February 2014 Rapid River Magazine by Rapid River Magazine

The Asheville Symphony Orchestra presents pianist Alon Goldstein. PAGE 4

Susan Olivari, owner of The Art House, unites art and philanthropy. PAGE 18 Jessica Lied creates beautiful & appetizing chocolate art at The Chocolate Fetish. PAGE 16

The Academy Awards takes place March 2. Use our handy Oscar Ballot to cast your own votes. PAGE 10

Interview with ﬁne artist, Veronika Hart REEL TAKES

August: Osage County • Hercules • Invisible Woman • Jack Ryan • Lone Survivor

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Voted Best Chocolate Shop in Western North Carolina 12 Consecutive Years! 2 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

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February 8, 2014 • 8 PM Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

Golijov Muertes des Angel Barber Violin Concerto Elena Urioste, Violin Ravel Pavane Tchaikovsky Suite from Swan Lake

C O T T O N M I L L S T U D I O S F E AT U R E D A RT I S T

Daniel Meyer, Music Director

PG. 17

Nancy Silver

From her studio in the Cotton Mill Studios, Nancy Silver paints landscapes, architecture and still life in oils, often focusing on doors, windows and isolated objects that reflect the passage of time and reference people long gone. Having described all of that, Silver’s painting of a little girl feeding a goat is on display at the Carl Sandburg home, just because, and the artist has created Paintings by Nancy Silver. ceramic masks which are part of her “Dreamtime” series. Her studio is a shared space which allows them to be open most days, Monday through Saturday, excluding winter escapes to the sun. The upstairs Mill Gallery, open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., includes art from all the artists in Ceramic mask by the building. Nancy Silver. Nancy is also represented by The Art Mob in Hendersonville. For more information or to make an appointment, please call (828) 713-8994 or visit her website, www.nancysilverart.com

Cotton Mill Studios

122 Riverside Drive

www.cottonmillstudiosnc.com

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 3

performance

Beethoven and the “Romantic”

In March, the Asheville Symphony Orchestra (ASO) will present an evening full of beautiful piano and the romance of the orchestra. The concert begins with an early work of one of music’s greats, Beethoven. As he lives with us today in an immortal pantheon of great composers, it’s easy to forget that he was also a

PG. 17

MICHAEL J. MOREL

brilliant pianist in his own right. Beethoven wrote masterpieces for piano and orchestra as a vehicle for himself, and the Symphony is excited to introduce Israeli pianist Alon Goldstein in his Asheville solo debut. Alon performs the mercurial Piano Concerto No. 2, music that projects the clarity and beauty of the Classical era while pointing towards a heroism in Beethoven’s later style. The ASO completes their evening with Anton Bruckner’s majestic Symphony No. 4, the “Romantic.” Romantic, in this case, refers to the trend in German literature and arts in the 19th Century where mystery and wonder mingles with tales from the forest. Whether evoking the hunt, stumbling upon an imposing forest castle, or gazing at the moon as it takes nightly

Pianist Alon Goldstein will perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

PG. 21

4 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

continued on page 6

we love this place The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design Moves Downtown

RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE Established in 1997 • Volume Seventeen, Number Six

FEBRUARY 2014 www.rapidrivermagazine.com

Publisher/Editor: Dennis Ray Marketing: Dennis Ray, Rick Hills Copyeditor: Kathleen Colburn Proofreader: Diane S. Levy Poetry Editor: Carol Pearce Bjorlie Staff Photographers: Kelsey Jensen, Keli Keach Layout & Design: Simone Bouyer Accounting: Sharon Cole Distribution: Dennis Ray CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Jenny Bunn, James Cassara, Michael Cole, Amy Downs, John Ellis, Max Hammonds, MD, Phil Hawkins, Marilynne Herbert, Phil Juliano, Chip Kaufmann, Michelle Keenan, Eddie LeShure, Peter Loewer, Marcianne Miller, Michael J. Morel, April Nance, T. Oder & R. Woods, Dennis Ray, Melissa Reardon, Alice Sebrell, Greg Vineyard, Bill Walz. INFO Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine is a monthly publication. Address correspondence to info@rapidrivermagazine.com or write to: Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine 85 N. Main St., Canton, NC 28716 Phone: (828) 646-0071 www.rapidrivermagazine.com Advertising Sales Manager Rick Hills, (828) 452-0228 rick@rapidrivermagazine.com All materials contained herein are owned and copyrighted by Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine and the individual contributors unless otherwise stated. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine or the advertisers found herein. © Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine, February 2014, Vol. 17 No. 6

On the Cover:

Painting by Veronika Hart page 19 Photo by Keli Keach Photography

3 Fine Art

Nancy Silver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Art House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Veronika Hart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Southern Highland Craft Guild. . . 21

4 Performance

Asheville Symphony . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Ciompi String Quartet . . . . . . . HART – Other Desert Cities. . . . . . ACT – Cabaret . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pan Harmonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 6 6 7 7

8 Noteworthy

Art Affair 2014. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Madison Has HEArT . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 R. Buckminster Fuller . . . . . . . . . . 17 The Venue’s Inaugural Dinner . . . 22 Messages to the Heart. . . . . . . . . . . 26

9 Movie Reviews

Chip Kaufmann & Michelle Keenan.. 9

13 Columns

The Center’s new 3-story home is situated in the heart of downtown Asheville’s thriving arts, The Center’s first exhibition at music, and restaurant scene at 67 the new space is Taking Shape: Broadway Street. The building, Celebrating the Windgate Felcirca 1912, originally served as Topographic Rocker by Nate Moren with Tandem Made. lowship. The show was juried a garage, machine and repair by Cindi Strauss, the curator shop, and automobile showroom of Modern and Contemporary Decorative before housing the Asheville-born and Arts and Design at The Museum of Fine craft-focused book publisher Lark Books. Arts, Houston, and features works from 14 For nearly two decades, The Center has of the 50 artists who were awarded Windgarnered the respect of the national and gate Fellowships in the first five years of the international crafts community with program, which is now in its ninth year. A conferences, exhibitions, and publications, closing reception and building dedication will while also brokering millions of dollars follow in May. in grants to prominent and aspiring craft The 2014 schedule conartists, scholars, and institutions. tinues with CTRL+P, In 2010, The Center produced Makers: A an exhibition that invesHistory of American Studio Craft the first tigates the implications studio craft survey published by UNC of digital technologies Press. By moving to downtown Asheville, on the making of sculpThe Center will increase its local impact tural and functional obwhile maintaining its national focus, visjects. Curated by Anna ibly, and dedication to craft. Walker and organized “Western North Carolina is the crossby the Houston Center The Understood roads for craft in the United States,” said for Contemporary Weight by Dustin Farnsworth. Stephanie Moore, The Center’s executive Craft, the exhibit will director. “The Center plans to draw atbe on display from May 16 - August 23, 2014. In partnership with Warren Wilson College’s Holden Visual Arts Center and Gallery, The Center will display a selection of internationally renowned Gee’s Bend quilts from September 5 - December 30, 2014.

SPECIAL SECTIONS

Bill Walz – Artful Living. . . . . . . . . Max Hammonds, MD – Health . . Greg Vineyard – Fine Art . . . . . . . . Marcianne Miller – Books . . . . . . . Carol Pearce Bjorlie – Poetry. . . . . Peter Loewer – The Curmudgeon. Eddie LeShure – Jazz . . . . . . . . . . . James Cassara – Music . . . . . . . . . .

13 13 15 24 25 26 27 28

16 Asheville Shops

Downtown Asheville . . . . . PGS 14-16 Black Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 17 Hendersonville . . . . . . . . . . PGS 18-20 Biltmore Village . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 21 Waynesville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 23

Exhibitions at The Center are free and open to the public, with viewing hours from 10-6 p.m. Tuesday - Saturday. For more information, call (828) 785-1357 or visit the Center’s website at www.craftcreativitydesign.org

www.RapidRiverMagazine.com

The Chocolate Fetish . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The Starving Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Points of Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

27 Music

Roky Erickson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael W. Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yonder Mountain String Band. . . . Fresh Preserves, Take Five! . . . . . .

30 What to Do Guide

tention, visitors, and resources to Asheville. This facility provides the space to form significant partnerships and leave a lasting imprint — not only to preserve craft’s legacy but also to ensure its future.”

Like Us on Facebook We’re Hyper Local and Super Social!

27 27 29 33

™

Best in Show by Phil Juliano . . . . . Callie & Cats by Amy Downs . . . . Corgi Tales by Phil Hawkins . . . . Dragin by Michael Cole . . . . . . . . Ratchet & Spin by T.Oder, R.Woods

31 31 31 31 31

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Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 5

captivating performances Broadway and TV Star Norm Lewis

Norm Lewis brings his magnetic personality and smooth vocals to Asheville in a special benefit performance for the Diana Wortham Theatre. Tony-nominated for his role as Porgy opposite Audra McDonald in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess on Broadway, Lewis has lent his rich baritone to other major roles on Broadway including Billy Flynn (Chicago), King Triton (The Little Mermaid Mermaid), and Javert (Les Misérables)—playing Javert both on Broadway and in Norm Lewis London’s West End production, and in the 25th Anniversary London concert production seen on public television. Lewis currently stars opposite Kerry Washington on the ABC hit series Scandal. This special benefit performance includes a post-performance sparkling wine reception and meet-and-greet with Norm Lewis for VIP ticket-holders. IF YOU Norm Lewis Benefit GO Performance, Sunday, February

9 at 4 p.m. Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place. Performance and reception, $65; Performance only, $45. Info/Tickets: Box Office (828) 2574530, or visit www.dwtheatre.com

‘Beethoven’ cont’d from page 4

flight above the branches, this is symphonic music perfectly-suited to our mountain home in the Blue Ridge. Tickets for the performance are available through the Symphony office or the US Cellular Center box office, and range in price from $20 to $58. Subscriptions are also available at pro-rated prices, or on a “pick three” basis for $55 to $169. Significant discounts for students are available. For details, call (828) 254-7046 or visit www.ashevillesymphony.org.

IF Asheville Symphony presents YOU GO Beethoven and “The Romantic”

March 15 at 8 p.m., downtown in the US Cellular Center’s Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Call (828) 254-7046, or visit www.ashevillesymphony.org.

6 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

THE ASHEVILLE CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES PRESENTS

The Ciompi String Quartet

“Ciompi Quartet performances reveal the maturity of interpretation from an ensemble which has been together for two decades,” says ACMS President, Polly Feitzinger.

MARILYNNE HERBERT

The Ciompi Quartet last performed in the Asheville Chamber Music Series in 2009. We look forward to welcoming them back for a mid-winter afternoon concert at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Asheville. The program will feature: Haydn: String Quartet in G major, Op. 76, No. 1. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 12 in D-flat major, Op. 133.

The Ciompi String Quartet performs Sunday, February 23.

Brahms: String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat major, Op. 67. The Ciompi Quartet plays a leading role in the cultural life of Duke University where its members are professors. Its concert schedule has included performances on five continents. Their recent tour to China elicited the following praise: “Their music, full of passion, yet with pure and beautiful tone, intoxicated the listener.” (Wen Hui, Shanghi) For more than a half a century the ACMS has taken its place as a valued cultural resource in Asheville, bringing world-renowned chamber artists to the city. As one of the nation’s oldest continuously performing chamber music organizations, it has been recognized for its outstanding programs and for its unique education component through a collabora-

tion with the strings program of the Asheville Buncombe Schools and other cultural partners in the community.

IF YOU The Asheville Chamber Music GO Series (ACMS) will present The

Ciompi String Quartet, Sunday afternoon February 23, at 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at the corner of Edwin Place and Charlotte Street. Individual tickets are $35 and are available at the door, first come, first served. To purchase tickets or for more information please visit www.ashevillechambermusic.org, or call Nathan Shirley at (828) 575-7427 or support@ashevillechambermusic.org.

HART PRESENTS THE TONY AWARD-WINNING DRAMA

Other Desert Cities

HART’s Winter Studio Season continues with the award-winning drama Other Desert Cities. The show premiered at Lincoln Center in January 2011 staring Stockard Channing and Linda Lavin and Stacey Keach. In November it transferred to Broadway for an extended run. HART is one of the first theatres in North Carolina to produce it. The play was a finalist in 2012 for the Pulitzer Prize. The title is taken from a road sign that appears on Interstate 10 as you leave Palm Springs, California, identifying other metropolitan areas heading east. The play is set in Palm Springs and concerns the Lyman family gathering at Christmas time. It seems there are old secrets and wounds about to be revealed in a new book written by the daughter, who is

home for the first time in six years. The play is witty, and thought provoking, building to an unexpected climax. HART’s production is being directed by Charles Mills and features Sarah Woodard, Ned Martin, Lyn Donley, Julie Kinter and Steve Lloyd. Seating in the Feichter Studio is limited and reservations are recommended. The opening show of the season sold-out its opening weekend, and many without reservations were turned away at the door. IF YOU Other Desert Cities runs through GO February 9. To reserve seats call

HART at (828) 456-6322 or visit www.harttheatre.com. Performances are at 250 Pigeon St. in Waynesville.

performances

Sexy, Seedy, Dark Cabaret

“Outside it is winter, but in here it is so hot!” sings the Emcee in the decadent musical drama Cabaret. Asheville Community Theatre will be producing the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret, a version that adds three songs from the ret 1972 Liza Minnelli movie version to the original 1966 Broadway production. The revival is both a celebration of diversity as well as a cautionary tale of a hedonistic society plunged into the darkness of Nazi Germany atrocities.

Asheville Community Theatre’s production of Cabaret reunites the artistic team of Jerry Crouch (Director), Lenora Thom (Musical Director), and Kathleen Meyers Leiner (Choreographer). Kevin Moxley makes his ACT debut as the Emcee with Jessica Pisano as Sally Bowles and Mark Jones as Cliff. The cast of 16 includes lead dancers from the Asheville Ballet and powerhouse vocalists. Asheville Community Theatre last produced Cabaret in 1987, a production which starred current director Jerry Crouch as the Emcee. “This production continues the precedence of strong, show-stopping dance numbers that ACT musicals have become known for,” says Crouch. “And the singing and the acting are just as strong. The depth of talent in this cast is truly exceptional.” IF YOU Cabaret, February 7 through March GO 2. Performances Friday and Saturday

Backstage at Cabaret: (From top) Jessica Pisano (Sally Bowles), Kevin Moxley (the Emcee), and Ashley Dillingham (Kit Kat Girl). Photo: Micah Mackenzie

at 7:30 p.m., Sunday’s at 2:30 p.m. Tickets: $25 Adults, $22 Seniors/Students, $15 Children. Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E. Walnut Street, downtown Asheville. For more information call (828) 254-1320 or visit www.ashevilletheatre.org.

Pan Harmonia ~ World-Class Chamber Music

Come out of the cold and into Pan Harmonia’s musical rainbow with iconic chamber music. Experience superb sounds from the Classical, Romantic and 20th-21st Centuries in beautiful acoustic settings.

GeneratioNext Young Musicians take the stage! A Bassoon Extravaganza directed by Rosalind Buda at St. Matthias Church, downtown Asheville. Sunday, February 2 at 3 p.m., St. Matthias Church, 1 Dundee St., downtown Asheville. Free admission; donations gratefully accepted.

Concerts in the Haen Gallery Jamie Laval and Franklin Keel hurl themselves into a tumultuous performance of the “Duo Sonata” for violin and cello by Maurice Ravel. Written in 1922 during the composer’s extrospective middle period, the work is a perfect vehicle for the two instrumentalists, showcasing bold contrasts between delicately lyrical melodies, dashing virtuosity, pungent dissonances, and unmistakable references to Hungarian folk music. Kate Steinbeck will join them for a rousing, quintessentially classical “London Trio” by Joseph Hadyn. Kate and Franklin continue with Hilary Tann’s hauntingly beautiful “Llef” which means a cry from the heart. Jamie and Franklin will also offer up Keel’s brand new arrangement of the time-honored favorite

“Romanian Folk Dances” by Béla Bartok. Two locations: Monday, February 3, at 52 Biltmore Avenue, downtown Asheville. Monday, February 10, at 200 King Street, Brevard. 6:30 p.m. meet the artists and enjoy a glass of wine, 7:15 p.m. music begins. $22 advance available at www.pan-harmonia.org/shop or $24/$8 for students, at the door.

Broad St., Brevard. Free admission; donations gratefully accepted.

Baroque Vibes, Black Mountain

In a spellbinding program transcending the boundaries of the traditional Baroque setting, Baroque Vibes ranges from Elizabethan-era tunes, ravishing Kate Steinbeck, flute, Franklin works by Baroque masters Keel, cello, and Jamie Laval, Johann Sebastian Bach and violin. Photo: Marilynn Herbert Dreams of 8: Igor, Georg Philipp Telemann, Stravinsky’s Octet and More! vintage gems from 20th century songwriters and tangos! Igor Stravinsky wrote, “The Octet began Featuring: Barbara Weiss, harpsichord; with a dream... I awoke from this little concert Kate Steinbeck, flute; Rosalind Buda, bassoon in a state of great delight and anticipation and & Scottish small pipes; Byron Hedgepeth, the next morning began to compose.” The vibes & percussion. result was a divertissement that equally exerThursday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m., cises the listener’s mind and the eight virtuoso White Horse Black Mountain, 105 Montreat performers. Rd, Black Mountain. $15 advance available at Featuring: Kate Steinbeck, flute; Fred www.pan-harmonia.org/shop or $20/$5 for Lemmons, clarinet; Rosalind Buda and Susan students at the door. Cohen, bassoon; Brad Ulrich and David Ginn, trumpet; Mark Britt and Greg Love; trombone. Sunday, February 23 at 4 p.m., Groce IF United Methodist Church, 945 Tunnel Road, YOU Become a volunteer and get into GO ticketed events for free. Contact East Asheville. Easy parking! $15 advance/$5 Rosalind in our office. (828) 254for students available at www.pan-harmonia. 7123 or write to office@pan-harmonia. org/shop or $20/$5 for students at the door. org. For more information on Pan Harmonia, Monday, February 24 at 7:30 p.m., Porter please visit www.pan-harmonia.org. Center for the Performing Arts, 400 North

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 7

from WNC with love “One Night in New Orleans” Art Affair 2014

5th Annual fundraising event provides vital support to help Asheville youth break the cycle of multigenerational poverty through education, enrichment, and opportunity. OpenDoors of Asheville, a not-forprofit organization that generates vital resources to uplift children living in poverty, will host the 5th Annual OpenDoors Art Affair. The theme for the 2014 benefit art auction is “One Night in New Orleans,” and 100 percent of all proceeds generated from the auction directly support initiatives to empower and sustainably enrich the lives of Asheville’s underserved youth. “Please join us this year to celebrate with a nod to New Orleans,” says Jen Ramming, Executive Director for OpenDoors. “You will have a fabulous time and the event coincides with Mardi

Gras season. New Orleans is famous for the qualities we admire of perseverance, diversity, cultural awareness, and commitment to improvement. Plus participation in the Art Affair directly supports ongoing, life-changing work to help eliminate multigenerational poverty right here in Asheville.” Art Affair 2014 will feature 75+ auction items with at least 25 Andrew Brunk of Brunk Auctions, and highly collectible pieces in a “live” OpenDoors Executive Director Jen Ramming. auction conducted by Andrew Brunk of Brunk Auctions and Antiques Road Show. IF Bid on exquisite local art, handYOU The OpenDoors of Asheville GO Art Affair 2014 “One Night crafted jewelry, exciting travel experiin New Orleans” takes place ences, and more. Guests will also enjoy Saturday, March 1 at The Venue, scrumptiously authentic cuisine and 21 North Market Street in downtown libations from many of Asheville’s finAsheville. A VIP pre-party and auction est restaurants and social lounges, plus preview begins at 6 p.m. The main event special Mardi Gras-themed beer crafted starts at 7 p.m. For more details please by Asheville Brewing Company. visit www.opendoorsasheville.org.

