Proof that Charlottesville’s local music scene is thriving

For all the shit that 2016 flung at music-lovers—the loss of Prince, David Bowie, Vi Subversa, Pauline Oliveros, Leonard Cohen, Sharon Jones and many other groundbreaking artists—it’s also tossed us some pretty good local releases. The following list is by no means a complete catalog of what local bands and artists were up to this […]

The power of photography in Matt Eich’s Carry Me Ohio

Ten years before they were blamed and credited with helping to elect Donald Trump the 45th president of the United States, the white working class in post-industrial southeastern Ohio was documented by Matt Eich. A 19-year-old student of photojournalism at Ohio University at the time, Eich, now a Charlottesville resident, had grown tired of what […]

ARTS Pick: Butchertown Burlesque

Set to live jazz from the early 20th century, the third installment of Butchertown Burlesque is a nightlife experience from days gone by, “harkening back to yesteryear when flappers and bootleggers reigned,” featuring the Butchertown Cats Orchestra and a roster of dancing starlets from around the U.S. Hostess Deanna Danger encourages revelry and cocktail attire. […]

ARTS Pick: Trombone Shorty

Named by OffBeat Magazine as the New Orleans musical icon for the millennial generation, Trombone Shorty’s groundbreaking fusion of jazz, funk, blues, rock and hip-hop has been compared with other Big Easy greats like Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, Dr. John, Professor Longhair, Wynton Marsalis and The Neville Brothers. In addition to making music, in 2015 he found […]

Movie review: Jackie explores a new point of view

The myth of the Kennedys and Camelot is so interwoven in the fabric of American history and identity that we often forget how intentionally it was constructed to be just that. The style, the dinners, the decorations, everything was carefully planned to project a particular image that would inspire Americans and survive long after the […]

ARTS Pick: New Year’s Eve events

New Year’s Eve Pajama Dance Party featuring Lauren Hoffman’s Secret Storm, Shagwüf, Synthetic Division, Ships in the Night, Just Sex and DJ Cadybug. $15-20, 8:30pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. 977-5590. Irish New Year with King Golden Banshee and a live broadcast from Dublin. No cover, 7pm. Tin Whistle Irish […]

Trombone Shorty kicks it into high gear

On December 29, New Orleans native Troy Andrews aka Trombone Shorty appears at the Jefferson Theater with his group Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Named  by OffBeat Magazine as the New Orleans musical icon for the millennial generation, Andrews’s groundbreaking fusion of jazz, funk, blues, rock and hip-hop has been compared with the innovations of other Big Easy greats […]

Album reviews: Big Star, Sun Ra and NRBQ

Big Star Complete Third (Omnivore) A legendary band’s most legendary turn. After Big Star’s brilliant 1972 debut, #1 Record, stiffed, co-leader Chris Bell quit, leaving Alex Chilton as the band’s main mover for its 1974 follow-up, the sparkling Radio City—which also stiffed. Both albums are power-pop classics, routinely included in best-ever lists, but for many […]

Local radio stations amp up the holiday content

On December 24, 1906, Reginald Fessenden transmitted the first wireless public radio broadcast. It included Christmas songs, stories and, in Fessenden’s words, his own “not very good singing.” Today’s listeners have many—usually very good—derivatives of Fessenden’s holiday work, and here in Charlottesville the programming at local FM radio stations is no exception. “Our perspective is […]