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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
On February 20, 1962, Americans sat around their radios or TVs, transfixed by every update as astronaut John Glenn was launched into space, and became the first American to orbit the Earth. It was a big deal, not only for the country, but for the world. But as with many major scientific milestones, individual icons […]
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 […]
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 […]
Gather around the Christmas tree (or plastic Santa Claus) with some of Charlottesville’s favorite singer-songwriters during The Country Christmas Show, hosted by songstress Sarah White. Decked out in party dresses as The (All New) Acorn Sisters, White and Siân Richards perform a set of down-home tunes, with appearances by Luke Wilson, Carleigh Nesbit, Jim Waive […]
More than 30 years after making its debut at the Mineshaft Cellar, Charlottesville musical mainstay Indecision is still fostering a happening scene with its accomplished, jazzy jams. Covers and originals honed through extensive touring with heavyweights such as Phish, The Neville Brothers, Widespread Panic and Dave Matthews Band are the foundation for this rare musical […]
Normally when a film comes out in mid-December with a cast full of movie stars and a vaguely philosophical name, it’s either a Christmas movie or an Oscar bid. Collateral Beauty makes a play for both, a move that could have been bold had it been the first holiday film to have genuine pedigree in […]
Coming home for the holidays can be hectic, but Sam, Abe and James Wilson et al make a party of it every year with the annual Sons of Bill & Friends show. Expect raucous covers, heartfelt traditionals, original faves and lots of laughs between the seriously good musical collaborations in what’s become a who’s who […]