This must be the place: ‘Didn’t wanna get me no trade, never want to be like papa’
So, amid the whirlwind this past week of being published by Rolling Stone — my biggest dream and top bucket…
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Choices and changes: A conversation with Sierra Hull
Though part of the scene most of her life, singer/mandolinist Sierra Hull has been making some big waves in the…
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This must be the place: ‘If everything could ever feel this real forever’
As a Rolling Stone magazine subscriber since I was in ninth grade, it has my biggest dream as a writer…
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‘Any old road will take you there’: Balsam Range reflects on successful past, a bright future
In 12 years together, Haywood County-based Balsam Range have played some of the biggest stages in the music industry, and…
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The face behind the lens: Longtime journalist to hold photo showcase
For over 25 years, journalist Quintin Ellison has roamed our region documenting the people, places and things that make up…
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This must be the place: ‘I will walk alone, by the black muddy river’
Many folks here in Waynesville knew Louie Bing as “the homeless guy with the dog.” Well, Louie and his Australian…
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This must be the place: ‘We’ll climb that hill, no matter how steep’
There was something so cozy about that navy blue 1992 Toyota Camry. With my mother behind the wheel of her…
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Fiddle instructor needed
A fiddle instructor is needed for the Jackson County Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program.
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Let the world decide: Travers Brothership release latest album
Just about a decade ago, on a school bus somewhere on the back roads of Black Mountain, four teenage boys…
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This must be the place: ‘Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice but to carry on’
I couldn’t believe she gave me a ticket. Thanksgiving 2001. I was 16 years old. Having just ate a quick…
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Grassroots Arts Program subgrants awarded
The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC), serving as a Designated County Partner of the North Carolina Arts Council, is pleased…
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Regional Artist Project grantees announced
The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC), administrator of this year’s Regional Artist Project Grant (RAPG), is pleased to announce grantees…
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This must be the place: ‘The air was just electric. The air was quivering.’
I was handed a telephone number and told good luck. In the fall of 2007, I was 22 years old.…
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Tapping into the past, present of Appalachia
In the six or so years I’ve lived and worked in Western North Carolina, the amount of craft breweries in…
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We are but a moment’s sunlight, fading in the grass
I was born in the wrong decade. Or so I often hear from others. Some are musicians or artists, dreamers…
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Don’t judge the book, read the book: ‘Liberal Redneck’ brings wellRED tour to WCU
What Trae Crowder, Drew Morgan and Corey Ryan Forrester are doing is artistically and politically groundbreaking in the world of…
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This must be the place: Sweet Caroline, good times never seemed so good
Let’s go Sox. Standing and shouting at the large television at a pub around the corner from my apartment in…
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Today is a video game: Vermont singer-songwriter returns to Waynesville
About six years ago, I moved from Upstate New York to Western North Carolina. I was, and remain, some 1,100…
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You can't take it when you go: Rock icon Dave Mason rolls through Asheville
Dave Mason has seen it all. As co-founder/guitarist for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group Traffic, Mason, alongside band…
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Sure Feels Good Anyway: A Conversation with Amy Ray
A true mark of a timeless artist is how well they age. Not simply by the passing years on the…
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Remember what we’ve said and done and felt about each other
The laughter ensued deep into the night.
