ARTS Picks: Wes Swing

The second album from chamber pop cellist Wes Swing traces its origin to California, Texas and Washington, D.C. While composing in San Francisco, Swing struggled to overcome a wrist injury, before reconnecting with producer Paul Curreri (living in Austin at the time) who was facing his own physical challenge. Once collaboration on the new pieces […]

ARTS Picks: Four Voices

Any one of the legends on the Four Voices tour would be reason enough to lay out your picnic blanket on the Pavilion lawn. But packaged together, Joan Baez, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray and Emily Saliers form a folk supergroup made to crush your feminist mother’s bucket list. Although it’s their […]

ARTS Picks: Krish Mohan

Indian stand-up comedian and writer Krish Mohan avoids the easy jokes, choosing instead to build funny stories by forcing the audience into his shoes. His 2016 album, How Not To Fit In, runs through a list of awkward topics such as a dolphin with six arms, the lack of originality in racism and interpreting American […]

First Fridays: June 2

“My artwork smells very appealing, if you like Indian food,” says Charlottesville illustrator Paul Hostetler, whose work will be on display this month in the McGuffey Art Center Lower Hall Gallery. “And I hope that previous sentence makes people lean up and smell my art during the show. Then lean back and think about how […]

Movie review: Baywatch can’t save itself from a lack of focus

The big-screen Baywatch isn’t the worst movie ever made—just the most pointless. There are occasional laughs but it can’t be called funny. The performers are charming and committed, but it’s not exactly well acted. Everyone was hired for a job: They did it, took lunch, got paid and went home satisfied with a solid day’s […]

Album reviews: Juana Molina, Penguin Café and Kweku Collins

Juana Molina Halo (Crammed Discs) Starting with her enchanting Segundo album, Juana Molina has cultivated such an indelible style that it might seem confusing if she deviated. Her music comprises repetitive acoustic guitar patterns, wavery keyboard tones, rubbery bass figures and rhythm tracks from homemade sources like hand claps and ticking clocks—and then, there’s Molina’s […]

ARTS Pick: In Full

That first hour on Friday after 5 o’clock is special. The window to the weekend opens up, a breeze of freedom summons—the boss is off your back, deadlines are met, the deal has closed—and it’s time to tilt a few back. Rock-solid cover band, a jukebox come to life, In Full is right there with […]

Henry Hoke’s film work inspires a short story collection

Charlottesville native Henry Hoke remembers writing stories and poems while a student at Venable Elementary. “I think I always made things up,” he says. “I always came from places of imagination.” He left the city at age 18 to study film at NYU. After living in the world of film, first in New York and […]

ARTS Picks: Haus of Belle

The drag showcase Haus of Belle offers queens, kings and femme fatales primping, preening and performing in high style. Directed by Dreama Belle, the lineup features Beverly Bouver, Bunny Nicole, Ro’Three, Ivy Dripp, Jason Cox and Latashiya Shade in addition to headliner Bert Darling, who promises on his Facebook page: “I’ll be pulling out new […]