This must be the place: There is no other way, and there never was
Maybe it’s the espresso or maybe it’s the rush of blood to my heart from thinking about the faces and…
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Cosmopolitan country: Waynesville restaurant celebrates 15 years
It’s Thursday morning. In just about a half-hour, The Sweet Onion restaurant in downtown Waynesville will open for lunch —…
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This must be the place: Don’t ever change your ways, fall with me for a million days
It was during the third sip of my fourth beer on Monday evening at The Scotsman in downtown Waynesville when…
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Obstacles are opportunities: Franklin community market bridges food, music
With a hot mid-July sun falling behind the mountains last Thursday evening, rock legend Tommy Stinson strapped on his Gibson…
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This must be the place: It's all I got to get, it's really all there is
It’s 9:58 a.m. Tuesday. Downtown Waynesville. Back at the office, this week’s newspaper is being edited and proofed before it…
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Over the hills and far away: Jackson County author wins French literary award
For someone who rarely comes down from his mountaintop cabin in the backwoods of Western North Carolina, writer David Joy…
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This must be the place: Distance makes the heart grow stranger when the stars go out of view
Tucked in the corner booth at a dive bar in Maggie Valley on Monday afternoon, I slid across the vinyl…
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Wheels Through Time celebrates 20 years
Home to the world’s premier collection of rare American motorcycles and historically significant automobiles, Dale’s Wheels Through Time museum will…
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Making a mark: Haywood potter bridges nature, art and memories
While studying English at the University of Mary Washington, Christina Bendo decided to, by chance, take an elective one semester…
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This must be the place: I’ve been running so long on the same old ground, gonna rattle these chains till the morning light
Sitting down at the old wooden kitchen table in the kitchen of my parents’ farmhouse in rural Upstate New York,…
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‘Living with Pride’
For the first time in its 45-year history, the Haywood County Arts Council is celebrating Pride month with its ‘Living…
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American pastoral: Brothers Gillespie release new album, plot summer tour
Within its upcoming sophomore album, “American Pastoral,” rising Haywood County-based Americana/rock act The Brothers Gillespie has cultivated a vast, vibrant…
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This must be the place: There’s no simple explanation, for anything important any of us do
With the Mason-Dixon Line in the rearview mirror, I pushed the accelerator down and proceeded to make my way up…
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This must be the place: Ode to the girl from the North Country, the one who loved horses
I first got word about Steph Wilkins while sitting in the kitchen at an old flame’s parents’ house in the…
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‘Living With Pride’ art showcase
An exhibit dedicated to the Southern Appalachian LGBTQIA+ experience, the “Living With Pride” art showcase will run June 3-26 at…
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Gather at the Rickman Store
Weekly festive gatherings are underway at the Rickman Store in Macon County.
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Taking the leap: Food truck celebrates lineage, the independent spirit
It was just about four years ago when Jeremiah Chatham decided to put down the hammer and pick up a…
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This must be the place: Ode to Paul McCartney, ode to being together again
Amid a brisk walk down Phillip Fulmer Way towards the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, last Tuesday evening, I found…
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Love is a mean old world: A conversation with Warren Haynes
The beauty of the blues is that it’s a style of music you grow up alongside, one where you may…
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This must be the place: Followin’ the stars through the honky-tonks and bars, dream away on a country music pride
Last Thursday afternoon. Downtown Waynesville. Rifling through a fresh load of laundry, I was beginning to sift through my clothes…
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Me and you with the sunset blues: Tim Bluhm of The Mother Hips
At age 51, acclaimed singer-songwriter Tim Bluhm feels like he’s just getting started. The creative well of inspiration remains deep…
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This must be the place: Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own
Standing on the sidewalk, I leaned onto the open garage door window of Sauced in downtown Waynesville. Sunday evening right…
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This must be the place: It’s a wonderful world if you can put aside the sadness, and hang on to every ounce of beauty upon you
Although I had a press pass waiting for me at the box office of the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville…
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Craft beer catalyst: Mountain Layers Brewing celebrates five years
It’s early Thursday afternoon, and though the Memorial Day Weekend summer kickoff is still a couple weeks away, the two-story…
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This must be the place: Every day it comes to this, catch the things you might have missed
Feeling a bit deflated lately. It’s funny how one thing just triggers everything else, this domino effect that tumbles and…
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Home is where the meal is: Sylva restaurant specializes in authentic Thai cuisine
Although the 5 o’clock dinner rush is still a few hours away, Chef Kanlaya Supachana is zipping around the kitchen…
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Credits roll on Quin Theater
Since Johnny and Paulene Maney opened the doors to the Quin Theater in 1978, it has been a community staple…
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This must be the place: Can I sing for my supper and play for my rent?
