Thank you, Burr Beard

Let me play Devil’s advocate here for a moment. Burr Beard—the controversial general manager who left WTJU last week less than six months after being hired, citing “family concerns”—is the best thing that ever happened to UVA’s community radio station. When Beard announced plans to introduce changes to WTJU’s programming that DJs feared would curb […]

Darkness, light and Josh Ritter

The Festy Experience kicks off this weekend in Nelson County. This year’s lineup was curated by the Infamous Stringdusters, and includes local acts like Trees on Fire, and Devon Sproule and Paul Curreri (who will play together), and national acts like Railroad Earth and Toubab Krewe. Most exciting for many folk lovers is the Idaho-born […]

It's hip to be in a square

When I was given the assignment of traveling to a local elementary school to square dance, the first thing I did was panic. (I’m not much of a dancer, or at least it terrifies me.) The second was to go home and beg my girlfriend to come along. Fortunately, she had nothing else to do […]