Rodney Crowell probably wouldn’t like you. Don’t take it hard. He doesn’t seem to like much—except for country music. The old school songwriter has recorded a handful of tunes that have had commercial success over the years, but he’s even better known for songs other people end up singing. Crowell’s penned tracks that have been […]
Rodney Crowell probably wouldn’t like you. Don’t take it hard. He doesn’t seem to like much—except for country music. The old school songwriter has recorded a handful of tunes that have had commercial success over the years, but he’s even better known for songs other people end up singing. Crowell’s penned tracks that have been […]
One of these days someone is going to have to write a movie that explores—purposely—the irony of making a film that uses cutting edge technology to tell an anti-technology story. Transcendence is not that movie. Its storyline, character arcs, and politics are so hopelessly muddled, it’s unclear what its makers were thinking. In fact, there’s […]
Trisha Orr’s complex, tour de forces of fabric, objects, and flowers have earned high critical praise for many years. They are beautifully rendered, dispassionate works, and they reveal very little about the artist except that she is technically gifted and admires beauty. Growing up in a demanding family and going to art school in the […]
Berklee educated rocker turned Americana heroine Gillian Welch found the same grittiness she loved about punk in the earnest sorrow of old time Appalachian music. In collaboration with her longtime musical partner David Rawlings, Welch has become known for celebrating the sound of country and bluegrass roots, while imbuing her original songs with dark personality […]
Just seconds into my conversation with Todd Snider, he’s telling me about some LSD that was “going around the neighborhood” a few months back. The next moment, he’s on to a story about dodging fruit hurled by Jimmy Buffett. He then deadpans that if young musicians come to him asking for career advice, “they’ve already […]
The world lost a gift to music with the passing of Jesse Winchester on April 11 in Charlottesville. According to his website, the legendary singer songwriter ” died peacefully in his sleep, at home, after fighting bladder cancer.” The soft-spoken country star may have been averse to thrusting himself into the public eye, but his […]
Dan Croll could be on the verge of something big. And he knows it. The 23-year-old British singer-songwriter touched down in California at the start of April for his first U.S. headlining tour, and the crowds are growing by the show. By the time Croll hits The Southern Café and Music Hall on April 23, […]
It’s been almost a year since Vinegar Hill Theatre closed its doors, and we’re still months away from the promised renaissance of the Violet Crown Cinemas, so it’s hard to know where to watch a movie in Charlottesville these days. I’m talking about a movie that’s neither mainstream nor blockbuster; one that experiments with and […]
Three years before the Ramones launched their iconic schtick, a trio of brothers started the first American proto-punk band in Detroit. They wrote short, fast songs with driving rhythms and lyrics about politics, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll, and of course, existential crises. Their pure originality and aggressiveness made them a hard sell commercially in the […]
The Wood and the Wild The Wood and the Wild/self-released Singer-songwriter Jon Perry is spot-on when he refers to this debut recording as “supernatural cinematic folk.” Part concept record, part proverbial soundtrack to your life, the album manages to amble along with a sense of purpose. The opening track, “Loveless Traveler/Belles on the Tye,” encapsulates […]