This must be the place: One hundred years from this day, will the people still feel this way
It was somewhere around the the second mile of my New Year’s Eve jog that I realized that day marked…
Read More
This must be the place: You would do anything, you’d give up everything for god knows why
Christmas Eve. Downtown Waynesville. Sitting alone in my one-bedroom apartment, I was bummed that I couldn’t be back home in…
Read More
This must be the place: There’s too much in this world I can’t seem to shake
I live in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Waynesville. Been here going on eight and a half years. Aside from…
Read More
Cowee School awards art grants
The Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center recently announced the 2020-21 NC Arts Council Artist Support Grant Recipients for Region…
Read More
Compelled, but not defeated: A conversation with Mike Cooley
For the better part of the last 25 years, the Drive-By Truckers has remained a melodic beacon of truth and…
Read More
This must be the place: No regrets, coyote, we just come from such different sets of circumstance
I looked at my smart phone. Monday evening. It nearing 9 o’clock and it was high time I made it…
Read More
This must be the place: Turn your head to the cries of loneliness in the night
Stepping out of my truck, it was a cold wind rolling off the nearby mountains late Monday afternoon. A stiff…
Read More
Coast to Coast and Carolina, too: The Rivers & Rails Tavern opens in Dillsboro
Sitting at a table in the dining room of The Rivers & Rails Tavern in Dillsboro, Craig Szymanski looked out…
Read More
This must be the place: Olden times and ancient rhymes, of love and dreams to share
Though the baseboard heat was on in the living room, my downtown Waynesville apartment was quite chilly come Tuesday morning.…
Read More
Staying true to your roots: Lazy Hiker Brewing celebrates milestone, pushes ahead
It’s an unusually warm and sunny day for late November in Macon County. The patio tables at Lazy Hiker Brewing…
Read More
New Waynesville art studio
Do you want to make a crafty project with friends, but don’t have the materials, space or know-how? CRE828, a…
Read More
From bean to table: Steamline Coffee Co. opens in Waynesville
Friday morning in downtown Waynesville and Orchard Coffee is bustling. There are those entering and waiting patiently for strong coffee…
Read More
This must be the place: They’re cutting through the steady wind and landing on the ground
Like every Thanksgiving, I’ll figure something out. With my family over 1,000 miles away back up in the North Country,…
Read More
This must be the place: There’s all kinds of magic, it’s hard to believe
So, where am I right now? Well, physically, I’m sitting in the back of our office, by myself in the…
Read More
See that love, rise like a river: A conversation with G. Love
For the better part of the last 30 years, G. Love (aka: Garrett Dutton) has been radiating his message of…
Read More
This must be the place: Too much of anything is bad, but too much champagne is just right
It was during the third sip of my second glass of wine that I decided to splurge. As a minimalist,…
Read More
Priceless expression when space is possession: A conversation with Keller Williams
When it comes to Keller Williams, there are three key elements of his storied live performances — experimentation, fun, unity. …
Read More
This must be the place: The velvet it rips in the city, we tripped on the urge to feel alive
I could hear the planes overheard from the nearby Nashville airport. The room was cool. The bedsheets warm. It took…
Read More
Cooking on The Mountain
The drive to The Mountain Retreat & Learning Center in Highlands sets the stage for its seclusion from the outside…
Read More
This must be the place: Ode to the front porch, ode to the pink couch
I awoke to the hammering of nails and the sound of a cement mixer. Opening the front door, it was…
Read More
Courage for the road: Anders Beck of Greensky Bluegrass
Coming into 2020, Greensky Bluegrass was looking forward to celebrating its 20th anniversary. A relentless national touring act, it would…
Read More
This must be the place: Things change but you don’t realize you have all you need
About halfway through the first set of the sold-out Goose drive-in show last Saturday, a friend turned to me and…
Read More
Turn up the radio: Canton station remains a cherished community gem
Not far from Main Street in Canton and the bright lights of the nearby football stadium is an unassuming one-story…
Read More
The dark side of Mill Street
Crossing the threshold of the White Moon café in downtown Sylva, one is immediately drawn in by the scent of…
Read More
This must be the place: Winter’s cold, spring erases, and the calm away by the storm is chasing
Awakening in the hotel room in downtown Pineville, Kentucky, it took me a moment to realize where I was this…
Read More
The art of sitting and listening
In a seismic move that will further propel the Asheville and greater Western North Carolina music scene into the national…
Read More
This must be the place: You’ve got to get up to get down
Approaching the backside parking lot of Upslope Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado one recent evening, I was immediately greeted by…
Read More
This must be the place
It’s 9:29 a.m. on Tuesday at the Holiday Inn off Interstate 135 near the city of Salina, Kansas. Looking out…
Read More
Seasons of my heart: A conversation with Del McCoury
In the 21st century, the living bridge of the “high, lonesome sound” that is bluegrass music is Del McCoury. At…
Read More
Play by your own rules: A conversation with Sam Bush
Fresh out of high school in 1970, Sam Bush was a teenager in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with aspirations of being…
Read More
This must be the place: Ain’t it funny how the time just flies, don’t you think it’s time to get on board?
