Calendar of Events

Mini-grant applications are available three times during the 2023-2024 school year. You may apply one time during this cycle. Mini-grants must be used within a year after receiving the funding. 

Applications due by:

• November 30, 2023
• January 30, 2024
• March 30, 2024

If you have questions about your eligibility to apply for funding, please email us at [email protected] before submitting your application. We are unable to provide mini-grants to schools located outside of our 23-county service area or to folks who have received a grant from us within the past year. Learn more and apply here!

Included with admission

Embark on a scenic journey across George Vanderbilt’s Italy with a large-scale outdoor display that combines brilliant botanical designs with authentic messages written by Vanderbilt himself.

Beautifully handcrafted of natural elements, each sculptural postcard depicts a location or landmark Vanderbilt visited more than a century ago. This captivating complement to Biltmore’s Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition reveals Vanderbilt’s passions for travel, culture, architecture, and art as well as his personal experience of such renowned Italian cities as Milan, Florence, Venice, Pisa, and Vatican City.

Adding to the charm and visual appeal of Ciao! From Italy—sure to be a hit among kids of all ages—is the G-scale model train that travels in and out of each postcard in this enlightening display!

Living in Western North Carolina means there is always something to do in the garden, from preparing soil and pruning to fertilizing and transplanting. But when and how? You’ll find the answers in A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains.

Created by NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteers of Buncombe County (BCEMG), the guide provides a complete month-by-month description of what to do (and not to do), along with tips on invasive species, mulching, composting, and creating bird- and pollinator-friendly habitats.

This quick reference makes the perfect holiday gift for the gardeners in your life, whether they are old hands, new to gardening, or new to gardening in the mountains. A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains will get them off to the right start and keep their gardens growing all year long. Plus, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that funds raised through this publication go to support the many educational and outreach programs provided by BCEMG volunteers.

How to order: Send $13 (checks payable to Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener) to N.C. Cooperative Extension, Buncombe County Center, 49 Mount Carmel Road, Asheville, N.C. 28806, ATTN:  Buncombe County Master Gardeners. Include mailing address for shipping and a phone number, in case we have a question about your order.

Copies are available for pick up at the office for $10.  Please call in advance. 828-255-5522.

To learn more about the NC State Extension Master Gardener Program in Buncombe County, go to: https://www.buncombemastergardener.org/

Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.

 

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.

 

Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.

And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!

Come join Heather Bauer as we explore the “Active, But Care-full” (ABCs) of falls prevention. This free session at the Weaverville Library is for anyone of any age who is interested in staying strong, grounded, and independent! We will discuss and assess fall risk with nationally recognized tools, share resources, and practice gentle seated exercises. Each participant will take home a falls risk score, prevention tools, home safety assessment, and a greater understanding of what we can do to reduce our risks! This free class is Dec. 7 at 10:30 a.m. and you do need to register. Call the library 250-6482 or come by to sign up.

Instructor Heather Bauer is a long-time falls prevention coach and consultant, trained in evidence-based falls prevention programming. She has worked in aging services since 2006, in-home care agencies and community-based human service non-profits. She is a firm believer in living well at any age. She lives in Waynesville with her family, facilitates falls prevention programming across the United States, and co-owns a local pickle business where she stays active in farmers markets and works with customers across WNC.

Huge thanks to the Friends of the Weaverville Library for sponsoring this program!

Invoke your imagination and dawn your most creaturely costumes at the Mischief Moon Gala! This evening of ceremony, interactive art, empowered movement, and connection is coming Thursday, December 7th, to the Asheville Masonic Temple. Head to https://www.fireflygathering.org/event/mischief-moon-gala for tickets, and see below for more details!

The Mischief Moon Gala: Thursday, December 7th from 5 – 11 pm at the Asheville Masonic Temple

Join us as we celebrate the power of creativity and community with live music from beloved artists like Holy River, Sarah Louise, and Wild Roots Rising; a community waltz with a live band (waltz class beforehand!); traditional Cherokee foods from Bigwitch Wisdom Initiative, and an entire evening of beautifully bizarre performances, installations, and offerings.

This year, we are delving into the wide world of weird, with an emphasis on the bizarre iterations of creation. Start creating your most captivating costumes as you, The Wanderer, have many adventures into the underworld and beyond soon to come!

Begin your journey in The Underworld, where we’ve curated an assortment of oddities to entertain you, including the Fae Cleaning Crew and the FerryMan. When you need to revive your spirits, journey up the Haunted Staircase to sojourn in the Realm of the Fae, where ethereal music, poetry and the Otherworldly Art Gallery & Cantina await you.

