Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.

Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.

Thursday, February 22, 2024
Joseph Fiore: Black Mountain College Paintings
Feb 22 @ 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

 11am – 5pm Tuesday through Saturday

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Joseph Fiore (1925-2008) first enrolled at Black Mountain College for the Summer Session of 1946, the summer that Josef Albers invited Jacob Lawrence to teach painting at BMC. Over the next three years, Fiore also studied with Ilya Bolotowsky, Willem de Kooning, and Jean Varda. In 1949, after Josef and Anni Albers’ departure, Joe was invited to join the faculty, and he taught painting and drawing until 1956 when the college leaders decided to close.

After BMC closed, Joe and his wife Mary, whom he met and married at BMC, moved to New York City. There he became involved with the 10th Street art scene of the late 1950s and 1960s, a group of galleries that exhibited the work of young artists on the rise. Eventually he resumed his teaching career at the Philadelphia College of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art, and the National Academy.

In May of 2001, Joseph Fiore was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Prize at the National Academy of Design in New York. The Carnegie Prize is awarded “for painting” at the National Academy’s Members’ Show.

This exhibition consists of paintings in our collection donated by the artist and by The Falcon Foundation. All of the paintings were made at Black Mountain College and show Fiore’s distinctive use of color and his ability to work comfortably in the spaces between abstraction and representation.

Curated by Alice Sebrell, Director of Preservation

Vera B. Williams / STORIES Eight Decades of Politics and Picture Making
Feb 22 @ 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

 

Exhibition and Public Programming

Vera B. Williams, an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, started making pictures almost as soon as she could walk. She studied at Black Mountain College in a time where summer institutes were held with classes taught by John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Williams studied under the Bauhaus luminary Josef Albers and went on to make art for the rest of her life. At the time of her death, The New York Times wrote: “Her illustrations, known for bold colors and a style reminiscent of folk art, were praised by reviewers for their great tenderness and crackling vitality.” Despite numerous awards and recognition for her children’s books, much of her wider life and work remains unexplored. This retrospective will showcase the complete range of Williams’ life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, and her establishment, with Paul Williams, of an influential yet little-known artist community, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator.

Author and illustrator of 17 children’s books, including Caldecott medal winner, A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams always had a passion for the arts. Williams grew up in the Bronx, NY, and in 1936, when she was nine years old, one of her paintings, called Yentas, opens a new window, was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. While Williams is widely known for her children’s books today, this exhibition’s expansive scope highlights unexplored aspects of her artistic practice and eight decades of life. From groundbreaking, powerful covers for Liberation Magazine, to Peace calendar collaborations with writer activist Grace Paley, to scenic sketches for Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theater, to hundreds of late life “Aging and Illness” cartoons sketches and doodles, Vera never sat still.

Williams arrived at Black Mountain College in 1945. While there, she embraced all aspects of living, working, and learning in the intensely creative college community. She was at BMC during a particularly fertile period, which allowed her to study with faculty members Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers, and to participate in the famed summer sessions with John Cage, Merce Cunningham, M.C. Richards, and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1948, she graduated with Josef Albers as her advisor and sculptor Richard Lippold as her outside examiner. Forever one of the College’s shining stars, Vera graduated from BMC with just six semesters of coursework, at only twenty-one years old. She continued to visit BMC for years afterward, staying deeply involved with the artistic community that BMC incubated.

Anticipating the eventual closure of BMC, Williams, alongside her husband Paul Williams and a group of influential former BMC figures, founded The Gate Hill Cooperative Artists community located 30 miles north of NYC on the outskirts of Stony Point, NY. The Gate Hill Cooperative, also known as The Land, became an outcropping of Black Mountain College’s experimental ethos. Students and faculty including John Cage, M.C. Richards, David Tudor, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Stan VanDerBeek, and Patsy Lynch Wood shaped Gate Hill as founding members of the community. Vera B. Williams raised her three children at Gate Hill while continuing to make work.

