Cannons

The numbers on Spotify don’t lie: Cannons is popular and it’s clear why. The group presents completely problem-free tracks that ooze a too-smooth style of stifled glam disco. You would be wrong to call it this decade’s version of easy listening, though—it’s bubbly pop music built for areas where they’ve had success: TV show placement. […]

Listen to this

By Tami Keaveny, CM Turner, and Ella Powell Charlottesville is a city of music fans and aficionados. We have an abundance of sonic riches in the national tours that touch down at our venues, and we’ve built a few careers here as well (looking at you, jam daddy DMB). There’s a lot of talk about […]

Soul of Cville Festival

The fourth annual Soul of Cville Festival is a celebration of Black excellence across disciplines. Dance? You know it. Fashion show? For sure. DJ sets? Yup. Live music? Hell yeah. Beyond the performances, dozens of vendors and community partners will be on site. There’s awesome apparel, creative arts and crafts, meaningful mentorship, and a wide […]

“Pink Floyd—The Wall”

Whether you love it, hate it, or have never heard of it, here’s your chance to see it on the big screen. It’s Pink Floyd—The Wall. Watch a whacked-out superstar musician spiral into an isolated state of paranoia as he relives his childhood traumas. Watch him lapse into episodes of anxious and fantastical thinking as […]

Nathaniel Star

With enough soul-beat samples to make any crate-digger swoon, Nathaniel Star brings heady lyricism with heart to every track he touches. The C’ville local alternates gravel-voiced verses with honey-sweet hooks, moving seamlessly between driving hip-hop and smooth R&B. Writing with verve and witticism, Star celebrates Blackness and sonic expression through rich storytelling and riveting concept […]

Artist Nym Pedersen’s small-scale works leave a big impact

In the years leading up to the pandemic, artist Nym Pedersen could often be found on the Downtown Mall, peddling his small paintings, drawings, and collages, which he dubbed “art snacks.” Much like Steve Keene, Nym felt that art should be within everyone’s reach and priced his work accordingly. Nym died on March 9 at […]

Tried it in C’ville: Poppypointe open stitch night

To borrow phrasing from “The Golden Girls’” Sophia Petrillo, picture it: Warwick, New York. Late ’80s. Middle schooler me with my aggressively hair-sprayed ocean wave of bangs, oversized cable-knit sweater, and loud plaid Skidz pants (tucked into white scrunched-down socks, of course). Where was this obviously popular youngster headed to after school, you ask? Cross […]

Chloë Ester

Sometimes you’re in the mood for that mysterious alchemy of nostalgia and masochism that drives you to read your high school journal entries, love letters from exes, or hometown obituaries—searching for a good kind of sadness, a pain that reminds you of how precious and fleeting this life can be. And along comes Chloë Ester. […]

Bit Brigade

Old-school button-mashers and new-gen emulator kids alike can get behind Bit Brigade, musical purveyors of driving NES game soundtrack covers. They’ve powered up 8-bit classics into rockin’ renditions for more than 10 years, and they’re marching into town to boost your HP with full versions of “The Legend of Zelda” and “Castlevania.” The concert doubles […]

Mentor and student unite in artistic dialogue at Les Yeux du Monde

Artists Isabelle Abbot and Barbara Campbell Thomas met when Abbot was a student in the MFA program at UNC Greensboro where Thomas was a professor. Thomas became an important mentor to Abbot, helping her achieve a looser, freer painting style and chairing her thesis committee. “Influence + Conversation” at Les Yeux du Monde reunites the […]