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 sat together and conversed excitedly about their mutual love of music. 

Two of them were twin brothers, Kyle and Eric Travers. The other two were friends Ian McIsaac and Josh Clark. Though the siblings had been playing music since they were kids, Kyle on guitar and Eric on drums, talk surfaced to start jamming out in their parent’s garage. 

Mediation valuable service in criminal justice system

Mountain Mediation Services has been providing an invaluable service to Western North Carolina’s criminal justice system for more than 20 years. 

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 our region has literally quadrupled. And as someone who has written extensively about craft beer, industry trends and so forth, it’s pretty impossible to keep up with it all. 

Meadows rides a rising red tide

Asheville Republican Mark Meadows has now served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives — the last two as a powerful figure in the majority party, the most recent under unified Republican control of the presidency, the Senate and the House. 

Uniquely positioned: Grant aims to grow outdoor gear industry in WNC

An effort is underway to make North Carolina’s 24 western counties into the next outdoor gear industry hub, and the far western region is poised to find itself at the epicenter of that wave. 

“We’ve already got tremendous momentum within the outdoor sector from the early work that’s been done to cultivate this sector,” said Matt Raker, director of community investments and impact for Asheville-based Mountain BizWorks. “A lot of that is rooted in our exceptional outdoor recreation assets we’ve got across the region, from Tsali to the new Fire Mountain Trails to the Tuckasegee and the Pigeon River Gorge, you name it — we could go on for a long time. That’s helped attract a lot of entrepreneurs and brands here, but they have some specific needs to be able to grow.”

Women in Business: still newsworthy?

As we started working on this year’s Women in Business stories, a fundamental question kept coming up: do we still need to highlight women-owned and women-operated businesses in this day and age, or has it become so commonplace it’s the norm? Are we perpetuating a storyline about overcoming obstacles that’s no longer relevant?

Sen. Davis up for fifth term

Franklin Republican Sen. Jim Davis is probably one of the most popular legislators in the state with his constituents, winning four straight elections and garnering support on the order of 75 percent in some counties. 

Schandevel challenges Presnell for state rep

Ask Canton native Rhonda Cole Schandevel why she’s running for House district 118 again after a disappointing yet decisive loss in 2016 and she’ll tell you, in not so many words. 

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 the rest of his band, Balsam Range, to arrive for the International Bluegrass Music Association award show. 

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