Madison Has HEArT

A FANCIFUL FLEA

A volunteer group in Madison County is hosting a benefit fancy/antique/really good stuff/art market to benefit the Neighbors in Need’s fuel assistance program. Madison Has HEArT’s mission is to establish a yearly fundraiser to help folks in crisis: the working poor, disadvantaged, low income, single parent, disabled, down on their luck, not enough to go around, residents. The government can’t help everybody and this is a way the community can step up and donate things they don’t need any more, and help someone in need at the same time. We are extremely worried about the balance of the winter. We all know there are inadequate funds due to more people registering for assistance and the rise in fuel costs. So this group decided they could probably do more good on their own, than all the political parties, put together. It seems plain folks have the potential to get more done, for more people, on less money, and create more good will, than politics ever will. The group is dedicated to heating the homes of the disadvantaged in Madison county this winter. Madison is home to artisans, small business owners, teachers, service work-

8 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

ers, Grammy award winning musicians, and even a National Heritage Award winner, Sheila Kay Adams. The county residents are a mixed bag; a colorful community which recognizes that we are in this together. Everyone reads about disenfranchised people, but you can see it firsthand in Madison County; at the gas pump, and definitely at the grocery. These families have a face. They are not invisible to us. They are our friends and neighbors. Some of these very people are the stewards of these mountains, holding by the skin of their teeth to land owned for generations by their families. They held close what was dear to them, instead of selling out. We just want to say thank you and give them something so simple... heat. Join Madison Has HEArT for this fun event featuring live music, food, a silent auction, and bargains galore. IF YOU Madison Has HEArT, a GO Fanciful Flea, takes place

Saturday, February 15 from 10-4 p.m. at Marshall High Studios, on the Island in Marshall. For more information please visit the website at www.madisonhasheart.org.

Hearts for SART on February 14

SART presents their second annual fundraising event, “Hearts for SART,” on February 14, downtown at the newly renovated Asheville Masonic Temple. Sample delectable desserts and beverages while you enjoy selections from the heart-warming play, Love Letters, presented by Jon Menick and Mary McGahren. Find the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for you or a friend at the silent auction and support SART’s upcoming 40th season! If you have an item you’d like to donate for the Silent Auction, or, if you care to donate a dessert item or items, that would be much appreciated. Please send an email to: bginbc@aol.com and put either SILENT AUCTION, or DESSERT, in the subject line. IF YOU Hearts for SART, will be GO held February 14 at 7 p.m.

at the Asheville Masonic Temple. Tickets are $15 each, available at www.sartplays.org. Call (828) 689-1384 for more details.

Reel Take Reviewers:

∑∑∑∑∑ - Fantastic ∑∑∑∑ - Pretty darn good ∑∑∑ - Has some good points ∑∑ - The previews lied ∑ - Only if you must M- Forget entirely

CHIP KAUFMANN is a film historian who also shares his love of classical music as a program host on WCQSFM radio. MICHELLE KEENAN is a long time student of film, a believer in the magic of movies and a fundraiser for public radio.

For the latest REVIEWS, THEATER INFO and MOVIE SHOW TIMES, visit www.rapidrivermagazine.com

Illustration of Michelle & Chip by Brent Brown.

Questions/Comments?

BRENT BROWN is a graphic designer and illustrator. View more of his work at www.brentbrown.com.

August: Osage County ∑∑∑∑ Short Take: A dysfunctional family reunites and ignites.

REEL TAKE: If you think your family has

problems, you’ll feel much better, by comparison, after watching August: Osage County County. Actor, screenwriter and playwright, Tracy Letts, is no stranger to the ugly underbelly of life (Killer Joe). So when I heard that some of the tragically flawed, darkly comic, and sadistically cruel characters in his Pulitzer prize winning play, August: Osage County, were actually inspired by and loosely based on members of his own gene pool, it explained a lot. August: Osage County tells the story of family reunion of sorts in the wake of the

Theatre Directory Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company Movieline (828) 254-1281 www.ashevillepizza.com

Beaucatcher Cinemas (Asheville) Movieline (828) 298-1234

Biltmore Grande

1-800-FANDANGO #4010 www.REGmovies.com

Carmike 10 (Asheville)

Movieline (828) 298-4452 www.carmike.com

Carolina Cinemas

(828) 274-9500 www.carolinacinemas.com

Cinebarre (Asheville) www.cinebarre.com

The Falls Theatre (Brevard) Movieline (828) 883-2200

Fine Arts Theatre (Asheville) Movieline (828) 232-1536 www.fineartstheatre.com

Flat Rock Theatre (Flat Rock) Movieline (828) 697-2463 www.flatrockcinema.com

Four Seasons (Hendersonville) Movieline (828) 693-8989

Smoky Mountain Cinema (Waynesville) Movieline (828) 452-9091

You can email Chip or Michelle at reeltakes@hotmail.com

family patriarch’s of dancing her way to crazy town and disappearance and parading about under the influence of subsequent passthe periodic chart, Roberts has to play ing. At the center it straight, sane, and funny simultaneof the attention, ously – and do it with great clout so as exactly where to be able to match and exceed Streep’s. she likes to be, is She earned her Best Supporting Actress the pill-popping nomination and gets a special award for Violet Weston the best usage of the f-word in an Ameri(Meryl Streep), can film in long, long time (Take note the family matriWolf of Wall Street Street). arch and Cruella August: Osage County isn’t for Deville of Osage the faint of heart, but will be painfully County, Oklafunny for those with a dented, bruised, homa. The trailers hardened or distinctly lacking heart. for this film imply Rated R for language including sexual Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep that it’s a hilarious references and drug material. and a talented cast put the dramedy, when f-u-n in dysfunsctional in REVIEW BY MICHELLE KEENAN it is in fact a searAugust: Osage County. ing drama with a wicked, heartless brand of humor in the darkThe Invisible Woman ∑∑∑∑ est shade of the comedic realm. Short Take: Ralph Fiennes’ meticulous, The family that gathers around Violet inslowly paced biographical drama about cludes her sister Faye Ann (Margo Martindale) Charles Dickens’ mistress Nelly Ternan and brother in-law Charles (Chris Cooper), is a really good film but is too downbeat her daughters – the angry Barbara (Julia Robin tone to be completely successful. erts), the tacky & trashy Karen (Juliette Lewis) and the mousey and devoted Ivy (Julianne REEL TAKE: The Invisible Woman is a fasciNicholson) as well as Barbara’s husband (Ewan nating, sometimes captivating, but ultimately McGregor) and daughter (Abigail Breslin), frustrating, movie. As the title implies, the film Karen’s sleazy boyfriend (Dermot Mulroney), is not about Dickens (director Ralph Fiennes and a doltish sweet nephew, Little Charles who was not his first choice for the role) but (Benedict Cumberbatch). about his long time, much younger mistress As the vigil turns into a wake, stories are Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones) who was kept told, secrets unearthed, the gloves come off hidden from Victoand the claws come out. It’s every man for herrian society. People self. You read that correctly. It’s not a typo, for expecting a Dickens the men are merely bystanders in the Weston biography or your family even the pater familia (Sam Shepard) standard BBC who set everything into motion. “costume drama” Just when you think you’ve seen Meryl may find themselves ‘Oscar’ Streep do just about everything, she disappointed. comes up with another amazing and revelatory That wasn’t character. She’s fantastic as Violet. She’s pharthe frustrating part maceutically soused and histrionically awful, for me, in fact, it Felicity Jones as the but just as chapters unfurl and evoke glimpses was exactly what I’d mistress of Charles of understanding, if not exactly empathy, she hoped for. What I Dickens in The coils up and strikes with fangs again. Did I found frustrating Invisible Woman. mention Violet is also suffering from mouth was the way that cancer? Ironic, don’t you think? Fiennes chose to tell the story. Well acted by The entire cast is terrific, although some all, beautifully photographed, and technically are terribly under-used. But it’s Julia Roberts directed with a sure hand, Woman failed to who steals the show. As the eldest daughter, engage me on an emotional level concerning she seems to carry the most anger towards the two main characters whenever they were her mother. While Streep gets to have the fun

The Monthly Reel

The Golden Globes, SAGs and DGAs (and oodles of other awards) have been doled out. Now all that glitters in the offing this award season is the road to Oscar. In this issue Chip and I have cast our own armchair predictions for the big night. The more typical, late entry Oscar bait snagged most of the nominations, snubbing some other deserving and some overlooked titles, but bottom line — 2013 was a good year for good movies; moreover it was an exceptional year for performances. Most of the Oscar-nominated titles are either still playing in the theatres or have been re-released on the big screen to capitalize on Oscar buzz. One of the things that struck a hopeful chord for us was the triumph of smaller films and the box office disappointment of some blockbuster, CGI-fests. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not dissing that end of the industry entirely, but more and more big budget titles have become so excessive and so vapid, it’s difficult to consider it an art form, and it has changed the industry itself. At the end of the day, we know it’s about the almighty buck, but we hope Hollywood paid attention to what some of the smaller films had to offer this year. MUD was probably 2013’s shining example of quality, entertainment and a return on investment. It’s a trifecta we’d like to see more of in 2014. On a final note, February usually tends to mark the beginning of a cinematic drought, but this year we seem to have several promising titles on the horizon. George Clooney’s The Monuments Men, which was originally slated to open last fall and was inexplicably bumped to a February 7th release date, is probably the most anticipated film opening this month. Also be on the lookout for Labor Day, Winter’s Tale, Gloria, and La Grande Bellezza. Until next time, enjoy.

‘Movies’ continued on page 11

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play along with oscar

And the Oscar Goes to…

Best Actress in a Supporting Role • Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine • Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle • Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years A Slave • Julia Roberts – August: Osage County • June Squibb – Nebraska

The 86th Annual Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 2nd. Playing it safe this year after last year’s edgier choice of hosts, Seth McFarlane, the show’s producer, enlisted the talents of the always likeable Ellen Degeneres to do the honors. We’re betting it will be a perfectly pleasant, albeit long, award show with little to no surprises. If you enjoy the red carpet excitement and Hollywood’s biggest night, tune in to ABC March 2 at 7 p.m. Whether you’re planning an Oscar party or just planning on keeping score from the comfort of your own Snuggie, use our handy dandy Reel Takes Oscar Ballot to cast your own votes and keep track of the winners.

My money is on: ___________________ And the winner is: ___________________

Best Actor in a Leading Role • Christian Bale – American Hustle • Bruce Dern – Nebraska • Leonardo Dicaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street • Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years A Slave • Matthew Mcconaughey – Dallas Buyer’s Club My money is on: ___________________________________ And the winner is: __________________________________

Best Actor in a Supporting Role • Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips • Bradley Cooper – American Hustle • Michael Fassbender – 12 Years A Slave • Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street • Jared Leto – Dallas Buyer’s Club My money is on: ___________________________________ And the winner is: __________________________________

Best Actress in a Leading Role • Amy Adams – American Hustle • Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine • Sandra Bullock – Gravity • Judi Dench – Philomena Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine. • Meryl Streep – August: Osage County My money is on: ___________________________________ And the winner is: __________________________________

Where to Watch the Oscars The 86th Annual Academy Awards will air March 2nd on 7 p.m. (EST) on ABC. At press time, details about area Oscar parties were not available, but we have it on good authority that Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company on Merrimon Avenue will host its annual Oscar party on March 2nd. For details go to www.ashevillepizza.com. Carolina Cinemas will host an Oscar party in its Cinema Lounge. For details and all the red carpet fun go to www.carolinacinemas.com/asheville.

Animated Feature Film • The Croods – Chris Sanders, Kirk Demicco and Kristine Belson • Despicable Me 2 – Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri • Ernest & Celestine – Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner • Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho • The Wind Rises – Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki My money is on: ___________________________________ And the winner is: __________________________________

Cinematography • The Grandmaster – Phillippe Le Sourd • Gravity – Emmanuel Lubezki • Inside Llewyn Davis – Bruno Delbonnel • Nebraska – Phedon Papamichael • Prisoners – Roger Deakins My money is on: ___________________________________ And the winner is: __________________________________

Costume Design • American Hustle – Michael Wilkinson • The Grandmaster – William Chang Suk Ping • The Great Gatsby – Catherine Martin • The Invisible Woman – Michael O’connor • 12 Years A Slave – Patricia Norris My money is on: ___________________________________ And the winner is: __________________________________

Adapted Screenplay • Before Midnight – Screenplay by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke • Captain Phillips – Screenplay by Billy Ray • Philomena – Screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope • 12 Years A Slave – Screenplay by John Ridley • The Wolf of Wall Street Ethan Hawke and Julie – Screenplay by Delpy in Before Midnight. Terence Winter My money is on: ___________________________________ And the winner is: __________________________________

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Original Screenplay • American Hustle – Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell • Blue Jasmine – Written by Woody Allen • Dallas Buyers Club – Written by Joaquin Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack Phoenix in Her. • Her – Written by Spike Jonze • Nebraska – Written by Bob Nelson My money is on: __________________________________ And the winner is: _________________________________

Music (Original Score) • The Book Thief – John Williams • Gravity – Steven Price • Her – William Butler and Owen Pallett • Philomena – Alexandre Desplat • Saving Mr. Banks – Thomas Newman My money is on: __________________ And the winner is: _________________

Judi Dench in Philomena.

Music (Original Song) • “Alone Yet Not Alone” from Alone Yet Not Alone – Music by Bruce Broughton, Lyric by Dennis Spiegel • “Happy” from Despicable Me 2 – Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams • “Let it Go” from Frozen – Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez • “The Moon Song” from Her – Music by Karen O, Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze • “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom – Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Lyric by Paul Hewson My money is on: __________________________________ And the winner is: _________________________________

Directing • • • • •

American Hustle – David O. Russell Gravity – Alfonso Cuaron Nebraska – Alexander Payne 12 Years A Slave – Steve Mcqueen The Wolf of Wall Street – Martin Scorsese My money is on: __________________ And the winner is: _________________

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street.

• American Hustle – Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers • Captain Phillips – Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers • Dallas Buyers Club – Robbie Brenner, and Rachel Winter, Producers • Gravity – Alfonso Cuaron and David Heyman, Producers • Her – Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay, Producers • Nebraska – Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers • Philomena – Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward, Producers • 12 Years A Slave – Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas, Producers • The Wolf of Wall Street – Nominees to be determined My money is on: _________________________________ And the winner is: ________________________________

film reviews ‘Movies’ continued from page 9

together. Only when it dealt with each one individually or with Dickens’ long, suffering wife Catherine (Joanna Scanlan in a heartbreaking performance) did the film come alive for me. The primary reason is the music (or lack of it) that Fiennes chose to use (or not use). Virtually all of the scenes between Dickens and Nelly feature no music at all giving their scenes together a somewhat clinical feel. Whenever music was used (primarily during Nelly’s flashback memories) it was chamber music of a modern nature akin to Shostakovich which seemed out of place and succeeded at keeping me distanced from the proceedings. The film takes place in 1883, 13 years after Dickens died, and goes back and forth between the present and the past. We first meet Nelly as an 18 year old gushing over the great man after appearing in an amateur production with him and fellow writer Wilkie Collins (Tom Hollander). It is there that we meet Catherine Dickens, who seems bored with it all, and his many children. Dickens is attentive and complimentary to Nelly, she is overwhelmed, and one thing leads to another. She is not discouraged by her mother (Kristen Scott Thomas) who is looking out for her family. We then see Dickens not only as the great public figure that he was, but also as the unintentionally cruel Victorian husband who ignores his wife (but not his family) and takes a mistress because he can, even though he never publicly acknowledges her. Wilkie Collins has his own mistress and rails against Victorian society but is careful not to break its rules. It is at this point that the film becomes incredibly downbeat as Nelly realizes that only men have the freedom to be themselves. Years later she confides to a friend “even if we (women) are with someone, we are always alone”. The Invisible Woman has some pungent late 20th century observations to make about women in Victorian society although I couldn’t help but feel that Dickens, who was no mean social critic himself, would have used his literary skills to make me care more about these characters, even if one is Dickens himself. An observation that I wish director Fiennes had taken to heart. Rated R for some sexual situations.

REVIEW BY CHIP KAUFMANN

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit ∑∑∑1/2

2014 Oscar Musings: Armchair Picks & Preferences

CHIP’S TAKE

Best Supporting Actress: and as riveting as it is disturbing. Lupita Nyongo for 12 Years Of the films nominated for awards this Here we go again! A Slave. My Preference: year, here’s who I think will win versus who Nine Best Pictures and June Squibb for Nebraska. I’d like to see take home the gold statuette. only five Best Directors leaving four films that Best Director: Steve McBest Actor: Matthew McConaughey for directed themselves. The Queen for 12 Years A Slave. Dallas Buyers Club. My Preference: This is days of team player direcMy Preference: Alfonso a tough one, but … Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 tors who shared responCuaron for Gravity. Years A Slave. sibilities like Michael Best Picture: 12 Years A Best Actress: Sandra Bullock for Gravity. Gravity Acting veteran Bruce Dern Curtiz and John Sturges Slave. My Preference: My Preference: Cate Blanchett for Blue in Nebraska . are long gone, so what’s Nebraska. Jasmine. going on here? Best Supporting While it’s a simple matter to remove MICHELLE’S TAKE Actor: Jared the four films in question, they should have Leto for Dallas Seconding Chip’s thoughts on never been nominated in the first place. Buyers Club. having nine nominated films for Best After all this is the Academy Awards not a My Preference: Motion Picture of The Year, this college football playoff system where “the Michael change (instituted a couple of years more the merrier” is how they do things. Fassbender for 12 ago) seems to have been done purely No matter. I have my picks and my Years A Slave. for the financial cache and bragging preferences and, just as in years past, many rights that come to the studios and disof them are not the same. In fact this year, Best Supporting Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael tributors who have films nominated in none of them are. They are as follows… Actress: Lupita Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave. this category. Well, it’s that or someone Nyong’o for 12 Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years just wanted to make the Oscar telecast Years A Slave. My a Slave. My Preference: Bruce Dern for even longer… no, that’s probably not it. Preference: June Squib for Nebraska. Nebraska. With the exception of a few odd snubs, Best Director: Steve McQueen for 12 Years Best Actress: Sandra Bullock for Gravity. the nominations were fairly straightforward A Slave. My Preference: Alfonso Cuaron My Preference: Cate Blanchett for Blue and predictable, but that’s not to say without for Gravity. Gravity Jasmine. merit. For me, the most memorable performance among the nominees was Michael Best Picture: 12 Years A Slave. My Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto for DalFassbender’s as Master Epps in 12 Years A Preference: 12 Years A Slave. las Buyer’s Club. My Preference: Michael Slave. His performance is layered, nuanced, Fassbender for 12 Years A Slave.

ranks #2 in my book after Ford and ahead of Affleck and then Baldwin (sorry Alec). The reboot involves Jack Ryan as a younger character. He’s studying economics when 9/11 occurs and subsequently he volunteers for active duty in Afghanistan. He is seriously wounded in a helicopter incident (saving his two men in the chopper) and is mustered out to undergo painful rehabilitation. There he meets a young doctor (Keira Knightly) who eventually becomes his love interest. Once out of the hospital, he’s approached by Kevin Costner to join the CIA. Since Ryan’s background is in economics, he is put to work studying global finances. It

Short Take: Reboot of the Tom Clancy franchise works rather well thanks to Chris Pine’s sincerity and Kenneth Branagh’s stylish direction (not to mention his quality villain).