The early Gate Hill era represented an especially creative phase for the BMC group. For Williams, this period saw the creation of 76 covers for Liberation Magazine, a radical, groundbreaking publication. This exhibition will feature some of Williams’ most powerful Liberation covers including a design for the June 1963 edition, which contained the first full publication of MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Williams’ activism work continued throughout her life. As president of PEN’s Children Committee and member of The War Resisters league, she created a wide range of political and educational posters and journal covers. Williams protested the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation while supporting women’s causes and racial equality. In 1981, Williams was arrested and spent a month in a federal prison on charges stemming from her political activism.

In her late 40’s, Williams embarked in earnest on her career as a children’s book author and illustrator, a career which garnered the NY Public Library’s recognition of A Chair for My Mother as one of the greatest 100 children’s books of all time. Infinitely curious and always a wanderer at heart, Williams’ personal life was as expansive as her art. In addition to her prolific picture making, Williams started and helped run a Summerhill-based alternative school, canoed the Yukon, and lived alone on a houseboat in Vancouver Harbor. She helped to organize and attended dozens of political demonstrations throughout her adult life.

Her books won many awards including the Caldecott Medal Honor Book for A Chair for My Mother in 1983, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award– Fiction category– for Scooter in 1994, the Jane Addams Honor for Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart in 2002, and the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature in 2009. Her books reflected her values, emphasizing love, compassion, kindness, joy, strength, individuality, and courage.

Images:

Cover of Vera B. Williams’ A Chair for My Mother, published in 1982.

Vera B. Williams, Cover for Liberation Magazine, November 1958.

Western North Carolina Glass: Selections from the Collection
Feb 22 @ 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Asheville Art Museum

Western North Carolina is important in the history of American glass art. Several artists of the Studio Glass Movement came to the region, including its founder Harvey K. Littleton. Begun in 1962 in Wisconsin, it was a student of Littleton’s that first came to the area in 1965 and set up a glass studio at the Penland School of Craft in Penland, North Carolina. By 1967, Mark Peiser was the first glass artist resident at the school and taught many notable artists, like Jak Brewer in 1968 and Richard Ritter who came to study in 1971. By 1977, Littleton retired from teaching and moved to nearby Spruce Pine, North Carolina and set up a glass studio at his home.

Since that time, glass artists like Ken Carder, Rick and Valerie Beck, Shane Fero, and Yaffa Sikorsky and Jeff Todd—to name only a few—have flocked to the area to reside, collaborate, and teach, making it a significant place for experimentation and education in glass. The next generation of artists like Hayden Wilson and Alex Bernstein continue to create here. The Museum is dedicated to collecting American studio glass and within that umbrella, explores the work of Artists connected to Western North Carolina. Exhibitions, including Intersections of American Art, explore glass art in the context of American Art of the 20th and 21st centuries. A variety of techniques and a willingness to push boundaries of the medium can be seen in this selection of works from the Museum’s Collection.

Early Voting Primary Poll Greeting
Feb 22 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Friendship Community Center

Sign up to greet voters at the Friendship Community Center during Early Voting!

Poll greeting is an important way you can help make sure voters fill out their entire ballot, even our important local races.

The shifts are 2 hours long, but please consider 1) signing up for two shifts at a time on as many days as possible; and 2) signing up for an empty shift first until they’re all filled with at least one volunteer. Early Voting begins on February 15th and will continue through March 2nd.

All Poll Greeters are encouraged to attend a Poll Greeter Training. Here is the link to sign up for the training: https://mobilize.us/s/oazSHJ

Thanks so much for agreeing to welcome and inform voters, and to encourage them to join our efforts.

Virtual | HEROES with Alan Gratz
Feb 22 @ 1:00 pm
online

Join New York Times bestselling author Alan Gratz to hear about his new book, Heroes!

This virtual event is free and will be live streamed on Crowdcast. Please click here to register. If you’re not familiar with Crowdcast, or if you’re a teacher who would like to bring your class to this virtual talk, click here for helpful information on Alan’s website.

PLUS: In-Person Signing at The Hop Ice Cream on Merrimon – February 24: 2 to 4 PM
If you’re in the Asheville area you can also meet Alan in person and get your book(s) signed! This will be Alan’s last in-person appearance in Asheville for a while and we hope to see you there!


