inventions (the piano cocktail being his latest). His world is so perfect that he can even play the sunbeams coming through the windows like a harp.
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Land Ho! (R) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, Late Show 9:30 Magic in the Moonlight (PG-13) 1:20, 4:20 FLATROCK CINEMA (697-2463) The Hundred Foot Journey (PG) 3:30, 7:00 REGAL BILTMORE GRANDE STADIUM 15 (684-1298) UNITED ARTISTS BEAUCATCHER (298-1234)
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But something is missing — a love life. That presents itself at a party where he meets Chloé (Audrey), whom, after a fantasy courtship only Gondry would attempt (and pull off), he marries. But on their honeymoon, she contracts a strange ailment. How strange? Well, she’s growing a water lily in her lung. The treatment, according to a very strange doctor (Gondry himself), involves some very odd pills (involving golden carrots and mechanical rabbits) and surrounding Chloé with flowers. Between the expense of these increasingly weird treatments and supporting Chick’s self-destructive obsession with the writer-philosopher Jean-Sol Partre (Philippe Torreton) — a pipe-smoking egghead and cult figure based (unsubtly) on Vian’s friend, Jean-Paul Sartre — Colin soon finds his money gone and his world darkening, even as Chloé gets no better. That almost certainly sounds more grim than the film is — though, make no mistake, Mood Indigo is not simply a lot of fun. The sadness that hovers over the film and finally closes in on it is very real. But — and this is key — Gondry never loses sight of the strange magic that holds his film together. It’s all surreal and fanciful. One part Max Fleischer “rubber-hose” style animation to one part René Magritte — with a shot of Dadaism and a dash of jazz — might be a fair summation of the recipe. But it’s all also pure Gondry at his most creative. It may, in fact, be his best film to date. Certainly, it’s his most breathtakingly creative one — and one of the year’s best films. (Plus, it explains how Internet searches actually work.) But it definitely won’t be to everyone’s liking. Then again, it doesn’t try to be — and why should it? Not Rated but contains adult themes and subtitles. Starts Friday at Carolina Cinemas. reviewed by Ken Hanke
STARTING FRIDAY
Land Ho! See review in “Cranky Hanke.”
Mood Indigo See review in “Cranky Hanke.”
The One I Love See review in “Cranky Hanke.”
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As Above, So Below H DIRECTOR: John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine) PLAYERS: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, François Civil, Marion Lambert SUBTERRANEAN SUPERNATURAL HOOEY RATED R THE STORY: A search for the philosopher’s stone in the Paris catacombs turns deadly in a supernatural way. THE LOWDOWN: Pretty bottomof-the-barrel horror made that much worse by nausea-inducing shakycam and often incoherent direction.
The tagline for As Above, So Below tells us, “The only way out is down,” but the truth is that the theater lobby provides a quicker exit from this subterranean supernatural sludge. Here we have a shakycam spectacle of the vague “found footage” school in which a bunch of D-list actors I’ve never heard of searching for the philosopher’s stone in the Parisian catacombs find the entrance to hell. Now, as I have noted elsewhere, this is utter nonsense. Any horror film fan worthy of the name knows that the entrance to hell is in Brooklyn — a fact established in 1977 by Michael Winner’s The Sentinel — and no attempt to transfer this accolade to Paris is worth considering. Just because someone has scrawled “Abandon hope all ye who enter here” on a cave is hardly convincing — no matter how much incoherent, barely decipherable “boogie boogie boogie” nonsense follows. Case closed. The movie is from John Erick Dowdle and his co-writer brother, Drew. These boys previously gave us Quarantine (2008) and Devil (2010) (in fairness, the latter was from a story by M. Night Shyamalan). That should be warning enough to stay away from this one — and truth be told, viewers do not seem to be lining up for it. Whether that speaks well for audiences or merely speaks to end-of-summer moviegoing malaise is debatable. I have certainly seen worse movies strike it rich. And the truth is there are isolated — very
HHHHH = max rating isolated — moments in the film that are pretty creepy. For that matter, the film is somewhat effective at being uncomfortable — and not just from the nausea-inducing “camerawork.” But this has less to do with the film than with the basic discomfort of claustrophobia. This also raises the question of whether generating discomfort is desirable. We go to horror movies for a variety of reasons — to enter worlds we don’t otherwise get to see, to feel our pulses race in moments of suspense, to jump at shock effects (and then laugh at ourselves for jumping), for a brief frisson at the creepy. But I can’t say I’ve ever had the least desire to see a movie that made me physically uncomfortable. Others may feel differently. All this nonsense is centered around overachiever archaeologist and martial arts expert (it’s important — honest) Scarlett (Perdita Weeks), who is determined to find the philosopher’s stone. The evidence suggests that the damned thing is in some supersecret part of the catacombs of Paris. (I’m guessing she already checked the wash basin and possibly even the sofa cushions.) So her hapless cameraman (Edwin Hodge, who, being the black guy, is easily freaked out, it seems) and her very recalcitrant semi-ex-boyfriend (Ben Feldman) accompany her and some sketchy French graffiti artists/ catacomb experts into the bowels of Paris. Creepy stuff happens — mostly involving barely-glimpsed horrors, loud noises and a soupçon of György Ligeti music. Really, apart from the unusual location, there’s nothing new here, and the movie’s notions of hell are slightly less persuasive than those in January’s Devil’s Due — and that’s saying a lot. I mean, this is a movie where a well-placed kung fu blow will shatter a carnivorous demon. Is that the best hell can do? In the end As Above, So Below is just another bad horror movie made worse by the worn-out “found footage” ploy, which was never any damn good in the first place. And, of course, the film can’t even stick to the concept. Long before the end, it’s cheating like crazy on the idea, which mostly seems to exist here solely because it “covers up” — or excuses — the incoherent nature of the proceedings. In this regard, the movie is a monument to the school of if-you-can’t-tell-what’s-going-on-itmust-be-exciting-as-hell — one of the most annoying affectations of modern film. Rated R for bloody violence/terror, and language throughout. Playing at Carolina Cinemas, Epic of Hendersonville, Regal Biltmore Grand, UA Beaucatcher. reviewed by Ken Hanke
Land Ho! HHHH DIRECTOR: Aaron Katz (Cold Weather), Martha Stephens (Passenger Pigeons) PLAYERS: Earl Lynn Nelson, Paul Eenhoorn, Karrie Crouse, Elizabeth McKee, Alice Olivia Clarke COMEDY DRAMA RATED R THE STORY: Two aging exbrothers-in-law go on a road trip in Iceland. THE LOWDOWN: A somewhat meandering, not terrifically adventurous but thoroughly likable little character study that benefits from sharp performances and Icelandic scenery.
