In conjunction with Sunday Sessions Live (and virtual) music: Food Truck Sundays will bring a new or rotating “staff favorite” cuisine each week to the Beechams Curve offerings.
Gan Shan West, our main culinary provider 6 days a week, is closed on Sundays. Enjoy the convenience, delicious variety and the music – all in one Sunday Funday stop!

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/

The Episcopal Church of St. John in the Wilderness and Friends of Music will present tenor Alexander Harrelson in the third in a series of concerts entitled “Accent on Youth” on Sunday, August 1, at 3:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall.

The Tryon native will sing a varied program of music from Scarlatti, Samuel Barber, Beethoven, Lehar, as well as songs from musical theater.  He will be accompanied by Music Director Dewitt Tipton.

Harrelson is a graduate of Davidson College and studied at the Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy and at the International Vocal Artists Academy in Payerback, Austria. He competed at the national level of the Classical Singers Convention and has won prizes in the YoungArts competition.

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Alex Harrelson has performed with the Hendersonville Youth Symphony Orchestra (in Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne), attended the North Carolina Governor’s School for Choral Music, and attended Cannon Music Camp after receiving a generous scholarship from Laurel Lake Music Society.

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The concert is free and open to the public.  The Parish Hall is located at 1905 Greenville Highway across Rutledge Drive from the church.  Donations will be accepted, all of which will go to the concert artist.

These performances have been rescheduled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously purchased tickets will be honored for the rescheduled date.

The Amazing Acro-cats Featuring Tuna and the Rock Cats are a troupe of touring performing house cats. This one-of-a-kind, two hour long purrformance features talented domesticated house cats who roll on balls, ride skateboards, jump through hoops, and more!

The finale is the only all-cat band in the entire world – Tuna and the Rock Cats! The current band lineup features St. Clawed on guitar, Bue on drums, Nue on keyboard, and NOW some brand new members: Ahi on woodblocks and Albacore on cowbell, Roux on trumpet, and Oz on Saxophone. There is even a chicken – Cluck Norris – rockin the tambourine!

“I can die happy now!” an audience member has claimed after seeing the band.

It all started with Chief Executive Human (or CEH for short) and cat lover Samantha Martin. Training animals at a young age, she knew instantly she would be working with animals for the rest of her life. By founding Rock Cats Rescue, the real reason behind having a traveling animal show, she has saved the lives of over 230 cats and kittens. Using the magic of clicker training, Samantha (and a few other humans) travel with over 15 cats and kittens all across the United States, educating and entertaining audiences that cats actually can be trained while she tenaciously continues to save the lives of cats and kittens through rescue, foster, and adoption.

Featured on national TV shows like the 2018 Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet, Tuna and the Rock Cats purrformed the half-time honors! Their most recent national appearance was on a PBS special about cats and dogs.

Grammy Award-winning musician Aoife O’Donovan has become one of the most sought-after singers and songwriters of her generation.

She’s garnered international recognition both as a solo artist and as a collaborator. Aoife is the lead vocalist for alt-bluegrass band Crooked Still, a string quartet with a fresh perspective on traditional folk tunes. Since then, she’s also co-founded the band I’m With Her with Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins. Together, the trio was nominated for two Grammy Awards; Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song, winning the latter. In addition to the bands she is part of, Aoife collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile on The Goat Rodeo Sessions, which won two Grammy Awards: Best Folk Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

The folk-country artist has released three critically-acclaimed solo albums that showcase her esteemed songwriting skills. Her trademark is weaving Gaelic tales into her songs that reflect her Irish-American roots and upbringing.

Official Website

A lot of artists defy categorization. Some do so because they are tirelessly searching for the place they fit, while others are constantly chasing trends. Some, though, are genuinely exploring and expressing their myriad influences. Amy Ray belongs in the latter group. Pulling from every direction — Patty Griffin to Patti Smith, Big Star to Bon Iver — Ray’s music might best be described as folk-rock, though even that would be a tough sell, depending on the song.

Ray’s musical beginnings trace back to her high school days in Atlanta, Georgia, when she and Emily Saliers formed the duo that would become the Indigo Girls. Their story started in 1981 with a basement tape called “Tuesday’s Children” and went on to include a deal with Epic Records in 1988, a Grammy in 1990, and nearly 20 albums over more than 30 years.