Told with the immediacy, high-stakes action, and inventive storytelling that make Alan Gratz one of today’s biggest authors, this riveting look at the attack on Pearl Harbor explores themes of prejudice, power, and what it truly means to be a hero. Plus: The book ends with an all-original, 10-page black & white comic that brings to life the comic book idea that Frank and Stanley brainstorm in the novel. The comic is written by Alan Gratz and illustrated by Judit Tondora.

Alan Gratz is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen novels and graphic novels for young readers, including Two DegreesCaptain America: The Ghost Army, Ground ZeroRefugee, Allies, Prisoner B-3087, and Ban This Book. A Knoxville, Tennessee native, Alan is now a full-time writer living in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife and daughter. Learn more about him online at www.alangratz.com.


Malaprop’s is proud to be Alan Gratz’s home bookstore and we thank you for purchasing his books from us! You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!

Early Voting Primary Poll Greeting
Feb 22 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Friendship Community Center

Sign up to greet voters at the Friendship Community Center during Early Voting!

Poll greeting is an important way you can help make sure voters fill out their entire ballot, even our important local races.

The shifts are 2 hours long, but please consider 1) signing up for two shifts at a time on as many days as possible; and 2) signing up for an empty shift first until they’re all filled with at least one volunteer. Early Voting begins on February 15th and will continue through March 2nd.

All Poll Greeters are encouraged to attend a Poll Greeter Training. Here is the link to sign up for the training: https://mobilize.us/s/oazSHJ

Thanks so much for agreeing to welcome and inform voters, and to encourage them to join our efforts.

Mixtape! Best of 60s 70s + 80s
Feb 22 @ 2:00 pm
Flat Rock Playhouse

The boys are back in town! If you enjoyed our past Music on the Rock shows like The Music of Queen, The Eagles, or The Beatles, you won’t want to miss Mixtape! Eric Anthony, Dustin Brayley, Paul Babelay, Ryan Dunn, and Ryan Guerra return to bring you the biggest hits of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s in one unforgettable show.

Production classes: DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID JR Grades: 1st-12th
Feb 22 @ 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Asheville Performing Arts Academy
Willy Wonka JR 2
DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID JR

Grades: 1st-12th

Auditions: February 15 from 4:30pm-6:00pm
*All students will receive a role and be cast in Cast A or Cast B

Rehearsals: Thursdays, 3:30pm-6:00pm
*Exact Rehearsal times will be determined after casting

Rehearsals Start: February 22, 2024

Shows: May 17-19, 2024 (Tech May 13-16, 2024) – each cast will have 2 performances

Early Voting Primary Poll Greeting
Feb 22 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Friendship Community Center

Sign up to greet voters at the Friendship Community Center during Early Voting!

Poll greeting is an important way you can help make sure voters fill out their entire ballot, even our important local races.

The shifts are 2 hours long, but please consider 1) signing up for two shifts at a time on as many days as possible; and 2) signing up for an empty shift first until they’re all filled with at least one volunteer. Early Voting begins on February 15th and will continue through March 2nd.

All Poll Greeters are encouraged to attend a Poll Greeter Training. Here is the link to sign up for the training: https://mobilize.us/s/oazSHJ

Thanks so much for agreeing to welcome and inform voters, and to encourage them to join our efforts.

AVL Food Series: Pop-Up with Chef Michelle Bailey
Feb 22 @ 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
The Mule at Devil's Foot Beverage

Join Friends and Family as we welcome Chef Michelle Bailey to do her first Pop Up Dinner with us here at The Mule at Devil’s Foot Beverage on Thursday, February 22, 2024, with cocktails for purchase & snacks by Chef Bailey, starting at 5:30 pm and Dinner at 6:00 pm.

That is right folks we will have Chef Bailey and Jolene present to kick off the AVL Food Series here at The Mule, so get your tickets today before they sell out only 75 tickets are available.

