Tight improvisation, audience participation, and sharp-tongued hair dressers deliver new twists every night in Shear Madness, the longest running nonmusical theater production in U.S. history. Set in a unisex salon right here in town, the American adaptation of Paul Portner’s slapstick whodunit asks playgoers to help solve an off-stage murder. Locals can look forward to inside […]
Tight improvisation, audience participation, and sharp-tongued hair dressers deliver new twists every night in Shear Madness, the longest running nonmusical theater production in U.S. history. Set in a unisex salon right here in town, the American adaptation of Paul Portner’s slapstick whodunit asks playgoers to help solve an off-stage murder. Locals can look forward to inside […]
His wife answers the phone. And it takes a bit for Buzz Osborne, the Melvins’ frontman, to pick up at his California home. No rush. A dog’s sporadically barking the entire time. As the most recognizable Melvin, Osborne’s taken a good deal of heat over the years for various developments in the avant-metal band’s music. […]
Chris Smither has maintained a steady presence as an underground folk icon for the past five decades. His unassuming delivery offers rustic comfort, as he sings in a relaxed, weathered tenor that’s accompanied by front porch foot-tapping and blues-rooted finger-picking. Smither grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana but he left home in 1965 to join […]
Eugene Hütz is a poet in any language. Speaking in his heavily accented English, his words pop. They have weight. They hit you like distorted riffs. Ask Hütz if his band Gogol Bordello’s exhaustive touring schedule takes its toll, for example, and he finds the perfect analogy. “Listen, this is like asking people that are […]
Don’t ask her for a love song. Grammy-nominated piano pop superstar Sara Bareilles’ upbeat confessionals have sold out shows nationwide for over a decade. Born and raised in California, she now adds 2013’s The Blessed Unrest, recorded with an all-new backup band, to an edgy pop-rock repertoire brimming with jazz and soul influences. Saturday, 7/12. $35-65, […]
Old Crow Medicine Show Remedy/ATO Records Remedy is the latest proof that Old Crow Medicine show is incapable of doing anything poorly. Whether it’s a raucous, hoedown-style piece of country like “8 Dogs, 8 Banjos,” or whether it’s the old time bluegrass feel and R-rated sensibility of a track like “Brushy Mountain Conjugal Trailer,” you […]
Every once in a while there’s reason to get out of town and enjoy the surrounding beauty. This week’s prime option is the Red Wing Roots Music Festival, a three-day gathering loaded with jazz, country, rock, bluegrass, or hip-hop all pieced together by the Steel Wheels who host the annual family-friendly fest in the gorgeous […]
Five years ago, Bombadil was a band with a bright future. The band was mentored by Dolph Ramseur, whose Ramseur Records is home to The Avett Brothers and The Carolina Chocolate Drops, two of the country’s biggest roots music acts. Its rigorous touring routine built the band a considerable nationwide fanbase. Big festivals like Bonnaroo […]
Philly’s punk-influenced rock outfit The Extraordinaires take their art seriously. From the quirky intelligent songwriting to the thoughtful limited edition packaging of albums wrapped in silkscreened artwork, accompanied by hand bound storybooks, the band lives a DIY aesthetic—and they get local cred because the new release Dress For Nasty Weather features print work from C’ville-based […]
A lack of new ideas and a surplus of sincerity are not typically good qualities in a comedy. Just think of how forced and unearned the last 20 minutes of any Happy Madison movie are: “I know I’m a slob who screwed everything up while being distractingly racist and homophobic along the way. But I […]