ARTS Pick: Sara Bareilles

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, […]

Album reviews: Old Crow Medicine Show, Ships Have Sailed, Cosmic Punch

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 […]

ARTS Pick: Red Wing Roots Music Festival

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 […]

After a debilitating hiatus, Durham’s Bombadil regroups and rebuilds

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 […]

ARTS Pick: The Extraordinaires

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 […]

Film review: Tammy turns things around in the end

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 […]

ARTS Pick: Elizabeth Wise and the Shoo Flies

Dance the night away to acoustic blues that swing from Elizabeth Wise and the Shoo Flies. Richmond native Wise updates old classics with funky folk overtones and her smooth vocals run the gamut from soothing to tearing down the bar. This is heat that you can’t escape, so kick your boots up to rollicking original […]

Artist Laura Snyder remaps personal experiences

 “I don’t really like going on trips,” said Laura Snyder, standing among half-painted maps and other travel miscellany in her second-floor studio at The Haven. “When I go somewhere I like to be able to just stay. I’m a one-way ticket kind of girl.” A New City Arts’ artist-in-residence, Snyder was in the midst of […]

Techne project takes electronic music beyond boundaries

Accomplished local jazz musician John D’earth says people get too hung up on what is music and what isn’t music. Kids, for example, don’t need to play an instrument properly to be making music. They just need to be making noise. If you’re too square for that jive, Suzanne Thorpe and Bonnie Jones are ready […]