Calendar of Events

James McMurtry is a Grammy-nominated folk-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and occasional actor. A luminary in the Americana space, he weaves stories that resonate with gritty authenticity and emotional depth. His songwriting is celebrated by critics and fellow artists alike, with John Mellencamp raving, “James writes like he’s lived a lifetime,” and Jason Isbell lauding, “I don’t think anybody writes better lyrics.”

In August 2021, McMurtry released The Horses and the Hounds, his first collection in seven years. The album showcases his seasoned songwriting, seamlessly blending personal narratives with elegance (“Canola Fields”) and high energy (“If It Don’t Bleed”), and his ability to inhabit characters from various walks of life, as noted by critics who describe his work as subversive, funny, vulnerable and always poignant.

The release follows in the footsteps of McMurtry’s albums Complicated Games (2015), Just Us Kids (2008) and Childish Things (2005), all of which scored endless critical praise. Just Us Kids earned McMurtry his highest Billboard 200 chart position in two decades (since eclipsed by Complicated Game) and notched Americana Music Award nominations. Childish Things spent six full weeks topping the Americana Music Radio chart in 2005 and 2006, and won the Americana Music Association’s Album of the Year, with “We Can’t Make It Here” named the organization’s Song of the Year. Other accolades include a 1996 Grammy nomination for Long Form Music Video for Where’d You Hide the Body and an American Indie Award for Best Americana Album for It Had to Happen (1997).

Touring year-round, McMurtry consistently throws down powerhouse performances backed by his band.

McMurtry will be joined by opening act BettySoo.

To celebrate this February full moon, embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and inner healing through our groundbreaking Breathwork Meditation Workshop including 2 Sound Baths! During this immersive experience you will be guided through a powerful Breathwork practice to help you massively release stress, heal past wounds and traumas, access deeper levels of awareness, and connect more profoundly to Source.

Led by two professional highly experienced facilitators with over 60 years experience between them, this workshop will
deepen your connection with your breath and unlock its incredible potential for physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

We are delighted to have Kat Houghton again facilitate sound baths to complete each of the Breathwork Meditation Sessions.

Join a group of like-minded individuals on the path to self-discovery in a supportive nurturing environment on the beautiful island in Marshall on one of the oldest rivers in the world.

You may come to the full day (10am-4.30pm, recommended, ) which includes two Breathwork Meditation Sessions with sound baths and a session of Self-discovery. You may also come to the first Breathwork Meditation Session with sound bath only (10am-1pm,) or the second Breathwork Session with sound bath only (1.30pm-4.30pm.).

Set within the magical space of the Dobra Tea East, you’ll be transported into an alchemical world designed to empower and uplift your spirit. Topics covered will be the inner alchemy of a soul’s spiritual awakening and the ancient tools that can assist the process.

Dance Me is an exclusive creation inspired by the rich and profound work of Montreal-based poet, artist and songwriter, Leonard Cohen. Approved by Cohen during his lifetime, this riveting homage to the famed artist evokes the grand cycles of existence in five seasons, as described in Cohen’s deeply reflective music and poems.

Three internationally renowned choreographers were entrusted with putting movement to Cohen’s legendary songs: Andonis Foniadakis, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Ihsan Rustem. Their powerful and profound choreographic world reflective of Cohen’s singular work is brought to life by 14 Ballets Jazz Montréal performing artists.

Surrounded by a team of celebrated designers, Dance Me combines scenic, visual, musical, dramaturgical, and choreographic writing to pay tribute to Montreal’s greatest ambassador. Dance, music, lighting, scenography, and videography all come together in this unforgettable show.

“Leonard Cohen’s art and soul shine on in this stirring tribute.”
– The Telegraph Review

“The beautiful technique and preciseness throughout the evening of excellence was so complimentary to Mr. Cohen’s visions and words, and gave voice to his beliefs and musings.”
– BroadwayWorld Review

Diana Krall is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debut at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. To date, her albums have garnered two GRAMMY® Awards, ten Juno® Awards and have earned nine Gold, three Platinum, and seven multi-Platinum albums. Her 1999 release of When I Look in Your Eyes spent an unprecedented 52 weeks in the #1 position on Billboard’s Jazz chart, won two GRAMMY® Awards, and went Platinum in the U.S. and Canada. Her most recent release, This Dream Of You, has garnered critical acclaim from fans and press alike. Krall’s unique artistry transcends any single musical style and has made her one of the most recognizable artists of our time. As The New York Times recently noted, she possesses “a voice at once cool and sultry, wielded with a rhythmic sophistication.”