Fans of the local film scene may remember Martha Stephens’ Passenger Pigeons (2010), which was produced and co-edited by Asheville filmmaker Joe Chang. Now — with co-writer-director Aaron Katz — she brings us Land Ho! — her first work from a mainstream distributor (Sony Pictures Classics). I don’t know that it’s exactly more ambitious than her earlier work — except for the fact that it mostly takes place in Iceland — but it’s certainly slicker, and it probably has a broader appeal. It is, however, cut from the same cloth — not in the least because it’s built around Stephens’ cousin, Earl Lynn Nelson (apparently playing a kind of variation on himself), who has only ever appeared in her movies. Here, Nelson is paired with more seasoned Australian actor Paul Eenhoorn in what is essentially an odd couple road movie — the difference being that the road in this most venerable of American sub-genres is in Iceland, and our travelers are pushing at least 70. The results are an amiable, somewhat rambling film that’s certainly not going to change your life but does provide a pleasing 95 minutes at the movies. Since the genre requires it, the two men are pretty much polar opposites. Nelson plays Mitch, a retired, reasonably affluent, garrulous and somewhat crude surgeon. Eenhoorn is Colin, a much more reserved and proper retiree with money worries. The only connection between the two is the somewhat nebulous one of being ex-brothersin-law. Mitch — the one with money
— insists on bankrolling a trip to Iceland for them both. Mitch is also the kind of person who doesn’t take no for an answer, so all of Colin’s protestations are for nothing. (Of course, if he didn’t cave in and go, there’d be no movie.) That’s the setup, and it’s pretty much the story when you get down to it, but what’s done within those confines is what counts. And while nothing that happens is all that surprising, it becomes increasingly likable and trenchant as it progresses. As things start off, Mitch is more tiresome than likable. The “shock” effect of his pot smoking and sexual references only carries the film so far. At first, it’s much easier to like and identify with Colin, who is slightly embarrassed by his former brother-in-law. But as things go on, it becomes increasingly clear that most of Mitch’s nonstop talk is a bluff and his outrageousness a kind of protective persona — that and using the excuse of age to say things he probably spent his life carefully not saying. Much like this week’s other indie opener, The One I Love, there’s perhaps too much talk. The difference is that the talk in Land Ho! is used to mask feelings and stave off reality, where in The One I Love the opposite is true. There’s no doubt that The One I Love is by far the more adventurous film, but I’m not at all sure it’s the more pertinent one. The films reflect two different sides of the indie coin. Don’t expect blinding revelations here. There aren’t any. It’s basically all about getting to know these two old duffers, who are far outside their comfort zones in the striking landscapes and utter foreignness of Iceland. Surprises are in short supply, too. The fact that Mitch ends up much less the ladies’ man than his pose suggests is virtually a given — yet this doesn’t keep Colin’s encounter with a much younger Canadian hiker (Alice Olivia Clarke) from being wholly charming. And Mitch’s reaction to it is refreshingly laid back. (It’s also something of a slap in the face to the casual ageism of modern mainstream American film.) Is this a great film? No, it’s hardly that, but, within its modest aims, it’s a very good one. Rated R for some language, sexual references and drug use. Starts Friday at Fine Arts Theatre. reviewed by Ken Hanke
The November Man H DIRECTOR: Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job) PLAYERS: Pierce Brosnan, Luke Bracey, Olga Kurylenko, Bill Smitrovich, Amila Terzimehic ESPIONAGE THRILLER RATED R THE STORY: A retired spy is pulled back into action and hunted by a former protégé. THE LOWDOWN: A generally unlikable, convoluted, silly and worn out espionage thriller that’s needlessly overwrought and brainless.
There are many problems with modern film. I won’t bore you with a complete list, but I will offer up Roger Donaldson’s The November Man as a fine example of a handful
of them. That’s certainly the most use anyone can expect from a movie so intrinsically exhausted. The idea behind this whole creation — something that’s infinitely frustrating — is that some people spent millions of dollars to make a retread spy flick, one with no originality and a director at the helm who had a hit with Cocktail (1988) a quarter century ago, and who has mostly sputtered around to varying degrees of mediocrity ever since. Many people thought making this movie was a good idea, and some even thought it might have some value beyond being just a tax write-off. I looked at the cast and crew before watching the thing and knew the best I could hope for was mildly boring and didn’t even get that. The plot’s barely worth laying out, with Pierce Brosnan playing a retired spy who gets pulled back into service, goes rogue and must untangle a convoluted scheme involving Russians, the CIA, war crimes, assassins and his former protégé (Luke Bracey). At its foundation, at least, the movie’s trading on Brosnan once playing James
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Bond, a fact that really adds to the movie and that Donaldson does nothing with. Despite Brosnan having already made two films in his career (John Boorman’s The Tailor of Panama (2001) and Richard Shepard’s The Matador (2006)) that astutely play off his history as 007, it would seem the obvious route to take. But no, Donaldson’s more interested in doing a by-the-book spy flick á la the Bourne series — unfortunately with zero understanding of what made that series so interesting to begin with, thinking that if he puts enough car chases and gunfights in between Brosnan orating goofy nonsense, he’ll stumble upon something heavy. Part of the problem is Donaldson’s insistence on cranking up the bloodshed and removing any semblance of sympathy from the movie as a substitute for grit or realism. Nearly every character is somehow miserable, unlikable or abhorently violent, awash in goofy machismo. The idea that Brosnan’s Devereaux is some sort of hero is quickly forgotten as he goes around shooting everyone in
his way and, eventually, cutting the femoral artery on a nurse as a means of escape. The dopey-faced, walking-J. Crew-catalogue Bracey, who — in theory at least — plays the film’s other “hero,” the assassin Mason, shoots a kid in the first 10 minutes of the movie. People get maimed and shot in slow motion, with fountains of blood spewing across the screen in the most humorless of fashion — and it all has the feeling of window dressing, a means of distracting from how basic the rest of the movie is. I’m no prude when it comes to movies, but violence has to have a purpose on-screen. For The November Man, it’s just a symbol of meatheadedness. And it still can’t stop the movie from being pointless and unentertaining. Rated R for strong violence including a sexual assault, language, sexuality/nudity and brief drug use. Playing at Carmike 10, Carolina Cinemas, Epic of Hendersonville, Regal Biltmore Grand. reviewed by Justin Souther
The One I Love HHHH
DIRECTOR: Charlie McDowell PLAYERS: Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss, Ted Danson ROMANTIC COMEDY-DRAMA SCI-FI FANTASY RATED R THE STORY: A couple whose marriage is disintegrating is sent on a weekend getaway that has unexpected results. THE LOWDOWN: When it works, this high-concept look at the nature of relationships works beautifully. But it doesn’t always work. Even then, it remains interesting, but delivers less than it promises.
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Charlie McDowell’s (son of Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen) debut feature, The One I Love, comes complete with a built-in request from the filmmakers not to divulge its “twist.” Fair enough, but the film’s twist — at least the basics of it — occurs about 15 minutes into the movie. The
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bulk of the film deals with exploring that twist. While I don’t think that revealing the twist is likely to alter anyone’s take on it, I’ll do my best to honor the request. (The poster provides a vague hint.) I saw the film cold and emerged with mixed emotions. I almost think I might have liked it better if I’d had some idea what I was getting into, but it’s impossible to test that. However, it would have at least kept me from being plunged into wondering how this could be spun out for another 75 minutes — which is, in itself, part of my problem. We have a highconcept premise that can’t really support the running time without talking itself to death or indulging in not-very-successful bedroom farce. And yet, I’m not writing the film off. On the plus side, the film is generally well made. It looks and feels professional, and while it uses a fair amount of handheld camera, it’s not of the shaky-cam variety. The idea is clever and thought provoking. The setup is almost too perfectly achieved — telescoping what are apparently multiple sessions with a marriage counselor (Ted Danson) into a single flowing event. There are nice touches — comprehensible only after the fact — in the way things are phrased about the results reported from weekend getaways the counselor prescribes for his more difficult cases. Plus, The One I Love contains what is easily my second favorite Mark Duplass performance — a notch above his turn in Your Sister’s Sister (2011) and just below the one in Safety Not Guaranteed (2012). Indeed, it may be his most nuanced performance to date, but if I’m to stay away from the “twist,” you’ll have to see why for yourself. So far, so good. There is, however, another side to the film that I am not so happy with. The film relies heavily on the two leads, and while Duplass is excellent, I am less sold on Elisabeth Moss. As someone who doesn’t watch TV, I’m not familiar with her work on such shows as Mad Men or The West Wing, so I have no bias there. I have, it seems, seen her in five movies — where I admit she made no impression on me. Here she is essentially 50 percent of the movie. (Apart from Danson, she and Duplass are the only characters in the film, excepting extras in a diner and some voices — including Mary Steenburgen’s — on voice mails.) I will not lay all my misgivings on Ms. Moss, since the writing comes into play here,
but she’s not the equal of Duplass — at least for me. It may not help that much of the dialogue appears to have been improvised. (Sometimes it feels a little too much like an acting exercise.) Another downside is that the film relies heavily on your fondness for characters talking about their feelings — and my tolerance for this isn’t great in either drama or real life. All in all, the film is a little more indie than I’m happy with, and too much an overextension of a slender concept to fully embrace. Essentially, the plot involves a couple, whose marriage is falling apart, going away for a weekend in the country at a large (and largely faceless) house that has a more intimate and personalized guest house. It’s what happens in that guest house that drives the story. And it’s certainly an interesting story that touches on the very essence of relationships and the nature of what happens when the blush of first love (when both people are presenting the best of themselves to the other) fades into the routine of reality. That’s certainly worth exploring, but whether The One I Love entirely succeeds at it is another question. Rated R for language, some sexuality and drug use. Starts Friday at Carolina Cinemas. reviewed by Ken Hanke
Community Screenings
CLEAN WATER FOR NC 251-1291, cwfnc.org • MO (9/8), 11:30am-1pm - Gasland II, screening and fracking presentation. Free. Held at Millroom, 66 Ashland Ave. ON CAMERA ACTING FOR FILM INTENSIVE With Golden Globe Nominee Kelly McGIllis and Bill Pivetta Sept.19-Oct. 14 Register at www.nys3.com (828) 276-1212 RADICAL REELS TOUR radicalreels.com • MO (9/8), 7pm - Action sports films from the annual Banff Mountain Film Festival. A portion of ticket sales benefit Pisgah Area SORBA. $17/$15 advance. Held at Regal Biltmore Grande Stadium 15, 292 Thetford St. WNC FRACK FREE wncfrackfree.org • TH (9/4), 6pm - GasLand, followed by panel discussion. Free. In the Ferguson Auditorium at AB-Tech.
