One-woman show could possibly save the world

If you’re reading this on your smartphone, and you’ve got Facebook, Twitter, and an appreciation for live comedy and action/adventure, you’re needed at the Helms Theater. There’s a world that needs to be saved, and only you can save it. In her one-woman show, Mission: Implausible!, veteran actor, director, writer, and UVA MFA student Sandi […]

ARTS Pick: St. Paul & The Broken Bones

The unassuming members of St. Paul & The Broken Bones produce spine-tingling soul music that surpasses simple revival—this music sweats and stomps its way through a regeneration of the genre. Singer Paul Janeway possesses a set of pipes with the heart-wrenching timbre of Otis Redding combined with the wailing bad-assery of a writhing James Brown. […]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. gears up for the next record

Catchiness. It’s the pop song writer’s holy grail. But what is it about a song that gets it lodged in hipsters’ heads? Is it a combination of the perfect melody and a poetic hook? The right balance of whistling and “woo-woos”? Perhaps a horn-driven chorus? Cowbell anyone? Whatever the formula, Detroit-based Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. […]

The Veronica Mars movie plots a new direction

During the closing credits in Veronica Mars, there’s a text crawl that reads: “This movie would never have been possible without the endless faith and support of our fans around the world, and especially the 91,585 backers who pledged on Kickstarter to bring Veronica back to life. Thank you for never giving up, and for […]

ARTS Pick: Man at a Crossroad

Lyndia Porter had no idea that she was creating a new form of ministry when she sat down to write her stage play Man at a Crossroad. Performed by volunteers from across Virginia, the play explores the struggles of living a Christian life within a secular society. But unlike some stage performances, nothing here is […]

Must-see panels at the Festival of the Book

Each March, visiting and local literati of all ages and reading preferences fill Charlottesville for the annual Virginia Festival of the Book. History buffs and romance readers mingle with self-published writers and award-winning authors including John Grisham, Lois Lowry, and John Lewis. Attendees have lots of choices to make during the five-day festival (March 19-23). Elaborate transportation routes […]

Charlottesville author’s novel remembers Camille in vivid detail

Mary Buford Hitz was in her late 20s when Hurricane Camille’s devastating floods hit Nelson County on the night of August 19 1969, killing 153 people in a few hours and forever changing the mountain landscape. Hitz, a Richmond native who now lives in Charlottesville, was staying on family property in Afton that late summer […]

ARTS Pick: Diane Cluck

Though she cut her musical teeth in NYC’s Lower East Side among other notables in the anti-folk game, Diane Cluck now resides in Virginia—a fitting landscape for her lovely and lonely brand of intuitive songwriting. Her first release in eight years, Boneset is a collection of songs written during her hiatus and presented in loose […]

Local authors turn to self-publishing with mixed emotions, success

When a heart attack left Avery Chenoweth wondering how much time he had left, the author decided to self-publish for the first time. A Charlottesville resident since 1990, Chenoweth had already published Albemarle: A Story of Landscape and American Identity, Empires in the Forest: Jamestown and the Making of America, and the short story collection […]