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

The Innerdance is a music-based, meditative, healing journey, It involves the use of special soundscapes that mimic circadian rhythms and enable people to move effortlessly between different brain wave states. As a result, people experience an expanded sense of awareness and altered states of consciousness.

In this space of unlimited possibilities, very profound and mystical things can happen. Common movements in the Innerdance include drug-free psychedelic experiences, life regressions, circadian rhythms, near-death experiences, kundalini activations, and womb/birth memories.

Benefits may include nervous system regulation, circadian rhythm reset, mental clarity, inner peace, greater neural plasticity, increased intuitive discernment, emotional regulation, improved self-esteem, etc.

Learn about the basics of perennial and dahlia culture. What is a perennial and what makes them special in the garden? How can you get free plants from your current perennials? These questions and so much more will be covered. We will also have a demo on how to divide perennials. Presented by Isaac Wyatt, Agricultural Program Assistant with Henderson County Extension, will teach the basics of perennial and dahlia culture.

Spring Awakening & Renewal Forest Bathing Retreat | ONSITE | Saturday, March 9, 2 – 5 p.m. Or Saturday, March 23, 2 – 5 p.m.

Guide: Christa Hebal

$55 Non-member Adult**

 (**Arboretum Members receive a 10% discount on all classes.)

Limit: 15

The changing seasons are rich with wisdom and guidance. Winter is a time for rest and dreaming, followed by spring, ripe with opportunities for renewal and growth. Cultivate those winter dreams and invite them to birth into reality during this enlivening afternoon retreat. Let your most authentic Self emerge from within and flourish amidst the beauty of the early spring! New Graph: Your guide, Christa Hebal, will lead you on a gentle journey through the awakening forest, weaving mindfulness, breathwork, forest bathing (Shinrin Yoku) and nature therapy together for a restorative afternoon on some of the trails less traveled at the North Carolina Arboretum. We’ll celebrate the experience in community, enjoying a wild-foraged tea ceremony and snacks. Bring an open mind and an open heart. All are welcome. Presented through Adult & Continuing Education Programs in collaboration with Asheville Wellness Tours.

Christa Hebal is a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. Born and raised in the mountains of NE Tennessee, she has lived in Asheville for 23 years. Christa has an adventurous heart, and loves to help others encounter wholeness through embodiment and nature connection practices. She has had a professional bodywork practice for 17 years as a nationally certified Massage Therapist, and is also a practitioner of Ortho-Bionomy®, Usui Reiki Master, Certified Pediatric Massage Therapist, Clinical Aromatherapist, and Certified Traditional Herbalist. She is also certified in CPR and Wilderness First Aid.

Instructor: Susan Patrice

$24 Non-member Adult**

 (**Arboretum Members receive a 10% discount on all classes.)

Limit: 12

Take a fresh look at the objects, moments and vistas that surround you during this “awe walk” led by documentary photographer Susan Patrice. The contemplative practices she teaches help you experience place through new and loving eyes, to see beauty and wonder in your surroundings. Bring cameras or phones to capture what calls to you in the enveloping landscape. Participants will be sent meeting instructions for this small-group class that will take a slow intentional walk through parts of the Arboretum forest and forest meadow. This walk is a precursor to the generative writing and contemplative photography workshops to be held the following weekend.

Susan Patrice is a documentary photographer, community artist, and founder of Makers Circle. She recently launched Kinship Photography Collective, a global community of practice designed to create rich visual conversations that explore the intimate connections between nature, culture and belonging. Susan’s own photography and public installations focus primarily on the Southern Landscape and its people and feature intimate images that touch deeply into the questions of place, gender, and belonging.