STILL SHOWING
by Ken Hanke & Justin Souther
As Above, So Below H
Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, François Civil, Marion Lambert Subterranean Supernatural Hooey A search for the philosopher's stone in the Paris catacombs turns deadly in a supernatural way. Pretty bottom-of-the-barrel horror made that much worse by nauseainducing shaky-cam and often incoherent direction. Rated R
Land Ho! HHHH Earl Lynn Nelson, Paul Eenhoorn, Karrie Crouse, Elizabeth McKee, Alice Olivia Clarke Comedy Drama Two aging ex-brothers-inlaw go on a road trip in Iceland. A somewhat meandering, not terrifically adventurous but thoroughly likable little character study that benefits from sharp performances and Icelandic scenery. Rated R
Mood Indigo HHHHH Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, Omar Sy, Aïssa Maïga, Charlotte Le Bon Romantic Comedy Tragedy Fantasy The fanciful — and doomed — romance of a wealthy young man and the girl he falls for. There is more pure invention in the first five minutes of Mood Indigo than in just about all the other films this year put together. That's both its magical greatness and why some viewers will find it altogether too much. For those up to it, though, it's wonderful. Rated NR
The November Man H Pierce Brosnan, Luke Bracey, Olga Kurylenko, Bill Smitrovich, Amila Terzimehic Espionage Thriller A retired spy is pulled back into action and hunted by a former protégé. A generally unlikable, convoluted, silly and worn out espionage thriller that’s needlessly overwrought and brainless. Rated R
The One I Love HHHH Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss, Ted Danson Romantic Comedy-Drama Sci-Fi Fantasy A couple whose marriage is disintegrating are sent on a weekend getaway that has unexpected results. When it works, this highconcept look at the nature of relationships works beautifully. But it doesn't always work. Even then, it remains interesting, but delivers less than it promises. Rated R
If I Stay H Chloë Grace Moretz, Mireille Enos, Jamie Blackley, Joshua Leonard, Liana Liberato, Stacy Keach Gooey Teen Romance with Mystical Trappings A teenage girl with a promising future is in a car wreck with her family, and her out-of-body self has to decide whether to live or not. Shamelessly manipulative assault on the tear ducts that will work for
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the excessively sentimental and, possibly, fans of the YA novel from which it's adapted. Rated PG-13
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For HHHH Mickey Rourke, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Eva Green, Jessica Alba, Powers Boothe Comic Book Neo-noir Both a sequel and a prequel to the 2005 cult hit. Not as fresh as the first film, but it's still good unwholesome fun (not for the easily offended) — and it's one terrificlooking movie in the bargain. Rated R
When the Game Stands Tall S Jim Caviezel, Michael Chiklis, Laura Dern, Alexander Ludwig, Clancy Brown Christian Sports Drama A high school football coach — burdened with an overdecade-long winning streak — must learn how to motivate his players and bond with his family. A dull, preachy, troublesome film that’s dramatically inert and purely predictable from a storytelling standpoint. Rated PG
Calvary HHHHS
HHHHH = max rating
Dystopian Sci-Fi Fantasy A young man in a supposedly utopian society is chosen to receive the forbidden real history of the world. Imperfect, but largely well-done and much more provocative — even disturbing — than the usual YA dysfunctional society sci-fi. Rated PG-13
Into the Storm S Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh, Max Deacon, Nathan Kress Special Effects Disaster Flapdoodle A rash of tornadoes and a team of storm chasers converge on a small town. Havoc and devastation follow. Almost amazing in its ineptitude and wheezy plotting, Into the Storm offers lots of CGI destruction, five cents' worth of dialogue and a lot of dullness between the devastation. Rated PG-13
Magic in the Moonlight HHHHH Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Eileen Atkins, Simon McBurney, Marcia Gay Harden, Hamish Linklater, Jacki Weaver Romantic Comedy A stage magician sets out to debunk a young woman he's certain is a phony spiritualist and finds more than he imagined. A sparkling champagne cocktail of a romantic comedy only Woody Allen could make. It may be lightweight — though
perhaps not entirely — but it's a little slice of cinema heaven. Rated PG-13
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles H Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Johnny Knoxville, Alan Ritchson Action Four mutated turtles and a plucky journalist try to stop an evil scientist and an even eviler samurai. Bargain-basement Michael Bay pastiche and a lot of sound and fury make for a noisy, not very fun action flick. Rated PG-13
The Hundred-Foot Journey HHHH Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon, Amit Shah, Farzana Dua Elahe Culture Clash Romantic Comedy Drama When an Indian family opens a restaurant across the street from a classy French restaurant in a small town in France, trouble — and romance — follows. A luminous Helen Mirren leads a first-rate cast in this familiar but thoroughly charming and appealing cultureclash, food-centered romantic comedy. Rated PG
Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, M. Emmet Walsh, Domhnall Gleeson Black Comic Faith Guilt Redemption Drama An Irish priest is informed (in the confessional) by a parishioner — a victim of sexual abuse by a long dead priest — that he intends to kill the priest to make a statement about the Church. Part mystery, part black comedy, part tragedy on the nature of faith and redemption, Calvary is a brilliant but deeply disturbing work that's a must-see for those who are up to it. Rated R
Let's Be Cops S Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans, Jr., Nina Dobrev, Rob Riggle, James D’Arcy Cop Buddy Comedy Two bored pals take up pretending to be cops and become entangled in taking down a crew of mobsters. Meandering, joyless tedium in the form of a buddy cop comedy. Rated R
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The Expendables 3 S Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, Jason Statham, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes Action The Expendables go after one of their own, a nefarious villain long thought dead. A superbly uneven and overtly uninteresting journey into machismo and stuff blowing up. Rated PG-13
The Giver HHHS
Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Skarsgård, Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush
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SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Every Day’s a Holiday (Seaside Swingers) HHHH
Director: James Hill (Born Free) Players: John Leyton, Michael Sarne, Grazina Frame, Freddie and the Dreamers, Ron Moody, Michael Ripper, Nicholas Parsons MUSICAL COMEDY Rated NR Released in the US (usually on the bottom of a double bill) as Seaside Swingers, Every Day’s a Holiday (1965) is the film that attempted to do for Freddie and the Dreamers what A Hard Day’s Night (1964) did for The Beatles. It didn’t. Not only was James Hill no Richard Lester, but Freddie and the Dreamers were most certainly no Beatles. Very much a treasure trove of early 1960s British Invasion styles. The Asheville Film Society will screen Every Day’s a Holiday (Seaside Swingers) Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 8 p.m. in Theater Six at The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.