REEL TAKE: I must admit up front that I

have never read a single Tom Clancy book but I have seen every one of the previous movies and thoroughly enjoyed them. This new one is no exception and I have no problems with it being a reboot of the character. Chris Pine is Jack Ryan #4 after Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and, most recently, Ben Affleck. Chris

Chris Pine is a younger, more driven Jack Ryan in this reboot of the Tom Clancy character, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

isn’t long before he uncovers a Russian plot to subvert the American economy and, because of his background, he is pegged by Costner to go to Russia to try and stop it. He must do this without telling Knightly of his covert activities leaving her angry, puzzled, and determined to follow him. As is to be expected, this complicates matters somewhat. The mastermind behind the Russian plot is a disillusioned Soviet veteran who also served in Afghanistan and is now looking for payback against the U.S. for the loss of his country and of his son. On closer examination Ryan discovers that in addition to collapsing the U.S financial market, he is planning a massive terrorist attack on Wall Street as well. “I will make America bleed” he swears. Kenneth Branagh who plays the mastermind is also the film’s director and he brings his usual flair for dramatic camerawork with him. However, this time around it suits the material and Branagh never overdoes it the way so many movies do these days. He also manages to keep the actor Kenneth Branagh under control and his performance is very effective. There are the expected close-ups but they are not glamour shots and they are used sparingly. Being derived from Tom Clancy and with Jack Ryan as the central character, we already know how this ends so that’s not why we go see a movie like this. We go to see it because

we want to see an American good guy succeed and because we want to believe that our intelligence agencies still have our best interests at heart despite all the negative publicity of late. Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and intense action and brief strong language.

REVIEW BY CHIP KAUFMANN

The Legend of Hercules ∑∑ Short Take: Retelling of the Hercules legend is not as bad as it could have been, but it’s still not very good.

REEL TAKE: I really wanted to give this

movie one star, but The Legend of Hercules is clearly two star material. One star is for director Renny Harlin who still knows how to stage action sequences (even CGI ones) and who, once upon a time, made some crackerjack films (Cutthroat Cutthroat Island, The Long Kiss Goodnight Goodnight) with his then wife Geena Davis. The second star is for three positive attributes which I’ll mention at the end of the review because most of the things concerning Hercules don’t fall into the positive category. Let’s start with the story which is so convoluted that Cliff Notes (or whatever their contemporary equivalent is) would not be out ‘Movies’ continued on page 12

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film reviews ‘Movies’ continued from page 11

of place. An unhappy queen of a cruel king is loved by Zeus and gives birth to a demi-god who will eventually revenge her ill treatment. That’s just the overall outline. Throw in sibling rivalry, jealousy, gladiatorial games, kidnappings, ferocious battles, and thwarted love and you wind up with a headache minus the concussion.

Hercules (Kellan Lutz) is about to be unchained in the somewhat entertaining The Legend of Hercules.

Chip Kaufmann’s Pick: “Cavalcade”

Then there’s the script. I’ve always found it interesting that the more screenwriters there are (4 in this case), the worse the script usually turns out to be. You would think that it would just be the opposite, but then again if you’ve ever been on a committee or know the old saying “too many cooks spoil the broth” then I guess it should come as no surprise. Overwritten in some places and woefully underwritten in others, the end result is a mishmash that is totally forgettable. Finally there are the performances. When the movie started I was willing to give Kellan Lutz the benefit of the doubt. After the Twilight saga he acquitted himself nicely in a small little Indonesian movie called Java Heat that made my personal Top Ten list last year. This movie, however, makes the Twilight series look like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In his defense, Lutz is actually better than most of the rest of the cast so that should tell you something. I could go on and on but I would just be repeating myself. I’ll close out the review with the three things that I found worthwhile. 1) It is economical (you get 4 movies 300, Gladiator, and both Clash of the Titans rolled into one). 2) It ends after 90 minutes unlike some recent higher profile movies I could name. 3) It isn’t Inside Llewyn Davis. Somewhere in muscleman heaven Steve

February DVD Picks

Cavalcade (1933) Noel Coward’s Cavalcade was a huge success in its day. It can easily be seen as the precursor to Upstairs, Downstairs and other iconic BBC shows that followed in its wake. wake The storyline focuses on two families. Robert and Jane Marryot (Clive Brook and Diana Wynyard) live in a posh London townhouse presided over by servants Alfred and Ellen Bridges (Herbert Mundin and Una O’Connor). The Marryots have two sons while the Bridges have a daughter. The film opens in 1899 with Robert and Alfred going off to fight in the Boer War. After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the Bridges leave and open a pub and things start to go downhill for them from there. Robert is later knighted for his military service but shortly thereafter a tragic event occurs. And so it goes. We see a series of vignettes of both families over the next 30 years ending the year the film was made, 1933. While parts of the film are very theatrical by today’s standards, it must be remembered that this is a very British film from a very British author. It is also remarkably anti-war as well as nostalgic for the passing of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Cavalcade’s pacifist message impressed audiences in 1933 and explains why it disappeared for so many years after World War II broke out. It is the last Best Picture Oscar winner to make it to DVD. If

you’re interested in tracing the roots of shows like Downton Abbey, this is where you start.

About Time (2013) With February being the month of that arrow-slinging, winged baby, I figured something for Valentine’s Day would be in order. Rather than pick a classic, I picked a film that few people saw when it was out in the theatres, just a couple of months ago. Romantic comedy is a much maligned genre and with good reason. In contemporary cinema, if Richard Curtis isn’t at the helm of the typewriter, it generally isn’t good. With Notting Hill and the film adaptation of Bridget Jones among his writing credits, Love Actually and Pirate Radio among writing and directing credits, we are quite simply spoiled. Last year Curtis gave us About Time, the story of a romantically challenged young man who learns on his 21st birthday that the men in his family have the gift of time travel.

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Reeves, the original Hercules, is smiling. Rated PG-13 for intense combat action and violence and for some sensuality.

REVIEW BY CHIP KAUFMANN

Lone Survivor ∑∑∑1/2 Short Take: The film adaptation of Marcus Luttrell’s memoir about a team of Navy Seals on a mission in Afghanistan that goes horribly wrong.

REEL TAKE: Lest anyone not realize the title

is a dead give away, Lone Survivor tells the story of a Navy Seal mission in Afghanistan in 2005 that goes terribly, horribly wrong. Writer, actor, director Peter Berg (TV’s Friday Night Lights) adapted and directed the film, based on Marcus Luttrell’s best selling memoir by the same name. Such an adaptation is a daunting task, as one has to balance paying tribute to these fallen soldiers while creating an entertaining and meaningful movie. Berg succeeds in delivering a film that serves as a touching memorial and has mainstream cinematic appeal. Unfortunately, the film has a few too many internal battles to be considered a great war film, but has enough going for it that I’m not sure it actually really matters.

Michelle Keenan’s Pick: “About Time” Yes it’s a little outlandish, but they keep it pretty simple with the caveat that their ability for time travel is confined to their own lives. Like so many stories involving time travel, you have to just take it at face value; if you can’t do that, stop reading now, About Time isn’t for you. Domnhall Gleeson (son of Brendan Gleeson) is Tim, a likeable, gangly young man who yearns not just for female companionship but love. Like Hugh Grant in Notting Hill and Love Actually Actually, Gleeson is also the narrative voice, and as with Hugh Grant, it’s part of what draws us to him and to the story. When Tim’s father, played by the always great Bill Nighy, tells him about his gift for time travel, Tim decides he will use that gift for the purposes of love. So when he meets the girl of his dreams, he very easily can correct any misstep on the path of love by going back in time to the point of error and – fix it. That girl is Mary, played by Rachel McAdams. As with all Richard Curtis films the warmth of the relationships and the humanity within the story sets it apart from others. In this case Tim has a wonderful rapport with his family and his relationship with his father is one of the film’s greatest strengths. About Time is not perfect, but it’s awfully wonderful. Enjoy with your Valentine or your lonely heart.

Mark Wahlberg is the Lone Survivor in the film adaptation of Marcus Luttrell’s true story.

Mark Wahlberg stars as the titular survivor, Marcus Luttrell. It is clear from the start of the movie he and his fellow SEALS are a tight band of brothers; they know how to work together. One of the things that really worked in Berg’s adaptation was showing the power in the process of this team of soldiers. It seems like business as usual (if special ops is your business) when Lutrell and his team: Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Matt Axelson (Ben Foster) receive orders to capture a Taliban leader in a remote village. As the team scales the mountains surrounding the village and surveys the situation below, everything is going according to plan until a herd of goats and three herders stumble upon them. The SEALS quickly capture the goat herders – an old man, a young man and a boy. Faced with the moral dilemma (and war crimes if they make the wrong decision), our four heroes argue over what’s to be done. This is where everything falls apart. The results of which impact not just them but the rest of their unit en route to the village. The camaraderie between Wahlberg, Kitsch, Hirsch and Foster comes across organically and is a strong asset for the film. Wahlberg is at ease in the role and [I hope] does Luttrell justice. If Wahlberg comes across as the captain of the team, Kitsch is the heart of the team. It was refreshing to see Foster and Hirsch as likeable characters for a change. After an introduction implying we’d see more of them, it would have been nice to see a bit more development with Eric Bana and Alexander Ludwig, the commanding officer and new kid on the block respectively, back at the base. It’s understandable, but makes them collateral damage. The film packs a visceral punch – a bone crunching, blood-letting - but a more nuanced director may have known when and how to draw the line between effective and numbing. But then again, that too may have been the point. The film does pay a nice tip of the hat to the Afghan people who helped Luttrell. That moral goodness and act of humanity did more than just save a man’s life. Berg bookends Lone Survivor first, with footage from SEAL training videos, and then with video of the real Luttrell, Murph, Dietz and Axelson. It’s patriotic, heavy handed sentiment, and exactly what Berg intended. You may feel bludgeoned but I dare you not to be moved. Rated R for strong bloody war violence and pervasive language.

REVIEW BY MICHELLE KEENAN

artful living Buddha’s Four Noble Truths “Our suffering is holy if we embrace it and look deeply into it. If we don’t, it isn’t holy at all. We just drown in the ocean of our suffering.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of The Buddha’s Teaching

In northern India, over twenty-six-hundred years ago, a young nobleman, Siddhartha Gautama, determined to understand the nature, cause and remedy to the unique suffering he saw as the plight of human beings, took up the life of an ascetic, one who devotes their life entirely to meditation, ritual, yoga and complete denial of material and bodily comfort. He hoped, as many ascetics have, and has been quite common in Indian culture even to this day, that if he could completely conquer human desire for comfort and social standing, he would overcome suffering and find enlightenment. After fully exploring and mastering the ascetic’s art, Siddhartha realized that the extremity of this path could not bring him the understanding he sought. He realized that asceticism was its own form of egoic lifestyle, one that was in rejection of what was balanced and natural, and therefore could not lead to the perfect understanding and equanimity that he sought. It is told that he then sat in meditation beneath a bodhi tree and vowed not to rise until he realized enlightenment. He sat all day and all night, and as the morning star arose, it is said that he experienced full enlightenment and saw with clarity the answers he sought. Then after meditating for another forty-nine days he walked to the Deer Park nearby and gave his first teaching. There, to a small group of his fellow ascetics, he related his vision of Life as infinitely connected and therefore “empty” of separateness, of the necessity of a manner of life he called “the Middle Way,” neither ascetic nor

indulgent, but rather balanced in the manner that Nature always expresses balance, and that within each human exists the ability to realize full enlightenment, just as he had. He then presented what is known as “The Four Noble Truths,” a teaching on the nature of human suffering. He said that in all of Nature there is a kind of suffering unique to humans that is of a subjective quality, a product of the mind. He said that there exists a possibility of release from this suffering, and that he understood the path that frees us from this suffering. This is said to have set the “Dharma Wheel” of Buddhism in motion – the path of understanding that eventually will lead to the liberation of all sentient life from affliction caused by humanity’s delusional perception of a Universe of separateness, in hierarchy, with humanity as the foremost species, and selfconcern as the highest motivation. From the root word, “buddh” that translates in the Pali language of ancient India as “to awaken,” Siddhartha became known from that day as “The Buddha,” the one who “awakened,” and the path that he taught, “Buddhism,” the path of “awakening.”

Devastation in the Making

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a devastating disease. It maims the victim long before it kills the victim by causing an increased incidence of heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, peripheral vascular failure with neurological pain and/or amputation being the most commonly known consequences. In 2010, 25 million Americans were estimated to have DM types 1 or 2 – all of whom are at increased risk for diabetes-related disease processes – even with good medical interventions – good insulin control, lifestyle changes, symptom management. However, another group of people – 75 million Americans – are recognized as heading for membership in this DM group. These are the people with the diagnosis of pre-diabetes. How is the pre-diabetic state recognized? These people have one of the following: an

elevated level of coating on their hemoglobin (A1C) between 5.7 and 6.5, an elevated response to a sugar loading test (glucose tolerance test) of 160 to 200, or an elevated fasting blood sugar level (FPG) of 100-120 mg/d. In addition, they almost always have a BMI (body mass index) of greater than 25 (Calculate your BMI by multiplying your weight in pounds times 702, then dividing that total by your height in inches, then dividing that total by your height in inches a second time.) If you have a first degree relative with diabetes, are male (because males don’t check), are over 55, have high blood pressure, or are descended from certain ethnic groups (genetics and socio-economic factors), your risk of being pre-diabetic are increased. How can you avoid joining those who are members of the DM group – who have 60% chance of losing their sight, a 10X increased risk of dying with heart disease, a 40%

PART 1 OF 2 BY BILL WALZ

The Four Noble Truths The First Noble Truth – Suffering exists. There is pain and sickness and death for humans as for all creatures, and impermanence is a fact of existence. To be human, however, is to experience a unique kind of suffering in all the Universe, a subjective suffering of the mind (dukkha), also translated as “bitter or unsatisfactory experience.” No other creature suffers in this way. The Second Noble Truth is that this suffering has an identifiable origin and it is the belief in a separate self (ego), and our clinging to this false identity that can never feel secure because it experiences itself and all creation in separateness and impermanence which is intolerable to the ego. Because our minds have the unique ability to imagine, we want Life to be the way we imagine would make it better for us, and we want these better conditions to be permanent. Our understanding of this “better,” however, is deeply flawed and ultimately unattainable, and this creates emotional suffering. In our struggle to make a perfect life as we imagine it and our unhappiness with the way it is, we create much suffering in the world and in ourselves. We want what we want and are afraid of what we think threatens our ambitions. We cannot see beyond our preoccupation with this “self” in past and future time, and are

We are blind to the vast beauty that is the principle quality of Life. filled with insecurity. We are blind to the interconnectedness, intelligence, and vast beauty that transcends impermanence and is the principle quality of Life. As characterized by Eckhart Tolle, we are in “resistance to what is.” We are lost in the delusion of our separateness and the feeling of insignificance that comes with it. Our lives become dominated by craving and grasping after what we think will make our lives more satisfactory and less scary and by attachment to what we think will give us security. But this only makes our lives ultimately more unsatisfactory, insecure and scary since it is unachievable. Everything we cling to, everything we attach to, is either unattainable in an absolute way, or impermanent. That which gives comfort will become a source of discomfort, of suffering, when it goes away, as everything in the world of form must. Our lives are spent chasing after security in possessions, ideas, continued on page 32

MAX HAMMONDS, MD

chance of kidney failure? Two interventions have proven effective: 1) losing at least 7% of your body weight – if you currently weigh 200 pounds, losing at least 14 pounds and 2) increasing your exercise to at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. In many individuals, both of these interventions have proven to slow or stop the progress from the pre-diabetic state to full-blown diabetes. If you think you might be at risk for prediabetes, take the Diabetes Risk Test on-line at the American Diabetes Association website. If you score above 6 (you can score 5 just be being old, being male, and having a first degree relative with diabetes), see your doctor. Don’t play with your health; don’t expose yourself to the devastating effects of diabetes. Three-fourths of the pre-diabetics are unaware of their increased danger. Don’t be one of them.

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 13

Fabulous Downtown Asheville

The Best Shops, Galleries & Restaurants

More of What Makes Asheville Special

Creepy Cute GROUP SHOW

New art from ZaPow artists inspired by the theme Creepy Cute. Live music by Thick As Thieves guitar Deady’s Girl duo. Free beer from Asheby Mark Hadley ville Brewing! ZaPow is the only illustration and Pop Culture Art Gallery in the Southeast.

IF YOU GO: Opening reception Saturday,

February 8 from 7 to 9 p.m. ZaPow, 21 Battery Park Ave., downtown Asheville. For more details visit www.zapow.net.

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Get on the Map! Advertise with Rapid River Magazine. Free Web Links. Free Ad Design. Call (828) 646-0071.

14 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

We Love Fabulous Downtown Asheville! Grounded in Art

GREG VINEYARD

More of What Makes Asheville Special The Best Shops, Galleries & Restaurants Pack Square Park, downtown Asheville. The sculptural railing on Reuter Terrace was designed and built by Black Mountain artist Julia Burr.

INSPIRATIONS HIGH AND LOW

When I was younger (a long time ago, in a state far, far away), I would gaze up into the sky and locate the ever-present Big Dipper, a constellation completely unaware of its role in my typically human, but also wondrous, connective ritual. In this part of the country, my stabilizer is the three stars of Orion’s Belt. Much like back then with the Dipper, I can find Orion quite easily with just a quick turn or two of my head. On nights when the stars aren’t visible, I’m reassured from having seen them enough to know that they’re still present. At one point, I lived in a large city with so much light pollution that the stars weren’t visible unless a major earthquake knocked out all the power, shockingly revealing a Milky Way that was indeed still enveloping us. A more tangible steadying force in our lives can be to seek inspirations throughout any given day (but only one, huge star is visible; don’t look up!). In addition to us each plugging-in to activities related to our professional preoccupations, we also need stuff that contributes to a fun, varied, balanced life.

