Fo shizzle Charlottes-vizzle. Rapper, producer, actor, activist and all around icon Snoop Dogg commands the stage with his smooth rhymes and patented swagger. Snoop’s catalog stretches over twenty years and thirteen albums, breaking through with hits like “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang,” “Gin & Juice,” “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and his most recent, “Peaches and […]
Sol Driven Train’s musical psyche has been self-diagnosed with “sonic schizophrenia.” Citing influences from Paul Simon and John Prine, to New Orleans jazz, Caribbean island-rock and Afro-beat, the group has amassed a loyal fan base through its musical diversity. The band members first jammed together in their middle school music room, and formed a strong […]
Founded in 2013 by Jason Burke, the quarterly Six Pack Songwriter Series hosts a lineup of native Virginia musicians with diverse acoustic styles and subject matter. This time around, the series takes the stage in a bigger venue and places past participants John Kelly, Justin Storer, Michael Coleman, Sue Harlow, Susan Munson and Thomas Gunn […]
Sea(food) change Sometimes when a new owner takes over an existing restaurant, it’s kind of an ordeal—you know, out with the old, in with the new. But sometimes these things are a lot quieter and below the radar, even when a longtime local favorite is involved. Blue Light Grill, the Downtown Mall staple that’s been […]
After spending several years reviving the time-tested tradition of the African-American string band with the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, vocalist, violinist and banjo player Rhiannon Giddens is breathing new life into early ’60s folk with her first solo effort. Her debut album, Tomorrow is My Turn, dropped this past February and showcases Giddens’ R&B-influenced interpretations of classics […]
Grant Kwiecinski aka GRiZ is only going to get bigger. At age 23, the multi-talented artist has carved out a unique musical niche that’s a little bit of funk, a little bit of rap, a little bit of soulful sax, and it’s all GRiZ’s eclectic sound. His rising popularity landed him on festival stages from Coachella to Red […]
Traditional folk duo Eamon O’Leary and Jefferson Hamer (above) sing and play the guitar, bouzouki and mandolin as The Murphy Beds. They draw on experience from Irish and American traditions (O’Leary grew up in Dublin and Hamer has roots in the New York music scene) on numbers like “Rise Up, My Darling,” a folk song […]
Although acclaimed singer-songwriter Danny Schmidt is currently based out of Austin, Texas, his musical career began in Charlottesville. A contemporary of Devon Sproule and Paul Curreri, Schmidt got his start playing The Prism Coffeehouse and The Gravity Lounge, and was named oneof “the 50 most significant songwriters of folk in the last 50 years” by “The Midnight […]
Mother Bombie is an Elizabethan comedy that tells the timeless story of parents’ fruitless efforts in matchmaking. Plans go awry when two couples are caught in the middle of an arranged marriage scheme. The roller coaster plot features disguises, servant’s antics, awkward teen love and a shocking reveal. With snappy one-liners like, “You must, for […]
Take a seat It’s springtime, y’all, and nothing says warm weather quite like sipping a Bloody Mary outside. (Or sipping a margarita outside, or sipping an IPA outside…) For years, Downtown Mall restaurant owners have fought tooth and nail for the limited real estate on the bricks, and this year it seemed like a showdown […]