Folk musician Mark Erelli is an accomplished performer who operates just outside of the spotlight. After building a reputation of excellence on Boston’s coffeehouse circuit, the multi-instrumental troubadour took a break from his solo career in 2010 and joined singer-songwriter Lori McKenna on the road with country music power couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. […]
Folk musician Mark Erelli is an accomplished performer who operates just outside of the spotlight. After building a reputation of excellence on Boston’s coffeehouse circuit, the multi-instrumental troubadour took a break from his solo career in 2010 and joined singer-songwriter Lori McKenna on the road with country music power couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. […]
M. Ward More Rain (Merge) He’s covered Louis Armstrong, Daniel Johnston, David Bowie and Bach. He’s recorded Christmas albums with Zooey Deschanel. And for 15 years, M. Ward has also been one of the country’s best songwriters, though at times less a songwriter and more of a mood, something you put on and let drift […]
Over the course of her writing career, which began at a weekly alternative newspaper like C-VILLE Weekly, Barbara Kingsolver has authored 14 books and won numerous awards, including the National Humanities Medal in 2000 and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in 2011. Her novel The Lacuna won the Orange Prize in 2010, and her memoir, […]
Taking a lighter approach to the Brothers Grimm’s telling of Snow White, Charlottesville Ballet tiptoes around the tale of a girl stalked by a murderous psychopath to present a forest fantasy made up of friendly animals and merrymaking dwarfs. The massive cast includes 60 local dance students in addition to 20 professional company members, and […]
No matter how cynical you may be about the Disney brand, no matter how aware you are of the manipulation of your sentimentality, five minutes in, The Jungle Book will make you forget or not care as you find yourself becoming a believer. The recent spate—and forthcoming slate—of Disney live-action remakes of its own catalogue […]
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s biting, sexy, satirical Hunter Gatherers offers up a dark look at contradiction and pretense in contemporary culture. Masquerading as a glimpse into a typical social evening, the drama ultimately reflects fragility in the manufactured sophistication of modern society, peeking behind the facade of civility and revealing animalistic impulses that have withstood the […]
On a freezing-cold night in February, Harrisonburg band Illiterate Light played a set under a red light bulb in the kitchen of a house on First Street South, close to the graveyard. It was 1am and a dozen or so 20somethings leaned against walls and countertops, holding cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon and passing around […]
Four-piece band White Denim has changed its tune quite a few times since its inception nearly a decade ago. The group, based in Austin, makes a return to its rock roots with its latest record, Stiff, and the feverish ’70s undertow and looping on the new release are reminiscent of White Denim’s debut album. “We […]
Just off the Downtown Mall on West High Street lies one of the city’s most unknown but profound musical treasures: Rockbridge Guitars. Here, a quartet of master luthiers hand-fabricate around 60 custom-designed, top-shelf acoustic guitars a year for some of the world’s most talented players. Since opening its doors, Rockbridge has accumulated a star-studded clientele […]
After taking a hiatus to raise her daughter, Charlottesville’s Lauren Hoffman returned to the stage last year with a new band, The Secret Storm. The current musical incarnation defines Hoffman as a compelling frontwoman backed by myriad instruments such as the cello, electric violin, piano, synthesizer and guitar. When signed by Virgin Records America, Hoffman […]