The Evening will start at 5:30 pm with Cocktails for purchase at The Mule and Snacks by Chef Bailey for the guests to enjoy, mingle, and visit. Then at 6:00 pm you will be invited to a plated and served 4 course Dinner by Chef Bailey, with the option to purchase a drink ticket pairing or an NA Pairing if you so select.

Chef Bailey has selected Our Voice to be the Non-Profit for the event and a portion of your ticket sales will go to this non-profit whose mission is : Guiding Principles for Buncombe County’s Anti-Sexual Violence and Anti-Human Trafficking Agency. We are very fortunate to have this non-profit as part of our community here in Asheville with Values we can all believe in.

Chef Michelle Bailey crafts refined wood-fired fare using traditional southern techniques, fresh ingredients sourced from local farmers, makers, and foragers, and live fire.

Bailey has over 20 years of culinary industry experience leading both kitchens and catering companies. She has served as Executive Chef of Smoky Park Supper Club, Highland Lake Inn, The Venue, and The Marketplace. She also cooks at events including the annual Le Pied Du Mont Boucherie Festival at Comfort Farms, Pig Island NYC, and Salt Fire Smoke.

Now leading her own culinary venture, Bailey focuses on tailoring menus for special occasions, from intimate dinners to company retreats, weddings, and other celebrations. She also offers in-home cooking classes for small groups.

Her pride and joy, and often the star of Bailey’s pop-ups and events, is Jolene, her custom-built Santa Maria fire table handbuilt by John Haney of Alveron Barbecue.

Our VOICE takes an intersectional, person-centered approach to support survivors and prevent future acts of sexual violence. We hold ourselves accountable to these core values:

Believe All Survivors

We advocate for the health, safety, and happiness of everyone impacted by sexual violence. Our programs are open to people of all genders, sexual orientations, racial identities, socioeconomic statuses, and abilities. All reports are taken seriously.

Promote Dignity

We honor the inherent dignity and worth of all people and believe that everyone has a right to healing, wholeness, and a life free of sexual violence.

Support Individual Agency

Survivors choose their own path to healing. We provide them with information in a compassionate way without reservation or judgment.

Shift Paradigms

Sexual violence is a societal problem linked to many forms of oppression. Working alongside community partners who align with our values, we will remain at the forefront of advocating for societal change.

Create a Culture of Care and Honesty

Compassion and respect guide our relationships with each other and with community members. We foster a culture of open, direct, and caring communication.

Please come and support Chef Bailey and Our Voice at this lovely dinner on February 22, 2024, at The Mule.

Produced by Shay & Company in Partnership with Devil’s Foot Beverage Company

Stay Tuned for Menu Details

Asheville Junction Band at 12 Bones South
Feb 22 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
12 Bones South

What goes better with amazing free live music than great beer & BBQ? Phenomenal banjo player Rudy Cortese will join with Asheville Junction Band’s hot fiddlin’ and harmonies 6-8 pm at 12 Bones South in their taproom on Thursday, Feb 22. C’mon out and don’t miss this one!

ashevillejunctionband.com
https://12bones.com/location/taproom/

Coxe Avenue Affordable Housing Development Community Input Meeting
Feb 22 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
200 College Street, Asheville

Buncombe County is taking steps to convert underutilized County-owned properties into affordable housing. In March 2023 the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners prioritized sites for potential development of affordable housing, including 50-52 Coxe Avenue.

The public is invited to participate in the next round of community meetings to help determine the future of the Coxe Avenue property. Participants will have the opportunity to review multiple development options proposed for the site and share their feedback with the Affordable Housing Development team.

Democratic Women – General Meeting
Feb 22 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Buncombe County Democratic Party

Please join us for the Democratic Women of Buncombe County general meeting on the fourth Thursday of each month.

Who should attend: Anyone who supports electing democratic women to office.

Early Voting Primary Poll Greeting
Feb 22 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Friendship Community Center

Sign up to greet voters at the Friendship Community Center during Early Voting!

Poll greeting is an important way you can help make sure voters fill out their entire ballot, even our important local races.

