Coury Turczyn

Benjamin Miller, a hair stylist at LOX Salon in the Old City, believes that a strong sense of confidence can begin with a good look.

Knoxville icon Todd Steed’s new album, Songs on a Stick, is a collaboration between Steed and his old friend Owen Davis. The songs were all written while Steed and Davis were in China, where they taught last summer.

From Up on Poppy Hill is a fine film. But it’s not a great one.

Call it the mother of all cash mobs, aka Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett’s DIY economic booster program for South Knoxville.

Co-founded by Jayne Morgan and Staci Swedeen, Flying Anvil Theatre is Knoxville’s newest tiny theater company—but it recently got a big honor: an invitation to present Swedeen’s Pardon Me For Living: A Biting Comedy at the 2013 Piccolo Spoleto Festival.

Spring is here. Finally. Maybe. And DJ Wilson’s Meander Mountain blog is a fine way to warm up to the new season.

Two longstanding local film festivals are revamping themselves into much larger events this year—and, although they’ll each be covering different cinematic terrain, and are completely unrelated, their names are rather similar. In separate announcements this week, two teams of organizers ...

There are lots of important works in the history of comics. But there are just a few comics that are absolutely vital to understanding America’s cultural history. A new series of reprints from Fantagraphics spotlights what is possibly the most ...

I love pie.

Okay, so artist R.L. Gibson’s “food-themed art blog” isn’t Knoxville-based per se (she lives in Gatlinburg), but we’ll still claim it (just like the Smokies).

Joseph Cadotte has a vision, and it involves the adventures of detective Faisal Werner on a space station named Jannah.

Recorded in Tuscon, Austin, and Knoxville, Devil’s Rope bristles with the sort of rock music that begs to be played loudly on your car stereo.

Nineteen-year-old Ashlyn K.’s Triple Thread blog seems quite fashionable, in a good way.

Knoxville’s Salomé Cabaret burlesque troupe seeks some assistance.

How did recordings of 1951 live performances from New York City’s Birdland end up sitting forgotten in an East Knoxville home? The answer requires tracing a convoluted path through outdated audio technology, jazz fandom, and a long-forgotten Knoxville music scene. ...

While Old-Time Smoky Mountain Music may not have the pop hooks of Ram or The Smile Sessions, its CD compilation of recordings made by “song catcher” Joseph S. Hall in 1939 certainly has got a lock on historical significance.

Knoxville filmmaker Steven Wesley Miller's humble goal.

Dishonored came out last October and didn’t quite upturn the gaming universe despite getting good reviews and hitting several best-of-2012 lists. Sales have been okay, and publisher Bethesda has stated that it considers Dishonored to be a new franchise. Yet ...

Knoxville Blog of the Month: Working Out & Eating In

There are many ways to gauge the popularity of stories we publish: Percentage of issues picked up, number of Facebook “likes,” how many people call or email or comment with complaints. On our website, however, there’s the highly scientific Page ...

The Tim Lee 3 breaks out the premium deals for pre-orders of its new release.

Could this be the start of a new, loud, and possibly exciting holiday tradition downtown that does not involve light bulbs or decorated trees?

Here’s what I wanted to do: Get a nice, straightfoward, not-too-expensive HD television set to enjoy Blu-ray movies and video games. Absolutely no problem, right? We live in a digital age of high technology at affordable prices. Picture quality and ...

It’s difficult to deny that the business of casual games with App Store distribution has a lot more momentum going for it than the old business model of selling consoles at a loss and then eventually recouping the investment with ...

Taking up the look and sound of your music heroes can be dangerous—it’s entirely possible to be too reverent. Where does their influence end and your originality begin? This hazy line has tripped up countless rockabilly revivalists over the last ...

Theatre Knoxville has been holding the torch for community theater since 1976, and now it could use some help lighting its 7-year-old digs at 319 N. Gay St.

I’ve just discovered the wave of the future: hi-fi stereo. It involves playing pre-recorded music via gigantic metal boxes that send audio signals through cables (actual copper wire!) to two even larger boxes called “speakers,” which emit the sound to ...

Surveying the region’s go-fast culture is Forward Motion, which brims with reports on drifting, autocrossing, meets, rod runs, and just plain showing off.

Rather than transcending the original Borderlands with a new story, new challenges, and new gameplay—or at least some variations, which is pretty much the baseline requirement for sequel success—Borderlands 2 serves up nearly the exact same story, same challenges, and ...

We are proud to report that our video game/digital media critic, David Doyle (who also writes under the pen name Dave Prince), has been awarded the 2012 Penny Arcade Scholarship.

Leverage—The Carbon Fiber Credit Card Sized Bottle Opener is already 737 percent funded with $17,707 pledged from 574 backers.

A little more than a year ago, former WNFX 94.3 morning jock J LaLonde decided to take his act on the road and pursue the life of a stand-up comic. So far, he’s survived—and he’ll be coming back to Knoxville ...

The Knoxville, Knox County, Knoxville Utilities Board Geographic Information System (KGIS) may not have the most exciting name, but the municipal geographic information resource does have a pretty nifty new online map.

This is going to be one of those first-person parental columns about children and video games. Only it’s not going to include the usual self-reassuring conclusion about my parenting skills—I have no idea if I’ve made the right choices, or ...

Entering its ninth year, the annual Secret City Film Festival is hitting the highway and relocating to Knoxville.

So, does the world need a new line of salt-brine fermentation chile sauces? Perhaps so when it’s created by Jim Smith of Rushy Springs Farm in Talbott.

Knoxville Blog of the Month: knoxcomedy.com

We’ve been getting press releases lately from local businesses proudly announcing their Best of Knoxville awards. But they're not the real ones.

Gilbert’s no stranger to tackling money-making projects or B-movie tributes, but if Fatima is intended as a shameless glomming onto a pop-culture trend already on its way out, then it’s an odd one.

While its title may sound like the invitation for a series of bad jokes, this Facebook page is actually an ever-growing collection of local memorabilia and anecdotes.

Sean Riccio describes himself as a “hot young geek comedian,” and who are we to argue?

Knox Blog of the Week: Knoxville Lost and Found

Instead of just covering “Knoxville, That’s My Hometown!” WBIR's former director of marketing, Jules Morris, and former senior producer Carson Hunt (now at JAO Productions) asked local musicians to reinterpret the song with their own lyrics.

Tim “Swanky” Glazner is obsessed with tiki—not just as a pop-culture phenomenon that peaked in the early ’60s, but as a way of life right now. Through his tiki projects both big and small, he’s been helping keep the tiki ...

Knoxville's tiki followers express their tiki love with full-on bars in their own homes.

We welcome a new staff writer to our ranks.

WUTK and Raven Records and Rarities are joining forces to create a multimedia happening in the ever-evolving Happy Holler neighborhood. The June 16 event is ostensibly meant to mark the grand opening of the newest location for the venerable Raven, ...

Although Dark Shadows is not nearly the laff riot portrayed in the trailer, it doesn’t take its source material very seriously. But for those seeking a cool respite from the summer-movie season of explosive bombast, it’s a pleasant bit of ...

Last year, the second edition of the Knoxville 24 Hour Film Festival was in a do-or-die situation. The competition, which pits movie-making teams against one another to complete a short film in one day’s time, lacked financial sponsorships, and festival ...

The Knoxville chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Artists is organizing Knoxville’s Second Annual Design Week, May 14-18, with special events to “engage, inspire, educate and spotlight Knoxville’s thriving design community.”