All proceeds for the Gala go toward supporting artists and fundraise for Firefly Gathering’s year-round work to empower the people of the Southeast through earthskills workshops, the Annual Firefly Gathering, and community-building events.

Queer Music Exploration – Students will explore guitar, bass, drums, singing and piano with a focus on learning music by artists from the LGBTQ+ community. Students will have the chance to interact with their peers and share their experiences through music.

Join us for Jazz Jam Thursday every Thursday from 7-10. There is a suggested donation of $10 and local craft beer and wine for sale. Come as you are or bring an instrument! Open jam starts at 8 after a House Band set guaranteed to fill your soul with groove and joy.
Public parking is available at Marjorie Street, across from Packs Tavern.

Steve Simon & The Kings of Jazz are Brevard’s newest and most exciting and entertaining jazz band with a sound that combines the funkiness of George Benson, the soulfulness of Ray Charles and the smoothness of Diana Krall all wrapped together in big Count Basie style arrangements of American and Latin jazz classics. If you are looking for an amazing live jazz experience then check out the hottest jazz band in the coolest city in North Carolina performing every Thursday at The DFR Lounge from 7pm to 9pm

– ALL AGES

– STANDING ROOM ONLY

LYDIA LOVELESS
Endings are messy. Falling in love is messy. Change is messy. Perhaps, change is the messiest of them all. Especially when eyes are on you; when you blast out of adolescence onto stages across the country, then into your twenties, onto more stages and, finally, into your thirties—all on those same stages. The stages that Lydia Loveless has sung her heart out on, has collapsed on, and laughed on, all mirror the stages of her life thus far for the world to see. When Loveless released her first album over a decade ago, she was still a teenager whose songs of debauchery, guzzling alcohol and doing cocaine were an audio wet dream for a certain type of listener who not only wear their music tastes on their (tattooed) sleeve, but in the lifestyle that they emulate: “outlaw” music with brains – akin to Steve Earle, Drive-By Truckers and Lucinda Williams, vintage country heart with a heartland rock soul.

In the end, the music industry is still sadly a man’s world and, as such, Loveless grew up in the spotlight (or perhaps, more accurately, the bar lights) while she was placed on a pedestal. Her voicemail greeting is a tongue-in-cheek ode to this: “Hi, this is Lydia Loveless, savior of cowpunk. Please leave a message and I will get back to you.”

The time between their late adolescence to now is defined by a shelf full of records, hundreds of thousands of miles on the road, and a ribbon of heartbreaks pockmarking their trail. Loveless is a fiercely brave writer who bluntly assesses their life in song: their struggles with alcohol and depression, and the uncertainty of not only the future, but what piecing together the past will mean for the present.

In 2020, they put out their excellent fourth full-length Daughter on their own label, Honey, You’re Gonna Be Late Records, with encouragement from their friend Jason Isbell, but could not tour behind it; the one consistent throughline in Loveless’ life was impossible due to the pandemic. They were living in North Carolina with their boyfriend at the time, stuck, away from the stages they grew up on, isolated from their family, and going stir-crazy. As the world came undone and then back together again, Loveless returned to Columbus, where their career first began. Starting anew, Loveless found part-time work at a recording studio (Secret Studios) and began processing the last two years of their life. The title of their new album, Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again, came easy—like a mantra from the heavens.

REESE McHENRY

Mini-grant applications are available three times during the 2023-2024 school year. You may apply one time during this cycle. Mini-grants must be used within a year after receiving the funding. 

Applications due by:

• November 30, 2023
• January 30, 2024
• March 30, 2024

If you have questions about your eligibility to apply for funding, please email us at [email protected] before submitting your application. We are unable to provide mini-grants to schools located outside of our 23-county service area or to folks who have received a grant from us within the past year. Learn more and apply here!

Included with admission

Embark on a scenic journey across George Vanderbilt’s Italy with a large-scale outdoor display that combines brilliant botanical designs with authentic messages written by Vanderbilt himself.

Beautifully handcrafted of natural elements, each sculptural postcard depicts a location or landmark Vanderbilt visited more than a century ago. This captivating complement to Biltmore’s Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition reveals Vanderbilt’s passions for travel, culture, architecture, and art as well as his personal experience of such renowned Italian cities as Milan, Florence, Venice, Pisa, and Vatican City.

Adding to the charm and visual appeal of Ciao! From Italy—sure to be a hit among kids of all ages—is the G-scale model train that travels in and out of each postcard in this enlightening display!

