Return to freedom

By Jesse Crosson We rolled down a bumpy and winding road, just 45 minutes south of Charlottesville. My heart was racing. My breath was shallow. The last time I had been down this road, I had shackles on my wrists and ankles. As we rounded a final curve, the tree cover pulled back to reveal […]

Pick: Shakespeare at the Ruins

Ruin(s) your evening: Song, comedy, and theater make a magical midsummer evening at Shakespeare at the Ruins. Four County Players, central Virginia’s longest continuously operating community theater, returns to the historic Barboursville ruins to open its 50th anniversary season with As You Like It. Katie Rogers, Kate Johnson, Robert Wray, and Robert Eversberg star in […]

Pick: Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz

Secret session: After 18 years together as musical and life partners, Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz have unlocked the formula to making remarkable jazz. Influenced by Celtic, Brazilian, and Indian music, as well as the New York jazz scene, McGarry’s luminous, seductive voice and Ganz’s expansive arrangements have earned the pair three Grammy nominations. In […]

Pick: Theocles

Solo and soulful: The one-man band Theocles is the project of local singer-songwriter Theo Herrin, who left a job at the Mayo Clinic in 2020 to work as a full-time musician and teaching artist at The Front Porch. Equipped with just a mic, guitar, and loop pedal, Herrin’s live shows feature soulful pop covers, from […]

Pick: Little Women

March on: An old classic is infused with modern sensibilities at the Virginia Theatre Festival. Acclaimed playwright Kate Hamill takes Louisa May Alcott’s beloved Little Women in a contemporary direction that sees the March sisters grappling with traditional gender roles, political beliefs, family dynamics, and love, as they grow from children to adults in a […]

Pick: Silas Frayser

Break loose: Local singer-songwriter Silas Frayser formed a sound that rests between acoustic beach rock and folk rock. His 2021 EP, The Silas Frayser Band, features emotive vocals, catchy picking, and lyrics that deserve a second listen. The guitarist’s duo provides the smooth tunes needed for a stress-free night following Pandemonium Day—a day for letting […]

Pick: “Witnessing Resistance”

Looking back: Photojournalist Eze Amos took more than 9,000 photographs on August 12, 2017. Now, five years later, he is sharing what he experienced and witnessed during and after the alt-right rally in his exhibition, “Witnessing Resistance.” Featuring 18 images taken between 2016 and 2017, the show is narrated by Amos, and it acts as […]

In brief: Rent soars, Khizr Khan honored, and more

Rent prices on the rise  While Charlottesville is seeking ways to make housing more affordable (see p. 12), rent prices keep climbing as pandemic eviction protection and rental assistance programs end.  “Just over the past month, the median rent increased by 2.3 percent. And when we look year over year, rents in Charlottesville are now […]

Sky high 

By Katie Kenny In the past few decades, rising housing costs have forced many families who have lived in Charlottesville for generations to move out of the city. They’ve left for Louisa, Fluvanna, and Greene counties and the City of Waynesboro, localities close enough to commute to Charlottesville but where the cost of living is […]