Arts + Entertainment
Gone for good: The Last Revel to headline Cold Mountain Music Festival
Much like their sorrowful, purposeful melodies, the members of The Last Revel contain this thick thread of self, and of place, when it comes to the underlying trait in the sounds and scope of their intent, onstage and in the studio — survival mode.
A riveting, true story out of China
A friend of mine suggested “Wild Swans” (Simon & Schuster, Reprint Edition, 2003, 538 pages) and to say it did not disappoint would be an understatement. This family history is written by Jung Chang, who recounts the lives of her grandmother, mother and finally herself.
Pigeon Community ‘Storytellers Series’
The Pigeon Community Multicultural Development Center in Waynesville has recently announced its 2025 “Pigeon Community Conversations with Storytellers Series.”
Full circle: Astro Record Store opens in Waynesville
One recent afternoon, while wandering the Historic Frog Level District in Waynesville, the sounds of hard rock act AC/DC drifted out the front door of 24 Commerce St. The retro sign on the window states Astro Record Store. The friendly face behind the counter is Kevin “Lippy” Mawby.
The brief history of the Sylva Collegiate Institute
Back in the 1940s, while World War II was still raging in Europe and the Philippines, Charlie Kilpatrick and I used to entertain ourselves by prowling through the kudzu thickets near his house.
Vincent van Gogh from a female perspective
I was gifted the book “The Secret Life of Sunflowers” (by Marta Molnar, 2022, 399 pages) and told I would like it. Usually, this kind of gift ends up not being what it was purported to be by the gift-giver.
Haywood Community Band launches 2025 season
The Haywood Community Band (HCB) will kick off its 2025 season with a special concert, a “Celebration of Song and Dance,” at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the Calvary Road Baptist Church in Maggie Valley.
Bryson City community jam
A community jam will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 12, on the front patio of the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.
Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer or anything unplugged is invited to join. Singers are also welcomed to join in or you can just stop by and listen.
What remains: Following Helene flooding, MANNA FoodBank releases benefit album
In the seven months since Hurricane Helene ravaged the mountains and valleys of Western North Carolina, there’s been one constant thought rolling through the mind of Guy Smith.
“In memorializing Helene’s savagery, the agony it caused, the grief and loss, but also the resilience and charity,” Smith said. “I’d like people to internalize that when things are the worst, people are the best.”
