Calendar of Events
Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.
Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.
Old Kentucky Home -The Thomas Wolfe Memorial
American Novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938)
Considered by many to be one of the giants of 20th-century American literature, Thomas Wolfe immortalized his childhood home in his epic autobiographical novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Wolfe’s colorful portrayal of his family, his hometown of “Altamont” Asheville, North Carolina, and “Dixieland” the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, earned the Victorian period house a place as one of American literature’s most famous landmarks.
House tours are offered daily at half past each hour. Last tour leaves at 4:30 pm.
Group tours by reservation.
Adult – $5.00
Student (ages 7-17) – $2.00
Adult Group (10+) – $2.50 each
Student Group – $2.00 each
6 & under – Free
Hours of Operation
Bender Gallery is excited to present “A Clear Choice,” a solo exhibition of stunning abstract sculptures by internationally recognized master glass artist Karsten Oaks. “A Clear Choice” opens on Saturday, September 3rd with an artist’s reception with Oaks present from 6 – 9 PM, and runs through September 25th. Using specialized optical glass, Oaks creates sculptures that bend light and color via their unique forms. Reminiscent of graffiti marks, his forms are instantly recognizable and are made with meticulous perfection. When viewing, a discernible object often appears from a momentary perspective creating a vision that allows the viewer to connect on a more personal level with the piece. This mystery inspires a deeply personal relationship between viewer and object and sets Oaks’ work apart from that of his contemporaries. We hope to see you there!
Mon – Sat 10 – 6 Sun 12 – 5
The Garden Helpline is open March 2 through October 27 in 2022.
Extension Master GardenerSM volunteers will be staffing the Helpline as indicated in the schedule below. You may send an email or leave a voicemail at any time and an Extension Master Gardener volunteer will respond during Garden Helpline hours. When emailing, please include a photo if it helps describe your garden question. Soil test kits can be picked up at the Extension office, 24/7, located in a box outside the front door.
Two ways to contact the Garden Helpline
Call 828-255-5522
Email questions and photos to [email protected]
Garden Helpline Hours
March: Monday 12:00 – 2:00; Wednesday 10:00 – 12:00
April – September: Monday and Wednesday 10:00- 2:00; Tuesday 10:00-12:00;
Thursday 12:00-2:00
October: Tuesday 10:00-12:00; Thursday 12:00-2:00
We are here to help and support you! Please contact us; we look forward to answering your gardening questions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS! |
|
|
|
|
On October 25th, 2002, The Orange Peel opened its doors for its grand opening concert, which featured Sonny Landreth and Tift Merritt. To mark this big milestone in the venue’s history, today we’re announcing a special weekend of concerts on October 28th and 29th. To kick off the celebration, on Friday, October 28th, we’ll present Outkast founding member and legendary Atlanta emcee Big Boi. Then, on Saturday, October 29th, we welcome Grammy-award winning, Nashville-based Old Crow Medicine Show. Tickets go on sale to the public Wed, Sept 7th at 10am! Exclusive online presale runs Tues, Sept 6th from 12pm – 10pm. Password below! EXCLUSIVE DEAL FOR LOCALS Save $20 at our box office! To thank you for your many years of support, we’re offering a special locals-only price of $35 (saving $20 per ticket to honor the occasion) to the first 200 tickets sold at the box office to each show, in person starting next Wednesday, September 7 at 10am. Throughout the morning on September 7th, we’ll be out front giving away prizes on site to all who come to buy tickets, with a range that includes venue merch, OP Bucks, tickets to sold out shows like Jack White and Metric, a $200 Orange Peel gift certificate, and more!
VIP PACKAGES Cheers To 20 Years VIP Package ($175) includes:
Peel Swag Bag Package ($100) includes: |
|
|
|
THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND NIGHT 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND NIGHT 2 |
|
|
|
“LIFE ART LIFE William Bernstein 50 year retrospective” exhibition August 6-October 9, 2022 at the Toe River Arts’ Kokol Gallery, Spruce Pine, NC, features the paintings and glass of this artist who has been on the forefront of the studio glass movement.