Good Morning HHHH Director: Yasujirô Ozu Players: Keiji Sada, Yoshiko Kuga, Chishû Ryû, Kuniko Miyake, Haruko Sugimura COMEDY Rated NR Yasujirô Ozu’s Good Morning (1959) is typical of the filmmaker’s work in that it looks, rather disapprovingly, at the growing westernization of post-war Japan. But Good Morning — with its story of two boys refusing to speak until their father buys a TV set — is slighter, warmer and more accepting than most of Ozu’s films. It is by no means a major work, but it’s a pleasant one. Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Good Morning Friday, Sept. 5, at 8 p.m. at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com
I Am a Camera HHHH
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Director: Henry Cornelius (Passport to Pimlico) Players: Julie Harris, Laurence Harvey, Shelley Winters, Ron Randell, Anton Diffring COMEDY DRAMA Rated NR It’s the film of the play (by John Van Druten) of the book (by Christopher Isherwood) that would eventually become Cabaret. In fact, while the story is similar, I Am a Camera just belongs to a different world than Cabaret — so much so that comparisons, while inevitable, are largely meaningless. Though usually referred to as drama, the film is more a sophisticated comedy than anything else — one that so angered the old Legion of Decency folks that it was “condemned” by the Catholic Church in America. It seems pretty silly now, but the film does contain premarital sex, a possible abortion and coded homosexuality. The Hendersonville Film Society will show I Am a Camera Sunday, Sept. 7, at 2 p.m. in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community (behind Epic Cinemas), 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville
The Neanderthal Man HHH Director: E.A. Dupont Players: Robert Shayne, Joyce Terry, Richard Crane, Doris Merrick, Beverly Garland EXPLOITATION HORROR CHEESE Rated NR Having fallen on hard times since his glory days in silent cinema, E.A. Dupont found himself working with the exploitation (see the obligatory cheesecake scene) team of Jack Pollexfen and Aubrey Wisberg and turning out The Neanderthal Man (1953) — a film that might best be described as having been scraped off the underside of the bottom of the barrel. That, of course, means the movie is like catnip to lovers of Bad Cinema. Its big name star is Robert Shayne (best known as Inspector Henderson in the 1950s Superman TV series), who plays a loony scientist out to prove something or other that starts with a saber-toothed tiger and ends with transforming himself into the title character and running amok — as all Neanderthal men are wont to do. The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen The Neanderthal Man Thursday, Sept. 4, at 8 p.m. in Theater Six at The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.
further information and to complete an application, visit our website: www. meridianbhs.org
M A R K E T P L A C E REAL ESTATE | RENTALS | ROOMMATES | SERVICES | JOBS | ANNOUNCEMENTS | MIND, BODY, SPIRIT CLASSES & WORKSHOPS |MUSICIANS’ SERVICES | PETS | AUTOMOTIVE | XCHANGE | ADULT
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REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE HOMES FOR SALE LAKEFRONT HOME RIGHT OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE Amazing house on Lake Kenilworth FOR SALE BY OWNER- Huge fenced-in yard, organic garden space, large deck, patios, dock, and paddle board. Secluded but 3 minutes to downtown. 828552-6609. jesstoan14@gmail. com
LAND FOR SALE 3.86 ACRES Gently rolling, mostly wooded, long range views, water and electricity at adjacent property. Candler. $165,000. Call Terry 828-2165101. twp@beverly-hanks. com
RENTALS APARTMENTS FOR RENT BLACK MOUNTAIN 2BR, 1BA apt, $595/month with heat pump, central air, and washer/ dryer connections. Very nice! (no pets). Call to see unit: (828) 252-4334. NORTH ASHEVILLE 2BR, 1BA Townhouse, a mile from downtown on the busline. Laminate hardwood floors. $725/month. No pets. 828-252-4334.
HOMES FOR RENT 2-3BR, 2BA NORTH Hardwoods, completely remodeled, custom woodwork. Solar workshop, carport, large deck. 2 miles north of UNCA. All new carpet/tile. Fresh paint. $850/month. No pets, no smoking. (828) 230-8706. 3BR HOME IN CANDLER 3BR/ 1BA. Large fenced yard. Background/credit check, employment, rental application and deposit required. Pets considered. $850/mo. Available 10/1/14. Contact: 828-776-5031.
COMMERCIAL/ BUSINESS RENTALS 2,000 SQFT +/- WAYNESVILLE, NC • Ideal office/warehouse/workspace downtown Waynesville. Decor would support craft-oriented use, distributor or low-traffic store. Negotiable. Call (828) 2166066. goacherints34@gmail. com OFFICE • RETAIL SPACE 5 REGENT PARK BOULEVARD (Off Patton Ave. / Near Sams Club) 1,150 Square Feet, High traffic area. Located in 10-unit Shopping Center • Available Immediately. (828) 231-6689.
SHORT-TERM RENTALS 15 MINUTES TO ASHEVILLE Guest house, vacation/short term rental in beautiful country setting. • Complete with everything including cable and internet. • $150/day (2-day minimum), $650/week, $1500/ month. Weaverville area. • No pets please. (828) 658-9145. mhcinc58@yahoo.com
ROOMMATES ROOMMATES ALL AREAS - ROOMMATES. COM . Browse hundreds of online listings with photos and maps. Find your roommate with a click of the mouse! Visit: http://www.Roommates.com. (AAN CAN) SEEKING A happy / healthy home and housemate-peaceful, chemical-free. Prefer natural, homey, country, farm, rustic, or veggie. To $450 total or diverse services exchange. Details open. John: (828) 6201411.
EMPLOYMENT GENERAL AFRICA • BRAZIL WORK/ STUDY! Change the lives of others while creating a sustainable future. 1, 6, 9, 18 month programs available. Apply now! www.OneWorldCenter. org (269) 591-0518. info@OneWorldCenter.org (AAN CAN) AUTO DEALERSHIP LOT MAINTENANCE Lot maintenance position is available at local auto dealership. Position is part-time and requires applicant to be a self-starter with the ability to perform multiple tasks in a timely manner. Applicant must possess a valid NC Driver’s License and be 19 years or older. Call 828707-0513 for more information or apply in person at 1473 Patton Avenue. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST FOR LAND CONSERVATION PROJECT Coggins Conservation Project. Lead business planning and fundraising efforts for local land conservation project. $10k-12k for 3 mos. with possibility of renewal. Email cover letter and resume to: ron@ cogginsconservation.org
JOBS
SKILLED LABOR/ TRADES HVAC SERVICE TECHNICIAN Mechanical Contractor seeks experienced Service Technician for the Asheville area. Great benefits. Please send resume to: 101 Third Street, Bristol, TN 37620 MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN Liberty Corner Enterprises, an Asheville based non-profit that provides services to adults with developmental and intellectual differences, is hiring a part-time Maintenance Technician to provide general maintenance and oversight of licensed contractors, and HUD and NCHFA inspectors for all the residential locations we support. • Applicants must have 5 or more years experience, basic computer skills, excellent written and verbal communication skills, and be able to manage work in a diversified environment and busy atmosphere. This position will be scheduled to work 20 hours per week. Interested applicants should send a letter of interest and resume to aratliff@libertycornerent. com • For more information on the company, please visit www.libertycornerent.com
ADMINISTRATIVE/ OFFICE SEEKING QUALITY EMPLOYEES? "We advertised with Mountain Xpress looking for a Licensed Assistant for our company. Right away we received numerous responses, one of which we ended up hiring. So impressed with the quality of leads we received from Mountain Xpress compared to our other ad placed with another source. Great job as always!" Dawn, Candy Whitt & Associates. • You too, can experience quality applicants. Advertise in Mountain Xpress Classifieds.
