–as seen in Asheville Citizen Times / Asheville Scene, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.
For the last 22 years, A Swannanoa Solstice has ushered in the holiday season with world-class music, stories, dance and collaborative artistry, bringing joy and light to downtown Asheville on winter’s darkest day.
It’s a celebration of all that makes Western North Carolina unique — of its people, cultures and traditions, whether Asheville born-and-raised or newly at home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And, for this year’s performance on Sunday, Dec. 22, at a time when the community feels more closely connected than ever before, Solstice offers an opportunity to come together not over grief, but over hope for the future.
“For Solstice this year, we just want to focus on the beautiful and uplifting parts of all that we’ve been through,” said fiddler and vocalist Natalya Weinstein, one-half of “klezgrass” folk duo Zoe & Cloyd. As the darkest day of the year, “the winter solstice marks the return of the light, and that’s been the theme of A Swannanoa Solstice for a long time. But, especially now, because it has been such a dark time for us, I think focusing on the light will feel even more powerful. We’ve all been through plenty of darkness.”
Weinstein’s musical partner and husband, multi-instrumentalist John Cloyd Miller, agrees: “It’s a celebration of this region’s resilience. We’ve all rallied so hard for each other, so let’s come together and sing, make music and share our traditions. We want to embrace the strength of everyone in this community, because I think that’s something everybody should be proud of.”
Created by the founders of The Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College, A Swannanoa Solstice has spread wholesome holiday cheer for more than two decades from the stage of downtown Asheville’s Wortham Center for the Performing Arts. The show’s namesake town was particularly hard-hit during Hurricane Helene’s devastation on the area, giving this year’s performance “more poignancy than ever,” said Rae Geoffrey, managing director at the Wortham Center. “Local musicians and storytellers will come together to not only celebrate the season — but to also recognize the strength of Swannanoa and all of Western North Carolina.”
Zoe & Cloyd are joined for 2024’s meaningful festivities by renowned fiddler Josh Goforth, beloved highland bagpiper EJ Jones & The Piper Jones Band, emcee and seasoned storyteller Becky Stone, Latinx folk artist M A R and his Afro-Peruvian band, the A.C. Reynolds Chorale and, new to the lineup this season, folk duo Newberry & Verch. Weinstein said audiences can expect plenty of collaboration among the artists, whose diverse backgrounds represent the evolving Appalachian experience, in this year’s holiday-themed variety show.
“We’re all just so emotionally raw right now, but for every one bad thing, I’ve probably seen 100 acts of kindness, of giving, from this community,” said musician Josh Goforth, who has been part of the Solstice lineup since 2020. “I have a bunch of friends who were writing really sad songs about the flood, but I wanted to write something different — something that’s a declaration of how I feel seeing all these acts of kindness — because I what I really want to do is lift people up and remind them how strong they are. So, I wrote this song called ‘Ain’t Laying Down Til My Ship Comes In,’ and that’s one piece I’ll definitely do at Solstice.”
A Madison County native, Goforth said the disaster has shown him what’s truly important in life, and that the best way to deal with life’s hardships — to come out the other side stronger than before — “is through community. And A Swannanoa Solstice is just that kind of event,” he continued. “I’m hoping it gives people a sense of joy — and also pride — to be from where we’re from, to know we’re in this together. And on the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year, you have to remember that tomorrow is going to be a little bit brighter.”
IF YOU GO
What: A Swannanoa Solstice
When: 2 p.m. & 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22
Where: Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, 18 Biltmore Ave., downtown Asheville
Tickets: $22-$60 at worthamarts.org/a-swannanoa-solstice-2024
