An enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Luzene Hill advocates for Indigenous sovereignty—linguistically, culturally, and individually. Revelate builds upon Hill’s investigation of pre-contact cultures. This has led Hill to incorporate the idea of Ollin, the Nahuatl word for the natural rhythms of the universe, in Aztec cosmology in her work. Before Europeans arrived in North America, Indigenous societies were predominantly matrilineal. Women were considered sacred, involved in the decision-making process, and thrived within communities holding a worldview based on equilibrium.

Ollin emphasizes that we are in constant state of motion and discovery. Adopted as an educational framework, particularly in social justice and ethnic studies, Ollin guides individuals through a process of reflection, action, reconciliation, and transformation. This exhibition combines Hill’s use of mylar safety blankets alongside recent drawings. Capes constructed of mylar burst with energy and rustle with subtle sound, the shining material a signifier of care, awareness, displacement, and presence. Though Hill works primarily in sculpture, drawing has increasingly become an essential part of her practice as she seeks to communicate themes of feminine and Indigenous power across her entire body of work. The energy within her drawings extends to the bursts of light reflecting from her capes or the accumulation of materials in other installation works.

Luzene Hill was born in Atlanta, GA, in 1946. She received her bachelor of fine art and master of fine art from Western Carolina University. She lives and works on the Qualla Boundary, Cherokee, NC.

Natural Collector is organized by the Asheville Art Museum. IMAGE: Christian Burchard, Untitled (nesting bowls), 1998, madrone burl, various from 6 × 6 × 6 to ⅜ × ⅜ × ⅜ inches. Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2021.76.01.

Natural Collector | Gifts of Fleur S. Bresler features around 15 artworks from the collection of Fleur S. Bresler, which include important examples of modern and contemporary American craft including wood and fiber art, as well as glass and ceramics. These works that were generously donated by contemporary craft collector Bresler to the Asheville Art Museum over the years reflect her strong interest in wood-based art and themes of nature. According to Associate Curator Whitney Richardson, “This exhibition highlights artworks that consider the natural element from which they were created or replicate known flora and fauna in unexpected materials. The selection of objects displayed illustrates how Bresler’s eye for collecting craft not only draws attention to nature and artists’ interest in it, but also accentuates her role as a natural collector with an intuitive ability to identify themes and ideas that speak to one another.” This exhibition presents work from the Collection representing the first generation of American wood turners like Rude Osolnik and Ed Moulthrop, as well as those that came after and learned from them, such as Philip Moulthrop, John Jordan, and local Western North Carolina (WNC) artist Stoney Lamar. Other WNC-based artists in Natural Collector include Anne Lemanski, whose paper sculpture of a snake captures the viewer’s imagination, and Michael Sherrill’s multimedia work that tricks the eye with its similarity to true-to-life berries. Also represented are beadwork and sculpture by Joyce J. Scott and Jack and Linda Fifield.

Asheville-born and Raleigh-Durham-based interdisciplinary artist Sherrill Roland’s socially driven practice draws upon his experience with wrongful incarceration for a crime he did not commit and seeks to open conversations about how we care for our communities and one another with compassion and understanding. Through sculpture, installation, and conceptual art, Roland engages visitors in dialogues around community, social contract, identity, biases, and other deeply human experiences. Comprised of artwork created from 2016 to the present, Sherrill Roland: Sugar, Water, Lemon Squeeze reflects on making something from nothing, lemonade from lemons, the best of a situation. A reference to a simple recipe from the artist’s childhood, the title also speaks to Roland’s employment of materials available to him while incarcerated, such as Kool-Aid and mail from family members. In the face of his personal experiences, he invites viewers to confront their own uncomfortable complicity in perpetuating injustice. Roland’s work humanizes these difficult topics and creates a space for communication and envisioning a better future. This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and curated by Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator, in collaboration with the Artist. This exhibition is funded, in part, by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Included with admission

Back by popular demand, The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad exhibition offers guests:

• An opportunity to view rarely-seen treasures from the Biltmore collection
• A first-hand look at the Vanderbilts’ lifestyle
• Deeper insights into George, Edith, and Cornelia’s personalities, both at home and on their extensive travels

Access to exhibitions at The Biltmore Legacy is included with Biltmore daytime admission.

