It was a mutual fondness for obscure artists like Randy Newman and Ry Cooder that originally sparked drummer Louie Pérez and guitarist David Hidalgo’s musical relationship in 1973. But it wasn’t until the ’80s that the massive soundtrack cover of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” catapulted them into the mainstream. More than 40 years, and 20 […]
Exercise your freedom of speech and love for the arts in a unique dramatic performance when Live Arts’ Fight Night places control in the audience’s hands—literally. Viewers determine the outcome of the play by voting with a handheld transmitter as five actor/contestants duke it out onstage in an innovative production that challenges beliefs and stimulates […]
Chainbreaker With several new barbecue places popping up in the past year, C’ville might seem to be getting a bit saucy, and a new-to-town couple is now joining the smokeout with a franchise of the hot national chain Moe’s Original BBQ, which is set to open in July. Ashleigh and Mike Abrams are Moe’s veterans, […]
The countdown is on: one month ‘til summer. If you ask us, that’s just early enough to start moving the party outside. We’ve rounded up 13 of our favorite outdoor spaces—from a Gothic Revival to a stucco four-square—to glean inspiration. Easy breezy (above) The two wings of this house frame a woodsy view and, once […]
Scene veteran William Walter’s songwriting and stagemanship has matured over his near 20-year career through relentless touring in the U.S., Europe and South America, and the singer-songwriter has acquired fans everywhere. But it’s no secret or surprise that his big smile and tender lyrics capture the hearts (and bottoms?) of his female fans, so much […]
North Carolina six-piece American Aquarium revives its raw roots rock with a new level of honesty in the lyrics. After years of barely scraping by with the devotion of a niche audience, frontman BJ Barham and his frequently rotating backup were ready to throw in the towel before a sudden burst of success kept the […]
The term nonprofit belies some big numbers: According to a joint economic report from Johns Hopkins University and Virginia Commonwealth University, the state’s nonprofit sector employs 235,100 people, collects $40 billion in revenues annually and spends $38 billion per year. Charlottesville is a critical part of that landscape. Nonprofit expenditures per capita in the city […]
Food dudes It’s hard not to notice a sign featuring the words “Nude Fude” on the side of the road. New-to-Charlottesville Culinary Institute of America graduate Ken Notari and his wife Dani recently hung that sign outside the old Cobb’s Pizza & Grill on Hydraulic Road, and their plan is to open a casual farm-to-table […]
When national gothic icon Aurelio Voltaire isn’t penning one of his popular graphic novels or teaching at the School of Visual Arts in New York, he’s on the road playing his unique brand of “dark cabaret” symphonic rock. He is currently on a 30-city tour with special guest Ego Likeness, so if you’re in the […]
Accomplished playwright Katori Hall left her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee to earn degrees from Columbia, Harvard and The Juilliard School, and then returned artistically in the 2009 London-based production of The Mountaintop to ponder the final hours of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. When the maid arrives with coffee in the Reverend’s dingy, diminutive motel […]