Happy at home: A rhythm guitar-centric band with a monster sax player that formed through late-night sessions at the University of Virginia might sound like a familiar backstory, but this six-piece rock act founded in 2013 relies on original, epic jams to cut its own swath through the East Coast venue map. Kendall Street Company […]
Drummer’s beat: Ari Hoenig gets so immersed in the art of drumming that he’s been known to use his body as an instrument when performing with The Ari Hoenig Trio. The jazz drummer, composer, and educator has a unique ability to modify the pitch of a drum, playing notes in the chromatic scale, melodies, and […]
Wild sax: Musical wilderness is the running theme as the Telemetry Music Series highlights free jazz with the “ferocious, sorcerous, and way out there” improv of Charlotte, North Carolina’s Ghost Trees sharing the bill with Space-Saver’s drum and sax-tinged combos of doom metal/acid techno/minimal synth. Guitarist, electronic musician, composer, and educator Kittie Cooper amps up […]
Nomadic harmony: Izzy Heltai’s indie-folk tells emotionally captivating stories that leave enough room for the listener to relate. His sparse piano and strong vocals are simple and soaring, invoking his nomadic lifestyle—Heltai has been traveling across the country, living out of his car to facilitate a passion for nature and motion. These elements are strongly […]
You name it! Good news for hockey players, figure skaters, and curlers who have been adrift since the Main Street Arena closed in spring 2018. Construction is scheduled to begin on a new ice rink in Brookhill, the Coran Capshaw and Alan Taylor-owned Riverbend Development project off U.S. 29 in northern Albemarle, in July. Nonprofit […]
By Price Thomas Ask around Charlottesville and everyone (I mean it, everyone) knows Greg Thomas some way, somehow. They’ve had him as a teacher, their mom had him as a teacher (he’s been at this a while), or they’ve seen him perform with Big Ray and the Kool Kats and various other groups over the […]
By Caroline Eastham During the summer, the UVA student population dwindles from near 25,000 to around 4,000. Despite this significant decrease, it’s business as usual for many Corner restaurants and stores, which have learned over the years to use this time as an opportunity to cater to different crowds and to improve overall customer experience. […]
THEN: A&N, closed in 2006 / NOW: Commonwealth Restaurant & Skybar, opened in 2011 If you grew up in Charlottesville, you probably remember stopping by A&N in the summer to shop for back-to-school gear. For several decades, A&N, a popular, Richmond-based sportswear chain founded in 1868, operated on the Downtown Mall (among other locations in […]
Anything but tired: Very loud Bay Area doom metal trio Sleep attained underground legend status with a monolithic late-’90s riff monster called Dopesmoker. The long-awaited 2018 follow-up, The Sciences, brought new commercial success and a bit more sonic variation without sacrificing the band’s trademark bongwater-soaked power. Rumor has it that the oft-shirtless guitarist Matt Pike […]
Acoustic ascent: The 20-year career of Rodrigo y Gabriela has played out as deftly as the acoustic rock duo’s music. Meeting in Mexico as teenagers, Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero became a couple and formed a rock band. After growing frustrated with local opportunities, they took up residency in Dublin, Ireland, where they perfected their […]