Writer’s perspective

By Aaron Irons Brandy Clark has long been a lauded pen among Nashville songwriters, landing hits with chart-toppers like Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert, while handily stepping out with her own records woven from classic country and contemporary heart-on-the-sleeve fearlessness. On her self-titled fourth album, Clark is as powerful as ever, showcasing stunning personal narratives […]

Songs and stories

At the intermission of his concerts, John McCutcheon asks attendees to submit song requests for the show’s second set. It’s how the Grammy-nominated folk singer, who’s released 44 albums during his five-decade career, figures out what to play. With a huge catalog of material, McCutcheon says his performances are spontaneously constructed, and singing is just […]

Support system

By Erin Lyndal Martin “Charlottesville is in the heart of why I do what I do because of the Dave Matthews Band,” says Ruston Kelly. “They, Kurt Cobain, and Jackson Browne are why I make music. I ended up signing to Red Light Management because the owner, Coran Capshaw, called me and said they wanted […]

Keep on shining

It adds up that flipturn—a group of Florida teens who formed an indie rock band in their senior year of high school—plays sundrenched, cinematic music. Nearly 10 years since its inception, the group emerges from a DIY journey resulting in over 100 million streams on Spotify, and slots at 2022’s Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, with Shadowglow, […]

Ecological wonder

“To tell you about the beauty, I must also speak of threat,” writes Greg Wrenn in Mother­ship: A Memoir of Wonder and Crisis. A complex exploration into personal and ecological trauma that also investigates alter­native healing and the cultivation of wonder, this book is as much a prompt for personal reflection as it is a […]

Mountain mindful

A local by way of Waynesboro, Scott Miller pays tribute to his roots with his latest album, Ladies Auxiliary. The founder of energetic alt-country rock band The V-Roys slows to singer-songwriter mode on the record, and employs a band of women in songs that capture the music and characters of his native Appalachia. $25, 7:30. […]

Tiptoe thrills

Since 1974, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has been preening and poking fun at an uptight world with “razor-sharp wit and breathtaking pointe work.” The Trocks, as the all-male comic ballet company is known, celebrate their 50th anniversary with a worldwide tour that confirms the troupe’s long-running global sensation status. $24.75-44.75, 7:30. The Paramount […]

Sweet spring tradition

Spring brings beauty, warmth, good vibes, and Fridays After Five. The 2024 season opener, soulful R&B band Joslyn & The Sweet Compression, is a perfect pairing for a blanket on the lawn, a happy-hour drink, and a bit of early evening ass-shaking to the tunes on the group’s new record, Bona Fide, a mix of […]

Pandemic dwellings

Drawing inspiration from The Decameron and One Thousand and One Nights, Fourteen Days is a “collaborative novel,” which brings to mind thoughts of exquisite corpses and shared Google Docs with a slew of anonymous animals. However, it is effectively a collection of short stories by 36 American and Canadian authors, edited by Margaret Atwood and […]

April galleries

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library 2450 Old Ivy Rd. “Their World As Big As They Made It: Looking Back at the Harlem Renaissance,” plus other permanent exhibitions. Chroma Projects Inside Vault Virginia, Third St. SE. In the Micro Gallery, “Topography: Travis Childers with Ashe Laughlin.” In Vault Virginia’s Great Hall Galleries, “David Copson: […]