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ASHEVILLE, N.C. (8.21.13) – Feast for a good cause at the Grove Arcade on Sept. 12, 2013 by attending Feasting for FEAST, a fundraiser sponsored by Asheville Scene, the arts and culinary guide published by The Asheville Citizen-Times. More than a dozen area restaurants will provide tasty samples and Oskar Blues will donate the beer.  “This event provides an excellent opportunity to try a lot of Asheville’s top restaurants in one place,” FEAST Director Kate Justen said. “It’s always a great party.” Confirmed restaurants include Chorizo, MG Road, Everyday Gourmet, Farmers Daughter Catering, All Souls Pizza, Mayfel’s, Earth Fare, Laughing Seed Cafe, Sunny Point Cafe, The Junction, The Cantina, Ambrozia Bar and Bistro, French Broad Chocolate Lounge, and True Confections. The FEAST Board of Directors will also be preparing bites while Slow Food Asheville will provide non alcoholic refreshments. Doubletree Catering will prepare tastings for the VIP area.  The Scene VIP Lounge, hosted by Private Mountain Communities, will also have craft brew from Burial Beer Co., a mixology contest and more. This is the third Annual Feasting for FEAST event. “Each year the restaurants get a bit competitive,” Justen said. “All of them create delicious food, but there will be at least one restaurant …

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We had a lovely chat with a local Asheville band, STEREOSPREAD. The band is comprised of James and Sarah, a couple local to Hazelwood, NC. Look for their upcoming local shows! Q:Why did you chose this particular genre of music? A: James’s background is in stuff like trip-hop, darkwave, and shoegaze, but he’s produced in all kinds of genres. We probably would have been a triphop band were it not for Sara’s pop sensibilities. Her vocals were influenced by rock and pop vocals (and jazz), so she gravitated towards pop structures and the sing-a-long chorus. So we ended up combining the atmospheric aspects of shoegaze and other darker electronic genres with pop songwriting. Most people consider us dreampop. Q:How long has the band been together? A: The band has been together about as long as we have been a couple. We met online (on Facebook) through a mutual production friend and we did a couple of collaborations long distance. Well, the attraction was not just musical, so James ended up moving to NC and we’ve been together ever since. Q:How did you come up with the name of your band – Stereospread? A: We decided to be “STEREOSPREAD” about three months after …

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This article originally appeared in the Charlotte Observer Attention, North Carolina shoppers: The back-to-school sales tax holiday weekend, around for more than a decade, is ending. This coming weekend, Aug. 2-4, is the final year in North Carolina for the tax holiday, which provides shoppers with discounts on everything from computers to backpacks to clothing. There’s no change to South Carolina’s sales tax holiday, which is also the same weekend. North Carolina’s change comes as part of a major tax reform measure signed into law last week by Gov. Pat McCrory. The tax overhaul includes a provision to eliminate the state’s back-to-school, tax-free weekend beginning in 2014. Also going away next year is the annual tax holiday for Energy Star-rated appliances. North Carolina lawmakers and opponents of the sales tax holiday said the state lost millions on the weekend. North Carolina lost an estimated $13.6 million in tax revenue during last year’s sales tax holiday, according to the N.C. Department of Revenue. But that state revenue loss has been shoppers’ gain. Retailers have been big fans of the tax holiday since it was launched in 2002. For some retailers, the annual event is the second-most profitable weekend of the year …

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ASHEVILLE, NC. – Chris Schieman Media and Marketing is excited to announce the launch of Asheville Music Today, which will be streamed live on www.ashevillemusictoday.com starting Sunday July 21st, 2013 at 7 p.m. The show’s first guests will be The Bread and Butter from Asheville and Terina Plyler from Brevard. Asheville Music Today is an innovative weekly one-hour live talk show featuring and promoting local music of all genres from Asheville, Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. The show is hosted by national broadcasting veteran Chris Schieman. “This show is going to generate buzz because it’s going to be unpredictable while giving musicians a real voice,” Schieman said. “It’s not a normal talk show where the usual questions are asked. It’s going to be deeper, funnier and edgier than a traditional talk show.” Asheville Music Today will feature two musical guests each week. “We’ll talk about a variety of topics. Things going on in the world, the music industry, whatever may be annoying me that particular day,” Schieman said. “I’m a student of Jack Paar and David Letterman. This show will reflect that brand of intelligent and fun, sometimes silly conversation.” Asheville Music Today will also include live performances of …

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