Interview: Daniel Bachman digs deep into folk music’s past

Daniel Bachman is a 24-year-old fingerpicking guitarist whose style is often compared to American Primitive musicians like John Fahey and Jack Rose. Bachman’s signature layered tones are in fine form on his fourth full length album, Jesus I’m a Sinner, and his fall tour will make its final stop at the Tea Bazaar on November […]

Savion Glover teaches students of tap to look within

Tap dancer Savion Glover can see the future of his art form. “Where do I see it going? Wherever I am. Tap’s going wherever I am,” he told C-VILLE Weekly in a recent phone interview. Glover is the modern day face of tap, on a mission to reinvigorate a dance more closely associated with black […]

Nathan Bowles brings his banjo fusion to a dynamic triple bill

To the average listener, traditional Appalachian music has little in common with avant-garde drones and improvisational noise. Nathan Bowles has forged a career in each of these genres. The brilliance of his body of work is the suggestion that these styles share a common aesthetic and inform one another. “They’re both fueled by the same spirit,” […]

ARTS Pick: Amos Lee

Amos Lee has come a long way from his start as an open mic night fixture in smoke-filled Philadelphia bars. These days he can be found sharing the stage, and holding his own, alongside songwriting royals like Bob Dylan and Dave Matthews. The second grade teacher turned indie rock chart-topper has been to the mountaintop […]

Album reviews: Anna Gilbert, Cage the Elephant, The Devil Makes Three

Anna Gilbert The Able Heart/Self-released As far as under the radar releases go, singer-songwriter Anna Gilbert’s is one of 2013’s best. The Able Heart is full of delightfully organic songs guided by Gilbert’s rich vocals telling a series of engaging tales. The minimalist opener “O, Freedom” sets the narrative tone for the album with a […]

Millicent Young seeks a new mythology through primordial totems

I was completely captivated by Millicent Young’s radiant show at Chroma Projects. Composed of horsehair and found wood, Young’s work thrums with nature and speaks to ancient mysteries that our modern selves can only dimly grasp. “The known, the unknown, and the unknowable is a trinity that has been with me a very long time,” […]

ARTS Pick: Darlingside

What does a string band composed of indie rock, bluegrass, barbershop, and classical sensibilities sound like?  Massachusetts quartet Darlingside wants you to know. In addition to combining virtuoso mandolin, cello and bass guitar performances with percussion and the more traditional guitar and bass, the band adds a whole other layer to its songs by including pitch-perfect […]

Film review: Thor: The Dark World lacks the superhero glow

Mere mortals, just who is Thor? Norse god? Superhero created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby? Bastard stepchild of the Marvel Avengers series? At this point, it’s not clear that anyone knows, least of all the filmmakers behind Thor: The Dark World. Is Thor a funny guy? Fear not, he’ll be beating someone […]

PVCC reaches out to the community for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

When Tom Stoppard wrote Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, an absurdist comedy about two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, he was only 27 years old. Trapped in a nebulous otherworld, courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern debate the nature of freedom and fate from lives pre-scripted to death. Comic dialogue coupled with philosophical themes, including the use […]