In the past 50 years in the United States and beyond, artists have sought to break down social and political hierarchies that include issues of identity, gender, power, race, authority, and authenticity. Unsurprisingly, these decades generated a reconsideration of the idea of pattern and decoration as a third option to figuration and abstraction in art. From 1972 to 1985, artists in the Pattern and Decoration movement worked to expand the visual vocabulary of contemporary art to include ethnically and culturally diverse options that eradicated the barriers between fine art and craft and questioned the dominant minimalist aesthetic. These artists did so by incorporating opulence and bold intricacies garnered from such wide-ranging inspirations as United States quilt-making and Islamic architecture. Too Much Is Just Right: The Legacy of Pattern and Decoration features more than 70 artworks in an array of media from both the original time frame of the Pattern and Decoration movement, as well as contemporary artworks created between 1985 and the present. The artworks in this exhibition demonstrate the vibrant and varied approaches to pattern and decoration in art. Artworks from the 21st century elucidate contemporary perspectives on the employment of pattern to inform visual vocabularies and investigations of diverse themes in the present day. Artworks drawn from the Asheville Art Museum’s Collection join select major loans and feature Pattern and Decoration artists Valerie Jaudon, Joyce Kozloff, Robert Kushner, and Miriam Schapiro, as well as Anni Albers, Elizabeth Alexander, Sanford Biggers, Tawny Chatmon, Margaret Curtis, Mary Engel, Cathy Fussell, Samantha Hennekke, John Himmelfarb, Anne Lemanski, Rashaad Newsome, Peter Olson, Don Reitz, Sarah Sense, Billie Ruth Sudduth, Mickalene Thomas, Shoku Teruyama, Anna Valdez, Kehinde Wiley, and more. This exhibition is organized by the Asheville Art Museum and guest curated by Marilyn Laufer & Tom Butler.

Join us for a relaxing ride through quiet countryside on your way to small town life in western North Carolina on the Tuckasegee River Excursion. Departing from Bryson City, this 4 hour excursion travels 32 miles round-trip to Dillsboro and back to the Bryson City Depot. Pass by the famous movie set of The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford!

• About This Trip
• Things To Do
• Itinerary
• Classes of Service and Pricing
• Class Comparison
• How to Purchase
• Schedule
• The Tuckasegee (tuck-uh-SEE-jee) River Excursion includes an 1 hour and 20 minute layover in the historic town of Dillsboro, where you’ll find more than 50 shops, restaurants, a brewery, and country inns. There is time to shop, snack, and visit the many unique shops before returning to Bryson City.

Food Scraps Drop Off

The City of Asheville, in partnership with Buncombe County and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is offering a FREE Food Scrap Drop-Off program in

two locations for all Buncombe County residents.  This organic matter will be collected and turned into good clean compost, keeping it OUT of our landfill and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Register for Food Scraps Drop Off

Need a handy kitchen countertop food scrap bin?  Let us know on the registration form! We’ll be having bin giveaways at city and county facilities and would love to give you one.

Locations

Stephens-Lee Recreation Center “Food Scrap Shed” next to the Community Garden on the North side of the parking lot

30 Washington Carver Avenue, Asheville

• • Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
  • Saturday, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
  • Sunday, 12 – 4 p.m.

Murphy Oakley Community Center and Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the east side of the parking lot

749 Fairview Road, Asheville

• • Dawn – Dusk

West Asheville Library – “Food Scrap Bin Shelters” on the south side of the building

942 Haywood Road, Asheville

Library open hours

Buncombe County Landfill – Convenience Center85 Panther Branch Road, Alexander

• • • • Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
      • Saturday, 8 a.m. – 12:30 pm

PLAYability by Artist Melissa Wilhoit with Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre

Dance Performance in three, 20 min. acts,
Sat. & Sun., Mar. 4 & 5 starting at 12:30 p.m.

