'MTN CTY JNK': A review
Marsha Barber | 01/07/04
What DrugMoney's discovery could mean for Asheville
Frank Rabey | 01/07/04
Classic theater rich with current themes
Archivists keep the Southern-gospel dream alive
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Tracy Rose | 01/07/04
Movies don't get any better (or worse) than they did in 2003
Our guest reviewer shares her own picks for 2003
2003: The critics' year in movies
Marci Miller | 01/14/04
Star conjurer tries to make probing questions disappear
Xpress Staff | 01/14/04
At 66, Merle Haggard is a spitfire of new country classics -- and unexpected politics
Historical exhibit at its best when it takes itself lightly
Frank Rabey | 01/14/04
Second Fringe Festival spreads to five venues
Connie Bostic | 01/14/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Food and family are the staples of the Chinese New Year
Novel set in pool hall is almost flawless
Stuart Gaines | 01/21/04
Stomping out expectations, Mastodon roams free
Allmans' former protege now favors musicianship over showmanship
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 01/21/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Pete Zamplas | 01/21/04
Bohemian tale is uniquely suited to Asheville audiences
Lou Rawls, the reigning King of Smooth, headlines GPI's jazz weekend
Reclusive singer courts attention, then slips away
Frank Rabey | 01/28/04
Local record producer nurses an incredible vision
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Rhubarb mini tour sets stage for the really big show
Book about bellies combines New Age with good sense
the subdudes achieve an unlikely comeback with 'Miracle Mule
Well-oiled musical continues peppy, preppy, Grease-y mythologizing
Marsha Barber | 02/04/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Frank Rabey | 02/04/04
Xpress goes undercover with some of our small pond's biggest fish
World-saving missions must start with art
Frank Rabey | 02/11/04
Menage gives voice to blushing romance -- in lush, three-part harmony
Valentine's Day reading that's guaranteed to satisfy
Frank Rabey | 02/11/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Rachelle Sorensen | 02/11/04
Filmmaker Rod Murphy is more impostor than auteur
Local band commands a sudden army of admirers
Jay Hardwig | 02/18/04
Dance company makes an unlikely move
Tom Kerr | 02/18/04
Local painter finally fulfills a passion for abstraction
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Connie Bostic | 02/18/04
Jackie Robinson's courage exacted a soul-crushing toll
Marcianne Miller | 02/25/04
Memoir dips deep into hazing hell
Brian Sarzynski | 02/25/04
Bjoerk's beau does experimental art with heart
Rollins comes off as an unlikely optimist
Martin L. Johnson | 02/25/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 02/25/04
Surmounting hardships great and many, South African traditionalists still raise uncanny voices for change
Banjo player can't keep New Age out of old-time
Frank Rabey | 03/03/04
Actress' adaptation of Appalachian novel flies far
Rob Trucks | 03/03/04
Earnest duo makes no apologies
Marcianne Miller | 03/03/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Marsha Barber | 03/03/04
Folk-rock royalty talks candidly of cliches, crowds and unfunny Canadians
Native Irishman crossed an ocean and ended up at home
Frank Rabey | 03/10/04
'Cheese'-y trio continues to dance on the edge
Classic ballet's eerie premise lives on
Stuart Gaines | 03/10/04
The changing face of WNC's live-music horizon
Marcianne Miller | 03/10/04
WNC coffee houses aren't just for poets anymore
Frank Rabey | 03/10/04
The bluegrass/barbecue connection
Star repairman can barely keep up with demand
Star repairman can barely keep up with demand
Frank Rabey | 03/10/04
To recap: Oscar 2004 was dull, dull, dull
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
At 75, Penland School still celebrates the seriousness of fine craft
Local feminist Christians mark a decade of exploration
The buoyant Duhks were hatched for stardom
Tracy Rose | 03/17/04
WCU visiting artist escapes rigid forms, stays snared in life
Marcianne Miller | 03/17/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Connie Bostic | 03/17/04
It won't happen if etown's Nick Forster has his way
Iconic Nashville songwriter looks himself in the eye, and doesn't blink
Marsha Barber | 03/24/04
Chanter enjoys second shot at divinity
Frank Rabey | 03/24/04
Whodunit's ultimate mystery is the mother/daughter connection
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Clashing intentions yield strangely artistic harmony