Standing on the massive main stage at the SweetWater 420 music festival in downtown Atlanta last Saturday afternoon, I hoisted…
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A few stars apart: Lukas Nelson to headline Bear Shadow festival
At age 33, singer-songwriter Lukas Nelson is already building a sturdy, bountiful existence as a beloved troubadour, one whose onstage…
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Into the blue: Bill Nershi of The String Cheese Incident
With its latest album, the EP “Into the Blue,” Colorado-based jam-band icons The String Cheese Incident have offered up a…
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New Folkmoot executive director
Folkmoot USA, home to North Carolina’s Official International Folk Festival, welcomes Evan Hatch as the new executive director to lead…
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Historian, local author to talk history of ginseng in Sylva
Join City Lights Bookstore for a conversation between authors, Luke Manget and Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, at 3 p.m. this Saturday,…
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This must be the place: I know the journey’s long and I’m sure you’ll find your way
It was a couple miles beyond the Georgia/South Carolina border heading north on Interstate 95 when the highway sign blinked…
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This must be the place: Every piece to the puzzle snaps tight in the groove
It was somewhere towards the end of Set One of Night Two of The String Cheese Incident’s gig at the…
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Ode to the traditions, past and present: A conversation with John Duncan
Sitting at the bar counter of Boojum Brewing in downtown Waynesville one recent evening, John Duncan sips a craft ale,…
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This must be the place: ‘Don’t deny that a rambler must always be free’
Hopping out of the 15-foot U-Haul truck last week, I reached for the gas pump and began fueling up the…
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At the End of the Rainbow: A conversation with Sierra Ferrell
Musician extraordinaire. Freelance sniper. Dancer.
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This must be the place: Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play
I’m currently on a cross-country road trip. Pictured sitting on the U-Haul is Christine Kavanaugh, aka: “Aunt Chrissy.” I snapped…
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Bestselling author of ‘Dear Martin’ comes to Waynesville
Almost everyone wants the best for themselves, the people they love, the acquaintances they encounter and even the billions of…
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HCAC ‘Artist of the Month’
The Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville has announced that painter Laura Parker is the “Artist of the Month” for…
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This must be the place: ‘People love you when they on your mind, a thought is love’s currency’
It was an odd feeling to wake up in a natural state, rather than be disturbed by the noises of…
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This must be the place: Goin’ places that I’ve never been, seein’ things that I may never see again
It was a matter of $50 when my father finally relented to his birthday celebration. In the depths of The…
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Into the fold: Blue Ridge Craft Trails foster community, tradition
The studio space of blacksmith Rachel David is vast. Inside an enormous old hay barn there is equipment everywhere –…
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‘Jewgrass’: Nefesh Mountain brings a different perspective to bluegrass music
The word “Jewish” can be used to describe both an ethnicity and a religious faith; some people are one or…
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A Life in Focus: A Conversation with Graham Nash
Within his iconic melodies that have serenaded our hearts and minds for over a half-century, singer-songwriter Graham Nash is able…
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This must be the place: Can’t you feel the whole world’s a-turnin’? We are real and we are a-burnin’
It was the sound of a fire truck roaring through downtown Knoxville Monday morning that woke me up. The window…
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This must be the place: Sipping an old fashioned like a divorcee in Vegas, I’m too young to be feeling this way
I forgot to pull down the window shade and awoke to the early morning light on Saturday. There was a…
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Flirtin’ with disaster: Upcoming Haywood rock festival sparks controversy
Musicians, promoters and supposed sponsors are all upset about the marketing associated with an upcoming performance at the Smoky Mountain…
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This must be the place: Rock and roll is here to stay, come inside where it’s okay
It was that familiar smell that conjured a slew of memories.
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The alchemy of the melody: A conversation with Andrew Thelston
In terms of musical ambassadors within the melodic melting pot of a scene that is Western North Carolina, you’d be…
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