Project Type: Performance
Project Sponsors and Collaborators: Collaboration with dancers from the New Studio of Dance, a studio affiliated with the Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre (ACDT). Musical collaboration with musician Elizabeth Lang. Additional funding will be provided by ACDT.
About the Project: PLAYability acknowledges that Pack Square Plaza has belonged and was used as a central gathering point for Indigenous peoples, for departing soldiers, for new Black voters, for demonstrations, and for celebrations. This land has and still is playable for a variety of human interaction and assembly. PLAYability is a choreographic work in three parts, taking place over three weekends, recognizing and celebrating key moments in the history of Pack Square Park: honoring the ancient Indigenous burial grounds nearby, remembering the beginning of the Black vote in Asheville, and celebrating this piece of land that has been dedicated to ceremony and festivity. PLAYability will contain built-in improvisational structures that are open to moment by moment chance interruption. Dancers of various race, gender, age, body type and ability will interact with each other and the environment in reverent, bold and playful ways to create an open and safe terrain for anyone to join in and participate. Connection with each other and the space will build an atmosphere of integration rather than walls of separation. Community members and tourists will be invited to join in the movement as it progresses and travels around the park.
About the Artist: https://www.acdt.org/

He earned his stripes on Broadway… now the ghost-with-the-most is coming to Greenville.

It’s showtime! Based on Tim Burton’s dearly beloved film, this hilarious musical tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose whole life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and a demon with a thing for stripes. With an irreverent book, an astonishing set, and a score that’s out of this Netherworld, BEETLEJUICE is “SCREAMINGLY GOOD FUN!” (Variety). And under its uproarious surface (six feet under, to be exact), it’s a remarkably touching show about family, love, and making the most of every Day-O!

Join in kudzu removal initiatives along the Reed Creek Greenway. The first workshop of 2023 is “Weaving Birdhouses With Kudzu Vines” Learn to identify kudzu vines when the leaves are dormant; Harvest old-growth vines and runner vines for bird houses, basketry, woven fencing, and wreath making; hot kudzu root tea samples will be served.
## What problems does kudzu cause?
An invasive plant as fast-growing as kudzu outcompetes everything from native grasses to fully mature trees by shading them from the sunlight they need to photosynthesize. This loss of native plants harms other plants, insects and animals that adapted alongside them, leading to cascading effects throughout an ecosystem.
Over time, these effects of habitat loss can lead to species extinctions and a loss of overall biodiversity.

Sherrill Roland, Artfor-us Issues: October 2013, 2018, legal paper, Kool-Aid, Sharpie marker, Steel, 12 x 24 inches. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.

The Perspective Café is kicking off 2023 with a classic bang! Grab your friends and join us each Sunday from 2pm to 5pm in the Perspective Café to play an assortment of board and card games. You can even bring your own favorite games from home to share with new friends.

The Perspective Café will be offering special snacks and cocktails to savor while you play and make a memorable afternoon! Enjoy the galleries and then head up to the rooftop.

