We know special events and festivals have long been employed as powerful tools in supporting business, motivating entrepreneurship, and promoting the arts. Additionally, the City of Asheville is focusing on special events and how they can help build an equitable and inclusive community. But government doesn’t just change on its own. What internal and external efforts are needed to maximize returns? Hear from the City’s Outdoor Special Events office about their collaborations with the City’s Office of Equity & Inclusion. Learn about the confines we’re all working within as community members, and why it takes an inside effort within government to push forward. Where are your opportunities to create and participate in special events that help build an equitable and inclusive community?

Speakers: City of Asheville Outdoor Event Manager Jon Fillman and Business Inclusion Manager Rosanna Mulcahy

UNC Asheville’s annual commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr:

Tuesday, Jan. 28 – Arthur Flowers – Memphis-born blues-based poet, novelist, essayist, and practitioner of literary hoodoo, Arthur Flowers is an associate professor of English at Syracuse University and is former director of the Harlem Writers Guild. His books include Another Good Loving Blues, Mojo Rising: Confessions of a 21st Century Conjureman, and Brer Rabbit Retold.

• Literary Blues and the Hoodoo Way – In the Footsteps of MLK – This performance and lecture by Arthur Flowers will also feature opening music by UNC Asheville’s Afro Music and Dance Ensemble – 7 p.m., Highsmith Student Union Blue Ridge Room.

The world is a vastly different place than it was just a few years ago, and Atmosphere’s seventh album, Mi Vida Local, reflects the ways in which the world, and Atmosphere’s place in it¬, has changed. The idyllic domesticity of their past few records has morphed into anxiety over keeping loved ones safe during turbulent times. Instead of bragging about backstage misadventures it’s about grappling with mortality. The easygoing collaboration between Ant and Slug has started to feel more like the life-or-death intimacy of two men trapped together on a lifeboat.

At times it’s a heavy album (“I might be the last generation of grandparents,” goes a key line from “Virgo”), but it’s far from grim. There are jokes being cracked, joints getting smoked, a little trash talking here and there- after all, it’s still a rap record.

And Atmosphere’s never sounded better.

As the name implies, Mi Vida Local is intensely focused on the place it was created- the southside of Minneapolis- where Slug and Ant work tirelessly in their “beautiful basements”, refining their sound without interruption, save for a handful of friends from the Minneapolis hip-hop community who showed up to contribute. A year of one-on-one collaboration resulting in an album that matches complex subject matter with equally deep beats- ones that show a clear lineage back to the psychedelic funk landmarks from an earlier era where America was going through a post-utopian hangover, and prove that there won’t ever be a time where boom-bap beats don’t sound perfectly of the moment.

Mi Vida Local might be the best album Atmosphere’s ever made. It’s definitely the one they needed to make right now, and one listeners need to hear just as urgently. If it’s sometimes an album about how the fight to find happiness never really ends- even after you get the house and the kids and the artistic freedom to make dad-rap records- it’s also about discovering that there’s happiness to be found just in fighting.

rhymesayers.com/atmosphere

Twenty years after they began releasing records as the Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have politely declined the opportunity to slow down with age. With a legacy of releases and countless U.S. and international tours behind them, the Indigo Girls have forged their own way in the music business. Selling over 14 million records, they are still going strong.Amy & Emily are the only duo with top 40 titles on the Billboard 200 in the ’80s, ’90s, ’00s and ’10s.

“Along with Simon & Garfunkel and The Everly Brothers, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers rank at the very top of all-time great duos. The sublime music-making-machine-skewering “Making Promises” is one of their finest rockers.”–The Boston Herald

After signing to Epic Records in 1988, the Indigo Girls released their critically acclaimed eponymous album to thunderous praise; it remained on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart for 35 weeks, earned double platinum status, received a Grammy nomination for “Best New Artist” and won “Best Contemporary Folk Recording.” They were overnight folk icons who continued to live up to the high standards they’d set for themselves: they’ve since released 14 albums (3 platinum and 3 gold), received six Grammy nominations and have won one. Indigo Girls have toured with innumerable star acts including Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, R.E.M., Sarah MacLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Jewel and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

The duo has balanced their long, successful musical career by supporting numerous social causes–the Indigo Girls don’t just talk the talk; they walk the walk. Having established an intensely dedicated fan base, the duo continues to remain relevant and attract new fans. With their latest release, Beauty Queen Sister, released on IG Recordings distributed by Vanguard Records,Emily Saliers and Amy Ray have secured their spot as one of the most legendary musical acts of this generation.

