Warren Haynes: Hell of a guy

"Thursday's heavy rains made gardening impossible, but that's what Suzie Cromer was thinking about.

"Cromer is looking forward to tending flower beds in the yard of the new home she received from Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. The home was built with proceeds from the 2007 Warren Haynes Christmas Jam.

" 'I think it's a great opportunity,' Cromer said of the home. 'It's the best opportunity.' ..."

Musicians, actors, celebrities oftentimes overstep their fame by telling us who we should vote for, what causes we should back, etc. But sometimes these are just good people doing great things. We've noted for some time the Asheville Citizen-Times' great coverage of Haynes and his annual Christmas Jam, which raises money for Habitat.

"Haynes, a Grammy-winning guitarist known for his band Gov't Mule, presented the keys to the home in the Habitat for Humanity Enka Hills community to the Cromers on Thursday afternoon," according to the paper. Haynes has funded about 10 percent of all the homes the organization has built in the Asheville area.

Not too shabby.

All proceeds from the annual concert go toward the organization's building projects. It has pumped $665,000 into the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, allowing the organization to build about 12 homes. Habitat usually builds two homes each year with money raised from the jam.

For Haynes, meeting the families who receive the homes “makes it all very omnipresent.” When he first started making this now-annual appearance in the neighborhood, he said he found it very emotional.

“It makes you realize what you are doing this for,” he said.

Quick hits: Christmas Jam's charity aspect more important than ever, and country ham making a comeback

Christmas Jam expands to double duty
"The annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam has long been a major force in Asheville, drawing 7,000 or more fans to the Civic Center each year, many who fill local hotels, restaurants and clubs during their stay here," says the Citizen-Times. "It's the signature concert event at the Civic Center, with an international reputation for its strong musical lineup. And it's so far pumped $665,000 into the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, letting the organization build about 12 homes.

"But this year, with the economy in recession, the jam's financial punch could be more important than ever. Grammy-winning guitarist Haynes, an Asheville native, is expanding the all-star jam to two nights, Friday-Saturday at the Civic Center arena. ..."


Disappearing art of the country ham
"Salty. Leathery. The skin dried so hard, it can take a band saw to cut through it. Before cooking, you have to heft it into a sink and scrub off the mold. This is not most people's definition of food. But in the Carolinas, it's a good description of one of our most important contributions to the American food story: Slow-cured country ham," says the Charlotte Observer.

"It once kept people in this part of the world alive through tough winters. It added flavor and protein to meager plates of grits and greens. It was so prized, colonists made scarce cash by shipping it to Europe for the gentry.

"Today, slow-cured country ham is not much more than a lingering taste of Carolinas history. In supermarkets, you usually find mass-produced versions that use climate controls to hurry the process. ..."

Lineups announced for Christmas Jam

You have to hand it to Western North Carolina: it has two of the better and longer-running concert events in America. A lot of people know of Wilkesboro's MerleFest, but perhaps equally impressive is Warren Haynes' annual Christmas Jam in Asheville.

Haynes has mentioned of late that he really wanted to step up the talent for this year's Jam, which will take place Dec. 12-13 at the Asheville Civic Center.

Um, I think he did.

"The Allman Brothers Band, Derek Trucks, Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt and Steve Earle are among the acts playing at this year's Warren Haynes Christmas Jam, event organizers announced," says the Citizen-Times.

But that's not all.

"Also booked are Joan Osborne, Johnny Winter, J.J. Grey, the Del McCoury Band, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Ruthie Foster, a Michael Franti acoustic show featuring Jay Bowman, Col. Bruce Hampton, Robert Kearns, Kevn Kinney, Eric Krasno and Mickey Raphael. More performers will be announced."

The Jam is a two-night affair this year, with an "invitation-only pre-jam on Dec. 11 at The Orange Peel on Biltmore Avenue."

It is Asheville's single-biggest entertainment event of the year and has raised more than $650,000 for Habitat for Humanity, which works to build affordable housing.

“Warren promised that this year's jam would be the biggest yet, and it looks pretty good to me,” said Rick Rice, announcer at Asheville's Rock 104 radio station. “I think there are three or four acts there that could be headliners.”