Here’s a selective portfolio of stories and programs I’ve produced for Blue Ridge Public Radio:
2022
In my most ambitious project to date for Blue Ridge Public Radio, I produced a five-part series exploring the recent phenomenon of digital art connected to cryptocurrency and the flood of artists pinning their financial hopes there. “Revolution Calling” aired daily April 25-29:
Abby Bryant emerges from an upbringing in the church to define herself in secular music (Aug. 16, 2022)
For experimental guitarist Tashi Dorji, the song never remains the same (Aug. 12, 2022)
With Curatory Gallery, Ashten McKinney creates an outlet in Waynesville for underrepresented artists (July 15, 2022)
Rising Appalachia is a band, but the founding sisters say it’s also a community (July 7, 2022)
From intern to director, Lex Turnbull is determined to keep Asheville’s Revolve a thriving community arts space (June 28, 2022)
In digital era, zine publishers haven’t stopped expressing themselves by hand (June 14, 2022)
Marshall couple imparts community as much as guidance in a new Appalachian Trail book (June 1, 2022)
Singer-songwriter Valorie Miller lived near a former chemical weapons plant in Swannanoa and wrote an album about it (May 3, 2022)
More than four decades in, Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre still experimental (March 29, 2022)
As pandemic protocols loosen, concert and theater venues struggle to balance safety moving forward (March 24, 2022)
Secret Shame vocalist Lena Machina emerges from the shadows of her mind and microphone (March 2, 2022)
Stewart and Owen adapt, dance and roll with the pandemic (Jan. 25, 2022)
‘Terrible’ musicians John and Cinnamon Kennedy are driven to save peers from overdoses (Jan. 12, 2022)
Two new books are the fruit after many years of labor for Asheville author Heather Newton (Jan. 5, 2022)
2021
HOUR-LONG PROGRAM: The Porch: What Is Our Collective Responsibility To Fund The Arts? (April 29, 2021)
HOUR-LONG PROGRAM: The Porch: Artists Coping With Their Mental Health Through A Year Of Turmoil (March 17, 2021)
In scale and vision, Asheville hasn’t seen anything like the new art market Marquee (Dec. 21, 2021)
The Big Crafty returned as a boost to bank accounts and community (Dec. 6, 2021)
As Jangling Sparrows, Paul Edelman makes music to his own all-American beat (Dec. 3, 2021)
Music duo Okapi channels anger into heady music for higher consciousness (Nov. 18. 2021)
Bestselling author Wiley Cash reserves some of his most pointed writing for his Facebook page (Nov. 9, 2021)
Through faith and determination, retired Asheville native Fred Northup resurrects his biblical music (Nov. 4, 2021)
Painters Alicia Armstrong and Jeremy Russell bet on themselves in downtown’s crowded gallery scene (Oct. 28, 2021)
Storyteller Gina Cornejo strives to draw sweat, from herself and her audience (Oct. 19, 2021)
Asheville Symphony Ignores Clouds Overhead, And Ahead, For Celebratory Comeback Concert (Sept. 20, 2021)
Christopher Paul Stelling Turns To The Quiet Of Isolation To Make His Introspective New Album (Sept. 15, 2021)
Buncombe Turnpike’s Tom Godleski, As Playwright, Learns To Write For Theater (Set. 7, 2021)
Under Stage Name Suruat, Asheville Rapper Taurus Lenoir Hopes To Flip Cultural Script (Sept. 2, 2021)
Seeing World Through Child’s Eyes Inspired Skidoo To Make Music For All Ears (Aug. 23, 2021)
‘Duality Of My Brain’ Guides Asheville’s Indigo De Souza To Coat Downbeat Lyrics With Upbeat Music (Aug. 16, 2021)
