holiday Archive
15 Dec 2025
30 Days Out, December 2025 #2: Jon Stickley Trio, Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters, A Swannanoa Solstice, The Cheeksters
It’s time for an all-local edition of 30 Days Out. I’ve been running this twice-monthly roundup of live music in Asheville for twelve years now: six for Mountain Xpress, six […]
28 Nov 2025
Album Review: Frank Sinatra – Christmas on the Air
Frank Sinatra released A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra in 1957, and the LP reached No. 23 on the Billboard 200 chart. But Christmas albums predate the 12” LP format, […]
08 Feb 2025
Five Rock Classics from ‘The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album’
Christmas is less than 11 months away! So… In November 1964, the Beach Boys released their seventh studio album. Their status as a recording act was then barely past its […]
12 Jan 2025
Countdown to Christmas: Ten Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Songs About Santa Claus (Part 2 of 2)
Continued from Part One… 5. “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” – Bruce Springsteen (single, 1981) “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” is the oldest song on this list. First […]
11 Jan 2025
Countdown to Christmas: Ten Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Songs About Santa Claus (Part 1 of 2)
Hey, there are less than 365 days until Christmas! Ring in the season early! The enduring myth of Santa Claus has been a part of Western culture for centuries. The […]
05 Dec 2024
Mannheim Steamroller: Holiday Music in the New Old Fashioned Way
For most listeners, music is a year-round experience. Yet there’s an entire category of music that’s enjoyed during the holiday season, and created expressly for the period around Christmas. And […]
01 Dec 2024
30 Days Out, Dec. 2024 #1: LA LOM, The Nutcracker, ‘Together We Rise,’ RJD2
A popular multi-hyphenate aritst, an amazing new(ish) group putting a creative spin on an an established form, a benefit for WNC and a beloved holiday tradition (times four): those are […]
15 Nov 2024
30 Days Out, Nov. 2024 #2: Jim Lauderdale, Rock N Roll Rewind, John Doyle & Mick McAuley, Patterson Hood
Some beloved sons of the South populate the musical landscape in Asheville over the coming 30 days. An adopted local (via Ireland) and some Asheville-based acts upholding the rock ‘n’ […]
27 Oct 2024
Album Review: Return of Halloween Nuggets
Way back in 2014, Rock Beat Records put together a three-CD set called Halloween Nuggets: Monster Sixties a Go-go. Of a piece with some other fine compilations from the same […]
05 Oct 2024
Album Review: Famous Monsters Speak
American pop culture has taken some wacky and unexpected turns over the years. The 1950s saw the rise of science fiction in film; creatures from outer space seemed to be […]