SALES/ MARKETING AUTO SALES PERSON Sales Person needed for busy auto dealership. No experience is required for this part-time position, we will provide training. Candidate should enjoy interacting with clients and have a positive attitude as well as being a team player. Position requires attention to detail, willingness to learn, problem solving and the ability to multi-task. Must be able to work Saturdays, possess a valid NC Driver’s License and be 19 years or older. Call 828-707-0513 for more information or apply in person at 1473 Patton Avenue. SALES ACCOUNT MANAGER We are looking for a fulltime aggressive inside sales employee to join our team. Candidate will be responsible for sales to new and existing
retail store accounts. Duties also include order entry and customer service responsibilities. Our business is fast paced, so the ideal candidate must be outgoing, very organized and have excellent verbal and computer skills. We are looking for someone who is self motivated, positive, focused, reliable and detail oriented. Previous sales experience is preferred. Benefits include competitive pay with commission incentives, comfortable atmosphere w/ casual dress, holiday and vacation pay, and great office hours. Interested parties please fax or email resume and cover letter, Attn: Jacqui fax# 828-236-2658 or email: Jacqui@afgdistribution.com
RESTAURANT/ FOOD LINE COOK 131 Main has a from-scratch kitchen in which you will learn many techniques of food preparation and presentation. We are looking for professional, experienced or entry-level cooks that are hard-working and eager to learn. Apply at www.131-main.com or call at 828-651-0131
DRIVERS/ DELIVERY TRUCK DRIVER WANTED Local fuel company hiring a full-time driver. Must have CDL with HAZMAT and tanker endorsements. See our website for more details: www.blueridgebiofuels.com/ truck-driver-wanted. Send resumes to: info@blueridgebiofuels.com.
MEDICAL/ HEALTH CARE A CHALLENGING POSITION INSPIRING AT-RISK YOUTH! DAY TREATMENT SUPERVISOR (FT). Must have Bachelors/Masters in human services & 2 years experience working with youth struggling with mental health or behavioral problems. See www.aspireyouthandfamily.com for more information and instructions to apply. 828-452-1300 aspireapplicants@yahoo. com aspireyouthandfamily@ yahoo.com SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELOR (ASHEVILLE CENTER) Crossroads Treatment Centers is seeking a full-time Counselor in Asheville! Qualified candidates will possess a High School degree or equivalent. Must be registered with NCSAPPB - applicants not registered will not be considered. One year experience as substance abuse counselor required. CSAC preferred. Must be willing to start early in the morning, work hours start at 5am. Valid
driver's license required. No phone calls please. EOE. Send resume to careers@ crossroadstreatmentcenters. com. http://www.crossroadstreatmentcenters.com/
HUMAN SERVICES
AVAILABLE POSITIONS • MERIDIAN BEHAVIORAL HEALTH Transylvania, Haywood, Buncombe, Jackson and Macon Counties Multiple positions open for Peer Support Specialists working within a number of recovery oriented programs within our agency. Being a Peer Support Specialist provides an opportunity for individuals to transform their own personal lived experience with mental health and/or addiction challenges into a tool for inspiring hope for recovery in others. Applicants must demonstrate maturity in their own recovery process, have a valid driver’s license, reliable transportation and have moderate computer skills. For further information, contact hr.department@meridianbhs.org Mecklenburg County Recovery Hub Director This position is ideally suited for an extroverted, enthusiastic, organized, multi-tasking, over-achieving, “people-person,” who approaches work with superior levels of commitment, integrity and customer service. Position will interact with staff, service recipients and stakeholders. The eligible candidate must possess a Master’s degree and be licensed in the human services field. An ideal candidate will: Have excellent communication skills, strong organizational skills and attention to detail; Foster engagement, team building and community partnership; Possess strong problem solving skills; Have a flexible mindset and the ability to adapt quickly in a dynamic environment; Have ability to maintain a positive attitude in the midst of change and uncertainty; Create a work environment in which committed and passionate staff can thrive. For more information contact Julie Durham-Defee, julie.durhamdefee@meridianbhs.org Licensed Clinicians Seeking NC licensed clinicians to join an exciting partnership of agencies to create an epicenter for MH/SA recovery in Mecklenburg County. Peer Support Specialists and clinical staff will work collaboratively to offer recovery oriented comprehensive clinical assessments, support, skill
building, education, team consultation and navigation both in the office and the community. For more information contact Julie Durham-Defee, julie.durhamdefee@meridianbhs.org Full-Time Employment Support Professional Supported Employment Program Macon and Jackson Counties The Employment Support Professional will be will be assisting adults with mental health and/or substance use issues, for whom employment has not been achieved and/or has been interrupted or intermittent. The Supported Employment program is a person-centered, individualized, evidence-based service that provides assistance with choosing, acquiring, and maintaining competitive paid employment in the community. This role includes developing an employment plan, collaborating with outside behavioral health providers, families, natural supports, housing, and other community service providers, coordinating services and participating in the individual’s Person Centered Plan, and developing holistic and integrated interventions. To be considered for the position you must possess a HS/GED diploma, have reliable transportation with a valid driver’s license, moderate computer skills and an openmind with a willingness to learn. For information about this position, please contact: reid.smithdeal@meridianbhs.org Two Part-Time Employment Peer Mentors Supported Employment Program An Employment Peer Mentor is all of the following: A current or former recipient of mental health or substance abuse services, Is, or is qualified to be, a NC Certified Peer Support Specialist, Has a minimum of HS/GED (or equivalent certificate from the Occupational Course of Study), and Has been employed in any capacity in the past One part-time Employment Peer Mentor (EPM) will be working in and west of Jackson and Macon counties, the other part-time EPM will be working in and east of Haywood County. As a EPM you will be assisting adults with mental health (MH) and/or substance use (SA) issues, for whom employment has not been achieved and/or has been interrupted or intermittent. The Supported Employment program is a person-centered, individualized, evidence-based service that provides assistance with choosing, acquiring, and maintaining competitive paid employment in the community. For more information contact Reid Smithdeal, reid.smithdeal@ meridianbhs.org • For
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BSW SOCIAL WORKER/ CASE MANAGER Full-time. Jewish Family Services of WNC, Inc. (JFS), seeks an experienced Bachelor’s level Social Worker/Case Manager to provide assistance and coordination of services to individuals and families at all life stages. This person identifies client needs to develop and monitor appropriate client service plans and outcomes. • Requires BSW degree, excellent communication and computer skills, and relevant experience, including with older adults and group programs. Knowledge of WNC resources, and familiarity with Jewish culture preferred. Must be team player And able to work independently, with a focus on helping people to help themselves. This is Not a clinical position. • Email resume and cover letter to info@jfswnc.org or mail to: JFS, 2 Doctors Park Suite E, Asheville, NC 28801. No phone calls please. Application deadline: 9/19/2014. • A copy of the full job description is available on the JFS website at www. jfswnc.org DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR The Mediation Center is seeking a full-time Development Coordinator. For more information,please see www.mediatewnc.org/ jobs EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST - FAMILY PRESERVATION SERVICES The qualified candidate will work closely
Pets of
with employers & potential employees to successfully place individuals in competitive jobs. The candidate will develop job opportunities, train on the job, and provide employment support. Requires minimum of HS diploma/GED, valid driver's license. If interested, please contact lmills@fpscorp.com for an agency application. LIBERTY CORNER ENTERPRISES is seeking Support Team Members to work in residential homes and the community with people who have disabilities. • Applicants must have a high school diploma or equivalent, a North Carolina driver's license, proof of insurance and a reliable vehicle. Sign language skills are a plus. • Positions are available in Swain, Haywood and Buncombe counties. Pay rate based on experience. Apply in person at Liberty Corner Enterprises: 147 Coxe Avenue Asheville, NC 28801 or www.libertycornerent.com PART-TIME RN Nurses – RN Help make your community a better place. Mountain Area Recovery Center is growing and we are currently seeking an RN to work PRN as a medicating nurse at both Asheville and Clyde facilities. Some requirements are early morning hours, flexible schedule, and some weekend hours. Candidate must be dependable. Criminal background check required for all final candidates. EOE. Please e-mail resume to rhonda. ingle@marc-otp.com or fax to 828.252.9512, ATTN: RHONDA INGLE. www. marc-otp.com
Adopt a Friend Save a Life
the Week Stormy •
Female, Longhair 1 yr old Domestic Longhair,
Stormy is a very beautiful, sweet, and loving girl. She is a bit skittish in new environments but does get more comfortable fairly quickly. No matter how nervous she is in her new environment, she LOVES attention. Stormy likes to spend most of the day in a window seat intently watching what is going on outside. She might be happiest as an indoor/outdoor cat since she seems fascinated by the outdoors. Take Stormy home today!
