Mel Gibson uses Hacksaw Ridge to revive faith

Love him or hate him, personally or as a filmmaker, Mel Gibson has never made a movie halfway. Whether it’s reviving dead languages, plunging the camera into the heart of a bloody battle or crafting messianic imagery both metaphorical and literal, you can always trust that the image you’re seeing on the screen is precisely […]

Marine Special Ops vet makes tailoring his new mission

Men’s fashion and the military have a lot in common, if you ask Derek Questell. After serving in the Marines for 10 years and four deployments, Questell now tailors custom clothing from his Charlottesville home, calling the enterprise Tailored Quest. “It’s in my blood, my Italian heritage,” says Questell. “My dad gave me my first […]

ARTS Pick: United Nations of Comedy

In its sixth year, United Nations of Comedy continues to bring an unmatched variety of rising stars with Emma Willmann, Funnyman Skiba, Antoine Scott, Alex Carabaño and Jason Andors. Time Out magazine recently named Willmann one of the 10 Funniest Women in New York, and Jason Anders has been deemed the “comedy chameleon” for notable […]

Lydia Loveless gets emotional on fourth album

In our hyper-connected society, amid countless forays into reality television, the championing of celebrity culture and the crafted realities presented on social media, how do we define “real”? Its meaning is oftentimes fluid. Historically, the concept of authenticity has been inherent to discussions on music and art, but that can be a slippery slope devolving […]

ARTS Pick: The Dexateens

In 2011, Alabama garage rockers The Dexateens were on the verge of a breakthrough when they broke up. The band left an entirely finished album, Teenage Hallelujah, unreleased, sitting in storage, collecting dust and tantalizing die-hard fans for the better part of five years. But Teenage Hallelujah’s moment has finally come, and the band has […]

Lulu Miller on the fulfillment of making ‘Invisibilia’

When Lulu Miller was a kid growing up in Newton, Massachusetts, in the 1980s, she’d peel away from her family to write. She’d take reams of computer paper—the kind that’s one long, continuous accordion sheet with tearaway perforations on the sides—from her dad’s printer and write for hours. It felt like sledding, she says, like […]

ARTS Pick: Carl Broeml

When you are the lead guitarist for a beloved indie-rock band, you get appearances from cool musician friends on your solo record, as is the case for Carl Broemel on his 2016 release, 4th of July, featuring Neko Case, Laura Veirs and some bandmates from My Morning Jacket. While Broemel is known for his guitar […]

Liv Ullman discusses artistic relationship with Ingmar Bergman

Fifty years after their first collaboration and twelve since their last, the personal and professional relationship between Liv Ullmann and Ingmar Bergman stands as perhaps the most towering and productive in all of film history. Ullmann is often described as Bergman’s “muse,” a term that somewhat applies given her appearance in twelve of his films, […]

ARTS Pick: BASK

Tagged on Sonicbids as Americana, rock, country, doom post-metal and psychedelic stoner rock, Asheville’s BASK shrugs off classification with a note to fans: “Most of all we want you to listen without concern for what you are hearing. To listen only for the sake of hearing.” Judging by the slew of rave reviews for its […]