21 minute read
A&E
Bringing down the ghosts
A conversation with Eleanor Underhill
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD S TAFF WRITER
One of the most versatile and intriguing musicians in Asheville and greater Western North Carolina, singer-songwriter Eleanor Underhill chases the artistic muse with a reckless abandon of curiosity, joy and self-reflection.
Well-known for her banjo presence in the highly popular “heartfelt country soul” act Underhill Rose, her latest solo release, “Land of the Living,” is a serendipitous ode to a modern world gone haywire. Though the lyrics and melodies were created before the Coronavirus Pandemic, the album finds itself at the crossroads of a society making sense of what it sees in the mirror.
Gathering an array of talented local musicians, Underhill stands firmly at the core of the record, this nurturing, yet assertive voice of hope and optimism. The songs take on a shape and life all their own, each pushing forth into an unknown future — a place and time Underhill herself walks toward with head held high.
Smoky Mountain News: When listening to the album, I began to think that you, whether subconsciously or consciously, do not want to be pigeonholed into any specific genre.
Eleanor Underhill: Definitely. It’s the lack of concern of genre. It’s not defined by genre, [where] I follow the muse. You know, we’ve all heard so many different styles of music our whole lives and so many different styles move me.
And so, if something bubbles up [when] I’m playing around, this moment of inspiration hits and I’m going to follow that thread if it brings me joy. There was a moment where I had to decide: is this going to be an Americana album? Is this going to be an electronic album? It was definitely a struggle on an artistic and spiritual level.
SMN: Well, you’re serving the song and not sticking it in a formula.
EU: Exactly. And that’s why you’ll hear less banjo on this album. You know, I felt less loyal, for better or for worse, to the banjo and felt like: does it serve the song because banjo has been my safe instrument? [The banjo] has been my primary tool for many, many years.
SMN: And perhaps also a safety net, too?
EU: It could be a safety net. It could be that what I’ve come to realize is that I think the banjo can be super versatile. But, I’m not sure everyone else can go there [as a listener]. I think I did start to associate the banjo with my image and maybe that’s my thing.
Want to go?
The Eleanor Underhill & Friends album release show will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, at The Grey Eagle in Asheville.
Presented by The Grey Eagle and Worthwhile Sounds, the performance will be limited capacity with all social distancing rules and protocol in place. Tickets are $15 per person ($20 day of show). For more information and/or to purchase tickets, visit www.thegreyeagle.com.
To learn more about Eleanor Underhill, the new album “Land of the Living” and its online streaming premiere, go to www.eleanorunderhillmusic.com. The Aug. 6 concert will also be streamed live at www.iamavl.com.
— Eleanor Underhill
[The banjo] is a really fun and interesting instrument. And I don’t think the versatility has been showcased very much. It is a thing I can do, and this is something unique about me. But, I also feel really liberated to be at a keyboard. It’s fun to put the banjo down [and try something else].
SMN: Do you think this album has liberated you as an artist?
EU: Yeah, I do. Similar to my last solo album, “Navigate the Madness,” I didn’t know what I could pull out of myself, given the permission to just sit and play around — get the equipment, get the little home studio going, and then just go for it. So, I feel like I learned a lot in that first album.
And then, [with “Land of the Living”], I feel I’m bringing more skill, more experience, more confidence [to this project]. We also recorded the drums at Echo Mountain [Studios in Asheville], which I think brings up the fidelity of the album. And we brought in more people. So, it’s all been a continuation of growing confidence and skill, I hope.
do you think about the album title when placed in the context of July 2020? I ask, because that title is interesting, seeing as right now the world has been in this great pause, and yet some people have never felt more alive.
EU: It is quite a different world than when the songs were written. Even choosing the two singles — “Strange Chemistry” and “Didn’t We Have Fun?” — you can see everything through the current lens and make sense of it, feel out how it has meaning.
I might’ve chosen two different singles if I would have known [what the future held]. But, I think that’s the test: does the [music] stand up with this much of a sea change? I think most of the songs do. I think some of them have even risen to be oddly relevant.
Eleanor Underhill.
Music is therapeutic for me. This album was very personal, so I’m kind of working through some of my own demons, but I had a personal revelation where I was like, “Oh man, I’m holding on to stuff that I think is generational.” It’s not my weight.
So, I’m going to go ahead and let go of it, and be more fully alive and more fully awake in my body. I’m not held back. And I think that does apply to our society right now, that we are maybe more grateful for being alive.
SMN: To walk a little lighter.
EU: Walk a little lighter, and just recognizing that we do have the choice while we are alive to make our lives and make other people’s lives better — it’s recognizing that we have this precious time.
