interview Archive
29 Dec 2022
It Came from Asheville! WNC Garage Rock in the ’60s, Part Three: Orange Purple Marmalade
Orange, purple, pink and green In Western North Carolina, Orange Purple Marmalade was an especially groundbreaking band. The group featured Theresa Crouch (today, Theresa Justus) on drums and vocals, Terry […]
28 Dec 2022
It Came from Asheville! WNC Garage Rock in the ’60s, Part Three: The Ron-De-Voos
Trip of the imagination Music historians trace the origins of psychedelic folk (or “freak folk”) back to 1964, when The Holy Modal Rounders gigged around New York City’s Lower East […]
27 Dec 2022
It Came from Asheville! WNC Garage Rock in the ’60s, Part Two: The (Fabulous) Wunz
The Wunz and onlys As the first wave of teenage rock combos spread across the mid-’60s U.S., the craze wasn’t limited to major metropolitan areas. Even Asheville – then with […]
26 Dec 2022
It Came from Asheville! WNC Garage Rock in the ’60s, Part One: Introduction
The garage rock movement of the mid 1960s yielded a bumper crop of rock and roll bands. Inspired by British Invasion groups like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, […]
23 Dec 2022
Jack Starr’s Burning Starr: The Ongoing Wave of American Heavy Metal (Part Two)
Continued from Part One… But by 1984, a restless Starr had formed a new group, Burning Starr. “I was very lucky,” he says. “I was able to get a very […]
22 Dec 2022
Jack Starr’s Burning Starr: The Ongoing Wave of American Heavy Metal (Part One)
Guitar shredders are a dime a dozen these days. But the real guitar heroes are the ones who balance their musical artistry with finesse, melodicism and power. Jack Starr fits […]
21 Dec 2022
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (Jam), Part 3 of 3
Continued from Part Two… Pause, then play After organizing the annual Christmas Jam benefit concert in his Asheville hometown for 30 years, Warren Haynes hit the pause button in 2019. […]
20 Dec 2022
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (Jam), Part 2 of 3
Continued from Part One… Guitarist Mike Barnes played that first Christmas Jam. Friends with Haynes since the two were second graders at Claxton Elementary, he formed the band Blue Sky […]
19 Dec 2022
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (Jam), Part 1 of 3
Note: My cover story in the Nov. 30 issue of Asheville, N.C. altweekly Mountain Xpress explored the beginnings and development of the long-running Warren Haynes Presents Christmas Jam, which made […]
18 Dec 2022
The Bobby McMillon Legacy Project
Preserving Appalachian ballads and stories Lenoir, N.C.-based ballad singer, storyteller and folklorist Bobby McMillon passed away in November 2021, but thanks to a project at Mars Hill University and funding […]