“Their 14th studio album finds the Indigo Girls operating as powerfully as at any time in theircareer, on a set of uncommonly strong songs performed with the kind of typically understated Nashville polish that affords their signature harmonies the full spotlight.”–The Independent (UK)

In 2015 Indigo Girls released their 14th studio album, One Lost Day, produced by Jordan Brooke Hamlin and mixed by Brian Joseph.

Blue Spiral 1’s most diverse annual exhibition presents artists who have never previously shown in the gallery. This year’s show features nine artists working in a range of media, including painting, ceramics, textiles, mixed media, photography, and wood.

Artists: Anna Buckner, Mark Flowers, David Knox, Hiromi Moneyhun, Kris Rehring, Ben Strear, Gregor Turk

Blue Spiral 1’s most diverse annual exhibition presents artists who have never previously shown in the gallery. This year’s show features nine artists working in a range of media, including painting, ceramics, textiles, mixed media, photography, and wood.

Artists: Anna Buckner, Mark Flowers, David Knox, Hiromi Moneyhun, Kris Rehring, Ben Strear, Gregor Turk

Live Music – never a cover charge!

Blue Spiral 1’s most diverse annual exhibition presents artists who have never previously shown in the gallery. This year’s show features nine artists working in a range of media, including painting, ceramics, textiles, mixed media, photography, and wood.

Artists: Anna Buckner, Mark Flowers, David Knox, Hiromi Moneyhun, Kris Rehring, Ben Strear, Gregor Turk

The Lumineers have announced a 2020 headlining North American tour of arenas and amphitheatres. The tour dates are in support of their upcoming album III out September 13 on Dualtone (an Entertainment One Company) in the U.S. and Canada, and on Decca Records for the rest of the world.

The Lumineers will once again partner with CID Entertainment to offer fans the opportunity to pair a premium concert ticket with merchandise or pre-show access to the III Lounge, with hospitality and entertainment. Packages will be available beginning August 12th at 10am local time. For details, visit cidentertainment.com/events/the-lumineers-tour/

Seven Singers Singing is cabaret-style musical revue, featuring some of the area’s finest vocal talent. The songs, written by local musician Dave Bates, run the gamut from bouncy show tunes to soulful ballads. Seven singers will also delight audiences with comic novelty songs and uplifting inspirational numbers. If you’ve ever said you want to leave the theatre with a song to hum, this is the show for you.
Seven Singers Singing includes well known singers, Richard Blue, Mandy Bean, Alex Guazzo, Nana Hosmer Griffin, Tasha Pepi, Matt Wade and Hannah Williams.

Call for tickets

Yonder Mountain String Band’s first new album in two years, LOVE. AIN’T LOVE is undeniably the Colorado-based progressive bluegrass outfit’s most surprising, creative, and yes, energetic studio excursion to date. Songs like “Chasing My Tail” and “Alison” are rooted in tradition but as current as tomorrow, animated by electrifying performance, vivid production, and the modernist power that has made Yonder one of the most popular live bands of their generation. Melding sophisticated songcraft, irrepressible spirit, and remarkable instrumental ability, LOVE. AIN’T LOVE is a testament to Yonder Mountain String Band’s organic, dynamic, and intensely personal brand of contemporary bluegrass-fueled Americana.

“I think this is our best album yet,” says Adam Aijala, guitarist.