Rooted in shared passions for harmony and justice, the Indigo Girls have forged a career that combines artistry and activism to push against every boundary and box anyone tries to put them in. As activists, they have supported as many great causes as they can, from LGBTQ+ rights to voter registration, going so far as to co-found an environmental justice organization, Honor the Earth, with Winona LaDuke in 1993. As artists, they have dipped their toes into a similar multitude of waters — folk, rock, country, pop, and more — but the resulting releases are always pure Indigo.

Ray’s six solo sets — and three live albums — have charted even wider seas, from the political punk of 2001’s Stag to the feminist Americana of 2018’s Holler. Each effort seems to lean into her influences in different ways, whether it’s the Allman Brothers or the Carter Family. One album finds the Butchies on full blast, another features Alison Brown on bluegrass banjo.

Both Stag and its follow-up, Prom (2005),found Ray addressing societal woes, ranging from the dangers of homophobia to the machismo of rock & roll, all while channeling her inner Replacements into a Southern punk sound that she has called “subversiveness with a smile.” Ray softened her sonic stance a bit for her next two efforts, 2008’s Didn’t It Feel Kinder and 2012’s Lung of Love, both of which felt closer in tone to her work with Indigo Girls, confronting cultural issues alongside personal ones.

In retrospect, it’s easy to see how songs like Lung of Love’s “Bird in the Hand” and “The Rock Is My Foundation” served as signposts of what was to come next for Ray. With Goodnight Tender in 2014, she recorded in Asheville, North Carolina, and stepped squarely into the country music that has been a part of everything she’s done. But it’s not the kind of country heard on the radio; it’s the country music culled from folk, bluegrass, gospel, and Southern rock, going so far as to title a tune after Duane Allman.

For 2018’s Holler, Ray recorded, once again, with her Carolina country kin, adding horns and strings to all but split the musical distance between Kinder and Tender to create a soulful, country-tinged, gospel-infused Americana sound. More cohesively than her prior releases, Holler encompasses and imparts all the disparate aspects of Ray’s influences in a singular offering.

Ray’s vast artistic inspirations are matched only by the deep peer admiration that is reflected in her albums’ guest appearances, which have included Vince Gill, Brandi Carlile, Justin Vernon, Jim James, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Phil Cook, and others. That kind of good will is something only built from a lifetime of good deeds and great music.

While she partnered with Compass Records to issue Holler, Ray’s home base is Daemon Records, the not-for-profit label she founded in 1990 to support grassroots artists, including Kristen Hall, Rose Polenzani, Danielle Howle, John Trudell, Gerard McHugh, the Rock-A-Teens, and others. With Daemon, as with everything, Ray aimed to give something back to the community from which she has gotten so much.

When 2020 found the world immersed in a pandemic, Amy and her band turned to the digital world and started producing and recording singles from their own makeshift studios. “Tear it Down” released along with a video in November, 2020 wrestled with Amy’s upbringing in the cradle of the confederacy and pays tribute to activists working to dismantle racism.

In February, 2021, Amy Ray Band released another video and song, “Muscadine”,  to sing of dogs and what they teach us of unconditional love. Another song, “Chuck Will’s Widow” is due for release this summer 2021.

Solo or duo, with a band or an orchestra, together and apart, both Ray and Saliers pour themselves into every performance, and their audiences still soak up every ounce of that generosity, spilling their own hearts and souls out as they sing along to every song. Theirs isn’t a fanbase; it’s a family.

Come enjoy an evening of live music, food and drinks on the Isis Music Hall Lawn. Reservations are highly recommended.

Bruce Hornsby is on a roll. After taking the music world by surprise with his wide-ranging, critically acclaimed 2019 album Absolute Zero, the singer, songwriter, composer and bandleader returns with a follow-up that picks up where its predecessor left off. Non-Secure Connection features 10 new songs exploring a broad range of themes, from civil rights to computer hackers, mall salesmen to the Darwinian aspects of AAU basketball.

Hornsby plays piano, of course, but the songs on Non-Secure Connection also feature Hornsby’s electric sitar and Chamberlin, along with guitars, horns, strings and subtle samples from sources as varied as minimalist composer John Cage and Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand. Like Absolute Zero, Non-Secure Connection also features a wealth of collaborators: singer James Mercer of The Shins and Broken Bells, singer and poet Jamila Woods, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, Bon Iver leader Justin Vernon and the late Leon Russell, who appears thanks to a demo that he and Hornsby recorded together more than 25 years ago.

