ARTS Pick: New Boss

With toe-tapping, head-bobbing songs about vegetarianism, the apocalypse and everything in-between, local music mainstay New Boss takes to the outdoors for the next installment of the Levitt AMP Charlottesville Music Series. The band, which dubs its sound “tweeboogie,” plays hella catchy tunes that are equal parts grunge, glam, indie and straight-up rock ’n’ roll. With […]

ARTS Pick: TEDxCharlottesville

TEDx presentations are powerful incubators of ideas and actions ranging from self-help inspirations to world-saving suggestions. Hear what’s on the minds of local thinkers at the TEDxCharlottesville Open Mic and cast a vote to move the top talkers forward so they may share with a bigger audience; just one way to do your part in […]

Human/Ties exhibit: ‘Landscapes of Slavery and Segregation’

Throughout the month of September, an audio-visual exhibition called “Landscapes of Slavery and Segregation” provides historical context to Charlottesville in three different locations: the Downtown Mall, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center and UVA Grounds. Curated by Encyclopedia Virginia, a branch of The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, each site is paired with multimedia components of […]

ARTS Pick: Brice Randall Bickford

Charlottesville expat and current North Carolina rocker Brice Randall Bickford’s recent release, Paro, takes its name from the term for labor strike that’s commonly used in Latin America. Bickford’s songs examine the complications humans unwittingly tilled into civilization 10,000 years ago when we adopted agriculture and systems of government. Bickford clothes his heady narratives—and his […]

Human/Ties celebration brings renowned speakers to Charlottesville

This week Sir Salman Rushdie, Junot Díaz and Alice Waters are among the impressive group of literary figures, activists and scholars assembling in Charlottesville for Human/Ties, a free, four-day celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Rushdie, the author and free speech advocate perhaps best known for his novel The […]

Peter Bjorn and John play to the beat of pop history

Haunted by spirits of recordings past, music studios are just as legendary as the work they’ve cultivated, and they often come equipped with their own folklore. Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” echoes throughout RCA’s Studio B in Nashville. Memphis’ Sun Studio gave us the first recordings of both Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Muscle Shoals Sound Studio […]

ARTS Pick: Frightened Rabbit

The name Frightened Rabbit is attributed to lead singer Scott Hutchinson’s shy nature as a child, but this is not exactly a band cowering in a corner. With cynically humorous titles and bracing, sonically voluminous pop, the group charges through on-your-sleeve heartache, family dysfunction and political observations. The highly anticipated new album Painting of a […]

Album reviews: Keeping it surreal

Frank Ocean Blonde (Boys Don’t Cry) In the midst of all the think pieces analyzing Blonde as an event, it seems worth restating the bottom line: Frank Ocean is a brilliant songwriter, musician and producer, and Blonde is overflowing with sonic and compositional gifts; it’s almost embarrassing. So when I played this for my dad […]

ARTS Pick: Women Against Violence: Rise Up

An evening of solace and reflection brings the UVA glee club, chorus and a cappella groups from the university and the surrounding community together in concert for Women Against Violence: Rise Up. The healing, uplifting musical selections include “Still I Rise,” based on the poem by poet laureate Maya Angelou, and the event features various […]

ARTS Pick: Man on a Horse

Compiled as a supergroup of local players, Man on a Horse brings together drummer Stuart Gunter, harmonica world champion Gary Green and bassist Andy Waldeck, with guitarist and songwriter Peyton Tochterman. Riding a stampede of talent, this band plays pure, Virginia rock for a laid-back, raise-your-glass, head-swinging good time. Thursday, September 15,  6pm. $8-10. The […]