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WCU’s high school marching band tournament
Twenty-two of the top high school marching bands from the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee will be competing for the title…
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New bluegrass book
Diving into the rich, vibrant and controversial history of bluegrass music, If You Can’t Play, Get Off the Stage: Bluegrass…
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It ain’t over yet: Rodney Crowell reflects on life, role of the songwriter
Like a tumbleweed from his native Texas, Rodney Crowell has bounced and rolled along through life to wherever the four…
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This must be the place: The only way to remember is to forget in a rhyme
There was a slight ringing in my ears leaving the show last Sunday evening at Ambrose West on Haywood Road…
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University of the streets
At 69, Thomas Rain Crowe feels pretty good, considering. “I’m not looking forward to 70, it’s kind of a psychological…
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WCU unveils new Cherokee sculpture
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ historical and cultural connections with the land now home to Western Carolina University were…
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This great life we wish to attend
When one is in pursuit of their dreams, once-feared obstacles become golden opportunities, where you see what it will take…
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Drifting back down to earth at the peak of beauty
With brightly colored leaves falling from nearby trees in my front yard, the mountains appearing in the morning fog, and…
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Lost out here on the wind: Greensky Bluegrass returns to Asheville
For over 15 years, Michigan-based string act Greensky Bluegrass has been blurring the lines between bluegrass, rock-n-roll and jazz music. Whether…
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St. Paul warms the bones of Pisgah
Before Saturday night, I'd never heard of St. Paul & The Broken Bones. As such, I had no foresight of…
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This must be the place: I couldn’t tell where heaven stopped and the earth began
It will mark 1,000 days straight. This past Tuesday, I will have gone for a run 1,000 days in-a-row. “The…
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Blue collar dreams: Balsam Range wins big at IBMAs
Sitting on a bench in the lobby of the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium last Thursday evening, Marc Pruett waits quietly for…
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This must be the place: You who are on the road, must have a code that you can live by
I had to really think back and question it. Had I ever crossed that line into what could be considered…
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Carden’s ‘Birdell’ gets DVD Release
There will be a DVD release party for acclaimed writer Gary Carden’s play “Birdell” at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5,…
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In my life, I’ve loved them all
With the massive rainfall from Tropical Storm Florence on Sunday, my truck carefully navigated its way through deep puddles and…
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Debut novel from SMN writer
Smoky Mountain News writer Holly Kays has introduced her new novel, Shadows of Flowers.
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A love so full it could send us all ways: A conversation with Gavin Rossdale
In the mid-1990s, just as the raucous nature of the grunge scene in the United States was hitting its peak,…
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This must be the place: In pitch dark, I go walking in your landscape
With a slight jog around an empty basketball court at the Waynesville Rec Center last Monday evening, I dribbled the…
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‘Women Songwriters Showcase'
There will be a “Women Songwriters Showcase” held at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, in the Macon County Public Library…
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Like a river we grow as we roll
If change is the only constant in life, then Sanctum Sully is the epitome of change. Celebrating a decade together…
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This must be the place: ‘A little before she left me, I asked her what it’s all about’
Hello, from the “Mile High City.” Sitting here in Denver, onward back to Asheville tomorrow morning. This summer has been…
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Voicing the truths of Southern Appalachia
In the digital age that is the 21st century, and in many aspects of this modern era, the culture and…
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Nitty Gritty Dirt Band headlines Canton festival
The 112th annual Canton Labor Day Festival will be held Sept. 2-3 in Sorrells Street Park in downtown.
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This must be the place: I wanna be an American cowboy, and I ain’t never moving away
Every-so-often, I’d look around the crowd and wonder if I’d have known any of these folks, perhaps called them dear…
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You’ve got a way all yours: A conversation with Jim Lauderdale
Legendary troubadour Jim Lauderdale is a longtime pillar of the fiercely independent singer-songwriter scene in Nashville. He’s always gone his…
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DEVO frontman to appear at WCU
The Western Carolina University School of Art and Design and WCU Bardo Arts Center present a special evening with Mark…
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This must be the place: Tomorrow’s gonna be a brighter day
Back to square one. Dammit. You’d think that after existing on this earth for 33 years, and being a legal…
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Nantahala Brewing to open Asheville outpost
Following the announcement of its upcoming Sylva outpost, aimed at a fall opening, Bryson City-based Nantahala Brewing will launch an…
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This must be the place: Pebbles and marbles like things on my mind
Well, 15 years ago this past weekend, I spontaneously bolted from Upstate New York straight to northern Maine to attend…
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