Standup Comedy featuring Allison Shelnut
The Orange Peel’s Pulp
When: Tuesday March 12, 2024.
7p-9p, doors at 6:30p
Where:
The Orange Peel’s Comedy Basement, Pulp Lounge, 103 Hilliard Ave, Downtown Asheville
Tickets: $15 (available at door or The Orange Peel website)
Cocktails available while you laugh the night away to some of the area’s best Stand Up Comics in a ridiculously fun adult environment!! Free snacks while availability lasts!
Hosted by Hilliary Begley, featuring Allison Shelnut open mic is 3-5m each, comics get in free with free snacks!
Host Hilliary Begley-
Hilliary will make you cry with laughter. With her larger that life personality!! Voted repeatedly Asheville’s Favorite comic in the Mountain Xpress. Film debut in the Netflix original Dumplin’ as Aunt Lucy, or “Jennifer Anniston’s fat sister,” In Austin Film Festival winning movie When We Last Spoke with Cloris Leachman, now streaming on Amazon Prime. https ://youtu.be/legRwEg4j-o
Featuring Allison Shelnut-
Allison once stole a hamster from the mall in Greensboro, North Carolina. It bit her. She deserved it. Allison is now a stand-up comedian based out of Asheville. Allison is known to engage the crowd on a wide range of topics from contraceptives to 90s toys. Outside of comedy you’ll find Allison in the woods with her darling dog, Jacob.
Contact Michele at [email protected] for more info!

Neil deGrasse Tyson is the Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City, as well as a renowned astrophysicist. He is the recipient of twenty-one honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award given by NASA to a non-government citizen.

He will speak about The Cosmic Perspective: There is no view of the world as emotionally potent as the one granted by a cosmic perspective. It’s one that sees Earth as a planet in a vast empty universe. It profoundly influences what we think and feel about science, culture, politics, and life itself.

The VIP post-show Q&A includes the following:

• One reserved seat ticket
• A private Q&A session with Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Standup Comedy celebrating St. Patty’s Day at Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company with Ryan Cox Featuring
Jason Webb,
Cheney Goodson & Sarah Love with a comedy open mic. Get dinner drinks and laughs. Tickets at https://www.ashevillebrewing.com/buy-tickets

Standup Comedy celebrating St. Patty’s Day at Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company with Ryan Cox Featuring
Jason Webb,
Cheney Goodson & Sarah Love with a comedy open mic. Get dinner drinks and laughs. Tickets at https://www.ashevillebrewing.com/buy-tickets
Contact Michele at [email protected] for more info

Join us as we embrace the arrival of spring with our Sound Bath and Meditation Workshop. Awaken your senses, align your spirit, and embrace the renewal of the season. Reserve your spot now for an evening of deep relaxation and inner harmony.

· Cacao Ceremony

· Meditation and Journaling

· Healing Sound Bath

Happy Body Biltmore Village – 25 Reed St. Suite 210 – $49pp

The Innerdance is a music-based, meditative, healing journey, It involves the use of special soundscapes that mimic circadian rhythms and enable people to move effortlessly between different brain wave states. As a result, people experience an expanded sense of awareness and altered states of consciousness.

In this space of unlimited possibilities, very profound and mystical things can happen. Common movements in the Innerdance include drug-free psychedelic experiences, life regressions, circadian rhythms, near-death experiences, kundalini activations, and womb/birth memories.

Benefits may include nervous system regulation, circadian rhythm reset, mental clarity, inner peace, greater neural plasticity, increased intuitive discernment, emotional regulation, improved self-esteem, etc.

On March 20 at 7 p.m. in the Blue Ridge Room of UNC Asheville’s Highsmith Union, Natalie Baszile will present readings from her recent work. The event is free and open to the public.

Baszile’s debut novel, “Queen Sugar,” is a mother-daughter story of reinvention — about an African American woman who unexpectedly inherits a sugarcane farm in Louisiana. “Queen Sugar” was adapted into a critically acclaimed television series directed by Ava Duvernay. Baszile’s most recent book, “We Are Each Other’s Harvest,” is an exploration and celebration of black farming in America.

Blending together acupuncture and healing meditations while deeply resting inside the nourishing womb of the Salt Cave.

Spring Awakening & Renewal Forest Bathing Retreat | ONSITE | Saturday, March 9, 2 – 5 p.m. Or Saturday, March 23, 2 – 5 p.m.