Red-string Kabbalah bracelets do not a spiritual seeker make
Connie Bostic | 03/31/04
Ailing comedy fails to strike the right tone
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Deathless 'Tommy' preaches the light of self-awareness
The Psychedelic Furs, fixtures of a disparaged time, have become strangely timeless
The unlikely revival of Leonard Nimoy's 'Vincent
none | 04/07/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Blues baron admits: I'm still searching
Two-thousand-year-old play uses sex as a weapon
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 04/14/04
Only Eminem was allowed to influence Southern writer's latest novel
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 04/14/04
Austin knob-twisters still refuse to speak up
Marcianne Miller | 04/14/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 04/14/04
Friday at Flat Rock will be uniquely suited to Asheville audiences
Tolerable play about teen life speaks for itself
Pete Zamplas | 04/21/04
Exhibits draw from deeply individual approaches
Sexton lets his rough edges redeem his operatic voice
Connie Bostic | 04/21/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Marsha Barber | 04/21/04
North Carolina gospel group returns triumphantly to MerleFest
Farmer's son Doyle Lawson invests his new release with 25 years of perfectionism
Frank Rabey | 04/28/04
Young artists' show excoriates commercial culture
Tracy Rose | 04/28/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Connie Bostic | 04/28/04
Local dancer grapples with ballet's most grueling masterpiece
Embraced now by the festival crowd, Steve Winwood rocks on
Tracy Rose | 05/05/04
Lake Eden Arts Festival was conceived with families first in mind
Stuart Gaines | 05/05/04
Super solo 'Educated Guess' finds its target
Brian Sarzynski | 05/05/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Former junk percussionists turn shockingly tuneful
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 05/12/04
Renaissance fairs aren't just for geeks anymore
Acclaimed Asheville folkie takes full-color approach to black-and-white world
Scholar shares his addiction to a heavily influential monarch
Frank Rabey | 05/12/04
Puppets and politics invade Middle Eastern fairy tale
Tracy Rose | 05/12/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Abigail Batton | 05/12/04
New works show that Stevens struggled to find his place
Storyteller let her ancestors write her first published tale
Connie Bostic | 05/19/04
Delicious cast makes 'The Food Chain' more digestible
Marcianne Miller | 05/19/04
Singer/songwriter embodies West Asheville's brash spirit
Marcianne Miller | 05/19/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Henry Rollins burns with a zealot's fire for Thomas Wolfe
How you, too, can pass for a Thomas Wolfe society member
Drum 'n' bass DJ discusses a few of his favorite things
Carrie A.A. Frye | 05/26/04
Brevard trumpets its adorably aberrant rodents
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 05/26/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Marsha Barber | 05/26/04
Textually flawed photo books show what remains the same
Artist's figures boast feet big enough to take them anywhere
Like any family, Arrested Development has needed room to grow
'The Big Bang' is a controlled explosion
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Bluff Mountain Festival headliners do it their way
Discovering Toe River artists requires a sense of adventure
Marsha Barber | 06/09/04
Folktronica perfecter saves her sadness for her songs
Death of an aerialist brings new attention to circus arts
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Behind Metamorphicon's mask is a swelling army of imagination
Locals don't need film to convince them that Keel's king
Camper Van Beethoven's new record marches merrily off to war
Will Cumberland | 06/16/04
Local baseball book scores high on visuals
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 06/16/04
Cowboy kitsch blooms like a desert rose in Burnsville play
Brian Sarzynski | 06/16/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Tom Robbins parachutes into Sylva
Harpist makes light of ancient classical instrument
Gallery in tucked-away Tryon remains on the cutting edge of the local art scene
Jason Lauritzen | 06/23/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Connie Bostic | 06/23/04
Artists jolt viewers into taking a new look at a threatened road
The secret life of an Asheville doorman
Marsha Barber | 06/30/04
