At the intermission of his concerts, John McCutcheon asks attendees to submit song requests for the show’s second set. It’s how the Grammy-nominated folk singer, who’s released 44 albums during his five-decade career, figures out what to play. With a huge catalog of material, McCutcheon says his performances are spontaneously constructed, and singing is just […]
Josh Vana’s folk song “To the River” has the good bones of a powerful protest anthem: a timeless chord progression, an urgent message of opposition, and an uplifting chorus ready for joined voices. In the lyrics, he laments environmental degradation at the hands of industry, and speaks for the small communities that have been embroiled […]
Brent Cobb has written hit songs for Nashville heavyweights like Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, and Miranda Lambert, to name a few. But throughout the handful of records he’s released under his own name, he’s always carried himself with a laidback ease, projecting backroads’ casualness instead of polished Music City ambition. He sings with a […]
It’s a sunny day in Amsterdam when Josh Ritter checks in with C-VILLE, taking a phone call while sitting along one of the city’s many canals. When reached in early April, the Americana tunesmith was on a solo tour in Europe, the country where he first found success, playing with the likes of Joan Baez […]
Bill Evans left a lasting impression on the Charlottesville music scene. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1978, the innovative banjo player stuck around town and started a concert series at C&O Restaurant with Cloud Valley, his bluegrass outfit. The group, which also featured award- winning bassist Missy Raines, would also host guest […]
There were moments, Derek Trucks admits, that he wondered how Tedeschi Trucks Band—the electrifying 12-piece Southern roots outfit he leads with his wife, powerhouse blues vocalist Susan Tedeschi—could continue. In February, the band’s keyboardist/flute player Kofi Burbridge passed away after battling heart disease, and a couple months prior, longstanding bassist Tim Lefebvre had left the […]
It’s hard to follow all of the creative turns in Bruce Hornsby’s lengthy career. The smooth-voiced innovator hit it big in the mid-’80s with “The Way It Is,” and his musical path since has been anything but predictable. He’s played in the Grateful Dead, ventured into jazz and bluegrass collaborations, and fostered a partnership with […]