Ode to Orion and Vicente, 2014. Mixed-media illustration by Greg Vineyard

A recent visit to the Asheville Art Museum (for me, museums are both business and pleasure) turned out to be a joltingly connected moment kicking off my artistic 2014. There’s always something fascinating to see. And it’s RIGHT HERE. What a refreshing visit I had when I finally made it in to see a show that I knew would, for me, be like connecting the dots of stars. As an artist and designer, color and its history play a very important role in my endeavors, so the Esteban Vicente installation was vital to see in person. I entered continued on page 17

PG. 32

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 15

Fabulous Downtown Asheville

The Best Shops, Galleries & Restaurants

More of What Makes Asheville Special

AN INTERVIEW WITH JESSICA LIED, ARTIST AND CHOCOLATIER AT

INTERVIEWED BY

DENNIS RAY

The Chocolate Fetish

Jessica Lied has been sharing her artistic talents with customers of The Chocolate Fetish since 2009.

PG. 14

Using colored chocolates, her creative designs grace products ranging from Chocolate High Heel Shoes and Cowboy Boots to hand decorated chocolate hearts, leaves, and Easter Eggs. Having received her Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the prestigious Pratt Institute, Jessica relocated to Asheville seeking a change of pace from the busy urban environment in New York City. She quickly found

Jessica Lied: The first step is to have

perfectly tempered chocolate. The high quality chocolate we work with requires a process called tempering which includes raising and lowering the temperature of the chocolate over a period of time in order to obtain the proper crystalline structure. The colored chocolates are then applied to the molds so that when I add the dark or milk chocolate, the color adheres to the chocolate creating the finished piece. I pay a lot of attention to the colors in terms of how they relate to each other, the season, current trends, and creating an appetizing finished product.

RRM: What’s the most chal-

lenging thing about working with chocolate?

JL: The most challenging thing about creating art with chocolate is balancing my creative desires with the realities of creating a food product. For example once a chocolate is in temper it takes constant attention to maintain the temper. I would like to decorate the High Heel Shoes with numerous colors but I have to limit myself to what I can keep in temper.

RRM: What’s your favorite

thing to make at The Chocolate Fetish?

PG. 14

JL: My favorite thing is to cre-

ate new color palettes and new designs. I like the challenge that comes with working out a Jessica Lied, artist and chocolatier, creates new pattern to decorate chocobeautiful and appetizing chocolate art. lates with. There are a lot of things to consider when making a new her niche working at The Chocopattern for a chocolate product; the finlate Fetish where she is in charge of ished item has to not only be beautiful making all of their hand decorated but also appetizing. I also have to be able novelty chocolates. to execute it in a timely manner since We recently caught up with JesI am working in a production focused sica as she was busy creating Valenenvironment. tine’s Day inspired High Heel Shoes, here is what she had to say about art, RRM: How is creating art in Asheville chocolate, and life in Asheville. different than creating art in New York City? Rapid River Magazine: Tell us a little bit about the process of creatJL: In New York City there is a lot of ing these beautiful hand decorated pressure and lots of expectations. I like chocolates.

16 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

Hand decorated and totally decadent, chocolate high heel shoes.

I think of myself as a mixed media artist; chocolate is just another medium. the laid back attitude of Asheville but also appreciate how much the critical atmosphere of New York City pushed me as an artist.

RRM: When you aren’t using your creative talents to create chocolate what kind of art do you like to create? JL: I think of myself as a mixed

media artist; chocolate is just another medium I am trying to master. My degree focused on fine art painting and most recently I am interested in printmaking and bookbinding.

RRM: Where can people see more of your non-chocolate art?

JL: I hope to put together a show of

my work within the next year. I’m not sure where it will be yet but I know The Chocolate Fetish will let all their Facebook fans know when it happens!

The Chocolate Fetish 36 Haywood Street Downtown Asheville (828) 258-2353 www.chocolatefetish.com

noteworthy

R. Buckminster Fuller:

ALICE SEBRELL

THE HISTORY (AND MYSTERY) OF THE UNIVERSE

The History (and Mystery) of the Universe, a one-man play written w ritten by D.W. Jacobs from the life, work and writings of R. Buckminster Fuller, will be performed by noted actor and storyteller David Novak. This play is a mesmerizing autobiographical monologue that beautifully captures the insights and poetry of Fuller’s ingenuity. R. Buckminster Fuller (“Bucky”) was an epic thinker. His insights continue to inform and resonate with us today. Fuller spent two summers at Black Mountain College (1948 and 1949) and left an indelible mark on that community. It was the summer of 1948 when he (with the help of the entire BMC community) attempted to build his first large-scale geodesic dome. Though it was unsuccessful (and dubbed the “Supine Dome” as a result) he came back the next summer and successfully erected a dome. Fuller is best known as an inventor/designer, and as the popularizer of the geodesic dome, yet his ingenuity extended into the realm of discourse

‘Grounded’ cont’d from page 15

as well. He was a poet and weaver of words. Bucky was famous for his impromptu lectures that could last for days. Aided by D. W. Jacobs’ brilliant weaving of Bucky’s words, noted actor and storyteller, David Novak, performs a rhapsody on the life of this great 20th century epic individual. This play was performed in 2012 at NC Stage and received rave reviews. “What I got was an evening not only bountiful in itself, but one which is redefining what I expect from an experience in the theater... David Novak masters the complicated task of keeping an audience on the edge of its seat while, essentially, sharing scientific observation.” ~ David Hopes, Asheville Citizen-Times There will be one performance of The History (and Mystery) of the Universe, on February 1 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 / $10 for BMCM+AC members and students w/ID. This performance is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Cynthia Homire: Vision Quest.

David Novak as Buckminster Fuller. Photo courtesy of the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

IF YOU R. Buckminster Fuller: GO The History (and Mystery)

of the Universe, Saturday, February 1 at 7 p.m. Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, 56 Broadway, downtown Asheville. (828) 350-8484, or visit www.blackmountaincollege.org,

The Asheville Art Museum is helping preserve

and pass along culture and history. the exhibit on a quiet Sunday afternoon, and I had the museum almost entirely to myself. appropriate lighting, and room to step Orion to remind me I’m on solid It was as if I had dropped in on a in and read or step back and appreciate. ground, daily I am eyes-forward, large, modern and private living room, When a facility has done everything it peering into the intriguing constelwith all his beautiful drawings, paintcan to create a suitable experience for the lation that is Asheville, chock-full of ings and collages there just for me to see, viewer, one gets to be guided, educated, the spirit of those who toiled before absorb and appreciate. and even creatively fueled. us, and of the artists and entrepreVicente worked with a variety of maI also enjoyed the Josef Albers color neurs who are leading now, promptterials throughout his long career, and was studies, and Ben Aronson’s fascinating me to muse upon what we may connected to some of the most imporing paintings, plus a stroll through the historically become. tant artistic movements of the twentieth permanent collecStaying stimulated and involved century. Like so many tions. Throughout is vitally important to the overall of us in the arts, he was the premises I was creative process. I hope you get a also presenting his own gleaning movements, chance to dip into something personlanguage in his own way. reawakening sparks, ally inspiring to you today — like I absolutely loved it. seeing old “friends” the Asheville Art Museum! Oh, and As someone who — and feeling joy. “my” stars are big enough to share, so has hung a lot of art (and Along with other local don’t forget to look up tonight. who was also, once upon organizations which a time, a museum tour address a wide variety guide), I also really apof subject matter, preciated the museum’s Greg Vineyard is an artistic and otherwise, artist, writer and choices regarding details creative consultant the Asheville Art like focal points, chroin Asheville, NC. Museum is helping nology and groupings ZaPOW Gallery in preserve and pass — and even the height downtown Asheville, along culture and hisand spacing of the works (www.zapow.com), tory, connecting past, — as well as the site-lines carries his illustrations, giclees, present and future. and walking flow of this prints and cards. While I look show. Not to mention Get inspired at the upward nightly to www.gregvineyardillustration.com. the good information, Asheville Art Museum.

BLACK MOUNTAIN - 28711

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 17

Culturally Rich HENDERSONVILLE The Art House

Take an old 4800 square foot cabinet workshop built in 1950, transform it into a stylish art gallery and event center, and you have just what owners Mark & Susan Johnston-Olivari created.

The gorgeous gallery space has exotic hard wood floors, high ceilings with beautiful exposed beams, a sitting area with coffee bar, and spacious classrooms. The Art House Gallery and The Art House Gallery and Studio is located in Flat Rock. Studio is a new addition to the Flat Rock art community, showing works from a varied group of artists from the surrounding area. The artwork displayed is diverse and draws the viewer in for a closer Paintings by the children of the Boys and Girls Club. look. The works currently featured are Photo: Keli Keach Photography Veronika Hart’s incredible surrealistic human animal fusions, Susan Johnston’s serene oil landscapes, Heidi Mayfield’s emotional and The Game of Hearts benefit energetic abstracts, Kate features dinner, champagne, and Thayer’s special process of watercolor and pastel a silent auction – Friday, February landscapes, and Bobbi 14 beginning at 6 p.m. Polizzi’s unique, one of a kind, mysterious, whimowner Susan Olivari has a vision of uniting art and philansical sculptures. thropy; she has hosted several fundraising events including The Art House also the children’s Christmas party to benefit Hospice Home hosts events, personalHealth. Her true love for art and the artistic community is ized parties, art classes, reflected in her all-inclusive events held at the gallery. She is dance classes and more. working diligently on her next venture, “Game of Hearts,” to Susan Olivari, owner of The space is also available The Art House. be held on Valentine’s Day. This charity dinner benefits the for wedding receptions Photo: Keli Keach Photography Boys and Girls Club of Hendersonville. and private parties. The This elegant event should not be missed and is celebrated with a delicious romantic dinner, champagne, and most importantly a “Game of Hearts.” During the evening you will dart to a painting by one of the great kids from the Boys and Girls Club that captures your heart, and take it home. Along with the children’s heart paintings, local artists will provide artwork that is inspired by their own true love, for a silent auction. Live light jazz music will be provided by Ellen Trnka and special guest musician Paul Sciro. Catering this event is Robyn Painter of Dandelion. Tickets will be sold at The Art House Gallery & Studio and Dandelion Eatery. Cost is $58 per person. Seating is limited. RSVP at (828) 595-9500 or (828) 808-3594. Paintings of hearts by the children of the Boys and Girls Club will be on display until the 14th. For evening entertainment and fun, The Art House is currently holding an Art Movie night every 1st Saturday of the month. Art movie night is not your average movie night at the theater; picture a huge projection screen with intimate seating while you devour hors d’oeuvre, popcorn and drinks with discussions after. The upcoming movie will be The Red Violin, February 1 from 6-9 p.m. Current art classes include a Masterpiece Series, inspired HR by founding artistic geniuses Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and others. This adult art class is set continued on page 19

18 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

Culturally Rich HENDERSONVILLE INTERVIEW WITH FINE ARTIST

INTERVIEWED BY

Veronika Hart

Rapid River Magazine: Tell us a

little about your art and what inspires you.

Veronika Hart: I was born and raised

on an isolated farm in Tanzania, East Africa. At the age of 15 I left Africa for school in Europe. Shortly after finishing art training in Germany I met my American husband and after moving to the US settled in the suburbs of NYC. Living there for most of my life I worked as an illustrator, raised a family and studied figurative oil painting. In 2003 I visited Tanzania and travelled to the farm I had once lived on as a child/teen. After returning to the US I began painting “Africa”; images mostly of people and animals and at some point began melding them together, launching a visual journey I have followed over the past 10 years. In 2007 we moved to HendersonGnu Msichana, ville where by Veronika Hart I continued exploring ways to blend human and animal forms. My latest work features bears, wolves and horses.

RRM: Animals play an important role in most of your work. Why is this?

RRM: What drew you to become a painter and how would you describe your style?

VH: My older siblings were all very good at drawing and painting and I learned a lot by watching them in my early childhood. When they moved on to other talents I became the family artist, school artist and finally a professional artist. I have always been drawn to figurative artwork and think my form of expression lies somewhere between the realm of contemporary realism and surrealism.

Veronika Hart’s work features bears, wolves and horses. Photo: Keli Keach Photography

RRM: Is art about ideas or feeling? VH: In my opinion logic, thought and

feelings are partners in the creative process. A good visual idea is only such if it evokes an emotion in the viewer. In other words an eye-catching abstraction can be just as moving as a visual narrative rendered with figurative accuracy. It takes confidence and skill to deliver both in harmony upon the same canvas. Although the figurative aspect of my work dominates, I also let the unplanned flow of color and shape guide me.

RRM: How do you go about creat-

ing one of your paintings? How much preparation time do you spend prior to actually putting paint on canvas?

‘The Art House’ cont’d from page 18

All in all, the Art House Gallery & Studio is making a bang with their multifaceted space. A full schedule of events and classes can be found online at www. arthousegalleryandstudio.com.

up for you to recreate a masterpiece of your own while you sip on your favorite wine. Great for girl’s night out or date night. We supply all materials. Friday, February 7 from 5-7 p.m. Refreshments included. Sacred Circle Dance by Tarleton Brooks will be held February 15 & 23 from 4-6 p.m. In the very near future, they will have music night, where musicians will have an open mic and enjoy a little improvisation from time to time. Also a two-day landscape painting workshop with Jill McGannin from Atlanta will be held on March 21.

DENNIS RAY

mative years I drew and painted images of animals relentlessly and continued to be fascinated by them throughout my adult life. Many of my paintings depict portraits of overlapping animal and human forms.

VH: Living on a farm in Africa I was

surrounded by both wild and domestic animals. As a child and in my for-

IF YOU For more information on GO events and classes please call

(828) 595-9500 or email arthousegallery5@gmail.com. The Art House Gallery & Studio, 5 Highland Park Rd., E. Flat Rock, NC, between W. Blue Ridge Rd. and N. Highland Lake Rd. For more information please visit www. arthousegalleryandstudio.com.

VH: Initial size and format determine

how and where I begin my thought process. Very often I will start with charcoal on paper. After establishing a light grid with the golden cut intersection in mind, I think in terms of the relationship of light and dark shapes with no specific figurative image in mind. Invariably at some point my figurative training kicks in and I begin turning abstract lights and darks into specific figurative shapes, blending and adding or erasing as I go along. Once I am satisfied with the general appearance on paper, I will move onto my primed canvas. Working on a grid identical to the one on my paper sketch, I apply light washes to the canvas with diluted oil paint to recreate the same image as I have on paper. If time allows I will also prepare a small color sketch to guide me. After the under painting has dried I get serious. I make sure I have mixed a lot of paint ahead of time then work swiftly balancing shapes, colors and values, keeping everything free and flowing but also allowing room for unplanned abstractions. Visit www.veronikahart.com Veronika Hart’s work is on display at The Art House Gallery and Studio, 5 Highland Park Rd, East Flat Rock, NC 28726. Call (828) 595-9500 or visit www.arthousegalleryandstudio.com HE

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 19

Culturally Rich HENDERSONVILLE & Flat Rock

Arts & Culture in Hendersonville

Surrounded by the beautiful mountains, Hendersonville is known as the “City of Four Seasons,” a place where one can be as idle or active as one wishes. Hendersonville offers abundant cultural opportunities for residents and visitors of all ages. The Flat Rock Playhouse (the State Theater of NC), the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, festivals throughout the year, parks and hiking trails, all add to the diverse entertainment and recreational opportunities. Visit www.hendersonvilleartsdistrict.com

FLAT ROCK - 28726

YOUR LOCALLY OWNED SOURCE FOR FINE ART MATERIALS, CUSTOM FRAMING & PRINTING

Matthew Smith has been mixing art and business since the ‘90s when he graduated with degrees in Fine Arts and Advertising.

art supply stores in Western North Carolina. Matthew likes to brag that they have canvases from as small as 2” x 2” to as big as 48” x 60” and most sizes in between. That variety goes for most of the other supplies as well. And the best part is many items are discounted every day. Canvases are usually 40% off, professional grades of paint are 15-40% off and most brushes are 25% off. With prices like that, you don’t need to wait for a sale, but they do that too. Every couple of weeks different product lines or brands are discounted even further. In early February, for example, Golden Acrylics will be Buy 3, Get 1 Free and at the end of the month, brushes will be Buy 2, Get 1 Free. For the not-so-common materials, they also offer a fully stocked web-store located at www.StarvingArtistCatalog. com. There you can find over 45,000

In 2010, he opened The Starving Artist and has been serving and supporting the artists of Hendersonville and the rest of Western North Carolina ever since. Matthew thinks of The Starving Artist as a one-stop-shop for artists of all levels. Some artists have said they think of The Starving Artist as an artist’s support team...or sometimes a support group. The Starving Artist offers a large variety of art materials. From paints, canvases, and brushes to printmaking and mixed media materials, we trust that you’ll find The Starving Artist one of the most diverse and well stocked

items. Of course, like any on-line retailer, they can ship direct to your door but, being a local business they also offer free shipping for in-store pick-ups. So, if you only need one brush or tube of paint, you won’t have to worry about shipping costs or meeting high minimums just to get free shipping. Just one of the perks of working with a local business. When it comes to framing your masterpiece, The Starving Artist is happy to do as much or as little work as you need. Of course you have a full service custom frame shop at your disposal. Their framing HENDERSONVILLE - 28792 AS department is experienced with all types of HE V IL LE archival framing techniques for all sorts of HW Y LO mediums including pastels, needlework, CU shadowboxes and antiques to name a few. ST ST But for the do-it-yourselfers they also AV E T H offer frame molding, either assembled and N E SEV AV E ready to go, or in lengths if you want to cut E IG H T H and join it yourself. They also offer a full line of Crescent and Bainbridge mat and HG backing boards by the sheet or custom cut. S IX T H AV E If you need glass or any of the little bits of hardware to finish your piece, they have that too. HE VE F IF T H A The Starving Artist also offers a wide AV E range of custom printing. If you are lookF O RT H ing to promote yourself or your art, they print business cards, post cards, rack cards, T H IR D AV E brochures, banners and more. If you are HB looking to reproduce your art, they also E offer a Giclee printing service with three V A T F IR S different types of canvas and three differT S N E L AL ELL ST W ent finishes of paper available in any size N R A B L IL LY up to 40" x 60". To go with these printing PO T GR ELL S ND CASEW O V services, The Starving Artist also offers E graphic design and photography services. ST HR Whether you need fliers for an upcoming show, or photos for your website, they will be able to help out when you need them. To hear more from The Starving D AV IS Artist, or to keep up to date with their sales ST and promotions, you can sign up for their S PA R T A N B U e-mail newsletter at www.wncStarvinW H IT E RG HW ST Y HEBRON RD gArtist.com. Matthew doesn’t like to send too many e-mails, so he makes the ones HS he does send count. Each month he gives F L E M M IN G S T

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continued on page 34

fine arts & crafts Making an Impression, and Eyecatchers

February brings exciting changes to the Folk Art Center and Southern Highland Craft Guild exhibition spaces.