Living in Western North Carolina means there is always something to do in the garden, from preparing soil and pruning to fertilizing and transplanting. But when and how? You’ll find the answers in A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains.

Created by NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteers of Buncombe County (BCEMG), the guide provides a complete month-by-month description of what to do (and not to do), along with tips on invasive species, mulching, composting, and creating bird- and pollinator-friendly habitats.

This quick reference makes the perfect holiday gift for the gardeners in your life, whether they are old hands, new to gardening, or new to gardening in the mountains. A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains will get them off to the right start and keep their gardens growing all year long. Plus, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that funds raised through this publication go to support the many educational and outreach programs provided by BCEMG volunteers.

How to order: Send $13 (checks payable to Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener) to N.C. Cooperative Extension, Buncombe County Center, 49 Mount Carmel Road, Asheville, N.C. 28806, ATTN:  Buncombe County Master Gardeners. Include mailing address for shipping and a phone number, in case we have a question about your order.

Copies are available for pick up at the office for $10.  Please call in advance. 828-255-5522.

To learn more about the NC State Extension Master Gardener Program in Buncombe County, go to: https://www.buncombemastergardener.org/

Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.

 

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.

 

Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.

And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!

The Asheville Art Museum is thrilled to announce a captivating December Live Music Series, bringing a harmonious fusion of art and music to the galleries. This unique series showcases Western North Carolina-based musicians Jessie Meltz, Monique Pinelli, and Laura Boswell. Audience members are invited to immerse themselves in an unparalleled cultural experience as our galleries transform into an intimate setting for these exceptional live performances. “The December Live Music Series aims to create an ambiance where visual and auditory senses intertwine, providing a memorable and enriching experience for all attendees,” says Adult Programs and Community Outreach Manager Magdalena Van Thienen. Harpist Jessie Meltz will kick off the series and play a wide repertoire to provide audiences with an eclectic musical experience. Monique Pinelli will perform a diverse set of holiday and classical music on the violin. The series will conclude with an enchanting folk-classical performance on the guitar by Laura Boswell. The December Live Music Series is free for Museum Members or included in Museum admission. Tickets are available for purchase in advance but are not required. December Live Music Series Schedule: Jessie Meltz Friday, December 8 • 1–5pm Jessie Meltz performs far more than classical music and often surprises those listening with songs ranging from familiar classical standards to pop and rock and roll favorites. Meltz will perform in the Perspective Café and the Western North Carolina Glass exhibition.

Wanna hear the best local music ​and​ drink the best local beers? Hop aboard LaZoom’s Purple Bus and rock out with a local band while we take you on a journey to Asheville’s premiere local breweries.

Get ready to embrace the spirit of Christmas with Elf: The Musical, a heartwarming and hilarious adaptation of the beloved 2003 holiday film. This enchanting musical follows the journey of Buddy, a human raised by elves at the North Pole who embarks on a journey to New York City to find his real father. Through catchy, uplifting songs and zany comedic antics, Elf: The Musical serves a healthy dose of holiday cheer, laughter, and life lessons about identity, family, and the true meaning of Christmas. It’s a magical, festive spectacle guaranteed to light up the holiday season for all ages!

A talkback with the cast & crew of Elf: The Musical will be held following the performances on December 3rd and 10th.

Three chords and the truth

It’s country music’s famous, straight-to-the-bone foundation, and the core of countess iconic hits. But as a new generation of artists emerge, it can sometimes feel like a relic. … Then there’s Columbia Nashville’s Kameron Marlowe. For him, three chords and the truth isn’t just a motto, it’s the only way he knows to make music. Fusing steel-toed toughness with a visceral approach to songwriting, it’s the truth itself that guides his hard-to-pin-down mix. And with his debut album, We Were Cowboys, he confronts it head on.

“This is me and this is what I wanna show the world,” Marlowe explains. “I’ve really tried to fight for this record in a way that it doesn’t sound like everybody else. … Basically, I tried to make it my own.”

About two years in the making, the project marks a creative arrival for the Kannapolis, North Carolina native. Wielding a high-voltage vocal and a country style to match, Marlowe’s sound is built around edgy electric twang, shades of gritty rock and a touch of bluesy tenderness, living comfortably in the darker corners of the honky tonk. With a self-made background, Marlowe grew up singing and started a high-school band, inspired by everything from ‘70s and ‘80s country to Stevie Ray Vaughn, Ray Charles and Kings of Leon. A family-first kind of guy with a strong connection to his grandparents, the youngster grew to appreciate things that last, and by soaking up the music of his elders along with current hits, created a unique vocal mix that evident early on: Classic sincerity and modern swagger. He carried on singing for fun in college, but he left school after one semester to help support his family after his mother was injured. The young talent took a desk job selling car parts for General Motors instead but still shared performance videos via social media. This is where he was discovered by a producer for The Voice – singing “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton – and landed a coveted spot directly in the show’s live auditions. Though his stint on The Voice was short-lived, Marlowe returned to his love of songwriting and jumped into his music headfirst after the end of a long-term relationship.

