Dust to dust

The Murray family was looking to take its already eclectic Panorama Farms in a new direction. Best known for hosting the UVA cross country team and national collegiate running events, the Murrays wanted to turn a large swath of their Earlysville land into a green burial cemetery, where bodies can be laid to rest in […]

On a high note

John D’earth knows Charlottesville music. Since settling in town in 1981, he’s come to define the local jazz scene—and beyond—with his considerable crossover into pop genres, and reach as a music teacher. So when D’earth decides to bring a French jazz pianist stateside for a local residency, culminating with a show alongside himself and the […]

All tomorrow’s parties

Does the Tom Tom Founders Festival, now in its 11th year, really need an introduction? The fest’s aged a lifetime in a decade, from its quixotic first years—“like, what even is Tom Tom?”—to its formative middle years, and its wizened old age.  The 2023 version’s vision, “Future Forward,” is appropriately expansive, with ample breadth to […]

Dig rugs

Jordan Heres has visited more than 50 countries, many in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. There, he learned to love rugs. While offering humanitarian aid and disaster relief around the world, Heres gained perspective on floor covering artisanship and quality. He decided to share his rug love by starting Weft & Wool, an online […]

American shoji

Joanne McNergney’s garage wasn’t doing her much good. It was built decades ago and too small for her car. She had turned it into a storage unit, parking her car in an adjacent carport, but as a shed, the space was neither functional nor fashionable. An avid gardener, McNergney wanted a well-organized, properly situated place […]

Smyrna’s reach

Orhun Dikmen moved to Charlottesville to work in the kind of restaurant most people think of when they think Turkish food. But after six years with his brother at Sultan Kebab, he teamed up with chef Tarik Sengul to take his home country’s cooking to another level at Smyrna. With its blend of Turkish and […]

Surf to turf

On the seminal hip-hop album Enter the Wu-Tang, an interviewer asks the renowned rappers about their ultimate goal. Before Raekwon offers a dubious, circuitous response, Method Man sums it up: “Domination, baby.” Presumably that’s also the endgame for Daniel Kaufman, the Public Fish & Oyster proprietor who’s moving his empire from sea to land with […]

Truck life

When Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live brings its Glow Party event to the John Paul Jones arena on March 25 and 26, the newest face in the cab will be Taylor Holman.  Holman, driving the Demo Derby truck on the tour, grew up around monster trucks. But she only climbed behind the wheel about eight […]

Gimme some moe.

Rob Derhak thinks of Charlottesville fondly. The bassist, vocalist, and founding member of the band moe. recalls playing here “back in the old days,” when there was “that old bar behind the railroad tracks.”  Trax? “Yeah, I think that was it,” he says, but it’s like he still doesn’t quite believe it all happened. Derhak’s […]

Drink deep

Brewing beer is about control: controlling ingredients, controlling processes, controlling product.  But it’s also about deciding when to let go. Take Three Notch’d Brewing Company. It started small, with brewmaster Dave Warwick, supported by a team of four administrators, making a few hundred barrels of craft beer per year at their Preston Avenue home. At […]