Poet Glenis Redmond Fights Through Pain, Both Personal And Historical (Aug. 11, 2021)
Calliope Stage, Premiering In Sylva, Built To Disrupt Norm For Rural Theater (Aug. 3, 2021)
Artist Tarah Singh Looks For Hidden Truths Beneath The Masks Of Her Self-Portraits (July 29, 2021)
Three Asheville Women, Busy In Other Bands, Answer Call Of The Smoky Mountain Sirens (July 22, 2021)
Wanna Get Away? Residency Retreats Cater To Creatives Craving Time To Think, Commune, Create (July 12, 2021)
While Serving Visitors, New Director Wants Cherokee Indian Museum To Focus On Own Community (July 6, 2021)
Asheville Standup Comedy Scene Built Behind The Scenes (June 24, 2021)
Everything On Hold. Wait, The Pandemic Is Over? Let’s Perform (June 17, 2021)
Traditional Chinese Music In Her DNA, Min Xiao-Fen Brings Western Daring To Her Asheville Move (June 15, 2021)
From Stage To Page, Gavin Larsen Devoted To ‘Beautiful Life’ Of Ballet (June 3, 2021)
Guided By Faith, Single-Mom Stylist, Author, Entrepreneur Finds Higher Calling For Voice (June 1, 2021)
Through Visual Art Exhibitions, YMI Center and UCC Become ‘Sisters In Reciprocity’ (May 19, 2021)
Asheville Native Struggled To Find Artistic Voice. He Found It After Serving Time In Prison (May 5, 2021)
With NC Relaxing Restrictions, Live Music Slowly Returning Inside Asheville Clubs (April 12, 2021)
They Co-Created Epic Musical Theater During Pandemic. The Real Story Is Their Friendship (March 15, 2021)
Carved From Civil Rights Movement, Joseph Pearson Still Wields Paintbrush As Weapon (Feb. 24, 2021)
Based Indoors, Magnetic Pivots Into Outdoor Theater Company During Pandemic (Feb. 22, 2021)
Claire Elizabeth Barratt’s Performances Defy Bounds Of Time, Space, Audience (Feb. 17, 2021)
Through Worsening Cancer, Artist And Teacher Lara Nguyen Compelled To Create (Feb. 9, 2021)
From Stage To Screen, Asheville Couple Investing To Keep Local Theater Alive (Feb. 4, 2021)
Mental Illness From Shadows To Light Through Asheville Photographer By Way Of London (Jan. 13, 2021)
In Hour Of Nation’s Turmoil, Longtime Asheville Musician Sang Out Call For Unity (Jan. 7, 2021)
One Of WNC’s Most Collected Painters, Robert Johnson At Peace With Terminal Prognosis (Jan. 5, 2021)
2020
COVID-RELATED COVERAGE & ARTS NEWS/FEATURES
Proposed Sound Ordinance Strikes Bad Chord With Asheville’s Music Community (Dec. 14, 2020)
Two Holiday Productions Find Creative Ways To Work Around Pandemic (Nov. 30, 2020)
Word On The Street Now More Than Words For Asheville Youth Of Color (Nov. 9, 2020)
Sculpture Honoring Downtown Buskers Provokes Critics—Chiefly, Downtown Buskers (Oct. 20, 2020)
On Stage And Screen, Asheville Performers Adapt To COVID (Oct. 16, 2020)
With Citizen Vinyl, Asheville Drops The Needle On State’s Only Large-Scale Record Pressing Plant (Sept. 28, 2020)
Protest Murals Marked History. What Happens Once They Come Down Isn’t Black Or White (Sept. 23, 2020)
Young Asheville Artists Create Indelible Statements of Protest That Come And Go (June 29, 2020)
Choral Groups Struggle To Harmonize In Coronavirus Era (June 22, 2020)
Mothlight Closes, Becoming Music Scene’s First Coronavirus Victim (June 18, 2020)
Muralists Immortalize Protests, Unrest On Canvas Of Downtown’s Boarded Storefronts (June 3, 2020)
Can Live Music Make Financial Sense With Social-Distance Limits? Club Owners Weigh In (May 28, 2020)
Malaprop’s Reopened, Harvest Records Strategizing, Both Looking At New Normals (May 21, 2020)
