ARTS Pick: Jason Burke Band and Bobblehead

With so many bands filling local venues, how does one stand out? If you’re Bobblehead, the answer is to be as unique as possible. Boasting influences that range from Devo to The Beatles to Kate Bush, the band is full of surprises, finding creative ways to entertain its audience—even if that means wearing an umbrella […]

Vocal exercises: Singer Nay Nichelle promotes positivity

Nay Nichelle likes to write outside. There’s something inspirational about natural sunlight, she says, especially at sunrise and sunset, when the light changes quickly and just so. It’s hard to put the reason for the inspiration into words, she says, but those moments often lead to lyrics for the R&B and pop singer’s next song. […]

ARTS Pick: The Love Language

Ranging from lo-fi, energetic acoustic tracks to gleaming songs rooted in pop, The Love Language’s new album, Baby Grand, got rolling with demos made in “a cavernous Virginia hammock factory” before the band’s relocation to the West Coast. Stuart McLamb’s lyrics are elevated by his effortless falsetto, running the gamut of romance with songs of […]

ARTS Pick: Haiku Slam

Slam poetry gets a lot more fast-paced—not to mention, a lot shorter—with the Southern Gothic Futurist Haiku Slam. Participants must keep their poems to 17 syllables, as required by the original Japanese art form. Reigning champ Raven Mack hosts and competes, going head-to-head with a contender for the crown in a haiku death match that’s […]

The Spy Who Dumped Me gets smart in the end

Don’t judge The Spy Who Dumped Me by its first 20 minutes, because if you bail on what seems like another forgettable high-concept frenemy gross-out fest, you’ll miss the best hard-R comedy of the year since Game Night. Fueled by the terrific chemistry between stars Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon and deftly directed by Susanna […]

Staunton Music Festival pushes past tradition

What do two cellists, one percussionist, and a tennis match have in common? The answer is “a lot,” if you ask UVA faculty member and distinguished percussionist I-Jen Fang. On Sunday at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, as part of the Staunton Music Festival, Fang will be joined by cellists Jan Müeller-Szeraws and Michael Unterman. […]

ARTS Pick: Hip Hop Showcase

The artists of Charlottesville are no strangers to creating in response to tragedy—sometimes with mournful works, sometimes with fierce ones. This is Our City Hip-Hop Showcase promises both, with a lineup of talented R&B artists from the city and surrounding areas. Though it starts the day before, the event is expected to spill over into […]

ARTS Pick: Halloween in August

You’ve heard of Christmas in July—now celebrate Halloween in August, and enjoy a serious night of monsters and music. The soundtrack is provided by the dark, appropriately creepy electronic music of Ships In The Night, along with deathrock/horror punk group The Brickbats (if these descriptors confuse you, think Misfits), and local acts Please Don’t Tell […]

Eze Amos exhibits ‘Cville People Everyday’

By now you might know his name. You’ve seen it before in these very pages. Maybe you’ve started to put a face to the name. You see him on the Downtown Mall, holding a camera, watching. He is freelance photographer Eze Amos, whose first photography exhibition, “Cville People Everyday,” opens this month at New City […]

Album reviews: Vince Guaraldi, The Beths, The Love Language, Tony Molina, and Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis

Vince Guaraldi The Complete Warner Bros. -Seven Arts Recordings (Omnivore) In “Linus and Lucy,” Vince Guaraldi created one of the most universally beloved recordings of all time, but it’s hard to find his stuff besides A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. Omnivore helps with this nifty two- disc reissue, comprising three albums from 1968-69 plus four […]