The Focus Gallery, which has tradition2014. From the private collection of Barbara ally been a venue for a pair of Guild members and Robert Hunter, this exhibition highlights exhibiting work is now a multi-artist space. a variety of designs, fabrics, and techniques The inaugural show is, found in traditional and Making An Impression, contemporary art quilts. featuring work by memThe Hunters have bers in a variety of media supported the art and craft including: Enid Adams community for decades (fiber wearables), Peggy and many of the quilts DeBell (mixed media texon display were made by tiles), Ursula Goebel-Ellis members of the Guild. (clay sculpture), and Janice Other quilts were Maddox (art quilting). The made by artists in other show will run through parts of the United States April 29 with craft objects and abroad includchanging as pieces sell. ing Minnesota, Illinois, The Southern HighColorado, Texas, Canada, land Craft Guild is pleased Great Britain, and France. to host Eyecatchers: The For details about Hunter Collection as its each quilt and its maker Ceramic sculpture by first Main Gallery show of visit www.craftguild.org. Ursula Goebel-Ellis

APRIL NANCE

The exhibition is on display through May 11, 2014. The Folk Art Center is home to Allanstand Craft Shop, Allanstand Interiors, the Robert W. Gray Memorial Library, three exhibition spaces, and a National Park Service information desk and bookstore. IF YOU The Folk Art Center is GO located at Milepost 382

Blue Ridge Parkway, just off Hwy 70 in east Asheville, and is open from 9-5 daily with free admission and free parking. For more information, call (828) 298-7928, or visit www.craftguild.org.

Quilt created by Barbara Swinea

The Southern Highland Craft Guild is an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

Spectacular & Enjoyable BILTMORE VILLAGE Discover Historic Biltmore Village Built in the late 1890s as a classic planned community at the entrance to George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Estate, Historic Biltmore Village is truly one of the South’s most unique touring and shopping environments. Enjoy quaint, tree-lined streets, brick sidewalks, open air dining, original historic houses from the 1900s. Discover top quality artwork at realistic prices, amazing, one-of-akind merchandise of true quality, and wonderful customer service. Shop at Fresh Produce for fun, fresh clothing in comfortable, natural fabrics and a rainbow of colors and prints. The Cantina Fresh Mex and Tequila Bar offers all your favorite south of the border delights with a local twist. For a full list of local shops and businesses visit www.biltmorevillage.com.

Fun, fresh clothing and accessories for women 18 Lodge Street in historic Biltmore Village • 828-505-7775 freshproduceasheville.com

BILTMORE VILLAGE BP

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 21

noteworthy The Venue’s Inaugural Dinner

The Venue branches out into event production with a Valentine’s Day dinner showcasing the talents of Executive Chef Steve Boeger. Featuring an art decoinspired façade and spacious, two-story interior, The Venue at 21 North Market Street has been the staging ground for countless wedding parties, corporate meetings, and top Asheville fêtes and fund-raisers. But for the first time, owner and event planner Marta Bodenhorst and her team are hosting a classy evening of their own: a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. “We have this beautiful space that goes unused part of the time, I have a background in event planning, and Steve Boeger is an incredibly talented chef that we’re lucky to have — it just makes sense to begin producing our own events,” says Bodenhorst. “We have all the components to be successful.” On Friday, February 14, The Dinner Date presents a cocktail hour with appetizers starting at 6 p.m., followed by a four-course meal with wine pairings at 7 p.m. Executive Chef Steve Boeger has prepared a decadent menu of tentative items such as lamb medallions with mint caviar, duck confit “cigars,” and charred beef tenderloin, among other delectable bites. Live music will take place during dinner, and guests can dance the night away. As an added touch, Bodenhorst offers a creative and romantic way for guests to invite their dates. Wine bottle vases bearing personalized invites on the labels come with three red roses. The invitation is $15, and for $25 The Venue staff will deliver the surprise invitation

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22 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

MELISSA REARDON

to your date. The Valentine’s Day fête is the first in a series of Dinner Dates in the works for this independently owned establishment. The Venue is a 13,000-squarefoot event facility located in downtown Asheville that offers a variety of services, from rental of china and in-house floral designers to catering services. Marta Bodenhorst and her husband, John, opened Asheville’s Bier Garden in 1993, which they ran for seven years. The Bodenhorst’s opened The Venue in 2009. An Asheville native, Executive Chef Steve Boeger says he grew up around international cuisine with the knowledge that “quality food was an essential ingredient to good living.” Boeger entered the culinary realm in 1997 as a classically trained chef, and sharpened his skills working in restaurants, several five-star hotels, and as the Banquet Chef at Biltmore Forest Country Club in 2004. IF YOU The Dinner Date, Friday, GO February 14. Cocktail hour

begins at 6 p.m. Cocktail attire is recommended; black tie is optional. Tickets are $150 per couple. For reservations, call (828) 252-1101 ext. 305 or email corporate@ashevillevenue.com. The Venue, 21 North Market Street, downtown Asheville. Visit www.AshevilleVenue.com.

Local Flavors

The following artists will be exhibiting new works at the “Local Flavors” exhibit hosted by the Haywood County Arts Council at Gallery 86. Artist demonstrations will be held Saturdays, from 1-5 p.m. through March. Terry Thompson, jewelry Melissa Enloe Walter, acrylic painting on gold and silver leaf Mark Schieferstein, metal work Joyce Brunsvold, quilt art Ron Brunsvold, photography Cory Plott, ceramics Craig Burgwardt, oil Vicki Pinney, cold wax Wendy Cordwell, collage Becki Kollat, art books Barbara Sammons photography Tadashi Torii, glass t.e. siewert, encaustic Betina Morgan, acrylic Jere Smith, woodwork Sylvia Hirschegger, oil Crystal Allen Coates, ceramics Steven Lange, mixed media Carol Blackwell, 3-D assemblage Waylon Christner, mixed media Corina Pia Torii, visual artist Constance Williams, encaustic

Saturday Demonstrations February 8 – Betina Morgan, acrylic February 15 – Sylvia Hirschegger, oil February 22 – Wendy Cordwell, collage March 1 – Melissa Enloe Walter, acrylic on metal leaf March 8 – Joyce Brunsvold, quilting March 15 – Teri Siewert, encoustic IF YOU Gallery 86 is located at 86 N. GO Main St. in Waynesville, NC.

The exhibit will run from February 4 through March 29. For more information call (828) 452-0593 or visit www.haywoodarts.org.

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20 Church Street, Waynesville www.classicwineseller.com

828-452-6000

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 23

authors ~ books ~ poetry

A Reader’s Email Message Introduces a Remarkable Poet

Every now and then I receive an email that is so intriguing I wish I could publish it. I hope you enjoy this note I got last month from my friend Dale Bowen. ~ Marcianne Miller

HAPPY IDEAS

Ok – since y’all BY DALE BOWEN don’t keep me informed on such cultural news, unassuming grad stuI must make the point dent. She looked that to share awareness of age, and very much a treasurable literary that type. Except she pearl our current society was modest, plain, offers up from the deep unpretentious, and mysterious waters of so not snobby in the poetry — her name is least, like other socialMary Szybist. ly dictated eccentric I inadvertently Mary Szybist, poet and author of Incarnadine. fogies that seem to get Her work appears to soar and met this gal in a most teacher jobs in college. plummet the very breadth and depth unsuspecting way, a I didn’t behave too flabbergasted when she told of how we yearn for the elusive couple of years ago at Warren Wilson College. me she was in fact a member of the faculty at meaning of love. But hey, that’s just It was the winter session of their open-to-theWarren Wilson. Meaning she was a professor! my initial take.... I know, it might public lecture series. Sitting on a cold metal And not a mere student trudging dauntingly seem all too common, can’t we say folding chair, she was in the row in front of hopeful through the program. such of any poet? But Szybist’s work me before that day’s lectures commenced, the communicates that room abuzz with everyone meeting and greettotal, yet vast uning with saccharin smiles, weird glasses, and spoken realness of bad hair; getting themselves all situated around IN TENNESSEE I FOUND A FIREFLY open but forested with coffee, notebooks, while wrangling tacky cloudy space that fleece wraps off over cable knit sweaters and Flashing in the grass; the mouth of a spider clung only a real soul hipster jeans. You got the scene, right? to the dark of it: the legs of the spider can ask or dare Somehow, I’m not sure how, but introheld the tucked wings close, journey. ductory chit chat sparked up between Szybist held the abdomen still in the midst of calling Later, someand me. I thought she was just a nice polite with thrusts of phosphorescent light— how, somewhere, I copped her poem When I am tired of being human, I try to remember about a firefly in the two stuck together like burrs. I try to place them Tennessee, from central in my mind where everything else must her first book of surround them, must see the burr and the barb of them. poetry, Granted There is courtship, and there is hunger. I suppose (Alice James there are grips from which even angels cannot fly. Books 2003). Even imagined ones. Luciferin, luciferase. Loved it! When I am tired of only touching, I have my mouth to try to tell you ~ Dale Bowen what, in your arms, is not erased.

by Mary Szybist, from "Granted"

Incarnadine Wins 2013 National Book Award

VIDEOS OF POET MARY SZYBIST

Rapid River Magazine’s Poetry Contest Winners Thank you to everyone who submitted poems! The winning poems will be published in the April 2014 issue of Rapid River Magazine.

Visit the National Book Award website, www.nationalbook.org, and search for the 2013 winner for poetry. • Mary Szybist Accepts the 2013 National Book Award in Poetry; introduction by poet Nikky Finney (Vimeo) • Mary Szybist reads from Incarnadine: Poems, 2013 NBA Finalists Reading (YouTube)

24 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

I just found out that Mary Szybist won the 2103 National Book Award for Poetry for her second book, Incarnadine (Graywolf Press 2013). So very well deserved. And it couldn’t happen to a more humble human. An invitation to you all, dear friends: Expose yourself to Mary’s poetry the first chance you get.

I had the happy idea to fasten a bicycle wheel to a kitchen stool and watch it turn. ~ DUCHAMP I had the happy idea to suspend some blue globes in the air and watch them pop. I had the happy idea to put my little copper horse on the shelf so we could stare at each other all evening. I had the happy idea to create a void in myself. Then to call it natural. Then to call it supernatural. I had the happy idea to wrap a blue scarf around my head and spin. I had the happy idea that somewhere a child was being born who was nothing like Helen or Jesus except in the sense of changing everything. I had the happy idea that someday I would find both pleasure and punishment, that I would know them and feel them, and that, until I did, it would be almost as good to pretend. I had the happy idea to call myself happy. I had the happy idea that the dog digging a hole in the yard in the twilight had his nose deep in mold-life. I had the happy idea that what I do not understand is more real than what I do, and then the happier idea to buckle myself into two blue velvet shoes. I had the happy idea to polish the reflecting glass and say hello to my own blue soul. Hello, blue soul. Hello. It was my happiest idea.

Mary Szybist, who grew up in Pennsylvania, earned her B.A. and M.T. (Master of Teaching) from the University of Virginia. She has won numerous awards and fellowships. Among her several teaching positions, she is an associate professor of English at Lewis & Clark in Portland, Oregon, and is a member of the faculty at the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers.

by Mary Szybist, from “Incarnadine”

For more information about Mary Szybist visit www.poetryfoundation.org/ bio/mary-szybist. Dale Bowen is an Asheville writer/artist. He can be reached at daleb07@charter.net. Marcianne Miller is a local writer and critic. She can be reached at marci@aquamystique.com.

poetry ~ books ~ readings The Poet’s Voice Sound is the gold in the ore of poetry.

~ Robert Frost

CAROL PEARCE BJORLIE – THE POET BEHIND THE CELLO

The sound of the poem is as important as the text.

~ Robert Bly

Being lost in sound is best.

~ Robert Wrigley

FEBRUARY

We host numerous Readings & Bookclubs, as well as Poetrio!

PARTIAL LISTING Visit www.malaprops.com

THE SOUND OF WORDS

When poets write, we connect with When the world. Somebody out there is listening, and hopefully reading our words aloud. Words stay in the reader’s ears and hearts. How do poets choose words for sound? Tools include our voices, the alphabet, alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia, and reading, reading, reading, poetry out loud. Mary Oliver’s books, Blue Pastures, and A Poetry Handbook Handbook, inform and inspire. She declares that the three ingredients of poetry are: the mystery of the universe, spiritual curiosity, and the energy of language. She writes, “to make a poem, we must make sounds. Not random sounds, but chosen sounds.” We use the alphabet for the “felt” quality of its sounds. I like poetry with lexical energy. Every syllable is divine. Words with energy come alive in my mouth, on the page, and in my ears. Read the first verse of this Emily Dickinson poem on pain, aloud. I felt a Cleaving in my Mind – As if my Brain had Split – I tried to match it – Seam by Seam But could not make them fit. Ah! The long vowels. Ah! the short! Ah! the Onomatopoeia! Garrison Keillor loves the sound of words. From his 2002 book, Good Poems,

THE WRITERS’ WORKSHOP February 1: Writing the Short Story with Dale Neal For beginning or experienced writers – techniques for crafting the short story. Publishing information will also be given. Students may bring up to five pages for in-class review. Meets Saturday, 10-4 p.m. $75/$70 members.

February 22: Novel Writing with Brenda McClain For beginning and experienced writers – techniques of crafting the novel, including characterization, dialogue, plot, and sense of place. Publication information will also be given, and students may bring up to 5 pages for in-class review. Participants will discuss award-winning novels and engage in writing exercises. Meets Saturday, 10-4 p.m. $75/$70 members.

comes an eleven verse paean to wacky words. Two verses from Sharon Bryan’s poem, A Love Song to Literature, included here. Never better, mad as a hatter, right as rain, might and main, hanky panky, hot toddy, .... flim flam, happy as a clam, cat’s pajamas, bee’s knees, peas in a pod, pleased as punch. May Swenson uses the assonance tool (interior rhyme) in this poem, Handling Some Small Shells. Their scrape and clink together of musical coin then the tinkling of crickets more eerie, more thin. Their click as of crystal wood, carapace and bone. a tintinnabular fusion Their friction spinal and chill. Another lexically strong poet is Gerard Manley Hopkins. All of his work will slow you down and wake you up to sound. Here’s a short section of To Christ Our Lord. I caught this morning morning’s minion, kingdom of day light’s dauphin, dapple–dawn–drawn Falcon in his riding of the rolling level underneath him steady air and striding

I’m given a small amount of space for a large subject. Every poet I leave out is hollering at me, “Hey! What about me! Me! Me!” Among those out–bursters is T.S. Eliot, Seamus Heaney, Alan Gurganis, Keith Flynn, Gary Snyder, and others too polite to shout. Bill Moyers asked Quincy Troupe the usual question asked of poets: Why do you write poetry?” Quincy responded, “I write poetry because I need to write poetry. I need the music of language and instant communication that I feel I get in writing poetry.” Now, here’s a portion of a favorite of mine from A Poem for “Magic.” & so we cheer, rejoicing with you for this quicksilver quicksilver quicksilver moment of fame, so put the ball on the floor again, “magic” juke and dazzle, shake and bake down the lane take the sucker to the hoop, “magic” johnson, recreate reverse hoodoo gems off the spin, deal alley-oop-dunk-a-thon-magician passes now, double-pump, scissor, vamp through space hang in place & pit it all up in the sucker’s face. .... Let us cheer the energetic word, alive and well, for the sheer sounds of letters;

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP Q R S T U V W X Y Z! continued on page 26

March 1: Write Your Life with Richard Krawiec

25th Annual Poetry Contest

In this supportive writing-intensive class, participants will learn how to draw on the “material” of your life to write and revise memoirs, stories, or plays. Elements covered include time compression and expansion, how to focus on theme, recognizing your purpose, and developing your piece professionally. Meets Saturday, 10-4 p.m. $75/$70 members.

Deadline: Postmarked by February 28, 2014

April 19: Writing Historical Fiction with Anne Barnhill

Guidelines: All work must be unpublished. Your name, address, email and title of work should appear on a separate cover sheet. The entry fee is $25 for up to three entries. Multiple entries are accepted. Each poem should not exceed two pages. Enclose self-sealing s.a.s.e. for critique and list of winners.

Learn how to make historical figures ‘come alive’, how to use dialogue from another century, where to find research materials, and much more. Writing exercises geared to historical fiction, include taking a brief look at some historical novels to see how other writers work. Meets Saturday, 10-4 p.m. $75/$70 members.

CLASSES MEET at 387 Beaucatcher Road,

Asheville. Registration is in advance only, by mail or online at www.twwoa.org. Financial aid in exchange for volunteering is available.

1st Place: Your choice of: a 3-night stay at The Mountain Muse B&B in Asheville; 3 free online workshops; or 100 pages line-edited and revised by our editorial staff. 2nd and 3rd place winners also receive awards; ten Honorable Mentions will be awarded.

READINGS & BOOKSIGNINGS Thursday, February 6 at 7 p.m. JOHN PRITCHARD, Sailing to Alluvium. Friday, February 7, DEBORAH JOHNSON, The Secret of Magic; master storyteller. Friday, February 7 at 7 p.m. PHILIPP MEYER, The Son; history and culture. Saturday, February 8 at 12 p.m. EDWARD KELSEY MOORE, The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat; novel about friendship. Saturday, February 8 at 7 p.m. COLIN MELOY & CARSON ELLIS, creators of the magical Wildwood series. Tickets are $15. Thursday, February 13 at 7 p.m. Sci Fi YA Panel: Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman, Jodi Meadows, and Lissa Price. Friday, February 14 at 7 p.m. Book Lovers Speed Dating. Participants must register, email justin@malaprops.com. Sunday, February 16 at 5 p.m. MIKE GERHARDT, The Forgotten Presidents. Wednesday, February 19 at 7 p.m. Lovestruck Tour; young adult literature. Thursday, February 20 at 7 p.m. RAMESH BJONNES, Sacred Body, Sacred Spirit: A Guide to the Wisdom of Yoga and Tantra. Friday, February 21 at 7 p.m. MARTHA GRAYBEAL ROWLETT, Weaving Prayer into the Tapestry of Life. Tuesday, February 25 at 7 p.m. Lonesome: The Spiritual Meanings of Solitude with Kevin Lewis. Wednesday, February 26 at 7 p.m. CATHERINE REID, Falling into Place: An Intimate Geography of Home. Thursday, February 27 at 7 p.m. PAUL SELIG, The Book of Knowing and Worth. Friday, February 28 at 7 p.m. KAREN RUSSELL, Vampires in the Lemon Grove. Tickets $10. Wine and cheese reception.

55 Haywood St.

828-254-6734 • 800-441-9829

Monday-Saturday 9AM to 9PM PG. 32 Sunday 9AM to 7PM M

Make check or money order payable to The Writers’ Workshop, and mail to: Poetry Contest, 387 Beaucatcher Road, Asheville, NC, 28805. For more details about any of these events, please visit www.twwoa.org, call (828) 2548111, or email writersw@gmail.com.

