The Who’s Tommy, 40th Anniversary, in Asheville NC!

The Who's Tommy: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Album Release
Presented by Bioflyer Productions and the Asheville Arts Center Diana Wortham Theatre
May 14-16 at 8PM, May 17 at 2pm
Benefit for Eblen Charities
Tickets $10-$25, Student, senior and group discounts available
Tickets on Sale now!
828-257-4530, http://www.dwtheatre.com/

Organizations on the web: http://www.eblencharities.org/
http://bioflyer.wordpress.com/www.ashevilleartscenter.com

Peter Townshend's tale of a young boy's journey from trial to triumph is one of the most electrifying evenings of rock'n roll ever to play in a theatre! A great night out for the whole family.

Following a successful presentation of Jesus Christ Superstar in 2008, Bioflyer Productions is mounting another famous British creation, The Who's Tommy. The full-scale Broadway version of the show will have a three night, one matinee run at Diana Wortham Theatre from May 14-17. Producer and director, Rock Eblen, has joined forces this year with the prolific Asheville Arts Center owned by Heather and Chuck Taft with artistic direction by Christopher Lynn. Chuck Taft will also be returning as musical director. This community showcase is Bioflyer's annual fundraiser for the Eblen-Kimmel Charitable Group. The producers have adapted the story to be suitable for children at least 7 years old.

Tommy was the first musical work to be billed overtly as a rock opera. Pete Townshend says he wrote the piece to describe how he felt after being taught by mystic Meher Baba about various spiritual principals and ideas. The music and lyrics became "a metaphorical story for different states of consciousness."

When the original album was released in 1969, many critics called it a modern masterpiece, the beginnings of a new genre. It became a huge commercial success, as did THE WHO'S frequently sold-out live performances of the album in the following years, elevating the band to a new level of prestige and international stardom.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the album's release.

In 1975, Tommy was adapted as a film, produced by Robert Stigwood and directed by maverick British auteur Ken Russell. The film was a huge commercial success on release and has achieved cult film status due to scenes such as Arthur Brown's portrayal of a priest, and Ann-Margret as Tommy's mother. Other highlights included Elton John's very memorable appearance as the "Pinball Wizard" and Tina Turner's electrifying cameo as the "Acid Queen." Although the film version is known to have mature themes, Bioflyer's new stage production has been modified to be family friendly.

In 1993, Townshend and La Jolla Playhouse theatrical director Des McAnuff wrote and produced a Broadway musical adaptation. The production, titled The Who's Tommy, featured several rewrites in lyrics, and an all-star cast. The production won five Tony Awards that year, including Best Original Score for Townshend. Various touring revivals have met with popular acclaim ever since.

This production is a benefit for The Eblen Charities. Founded by Joe Eblen in 1991 as a grassroots foundation to help local children, this organization has now grown into 55 associated programs that annually assists over 60,000 families with needs such as medication, medical supplies, food, emergency travel, utilities, rent, and other special requests. This assistance is offered at no charge to children, adults, and families with illness or disabilities who live anywhere in Western North Carolina. http://www.eblencharities.org/

Asheville on Bikes Mountain Bike Race

French Broad River Festival Mountain Bike Race in Asheville North Carolina

Host is "Asheville on Bikes"
Time: Sat May 2 from 9:45 am to 1:45 pm
Venue: Flood Stage Tent

Ride the edge of the Smoky Mountains in Pisgah National forest at the French Broad River Festival. There are three different race categories for the annual cross country race: The Soft Core – 10 miles, Single Speed - 14 miles, Hard Core -18 miles. The race begins and ends at the festival grounds. Registration is free with your general admission festival ticket. A registration booth will be located in the main festival area. Register on Friday from 4pm – 8pm or on Saturday from 8-9:30.

If you show just for the race, registration is $15. Otherwise, the entry fee is complimentary with admission to the festival. Prizes awarded for each category. In AoB style, prizes will be awarded to the BEST IN SHOW and BEST HOOD ORNAMENT!

Register online and check out the details.
http://www.frenchbroadriverfestival.com/

Breast Cancer Awareness Bowling League

Time: Fri May 22 at 6:00 pm until Fri Jul 31 at 9:00 pm

Venue: AMF Bowling Alley Kenilworth in Asheville North Carolina

This is a 10 week bowling league to help raise money for the Susan G. Komen For The Cure foundation. It's every Friday at 6pm for $12 a week. Not bad yo! Lots of fun and happy people!!