Graduating 1968 from the Philadelphia College of Arts and just married, Bernstein moved to Penland School of Crafts to be their second glass resident artist from 1968-70. He was a co-founder of the Glass Arts Society (GAS) that formed to bring together the glass community so people could work together and learn from each other. Receiving numerous awards, fellowships and grants, he has exhibited internationally and has artwork in many private and public collections. Bernstein has lived most of his professional life in the rural Celo community of Yancey, North Carolina along with his family and artist wife, Katherine Bernstin. This retrospective provides a great opportunity for one to imagine a life surrounded by art.
This has been not only been a year-long process of curating pieces for an exhibit, but a lifetime of making art that connects with all things about one’s life. Bernstein’s work in glass and paint showcases just that: his family, his pets, friends, his environs, his moods and so much more. A life well-lived in creating art. More on Bernstein Glass www.bernsteinglass.com
William Warmus (A Fellow and former curator of Modern Glass at the Corning Museum), writes for the exhibition catalog, “Bernstein is a minimalist whose style is based upon the dedication to the concepts of honesty, modesty, and humility. It has a feel of its surroundings and of the people of the region.”
The Toe River Arts Kokol Gallery is located at 269 Oak Avenue, Spruce Pine, NC 28777. The exhibition dates: August 6 – October 9, 2022. Hours: Tuesdays-Saturdays from 10:30 – 5:00 pm. 828-765-0520, www.toeriverarts.org
Public receptions on Fridays: August 12 and October 7, both 5:00-7:00 PM. Artist gallery talk Friday, August 12, 4:00 pm. The exhibition travels to Cary Arts Center November 30 – January 21, 2023.
Coinciding with the United Nations’ Year 2022 as the Year of Glass and the 60th Anniversary of the Studio Glass Movement, this has been made possible by Toe River Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Cary Art Center, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, the Blumenthal Foundation, and Mountain Electronics in Micaville, NC.
Verner Center for Early Learning is a nonprofit agency providing high quality, affordable early care and education to children birth to five years of age throughout Buncombe County. The mission of Verner Center is to foster holistic learning environments where young children and families thrive. The organization embraces a philosophy that includes excellence in early childhood practices, diversity among children and families, and partnerships and collaboration with families and communities. This philosophy is demonstrated through provision of high quality education, family services, health and nutrition services, and professional development for teachers.
We are currently looking for compassionate volunteers to support our experiential garden.
Volunteer Opportunity Includes:
- Pulling weeds
- Cleaning out garden beds
- Prepping new garden beds
- Building small projects
- Mowing
- Weed eating
- Laying mulch
- Watering
Volunteer Requirements:
- Respond to the shift
- Comfortable working in various weather conditions
- Comfortable bending, stooping, twisting
- Ability to stand for 1-2 hours at a time
For information about upcoming meetings, agendas, and how to view this event, please Click Here To Access our PublicInput.com account.
The Civic Center Commission consists of nine voting members; seven voting members shall be appointed by the City Council and two voting members shall be appointed by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. The term of office is three years. The Commission reviews and makes recommendations on programming goals and objectives; long-range plans; proposals for changes in the fees and charges; and encourages promotion of sports, recreation, entertainment, and cultural events and activities at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, formerly known as the U.S. Cellular Center Asheville and the Asheville Civic Center.
October 29, 2022 8:00 PM
Doors Open: 7:00 PM
presale CODE “ANNIVERSARY”
Join us as we celebrate Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of new business, La Vida Loca!
La Vida Loca is a family owned business that is bringing a little bit of the Mexican culture to the place they call home! You can find items such as Aguas Frescas to Pina Colada Shakes and more!
There will be treats and giveaways at the event!
