By Seth Green On August 5, I went to my first City Council meeting. I was one of the few people left in the room when local activist Tanesha Hudson made her request for additional funding to bring the artist Wale, a well-known D.C. rapper, to perform in Tonsler Park as part of Unity Days. […]
Americana crossroads: New Orleans-based group The Iguanas broaden the geographical scope of what’s considered Americana. Drawing heavily from Latin music with lyrics in both English and Spanish, the band’s songs cross cultures, styles, and languages. After almost 30 years and eight studio albums, the four-piece has gone from house band to bringing down the house […]
Great Knight: Seven-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Gladys Knight is a legend who has been scoring R&B hits since the ‘60s with the Pips. Often referred to as “The Empress of Soul,” she’s touring her ubiquitous songs like “Midnight Train to Georgia” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” […]
Get hip to it: EquallyOpposite’s Lamar “Gordo” Gordon and Zachary “ZacMac” McMullen make “rap music for people who don’t like rap music.” The hip-hop duo recognized something in each other that comes through in their music—funny, smart, snappy lyrics, and a willingness to be goofy. “You never know what you’re gonna get,” Gordon told C-VILLE […]
Heart unburdened: In going it alone, Rachel Ries found herself in a new community and nurtured it into the musical project Her Crooked Heart. Ries was touring for a solo album, going through a divorce, and had “leapt into the untethered unknown” when she got busy writing the transformative song cycle that defines her new […]
Forward together It was a full house at First Baptist Church on West Main Street on August 12, as a diverse crowd gathered for an interfaith service. “It fills my heart to see the pews filled like this,” said deacon Don Gathers. “We’ve come together not because of what happened, but in spite of it.” […]
It’s been two years since the “Summer of Hate,” and Charlottesville, to the larger world, is still shorthand for white supremacist violence. As we approach the second anniversary of August 11 and 12, 2017, we reached out to a wide range of community leaders and residents to talk about what, if anything, has changed since […]
Dream team: Most of the music made by Charlottesville-raised Aussie Mariana Bell can be comfortably described as indie rock influenced by jazz and folk. But in 2017, her collaboration with Sander van Doorn, DubVision, and Mako led to Bell’s name rising on the EDM charts with the single “Into the Light.” To celebrate her birthday, […]
Brass tactics: Circus-like characters, eye-catching costumes, and a blend of big-band-friendly musical styles make up the exalting sensory overload that is the MarchFourth Marching Band. The 20-member troupe from Portland, Oregon, is a festival staple, and has been tapped for high-profile gigs at the Kennedy Center, The Fillmore, and ESPN’s “ESPY Awards” show. The band’s […]
Bluegrass beginnings: Loving Dolly Parton may have gotten Irene Kelley kicked out of her first rock band (she was fired for bringing a Dolly album to practice), but in the 30 years since, her bluegrass sensibility, songwriting talent, and instrumental know-how have made her an accomplished musician. Moving from Pennsylvania to Nashville at the start […]