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
Armond’s Place in Rouses Point, New York. (photo: Garret K. Woodward)
Not where but what you think that really matters
Stepping out of the pickup truck in my little sister’s driveway last Saturday, I was immediately greeted with the sounds of children laughing and splashing around in the backyard. It was my niece’s sixth birthday party in my hometown of Rouses Point, New York, a tiny village on the Canadian and Vermont borders.
The backyard was organized chaos. More than a dozen kids running amuck in the inflatable pool and bouncy house. Parents all milling about on the edge of the yard, as if spectators at a wrestling match. Some of the adult faces were familiar, these folks I remember fondly from my adolescent days — not seen in years, only to catch up over some small talk.
I left this town when I was 18 for college in Connecticut, some 300 miles away. From there, it’s been an ongoing, rollicking odyssey across America and beyond. And it’s rare for me to find myself back in Rouses Point — not by choice, just by circumstance. Since I graduated high school, I’ve kept wandering and pondering, pushing ahead and rarely looking over my shoulder at the past.
And these last two months spent in the North Country (in the midst of the pandemic and shutdown) have brought a lot of things in my life full circle, personally and professionally. I’ve never forgotten the starting line of my hometown. It’s always been the line by which I’ve measured a life well-lived, all while chasing long held dreams in real time.
It’s this place, this tiny dot often forgotten on the map, that’s remained an anchor in my thoughts and actions. It’s a location that no matter how tough the going gets, I always know that it’s still up there somewhere, tucked in this corner along Lake Champlain, hidden from the madness of the outside world.
During the birthday party, I laced up my running shoes and snuck away to go for a jog around the town. With a slew of emotions and memories flooding my field-ofvision, I figured it’d do me some good to sweat it out amid a landscape that I once knew on a daily basis, now somewhat a foggy image in memory.
Exiting the driveway, it was a right down Pearl Street to Lake Street. With the seemingly endless Lake Champlain in front of me, I took a right down Lake Street heading south in the hot sun of the early afternoon. Jogging by The Anchorage motel with the big front yard where The Anchorage restaurant once stood, a North Country staple of family gatherings and late-night shenanigans for decades before it burned down. It’s also where my best friend and I took our prom dates for dinner before the big dance.
Down Lake Street and a left on Stony Point Road. S-curve pavement towards the breakwater barrier. Local anglers hoping to catch that one elusive fish. The nearby boat ramp is used as an entry point for the shanty town once the lake freezes over in winter and a small community appears atop it, as if a scene directly from the film “Grumpy Old Men.”
The s-curve pavement soon turns to dirt, with several camps (or “summer homes”) appearing. Eventually, my late grandfather’s camp came into view. It looked the same as I remembered: black with blue trim, the old shack for his fishing and hunting gear still standing, too.
I hadn’t seen the camp since it was sold years ago, not long after his funeral. In the distance was the deck overlooking the lake where we’d sit and chat over a beer about how college was going, what the plan was after graduation, only to head down to the dock and jump off it to cool off in the ancient waters.
Returning to Lake Street, my legs started to get tired, but my mind was restless as I made my way to Montgomery Street. Push past Sportsmen’s Pier (aka: the local rod and gun club swimming area) and all those summer barbecues and family get-togethers, now only dusty photos in albums taken out at Christmas parties.
From Montgomery, I hopped on the walking trail that leads up to the Rouses Point Rec Center. With the enormous old hockey rink in the distance, I made my way by the soccer and baseball fields, these green spaces where as a kid I kicked the ball past the goalie or caught the pop fly in left field.
The last stretch back to my little sister’s house and seeing my reflection in the windows of Armond’s Place on Lake Street — the now-defunct dive bar that was the social hub of the community. There were countless Fourth of July celebrations where I ended up in there following the fireworks, catching up with my old high school buddies as some local band was rocking through a tragically hip song, most likely “New Orleans is Sinking.”
Drenched in sweat, I finished at the corner of Lake and Pearl. Grabbing a towel from my truck, I took a moment to collect myself before reentering the birthday party. In that hour-long jog, I passed by people, places and things forever cherished and carefully placed on the shelves of my mind.
I passed by abandoned buildings, renovated buildings and buildings long gone where I spent many days and nights growing and blossoming as a human being in the greater universe. And I thought of all those familiar faces I dearly miss, either many miles away or six feet under. Rouses Point was the starting line, and I’ve never taken that for granted.
Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
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Smithsonian traveling exhibition
The Macon County Public Library, in cooperation with North Carolina Humanities Council, will host “Water/Ways,” a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program.
“Water/Ways” will be on view through Aug. 24 at the library in Franklin. The exhibition explores the endless motion of the water cycle, water’s impact on landscape, settlement and migration, and its impact on culture and spirituality.
It looks at how political and economic planning have long been affected by access to water and control of water resources. Human creativity and resourcefulness provide new ways of protecting water resources and renewing respect for the natural environment.