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 25

WHILE WE LIVE, LET US LIVE PETER LOEWER

Pastels, Purpose, Passion

Dum Vivimus Vivamus BY

noteworthy

the curmudgeon

Hopefully, some of our readers will recall Curmudgeon’s statement at the end of last month’s report...

Illustration by Peter Loewer

there when we got there. Right?” ...to wit: “I want you to help me build a “Well, our waiting for final plans until great balloon and we will fly to Raleigh and the weather clears and the pols are in session straighten out the future of North Carolina!” seems to me a minor discomfort compared to Using the history of the great French the some 23,000 families, many of whom have balloonist Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, Curbeen waiting for more than three months to mudgeon suggested that they work together receive stamps that should be processed within to accomplish this feat beginning with the thirty days.” construction of a great wicker basket which “Entirely the correct thing to do,” said would hang beneath a balloon of their choice, Ginger Muffet who is the brighter half of the and armed with the latest satellite data on wind Muffet Sisters. speeds and direction; on a nice day they would “I think,” continued Curmudgeon, “that all fly to Raleigh, land as close to Government we should meet on George Washington’s corHouse as possible and try to talk some sense rect birthday, that of February 22, and find out into the lawmakers of the state. just what the weather has in store for spring But they forgot that being a lawmaker in and perhaps by then we can make an attempt North Carolina is not a full time job except for to drive to Raleigh on that hated highway, I-40, bureaucrats like the Secretary of Human Serto confront the powers-that-be. vices, Aldona Wos, who “And while we has been granted, until are at it, we’ll take February 10, to meet time to visit the demands from the US great art museum Department of Agrithat the state – at culture and if she fails, least for now – conthe state could lose $88 tinues to keep open. million dollars in the By then we will money it receives to know what the powmanage the food stamp er-brokers are up to program; this means and perhaps make it the poorer folk are not a day or two of civil only denied help with disobedience, that food but it added to the remarkable salute to In 1764 Parliament’s intended Stamp Act burden of lack of health brought Virginians into conflict with the freedom that until care because the state Crown. Peyton Randolph was appointed the other day, the chairman of a committee to draft protests to refused to join the US newest band in the the king, the House of Lords, and the House of Government in runstate – we call them Commons maintaining the colony’s right of ning an insurance site. the Jerry Manders self-taxation. “We are remind– saw fit to entrap ed,” said Curmudgeon the citizenry.” when addressing the group the other day as “Why do we not have a holiday each for temperatures and wind chills were below zero George Washington and for Abraham Lin(this weather problem caused Mallard Duck, coln?” asked Dolores Muffet. the ignorant icon of the Right Wing – political, “Because,” answered Curmudgeon, not bird – comic section of the local paper, to “in 1968 the congress passed the Uniform again point out the problem with having global Holidays Bill, by moving the observance of warming when it’s so cold outside!), that this is three existing federal holidays (Washington’s the year of the short session of the House and Birthday, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day) Senate in Raleigh – ” to be on Mondays from fixed calendar dates to He was interrupted by Mrs. Storekeep, designated Mondays, and by establishing Cowho asked: “What is the Short Session?" lumbus Day, also to be observed on a Monday, “Why,” he answered, “the General as a new federal holiday. It was, as I remember, Assembly meets in regular session (or the an attempt to make a weekend of shopping to “long session”) beginning in January of each liven up the economy for the 1970s.” odd-numbered year, then adjourning to begin “Sic transit gloria mundi,” said Mrs. again the following even-numbered year – this Storekeep. time it’s 2014 – for what they call the ‘Short *Sic transit gloria mundi; thus passes the glory Session,’ usually lasting about six weeks – unof this world. less the Guv calls them into special session but that’s doubtful because that puts an extra strain on the state budget.” Peter Loewer has written and illustrated “So,” said Mr. Storekeep, “that means by more than twenty-five books on natural the time we finish construction of the basket history over the past thirty years. and sew the balloon proper they wouldn’t be

26 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

Asheville couple, Elise and Phil Okrend have a passion to help others find their own personal truths. Elise, a pastel painter and Phil, a writer and professional coach have come together to produce their latest creative offering, an inspiring new coffee table book, Messages to the Heart, Reflections of Beauty and Truth. The hard cover book features 37 of Elise’s healing pastel paintings, each paired with Phil’s mindful passages derived from years of coaching clients to achieve successful change in their lives. The book captures the spirit of Asheville and its surrounding natural beauty with paintings of light, clouds, mountains and lakes of locales such as the Blue Ridge Mountains, Lake Fontana and the Great Smokies. “Not just a beautiful art book, Messages to the Heart is also a tool that readers can use again and again to pull themselves through life’s challenges,” said Phil Okrend. “Listen to the calm, inner voice inside. It has all the wisdom you will ever need,” reads the chapter titled “Reflections on Empowerment.” The words are paired with a pastel of an early morning scene titled “Purple Haze” over the mountains. The book is divided into specific chapters to inspire the reader to connect with their own fulfilling life vision. Chapters include “Reflections on Following Your Heart,” “Unity,” “Love,” “Optimism,” “Transformation,” “Awareness,” and “Empowerment.” This is not the couples’ first creative business collaboration. The Okrends founded a successful greeting card company, MixedBlessing, in 1990 based on messages of peace, tolerance and diversity. The story behind their company was featured in national media such as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Good Morning America. The new Asheville transplants are originally from New York and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1994 to grow their greeting card business and raise their children. When the Okrends’ youngest son graduated

Judy Ausley’s Southern Comfort will return next month. If you know of a character in Asheville who has not had a conventional life, put them in touch with Judy by e-mail to Judyausley@aol.com.

Elise and Phil Okrend are the creators of the coffee table book Messages to the Heart, Reflections of Beauty and Truth.

high school last June, the next natural move for the couple was Asheville. They had been traveling back and forth for a few years to Elise’s fine art gallery space at the Kress Emporium, downtown, and loved the creative vibe of the area. Elise is now focusing on her fine art business. Phil helps hundreds of clients as a certified life and business coach, incorporating writing, public speaking and original reflective music into his practice. Messages to the Heart is available for $29.95, at the following Asheville locations: Kress Emporium, Malaprops Bookstore, the Asheville Museum of Art Store, the Asheville Visitors Center Gift Shop, and at www.messagestotheheart.com, www.Amazon.com, and www.BarnesandNoble.com IF YOU The Okrends’ will be part of two GO upcoming events. A reading and

book signing, Sunday, February 9 at Malaprops Bookstore, from 3-5 p.m. A Valentine’s Day themed reception, book signing, and art display, Wednesday, February 12 at the Hotel Indigo from 5-7 p.m. in the main lobby.

‘Poet’s Voice’ cont’d from page 25

RESOURCES Blue Pastures, Mary Oliver, Harcourt Brace, NY 1995 A Poetry Handbook, Mary Oliver, Harcourt Brace, NY 1994. How To Read A Poem and Fall In Love With Poetry, Edward Hirsch, Harcourt, Inc 1999. The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets, Bill Moyers, Doubleday, NY 1995. I want to meet you all, writers, dreamers, readers and listeners. We need each other. Contact Carol at thepoetsvoicerr@yahoo.com

sound experience The Strange Odyssey of Roky Erickson

Through no effort of his own, and almost certainly against his better wishes, Roky Erickson has become a nearly mythic figure in the history of psychedelic rock.

Casually dismissed as an acid burnout of the highest order he has managed to not only get his head straight, but is again making music that seems decades ahead of its time. Like Syd Barrett, a common point of reference, Erickson rose to cult-hero status as much for his music as for his tragic personal life. In light of his well-documented bouts with mental illness and promethean drug consumption, the influence exerted by his garagebred psychedelia was often lost in the shuffle. Born in 1947 as Roger Kynard Erickson, but quickly nicknamed Roky, the child prodigy began playing piano at age five; by age 12 he had more or less mastered the instrument and had taken up the guitar. His father was a prominent Dallas architect but it was via his mother, a “frustrated opera singer” that Erickson inherited his musical talents. Bored with the stifling culture of high school and perhaps exhibiting the early signs of

depression that would in part define his adult life, Erickson dropped out to seek his fortune as a full time musician. In 1965 Erickson wrote the song which would catapult him into the spotlight. He initially recorded “You’re Gonna Miss Me” with the unfortunately named group The Spades. The song, buttressed by a strong arrangement and Erickson’s high, swooping tenor, caught the attention of another area band: the psychedelia-influenced 13th Floor Elevators. The Elevators’ lyricist/leader Tommy Hall invited Erickson to join; the Elevators soon cut their own version of “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” and took the single to number 56 on the pop charts in 1966. The record’s success earned the 13th Floor Elevators a deal with International Artists, but as their fame grew, so did their notoriety with local law enforcement officials, who took exception to the group’s heavy experimentation with (and public support of) marijuana and LSD. In 1969 Erickson was arrested for possession of a single joint. To avoid jail time he pleaded insanity, a move which would hound him for years. Erickson was diagnosed as a schizophrenic, and subjected to extensive

“Michael Davis is not only a fine drummer, he’s more importantly a fine musician. He plays with great time, groove and taste while also being a very creative soloist – something very hard to do as a drummer. All of us stood up and took notice when he came to town.” ~ Drummer Justin Watt

Michael W. Davis grew up in San Jose, California and began music at an early age, starting with piano and trumpet before eventually arriving at the drums in middle school. “I owe a lot to my teacher Dave Gregoric, as well as the community of musicians in San Jose for my rapid musical growth.” Michael began playing professionally at age 14 and quickly won recognition at music festivals and competitions throughout the west coast. His high school years were spent performing with some of the Bay Area’s finest musicians, as well as the SFJazz High School All-Stars and the San Jose Youth Jazz Orchestra. “When I first started drums, my biggest influences were John Bonham, Ringo Starr, Mitch Mitchell and Ginger Baker. I got turned on to jazz the same way many others did – by hearing Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. For several years I was buying two to five CDs a week and learning them backwards and forwards, soaking in as much as I could. My first drum hero was Max Roach, but I also gravitated towards Philly Joe Jones and Art Blakey. Later I caught the Tony Williams bug and for a long time my “Big 3” were Tony, Elvin and Jack DeJohnette.”

In 2006, Michael moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music on a Presidential Scholarship where he studied with world-renowned drummers John Riley, Justin DiCioccio, Bill Stewart, Ari Hoenig, Dan Weiss, and Henry Cole. He graduated in 2010 with a BA in Jazz Performance. While there he remained active as a performer/recording artist, working with Joshua Redman, Jason Moran, Dave Liebman, The LeBoeuf Brothers, Steven Lugerner, The Guggenheim Grotto, Matt Marantz, Jeremy Siskind and many more. “I moved from New York to Asheville in 2010 with my rock band The Broadcast. I play jazz with the E.Normus Trio featuring Steve Alford and Jay Sanders, which features perhaps the most unique instrumentation I’ve ever seen and we’re now recording our second album. I’m also part of the Hard Bop Explosion, featuring some of the best musicians around who all happen to be NYC expatriates: Jacob Rodriguez, Justin Ray, Bill Bares and Zack Page. I also team up with Shane Perlowin on occasions, which is always a blast, and with anyone else I can. I love freelancing – it keeps me on my toes.” “Michael Davis can play intelligently at any tempo and has drum muscles in

CASSARA

electroshock therapy, mind barely subsiding on a small altering drugs (ironically Social Security stipend and enough!), and other psychoacwhat scant royalties came his tive treatments. way, was destitute. Released from the hosThat changed dramatipital in 1973, Erickson was cally when in 1990 a devoted never the same person. He core of followers, including returned to performing with a R.E.M, John Wesley Harding, newly formed band accurately and ZZ Top, recorded his dubbed The Aliens, but his songs for the album Where new material, heavily influthe Pyramid Meets the Eye: enced by grade B horror films A Tribute to Roky Erickson. and obsessed with the occult, That effort brought ErickRoky Erickson began playing was anthemic to the record son’s work to a wider audipiano at age five. company. He retained a loyal ence and gave him a much cult following, but his popuneeded infusion of cash. larity was continually exploited by managers Rumors began swirling that Erickson was who took advantage of his instability to draw on the mend and—wonder of wonders—eager Erickson into a series of unfair publishing to again perform. In 1993 he took the stage at contracts that earned him not a cent. the Austin Music Awards and, a few months In 1982, he signed a legal affidavit declarlater, began recording his first new material in ing that a Martian had taken residence in his well over a decade. Since then he has released body, and gradually disappeared from the albums in fits and starts while supervising the music industry and life in general. But interest repackaging of older material. And this time in his work never waned. A series of unauthorhe, not the suits, has profited. ized releases—while earning him no income— In 2001, Sumner Erickson, Roky’s brother did keep his name in the public eye. Erickson, continued on page 33

WNC Jazz Profiles: Michael W. Davis

BY JAMES

EDDIE LESHURE

Septet’s Narratives, and Matt Marantz’s Offering. My favorite experience in the Offering studio was working with Joshua Redman, who I was fortunate to meet and play with while working at the Stanford Jazz Workshop. My biggest influences over the past five years or so have been Roy Haynes, Ed Blackwell, Brian Blade, Frankie Dunlop and especially Paul Motian, who in my opinion is among the most influential musicians in the history of jazz.”

Michael W. Davis Photo: Frank Zipperer

places where most people don’t even have places. He’s got amazing technique, which enables him to let his fertile imagination run wild on the bandstand, yet he’s deeply interested in swinging and playing sensitively behind soloists. He’s a consummate professional and an avid listener. He thinks orchestrationally on the drums, which is one of the many reasons why I love playing with him.”

~ Dr William Bares, pianist/educator “I’ve recorded a handful of records, mostly with musicians up in New York. A couple of my favorites are Steven Lugerner

“I’ve known Michael since our days together at the Manhattan School of Music. He’s always been one to pay attention to details and has developed into the complete artist. You can’t help but wiggle and jiggle when he plays...there’s no shuckin’ and jivin’! His jet-propelled groove helps remind everybody he plays with that we’re all drummers.”

~ Saxophonist Jacob Rodriguez www.thebroadcastmusic.com www.enormustrio.com Eddie produces “Asheville Jazz Unlimited” each Wednesday 8-11 p.m. on MAIN-FM (103.7/main-fm.org), plus the monthly White Horse Cabaret Jazz Series in Black Mountain.

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 27

spinning discs CD Reviews by James Cassara

There’s much to cover this month so in order to accommodate as many releases as possible I’ll be keeping my comments brief. Remember the rule: if it’s reviewed here, it’s at least worth a listen or three.

Mutual Benefit Love’s Crushing Diamond Other Music Records It might be faint praise to use terms like temperate or comfortable in reviewing an album but singer/multi-instrumentalist Jordan Lee, who records under the moniker Mutual Benefit, has a way of turning what might be seen as a weakness into a potent weapon. Blending together folk, psychedelic pop, and experimental recording techniques in ways that would make Sufjan Stevens envious, Lee’s mix of wounded yet hopeful pop can be a lovely tonic for the times. He’s also a keen observer of universal bumps and bruises; much of Love’s Crushing Diamond was written in response to the struggles his inner circle of friends were going through. On tracks such as “That Light That’s Blinding,” a lovely mutation of plucked banjos and strings played over some gorgeous harmonies, he hits just the right blend of playful over precious. Likewise, on “Strong River”, he mixes wind chimes with strings, creating a surface sheen that could have stepped right out of The Beach Boys Friends album. Sure the project could have used a bit more oomph; but tension and dynamics has never been the province of what is loosely defined as freak folk. Besides, at a scant eight songs, Love’s Crushing Diamond blows in and out like the cool breeze it is. ***

Los Lobos Disconnected in New York City 429 Records It took Los Lobos more than three decades before making a live album but in short order they’ve released a bevy of them. That shouldn’t surprise anyone with even a passing interest in the band: for all their strengths as recording artists—and Los Lobos have a catalog second to none—to see them live on stage can be a surreal experience. Disconnected in New York City is their fourth live album since 2005. Recorded during an acoustic show at the City Winery, it demonstrates the band’s strengths as songwriters and arrangers, playfully recasting old favorites and giving new life to a few lesser known tracks. While the stripped down setting takes the edge off David Hidalgo’s piercing solos—he truly is one of the most underrated guitarists in rock music—it places Cesar Rosas’ lead vocals and Steve Berlin’s saxophone front and center, giving ample room for some tasty improvisation. Likewise, with the back and forth

28 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

between percussionists Bugs Gonzalez and Camilo Quinones lesser known songs such as “Tears of God” and “Oh Yeah” are forcefully extended, squeezing out every bit of energy they contain. Even “La Bamba,” a song that surely suffers from over familiarity, sounds fresh and reenergized. Forty years into their amazing career, Los Lobos can still toss out a trick or two, reminding us just how innovative and resilient they are. A genuine musical treasure that just gets better with age. ***1/2

Norah Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong Foreverly Reprise Records In light of the recent death of Phil the offering of another tribute to the Everly Brothers seems only proper, and while Foreverly was recorded months before his passing the timing could not be more poignant. The list of artists who drew inspiration from Phil and Don is both expansive and telling. They truly were “The Beatles’ Beatles” in how much they influenced the songwriting and harmonies of John and Paul and so many artists who followed. Foreverly is certainly not the most originally conceived Everly Brothers tribute—as recently as 2005 Will Oldham and Dawn McCarthy released their own good times collection of Everly tunes—but unlike most such efforts it recreates a single Everly Brothers’ album, in this case their 1958 standard Songs Our Daddy Taught Us, Us, in its entirety. Recorded near the start of their career, it was one of rock’s first roots albums, as Phil and Don set aside rock and roll to explore the music they’d grown up hearing. And like that album, Foreverly is an understated, sweetly tinged affair that speaks volumes in its simplicity. With her sideshow band Little Willies, Norah Jones has previously ventured in such turf, but for Armstrong this is strange territory indeed. He’s long shown an affinity for 1960’s garage rock but in terms of Green Day, the 1950s never existed, which works to their advantage. None of these songs, some of which date back to the 30s and 40s, are sacred to either performer; allowing Armstrong and Jones to play it lose. They certainly emulate the two part Everly harmonies (and their voices match surprisingly well) but give such gems as “Lightning Express” and “Long Time Gone” a swagger that serves them well. In this regard they’ve learned their lesson well. Just as Phil and Don were never beholden to singing these songs the way their daddy taught them, choosing instead to resurrect them in ways that met their needs, so too do

Norah and Billie Joe go a long way towards making them their own which is exactly why Foreverly works so well; making it the unassuming joy it is. ***1/2