The first show of our 2023 Season! The Montford Park Players, North Carolina’s longest running Shakespeare theatre is pleased to announce auditions for the first show of our 51st Season – “Wendy and Peter”, a Peter Pan story, written and directed by Skyler Goff. Audition Dates: YOUTH ONLY March 5th 3-6pm March 6th 5:30-8:30pm (If needed) March 7th 5:30-8:30pm (CALLBACKS) ADULTS ONLY March 8th 5:30-8:30pm March 9th 5:30-8:30pm(If needed) CALLBACKS (ADULTS and CAST YOUTH) March 10th  5:30-8:30pm ROLES FOR YOUTH (Ages 8-18) WENDY: Age: 11-18 (Role will require singing, dancing, jumping and combat. SWING NEEDED) PETER PAN: Age: 11-18(Role will require jumping dancing and combat.SWING NEEDED) JOHN: Age: 10-16 (Role will require jumping, dancing, and combat.Potential SWING NEEDED) MICHAEL: Age: 8-13(Role will require jumping, dancing, and combat) TOOTLES: Age: 8-13 (Role will require jumping, dancing, and combat) NIBS: Age: 8-15 (Role will require jumping, dancing, and combat) SLIGHTLY: Age: 8-16(Role will require jumping, dancing, and combat) TWIN 1: Age: 8-15 (Role will require jumping, dancing, and combat) TWIN 2: Age: 8-15 (Role will require jumping, dancing, and combat) CURLY: Age: 8-15 (Role will require jumping, dancing, and combat) TIGER LILY: Age: 11-18 (Role will require jumping, dancing, and combat) ROLES FOR ADULTS (Ages 18+) NURSE WENDY: Age: 25-36(Role will require singing and running) MR. DARLING: Age: 30-55(Based on casting, Hook/Panther Protea requirements apply) MRS. DARLING: Age: 30-55(Based on casting, Hook/Panther Protea requirements apply) NANA: Age: 18-60+ (Role will require use of puppet. NO DIALOGUE) TINKER BELL: Age: 18-55 (Role will require use of puppet, dancing, jumping and combat.NO DIALOGUE) HOOK: Age: 30-55 (Role will require singing, dancing,and combat. SWING NEEDED) SMEE: Age: 18-60+(Role will require singing, dancing,and combat) STARKEY: Age: 18-60+ (Role will require singing, dancing,and combat) CECCO: Age: 18-60+(Role will require singing, dancing,and combat) JUKES: Age: 18-60+ (Role will require singing, dancing,and combat) FLINT: Age: 18-60+ (Role will require singing, dancing,and combat) COOKSON: Age: 18-60+ (Role will require singing, dancing,and combat) PANTHER PROTEA: Age: 30-55 (Role will require dancing, percussion,  and combat) Various Druids:Age: 18-60+ (Role will require dancing,percussion, and combat) Mermaids: Age: 18-60+ (Role may require use of puppet and singing.) NOTE: ALL ACTORS should prepare a monologue on any theme, memorized, and no longer then one minute. NOTE: All actors must fill out the following Google Forms, located HERE : MPP 2023 Season Audition Form (the role of swings is explained in the Audition Form) Wendy & Peter Audition Signups NOTE: This 2023 Season Audition Form will be used for all our productions this year. Note that this season we will NOT be requiring video audition submissions. Note to Selected Actors and parents: Early Rehearsals will prioritize getting all actors below the age of 18 out no later than 8pm without parent/guardian consent. Adults may be asked to arrive later and leave no later than 9:30pm. We hope you’ll join us for the beginning of a spectacular season of theatre! Skyler Goff, Playwright and Director John Russell, Executive Director

Milton Crotts, conductor

“Musique Ménage” translates from French as “household of music.” Join us to observe and absorb the gifts and talents by our small ensembles and sections. Sometimes music can be best understood from a holistic viewpoint. Come on out for an afternoon of intimate music and variety for the ear. Stay tuned for more details!

Program:

Vivaldi– Bassoon Concerto in E minor

Soloist: Susan Cohen, bassoon

The Blue Ridge Orchestra ushers in the month of March with Musique Ménage, a concert of contrasts, featuring Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 – “The Great” – and original music by local artists Fancy and the Gentlemen. The concert will be presented on Saturday, March 4, at 3:00 pm, in Haywood Community College’s Charles Beall Auditorium, and on Sunday, March 5, at 3:00 pm in Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville. BRO President Deb Kenney is excited that the BRO is returning to Charles Beall Auditorium after a five-year hiatus: “We are thrilled to perform in partnership with Haywood Community College, furthering our commitment to make fine music accessible to communities throughout Western North Carolina.”

Music Director Milton Crotts is indeed making great music accessible – the full orchestra will perform Movements I, II, and IV of Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 9, a magnificent work which has earned comparisons to Beethoven’s later symphonies. “Franz Schubert is too often forgotten as one of the great symphonic composers of the classical era,” Crotts observes. “BRO audiences will enjoy the richness and power of his Symphony No. 9, which he himself referred to as his “great” symphony.”

Following intermission, audiences will be transported from the mountains of 19^th century Austria to the mountains of 21^st century North Carolina. The BRO Strings will be joined by Fancy and the Gentlemen, an Asheville based trio whose music, like Schubert’s, is a reflection of the time and place of its composition. Fancy Marie, Katie Leigh, and Craig Kellberg have developed their own unique sound with roots in the traditions of honkytonk, blues, southern gothic, and classical music.

