Downtown Asheville Blog

When in Rome… well, you know. So it should be no surprise that a standup comic who finds himself in a Downtown Asheville venue will lace his humor with politics and current events. Such is the brand of Tim Simmons, who will headline Laugh Your Asheville Off this Friday at the Diana Wortham Theatre.

Dennis McDonough, Tom Chalmers, Greg Brown and Joe Zimmerman will open. The event will also include additional performances throughout the year. This weekend’s show benefits refugees in Burma hit by the recent typhoons.

Simmons has been on Comedy Central, Showtime, BET and NBC. He’s unabashedly liberal, so his material isn’t for everyone. But if that’s your political bent, Mainstage Comedy called his act “the kind you love to chew on,” and Twisted Radio called him the “funniest comedian you’ve never heard of.”

Tickets are available at the Diana Wortham Theatre and cost $15 each.

Posted by Mark Vanderhoff, a Realtor in Western North Carolina.

Asheville can trace its literary tradition back to Thomas Wolfe, and the coffee shops and bookstores still support a vibrant scene. This week, Asheville WordFest 2008 carries the torch with three days of poetry events in Black Mountain, Downtown Asheville and the University of North Carolina-Asheville.

Among the highlights will be a focus on the legacy of the Black Mountain College, an experimental learning institution that helped spawn Beat poetry and many avant-garde art movements.

Here’s a partial list of events from the official website:

GLENIS REDMOND‚ ALLAN WOLF‚ JIM NAVE‚ LAURA HOPE-GILL

Re-Opening the Green Door: a Retrospective of the 1990’s Performance Poetry Scene
Friday April 25 10:00 pm Malaprops Bookstore/café corner of Walnut and Haywood St.

COLEMAN BARKS WITH ELIOT WADOPIAN

Saturday April 26 2:00 pm The Fine Arts Theater 36 Biltmore Avenue

POETIX LOUNGE

Saturday April 26 10:00 pm Bobo Gallery on Lexington Avenue

FLOOD GALLERY READING: GLENIS REDMOND‚ SEBASTIAN MATTHEWS‚ LAURA HOPE-GILL‚ JEFF DAVIS‚ and MARK PRUDOWSKY

Sunday April 27 12:00 noon. 109 Roberts St. at corner of Clingman and Roberts by the river.

Posted by Mark Vanderhoff, an Asheville real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Kasey & Associates.

Hiking is a city pastime in Asheville, but what if you can’t make it out to the mountains. Here are three great ways to stretch your legs in the middle of town:

1. The Asheville Urban Trail - This path through Downtown Asheville was created so that visitors could take a self-guided tour or walk with docents, with designated stops and ample signage. The total route measures 1.7 miles and typically takes two hours.
2. The Montford Neighbhorhood - One of Asheville’s most desirable addresses is also one of the city’s most walkable communities. Visitors can wander for hours through this historical neighborhood, ogling the diversity of architecture from the late 1800s to modern eco-friendly infill.
3. Asheville Botanical Gardens - Just outside the center of town, near the University, lies a preserved swath of woodland dedicated to the native trees, shrubs and wildflowers of Southern Appalachia.

Posted by Mark Vanderhoff, an Asheville real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Kasey & Associates.

Downtown Asheville has made yet another Top Five list, this time in Rolling Stone magazine. The venerable rock institution has named The Orange Peel one of America’s top five music venues, according to an article today in the Asheville Citizen-Times.

The Orange Peel Social Aid and Pleasure Club stands beside clubs in New York City, Austin, Tex., Norfolk, Va., and Detroit. It has hosted acts from Bob Dylan and the Smashing Pumpkins to the Avett Brothers and Citizen Cope, drawing a wide spectrum of established acts, trendy names, and up-and-coming players.

Many fans travel from all over the United States to see bands perform there, making a vacation out of the trip. For a list of scheduled shows, check out the club’s calendar. For more information about Asheville, check out this visitor’s guide.

Posted by Mark Vanderhoff, an Asheville real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Kasey & Associates.

As always, this will be a great weekend to see some live music in Downtown Asheville. Here are my picks:

Friday

Erin Bode Group - Erin Bode’s beautiful voice puts many American Idol aspirants to shame. To top it off, her jazz/folk band consists of some truly talented musicians. For sheer artistry, this is the show to see this weekend. Diana Wortham Theatre.

The New Familiars - This band epitomizes the term “genre-bending,” with a sound that has something for everyone. If you have to pigeon-hole it, call it alt-rock. They’re from Charlotte and they’ve been making waves on the East Coast. Stella Blue.

Saturday

Who’s Bad - Despite all his creepy shenanigans, Michael Jackson remains a pop icon. This tribute band to the Man with the Glove dons all the trademark clothes and takes listeners through an anthology from The Jackson Five and beyond. A guaranteed party. The Orange Peel.

Posted by Mark Vanderhoff, an Asheville real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Kasey & Associates.

We’ve all got a good excuse to eat out this week in Downtown Asheville. More than 100 restaurants in Western North Carolina are participaiting in Dining Out for Life, in which they will donate 20 percent of your bill to the Western North Carolina AIDS Project.

The special event begins at breakfast, lasts through lunch and includes dinner. Everywhere from the Asheville Yacht Club to Zambra will participate, so it will be easy to find a restaurant you like. Just consult the list of restaurants on WNCAP’s website.

Last year, nearly 7,000 people raised $123,400. According to WNCAP’s website, it is “dedicated to providing HIV-related services to the people of Western North Carolina through client support, prevention education and outreach activities, in a collaborative and financially responsible manner.” The non-profit also organizes the annual AIDS Walk and the Raise Your Hand Auction.

Posted by Mark Vanderhoff, Asheville real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Kasey & Associates.