Hosted by: The Buddhist Studies Institute
FREE – ONLINE – 30 MINUTES – DAILY
🌺Guided meditation support and community🌺
🌸Stabilization and Liberation:
In order to liberate our minds– we need stable calm.
🌸Consistency & Commitment:
Stabilizing in calm clear presence takes consistent training.
🌸Support & Community:
Daily Meditation is a container and support for your meditation focus.
Expand your meditation circle- join us online any day or every day!
Formerly known as 100 Days of practice to support a Tibetan Yogis tradition to practice 100 days in the winter, this has now been expanded to continue daily. To learn more and register: https://buddhiststudiesinstitute.org/daily-meditation/
We are seeking volunteers to assist us in our small after school program for children in West Asheville in low-income housing. We provide a safe and nourishing environment, healthy snacks, and creative activities. Our program currently meets during the school year on most Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3:00-5:00pm. You may volunteer for one or two days a week.
Volunteer Responsibilities:
- Assist with serving snacks
- Interact with children during activity time
- Supervise games and outdoor free time
- For people with background in education, there is also an opportunity to assist with curriculum development and program planning and administration
Requirements:
- Background check
- Orientation booklets will be provided
- Masks are required if unvaccinated
WELCOME TO THE HISTORIC MARION TAILGATE MARKET
IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY AT THE TAILGATE MARKET!
No cash is not a reason to miss the Market!
Marion Tailgate Market accepts cards; credit, debit and EBT. EBT/SNAP users can use Market Fresh Bucks to double up to $40 to provide additional funds for fresh, seasonal items to supplement their Food and Nutrition Income.
|
Come down the Pack Memorial Library and play with LEGOs! Please leave your personal LEGOs at home, because we’ve got plenty. |
ABOUT WEST ASHEVILLE TAILGATE MARKET
• We accept SNAP EBT + Credit Cards •
At the West Asheville Tailgate Market, vendors’ tables are abundant with an array of goods including fruits, vegetables, baked goods, bread, eggs, cheese, milk, meat, poultry, and fish. You will also find plant starts for gardens, locally made specialty items, natural beauty products, herbal medicine, and locally made art and crafts. We have live music and free kids activities so there’s fun for the whole family.
Rehearsals: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 4:30pm – 7:30pm; Saturdays 10:00am-2:00pm (when called)
The Company is an individualized pre-professional performing arts conservatory for intermediate/advanced artists in Middle and High School who are committed to deepening their performing arts education in American Musical Theatre.
The Company at the APAA is an individualized pre-professional/pre-collegiate performing arts conservatory, for artists committed to deepening their performing arts education in American Musical Theatre.
The Company program is for rising 6th-12th graders who show a love for being on stage. This conservatory program offers weekly classes in Dance, Acting, and Music. The Company students also put on a fully produced musical and attend theatrical performances/conferences.
Please note, students must apply and be accepted into the program before Registering.
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 4:30pm – 7:30pm; Saturdays 10:00am-2:00pm (when called)
The Company is an individualized pre-professional performing arts conservatory for intermediate/advanced artists in Middle and High School who are committed to deepening their performing arts education in American Musical Theatre.
The Company at the APAA is an individualized pre-professional/pre-collegiate performing arts conservatory, for artists committed to deepening their performing arts education in American Musical Theatre.
The Company program is for rising 6th-12th graders who show a love for being on stage. This conservatory program offers weekly classes in Dance, Acting, and Music. The Company students also put on a fully produced musical and attend theatrical performances/conferences.
Please note, students must apply and be accepted into the program before Registering.
Ever wonder how a stage production comes together? In our Youth Production Classes, students work with directors, an artistic team, and their fellow students to learn and perform an exciting full-length play or musical. Our fall YPC session features The Prom, a musical comedy about big Broadway stars on a mission, a small-town Indiana prom, and the love they discover that unites them all. Classes will meet afterschool, and each session will end with two performances on the Mainstage!
