Where does style live? Is it found in a teacup, a pair of boots, the lift of a chin in a photo? Is art embodied in a perfect square made of daffodils, or a painting hung on the ceiling? Can a way of life, or a network of people, be designed, just like a skirt […]
Where does style live? Is it found in a teacup, a pair of boots, the lift of a chin in a photo? Is art embodied in a perfect square made of daffodils, or a painting hung on the ceiling? Can a way of life, or a network of people, be designed, just like a skirt […]
Fo shizzle Charlottes-vizzle. Rapper, producer, actor, activist and all around icon Snoop Dogg commands the stage with his smooth rhymes and patented swagger. Snoop’s catalog stretches over twenty years and thirteen albums, breaking through with hits like “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang,” “Gin & Juice,” “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and his most recent, “Peaches and […]
Two years ago, Texas tunesmith James McMurtry was playing a solo showcase at the famed South by Southwest Festival in his hometown of Austin, when his friend, producer CC Adcock (Robert Plant, Neko Case), introduced him to publishing executive Francois Moret, who was in the process of starting a new record label. That evening set […]
Sol Driven Train’s musical psyche has been self-diagnosed with “sonic schizophrenia.” Citing influences from Paul Simon and John Prine, to New Orleans jazz, Caribbean island-rock and Afro-beat, the group has amassed a loyal fan base through its musical diversity. The band members first jammed together in their middle school music room, and formed a strong […]
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Chasing Yesterday/Sour Mash Noel Gallagher’s stellar second solo effort, Chasing Yesterday, furthers the notion that Noel was the creative thrust behind Oasis (compared with the failure of Liam ’s band Beady Eye). Riff-heavy hook fests like “Lock all The Doors” demonstrate that Gallagher’s flair for rock ‘n’ roll dramatics hasn’t dwindled […]
Founded in 2013 by Jason Burke, the quarterly Six Pack Songwriter Series hosts a lineup of native Virginia musicians with diverse acoustic styles and subject matter. This time around, the series takes the stage in a bigger venue and places past participants John Kelly, Justin Storer, Michael Coleman, Sue Harlow, Susan Munson and Thomas Gunn […]
“I remember being at my mom’s house when I saw these two silhouettes she had done of my brother and I when we were toddlers,” said Charlottesville-based photographer Rich Tarbell. “Her house is full of quilts and artwork that have rotated over the decades, but those were always there somewhere. They struck me as timeless.” Tarbell, […]
The creative process requires commitment to an idea, openness to feedback, repeated attempts (a failure or two) and adaptation. When approached thoughtfully, it offers space for new ways of understanding the world, engaging in a community and expressing the emotions that otherwise go unsaid. Just ask Paul Beyer, founder and director of Charlottesville’s Tom Tom […]
The redemption of The Fast and The Furious series, from critical punching bag to national treasure so late in the game, is something of a minor miracle with few equivalents in movie history. Think back to the mid-2000s when each new release was met with disbelief and jokes about its increasingly contrived titles that awkwardly […]
Three years ago, no one knew what to expect when homebuilder and former City Council candidate Paul Beyer laid plans for a festival celebrating the birth of Thomas “Tom Tom” Jefferson. Now in its fourth year, the Tom Tom Founders Festival makes sense. It’s a week-long mash-up of local art, innovation and music designed to […]