Raising Caine Raisin' Caine Raising Caine Music This terrific Asheville based band, the brainchild of vocalist Caine McDonald, might be broadly defined as “Americana Roots Country” but what specifically draws their music to my ears is the plucky nature of their songs, hard luck and hard living stories that, when set to some of the most sprightly melodies this side of Bakersfield, CA., never seem to waver or wallow. “Come Back Lord” might be the words of a man “down on his bended knee” but the music rollicks along with such unfettered passion that it’s more a joyful romp than mournful plea. “That Morning in Johnson” is prime country storytelling—in this case the time honored tale of a man on the wrong end of love—that when done right never grows old. McDonald’s voice has that worn and weary tone that fits the material to a “T”, while the band, particularly Jack-of-all-trades James Keane, and pedal steel maestro Matt Smith, anchor the material in tradition and taste. There’s not a weak number to be heard. McDonald’s lyrics are precise and evocative while his knack for a catchy phrase is unerring. That, and the uniformly exceptional quality of the musicianship, makes for a disc that immediately caught my attention and has grown only stronger with repeated listens. ****

Michael Lee Yonkers Self Titled Drag City Music Originally recorded in 1972 and released two years later, Michael Lee Yonkers is justifiably revered by cultish collectors and aficionados of the obscure. This definitive album by the Minnesotan recluse is lovingly cleaned up (but thankfully not too much) and reissued by the good folks at Drag City Music. Yonkers self-titled 1974 release—13 tracks recorded directly to tape—is as underground as it gets. It’s a one man affair with Yonkers playing all the instruments (although there are a few uncredited background vocals) that leans heavily towards the mid-western country music that Yonkers likely heard on local AM radio. It glides from the rockabilly swing of ‘CD’s’ continued on page 29

sound experience Yonder Mountain String Band

‘CD’s’ continued from page 28

“An Easy Goin’ Country Guy” to the slow stride heartbreak of “My Sally” with disarming ease. And if the gleefully absurd “Funboots” didn’t have a huge impact on such pyschobilly proponents as Webb Wilder or Omar and the Howlers then I’ll eat those very boots. Other tracks find Yonkers in a more melancholic space, ruminating on the fame that by then he’d no doubt realized had passed him by; they’re equally charming in their off handed nature, unassuming tunes that reflect the times. The second of the trio of his albums to be issued by Drag City (Lonely Gold came out in 2010) Michael Lee Yonkers was DYI long before the movement gained a certain hip creed. Borders of My Mind is the next of his albums to receive the royal treatment and, based on this delight, should be one to watch out for. ****

Bruce Piephoff Soft Soap Purrings Speranza Recordings Greensboro based singer/songwriter Bruce Piephoff has released such consistently strong albums that there’s almost a tendency to take them for granted. Soft Soap Purrings (a decidedly southern term describing “flattery intended to procure a favor”) is his 21st album since 1988, giving you some idea of how prolific he is. It’s also one of his best, a trimmed down dozen songs that demonstrate the range and assurance of his talent. The title track sets the stage; a six minute word intensive ramble that moves ahead with the steady propulsion of a steam engine. It’s a great example of Piephoff’s knack for connecting seemingly disparate phrases in ways that seem wholly unexpected but always make sense. “Maps on My Taps” is the artist at his most buoyant and playful; a Buck Owens like ditty that would have fit right in with any top notch Hee Haw episode. Aided by a lovely counter vocal courtesy of Claire Holley, it glides along at breakneck speed. And who can resist a lyric as delightfully convoluted as “trying to sort out the coulda, shoulda, woulda, the bad times just make the good times gooder”? Certainly not I! Other highlights include the remorseful “Lost Boy” and a Dylan-like “Open the Window.” Even the oddly alluring “Chocolate Moose” with its intentionally hokey lyrics and Holiday Inn lounge arrangement works, largely because it’s so out of character for Piephoff that you cannot help but laugh along with the joke. If you’re unfamiliar with Bruce Piephoff’s stellar catalog of recordings, Soft Soap Purrings is as good a place as any to start. But be forewarned: they can be mightily addictive, but as afflictions go, one could do far worse. ****

BY JAMES

CASSARA

In an era in which bands break through and implode at a startling rate, the Yonder Mountain String Band remains a rarity: in the 16 years since they emerged out of Nederland, Colorado, they’ve experienced none of the personnel changes that seem almost de rigueur for other bands.

Albums and labels have come and gone, the endless road is no less so, but the band remains the same four pioneers that entered into this adventure with a shared love of style and a desire to make it happen. The band’s origins go back to Urbana, Illinois, where college student Dave Johnston (banjo) met mandolin aficionado Jeff Austin. Austin moved west and settled in Nederland and Johnston soon followed. There the two met bass player Ben Kaufmann and guitarist Adam Aijala and, realizing their musical tastes ran parallel, formed the band. Right out of the gate they began getting gigs, including an important one at the Fox Theatre in Boulder. They quickly developed a following among bluegrass fans but as the jam band movement began to take off their audience continued to grow. Working extensively along the western slope bar and club circuit they refined their sound while honing their already considerable skills. In the fall of 1999 they released their debut album Elevation, on their own Frog Pad Records label. Within a year they were playing in larger venues (including the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco) and began releasing a series of live recordings, intermittently returning to the studio. While the frequency of the releases has been somewhat erratic the one constant has been widespread touring. They’ve played Asheville a few times but by my count it’s been at least five years since YMSB has graced our presence. That makes the prospect of a two night stand at the Orange Peel all the more enticing, and one that is no doubt manna for their many area fans. My thanks to bassist Ben Kaufman, who, despite being stuck on the road in bad weather, took the time to chat with Rapid River Magazine.

to play in the moment. And, speaking to the nonquestion up there: yes, it’s been a while since we released a full length album. My personal advocacy for a series of EPs seems to have been shouted down at the last meeting. And that means we most likely start recording a new full length record in May. Prior to that, there’ll be the release of a DVD tentatively titled The Road to Red Rocks. It’s in the final editing stages.

JC: Talk a bit about the EP (EP 13). I have

yet to hear it but from what I’ve read it seems quite a departure from what folks might have expected.

BK: It’s the first studio recording we’ve re-

leased in years. And it marks our first attempt at producing ourselves. I think we did a great job. At least I’m really pleased with it. But it’s become clear that the LP still rules the roost. A band can’t get on the late night television shows with only an EP. Everything in the business is built around the release of a full length album. We tested the waters with EP13 and now are focusing our attention to this spring for making our next record.

JC: You’ve quite a reputation for the wide

range of cover songs you adopt. What propels that and how are those decisions made?

BK: Because ostensibly we are a bluegrass

years since your last full length studio album (2009’s The Show Show) but you do have a new EP set for release. Can we expect those new songs to form the nucleus of your Orange Peel gigs?

band, the cover songs we pick have to be chosen carefully. I cannot tell you how easy it is to ruin a great rock song by putting a bluegrass beat to it. Almost immediately it becomes hokey, cheesy, and a little bit stupid. There are exceptions and the trick is finding them. These days we’re very much focused on original music but from time to time a great old song comes on and it’s clear that it would translate well. When we were first starting out we turned “Crazy Train” into a bluegrass-like song and for a long time we were “that bluegrass band that plays ‘Crazy Train.’” You gotta be really careful because you can hang yourself with that rope.

Ben Kaufman: Our set lists for every show

JC: I’m going to go out on a bit of a limb and

James Cassara: It’s been more than three

are made according to a few rules. First, if we play a song the night before then it won’t be repeated the following night. If we played a song the last time we were in town then it won’t be repeated the following visit. And in the vast majority of examples we don’t make a set list until the day of the show because so much of what we do is about playing the music that we’re inspired

hope these comments are taken in the spirit in which I intend. I don’t really see YMSB as a “jam band” but rather “a band that jams.” In my opinion, too many bands sacrifice song for groove and lack the foundation that comes with solid songwriting. The Allman Brothers are a great example of a band that puts song first and foremost. To my mind you’ve followed in that tradition.

Yonder Mountain String Band

BK: I couldn’t agree more. The song is

paramount. If there’s a section of the song that opens up into a space for improvisation, then wonderful! If that space can inspire all the twists and turns that make for compelling “jamming” then great! But, if the song is no good and you put a big jam in there then I will probably use that time to visit the toilet. We have a unique place in the scene because we don’t have a drummer. Without a drummer we don’t get away with the slow blues or funk groove that is then milked bone dry for 20 minutes.

JC: How is 2014 shaping up for the band?

Are you at a point where you can look back and say “we’ve left a pretty good imprint on the music scene”? Is it too early to think of a YMSB legacy?

BK: 15 years is a long time; longer than

most bands can keep it together. If we’ve accomplished things that no other bluegrass band has been able to achieve it’s because we’ve stood on the shoulders of others to do it. We’re old enough now that we’re the influence for bands just getting started. And I fully expect some of them to go on to do things that I wouldn’t have believed possible. If I’m being honest, fully honest, I think YMSB has absolutely done something special and I want little shiny statues and framed papers telling us how great we are. But then again, I’m a bass player in a bluegrass band, and what I think doesn’t really matter all that much. And for good reason!

IF YOU Yonder Mountain String Band GO play two nights, February 6 and 7,

at The Orange Peel. Both shows feature opening act The Traveling McCourys. Doors open at 7 p.m.; show at 8 p.m. Tickets: $25 general admission / $45 two night pass.

Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 29

what to do guide Saturday, February 1

February 4, 11, 13, 18, 25 & 27

AmiciMusic’s Wind Power

Black History Month Film Series

Chamber music series begins at 7:30 p.m with a special program for woodwind quintet, performed by The Apollo Winds and Daniel Weiser on piano; $15. White Horse Black Mountain, 105c Montreat Road, Black Mountain. (828) 669-0816, or visit www.whitehorseblackmountain.com.

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. Six different segments explore the global experiences that created the African-American people. 6:30 p.m. in UNC Asheville’s Highsmith University Union Intercultural Center. Free and open to the public. Info: msp. unca.edu or (828) 232-2417.

HART Auditions

Thursday, February 6

To Kill A Mockingbird – Auditions February 2 & 3. Opens April 25. Large cast with numerous roles for all ages. Wanda Taylor, director.

Hunters of the Sky

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do – Auditions March 23 & 24. Features the music of Neil Sedaka. Opens May 23. Mark Jones, director. Professional actors at 6 p.m., community theater actors at 7 p.m. HART is a semi-professional community theater. Auditions are at the HART Theater, 250 Pigeon St. Waynesville, 28786.

Michael Skinner presents a program on bird-of-prey populations. Meet Freedom the American bald eagle, 2 p.m. in the Oconaluftee Multipurpose Room near Cherokee. Register by February 5. $10 for GSMA members and $35 for non-members. For more details call 1-888-898-9102, ext. 325, 222 or 254, or visit the website online at www. SmokiesInformation.org.

February 6-23

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

Tuesday, February 4

WCU & ASO Concert Western Carolina University music students and Asheville Symphony Orchestra string musicians will perform together at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and children. In the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center on the WCU campus in Cullowhee, 28723. For more information call (828) 227-7242.

A romantic comedy for grownups, written by Terrence McNally. Stars Jeff Catanese, and Cary Nichols at 35below. Thurdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E. Walnut St., downtown Asheville. Call (828) 254-1320, or visit www. ashevilletheatre.org.

Friday, February 7

How to place an event/ classified listing with Rapid River Art Magazine Any “free” event open to the public can be listed at no charge up to 30 words. For all other events there is a $14.95 charge up to 35 words and 12 cents for each additional word. 65 word limit per event. Sponsored listings (shown in boxes) can be purchased for $18 per column inch. Deadline is the 19th of each month. Payment must be made prior to printing. Email Beth Gossett at: ads@rapidrivermagazine.com Or mail to: 85 N. Main St, Canton, NC 28716. Call (828) 646-0071 to place ad over the phone.

– Disclaimer – Due to the overwhelming number of local event submissions we get for our “What to Do Guide” each month, we can not accept entries that do not specifically follow our publication’s format. Non-paid event listings must be 30 words or less, and both paid and non-paid listings must provide information in the following format: date, time, brief description of your event, and any contact information. Any entries not following this format will not be considered for publication.

Blue Ridge Rollergirls Season Kick-Off Party Celebrate their first bout of the 2014 season at Buffalo Wild Wings from 6-9 p.m. A fun night for the whole family! Door prizes, meet the team, and watch roller derby on the big screen. The season begins February 15 at the U.S. Cellular Center. For more information visit www.blueridgerollergirls.com.

Friday, February 7

In Public Exhibit of new works by young local artists Keegan Hooper in a wide range of media. Opening reception from 6-9 p.m. Performances by AESC CPI and Páciens Trine. On display February 7 - March 8, 2014. The Asheville Area Arts Council Gallery, 346 Depot Street in Asheville’s River Arts District. (828) 258-0710, www.ashevillearts.com.

Friday, February 7

Blue Ridge Palette Impressions Opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Exhibition of Lissa Friedman’s paletteknife-produced oil paintings of the North Carolina landscape. On display

$10 in advance; $15 at the door. To purchase tickets drop by the Hendersonville Chamber office at 204 Kanuga Road, call (828) 692-1413, or go online to www.hendersoncountychamber.org.

Saturday, February 8

“Isn’t it Romantic” with Wendy Jones, Michael Jefry Stevens, and Rich Willey. Tickets $15; music 8 p.m.; optional buffet dinner, 6:30-7:30 by Black Mountain Bistro. At the White Horse, 105c Montreat Road, Black Mountain. Details at (828) 669-0816, or visit www.whitehorseblackmountain.com

Grammy winners and Asheville favorites Bryan Sutton, David Holt and T. Michael Coleman combine their impressive talents. Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place at 8 p.m. Tickets: Regular $30, Student $25, Children 12 and under $15; Student rush day-ofshow (with valid I.D.) $10. Tickets/ More details at (828) 257-4530 or visit www.dwtheatre.com.

Saturday & Sunday, February 8 & 9

Massage Retreat For couples and friends. Discover useful techniques for health and well-being. 10 hours of massage instruction, five vegetarian meals, hot tub and sauna. $200 per person; stay overnight for $250 per person. At the Prama Institute in Marshall. Contact Linda Pannullo to register, (828) 337-6749 or visit www.lmpmassage.com

Sunday, February 9

Friday, February 14

Cabaret Jazz Series

Friday, February 14

Game of Hearts A charity event from 6-8:30 p.m. benefitting the Boys & Girls Club. A romantic dinner with wine and champagne, live music, and a silent auction. Dart to the painting by the Boys & Girls Club that captures your heart and take it home. Dinner catered by Robyn Painter of Dandelion. New works on display by Veronica Hart. $58 per person. For more details and to RSVP call (828) 595-9500 or (828) 808-3594. The Art House Gallery and Studio, 5 Highland Park Road in East Flat Rock. Visit www.arthousegalleryandstudio.com

Beatles Tribute Band at WCU

Friday, February 14

1964: The Tribute re-creates the early music of the Beatles. 5 p.m. in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University. $20 for adults, $15 for WCU faculty and staff, and $5 for students and children. Call (828) 227-2479 or visit http://bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

Restorative foot massage inside the Salt Cave at 6 p.m. $49 includes 25-minute foot massage and 50-minute Salt Cave Session, plus chocolates and flowers. Space is limited; call (828) 236-5999 to make a reservation. Asheville Salt Cave, 12 Eagle Street, downtown Asheville. Visit www.ashevillesaltcave.com

Valentine’s Day Special

Friday, February 14

Asheville Community Theatre Auditions

‘The Billy Sea’ Valentines Day Celebration

February 10 & 12 – Attic Salt’s Wom-

Colorful rhythmic structure, beautifully crafted melodies and hypnotic grooves. Optional dinner reservations are available. Details at www.thebillysea.com. Tickets: $12 in advance / $15 at the door. 8:30 p.m. at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd., Asheville. (828) 575-2737.

en and Wallace includes a cast of five directed by Jeff Catanese. Performed in 35below April 3-19, 2014.

February 11-12 – Auditions for the

southern comedy Dearly Departed. On the Mainstage April 11-27, 2014. Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E. Walnut St., Asheville. Call (828) 2541320, or visit www.ashevilletheatre.org

Thursday, February 13

Celebrate the Arts of Henderson County From 5:30 to 8 p.m. Performances by the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, Flat Rock Playhouse, Hendersonville Little Theatre, and many others! Blue Ridge Community College Conference Hall, 180 W. Campus Drive, Flat Rock, 28731.

™

February 1-28, 2014. The Asheville Gallery of Art, 16 College Street in downtown Asheville, across from Pritchard Park. For more information, call (828) 251-5796 or visit www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com.

Sutton, Holt & Coleman

Friday, February 14

Mary Cox Concert Old time banjo playing, 7-8 pm. Free; donations welcomed. John C. Campbell Folk School, Keith House, 1 Folk School Rd, Brasstown, NC 28902. Visit www.folkschool.org

February 15 & 23

Circle Dance with Tarleton Brooks Cold Moon Circle Dance, Ostara Circle Dance, Blossom Moon Circle Dance, May Pole Circle Dance, Honey

Moon Circle Dance and more! Classes from 4-6 p.m. Cost: $10. The Art House Gallery and Studio, 5 Highland Park Rd, East Flat Rock, 28726. For details call (828) 699-0240 or visit www.arthousegalleryandstudio.com.

Monday, February 17

Feet Water, and The Sultan’s Wife Feet Water is an Irish folktale about a mischievous bucket of dirty water! Puppets, masks and audience participation will keep your kids laughing. The Sultan’s Wife is an adaptation of a Swahili folktale. Feet Water begins at 9:30 a.m.; The Sultan’s Wife begins at 11 a.m. Tickets to either show are $5. Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E. Walnut St. Call (828) 254-1320, or visit www.ashevilletheatre.org

Friday, February 21

Dervish Dervish’s incredible energy and its charismatic singer, Cathy Jordan, transport audiences to Ireland. Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place, 8 p.m. Tickets: Regular $30, Student $25, Children 12 and under $15; Student Rush day-of-show $10. Tickets/Info: (828) 257-4530, www.dwtheatre.com.

Saturday, February 22

Katuah Market Grand Opening From 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Asheville’s newest natural foods grocery store boasts an extensive selection of readyto-eat foods, and a wide selection of beer and wine. Katuah Market, 2 Hendersonville Rd. Call (828) 676-2882, or visit www.katuahmarket.com

Sunday, February 23

Jazz Ensemble Concert University Singers and Studio 18 – Students perform under direction of Melodie Galloway at 4 p.m. in UNCA’s Lipinsky Auditorium. $5. (828) 251-6432, http://music.unca.edu.

Sunday, February 23

Serpentine Arborvitae Wild and divine renditions of jazz classics. Bill Bares on piano, Zack Page on bass, and Justin Watt on drums. 8 p.m. at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd. in west Asheville. (828) 575-2737, www. isisasheville.com.

Wednesday, February 26

Wine Dinner at the Corner Kitchen Great atmosphere and service combined with meticulous cuisine. 7 p.m. $75 all inclusive. Call the Weinhaus for reservations at (828) 254-6453.

FEBRUARY EVENTS ~ ANNOUNCEMENTS ~ OPENINGS ~ SALES 30 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

what to do guide Best in Show

Friday, February 28

Italian Masterpieces

by Phil Juliano

Events at The Strand

February 14 at 7:45 p.m.; special 10:15 p.m. Valentines showing. February 15 at 5 p.m. & 7:45 p.m.

