In the folk troubadour tradition, Austin, Texas-born Philip Gibbs has traveled the country, singing about the current state of affairs and the working man’s plight, channeling the anthems of songsmiths before him. Following a respite in the Rocky Mountains, Gibbs’ recent move to Richmond found the singer-songwriter settling down for the first time in years. […]
In the folk troubadour tradition, Austin, Texas-born Philip Gibbs has traveled the country, singing about the current state of affairs and the working man’s plight, channeling the anthems of songsmiths before him. Following a respite in the Rocky Mountains, Gibbs’ recent move to Richmond found the singer-songwriter settling down for the first time in years. […]
A work of art is no more separate from the artist who created it than a historical event is from the individuals who shaped its outcome. To tell the story of the slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in 1831, you cannot ignore Turner’s upbringing, religious beliefs and the political and economic reality that put him […]
In the beginning there were two artists, Zack Worrell and Greg Antrim Kelly. They were moved by street art, graffiti, hip-hop, punk, philanthropy and community organizing as art. Then Worrell bought a building. “It was pretty raw,” Kelly says, remembering those first days in the space now known as The Bridge. It had unpainted concrete […]
On varying scales, Charlottesville is home to most of the cultural institutions of a much larger city: theater, opera, art galleries and film. Now we can add fashion shows to that list. On Saturday, Rag Trade brings fashion, music and art downtown to the IX Art Park. Three local designers will be featured amid choreographed […]
Zack Worrell and his team at Monolith Knives are carving out a name for themselves in the handmade knives market. From a studio on Worrell’s Ivy family farm, once owned by Meriwether Lewis, Worrell, Alan Bates and Nick Watson create culinary and field knives. Recently, they have been “breathing life” into folding knives, as Bates […]
Devendra Banhart Ape in Pink Marble (Nonesuch) Devendra Banhart seems like a good idea. Handsome, talented and raised in Venezuela and Los Angeles by free-spirited parents, Banhart dropped out of art school at 19 to busk on streets, and subsequently came to the attention of Swans’ Michael Gira, who released Banhart’s home recordings to wide […]
Sonya Clark’s “Bitter, Sweet and Tender,” currently on view at Second Street Gallery, features sculpture, textiles and photography Clark has created, found or had fabricated. These objects limn a potent narrative encompassing Clark’s personal history and the troubled history of the U.S. and Caribbean centered on the use of people as commodities, examined through the […]
Mary Chapin Carpenter’s genuine approach to songwriting allows the multiple Grammy winner to transcend the boundaries of category. Moving easily between classic country and modern Americana, she recently expanded her musicianship with an album of orchestral music and her new record, The Things That We Are Made Of, was produced by hot hand Dave Cobb (producer of […]
Just like thousands of small-town music nerds before and after him, Mark Shue spent much of his adolescence in his bedroom in Staunton, cranking Guided By Voices songs on the stereo. He not only listened along, but fantasized about breaking through and earning a devoted following of fans, just like those beloved underground indie rockers […]
Feast your eyes on some of Charlottesville’s most spectacular performance art when CIRCIX comes to town. There will be carnival games, face painting, balloon animals, food and beverages, plus a freak show and performances from fire breathers, jugglers, clowns and Moonlight Circus’ aerialists and acrobats. The fearless Opal Lechmanski will swallow swords and perform the […]