Buddy Love•Male, Pitt/Mix • 3 yrs old
Here is a big Love who wants nothing more than to be in your lap. Mr. Buddy is soo good! He doesn’t bark, he gets along with all his neighbor dogs and is just an all-around quiet and easy boy. He came as a stray, so not clear on if he is okay with cats, but if you’re dog savvy, you could help him with any issues he may have because he aims to please. Come meet this big teddy bear today.
More Online!
Hannah
Raymond
Chip
Baylor
Asheville Humane Society
14 Forever Friend Lane, Asheville, NC 828-761-2001 • AshevilleHumane.org SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY
by Rob Brezny
ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): I don’t usually do this kind of thing, but I’m going to suggest that you monitor the number six. My hypothesis is that six has been trying to grab your attention, perhaps even in askew or inconvenient ways. Its purpose? To nudge you to tune in to beneficial influences that you’ve been ignoring. I furthermore suspect that six is angling to show you clues about both the cause of your unscratchable itch and its cure. So lighten up and have fun with this absurd mystery, Aries. Without taking it too seriously, let six be your weird little teacher: Let it prick your intuition with quirky notions and outlandish speculations. If nothing comes of it, there’ll be no harm done. If it leads you to helpful discoveries, hallelujah. TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): In English, the rare word “trouvaille” means a lucky find or unexpected windfall. In French, “trouvaille” can refer to the same thing and even more: something interesting or exceptional that’s fortuitously discovered; a fun or enlightening blessing that’s generated through the efforts of a vigorous imagination. Of course I can’t guarantee that you’ll experience a trouvaille or two (or even three) in the coming days, Taurus. But the conditions are as ripe as they can be for such a possibility. GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): The Dutch word epibreren means that even though you’re goofing off, you’re trying to create the impression that you’re hard at work. I wouldn’t be totally opposed to you indulging in some major epibreren in the coming days. More importantly, the cosmos won’t exact any karmic repercussions for it. I suspect, in fact, that the cosmos is secretly conspiring for you to enjoy more slack and spaciousness that usual. You’re overdue to recharge your spiritual and emotional batteries, and that will require extra repose and quietude. If you have to engage in a bit of masquerade to get the ease you need, so be it. CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): When James Franco began to learn his craft as an actor, he was young and poor. A gig at McDonald’s paid for his acting lessons and enabled him to earn a living. He also used his time on the job as an opportunity to build his skills as a performer. While serving customers burgers and fries, he practiced speaking to them in a variety of different accents. Now would be an excellent time for you to adopt a similar strategy, Cancerian. Even if you’re not doing what you love full time, you can and should take stronger measures to prepare yourself for that day when you’ll be doing more of it. LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): Here are a few of the major companies that got their starts in home garages: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mattel, Amazon and Disney. Even if you’re not in full support of their business practices, you’ve got to admit that their humble origins didn’t limit their ability to become rich and powerful. As I meditate on the long-term astrological omens, I surmise that you are now in a position to launch a project that could follow a similar arc. It would be more modest, of course. I don’t foresee you ultimately becoming an international corporation worth billions of dollars. But the success would be bigger than I think you can imagine. LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): When my daughter Zoe was 7 years old, she took horseback riding lessons with a group of other young aspirants. On the third lesson, their instructor assigned them the task of carrying an egg in a spoon that they clasped in their mouths as they sat facing backward on a trotting horse. That seemingly improbable task reminds me of what you’re working on right now, Libra. Your balancing act isn’t quite as demanding, but it is testing you in ways you’re not accustomed to. My prognosis: You will master what’s required of you faster than the kids at Zoe’s horse camp. Every one of them broke at least eight eggs before succeeding. I suspect that three or four attempts will be enough for you. SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Peter the Great was the Tsar of Russia from 1682 until 1725. Under his rule, his
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SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): “I have a hypothesis that everyone is born with the same amount of luck,” says cartoonist Scott Adams. “But luck doesn’t appear to be spread evenly across a person’s life. Some people use up all of their luck early in life. Others start out in bad circumstances and finish strong.” How would you assess your own distribution of luck, Virgo? According to my projections, you’re in a phase when luck is flowing stronger and deeper than usual. And I bet it will intensify in the coming weeks. I suggest you use it wisely — which is to say with flair, generosity and aplomb.
nation became a major empire. He also led a cultural revolution that brought modern European-style ideas and influences to Russia. But for our purposes right now, I want to call attention to one of his other accomplishments: The All-Joking, All-Drunken Council of Fools and Jesters. It was a club he organized with his allies to ensure that there would always be an abundance of parties for him to enjoy. I don’t think you need alcohol as an essential part of your own efforts to sustain maximum revelry in the coming weeks, Scorpio. But I do suggest you convene a similar brain trust. SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): In Roald Dahl’s kids story James and the Giant Peach, 501 seagulls are needed to carry the giant peach from a spot near the Azores all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City. But physics students at the U.K.’s University of Leicester have determined that such a modest contingent wouldn’t be nearly enough to achieve a successful airlift. By their calculations, there’d have to be at least 2,425,907 seagulls. I urge you to consider the possibility that you, too, will require more power than you think to accomplish your own magic feat. Certainly not almost 5,000 times more: 15 percent more should be enough. (P.S. I’m almost positive you can rustle up that extra assistance.) CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): So far, 53 toys have been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame, including crayons, the jump rope, Mr. Potato Head, the yo-yo, the rubber duckie and dominoes. But my favorite inductee — and the toy that’s most symbolically useful to you right now — is the plain old cardboard box. Of all the world’s playthings, it’s perhaps the one that requires and activates the most imagination. It can become a fort, a spaceship, a washing machine, a cave, a submarine and many other exotic things. I think you need to be around influences akin to the cardboard box, because they’re likely to unleash your dormant creativity. AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): I’m not opposed to you fighting a good fight. It’s quite possible you would become smarter and stronger by wrangling with a worthy adversary or struggling against a bad influence. The passion you summon to outwit an obstacle could bestow blessings both on you and on others. But here’s a big caveat: I hope you won’t get embroiled in a showdown with an imaginary foe. I pray that you’ll refrain from futile combat with a slippery delusion. Choose your battles carefully, Aquarius. PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): During the next six weeks, I suggest that you regard symbiosis as one of your key themes. Be alert for ways you can cultivate more interesting and intense forms of intimacy. Magnetize yourself to the joys of teamwork and collaboration. Which of your skills and talents are most useful to other people? Which are most likely to inspire your allies to offer you their best skills and talents? I suggest you highlight everything about yourself that’s most likely to win you love, appreciation and help.