From: Lindsay Ellis on Facebook

Larry Keel & Natural Bridge in Black Mtn

The Flat Picking Legend and His Mighty Band on Tour

Larry Keel & Natural Bridge
Friday, May 29, 2009
White Horse Black Mountain 105c Montreat Road, Black Mountain, NC
Tix $12/ $15
(828) 669-0816
www.whitehorseblackmountain.com

www.larrykeel.com/

www.myspace.com/larrykeel

Audiences across the globe are repeatedly rendered slack-jawed with astonishment by the overwhelming creative power of Larry Keel and his band. Like some massive musical storm that has taken on a life of its own, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge continue to gather strength and intensify. Batten down the hatches or prepare to be blown away in the perfect storm, a raging musical maelstrom of swirling innovations. The extended forecast is calling for tonal tornadoes of epic proportions made more dangerous by syncopated sound cyclones scattered with bursts of colossal chord changes and intermittent harmonies. For those in the direct path of this vast vortex of energy, expect to be further battered by sonic tsunamis fed by raging rhythms. Keel advisories will remain in effect until after the second set. The audience at a Larry Keel performance is not simply being entertained; instead, they are having their hearts and brains happily steamed in a boiling cauldron of blazing instrumentation and BRAND NEW original sounds. Driven jamming is linked in flawless cohesion to brilliant and multiple variations—this band is anything but ordinary! A band of kindred spirits who share a common musical vision, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge is: the beautiful, cheerful steady backbone-Jenny Keel (bass fiddle, vocals), the atomic, off the chain fireball-Mark Schimick (mandolin, vocals), the charming, crescendo pickin' stud-Jason Flournoy (banjo, vocals), and, of course, the MAD, marquee headlining maestro-Larry Keel (guitar, vocals).

Larry Keel is a world renowned, internationally touring, Mountain Music Troubadour. Keel has released 13 albums, and is featured on 9 others. A documentary film about Keel and his band was debuted at Merlefest, as the first film ever shown at the famous Americana festival. His original music has been recorded by Del McCoury Band and Acoustic Syndicate. Larry and his wife Jenny also perform in Keller and The Keels, a side project that also features Keller Williams. The Keller and Keels release, Grass¸ spent 3 months on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart.

The long-awaited second studio project from Larry Keel and his powerhouse acoustic ensemble 'Natural Bridge' has finally been unleashed! With these revolutionary tracks Keel and his ultra progressive string band have hand-crafted 7 original compositions of the 10 tunes on BACKWOODS that defy all ordinary expectations of what Bluegrass and Americana music has ever offered-- until now. Co-produced by creative genius Keller Williams and monster mountain music master Larry Keel, BACKWOODS is a supremely energizing musical ride. The official release date was February 5, 2009. With BACKWOODS, Keel and his band deliver one of the most powerful, expansive performances ever heard in Acoustic American music to date.

Artist News ** Larry Keel performed with Little Feat at Camp Feat in Negril, Jamaica, Feb 2008.** LK&NB with Tony Rice appeared on NPR's Mountain Stage on Wed, Dec 12, 2007.** LK&NB was featured on Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour on Monday Nov 12, 2007.** Larry Keel was featured in the Feb 2007 Guitar Player Magazine** Keel Brothers, Vol. 2 is reviewed in the August 2007 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited.** Larry Keel proudly endorses D'Addario Stings.

The Bizarre Bazaar in Asheville NC

The New Funky Friendly Outdoor Market.... Lexington Ave Bazaar
Soak in the Sun, Look Fly and Shop Yourself Happy!

Opening Day: Saturday, May 23rd 2009 from 11am – 4pm
58 1/2 N. Lexington Avenue
Lexington Park Courtyard

Performing: Now You See Them, Benefiting Arts 2 People's Asheville Mural Project (Asheville, NC) The new and funky Lexington Ave. Bazaar is about to kick-off for the year on Saturday, May 23rd in downtown Asheville from 11am – 4pm. This is an eclectic outdoor market featuring indie artists, crafters and designers local to Asheville and will also feature a different musical performance as well as benefit local non-profits. The Bazaar will take place every 1st and 3rd Saturday in the Lexington Park Courtyard (gated entrance next to Virtue) nestled between North Lexington Ave and Carolina Lane in Asheville, NC. This is an ongoing event through the beginning of October.