Asheville Sees Its First Post-Shutdown Art Show—Sort Of (May 18, 2020)
Orchestra Looks At Modifying Music, Instrumentation For Post-Pandemic Concerts (May 13, 2020)
Without Concerts At Least Until February 2021, Asheville Symphony Strives For Current Relevance (May 11, 2020)
Despite Canceling Entire Season, Brevard Music Center Positioned To Weather Pandemic Without Scars (May 6, 2020)
Wortham Prepared For Months Of Darkness, Uncertain Consequences If Closure Stretches Into Fall (April 28, 2020)
Quarantine Proving Creative Period For Some Artists (April 15, 2020)
Theater Producers Facing Unique, Daunting Challenges In Time Of Coronavirus (March 23, 2020)
Through Dark Clouds Of Cancelations, One Couple’s Online Success Paints Ray Of Hopeful Sunshine (March 19, 2020)
In Rubble Of Canceled Gigs, Local Musicians Creating Virtual Opportunities (March 18, 2020)
Many Ask Artists To Supply Creative Work For Exposure. So Did The Asheville Art Museum (Jan. 29, 2020)
ARTIST PROFILES
Carly Taich Prepared to Leave Music For Good. Then She Wrote Songs About Love (Dec. 22, 2020)
Waynesville Author Leah Hampton A Rural Activist, One Story At A Time (Dec. 10, 2020)
Jenny Pickens Paints To Remember The Mother She’s Never Known (Nov. 16, 2020)
A Member Of Two Successful Groups, Eleanor Underhill Devotes Solo Music To ‘Darker’ Self (Sept. 1, 2020)
He Studied Music At Brevard. Now In Machine Head, Jared MacEachern Is Bassist In Premier Metal Band (Aug. 27, 2020)
First Published Eastern Band Novelist Hopes To Raise The Bar For Rural Writers (Aug. 19, 2020)
Angel Olsen Rarely Performs In Asheville. Now She’s Home With No Shows To Play (April 13, 2020)
Mandolin In Hand, Cynthia McDermott Flexing Stylistic Mashup All Her Own (March 26, 2020)
WCU Band Director West Going Out The Way He Came In, Same Baton In Hand, After 35 Years (March 11, 2020)
After Conquering Heroin, Moving To Asheville, George Terry Found New Voice For His Art, Music (March 3, 2020)
Musician-Activist Andrew Fletcher Raised To Stand Up For His Values On And Off Stage (Feb. 27, 2020)
Chance Observation And Comment Lead To Creative Rebirth For Zirconia Novelist (Feb. 13, 2020)
Shane Parish Makes And Teaches Music From The Same Vantage: Inner Exploration (Jan. 16, 2020)
No Longer Concerned About Gallery Sales, Molly Sawyer Thriving In Museums, Art Centers (Jan. 13, 2020)
Tongues Of Fire’s Music Has Already Saved The Life Of One Fan—Its Bandleader (Jan. 9, 2020)
Candler Poet Andrew Clark Draws Roadmap Of Southern Turmoil, Hurt, Hope (Jan. 7, 2020)
2019
An Award For Hardest-Working Local Musician? Ashley Heath Could Claim Trophy (Dec. 23, 2019)
Asheville Filmmaker On The Rise Has Turned Her Apartment Into Intimate Public Installation (Dec. 5, 2019)
Cherokee Chamber Singers Both Ambassadors And Students Of Their Culture (Nov. 5, 2019)
As Musashi Xero, Tyler Jackson Raps His Grief, Anger Over Friend’s Death By Overdose (Oct. 24, 2019)
His Life Path Is Music But, For 16-Year-Old Aaron Lipsky, The Trails Lead Everywhere (Sep. 24, 2019)
With Wortham’s Embrace, Asheville’s Different Strokes Fulfilling Its Own And Theater’s Missions (Sep. 16, 2019)
Asheville Wooden Chairmaker Part of NC Contingent Looking For Gold In Dubai (Sep. 11, 2019)
After NYTimes Mention, Asheville Band Secret Shame Releasing Debut, Along With Demons That Shaped It (Sep. 9, 2019)
In New Exhibition, Two Nonbinary Artists Further Mission Of Campaign For Southern Equality (Aug. 27, 2019)