MOUNTAINX.COM
THERAPISTS NEEDED FOR CHILD/ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH POSITIONS IN JACKSON, HAYWOOD, & MACON COUNTIES Looking to fill several full-time positions. Therapists needed to provide Outpatient, Day Treatment or Intensive Inhome services to children/ adolescents with mental health diagnoses. Therapists must have current NC therapist license. Apply by submitting resume to telliot@jcpsmail.org
PROFESSIONAL/ MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Asheville History Center, Smith McDowell House. Part-time. Application Deadline: September 15, 2014. Asheville History Center, Smith McDowell House (WNCHA) seeks a self-directed, organized professional Executive Director. Bachelor’s Degree required. Previous Museum experience highly desired. The Director will be responsible for facilitating all fund raising; overseeing day to day operations; and coordinating changing exhibitions and educational programming. • Please respond with a current resume and cover letter outlining your experience, interest, and qualifications to Smith-McDowell House, 283 Victoria Road, Asheville NC 28801, Attn: Personnel Committee or email AshevilleHistory@gmail.com (EOE) FINANCE DIRECTOR United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County. Responsible for leadership, direction and management of the financial and facility operations. Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or related field. CPA preferred. Minimum of five years experience in accounting/ financial management. • Not-for-profit experience preferred. Experience managing federal, state and local grant funds. Human Resource and Benefits Administration a plus. Send letters of interest and resume to D. Bailey, 50 South French Broad Ave, Asheville, NC 28801 or dbailey@unitedwayabc.org. United Way is an EOE employer and seeks diverse applicants. http://unitedwayabc.org/ employment-opportunities
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES $1,000 WEEKLY!! MAILING BROCHURES From Home. Helping home workers since 2001. Genuine Opportunity. No Experience required. Start Immediately! www.mailingmembers.com (AAN CAN)
CAREER TRAINING AIRBRUSH MAKEUP ARTIST COURSE For: Ads . TV . Film . Fashion 40% Off Tuition - Special $1990 Train and Build Portfolio. One week course details at: AwardMakeupSchool. com 818-980-2119 (AAN CAN) AIRLINE CAREERS begin here – Get trained as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for qualified students. Housing and
Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance 800-725-1563 (AAN CAN)
COMPUTER/ TECHNICAL IT/VOICE SALES ENGINEER Ideal candidate must be self-motivated with a proven track record and knowledge of various types of IT technology including familiarity with switches, routers, servers, wireless, etc. Knowledge of VoIP is a plus. For complete description of position or to apply, http:// www.tsachoice.com/contact/employment
RETAIL ARTETUDE GALLERY IN ASHEVILLE, NC IS SEEKING A FULL-TIME GALLERY ASSISTANT Artetude Gallery (www. artetudegallery.com) is seeking an assistant who possesses a combination of artistic awareness, computer skills, interpersonal skills, practical abilities and a willingness to learn. Contact gallery director amedford@artetudegalllery.com. DELUXE OPPORTUNITY -- 12 YEAR OLD SOLID COMPANY An Asheville based art glass supply company is looking for someone to join our crew. We are looking for people who want to be recognized for working hard and treated with respect. Our entry level job involves preparing and packing orders for shipment. Other responsibilities would involve pulling customer orders in the warehouse. Employees must be able to lift 50 Lb boxes during the day. This is an entry level position, however, ideal candidate would show potential for advancement to other areas of the company. We prefer to promote from within and are a progressive fast growing company. Please submit your best resume and cover letter. Tell us a little about yourself, hobbies interests etc. References from former employers and letters of recommendation are good to see as well. This is a full time position starting at $11.00 per hour. Hours are Monday -- Friday 9:30am to 5:30pm. Benefits include health care, profit sharing, 401K, paid vacations, paid breaks, and lunch for everyone on Fridays. Reviews are conducted at 6 month intervals to determine promotions and pay increases. We are a Fair Wage Certified company. No Phone Calls Please. Applicants MUST live in the Asheville area to be considered. Please Email : hiringavl@yahoo.com
SALON/ SPA LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPISTS • NAIL TECHNICIANS Full-time. Must have a minimum of 1 year experience and the ability to work at both locations. Please bring resume to 59 Haywood St. Sensibilities Day Spa.
XCHANGE GENERAL MERCHANDISE KILL BED BUGS! Buy Harris Bed Bug Killer Complete Treatment Program/ Kit. (Harris Mattress Covers Add Extra Protection). Available: Hardware Stores, Buy Online: homedepot.com (AAN CAN)
ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES FRANCISCAN CHINA Total 20 pieces: 12 Dinner plates, dessert, vegetable plate and platter. No chips: excellent condition. Call for details: 692-3024.
FURNITURE A NEST OF TABLES Glass tops. Excellent condition. Very nice. $85 for all three. Call 6923024.
JEWELRY 1950's JEWELRY Freshwater pearls • Broaches • Braclets and other pieces. Call for details: 692-3024.
YARD SALES COMMUNITY YARD SALE Help us clean out our closets! Clothes, Furniture, Books and More! Saturday, 9/20/14, 8am1pm. Kensington Place Apartments. 3176 Sweeten Creek Road.
SERVICES CAREGIVERS HELP AND HOPE Communication specialist offering cognitive/memory interventions in the home for individuals with Alzheimers disease or post-stroke. Effective training for relearning swallowing skills offered as well. Call 828-333-8503 for information.
HOME A PERSONAL ASSISTANT (with a marketing, media, and small business background) can help your home or business run smoothly and free up your precious time. IdealAssistant1111@ gmail.com 828.595.6063.
HEATING & COOLING MAYBERRY HEATING AND COOLING Oil and Gas Furnaces • Heat Pumps and AC • • Radiant Floor Heating • • Solar Hot Water • Sales • Service • Installation. • Visa • MC • Discover. Call (828) 658-9145.
ANNOUNCEMENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS $50 WALMART GIFT CARD And 3 Free issues of your favorite magazines! Call 855757-3486. (AAN CAN) PREGNANT? THINKING OF ADOPTION? Talk with caring agency specializing in matching Birthmothers with Families Nationwide. Living Expenses Paid. Call 24/7 Abby’s One True Gift Adoptions. 866413-6293. Void in Illinois/New Mexico/Indiana (AAN CAN)
LEGAL NOTICES NOTICE OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY The following is a list of unclaimed and confiscated property at the Asheville Police Department: electronic equipment; cameras; clothing; lawn and garden equipment; personal items; tools; weapons (including firearms); jewelry; automotive items; building supplies; bikes and other miscellaneous items. Anyone with a legitimate claim or interest in this property has 30 days from the date of this publication to make a claim. Unclaimed items will be disposed of according to statutory law. Items will be auctioned on www. propertyroom.com. For further information, or to file a claim, contact the Asheville Police Department Property and Evidence Section, 828-232-4576. NOTICE OF DISPOSITION The following is a list of unclaimed and confiscated property at the Asheville Police Department tagged for disposition: audio and video equipment; cameras; clothing; lawn and garden equipment; personal items; tools; weapons (including firearms); jewelry; automotive items; building supplies; bikes and other miscellaneous. Items will be disposed of 30 days from date of this posting.
TRANSPORTATION BEST MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION SERVICES David’s Transportation Services for elderly and physically disabled, non emergency transportation anywhere in the USA. Certified Nursing Assistant and Spanish translator available. For more information please contact 828-215-0715 or 828-505-1394. www.Cesarfamilyservices.com
HOME IMPROVEMENT HANDY MAN HIRE A HUSBAND Handyman Services. 31 years professional business practices. Trustworthy, quality results, reliability. $2 million liability insurance. References available. Free estimates. Stephen Houpis, (828) 280-2254.
CLASSES & WORKSHOPS CLASSES & WORKSHOPS ARTIST SYRKL IS BACK aRtIsT sYrKl is for creative types who want to learn new skills and creatively explore though the expressive arts. Those interested will experience guided visualization, movement, music, art and writing. 828 777-1962 lillakhalsa@ymail.com www. expressiveartsalliance.org PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST TRAINING September 1 - 5, 2014, Asheville. For persons in recovery from mental health and/or addiction issues who wish to become NC Certified Peer Support Specialists. One year in recovery necessary. Forty hour training, $250.