Designed for small-town museums, libraries and cultural organizations, “Water/Ways” will serve as a community hub to inspire conversations about water’s impact on American culture. With the support and guidance of North Carolina Humanities Council, the Macon County Public Library is partnering with numerous local organizations and individuals.
These groups are developing a film and photographic tour of the Little Tennessee and its watershed, virtual and in-person public programs and facilitating educational initiatives to raise people’s understanding about what water means culturally, socially and spiritually in their own community.
“We have a wonderful group of local partners helping us to safely engage with
• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host
Amongst The Trees at 7:30 p.m., Aug. 1.
Free and open to the public. www.curraheebrew.com.
• Elevated Mountain Distilling Company will host The Darren Nicholson Band 7 p.m.
Aug. 1. Free and open to the public. www.elevatedmountain.com.
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host the “Western Carolina Writers” songwriters showcase with Nick Mac, Hannah Kaminer and Jesse Frizsell 7 p.m. July 25. Free. www.froglevelbrewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Tea 4 Three 8 p.m. Aug. 8. For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host live music semi-regularly on the weekends.
Free and open to the public. www.nantahalabrewing.com. the community this summer. Because while we want to make the most of the six weeks that the Smithsonian exhibit is in Franklin, we also want to continue to support organizations like Macon County Schools STEM Program, GA/NC Bartram Trail Society, Friends of the Greenway (FROGS), Mainspring, and the Nikwasi Initiative that help us protect and enjoy our waterways now and in the future,” said Kristina Moe, library assistant at the Macon County Public Library. “We want to facilitate conversations about water and are developing local content and public programs to compliment the Smithsonian exhibition.”
Such free events include documentary films, book discussions, and outdoor activities near the Little Tennessee River.
“Water/Ways” is part of the Smithsonian’s Think Water Initiative to raise awareness of water as a critical resource for life through exhibitions, educational resources and public programs. The public can participate in the conversation on social media at #thinkWater.
The exhibition is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, state humanities councils across the nation and local host institutions. To learn more about “Water/Ways” and other Museum on Main Street exhibitions, visit www.museumonmainstreet.org. Support for MoMS has been provided by the U.S. Congress.
For more information, visit www.fontanalib.org or call the Macon County Public Library at 828.524.3600. The library is open by appointment from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
1. Tickets start at $15 per person. www.greatmountainmusic.com.
• There will be a free wine tasting from 2 to 5 p.m every Saturday at The Wine Bar &
Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.
• The “Haywood County Medical Exhibit: 1870-1950” will be ALSO: held at The Shelton House in Waynesville. The showcase will run through October. Admission is $7 adults. $5 students. Children ages 5 and under free. Admission includes Shelton House. 828.452.1551 or www.sheltonhouse.org.
• The next “Dillsboro After Five: Wonderful
Wednesdays” will be held from 3:30 to 7 p.m. July 22 in downtown. Start with a visit to the Jackson County Farmers Market located in the Innovation Station parking lot. Stay for dinner and take advantage of late-hour shopping. Bring the family and enjoy small town hospitality at its best.
“Dillsboro After Five” will be held every
Wednesday through July 29. For more information, call 828.586.2155 or visit www.mountainlovers.com.
Acclaimed Americana/country act The Darren Nicholson Band will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, at Elevated Mountain Distilling Company in Maggie Valley.
Nicholson is a Grammy Award nominee and a recipient of numerous International Bluegrass Music Association’s Awards, including “Entertainer of the Year” (2014, 2018) and “Album of the Year” (2006, 2017).
Artist grants now available
Artists in all disciplines are eligible to apply for grants to support their professional and artistic development through a partnership of the North Carolina Arts Council and Asheville Area Arts Council, Haywood County Arts Council, Arts Council of Henderson County, Tryon Fine Arts Center, Rutherford County Recreation, Cultural, and Heritage Commission and the Transylvania Community Arts Council.
Artist Support Grants will be distributed to eligible applicants by Haywood County Arts Council in the following counties: Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania.
Applications for the grants are available www.haywoodarts.org/grants-funding. The
He has appeared countless times on WSM’s Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium, CMT, GAC and many of the world’s most famous venues and networks. Currently, he records and tours as a full-time, founding member of Balsam Range with all sorts of collaborative efforts each year.
The show is free and open to the public.
www.elevatedmountain.com. deadline is Sept. 30. Grants will range in awards from $500 to $1,000.
Emerging or established artists are encouraged to apply to support a range of professional and artistic development including the creation of work, improvement of business operations or expanding capacity to bring work to new audiences. Artist fees are also allowable expenses.
