Fruitful endeavors: Michael Clem issues second solo album a decade later

Since moving to Charlottesville from Northern Virginia in 2008, Michael Clem has become a staple of the city’s music scene. Having played bass and sung harmony and lead vocals for nearly two decades for the nationally acclaimed Washington, D.C.,-based quintet Eddie from Ohio, whose shows and records frequently featured world-class players such as Béla Fleck, […]

Dynamic Duo: MoJa embraces lifelong musical lessons

It isn’t the quest for red-carpet accolades, social media props, YouTube views or Spotify listens that drives MoJa. The Charlottesville-based quartet, co-fronted by violinist Morwenna Lasko and guitarist Jay Pun, wants to make better art. “We don’t view making music as a commercial enterprise,” says Pun. “Rather, we think of it as a continual process […]

What we want: WarHen Records keeps going for local music

Last October, Warren Parker sat at his dining room table with a set of alphabet rubber stamps, a blue ink pad and a few dozen 7″ vinyl records with blank white labels laid out edge to edge. Letter by letter, he stamped the labels: Beams, A, WarHen. Once the ink dried, he flipped the records […]

ARTS Pick: New Year’s Eve

First Night Virginia $6-38, 3pm-midnight. Downtown Mall, locations vary. New Year’s in Ireland 7pm. Tin Whistle Irish Pub, 609 E. Market St. 202-8387. Rising Appalachia’s New Year’s Eve Gala $37-65, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4980. New Year’s Eve with Elby Brass and Grits and Gravy $10-15, 9pm. 21-plus. The Southern […]

Album reviews: Looking over our shoulder at the year’s top releases

It’s been an interesting year. Between “Uptown Funk” and “Shake It Off,” the music world has been dancing up a storm, but it’s also seen some head-scratchingly bizarre releases (I’m looking at you, Mutemath) and yawned at familiar material (Muse). So what to make of this year’s so-called best releases? What follows is one man’s […]

ARTS Pick: Jane Eyre

National Theatre Live in HD presents an acclaimed retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s 170-year-old classic, Jane Eyre. The production follows the life of a daring and timeless heroine who perseveres through a parentless childhood, crippling poverty and countless injustices by using strength and resilience to make her own happiness. Sunday 12/27. $10.50-14.50, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 […]

Give back, give art: Make it a philanthropic holiday with local nonprofits

“We know people are looking for creative ways to give. What we hear repeatedly is, ‘I don’t need anything, I don’t want anything,’” says Sally Day. As director of development for Service Dogs of Virginia, Day knows plenty about the importance of end-of-year philanthropy for local nonprofits. In response to this, the organization’s founder and […]

ARTS Pick: A Christmas Carol

Ghostly fun plays out in Dickens’ holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, when the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is confronted with spectral manifestations that force him to choose between greed and generosity. This musical version includes a few new surprises while keeping the traditional insights to the true meaning of Christmas. Thursday 12/24. $29-64, 2pm. American Shakespeare Center, 10 […]