Musique Ménage brings together two very different styles of fine music not often paired in a single performance. These concerts are sure to open many eyes and ears to new and engaging musical experiences.

Jack of the Wood : Sunday-Irish Session 

Sundays

1 till who knows when?

Traditional Irish music is kept alive at Jack of the Wood with our unplugged Sunday session.

Jack of the Wood

95 Patton ave

Asheville, NC 28801

(828) 252.5445

http://www.jackofthewood.com/

Join the Buncombe Teen Dems for our first meeting of 2023!

This will be an open discussion/introductory meeting at the Buncombe County Democratic Headquarters on Sunday March 5th at 4:30pm. Pizza will be provided!

FREE for K-12 and College Educators.

Join us for a FREE special evening for Western North Carolina educators to unwind, socialize, and explore the Museum. Teachers of all grade levels and subject areas are invited to view the Museum’s current exhibitions, attend gallery talks, enjoy live music, create art in the studio, and learn more about the Asheville Art Museum’s resources for teachers. 

Snacks and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. The rooftop Perspective Café will be open to 9pm, where you may purchase a variety of sandwiches, local snacks, and beverages, including Poppy’s Popcorn, French Broad Chocolates, Asheville beers, organic coffee, wine, and cocktails.

Register now for your chance to win free door prizes! Advanced online registration is encouraged.

Well organized local precincts are the bedrock of Democratic Party activism. Meet with fellow Dems to get your precinct off to a strong start in the 2023-2024 election cycle.

After a joint Cluster session, each precinct will go into a “Zoom breakout room” to elect precinct officers for 2023-2025, elect delegates to the 2023 County Democratic Convention, vote on issue resolutions proposed by precinct members, and donate to meet your precinct’s modest annual dues.

Whether you’ve attended in past years or are brand new to the Riceville Swannanoa area, we look forward to meeting you and having you become part of our thriving and active community.

Democrats residing in Riceville/Swannanoa — Precincts 61.1, 62.1, 64.1, 65.1 and 66.1 are welcome to attend.

Every Sunday evening Modelface Comedy brings you the best comedians from all over the country

Kelly Collette.

She has been a finalist on CMT’s Next Big Comic, and tours clubs and colleges throughout the country. Her jokes have been featured on Pandora and Sirius XM, and in a segment for NPR.

She has performed at the prestigious Limestone Comedy Festival, San Francisco Sketchfest, Laughing Skull Comedy Festival, Gilda’s Laughfest and The Lucielle Ball Comedy Festival. She is featured on the CD from Lucyfest called “Live From Jamestown”. She headlined the 2019 Super Dope Comedy Festival.

Kelly toured with The Nobodies of Comedy, a national theatre tour of comedians you should know. She will be performing at Gilda’s Laugh Fest in 2019 as part of the selected “Best of The Midwest” showcase.

Kelly is also a featured emcee and storyteller. She has emceed for the Cincinnati Reds and has been a storyteller for “Cincy Storytellers” where you can hear her story on Soundcloud. She also produces a monthly standup storytelling show called “Truth Serum”.

Kelly’s writing has been published for Bust Magazine. In 2016 she wrote, produced and directed a parody play called “Reservoir Dames”. This all-female adaptation of “Reservoir Dogs” sold out and gained national attention. Her original play “Bloody Mary” (a horror comedy) debuted at the Know Theatre in 2020. She recently partnered with Gorilla Cinema and Pan American Airlines and wrote a script for an immersive 1960s pop up cocktail experience that is traveling the country.

Kelly spoke at the 2020 Ohio Women’s March and was the keynote speaker for Empower Her, a women empowerment event at Cleveland State University.

She was just named Cincinnati’s Best Local Comedian by CityBeat/Cincinnati Magazine.

Featuring TBA

ages 21+

doors at 6pm, show at 6:30pm

He earned his stripes on Broadway… now the ghost-with-the-most is coming to Greenville.