Yonder founding members Aijala, banjo player Dave Johnston, and bassist Ben Kaufmann reconfigured Yonder Mountain String Band as a traditional bluegrass instrumental five-piece in 2014 with the recruitment of new players Allie Kral (violin) and Jacob Jolliff (mandolin). The reconstituted group debuted with 2015’s acclaimed BLACK SHEEP, but truly gelled as they toured, the new players’ personalities seamlessly blending and elevating the intrinsically tight Yonder sound. Yonder made certain to show off the current roster’s growing strength with the 2017 release of MOUNTAIN TRACKS: VOLUME 6, the first installment in their hugely popular live recording series since 2008.

Blue Spiral 1’s most diverse annual exhibition presents artists who have never previously shown in the gallery. This year’s show features nine artists working in a range of media, including painting, ceramics, textiles, mixed media, photography, and wood.

Artists: Anna Buckner, Mark Flowers, David Knox, Hiromi Moneyhun, Kris Rehring, Ben Strear, Gregor Turk

Our Leap Year concert celebrates a series of musical oddities; lesser-known pieces that are rarely played combine in this unusual jewel of a concert. This is Music Director Milton Crotts’s final concert of the season before he heads to Shanghai.

Program

Jacques Ibert, Concerto for Cello and Wind Instruments – Mandy Grace Guilfoyle, cello

Richard Percival, Sicilienne for Strings and English Horn – Carlton Alexander, English horn

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Symphony No. 29 in A major – Full orchestra

Josef Haydn, Farewell Symphony (No. 45) – Full orchestra

Snow Contingency

If this concert is canceled due to snow, it will be rescheduled for 4:30pm on Saturday, February 8, at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Concert Sponsor

         Sponsorship still available!

Kickshaws & Quiddities: Musical Oddities for a Leap Year

Milton Crotts, conductor

Our Leap Year concert celebrates a series of musical oddities; lesser-known pieces that are rarely played combine into this unusual jewel of a concert.

Program

Jacques Ibert, Concerto for Cello and Wind Instruments – Mandy Guilfoyle, cello

Richard Percival, Sicilienne for Strings and English Horn – Carlton Alexander, English horn

Michael Haydn, Symphony No. 29 – Full orchestra

Astor Piazzolla, Libertango – Hobart Whitman, horn; Casey Coppenbarger, trumpet; Richard Plyler, trumpet; Rienette Davis, trombone; JP Carney, tuba

SNOW CONTINGENCY

If these concerts are canceled due to snow, they will be rescheduled for the same times on Saturday, February 8, at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church.

The U.S. Cellular Center Asheville is proud to announce The Lumineers III: The World Tour

The Lumineers have announced a 2020 headlining North American tour of arenas and amphitheatres. The tour dates are in support of their upcoming album III out September 13 on Dualtone (an Entertainment One Company) in the U.S. and Canada, and on Decca Records for the rest of the world.

The Lumineers will once again partner with CID Entertainment to offer fans the opportunity to pair a premium concert ticket with merchandise or pre-show access to the III Lounge, with hospitality and entertainment. Packages will be available beginning August 12th at 10am local time. For details, visit cidentertainment.com/events/the-lumineers-tour/

Seven Singers Singing is cabaret-style musical revue, featuring some of the area’s finest vocal talent. The songs, written by local musician Dave Bates, run the gamut from bouncy show tunes to soulful ballads. Seven singers will also delight audiences with comic novelty songs and uplifting inspirational numbers. If you’ve ever said you want to leave the theatre with a song to hum, this is the show for you.
Seven Singers Singing includes well known singers, Richard Blue, Mandy Bean, Alex Guazzo, Nana Hosmer Griffin, Tasha Pepi, Matt Wade and Hannah Williams.

Call for tickets

January 2 & 3
Asheville Art Museum

Join us for one or both afternoons of art-filled fun. Students in grades 1–4 spend their time creating art of all kinds. All supplies and a snack are provided. Students are encouraged to wear clothes that can get messy. Preregistration is required; register online now, or call 828.253.3227 x124 for more information or to register by phone.