ARTS Pick: Sarah White Country Christmas

Sarah White and Sian Richards are the All-New Acorn Sisters, and bedecked in glittery angel wings and party dresses, full of holiday cheer and biting wit, they bring you the 10th annual Sarah White Country Christmas. Jim Waive & the Young Divorcees perform a variety of down-home country tunes, and the Acorn Sisters frequently join […]

Wynonna approaches Christmas with a new perspective

While most of us are keeping pace with the holiday bustle, country music superstar Wynonna is taking herself out of the madness this year. “I’m not doin’ it,” she said. “I’m just not. Not after what I’ve been through this past year.” In addition to the rigors of touring, recording, and reality TV appearances, she’s […]

The best movies of 2013! Yowza!

Each year when I put together a list of the best movies—whether for work or for fun—it usually doesn’t take much effort. There are, generally, five or six movies that stand out above the rest, whether they’re huge Hollywood blockbusters or tiny indie gems. This year the story is a little different. When going back […]

ARTS Pick: Horsefang and Miami Nights

Metal shows are rare in Charlottesville, but the few that do happen tend to be high-quality. This is due in part to the talents and good taste of the few local metal-heads, and Friday night’s show at the Main Street Annex is an opportunity to catch the two of the best local bands from any […]

ARTS Pick: The Midtown Men

Lively choreography and four-part harmonies add Broadway brilliance to the holiday season as the original cast of Jersey Boys reunites onstage as The Midtown Men. Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard, and J. Robert Spencer have kept their musical brotherhood alive since 2007 with hundreds of headlining performances, and now they add holiday hits and […]

Album reviews: Sam Bush and Kathryn Caine, Ed Kowalczyk, Mason Jennings

Sam Bush and Kathryn Caine Love and Mercy/Self-released Love and Mercy will stoke the embers of even the most jaded cynic’s heart during the cold holiday season. This collection of covers succeeds in inspiring listeners to hope, even in the darkest times. Employing an engaging folk rock sound, Bush and Caine wind their way through spine-tingling […]

Local songwriter Ellis Paul breaks down the craft

There’s a scene in Animal House where John Belushi’s character Bluto walks by a folk singer strumming a tune in the Delta Tau Chi fraternity house. He listens to the lyrics for a moment—“I gave my love a chicken that had no bones” —before smashing the guitar against the wall and handing it back to […]

Amahl and the Night Visitors sets the course for local opera careers

At 11 years old, Kate Tamarkin sat in a dark Laguna Beach, California theater, her mouth gaping, flabbergasted at the boisterous sounds produced by the singers in a performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors. “I had not ever heard opera before,” said Tamarkin, who 40 years later is now the director of the Charlottesville & […]