“The Artist Support Grants program responds to the impact of the pandemic by ensuring that artists and the state’s arts infrastructure have the resources needed to help our state make a strong social and economic recovery,” said Wayne Martin, executive director of the North Carolina Arts Council.
For information or questions, contact Leigh Forrester, executive director of the Haywood County Arts Council, at www.haywoodarts.org or 828.452.0593.
On the shelf A feast for readers: A Poor Man’s Supper
The years following the Civil War brought great changes to Western North Carolina. The railroads penetrated these coves and mountains, carrying tourists, flat-landers and goods to small towns previously isolated by their forbidding terrain. Following the railroads were the timber barons, eager to harvest the ancient forests and able now to move and sell the lumber to outside buyers. Though many of those native to the region Jeff Minick Writer remained in poverty, others were able to make their fortunes in the mountains.
It is against this background that Jim Gulledge has set his novel, A Poor Man’s Supper (Deer Hawk Publications, 2017, 140 pages), a love story involving a young woman, the boy she loves and the man she marries.
Vancie Keller lives on a hardscrabble farm in the hills, along with her mother and two African Americans who fled the to the mountains after the war. Her father, wounded in both body and soul during the fighting, has died, leaving them struggling to eke out a living as best they can. Vancie has her mother’s beauty, is quick-witted and prefers britches and exploring the woods to the stiff dresses she must wear to church.
The orphaned teenager Josiah Buckland walks out of the hills to Tugaloo, a town within a day’s journey of Asheville. The hungry boy finds work in a livery stable, where the owner, Phineus Coble, soon treats Josiah as the son he never had. The grateful Josiah mucks out stables, hauls buckets of water from the town’s well and performs all the other tasks required of him, returning the affection Coble has bestowed on him.
Jagger Hill is also newly arrived in Tugaloo. Unlike Josiah, Hill arrives with money and gold, a fortune he has stolen from the family of a man he befriended in the army. Hill has chosen Tugaloo, a run
down dirty town but with train service, as the place to invest his wealth. He intends to buy up a number of the businesses, refurbish them and so control the town and its people.
The lives of these three people become entangled when Vancie and Josiah fall in love with each other, smitten from the moment they meet in the livery stable where the sassy Vancie pokes fun at Josiah for “trying to bury yourself in a pile of hay with a pitchfork.” When Phineus Coble learns of Josiah’s love for the girl, he gives him a gold watch once owned by his mother engraved now with the initials V.K and J.B. The watch acts throughout the novel as a bond between Vancie and Josiah, and plays a key role in their story. When Vancie becomes pregnant with Josiah’s child, her mother Lois, determined that her daughter should avoid the hardships of her own life, approaches Jagger Hill and offers him her daughter in marriage. He accepts, mostly because of her beauty, believing that she’ll act as eye candy, one more sign of his rise in the world. Hill treats his wife as brutally as he does his whores, his animals, and eventually, the boy James, whom he believes to be his son but whom he despises for his kindness and weakness. When Josiah learns of this marriage, but not of the circumstances surrounding it, he is brokenhearted. He says goodbye to Coble and the livery stable and returns to the mountains to carve out a life for himself there.
To tell more of this story would spoil its ending.
In addition to its dramatic romance, A Poor Man’s Supper offers readers several other gifts. First, some of the minor characters — Mattie, the former slave who becomes a second mother to Vancie, Big John during the chapter in which he digs a grave, the crippled and good-hearted Phineus Coble, Delilah Hart, the town’s madam — are as finely drawn and real as the main actors on this stage of love, hope and sadness.
Impressive as well is the amount of action and emotion Gulledge manages to condense in this short novel. He cuts from scene to scene and from character to character with expert ease, telling us the story of these people without wasting a word or making a misstep. Here, for example, he paints this portrait of James and his grandmother, Mama Lois:
Their days were spent in endless hours of barnyard tales, gliding on the front porch swing, and singing silly songs that Mama Lois had been taught as a child in Ireland. Mattie did all of the cooking now, and Big John kept up the garden. Mama Lois was free all day long to lighten James’s heart and cure him of the endless melancholy of life with his mother and father back at Orchard Cove. Wednesdays at Mama Lois’s were days to breathe deeply and freely, to be silly, loud and juvenile, all things that were banned at his father’s house.
Finally, unlike so many modern novelists who write about the nineteenth century, Gulledge gives religious faith a place in the lives of many of his characters. From the memoirs, letters and diaries of that time, we know faith was a cornerstone of life for many people, and when Gulledge describes the reactions of Vancie, Mama Lois, James and Mattie, he allows them to express their Biblical beliefs that were as natural and common to these men, women and children as the stars in the sky or the mountain air they breathed.
Read A Poor Man’s Supper, and you’ll enjoy a feast. (Jeff Minick is a writer and teacher. minick0301@gmail.com)
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