THERE IS ONLY ONE.

HER VOICE IS UNDENIABLE. HER FIRE IS UNSTOPPABLE. HER TRIUMPH IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER.

An uplifting comeback story like no other, TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is the inspiring journey of a woman who broke barriers and became the Queen of Rock n’ Roll. Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits, this electrifying sensation will send you soaring to the rafters.

One of the world’s best-selling artists of all time, Tina Turner has won 12 Grammy Awards and her live shows have been seen by millions, with more concert tickets sold than any other solo performer in music history.

Featuring her much loved songs, TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall and directed by the internationally acclaimed Phyllida Lloyd.

Official Website

Recommended for ages 14+.

Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

The Innerdance is a music-based, meditative, healing journey, It involves the use of special soundscapes that mimic circadian rhythms and enable people to move effortlessly between different brain wave states. As a result, people experience an expanded sense of awareness and altered states of consciousness.

In this space of unlimited possibilities, very profound and mystical things can happen. Common movements in the Innerdance include drug-free psychedelic experiences, life regressions, circadian rhythms, near-death experiences, kundalini activations, and womb/birth memories.

Benefits may include nervous system regulation, circadian rhythm reset, mental clarity, inner peace, greater neural plasticity, increased intuitive discernment, emotional regulation, improved self-esteem, etc.

Slice of Life Standup Comedy Contest at The Orange Peel’s Pulp
When: Thursday April 4, 2024.
7p-9p, doors at 6:30p
Where:
The Orange Peel’s Comedy Basement, Pulp Lounge, 103 Hilliard Ave, Downtown Asheville
Tickets: $15 (available at door or The Orange Peel website https://tinyurl.com/2abjkft4)
Cocktails available while you laugh the night away to some of the area’s best Stand Up Comics in a ridiculously fun adult environment!!
Free snacks while availability lasts!
Hosted by Hilliary Begley, featuring professional comics.
Comedy open mic is 3-5m each, comics get in free with free snacks!
The show’s Headliner will be selected by audience in an anonymous ballet after comics perform their sets.
They will write down their favorite top comic of the evening who will be paid & brought back to headline the end of the show with a closing 10-15m set!
.
Contact Michele at [email protected] for details
Host Hilliary Begley-
Hilliary will make you cry with laughter. With her larger that life personality!! Voted repeatedly Asheville’s Favorite comic in the Mountain Xpress. Film debut in the Netflix original Dumplin’ as Aunt Lucy, or “Jennifer Anniston’s fat sister,” In Austin Film Festival winning movie When We Last Spoke with Cloris Leachman, now streaming on Amazon Prime. https ://youtu.be/legRwEg4j-o

Immerse yourself with the healing vibrations of a Sound Bath!
Join your host Kristin Hillegas, for a one-hour Serenity Sound Bath and experience a deeply immersive, full-body sound and vibrational experience. A sound bath can cleanse your soul, restore your balance, surround you with peace and tranquility and stimulate healing.
Note: Please bring a yoga mat/pillow/blanket since you will be lying on the floor. Wear warm, comfortable, and flexible clothing.
The Sound Bath will take place upstairs in the Education Building. Choose your space starting at 1:00 PM, doors close promptly at 1:15 PM.
This service is being offered on a Love Offering basis. Donations allow us to continue to provide these immersive experiences.
Accessible parking is available in the Center for Spiritual Living Asheville upper parking lot. The entrance to the upper parking lot is off of S. Bear Creek Rd between Science of Mind Way and Sand Hill Rd.
There is a boardwalk walk-way from the upper parking lot to the building entrance.

The Innerdance is a music-based, meditative, healing journey, It involves the use of special soundscapes that mimic circadian rhythms and enable people to move effortlessly between different brain wave states. As a result, people experience an expanded sense of awareness and altered states of consciousness.

In this space of unlimited possibilities, very profound and mystical things can happen. Common movements in the Innerdance include drug-free psychedelic experiences, life regressions, circadian rhythms, near-death experiences, kundalini activations, and womb/birth memories.

Benefits may include nervous system regulation, circadian rhythm reset, mental clarity, inner peace, greater neural plasticity, increased intuitive discernment, emotional regulation, improved self-esteem, etc.