After 16 years—old enough, as it turns out, to finally get its driver’s license—the Fast and Furious series finally has nothing left to prove. There’s no need to explain why good guys turn bad, how a particular bit of technology works or where an improvised ramp came from that Vin Diesel somehow knew would be […]
After 16 years—old enough, as it turns out, to finally get its driver’s license—the Fast and Furious series finally has nothing left to prove. There’s no need to explain why good guys turn bad, how a particular bit of technology works or where an improvised ramp came from that Vin Diesel somehow knew would be […]
In 2013, Dave Frey and his partner, fellow music promoter Peter Shapiro, started the Lockn’ Festival, a multi-genre musical blowout that takes place in late summer on the sprawling Oak Ridge Farm in the Nelson County town of Arrington. Over the past four years the event has brought an array of heavyweight acts in roots, […]
When Kate Tamarkin was an undergraduate at Southern California’s Chapman University, orchestra conductor was not on her list of career choices. “As a female back then, it never occurred to me to even want to [do that],” the music director and conductor of the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia says. But she was […]
Maybe it’s a cheap conceit for a writer, but there are times when it’s necessary to state the obvious: One of art’s prime functions is to take you somewhere else. In a riveting moment of contemplation, art conveys you to a deeper plane of thought, motivates you to cultivate an unexpected appreciation of the previously […]
Tom Tom Founders Festival saves one of its highlights for last in Porchella, a free music event that turns the expansive front porches of the Belmont neighborhood into stages for local players, including University of Whales, Michael Coleman and Gina Sobel. Pull up a lawn chair or stroll the streets of Goodman and Graves and […]
By nature, musicians draw from their emotional lives, consciously or not, to commune and titillate. Sallie Ford puts it all on her sleeve unabashedly on her new album, Soul Sick, a confessional that deals with vulnerability and rebuilding, offered through a British Invasion-meets-girl group doo-wop melding of garage rock. Opener Molly Burch left a Hollywood […]
The weeklong Nine Pillars Hip-Hop Cultural Festival is evidence that Charlottesville’s scene is thriving. The fest kicks off April 17 with a youth showcase and features events such as the Build-a-Bar lyrics workshop and the Black Rhymes Matter seminar on rap as social activism. Poets, singers, dancers and emcees perform at a Verbs and Vibes […]
Sneaks It’s a Myth (Merge) Sneaks is 19-year-old Eva Moolchan. She’s from Washington, D.C., but don’t look for political rage or go-go on It’s a Myth. It’s sinewy, minimal pop you can dance to, albeit briefly—there are 10 songs in 19 minutes. And Moolchan doesn’t sound too bothered about anything—she sounds like ESG doing warm-up […]
One of the most respected talents in opera today, Eric Owens grew up playing and performing music in his Philadelphia home before studying voice as an undergraduate at Temple University. Owens made his mark by taking on new roles in contemporary work before he gained notice for various performances in Wagner’s Ring Cycle and was […]
Conventional wisdom says, “The problem with Hollywood is they’re out of ideas. It’s all sequels and remakes. Maybe more people would see their movies if they stopped making sequels, reboots and whatever soft reboots are.” On its face, this is a perfectly reasonable demand. As ticket prices get more expensive, moviegoers want their money’s worth, […]