ARTS Pick: I Love a Piano

A celebration of the music and lyrics of Irving Berlin, The Heritage Theatre Festival’s production of I Love a Piano follows a piano as it moves in and out of American lives from the turn of the century to modern day. The story’s brought to life by Berlin classics such as “There’s No Business Like […]

ARTS Pick: Ike Reilly

With the unlikely style of Billy Joel meets Johnny Cash, Ike Reilly, a former grave digger from Illinois, tells timeless tales of love, lust, drugs and drinking through reckless tunes and poetic lyrics. Reilly may have an unconventional past but it’s birthed a unique perspective on life and lends a finesse to his daring music. […]

Film lampoon: Live Arts aims to ‘a muse’ with Xanadu

Most of us are born with a seedling of art in our hearts—the desire to create our dreams on paper, in space or on the stage. But we’re taught early on that the path of an artist is hard, one that requires dogged determination and gumption, the kind of commitment to take-no-prisoners passion that stalls […]

ARTS Pick: My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket hails from Kentucky, but don’t call the band a country act. Frontman Jim James recently told Rolling Stone, “Modern country is deliberately dumbing down the human race.” The band’s psychedelic indie rock, in conjunction with Jim James’ otherworldly vocals, has made MMJ an international success, and nurtured the group’s reputation as legendary […]

Film review: A new twist on Sherlock Holmes doesn’t add up

Bill Condon’s Mr. Holmes is a perfectly serviceable adaptation of a latter-day Sherlock novel not written by Arthur Conan Doyle, starring a character whose episodic escapades are better suited for television. It’s a beautifully shot story that remains confined to about three locations. It’s an engaging mystery told through flashbacks that only remains unsolved because […]

ARTS Pick: Music for the Mountains

Neighbors, musicians and foodies from across the Commonwealth will gather at Music for the Mountains to raise funds in an effort to push back against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and its anticipated damage to Virginia’s mountains, water, farmlands and landowner rights. Speakers and info tables will be set up to educate those who attend, and […]

ARTS Pick: Wiz Khalifa

Rising from steely Pittsburgh to the top of the music charts with “Black and Yellow,” Wiz Khalifa has earned the nicknames king, wisdom and successor. Influenced by the ’80s era of limos, lights and luxury, Khalifa amassed both indie and commercial cred. His new album, Blacc Hollywood, fuses the classic culture of rock ‘n’ roll […]

Guest work: McGuffey’s celebrates its emerging artists program

What if there was a farm league for artists? This is one of the central questions raised by a new program for emerging artists at the McGuffey Art Center. In the past, the only way for an artist to join the art cooperative was to participate in a juried application process for associate or renting […]

ARTS Pick: Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys

It seems you can’t open a music site these days without seeing another Americana band claim its right to the title of “next big thing,” but Michigan roots ensemble Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys just might be the next to deliver. Describing its sound as “caught between the pull of the past and the push […]