Registration begins on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Tuition will be $450.00 – payment plans and scholarships will both be available.
Student Ages: 14-18
Classes/Rehearsals: Aug 23-Oct 15 | Tuesdays at 4:30-7:30 PM and Saturdays at 1:00-5:00 PM
Tech Week: Oct 17-20 | Monday through Thursday | 4:30-8:00 PM
Performances: Saturday, Oct 22 at 6:30 PM and Sunday, Oct 23 at 2:30 PM
NOTE: If applying for a scholarship, please fill out the Scholarship Application INSTEAD of filling out a registration. If your application is approved, we will be in touch with you to register.
Literacy Together (formerly Literacy Council of Buncombe County) has a determined group of students waiting for volunteer tutors so they can move forward on their goals for a better future. Tutor training is via distance learning, and all tutoring sessions are online. We have programs teaching English to immigrants, adult literacy for folks working on a GED, and youth literacy for kids struggling to learn to read.
Our Ideal Volunteer Tutor
The ideal volunteer tutor is someone seeking to make a one-year commitment of two hours per week to help someone else make the change of a lifetime. For our volunteer tutors, an education background is helpful, but not necessary. The most important qualities are patience, an open mind, and resourcefulness. Tutors also need to be non-judgmental and sensitive to cultural differences. A GED or high school diploma is required. Ideal tutors enjoy seeing concrete outcomes from their efforts and sharing in the life-changing successes of others. See our full tutor position description here.
Five Steps to Become a Tutor
1. Contact Literacy Together. Sign up online, call (828)254-3442, or email [email protected] to let us know you are interested in becoming a volunteer. We will get back to you within two business days.
2. Attend orientation. We host two volunteer orientation meetings a month. Sign up online, or send an email to [email protected].
3. Attend tutor training. Sign up for training at the end of the orientation session. Here you can see the dates of our training.
4. Get matched with a student. The program director for your chosen program will match you with a student or small group of students who corresponds to your preferences. The program director will set the date, time, and location of your first meeting. After that, you will schedule your tutoring sessions directly with your student.
5. Start tutoring. Meet with your student(s) for at least two hours per week for a minimum of six months (Adult Literacy GED track), a year (ESOL, Adult Literacy Basic Skills track), and a school year (Youth Literacy). Share your success stories with us, and attend periodic in-service training to freshen up your skills.
Join former Malaprop’s General Manager Linda-Marie Barrett for this woman-only book club that seeks to have fun by reading books (fiction & non) by women writers. Click here to see a full schedule of what the club is reading. Club attendees get 10% off the book at Malaprop’s!
The club meets at 6:30 P.M. on the first Tuesday of the month at the Battery Park Book Exchange. It will be held virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.
White Horse’s legendary Open Mic re-starts after a year off for bad behavior (COVID, really). Host Bill Altork will help us present wonderfully talented folks on their way up. The signup sheet is placed on the bar at 6:30 and the first ten to sign in are the performers for the evening. Each gets 15 minutes or three songs. It’s a lot of fun… especially since it’s free!
We’ll be following all COVID-19 protocols and we ask that you wear your mask when you’re not singing or enjoying a beverage from the bar.
Join us to share your music or just enjoy an evening in the audience!
Chat with other book lovers about this month’s book selection.
Interested in reading ahead? Here’s what we have coming up in the next few months!
– November- “Once Upon A River” Diane Setterfield
– December- “Dutch House” Ann Patchett
– January- “Mexican Gothic” Silvia Moreno-Garcia
– February- “The Rose Code” Kate Quinn
To reserve your copy of the book, visit buncombe.nccardinal.org or swing by the library to pick one up from the book clubs holds shelf.
To join the book club email [email protected] or call us at 250-4758.
No reservations needed, just get ready for a good time and a chance to win some Down Dog prizes!
Join us every Tuesday night for Trivia!
Trivia will run from 7-8:15 pm. We will be capping the teams at 20 and teams will not be able to join after 7 so make sure to arrive early to secure your spot!