It’s showtime! Based on Tim Burton’s dearly beloved film, this hilarious musical tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose whole life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and a demon with a thing for stripes. With an irreverent book, an astonishing set, and a score that’s out of this Netherworld, BEETLEJUICE is “SCREAMINGLY GOOD FUN!” (Variety). And under its uproarious surface (six feet under, to be exact), it’s a remarkably touching show about family, love, and making the most of every Day-O!

What: Asheville’s Premier Standup Feature & Open Mic comedy
When: Sunday, March 5, 6:30pm (Come early to get your food and drinks!)
Where: Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company Theatre 2
675 Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville (onsite parking) http://www.ashevillebrewing.com/
Tickets: $14 at door or https://www.ashevillebrewing.com/movies/
Comedy open mic. [signup at the door to get 3-5m. Free entry for performing comics, free pizza at comics table]
Featuring Hilliary Begley, Julia Macias & Becca Steinhoff. Contact Michele for more info at [email protected]

MALEVO – the “South American Sensation” – is a thrilling all-male group specializing in Malambo, a traditional Argentine folk dance of great virility and dexterity. The troupe takes the form beyond its limits with a modern, avant-garde and transgressive approach, while still staying true to the cultural foundations of this traditional gaucho artform. Bringing live music and virtuosic dancing to the contemporary stage, this performance is exhilarating, engaging and perfect for the entire family.

MALEVO has been named the “Cultural Ambassador to the National Identity of Argentina,” and is on the tail of numerous successes including events and performances in Las Vegas, New York, Dubai, Paris, Cairo, St. Petersburg and Montreal. The America’s Got Talent semi-finalists have performed alongside Latin pop-star Ricky Martin, Cirque du Soleil, and had a year-long performance season at Universal Studios Osaka, Japan. Now, MALEVO is excited to present a new touring performance created for theaters and festivals.

• 7PM DOOR / 8PM SHOW
• ALL AGES
• SEATED SHOW
• LIMITED NUMBER OF PREMIUM SEATING TICKETS AVAILABLE

ALAN DOYLE

There are few artists capable of appealing to music fans of all stripes, and Alan Doyle is one of them. From the moment he burst onto the scene in the early 1990s with his band Great Big Sea, Canadians fell in love with the pride of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, whose boundless charisma and sense of humour was eclipsed only by his magnetic stage presence.

His influence is now being heard in a new generation of artists as his solo work continues to endear him to roots music fans everywhere. That’s clearly evident on Alan’s new EP Rough Side Out, which finds him collaborating with Canadian country music superstars Dean Brody and Jess Moskaluke, while at the same time offering his own distinctive interpretation of contemporary country.

The seeds for Rough Side Out were planted in 2012 when Brody asked Great Big Sea to record the song “It’s Friday” with him for the Platinum-selling album Dirt. For Alan, that was the moment he realized the door to the country music world was open for he and other east coast Celtic-leaning artists, and since then he’s warmly embraced building closer ties. “My personal journey with the whole thing has been very organic,” Alan says. “When my parents weren’t listening to traditional folk music, they were listening to country music on the radio. So, when I began creating my own musical identity, I was inspired by artists who were able to blend those two worlds.”

The same could be said of the songwriting and production team on Rough Side Out, which includes Alan’s frequent collaborators Donovan Woods and Todd Clark. Both have been bringing a new sensibility to Nashville, in part due to their individual backgrounds within the Canadian independent music scene, making Rough Side Out a natural progression of their past work with Alan.

“The songs on this record all have strong personal meaning to me,” he says. “I believe the best songwriters in any genre are the ones who can look in their own backyard and find something they want to sing about. In a way, that’s why I wanted to call this record Rough Side Out. It’s a Newfoundland expression I love and have used before that refers to clapboard that’s only sanded on one side. Houses in Newfoundland always have the rough side out because it holds the paint better, but it’s also a metaphor for who we are as people. Most of us have the rough side out— in the best possible way, of course.”