Callie & Cats

by Amy Downs

Lincoln

February 21 at 7:45 p.m. February 22 at 5 & 7:45 p.m.

The Muppets

February 28 at 7:45 p.m. March 1 at 2, 5, & 7:45 p.m. Tickets: Live music: $12 advance, $15 at the door. Movies: $6 adults, $4 children (12 and under); $3 for all 2 p.m. matinees.

Call to Artists – The Strand at 38 Main is

currently looking for artists to be featured in the lounge/ concession area at The Strand at 38 Main.

Corgi Tales

by Phil Hawkins

Deadline: April 1, 2014

If interested, please send your name, description of your work, photos, and a brief bio to Megan at info@38main.com.

The Strand, 38 N. Main Street Downtown Waynesville (828) 283-0079, www.38main.com

The Hickory Downtown Development Association is seeking artists interested in participating in the Downtown Hickory Art Crawl on Thursday, May 15, 2014. This is a juried show with artists selected by a committee. For an application, call (828) 322-1121, or email Barbara at blsinclair1@bellsouth.net, or Connie at info@downtownhickory.com. Visit www.downtownhickory.com.

Art MoB Studios Dragin

by Michael Cole

Register anytime. Saturdays in the Studio. Thursday evenings Studio Painting/Drawing. Intro to Oils, Studies to Studio, Plein Air Workshops & Excursions. 122 Riverside Drive, Cotton Mill Studios. For more information, (828) 225-5000, jmackah@gmail.com, or visit www.JohnMacKah.com

Hendersonville Street Scapes exhibit by Brevard artist Connie Poulnot. On display through February 28, 2014. Rafal Gotowicz, Asheville artist from Poland, exhibits his Mr. Clumsey prints.

Saturday, February 22 – Create a versatile Appalachian 5 Square Basket. Workshop from 1-5 p.m. $36, supplies included. Call to register. Instructor: Teresa Jordon.

Art MoB Studios & Marketplace 124 4th Avenue East in Hendersonville (828) 693-4545, www.artmobstudios.com

Adult Art Classes Friday, February 7 – Masterpiece Series: February 1, 8, 15 & 22 – Beginning Art

Romeo & Juliet

Deadline: March 10

Chardonnay with Monet from 5-7 p.m.

February 7 at 7:45 p.m. February 8 at 5 p.m. & 7:45 p.m.

Appalachian Studies

Ongoing John Mac Kah Classes & Workshops

Annie Hall

Paintings by Kent Paulette

Call for Artists

The Strand is a boutique cinema and listening venue offering a mix of classic films, second run movies, and live music.

Through February

Catch the Spirit of Appalachia is offering four $500 scholarships to seniors in western NC counties. Those with interests in traditional music, crafts, visual arts, writing and history, or volunteerism and leadership, are encouraged to apply. For more information, call (828) 631-4587, or visit www.spiritofappalachia.org.

™

A wonderful evening in the Cork & Keg bar area. $10 for four tastings. Gourmet light fare is available from The Cheese Store of Asheville for an additional $5. From 5:30-7:30 p.m. at The Weinhaus, 86 Patton, Ave. in Asheville.

Uninhibited, energetic brush strokes are used to create portraits of musicians such as Miles Davis, Neil Young, and Devendra Banhart. On display until the end of February at Pisgah Brewing Company, 150 Eastside Dr., Black Mountain. (828) 6690190. View online at www.KentPaulette.com.

Live Music Every Friday & Saturday

Ratchet and Spin

by T. Oder and R. Woods

Classes for adults every Saturday from 24 with art instructor Chris Baschon.

February 6, 13, 20 & 27 – Mandalas for adults workshops every Thursday from 6-8 with Chris Baschon.

For more information call (828) 699-0240

at the Classic Wineseller Live music 7 p.m. Restaurant serves small plate fare from 5:30 until 9 p.m. 20 Church St., Waynesville. Call (828) 452-6000, or visit www.classicwineseller.com.

Medical Guardian

Top-rated medical alarm and 24/7 medical alert monitoring. For a limited time, get free equipment, no activation fees, no commitment, a 2nd waterproof alert button for free and more – only $29.95 per month. 1-800-892-4631.

CLASSES ~ AUDITIONS ~ ARTS & CRAFTS ~ READINGS Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 31

Find It Here

Kathmandu Cafe www.cafekathmanduasheville.com

Asheville Salt Cave www.ashevillesaltcave.com

The Mahogany House www.themahoganyhouse.com

BlackBird Frame & Art www.blackbirdframe.com

Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe www.malaprops.com

Black Mtn. Stove & Chimney www.blackmountainstove.com

Mellow Mushroom (828) 236-9800

Blue Ribbon Frame Shop (828) 693-7967

Mountain Top Appliance www.mountainviewappliance.com

Bogart’s Restaurant www.bogartswaynesville.com

Newbridge Cafe www.thenewbridgecafe.com

Cafe 64 www.cafe-64.com

North Carolina Stage Company www.ncstage.org

The Cantina www.cantinabiltmore.com

O’Charley’s www.ocharleys.com

The Chocolate Fetish www.chocolatefetish.com

Octopus Garden www.theOG.us

Cottonmill Studios www.cottonmillstudiosnc.com

On Demand Printing www.ondemandink.com

Double Exposure Giclee www.doubleexposureart.com

Points of Light www.pointsoflight.net

Earth Guild www.earthguild.com

Soapy Dog www.thesoapydog.com

Fresh Produce Clothing www.freshproduceasheville.com

Southern Highland Craft Guild www.craftguild.org

Gallery of the Mountains galleryofthemountains.blogspot.com

Spice & Tea Exchange www.spiceandtea.com

The Green Room Cafe www.thegreenroomcafe.biz

Starving Artist www.StarvingArtistCatalog.com

HART Theater www.harttheatre.com

Susan’s European Gifts (828) 694-1022

Hearn’s Bicycle (828) 253-4800

Susan Marie Designs www.susanmariedesigns.com

Hey Hey Cupcake www.heyheycupcake.com

Town Hardware & General Store www.townhardware.com

Jewels That Dance www.jewelsthatdance.com

The Writers’ Workshop www.twwoa.org

‘Four Noble Truths’ continued from page 13

affiliations, and relationships that cannot give the security and happiness we seek. The Third Noble Truth is a declaration of healing. It says that there is a path, a way that takes us to liberation from the false ideas of security in control, manipulation and possessions. This Truth also tells us that any interpretation of the Buddha’s Doctrine as “Life is suffering” is in error. The teaching is that Life contains suffering and joy, and that with the mastering of the conditions that lead to suffering, we discover boundless reasons for joy and happiness as our true Nature. We must touch and feel and be honest about the fact that we resist Life-as-it-is. We must see how some suffering is a natural fact of Life, a consequence of karma and impermanence, and we must realize how unnecessary is the subjective suffering we create for ourselves and others that can then turn into more suffering, both in real and imagined circumstances. We must realize that if we look deeply into and truly understand our experiences of suffering, the deep looking will transform the suffering and open us into an expanded experience of Life, and ultimately, into enlightenment. The Fourth Noble Truth is the path, the practices, insights and states of consciousness that lead to the liberation from suffering and to a life that is peaceful, joyful, wonder-full. In its simplest form, it tells us to examine our attachments, and ultimately, to release our clinging to this idea of a separate self with all its attachments and grasping, its attempts at controlling Life. It instructs us into a life of fearless inquiry through meditation and mindfulness that is capable of experiencing the true infinite connectedness of everything, of realizing that we and all phenomenon are “empty” of a separate existence, and therefore the foundational existential insecurity that leads to our suffering is delusional. It then offers suggestions about the manner in which Life can be lived so as to bring about this realization — known as “The Eightfold Path,” They are: Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. It teaches that

John Mac Kah www.johnmackah.com

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NORTHSIDE - 28804

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If something is right, it will naturally be an expression of the harmony that is the Universe. by living these “right” paths, we will discover the illusion of clinging to this insecure self-centered identity and discover the limitless beauty and boundless interconnectedness of Life, and the compassion that naturally arises from this Right View. It is very important to understand that the “right” connotation used here is very different than what we are accustomed to in the West as commandments from religious authority. Harkening back to the word, “Dharma” that means the Way or Path that is a natural expression of the harmony of the Universe, what is “right” in this context then is that which leads to harmony, balance and release from suffering, and our faculty for realizing this harmony is not the intellect but rather intuition. We “know” when something is right or wrong because of how it feels, not whether it aligns with some rule. This ability to “know” requires what Thich Nhat Hanh calls “looking deeply into,” more deeply than we are accustomed to. Without it, we are self-centered and can only see the way we are conditioned by society to see, applying only our faculty for thought — the voice of conditioned ego. It has no universality or wisdom. It is always self-referencing and self-centered, and will accumulate and cause suffering. We will have a tendency to make a story out of our suffering, live inside that story, and, as Thich Nhat Hanh says, then be vulnerable to “drown in the ocean of our suffering,” and we will pull others under with us. If something is right, it will naturally be an expression of the harmony that is the Universe, and since we are an expression, a creation within the Universe, this knowledge is within us. How could it not be? Just as The Buddha went within the quiet of his own awareness to discover the truth of suffering, he taught with his Eightfold Path that we have within us the truth of what is right. The Buddha’s teaching is a finger pointing the way, and we must discover our own intuitive authority that will reveal a Self deeper than our personal self, a concept that is central to Buddhist teaching. We must get beyond believing in ideas of right and wrong that originate in the artificiality of the human ego, what Buddhism calls egoic delusion, taught to us by the macro-ego of culture and society. Most fundamentally, we must realize that violence, as defined as the imposition of egoic will over the right of all Life to be honored in peace and respect, is not-right. Nonviolence, insight, mindfulness, compassion, connectedness and respect are the basis for what is being defined in this context as “right.” With this “looking deeply” we begin to truly see the Universe-as-it-is and we begin to intuit the beautiful necessity of everything, including that which we had previously rejected and was a source of suffering – even our suffering. As Thich Nhat Hanh has said: “Our suffering is holy if we embrace it and look deeply into it.” In the second part of this essay, to be published next month, we will explore the particulars of The Eightfold Path.

TUNNEL ROAD

HENDERSONVILLE RD. Bill Walz has taught meditation and mindfulness in university and public forums, and is a privatepractice meditation teacher and guide for individuals in mindfulness, personal growth and consciousness.

TC RC

WAYNESVILLE

GREAT SMOKY MTN EXPY.

MACON AVENUE

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32 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

He holds a weekly meditation class, Mondays from 6:30-7:30 p.m., at the Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood in Asheville. By donation. Information on classes, talks, personal growth and healing instruction, or phone consultations at (828) 258-3241, e-mail at healing@billwalz.com. Learn more, see past columns and schedule of coming events at www.billwalz.com

sound experience Fresh Preserves, Take Five!

As the leader of local contemporary bluegrass favorites Buncombe Turnpike, Tom Godleski wears many hats. He writes and sings lead on virtually all their songs, plays bass, handles the booking arrangements, publicity, and all the myriad details necessary in keeping the ship afloat. And while the band’s personnel has, after a period of flux, stabilized in recent years Godleski has no doubt played the role of negotiator and ego wrangler, balancing individual needs with those of the group. A Western North Carolina native he’s also a self-professed “mountain boy,” one with a genuine reverence for the people and traditions of the area. As such he’s written and performed the stage presentation Fresh Preserves — also the title of his 2008 CD-based on stories he’d heard in his youth. The show, capably combining acting, storytelling and music, has previously been performed at the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre (SART), the Folk Art Center, and downtown’s NC Stage. Ever evolving, the 2014 edition of Fresh Preserves promises to be as fresh as the tales it is dedicated to preserving.

James Cassara: Talk about the lat-

est incarnation of Fresh Preserves. If

‘Roky Erickson’ cont’d from page 27

and a successful classical musician, obtained custody of Roky, who had fallen into poor health. Under Sumner’s watch, Erickson began receiving proper medical and dental care for the first time in years, as well as more effective treatment for his psychological problems. Sumner also set up a charitable trust to help finance his brother’s care, and with the help of sympathetic lawyers, attempted to sort out the legal red tape that prevented Roky from being paid for his music. A fit and relatively lucid Roky Erickson began making occasional public appearances around his nearly adopted hometown of Austin, TX, and in March 2005, Erickson spoke as part of a panel discussion on the 13th Floor Elevators at the South by Southwest Music Conference. A documentary on his life and work, You’re Gonna Miss Me, premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival. This burst of activity coincided with the release of I Have Always Been Here Before: The Roky Erickson Anthology Anthology, a two-disc career overview compilation. Halloween, a set of live recordings from 1979-1981 with his band the Explosives, was released in early 2008.

BY JAMES

CASSARA

someone has previously seen the play, what might be different enough to entice them in?

result of a desire on your part to branch out? How do the play and the band intersect?

Tom Godleski: This is our fifth stag-

TG: At this point in my life cre-

ing of Fresh Preserves, and there have been some changes since our first show at SART back in 2010. It is really cool when you figure out things that make the show better, and it evolves into what you want. One little change, but a vital one, came as we were rehearsing for the show at NC Stage last January. The thought just came to me during rehearsals.

JC: No different than the improvisation that takes place when the band is playing. I guess one thing leads to another.

TG: Exactly! I also wanted to get across

more clearly that while the character of Uncle Robert is no longer alive to tell the stories, they will live on because of the songs. Bill Gregg, the director of SART, was instrumental in putting together a scene that does that very well. Another great thing about this version of the show is the lead actor, Bradshaw Call. Bradshaw is a WNC native, and really does a tremendous job with the role of Uncle Robert.

JC: Do you see the play as an exten-

sion of Buncombe Turnpike or is it a

True Love Cast Out All Evil, Erickson’s first new studio album in some 14 years, appeared from Anti Records in 2010. Favorably reviewed in these pages it was a triumphant return; a strong blend of the idiosyncratic and beautifully constructed nature of his music. Produced by Will Scheff (of the Austin based band Okkerville River) True Love Cast Out All Evil hit the spot on numerous levels. Since its release, Erickson has continued to record and tour on an infrequent basis, one that suits his needs and accommodates his still tenuous physical and mental state. That he is alive and reasonably well is very much a miracle in itself. That he is still writing and performing, and coming to Asheville, makes it all the sweeter. IF YOU Roky Erickson, opening for GO The Black Angels, Thursday,

February 20. Doors open at 8 p.m. for this standing room only, all ages show. Tickets are $20 ADV / $22 day of show. The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave., Asheville. For more information call (828) 232-5800 or visit www.thegreyeagle.com.

ativity is most important. Fresh Preserves is another creative outlet for me. This play started out being a tribute to my mom, my grandfather, and my uncle. I’m very happy that I can honor my family and be creative as well. I am also thrilled that Buncombe Turnpike is a part of this show. The band is Tom Godleski (center) and Buncombe Turnpike perform on stage for both acts. Fresh Preserves at the Folk Art Center on Friday, February 7. Fresh Preserves is also another way to expose the band, and bluegrass, to an audience that may not necessarily be drawn to that type of music.

JC: Talk a bit about the band. In 2013

it seemed you took a bit of time away and yet I see you’re still being played on WNCW. Would you like to record and play out more in the coming year?

TG: It might have seemed we took some

time away, but we really didn’t. When you are an independent artist without a manager or marketing company, it’s difficult to be in the mix with all the musical talent in the Asheville area. In June we released a new CD Forever It Will Be. The new disc finished number 56 on WNCW’s top 100 list for 2013, and has received some good airplay. Given the amount and range of music they play, we were honored to be on the list. Also, for the first time in our 15 year history, we’ll be playing Merlefest this year. How great is that!? Buncombe Turnpike has also been working on a new CD project, and recently recorded at Asheville’s Echo Mountain Studio. There is no timeline for when the new disc will be released; we just felt that this winter, while the gigs are slow, it would be a good time to record. We have some really cool gigs booked for 2014, and we think it is going to be one of our best years yet. Hopefully, by playing Merlefest and with a new CD, we can keep this thing moving forward!

IF YOU Fresh Preserves, written GO by Tom Godleski, starring

Morganton native Bradshaw Call, music by Buncombe Turnpike. Performances at the Folk Art Center on Friday, February 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, February 8 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, February 9 at 2 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for students, and seniors. The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 Blue Ridge Parkway, just off Hwy 70 in east Asheville

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Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 33

asheville shops Points of Light

Points of Light crystal and mineral gallery, located in North Asheville on Merrimon Avenue, is a wonderful source for fine crystals, gems, minerals and living art. The gallery, which boasts an amazing collection of huge Quartz crystals, including a seven-foot-tall Agate geode, is much more than just another rock shop. Points of Light's collection includes many unique Quartz clusters and Amethyst geodes in addition to healing stones, mineral

Bolivian Amethyst Cluster

specimens and a wide Lemurian Golden Healer Quartz Cluster Quartz Sphere variety of books on stones. They specialize in A “must see” destination! breathtaking interior design pieces and one-of-a-kind specimens for decorators, collectors and healers. famous lapidary artist, Lawrence Stoller. Every item on display has been From museum pieces weighing carefully and lovingly hand-selected more than a ton, down to the smallest for quality, beauty and energy. The of their tumbled stones, the quality and gallery works with a renowned scope of their inventory is unsurpassed. group of internationally acclaimed Points of Light is a “must see” destinacrystal and mineral artisans, and as tion in Asheville! a result carries some of the finest cut and polished pieces available Points of Light anywhere in the United States. Crystal and Mineral Gallery Points of Light is also home to one of the largest selections of crystal 391 Merrimon Avenue, singing bowls on the east coast, as downtown Asheville well as a comprehensive and truly (828) 257-2626 Shop online! beautiful group of crystal healing Visit www.pointsoflight.net wands, including tools cut by world-

‘Starving Artist’ cont’d from page 20

away a free $20 gift card to an e-mail subscriber just for playing the “Who’s The Artist?” art history/trivia game. The first e-mail of the month will contain a piece of art with a question about it. Sometimes it’s classical, sometimes modern, sometimes a local artist. Just reply with the correct answer and you could win that month’s $20 gift card.

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The Starving Artist offers a large variety of art supplies — from paints, canvases, and brushes, to printmaking and mixed media materials.

Rapid River Magazine Our Monthly Magazine is iPad, Nook, & Kindle Friendly! www.issuu.com/rapidrivermagazine 34 February 2014 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 17, No. 6

Above all, The Starving Artist is focused on meeting the needs of our local arts community and more importantly you, the artist. Residing in Western NC allows Matthew to see and feel the artistic winds that blow through our mountains and touch your canvases. Contact The Starving Artist, at (828) 693-3191, by e-mail to wncStarvingArtist@gmail.com, or stop by 814 Kanuga Road in Hendersonville, NC. www.StarvingArtistCatalog.com, www.wncstarvingartist.com

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Advertise with Rapid River Magazine Free Web Links, Free Ad Design, Easy Monthly Billing (828) 646-0071 • www.rapidrivermagazine.com Vol. 17, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2014 35

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