The shifts are 2 hours long, but please consider 1) signing up for two shifts at a time on as many days as possible; and 2) signing up for an empty shift first until they’re all filled with at least one volunteer. Early Voting begins on February 15th and will continue through March 2nd.

All Poll Greeters are encouraged to attend a Poll Greeter Training. Here is the link to sign up for the training: https://mobilize.us/s/oazSHJ

Thanks so much for agreeing to welcome and inform voters, and to encourage them to join our efforts.

Free Line Dancing and Two-Stepping
Feb 22 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Banks Ave Bar
Steppin’ Out AVL presents “Butts & Boots,” free line-dancing and two-stepping, with lessons included. No boots, partner or experience needed.
Come and learn some fun, easy line dances in a friendly, inclusive environment.
Soul Food Supper
Feb 22 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Stephens-Lee Community Center

In the late 19th century, the church became a gathering place for Black communities and impacted the development of what’s now considered soul food. Fried chicken, fried fish, sweet potato pie, sweet tea, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and more were served during Emancipation celebrations and church gatherings. Celebrate a century since Stephens-Lee High School opened its doors at this dinner sponsored by school alumni and the East End/Valley Street Neighborhood Association with down-home cooking passed down through generations. Advance registration is requested to help with planning. Please call (828) 350-2058 for more info.

BLUEGRASS JAM Hosted by Drew Matulich
Feb 22 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Jack of the Wood

BLUEGRASS JAM

Hosted by Drew Matulich


Don’t miss your chance to check out some of the best pickers from all over WNC at our amazing Bluegrass Jam curated by the talented Drew Matulich — every Thursday starting at 7:00 pm! A real show-stopping performance only at Jack of the Wood! Open jam starts at 9:30 pm.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers
Feb 22 @ 7:00 pm
PNC Arena

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers

Jazz Jam
Feb 22 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
LEAF Global Arts

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.

Mixtape! The Best of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s
Feb 22 @ 7:00 pm
Flat Rock Playhouse

It’s February, which means ‘the boys are back!’ From the same outstanding musical talent who brought you the Music of Queen, the Eagles, and the Beatles, welcome to Mixtape! The Best of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Come shake off the winter blues with this red-hot rockin’ playlist featuring tunes you know and love. It’ll be ‘a gas,’ ‘far out,’ and ‘totally tubular!’

Pride Night: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers
Feb 22 @ 7:00 pm
PNC Arena

 

Join the Hurricanes on Pride Night, as we aim to drive positive social change and foster more inclusive communities with the belief that Hockey is for Everyone. Presented by UNC Health.

Sally Anne Morgan ft. Ritka
Feb 22 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Citizen Vinyl

Multi-instrumentalist Sally Anne Morgan’s rich, intimate and modern music is cultivated with the seeds sown by folk, contemporary music and psychedelia. Her work exists in conversation with the living tradition of reinterpreting folk practices, from her music to her letterpress artwork to her microbrewery Leveller Brewing Co. Alongside new interpretations of traditional songs, Morgan also composes her own pieces drawing on her a vast knowledge of folk forms, and experience with her work as part of The Black Twig Pickers and House and Land (with Sarah Louise). Her music is traditional in the sense that she continues the practice of folk songs’ rich history in social and emotional narratives yet remains completely unbound by traditional song structures and forms. Infused with her singular perspective, Morgan’s music is elevated by her deft musical skills and her remarkably expressive voice that together create wholly new folk forms, familiar in their instrumentation yet distinctly her own. Carrying tills the rich soil of Appalachian traditions and Sally’s rural North Carolina surroundings into warm, reflective songs about navigating challenges, as well as the most joyous and personal emotions surrounding Morgan’s own pregnancy and recent birth of her first child. “The process of creating this album was intimately connected to the process of conceiving and birthing and raising a child,” says Morgan. RITKA is the music project of Rita Kovtun, a multidisciplinary artist based in Asheville, NC (unceded Cherokee land). Kovtun was born in Moscow, Russia, but moved to the U.S. at age 3 and grew up in Minnesota. These places and experiences inform Kovtun’s worldview and songwriting. Her songs revolve around our relationships with the human and more-than-human world, touching on themes of memory, connection, and belonging. Her music trends toward dreamy, trancey folk-pop, sometimes in English, sometimes in Russian.

Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic + Feature Comedy at Pulp Lounge
Feb 22 @ 7:00 pm
Pulp Lounge

Standup Comedy featuring Ryan Gordon at The Orange Peel’s Pulp Lounge
When: Thursday February 22, 2024.
7p-9p, doors at 6:30p
Where:
The Orange Peel’s Comedy Basement, Pulp Lounge, 103 Hilliard Ave, Downtown Asheville
Tickets: $15 (available at door or The Orange Peel website)
Cocktails available while you laugh the night away to some of the area’s best Stand Up Comics in a ridiculously fun adult environment!! Free snacks while availability lasts!
Hosted by Hilliary Begley, featuring Ryan Gordon
Comedy open mic is 3-5m each, comics get in free with free snacks!
FB: https://fb.me/e/4Qdi8lxKy

Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic + Feature Comedy at Pulp Lounge
Feb 22 @ 7:00 pm
Pulp Lounge

Standup Comedy featuring Ryan Gordon at The Orange Peel’s Pulp Lounge
When: Thursday February 22, 2024.
7p-9p, doors at 6:30p
Where:
The Orange Peel’s Comedy Basement, Pulp Lounge, 103 Hilliard Ave, Downtown Asheville
Tickets: $15 (available at door or The Orange Peel website)
Cocktails available while you laugh the night away to some of the area’s best Stand Up Comics in a ridiculously fun adult environment!! Free snacks while availability lasts!
Hosted by Hilliary Begley, featuring Ryan Gordon
Comedy open mic is 3-5m each, comics get in free with free snacks!
FB: https://fb.me/e/4Qdi8lxKy

Host Hilliary Begley-
Hilliary will make you cry with laughter. With her larger that life personality!! Voted repeatedly Asheville’s Favorite comic in the Mountain Xpress. Film debut in the Netflix original Dumplin’ as Aunt Lucy, or “Jennifer Anniston’s fat sister,” In Austin Film Festival winning movie When We Last Spoke with Cloris Leachman, now streaming on Amazon Prime. https ://youtu.be/legRwEg4j-o

Featuring Ryan Gordon-
Born in Western North Cackalacky, Ryan started his comedy journey in nearby Asheville. After gaining traction on social media, he took to the stage to tell his jokes. With over 300K followers across different social media platforms, his videos have been viewed hundreds of millions of times. He has been in a few comedy festivals including the World Series of Comedy and Blue Ridge comedy festival.

Contact Michele at [email protected] for more info!

Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs. Rapid City Rush
Feb 22 @ 7:05 pm
Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs. Rapid City Rush

Rapid City Rush
Greenville Swamp Rabbits

Rapid City Rush @ Greenville Swamp Rabbits

City Dance
Feb 22 @ 7:30 pm
Landmark Hal

Beginner’s workshop lesson at 7:30 P.M., then 8-11 P.M. Contra Dance with Country Waltzing at the break and the final dance. This is a partner dance but it’s not necessary to come with a partner. We have different live bands and callers.

Itzhak Perlman
Feb 22 @ 7:30 pm
Peace Concert Hall

Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry, but also to his irrepressible joy for making music.

Having performed with every major orchestra and at concert halls around the globe, Mr. Perlman was granted a Presidential Medal of Freedom – the Nation’s highest civilian honor – by President Obama in 2015, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003, a National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 2000, and a Medal of Liberty by President Reagan in 1986. Mr. Perlman has been honored with 16 GRAMMY® Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Genesis Prize.

In the 2022/23 season, Mr. Perlman conducts the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and the Houston Symphony on Mozart’s Requiem, and is joined by an illustrious group of collaborators — Emanuel Ax, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Juilliard String Quartet — in a special Itzhak Perlman and Friends program appearing in only three locations: Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall, UMS Ann Arbor and Carnegie Hall. He continues touring An Evening with Itzhak Perlman, which captures highlights of his career through narrative and multi-media elements intertwined with performance, to Boston, Philadelphia, Long Island, Akron, Austin and Naples (Florida). He plays season-opening concerts for the Colorado Symphony, Vancouver Symphony and Florida Orchestra, and recitals across the United States with longtime collaborator Rohan De Silva.