Nearing midnight here in Eastern Idaho. A landscape I used to call home some 12 years ago. The faces I…
Read More
This must be the place: Oh, the day we met I went astray, I started rolling down that lost highway
It’s 4:41 a.m. at the Motel 6 in Laramie, Wyoming, which means it’s nearing 7 o’clock back at my apartment…
Read More
This must be the place: I get the urge for going, but I never seem to go
Labor Day 2020. After finishing up my arts feature for this week’s newspaper, I jumped into the old Tacoma and…
Read More
This must be the place: Do you believe in what you see, motionless wheel, nothing is real
Stepping out of the muddy truck, I laced up my trail running shoes and disappeared down the Cataloochee Divide Trail…
Read More
Rising country star Justin Wells releases ‘The United State’
Sitting in a booth upstairs at The Water’n Hole on North Main Street in Waynesville one recent evening, Justin Wells…
Read More
This must be the place: High above the chimney top, that’s where you’ll find me
On Aug. 11, my late grandfather, Frank Kavanaugh, would have turned 100 years old. But, alas, it’s been some 13…
Read More
This must be the place: But long as there are stars above you, you never need to doubt it
Pulling onto Lake Street last Saturday afternoon, an odd sense of self flowed through my veins while cruising through Rouses…
Read More
Maggie Valley Band release new EP, return to stage
With its latest EP, “Something New: Vol 1,” the Maggie Valley Band is breaking new ground, whether it be sonically…
Read More
Between midnight and the dawn: Graham Sharp of Steep Canyon Rangers
Celebrating two decades together this year, the Steep Canyon Rangers have evolved from a group of budding musicians in a…
Read More
David Joy releases latest novel 'When These Mountains Burn'
Situated at the corner of N.C. 107 and 281, in the Tuckasegee community of rural Jackson County, is a newly-built…
Read More
This must be the place: Wake now, discover that you are the song that the morning brings
On Aug. 9, 1995, I was 10 years old and living in an old farmhouse on the Canadian Border of…
Read More
The roots of Joy: Ron Rash and Western Carolina University
Acclaimed Appalachian writer and poet Ron Rash has made a substantial impact on American literature during his three-decade career, but…
Read More
This must be the place: Your neighbor isn’t out to get you, nor is your local newspaper
Stepping out of my pickup truck this past Saturday afternoon, I stood in the parking lot of the Maggie Valley…
Read More
‘Save Our Stages Act’ now in the hands of Congress
Standing in front of a microphone on Sunday evening, singer-songwriter Jane Kramer looked out onto the small, socially-distant crowd inside…
Read More
Brothers of a feather: New acoustic duo to make WNC debut
With the current pandemic and economic shutdown, the music industry was the first business sector to close its doors and…
Read More
This must be the place: Cast your dancing spell my way, I promise to go under it
It was odd and surreal feeling to be watching live music this past weekend. As you probably read on the…
Read More
Bringing down the ghosts: A conversation with Eleanor Underhill
One of the most versatile and intriguing musicians in Asheville and greater Western North Carolina, singer-songwriter Eleanor Underhill chases the…
Read More
This must be the place: Not where but what you think that really matters
Stepping out of the pickup truck in my little sister’s driveway last Saturday, I was immediately greeted with the sounds…
Read More
The abstract beauty of humanity: A conversation with painter Avery Rowan
If you’ve ever spent time in New Orleans, Louisiana, you know all too well the grandiose nature and immense splendor…
Read More