From Dual Tragedies Of His Youth, Edwin Salas Says ‘I Make Performance From My Trauma’ (Aug. 22, 2019)
Pointing Way To Downtown’s Arts Destinations More Complicated Than Mere Signage (Aug. 20, 2019)
While Their Friendship Goes Beyond Music, Stage Director Knew Who To Ask For The Perfect Soundtrack (July 29, 2019)
17 Novels Into His Mystery Series, Asheville Writer Grumbles Past Mystery of Becoming Published (July 8, 2019)
Satellite Gallery, A Beacon Of Street Art, Closing After 13 Years In Downtown Asheville (June 26, 2019)
Russian Trolling, An Asheville Facebook Profile And An Amateur Sleuth To Connect The Dots (June 6, 2019)
Teens Of Color Helping To Document, Spotlight Asheville’s Southside Stories (June 3, 2019)
Part 1 of 2: Asheville Arts Leaders Unify For Greater Awareness And Funding (May 21, 2019)
Part 2 of 2: Hurdles Stand Between Arts Leaders And County Support They Seek (May 21, 2019)
Many Performers Call On A Higher Power Before Taking The Stage. This Group Has An Inside Track (April 9, 2019)
Art, Activism Entwined For DeWayne Barton In Mission To Uplift Asheville’s Black Community (April 3, 2019)
‘Important Theater’ Takes Current Relevance at Blue Ridge Community College (March 28, 2019)
Devoted to Connecting Asheville’s Music Scene, Jessica Tomasin Asks Community to Connect Beyond (March 19, 2019)
After Losing Nearly Everything Defining Her Life, Jane Kramer Found Her Own Musical Voice (Feb. 25, 2019)
Tryon Artist Margaret Curtis Hasn’t Lost the Fire That Made Her a Rising Star in New York (Feb. 12, 2019)
Survival in the DNA of Malaprop’s Bookstore and its Singularly Focused Founder (Feb. 6, 2019)
Joanne Chan Photographed Celebrities. Her Frames Behind the Seedier Scenes Hold Gallery Spotlight (Jan. 31, 2019)
Asheville’s Connection to 61st Grammy Awards Relegated to the Liner Notes (Jan. 28, 2019)
Anya Hinkle of Tellico Moved to Asheville for Bluegrass, but Found Soul of the Music in Japan (Jan. 9, 2019)
2018
Unlike Movie ‘Dumplin’, Story of Asheville Comic Hilliary Begley Doesn’t Wrap in a Tidy Bow (Dec. 28, 2018)
Ousted in a ‘Coup’ from the Theater He Founded, Samuels Starts Anew with Sublime (Oct. 22, 2018)
When the Audience is Still and Silent, Free Planet Radio Hears Applause (Oct. 1, 2018)
Asheville Choral Society Plots an Expanding Color Palette Running Deeper Than the Music (Sept 21, 2018)
Highlands Playhouse Marks its 80th Birthday at an Artistic and Financial Crossroads (July 26, 2018)
Arts For Life Gives an Ailing 12-Year-Old an Avenue to Thank Her Mother in Song (July 16, 2018)
Acclaimed Artist Mel Chin Lived Close But Worked Far. That Changed with Help of UNCA STEAM Students (June 28, 2018)
Asheville Percussion Festival Stretches How People Hear and Think of the Music (June 25, 2018)
When All Signs Point to ‘No,’ Terpsicorps Founder Heather Maloy Bulls Ahead with a Determined ‘Yes’ (June 18, 2018)
As French Broad Rises Above its Banks, History and Memory Weigh on the River Arts District (May 30, 2018)
Part Brilliance, Part Torment, Ian Ridenhour Toes a Mental Tightrope to Create His Music (May 23, 2018)
‘Totally Not a Cult,’ Wilcox Weekend Gathers a Tribe Around David Wilcox’s Music (May 16, 2018)
Asheville’s Gavin Geoffrey Dillard Shepherds Operetta Based on a Chapter of His Storied Life (May 9, 2018)
‘Three Billboards’ Up for Six Oscars. People in Sylva Would Like a Seventh: Best Location (Feb. 28, 2018)
Matt Peiken 