He currently serves as Artistic Partner of the Houston Symphony in a partnership that commenced in the 2020/21 season and culminates at the end of 2023/24. He performs 9 programs across three seasons that feature him in versatile appearances as conductor, soloist, recitalist and presenter.

Mr. Perlman has an exclusive series of classes with Masterclass.com, the premier online education company that enables access to the world’s most brilliant minds including Gordon Ramsay, Wolfgang Puck, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Helen Mirren, Jodie Foster and Serena Williams, as the company’s first classical-music presenter.

James McMurtry
Feb 22 @ 7:30 pm
Gunter Theatre

James McMurtry is a Grammy-nominated folk-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and occasional actor. A luminary in the Americana space, he weaves stories that resonate with gritty authenticity and emotional depth. His songwriting is celebrated by critics and fellow artists alike, with John Mellencamp raving, “James writes like he’s lived a lifetime,” and Jason Isbell lauding, “I don’t think anybody writes better lyrics.”

In August 2021, McMurtry released The Horses and the Hounds, his first collection in seven years. The album showcases his seasoned songwriting, seamlessly blending personal narratives with elegance (“Canola Fields”) and high energy (“If It Don’t Bleed”), and his ability to inhabit characters from various walks of life, as noted by critics who describe his work as subversive, funny, vulnerable and always poignant.

The release follows in the footsteps of McMurtry’s albums Complicated Games (2015), Just Us Kids (2008) and Childish Things (2005), all of which scored endless critical praise. Just Us Kids earned McMurtry his highest Billboard 200 chart position in two decades (since eclipsed by Complicated Game) and notched Americana Music Award nominations. Childish Things spent six full weeks topping the Americana Music Radio chart in 2005 and 2006, and won the Americana Music Association’s Album of the Year, with “We Can’t Make It Here” named the organization’s Song of the Year. Other accolades include a 1996 Grammy nomination for Long Form Music Video for Where’d You Hide the Body and an American Indie Award for Best Americana Album for It Had to Happen (1997).

Touring year-round, McMurtry consistently throws down powerhouse performances backed by his band.

McMurtry will be joined by opening act BettySoo.

Lamont Landers
Feb 22 @ 8:00 pm
The Grey Eagle
Doors Open: 7:00 PM
– ALL AGES
– STANDING ROOM ONLY

LAMONT LANDERS
Born and raised in Alabama, Lamont Landers grew up absorbing the soulful sounds of the South that surrounded him. At the age of 14, he taught himself how to play guitar, and, at the age of 19, began singing. He spent years quietly honing his talents behind his bedroom doors, listening to records by Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Sly & The Family Stone, and Ray Charles on repeat. At the age of 22, a candid video recorded by his sister of Lamont performing the Ray Charles’ classic “Hit the Road Jack” went viral on YouTube and garnered over 400,000 views overnight. In the summer of 2023, history repeated itself with similar enthusiastic fan response propelling five Lamont Landers TikTok videos to over 1,000,000 views each. A feature on the Bobby Bones nationally syndicated radio show and shoutouts from music tastemakers ranging from Snoop Dogg to Questlove soon followed. No longer a secret of North Alabama, Lamont will be touring throughout North America in 2024.

Old Farmer’s Ball Thursday Dance
Feb 22 @ 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Bryson Gym Warren Wilson College

Our Thursday Dance

This dance is fragrance-free (no perfume, cologne, strong deodorant, etc.), out of respect for those with sensitivities.

Schedule

  • Every Thursday night (except as indicated on the calendar)
  • Beginner lesson at 7:30 pm (advanced dancers are welcome to help out during the lesson!)
  • Dance 8 pm – 11 pm

Cost

  • Non-members: $12
  • OFB Members: $10
  • Warren Wilson community: $1

If this is your first time dancing with us, your second dance is free!