The Bizarre Bazaar is proud to announce that the organizer's proceeds from the first four Saturdays will go to support Arts 2 People's Asheville Mural Project on Lexington Ave. We like to think of it as the Arts supporting the Arts. This might give you another reason to come and support the Bazaar. http://www.arts2people.org/amp.html

Each market will also feature performers from Asheville. Now You See Them will be performing at the kickoff event, they are a super-fun acoustic indie/folk trio dedicated to delivering a great time. Appealing to virtually all audiences through beautiful harmonies, slow burning lyrics, and non traditional instruments, NYST combines thoughtfully ironic originals alongside carefully selected covers making their shows a not-to-be-missed breath of fresh air. www.myspace.com/nowyouseethem

Not only will you be able to shop, but you can also treat yourself to some fine eats; Lexington Ave's French restaurant, Bouchon, will host an exclusive Street food stand featuring crêpes and his famous French fries for each Bazaar. www.ashevillebouchon.com

Specific Bazaar dates this spring and summer are as follows:5/23, 6/6, 6/20, 7/4, 7/18, 8/1, 8/15, 9/5, 9/19, 10/3, 10/17. Come and check out the local art and crafts and also hop around to the great shops on Lexington Ave!

For more info or to apply for a vending space send an email to lexingtonbazaar@hotmail.com
Or visit the blog at www.lexingtonbazaar.blogspot.com.

Swine Influenza Information

Asheville Ladies and Gentlemen, and people Worldwide:

Based on assessment of all available information, and following several expert consultations, I have decided to raise the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to phase 5. Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world. On the positive side, the world is better prepared for an influenza pandemic than at any time in history. Preparedness measures undertaken because of the threat from H5N1 avian influenza were an investment, and we are now benefiting from this investment.

For the first time in history, we can track the evolution of a pandemic in real-time. I thank countries who are making the results of their investigations publicly available. This helps us understand the disease. I am impressed by the work being done by affected countries as they deal with the current outbreaks. I also want to thank the governments of the USA and Canada for their support to WHO, and to Mexico.

Let me remind you. New diseases are, by definition, poorly understood. Influenza viruses are notorious for their rapid mutation and unpredictable behaviour. WHO and health authorities in affected countries will not have all the answers immediately, but we will get them.

WHO will be tracking the pandemic at the epidemiological, clinical, and virological levels. The results of these ongoing assessments will be issued as public health advice, and made publicly available. All countries should immediately activate their pandemic preparedness plans. Countries should remain on high alert for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia.

At this stage, effective and essential measures include heightened surveillance, early detection and treatment of cases, and infection control in all health facilities. This change to a higher phase of alert is a signal to governments, to ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharmaceutical industry and the business community that certain actions should now be undertaken with increased urgency, and at an accelerated pace. I have reached out to donor countries, to UNITAID, to the GAVI Alliance, the World Bank and others to mobilize resources. I have reached out to companies manufacturing antiviral drugs to assess capacity and all options for ramping up production. I have also reached out to influenza vaccine manufacturers that can contribute to the production of a pandemic vaccine.

The biggest question, right now, is this: how severe will the pandemic be, especially now at the start? It is possible that the full clinical spectrum of this disease goes from mild illness to severe disease. We need to continue to monitor the evolution of the situation to get the specific information and data we need to answer this question.

From past experience, we also know that influenza may cause mild disease in affluent countries, but more severe disease, with higher mortality, in developing countries. No matter what the situation is, the international community should treat this as a window of opportunity to ramp up preparedness and response. Above all, this is an opportunity for global solidarity as we look for responses and solutions that benefit all countries, all of humanity. After all, it really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic. As I have said, we do not have all the answers right now, but we will get them.

Thank you.
WHO Director-General
Dr Margaret Chan

Asheville Home Builders - Custom Homes and Real Estate for less

Asheville Home Builders are going through a rough time for the most part and business is slow, but Asheville Building and Real Estate is getting ready to launch their new "Design Your Own Home, Choose The Subcontractors and Create Your Own Home Price" to the Western North Carolina area.

This program goes perfect with the current market condition we are in. People want to save or at least use their money very wisely. Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) can make a big difference in today's economy. ABandRE has a great program where you choose or design your own home from scratch with the exact building materials you pick, they compile a the bids to complete this project, you review the bids and pricing with them, you make the decision on which bids to accept, and you declare you final home price! Wonderful. I know several people that are getting ready to bid their home out with this program. It is a great incentive to build. Once the price is finalized, the General Contractors overhead is determined exactly by a percentage. No hidden costs, everything on the table, and big savings are sure to occur.

Sometimes you deal with Builders who have a set amount of how much they are going to make off of a project and any savings at all, even on top of that, go into their pocket. Then you have some Builders who get a pre-appraisal of sorts and then charge that "appraised amount" even if it cost them half of that amount to build it. This is not right whether the market is good or bad. The equity should go into your pocket. (Thank you to the home builders that do price their project fair and correctly). Here is an escape from that type of business, and an open door to good business with full disclosure. I love it! I will have my new house this year!

For more information, please visit www.AshevilleBuildingAndRealEstate.com and click on the Request Info button on the top left. Find out how much your home will really cost you and how much you can save in the process.