No reservations needed, just grab your thinking caps and get ready for a good time and a chance to win a $10, $20, or $30 gift certificate to Down Dog!
Grammy and Americana-award-winning singer-songwriter and virtuoso violinist Amanda Shires has pushed the reset button, releasing an album that is so unlike anything she has ever recorded before that you would be tempted to think it’s her debut album instead of her seventh. Take It Like a Man is a fearless confessional, showing the world what turning 40 looks like in 10 emotionally raw tracks, and as the title track intimates, not only can she “take it like a man,” but more importantly she can “Take it like Amanda,” as the last line proclaims– the clue to the entire album, and perhaps Shires herself.
“I wrote that last line, ‘take it like a man,’” says Shires from her barn/studio located about 30 minutes outside of Nashville. “Then I changed it. I realized you can try and do what they say and take it like a man and show that you can withstand anything. But truly you can only take it like yourself.”
There are few musicians of Amanda Shires’ stature who would be willing to sacrifice so much of their privacy and personal life for the sake of a record. But for her, art isn’t meant to be constrained, ever since her earliest days.
The native Texan got her start playing fiddle with the legendary Texas Playboys at 15. She toured and collaborated with John Prine, Todd Snider, Justin Townes Earle and others, and has long been a member of husband Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit band. Winner of the Americana Music Association’s 2017 Emerging Artist of the Year award, she has released a series of rapturously received solo albums.
In Shires’ world, music is how the tribe communicates. It’s that sort of communal thinking that inspired her to form The Highwomen – a concept that was born in 2016 which Amanda envisioned as an all-women supergroup intended to share the same swashbuckling spirit as ‘80s outlaw country outfit The Highwaymen. That band, consisting of country music legends Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, was a successful reaction to a prevalent ageism in Nashville circles. The Highwomen – Shires, Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby — aspired to redress the scarcity of women artists on country radio, and released a critically acclaimed self-titled album in 2019.
“I realize I have a responsibility to tell the truth and if it empowers someone, all the better,” Shires says, who is often seen donning one of her trademark hats from her vast collection. “My goal is to accurately explain my feelings to myself and hopefully find folks out there that feel or have felt the ways that I do. I share so much personal information so that others don’t have to feel alone.”
That’s something she has achieved superbly on her new album, thanks in large part to a creative rebirth inspired by a chance encounter. Shires had no plans to record an album during the pandemic … if at all. A couple of events left her disenchanted with some of her choices, musical and otherwise, and had her wondering if she should continue.
“I just wasn’t thinking about recording or performing, because I was protecting myself from what I thought could be the loss of music and touring altogether,” Shires admits. “Even when it was clear this wasn’t the bubonic plague, I wasn’t letting myself think of what the future looked like.”
Meanwhile, Lawrence Rothman, an extravagantly talented gender-fluid singer-songwriter and producer, was in the process of recording their sophomore album, Good Morning, America. Rothman, who has also worked with the likes of Angel Olsen, Girl in Red, Courtney Love and Kim Gordon, wanted Shires to sing harmonies on one of the tracks.
“When I discovered Amanda’s music it was the first time I heard a voice where I said to myself if I ever had to get in the studio with anybody other than myself to produce my own music, it would definitely be this fairy over here, this little bird of a woman. I was just mesmerized. I thought she was the new Dolly Parton; Dolly for a new generation,” remembers Rothman on the phone from Los Angeles.
While Shires hadn’t heard of Rothman, she responded to their request because of something her late mentor and friend John Prine taught her. “John listened to everything that crossed his desk, and that’s why he took a chance on me. Lawrence Rothman’s manager sent my manager a song, and because of John I listened to it. ‘Wow, OK,’ I thought after I heard it. Plus, I loved that they wanted me to sing. Usually people just want me to play violin.”