Fittingly, the EP’s first single is a reunion with Dean Brody, “We Don’t Wanna Go Home,” a rousing ode to having the perfect night out at your favourite watering hole. It’s a theme that carries on from Rough Side Out’s opening track, “We’re Gonna Love Tonight,” a celebration of freedom that bears all the hallmarks of an Alan Doyle anthem aimed at bringing people together. And what country music excursion would be complete without a classic duet? That was the basic idea behind recording “What the Whiskey Won’t Do” with Jess Moskaluke, a thrilling first-time experience for Alan.

“I’ve always wanted to do this kind of duet,” he says. “I’d written songs like that for other people but never for myself. I had the title in my back pocket for a while, and it was a case of just waiting until the right circumstances came along. And being such a fan of Jess, she was the perfect person to sing it with, mainly because her voice has so much more range than mine!”

The song describes a couple turning to the bottle in order to get over each other and serves as a reminder of the dangers of overindulgence. Along with the EP’s other great ballad, “It’s OK,” “What the Whiskey Won’t Do” underscores Alan’s long-time work in support of addiction and mental health organizations. However, in a purely musical vein, Alan felt a lot of personal satisfaction in capturing a note-perfect cover of John Mellencamp’s “Paper in Fire,” led by his renowned fiddle player Kendel Carson.

“I think in some ways that song really tied the whole project together,” Alan says. “First off, it’s a song I’ve always loved and always wanted to record. But to do it justice, you really need the right players, and the people we had for these sessions could absolutely nail it. The song also shows the change in how country music is perceived. I think if Mellencamp released The Lonesome Jubilee today, it would be regarded as a country album.”

Listening habits have indeed changed dramatically and looking back it’s incredible how the humble group of Newfoundlanders who formed Great Big Sea—with a simple goal of bringing their modern take on the music of their home province to mainstream ears—made such an indelible mark on a national scale. But with songs like “When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down),” “Ordinary Day,” and their cover of R.E.M.’s “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” now ingrained upon the Canadian consciousness, there can be no disputing Great Big Sea’s status as one of the country’s most influential bands of the past three decades.

Now as we enter a new decade of music, the notion of genres feels even more antiquated. Connecting with as many listeners as possible continues to be Alan’s top priority, and he cheekily admits he tried to stack the deck in his favour with the EP’s final track “I Gotta Go.” It’s a tailor-made concert staple if there ever was, containing the soon-to-be immortal line, “20 songs if they love me, only 18 if they don’t.” At this point, it would be hard to find any Alan Doyle fan who would choose to leave a show until he’s expended every ounce of energy on stage.

Ultimately, Rough Side Out is an Alan Doyle record, which remains a category all its own.

CHRIS TRAPPER

For someone who’s been on the road for more than 150 dates a year for the past 15 years, Chris Trapper appears to have taken his unsolicited break from touring pretty well. In between weekly livestreams on Facebook & Instagram, Trapper also performed in his fan’s backyards across the country all summer long during his “Socially Distanced Backyardapalooza”. To top it all off, Chris entered a studio near his home in Boston, MA to record his new album “Cold Water Waltz”.

“Recording an album in normal times is an interesting experience, so imagine creating new music during a global pandemic. Although I worked intensely with the producers (Brad Young and Jason Meeker) in their respective studios, I could rest assured because as most musicians know; audio engineers social distanced before it was trending.”

The album is a mostly stripped-down affair, with the focus squarely on Trapper’s achingly honest lyrics, honeyed tenor and delicate fingerpicking. The record features Boston legends Duke Levine (Aimee Man, Peter Wolf) & Jim Prescott (G Love & Special Sauce) as well as Matt Beck (Matchbox Twenty, Rod Stewart) & even a co-write with Rob Thomas.

“I wrote most of these songs when I was opening for Rob over the summer of 2019. There were lots of days off then and admittedly, it was easy to get inspired to write new songs after witnessing so many thousands of people psyched to hear his songs every night. Rob & I wrote the song “Clear” together and he is truly the coolest guy to co-write with as he is all about the creative process and never about the ego.”

“Cold Water Waltz” was released on October 16th, 2020 and is available at christrapper.com and on all streaming and download services.

The New York Times has called his work “classic pop perfection.”

“His humble sense of humility is what makes Trapper’s songs so strong… He makes you feel like you are the person he’s singing about.” Popdose