ARTS Pick: Banff Mountain Film Festival goes extreme

Dramatic mountainous backdrops compete with daring cinematography during the Banff Mountain Film Festival, where the audience has a bird’s-eye view of outdoor sports pros at their most extreme. The festival offers more than 30 short films that connect with personal stories like that of American skier Aaron Rice, who aims to set a record by […]

ARTS Pick: Lucy Dacus answers some big questions

Being cautious has never been in Lucy Dacus’ playbook. Comfortable with big questions and lyrically confident, Dacus is still riding a wave of accolades from her debut, No Burden, an album that pegged her as someone to watch. Of her latest release, Historian, C-VILLE’s Nick Rubin says Dacus delivers “disarming frankness and old-soul wisdom.” Supported […]

ARTS Pick: Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home

Fun Home is a musical adapted from the autobiographical memoir of graphic artist Alison Bechdel, who chronicles her life from childhood to the present. When Bechdel’s father dies, she starts an introspective adventure, trying to make sense of their complicated and sometimes strained relationship.  As she uncovers the mysterious life that her dad led as […]

Lynn Thorne’s new book honors a journey of love and transition

It began at a Live Arts callback a few years ago. That’s where Lynn Thorne, a native Virginian who had just moved to Afton, met Jennifer. “We kind of became instant friends, and she shared with me pretty early on that her husband was transgender,” Thorne says. At the time, Thorne admits, she didn’t really […]

Area musicians get jazzed for Albemarle High School benefit

Vocalist Veronica Swift has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center several times. She’s got a regular gig at New York’s legendary Birdland, and she tours with trumpeter Chris Botti. She’s also shared the stage with Michael Feinstein, Esperanza Spalding and Paquito D’Rivera. But the 23-year-old Albemarle County native says the place she’s most happy is […]

Movie review: Red Sparrow flutters but never quite lands

In Red Sparrow, a fallen Russian ballerina (Jennifer Lawrence) is given an impossible choice—to sacrifice her free will and dignity for her country by becoming a “sparrow” trained in the art of exploiting the sexual vulnerabilities of her targets, or lose the apartment and medical coverage provided by the Bolshoi. That is, until the plot […]

Jessica Lea Mayfield gets personal about domestic abuse

Jessica Lea Mayfield is done apologizing. The Nashville-based artist made her solo debut in 2008 with the album With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, produced by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. Known for towing the line between straight-ahead roots (she grew up playing in a bluegrass band with her family) and snarling alt-rock, Mayfield delivered languid vocals […]

Album reviews: Kyle Craft, Lucy Dacus, Salad Boys and Marlon Williams

Kyle Craft Full Circle Nightmare (Sub Pop) Portland’s Kyle Craft is about to rock, and you may salute him. Craft writes perfect nü-classic rock songs with pounding piano, pealing slide guitar, and sucking-in-the-’70s horn charts—all present on “Exile Rag,” naturally. And a ubiquitous musical element that also happens to describe Craft’s constant state of hot […]

ARTS Pick: The Wind and The Wave sweeps the alt-indie scene

The Wind and The Wave has been quietly and unassumingly sweeping the alt-indie rock music scene since its debut album dropped in 2014. Made up of singer-songwriters Dwight Baker and Patty Lynn, who began making music just to see what would happen, The Wind and The Wave ended up with a serious following of rabid […]

ARTS Pick: Beyond the Pale crosses musical boundaries

Canadian chamber-folk group Beyond the Pale formed in 2001, employing expert musicianship and dynamic song-crafting to create a sound that takes from jazz, reggae and classical music, while being heavily accented by Balkan and Romanian tradition. The group crosses musical borderlines on instruments from around the world, including fiddle, accordion, guitar, mandolin, hammered dulcimer and […]