In November 2020, Shires got in touch with Rothman. The two began a conversation by text that continued for hours. By day’s end they had cowritten a song on their phones. The two worked for three “trial” days right before Christmas, and ended up with three songs.
“Those just clicked, but other than that, I had nothing else written,” explains Shires. “We decided to meet up after Christmas and continue working.” That collaboration also resulted in 2021’s critically acclaimed For Christmas album, the rare holiday record that explores the full range of emotions people cycle through during a season that’s not all comfort and joy.
“I wasn’t going to take any of that ‘I’m giving up on music’ from her,” says Rothman. “I do know that she was on the brink of like throwing the towel in. The whole time I stood by her, right by her mike while we did everything. I was never in the control room. I said to her, ‘I’m like your hype girl. I’m like your cheerleader. I’m your f——coach.”
“Lawrence talked about feelings in music and about sounds for hours all day, and it rekindled in me the warmth I have for music and the love I have for words — and reminded me that the music business isn’t all just a grimy slimeball,” explains Shires. “Everything just seemed to fall into place.
“The problem was,” she laughs, “When we came back after our trial days, I had to write more songs.
“I had plenty of things written down between my journals and my index cards,” says Shires. “My writing process is I take the journals that I’ve kept and I go through with a highlighter and pick out words, partial lines, ideas or themes. Sometimes just a metaphor or something my daughter has said or an observation. Then I copy all highlighted words onto an index card with a black Sharpie and I put the index cards in a box. Then I put the journals in the shredder and I put the shredder in the compost, which goes to my tomatoes in the summer.”
By the time Rothman came back a month later, the compost box was overflowing and the walls of Shires’ barn were covered in index cards that she’d attached with painter’s tape (doesn’t ruin the paint!). In less than a month Shires had written 26 songs deciphering what had been going through her mind, from 2018, where her To the Sunset album left off, to the present.
The result is a song cycle of ruthlessly candid tunes written as a document about her life as a woman, a wife (to husband Jason Isbell) and a mother during a tumultuous time. Produced by Rothman, and featuring Isbell on guitar on several tracks, it’s an album filled with revealing autobiography, sexual tempestuousness, resentments and recrimination, spun out with a logic and sequencing as obliquely plotted as an Agatha Christie mystery. Each song reveals either a hidden passage to another song or an insight into the marriage, the crimes that were committed, the accusations sparked but never uttered, and the love that exists between them still.
But it’s not a break-up album. Its arc feels more like the anatomy of a marriage, depicting how over time affection and closeness rise and fall.
“I’m uncomfortable with the idea of everything in the public seeming so perfect, and needing to be presented right. Just because people listen to Jason’s records and go to his shows and whatnot doesn’t mean they don’t need to know that our marriages look exactly the same as theirs. You take all that celebrity stuff away, and our marriage is just like everybody else’s,” Shires says.
“We were having problems before Covid, and then during Covid there was a lot of pressure, like with everybody,” she amplifies. “We were sitting here in our wonderful house and talking about the people that didn’t make it through that. What we decided is that we’re happiest if we work on ourselves. Then we have more to offer each other.”
And all the time alone came with some big realizations for Shires. While both she and her husband are artists, she had more domestic jobs and responsibilities than he did, and it was making her resentful.
“Jason’s Covid talent was getting better at the guitar, playing it eight hours a day. What was my Covid talent? It was setting boundaries. I allowed myself to take up more space in my own life.
That’s what Covid did for me. It gave me the courage and freedom to say, ‘I’m working on something that’s important to me, and I’m going to keep working on it till I have it right.’
“Because of that decision, I think these are better songs than I’d written ever before, because I held that line. There is a confidence that comes from not bending. This album is a document of what the past few years have been like for me. I figured out what it takes for me to feel satisfied at the end of the day. I drew my boundaries. I held on tight. I allowed myself to serve my work uncompromisingly. It’s true what they say on airplanes before you take off: You have to put your own mask on before you can help anybody else.”