SPOON CARVING CLASS AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE Spend a weekend with Tim Manney, artisan spood carver, Sept. 20th and 21st on the campus of Warren Wilson College. Price includes a professional carving knife. More info at 828-301-1158
MIND, BODY, SPIRIT BODYWORK
HEALTH & FITNESS YOGA TEACHER/OFFICE COORDINATOR 200hr500hr Yoga instructor. Musts: computer skills, cleaning, organized, outgoing/energetic, multi-tasker, teach multi-level classes, teacher training/program development, full time/work weekends and evenings. Looking for someone who wants to serve above all. michael@ashevillecommunityyoga.com
FOR MUSICIANS MUSICAL SERVICES ASHEVILLE'S WHITEWATER RECORDING Full service studio: • Mastering • Mixing and Recording. • CD/DVD duplication at the best prices. (828) 684-8284 • www.whitewaterrecording.com
PETS PET SERVICES ASHEVILLE PET SITTERS Dependable, loving care while you're away. Reasonable rates. Call Sandy (828) 215-7232.
AUTOMOTIVE AUTOS FOR SALE
RELAXING AND INTUITIVE MASSAGE Beth Huntzinger, LMBT#10819 offers healing massage in downtown with weekend and weekday hours. Swedish, Hot Stones
ADULT ADULT DREAMS Your destination for relaxation. Now available 7 days a week! • 9am11pm. Call (828) 275-4443. PHONE ACTRESSES From home. Must have dedicated land line and great voice. 21+. Up to $18 per hour. Flex hours/most Weekends. 1-800-403-7772. Lipservice.
36 Massachusetts or Connecticut in D.C. 37 Was livid 39 Cowboy moniker 40 Card combinations 43 Hardly an attraction for a surfer? 46 Impersonate 48 “… ducks in ___” 49 Directors in charge of downsizing? 55 Elementary start 57 Textile artist, perhaps 58 Attractive but annoying date? 61 TurboTax alternative, for short 62 Features of many late-1950s cars 63 ___ greens 64 Vessel that was 300 cubits long 65 Poison ___ 66 Jerks 67 Fish eggs
DOWN 1 What century plants do only once 2 Limber 3 Just 2 to 13, once 4 Sch. with a noted marching band 5 Opposite of paleo6 Most Cook Islanders 7 Welcome at the door 8 “___ anything later?” 9 “Romanian Rhapsodies” composer 10 Food Network V.I.P. 11 Gripe 12 College Board creation 15 Patronize, as a store 18 Noted children’s “doctor” 20 Golfer Aoki ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE 23 One crouching at OANSWER R C A TOB PREVIOUS A T E D PUZZLE B I K E home BF OE AR RN TA AG LR LE E Z E AS ST I S S 24 Snorkeling spot AF RL TA EG AS LN TA AK E I PQ LU A I NT T 27 Aid for a bank RS EO OB SE R BS OU DP Y DP O I U LB AL TE E heist T I MG EL OA US TS MMY E NNA A C E S 28 Peak figure: AV DI IR EA UG O RJ AE ER K T SR I O Abbr. BA AN CA K GE RL OI UO NT D S O TUWN OD S 29 ___-Coburg (former German M T S S HD OO RG NW O OWDR I OT HE M duchy) AP VO AS E T O CE CL AO T P A E N LO SS U S I T AS TE X T OS M E I G CA E F O G 30 Summer getaway P 31 Former Chevy M EE RS ST OI NZ AA L BL AUG CG AA SG E subcompact SA W R AM KA N AI N DM A ME AA ST BU OP Y A I R Y D A R K E N S 32 Book before G O A T S B E A R D Y A L E Deut. B L A N K C H E C K H A L O I D L E I S S U E A N E W L A N C E O P I E A S A N C E L S T O K E N S E G S 33 British record giant T O S E A W A V Y N E W S
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#1 AFFORDABLE COMMUNITY CONSCIOUS MASSAGE AND ESSENTIAL OIL CLINIC 3 locations: 1224 Hendersonville Rd., Asheville, 505-7088, 959 Merrimon Ave, Suite 101, 7851385 and 2021 Asheville Hwy., Hendersonville, 6970103. • $33/hour. • Integrated Therapeutic Massage: Deep Tissue, Swedish, Trigger Point, Reflexology. Energy, Pure Therapeutic Essential Oils. 30 therapists. Call now! www.thecosmicgroove.com
CASH FOR CARS Any Car/ Truck. Running or Not! Top Dollar Paid. We Come To You! Call For Instant Offer: 1-888-420-3808 www.cash4car.com (AAN CAN)
ACROSS 1 Sandwich usually served with mayo 4 Like messy beds 10 Scott Pelley’s network 13 Tyler of “The Lord of the Rings” 14 April to September, for baseball 15 Stadium closed in 2008 16 Like some stocks, for short 17 List of user IDs? 19 “I’m surprised to see you!” 21 Run some water over 22 Undergarment fitting device? 25 Tag … or a word that can precede tag 26 Plains Indians 30 Jailer with a key ring? 35 The Rosetta Stone is one
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PUZZLE BY JEAN O’CONOR
34 Cam button 38 Bummer
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41 Some coffee orders
51 Hindu warrior king
42 Arab kingdom native
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54 Rapper with the 3x platinum single “Hold On, We’re Going Home”
45 Pinocchio material 47 Hospital implants
53 Not an original
55 Karmann ___, classic German sports car 56 Arrange in order 58 Exec in charge of $$$ 59 ___ card 60 Some PCs and printers
Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords fromCall the1-900-285-5656, last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle For answers: anddownload more than 2,000 past puzzles, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit AT&T users: Text NYTX to card, 386 to puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a 1-800-814-5554. nytimes.com/mobilexword for more year).information. Annual subscriptions are available for Online subscriptions: Today’s andnytimes.com/wordplay. more than 2,000 Share tips: the best of Sunday crosswords from thepuzzle 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. past last puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). Crosswords for young solvers: Share tips: nytimes.com/wordplay. nytimes.com/learning/xwords. AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/ Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/learning/xwords. mobilexword for more information.
Paul Caron
Furniture Magician
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SALSA CLASSES! Salsa Classes every Wednesday ! Salsa classes going on now, and new 6wk will start September 17th! Beginners Salsa 7:30-8:30pm and Intermediate Salsa 8:30-9:30pm! Location: Extreme Dance Studio, 856 Sweeten Creek Rd. Asheville ! $10/class or $40/6wk More Info: 828674-2658, Jenniferwcs@aol. com or www.facebook. com/2umbao
SHOJI SPA & LODGE • 7 DAYS A WEEK Looking for the best therapist in town-- or a cheap massage? Soak in your outdoor hot tub; melt in our sauna; then get the massage of your life! 26 massage therapists. 2990999. www.shojiretreats. com
Crossword
THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE
• Seat Caning
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PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE FOR THE SOUTH: SEPTEMBER 13- 24 Learn to become an effective ecological designer in our culturally and ecologically rich bioregion. Integrate Permaculture into your life and landscape. Earn your Permaculture Design Certificate. Meals and Camping included. 828*-775-7052 info.wildabundance@gmail.com www.wildabundance.net
and Reiki Energy Healing. 7 years practice with Reiki. Call 828-279-7042 or visit ashevillehealer.com
• Antique Restoration
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Complete information, contact Andrea Morris, LCSW, LCAS at http://amorrisconsulting.com or 828-5514540
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• Custom Furniture & Cabinetry (828) 669-4625
• Black Mountain
net (AAN CAN)
MOUNTAINX.COM
SEPTEMBER 3 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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