For Charlottesville-based author Stefan Bechtel, mystery is the essence of life. “I grew up in Chicago, in the white-bread suburbs where every lawn was perfect. But way out on the edge of town there was a swamp. Lincoln Swamp,” Bechtel says. “We would ride our bikes all the way out to Lincoln Swamp, and we […]
For Charlottesville-based author Stefan Bechtel, mystery is the essence of life. “I grew up in Chicago, in the white-bread suburbs where every lawn was perfect. But way out on the edge of town there was a swamp. Lincoln Swamp,” Bechtel says. “We would ride our bikes all the way out to Lincoln Swamp, and we […]
James Elkington Wintres Woma (Paradise of Bachelors) When bashful guitar hero Steve Gunn played the Tea Bazaar in fall 2014, a lot of the crowd ended up buzzing about sous guitarist James Elkington, whose electric and lap steel provided endlessly dazzling settings and accents. On Wintres Woma, his solo debut, Elkington sticks to acoustic guitar […]
Woody Guthrie—father of Arlo Guthrie and author of “This Land Is My Land”—was born more than a century ago in Okemah, Oklahoma, on July 14, 1912. And yet, many of his political protest songs of the 1940s and ’50s are as relevant now as they were then. This week, the Heritage Theatre Festival brings Guthrie […]
Two lonely elders bonding over their love of pets—Dan owns a dog and Betty has 19 cats—might seem like a bummer of a story at first glance, but in the hands of Irish playwright Christian O’Reilly, Chapatti unfolds as a powerfully sublime ode to human companionship. Heritage Theatre Festival’s production stars Richard Warner and Judith […]
Matt Curreri loves writing songs—whether he’s contemplating brothers going through life together or becoming a dad, there’s always some music bouncing around in his head, waiting to emerge into the aural world. And while he’s departed a bit from the clever pop tunes that garnered acclaim from the New Yorker and NPR, among others, Curreri’s […]
Edgar Wright is best known as the master of comedic tributes to genre films that never stoop to parody due to his genuine affection for the source material. He is not the only director to self-consciously employ techniques and tropes from older films, but he is the best at balancing his modernist sensibilities with a […]
Charlie Murchie wrote his first punk song when he was 12 years old. It went something like this: “Satan in my lunchbox drinkin’ all my juice / It’s no coincidence that my mom packed my 666 sandwiches.” If that sounds familiar, it’s because “Satan in My Lunchbox” is now a crowd favorite in the repertoire […]
Washington, D.C.-based goth band Novarium offers the synth leads and string arrangements that tend to dominate the genre, but vocalist Lisa D’Arcangelis, guitarists Sean Gronholt and Dean Michaels, bassist Eliakon and drummer Dean Anthony use their experience and skill to bring complexity to their tunes through a contemporary metal approach. Sponsored by Gild The Mourn […]
First Fridays: July 7 Photographer Ashley Florence experiments with materials, situations, emotions, narratives and curiosity in her show “Body and Bread,” on view at Studio IX this month. From a chromogenic print of Florence herself sitting in a traditional Madonna pose and wearing a full-body suit sewn out of blue book linen, to 19 Polaroids […]
The planning of our annual Power Issue always gives us pause in the arts section. Is an administrator or an artist powerful, or are they a conduit for the evocative grace of emotion that art produces? Assigning a numerical evaluation to people in the arts has always felt uncomfortable to me, so this year, in […]