Just as important was Shires’ realization that she needed an identity outside of her relationship and motherhood. No longer the well-behaved musician of her earlier albums, she has gotten rid of most of the good-girl trappings, the plaid shirts and pigtails. On Take It Like a Man, she’s written songs that crackle with pain, resentment, longing, anger, and ennui. The album documents a woman giving birth to herself: a musical version of the famous 1932 Frida Kahlo painting My Birth, only a little less graphic. Over this suite of songs, she fearlessly excavated what the couple had gone through.
“Hawk for the Dove” is a dark, haunting Southern gothic full of minor-chord bravado and overt seduction, shot through with an evocative gypsy fiddle and Isbell’s echoing guitar. Her voice on the title track — originally titled “Common Loon” — is a revelation: It’s a song about being brave enough to choose to go ahead and fall in love knowing that love/relationships don’t always go as planned. Tremulous and anxious, it’s an elegant waltz full of peril and sadness, a song that wouldn’t be amiss as an accompaniment to Edgar Allen Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death.”
Elsewhere, standout “Empty Cups” turns back time; with its gauzy imagery and wrecked poetry, it recalls Van Morrison during his early years. Featuring background vocals from Highwomen cohort Maren Morris, it shows the true depth of Shires’ songwriting abilities. “Don’t Be Alarmed” offers a small shred of hope and humor thanks to the crack team of Shires, Ruston Kelly, Liz Rose and Isbell, and contains some of the album’s best lines.
Another key track is “Fault Lines,” the first song Shires wrote for the album. “That was a big clue to what was going on. For some people marriage is easy. For my mom it is — she’s done it five times!” laughs Shires.
“I second-guessed myself a lot by keeping ‘Fault Lines’ on the record, saying to myself, ‘Do you really want people to know this or hear this?’” says Shires softly. “I guess I could’ve been more vague with words, but my intentions were to tell the truth the best that I could from the place that I was in.”
As a stately drum mimics a beating heart and the second stage of grief, “Fault Lines” assigns responsibility for relationship strains equally. “Here He Comes,” the last song written for the record, is upbeat, jazzy and hopeful, while “Bad Behavior,” with Brittney Spencer and Maren Morris’ background vocals, is suggestively light and loungy. The title track, buttressed by mournful horns, seethes with Shires’ raging, unruly electric violin.
“Stupid Love” promises a smoky blue light at the end of a claustrophobic tunnel, while “Lonely at Night” contends that love endures no matter what has transpired. Enhanced by singer-songwriter Brittney Spencer’s harmonies, it sounds like something Dusty Springfield could have sung in the ‘60s or Cat Power in the ‘90s. “Everything Has Its Time,” co-written with Highwomen band member Natalie Hemby, is a cautionary tale, cinematic and prophetic and full of homespun truths, like the kinds Dolly Parton used to dispense around the time of “Jolene.”
“Everything on the record is autobiographical. I didn’t hold anything back. Then, if the details were boring I infused other stories,” she laughs. “Like my granddad said, if your story’s not good enough just make it better.”
“I think what I’ve learned is any time you get your heart broke, from love, music, your business, your life, you always think that’s it!” Shires reflects. “But it hardly ever is. You look back and say ‘I’m glad that wasn’t it at all.’ It’s a cycle that keeps repeating over and over, like Gabriel García Márquez’s A Hundred Years of Solitude. The end is rarely the end; it’s just another loop of the wheel. Matters of the heart get confusing. But when you’re in need of something, somehow the universe gives it to you if you can just hold on a little bit longer.”
Unifying cosmic dreams with retro-revival, Honey Harper is set out to change the face of country music. With a vibrant and innovative sense of artistry, the Atlanta-native aims to project the genre into futuristic new realms of expression – something his debut album Starmaker attracted glowing praise for upon its release earlier this year.
Behind the rhinestone-adorned persona is the humble Will Fussell, who’s spent the last five years living with his wife and writing partner in London.