“I was 19 years old and head over heels for this girl,” he explains. “So I got a ring, I had a house I was looking at, and I was just super pumped. It was like, ‘This is where life starts for me.’”

As it turns out, he was right about that. Two weeks before Marlowe was planning to propose, his girlfriend abruptly broke off the relationship, and in frustration Marlowe turned back to his first love. Writing the first pieces of what became “Giving You Up” – a raw, razor sharp ballad whose deep wounds were overcome by a powerful sense of self-respect – the track laid Marlowe’s broken heart bare for the first time and sent him down a new path. Soon the young singer-songwriter was making the seven-hour drive to Nashville three times a week, joining random co-writes and always sharing his solo-penned “Giving You Up” with the group. He was told over and over it needed work, yet Marlowe stuck to his guns. He knew above all, the song was true.

“A lot of writers were like, ‘Man, it’s good – but it’s not great,’” he recalls. “That took the wind outta my sails a little bit, but then I ended up putting it out, and it became my first Gold single.”

“Giving You Up” was released independently in 2019, racking up millions of streams. Meanwhile Marlowe continued traveling back and forth between Nashville and North Carolina – booking Broadway gigs at Ole Red and once he didn’t even have gas money to make it to, unless the venue could give him an advance. They knew his voice was more than worth the investment, and the up-and-comer usually left with a pocket full of tips. “Giving You Up” ultimately landed him an artist deal with Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Nashville and a publishing deal with Sony Music Publishing. Marlowe kept writing and released a self-titled EP in 2020, sending the torchy “Burn ‘Em All” into Billboard’s Hot Country Top 40 and opening massive shows for Brad Paisley, Riley Green, Morgan Wallen and more. Now the story continues, with his full-length album debut putting him fully in the spotlight – and this time he’s not looking for anyone’s approval. Produced by ACM/CMA winner Dann Huff and GRAMMY-nominated Brad Hill (“Giving You Up,” “Burn ‘Em All”), We Were Cowboys features a massive, 16-song track list and a bold, take-me-as-I-come spirit. Marlowe had a hand in writing 10 of those tracks, and says he was committed to holding nothing back.

“It’s not in a cocky way,” he cautions. “It’s more like I want to be true to myself.”

Right from the top, his approach hits home. “We Were Cowboys” was co-written with Tyler Farr and Wyatt McCubbin on a last-minute trip to Wyoming and ended up capturing Marlowe’s artistic essence. A nostalgic tribute to childhood with a Western, epic feel, rough-riding vocals and vivid, lived-in details, the track became the jumping off point of the whole album.

“It felt special when we wrote it, and I haven’t really had a song that’s been that special to me since ‘Giving You Up,’” he says. “It really is my story. The ‘93 Silverado, the corduroy couch and John Wayne movies. It’s all a part of me.”

The same is true of tracks like “Country Boy’s Prayer,” which turns the bench seat of that Silverado into a church pew. And with the gravel-road rocker “This Old Town,” Marlowe finds the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it beauty of his rural upbringing – rootsy and refreshing with an upbeat accordion-and-fiddle melody. Meanwhile, romantic anthems like the soul-stinging “Ain’t Enough Whiskey” rekindle the pain of “Giving You Up,” and the hot-blooded “Girl On Fire” finds love flaming up in a summer fling. The blues rocker “Money Ain’t $hit” knows the value of straight talk and a strong character – values with playfully potency on “Grandma’s Got a Garden (for G’maw Jan)” – and the angelic “Steady Heart” kneels before a woman’s amazing grace. It’s all true to Marlowe’s world, and in typical fashion, it was even recorded with blunt honesty. Cutting vocals in live takes, Marlowe would simply sing the whole song a few times through, and then pick his favorite version. Grabbing quick, in-the-moment takes, the approach highlighted the best of Marlowe’s talent and kept all the all-natural character of his voice intact, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. It’s a music-making style that offers no place to hide – and as a result, almost no one does it anymore, especially on a debut album. But then again, Kameron Marlowe is no typical artist.

“We wanted to keep it organic and real and a little bit looser,” he explains. “What it came down to is not wanting to sound like any other record, and I hope people get to know me out of this.”