“I must be the only person around that has a record with James Mercer, Jamila Woods, Leon Russell and Vernon Reid,” Hornsby says with a laugh. “It’s a great, disparate crowd.”

It’s the kind of unexpected roster that listeners have come to expect from Hornsby, who has built a distinctly unique career since his debut with The Range on their multi-platinum 1986 album The Way It Is. From there, Hornsby has steered his way through a stint on keyboards for the Grateful Dead, writing music for Spike Lee’s films, and albums exploring jazz, bluegrass and contemporary classical music.

“I’m often looking to make a sound that I haven’t heard before, and find a place in what I guess is the context of popular song for some new information,” he says.

Please note: Auditorium seating is reserved. Lawn seating is general admission.

We are thrilled to announce our Group Fitness Schedule is live with several offerings and more coming. Class options range from high-intensity strength training to water aerobics, there is something for everyone. Reservations are required and can be made 24 hours in advance using our free app or calling (828)-254-7206 and speaking with a Fitness Associate. Visit our website to learn more.

Hourly Child Care is available while you are onsite Monday – Thursday 8 am – 8 pm and Fridays 8 am – 5 pm. Reservations are required and can be made in advance by calling (828) 254-7206 x 113.

The North Carolina Arboretum is going wild for art and nature in 2021 with Wild Art! On view April 1 through September 26, this outdoor sculpture exhibition features works by 17 local and national artists drawing inspiration from the natural environment. Situated throughout the Arboretum’s spacious, open-air gardens, the show offers guests a doorway into the wild world from the comfort and safety of cultivated landscapes transformed by art.

The 18 sculptures on display represent a variety of approaches to the theme of “wild art,” from the literal to the abstract, and are crafted from a diverse array of materials that will delight and inspire. Let your imagination take you on a wild journey into the world of plants and animals near and far with Wild Art at The North Carolina Arboretum.

The exhibit is available to all guests during normal Arboretum hours, and there is no admission cost to view the sculptures beyond our usual parking fee of $16 per personal vehicle.

With the convenience of being open year-round, 7 days a week, the WNC Farmers Market offers a selection of farm-fresh produce at the lowest prices in Western N.C. Our popular retail buildings, providing a selection of non-perishables, fruits, vegetables, crafts and more, are open daily.

A Life in the Wild  features more than 30 large-format images from award-winning nature photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen, who has devoted decades of his life to documenting wild places across the globe and the remarkable creatures that inhabit them. For this traveling retrospective exhibition of his works, Mangelsen has hand-selected several legacy photographs from his portfolio of more than 40 years, during which time he has captured thousands of breathtaking images of wildlife under natural — and sometimes harsh — conditions. With subjects ranging from black bears in the Great Smoky Mountains to plains zebras in the savannas of East Africa, this collection of photographs serves to remind us all to slow down and take a moment to connect with nature near and far. Named the 2011 Conservation Photographer of the Year by Nature’s Best Photography, among other accolades, Mangelsen has his work featured in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C..

A Life in the Wild is on display daily, May 15 – September 5, 2021, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Baker Exhibit Center. Face coverings are required for visitors ages 5 years and older.

Exhibit support for A Life in the Wild is provided in part by The North Carolina Arboretum Society, Asheville Citizen-Times, Biltmore Farms Hotels, Gasperson Moving & Storage, RomanticAsheville.com Travel Guide and Smoky Mountain Living Magazine. 

THOMAS D. MANGELSEN – A LIFE IN THE WILD, produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C., David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Curator/Tour Director.

Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity is currently building New
Heights, its most ambitious neighborhood to-date, and volunteers are invited to help build. Take an
active role in ensuring everyone has an affordable place to call home by learning new skills or
honing existing ones while working alongside community-minded people and future Habitat
homeowners.
Asheville Habitat has been bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope for
nearly four decades. The reasons people donate their time and talent to Asheville Habitat are as
varied as the volunteer themselves. Those who so enjoyed volunteering once on the Women Build
House that they keep coming back every week. Those that spent decades in a corporate
boardroom and simply want to do something totally different in retirement. Those that work for a
company that sponsors Asheville Habitat and therefore have the opportunity to participate in an
employee build day. Those that are in high school and learning about our region’s affordable
housing crisis. Those putting faith into action by working on a house their church sponsors. How
people come to volunteer with Asheville Habitat is wide-ranging. Why they continue to volunteer is
the same: Comradery. Meeting the families. Fulfillment. Fun. Making a difference. Feeling part of
something bigger.
If you are ready to be the change you want to see in the world, learn more and sign up to volunteer
at ashevillehabitat.org or call 828.251.5702. “Volunteers are truly an extension of our staff,” shares
Construction Services Volunteer Manager Stephanie Wallace. “We offer year-round opportunities
for those age 16+. It’s hard work, but very rewarding. Stepping back at the end of the day, you can
SEE the difference you’ve made and feel proud about it.”
If construction isn’t your cup of tea, contact Carrie at 828.210.9381 or
[email protected] to learn about volunteer opportunities in the Asheville and
Weaverville ReStores. Proceeds from ReStore sales support Habitat’s building programs, so your
volunteer efforts there directly support affordable housing, too. Volunteer positions include
customer service, such as running the cash register and providing sales support on the floor;
intake and receiving; sorting and processing donations; testing and repairing appliances; and other
fun opportunities. More description can be found at ashevillehabitat.org – join the team!
About Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity
Founded in 1983, Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity was the first Habitat affiliate in North Carolina. Through Habitat
homeownership and home repair programs, nearly 2,000 adults and children in Buncombe County have achieved the
strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build a better future. A decent place to call home and an affordable
mortgage enables Habitat homeowners to save more, invest in education, pursue opportunities and have greater
financial stability. Learn more about Asheville Area Habitat, a Charity Navigator 4-star non-profit, and how you can get
involved at ashevillehabitat.org.

Fairy Trail 2021

Join us on the magical Fairy Trail where your imagination is the only limit.

Developed by Fairies and dedicated volunteers, Bullington Gardens’ Fairy Trail is a whimsical treat for the young and the young at heart. Featuring playful vignettes and villages, the fairy trail will charm you with its thoughtful design, eye catching displays and secret woodland trail.

Rules of the trail:

Do not move or rearrange fairy displays. The fairies are very fond of their own decorating.

Do not leave trash on the trail. Fairies do not like litter in their town.

Please ensure children and pets are supervised at all times. Dogs and loud noises can scare the fairies into hiding.

Do not disturb wildlife or vegetation. The fairies depend on the vegetation to build their homes.

The trail is one way only. Please stay on the trail at all times.

P.S. the Fairies would like us to remind you that we are a non-profit and donations are greatly appreciated. Help us keep the fairies living in the style with which they’ve become accustomed.

Bullington Gardens and the Fairy Trail are closed on Sundays.

Included with admission

Our fun-for-all-ages botanical model train displays invite you to experience our grounds in an engaging new way. Located in the Conservatory in the Walled Garden, the displays feature replicas of structures connected with Biltmore and its founder George Vanderbilt. Each beautifully executed piece was handcrafted from such natural elements as leaves, bark, and twigs.

In compliance with state and local mandates related to COVID-19, all guests must enter the Conservatory via the ADA entrance in the back and follow a one-way route.

Included with admission

A unique-to-Biltmore, large-scale outdoor sculpture will be crafted and installed in Antler Hill Village this spring by Patrick Dougherty. Over the last three decades, this internationally-acclaimed artist has combined his carpentry skills and love of nature to build over 300 of these wondrous works, captivating the hearts and imaginations of viewers worldwide.

Image: Close Ties (2006) Scottish Basketmakers Circle, Dingwall, Scotland. Photo: Fin Macrae
NOTE: This is an example of Patrick Dougherty’s work; the artist will create Biltmore’s unique structure in Antler Hill Village this spring.

Summer at Biltmore offers an abundance of opportunities to explore our 8,000-acre Blue Ridge Mountain backyard and create the kind of memories that last a lifetime. Wander through historic gardens, along winding trails, and within the spacious halls of America’s Largest Home^®. Enjoy extraordinary experiences and peace of mind in one spectacular setting: only at Biltmore.

Graduate Show 2021: Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Program