Music reflects the spirit of a community. With each new generation, artists must find ways to keep the music they create playing around town. In the Charlottesville area, a small but dedicated group of people keeps the hip-hop scene thriving. Musicians like Channing “Mr. Gray” Gray and Malcolm “Waasi” Wills work with a variety of […]
Playing into it: Athens, Georgia-based multi-instrumentalist Kaoru Ishibashi, who uses the stage name Kishi Bashi, makes a unique brand of indie pop. In some songs, his mastery of violin and guitar come across as bright and joyful, and in others he turns mournful. He’s toured with Regina Spektor, Sondre Lerche, and of Montreal, and has […]
Been there: Regardless of which collaborative era in Jeff Tweedy’s career got you on board—Jay Farrar, Jay Bennett, Billy Bragg, Nels Cline—you’ve likely heard the frontman of the revered alt-country, punk-leaning, folk-forward, American rock band Wilco at his best—because Tweedy does not disappoint. Twenty-five years after the band’s formation, Wilco’s poetic authenticity continues to thrive […]
Nashville smash: Superstar Miranda Lambert has a powerful voice, and a striking capacity for emotional depth. She sings female rage songs like “Gunpowder and Lead” and “Mama’s Broken Heart,” aimed at abusive partners and cheaters, and she can tone it down in sentimental crooning ballads, such as “The House That Built Me.” The country queen […]
Magnetic moments: “Eight years in the White House went by so fast,” says Barack Obama in the forward to Yes We Did, the new book by former official White House photographer Lawrence Jackson. (We feel you, Mr. President.) Jackson will tell stories about his work behind the scenes, snapping photos of Obama’s meetings with world […]
A new plan for Starr Hill Since last spring, the New Hill Development Corporation has been working on a Small Area Plan to guide development in the Starr Hill area, which runs from Preston Avenue to the CSX Railroad along West Main Street. On November 4, the African American-led nonprofit, which was awarded $500,000 to […]
By Ben Hitchcock “I feel like I’ve been training for this one job for 30 years,” said Coy Barefoot when he took over as executive director of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society in April of 2018. In an interview with ilovecville.com, the local author and media personality expressed his desire to rebrand the organization and […]
Jazz combo: A night of jazz brings New York City’s freewheeling quartet Spin Cycle—playing everything from Coltrane and improv to New Orleans funk and raw punk—together with local flutist Gina Sobel’s Gold Sounds in a co-headlining concert presented by the Charlottesville Jazz Society and WTJU. Sobel is also an accomplished singer, saxophonist, and guitarist who […]
Tale spin: Miriam Gordon-Stewart and Victory Hall Opera take on Hadyn’s 1784 opera Armida with a fresh perspective. The original is a love story of a crusader and enchantress, and Armida’s mission is to seduce, while the soldier’s is to resist. Gordon-Stewart’s version tells the story of an opera troupe “through the lens of a […]
Fired up: New Jersey band Blues Traveler is on the road in celebration of the 25th anniversary of its Grammy-winning album, Four. The blues-rock group broke into the mainstream with the record in 1994, playing on “Saturday Night Live,” and opening shows for The Rolling Stones. Now, the record’s hit tracks “Runaround” and “Hook” play […]