Novelist hopes her high-dazzle background won't blind readers to her characters
Burlesque troupe titillates body and mind
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Lisa Watters | 06/30/04
Hoping to help abused kids, former child star lets go of a dark secret
Coffee-filter art creates a buzz at Semi-Public
Xpress Staff | 07/07/04
Hollywood Red puts his mojo where his mouth is
Connie Bostic | 07/07/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Craft Fair vendors are a showcase of different movements and traditions
Hoping to help abused kids, former child star lets go of a dark secret
Getting indigenous dance moves requires moving mountains
Talented band most famous as fame-seekers resurfaces, mostly intact
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Frank Rabey | 07/14/04
Ansel Adams' photos of edgy places today put him in another tight spot
Thanks to -- and despite -- star collaborators, Los Lobos shines on new CD
Connie Bostic | 07/21/04
Books on Southern dialect speak in distinctly different tongues
Marsha Barber | 07/21/04
Regional festival shows off puppetry for adults
Puppetry for adults isn't exactly new
Music program begun by local chef stirs up a tuneful clash of cultures
The fickle final days of the Stephanie Morgan Quartet
Students in WCU's first M.F.A. program will undergo hard scrutiny
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Connie Bostic | 07/28/04
Novelist makes bold moves in a timely story of rape and recovery
Nation's longest-running folk festival is sustained by crowd-pleasing, not showboating
Slyly borrowed opera has returned centuries of hectic enjoyment
Hunter Pope | 08/04/04
Young Asheville filmmaker re-awakens memories of Vietnam
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
High-tech dance piece introduces a new era of media arts in Asheville
Allison Moorer explores country's dark heart, darkly
Pete Zamplas | 08/11/04
DeWayne Barton's backyard art is free to roam
Local author's new mystery gives the dirt on Asheville
Connie Bostic | 08/11/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Carrie A.A. Frye | 08/11/04
Two seminal NYC bands have opposite success traversing the very mountains they built
Progressive-hip-hop duo rocks -- and rocks the vote
Frank Rabey | 08/18/04
Hubcap artist swerves into dangerous territory
Clever pair of mid-century farces still daunts directors today
Connie Bostic | 08/18/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Stilt-walkers and high-steppers at Goombay! prove the kids are all right
New theater company prepares for a unique string of shows
The new Malcolm Holcombe has A-list handlers -- and a new handle on life
Alcoholism never sounded so good
Marsha Barber | 08/25/04
Local arts and music news, reviews and interviews
Will Cumberland | 08/25/04
A local-is-better manifesto strongly colors annual Lexington Avenue festival
A hot new album and a burning cause may raise local singer to local legend
Marsha Barber | 09/01/04
Inspiring baby-makers is but a small part of the Rev. Al Green's mission
Marsha Barber | 09/01/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 09/01/04
Beatles wannabes are here, there and everywhere -- though not necessarily all created equal
Stuart Gaines | 09/01/04
Local painters of country and blues artists expose their own roots
Transplanted NYC designers dress up Sept. 11 memories
Marsha Barber | 09/08/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Promoting his film and CD, Brewgrass headliner enjoys a new leash on life
Stuart Gaines | 09/08/04
Literary trio explores the sinister side of hero worship
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 09/15/04
A century later, Chief Joseph still lives
Slick double disc may finally decide fate for iconoclastic local band
Marcianne Miller | 09/15/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Hunter Pope | 09/15/04
It's the Tweedy/Stirratt bond that sustains the beleaguered Wilco
Stuart Gaines | 09/15/04
Grove Park Inn raises its glass to an ingenious drunk
Hunter Pope | 09/22/04
Flat Rock Music Festival singer says playing original songs is like standing up naked
Pete Zamplas | 09/22/04
How Lynyrd Skynyrd saved the South -- or at least one Southern-rock writer
Pete Zamplas | 09/22/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Swing-state rock campaign lands in friendly territory
Stuart Gaines | 09/22/04
Dance production flips tradition on its head
Brian Sarzynski | 09/29/04
These island artists aren't just painting pretty seascapes
Asheville's most influential band is back. No, really.
