The A-List: My recommendations for arty things to see + hear, Oct. 15-18

Chamber music doesn’t often command a spotlight, but the opening of Pan Harmonia’s 27th season is worthy of a marquee. Multi-instrumentalist Rosalind Buda fronts Glencoe, which bills itself as a Scottish supergroup. They back up that claim by also featuring four-time National Scottish Harp champion Sue Richards and guitarist/citternist Robbin Bullock, a longtime touring sideman with folk artist Tom Paxton and Janis Ian.

Expect original Glencoe music alongside reimagined Scottish favorites. Our only disappointment is founding Pan Harmonia flutist Kate Steinbeck isn’t on the program.

You can’t sweep the cobwebs from any barn in Western North Carolina without the mental soundtrack of old-timey music coloring the experience. But in all its ubiquity here, nobody brings the personality to old-timey music like Sparrow and Keith, the couple anchoring one of the region’s tried-and-trues, the Resonant Rogues.

Sparrow has only recently begun stepping out as a solo artist and she’s growing her own voice of fashion and mountain living through an Instagram channel, which might explain why she’s getting singular billing in a Rogues show. But make no mistake—Keith Smith’s compositions are a vital piece of the Rogues’ chemistry. Amidst a growing touring schedule, it’s great to see the band bringing their seasoned swagger to Brevard. If you’re out that way, don’t miss ‘em.

South Arts is an Atlanta nonprofit with a wide slate of programs funding and bringing artists into the nether-reaches of the Southeast. One such program is the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers.

In this film, the Chicano documentarian David Alvarado explores the story of Louis Valdez, who grew from migrant farmworker to revolutionary artist and changed American culture through El Teatro Campesino and landmark works like Zoot Suit and La Bamba. A conversation with the film’s executive producer, Steve Ives, follows the screening.

Here’s a question with no definitive answer but endless ground for debate: What’s the difference between an artist and a crafter? I’ll take my crack at it: Artists are attempting to say something with their work. There’s a larger or deeper there there.

So what will you find at the 79th annual Southern Highlands show? A whole lotta craft and a whole lotta art created with the materials and techniques of craft. Still confused? I don’t blame you. One thing is certain—four days is too much a lot of time to get your craft on. You’ll find more than 100 artists across the gamut of traditional and contemporary craft and a lot of artist demonstrations.

I could go for some loud, fuzzy, shoegazy rock right about now, but I’m willing to wait til Saturday for my fix.

Canaries, from Richmond, has only been recording music since 2024, and they have yet to record a lyric you can understand through the musical haze. No matter. There’s a lot to bounce around to here, and the lack of polish has a certain throwback charm. Their Asheville show is their second on a week-long burst through the Southeast.

Opening are Asheville artists Tanner York and Blooming.