Connie Bostic | 09/29/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Tom Kerr | 09/29/04
A million-dollar bonsai exhibit puts local spin on a horticultural art
Stuart Gaines | 09/29/04
Inspired live album shows how the Dickinson brothers became rock stars
High-end exhibit attempts to lift Cherokee in another direction
Hunter Pope | 10/06/04
Local player manages to be both indispensable and elusive
Connie Bostic | 10/06/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Top drummers and other LEAF headliners show the kids how it's done
Stuart Gaines | 10/06/04
Pete Zamplas | 10/13/04
Pete Zamplas | 10/13/04
Exhibits double-expose a powerful arts defender
Xpress Staff | 10/13/04
Struggling writers get preferential treatment in book about WNC literati
Connie Bostic | 10/13/04
Aquarium Rescue Unit reunites with its daddy after a decade apart
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Stuart Gaines | 10/13/04
Mega-popular jam band is a model of independence
Stuart Gaines | 10/13/04
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 10/20/04 |
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 10/20/04
Jewelry show highlights fresh work while chronicling the aging of a popular generation
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 10/20/04
The country's top cloggers gather in Maggie Valley
Lighter moments are the better moments in feminist play
Peter Loewer | 10/20/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Coordinators of controversial McCartney Project name-drop for cherished cause
Stuart Gaines | 10/20/04
South American women singers offer a real taste of Latin music
Front Gallery exhibit is a bumpy ride
Found notes and photos make for a tragicomic read
Connie Bostic | 10/27/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Stuart Gaines | 10/27/04
Angels, devils and gravediggers: A critical overview of feature entries in competition
Stuart Gaines | 10/27/04
Kasey Chambers mixes forever melodies and one-night-stand lyrics on Wayward Angel
Antique-quilt display reveals plenty of local color
'Shakespeare Abridged' is for those who balk at the Bard
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Prison memoir reveals a place where suffering is not acknowledged, only expected
Stuart Gaines | 11/03/04
Michael Hopping | 11/10/04
Hubbard Street 2 cares nothing about famous choreographers you're supposed to love
The plucky ukulele unites eccentrics of all stripes
Iconic guitarists have more in common than fancy fingerwork
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 11/10/04
They live, breathe and play Southern rock -- but you're better off not labeling the ornery Drive-By Truckers
Stuart Gaines | 11/10/04
Stuart Gaines | 11/17/04
Symphony finalists show Asheville what they've got
Stuart Gaines | 11/17/04
'Asylum' exhibit expresses fondness for crazy Ashevilleans
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Connie Bostic | 11/17/04
Peering closer at the eye in the pyramid, and other 'National Treasure' symbols
Stuart Gaines | 11/17/04
Clay show exposes an artist whose time has come
Steve Rasmussen | 11/24/04
Flashy guitar heir will offer welcome escape at Town Pump
Connie Bostic | 11/24/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Stuart Gaines | 11/24/04
Untangling Asheville's ties to the Great White Way
Stuart Gaines | 11/24/04 |
In fact, Trey-haters may number among Umphrey's McGee's biggest fans
In its debut show A-B Tech Drama Club finds substance in humor
Stuart Gaines | 12/01/04 |
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Event celebrates Beat ties to WNC
Stuart Gaines | 12/01/04
Absurdist play is still relevant after all these years
Experimental percussionist combines faith in Christ with avant-garde performances
A preview of Hollywood's hit-or-miss season
Stuart Gaines | 12/08/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Annual Christmas Jam projected to again raise record amount again for Habitat for Humanity
Stuart Gaines | 12/08/04
Local history leaves mark on ballet company's holiday classic
Stuart Gaines | 12/15/04
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Saby Reyes-Kulkarni | 12/15/04
Mountain-instrument exhibit at Western piques unprecedented interest in the past
Stuart Gaines | 12/15/04
Like confetti, Dec. 31 offerings in Asheville are all over the place
Hunter Pope | 12/22/04
City New Year's party hits a new high ... sort of
Holiday reads grab at the heart ... and suck the brain
Valuable scraps from the local-music scene
Native bluegrass band is a feast of friends (seasoned with a Grammy)
Stuart Gaines | 12/22/04
