By Greg Roberts I first noticed the wooden cylindrical pod at the Ix farmers’ market. Weird, I thought. What is that thing? Some new age-y meditation tube? A hipster’s repurposed RV, like the ones I’d seen on Instagram during the pandemic? A few weeks later I saw two seemingly sane people emerge from the pod […]
By Greg Roberts I first noticed the wooden cylindrical pod at the Ix farmers’ market. Weird, I thought. What is that thing? Some new age-y meditation tube? A hipster’s repurposed RV, like the ones I’d seen on Instagram during the pandemic? A few weeks later I saw two seemingly sane people emerge from the pod […]
At age 84, Del McCoury is still in the business of bluegrass. An award-winning singer and guitarist, McCoury entered the music scene in the ‘60s, when he joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys before going on to found the Del McCoury Band. The ensemble, which includes McCoury’s sons Ronnie and Rob on mandolin and banjo, […]
Formed in 2015 by songwriter Patrick Taylor, Trash Panda draws on elements of neo-psychedelia, soul, indie rock, and pop oncrowd-favorites “Aging Out of the 20th Century,” “Off,” and “Check Please.” Best friends Jade Long and Jessica Thompson of co-headliner Hotel Fiction blend dynamic vocals and piano with guitar and soft harmonies on Soft Focus, its […]
The Virginia Film Festival presents Fremont, a tale of insomnia, fortune cookies, and yearning for something more. Newcomer and real-life refugee Anaita Wali Zada (above) gives a powerful performance as Donya, a 20-something Afghan translator whose routine changes when she’s promoted to writing fortunes at a fortune cookie factory. Shot in black and white, the […]
When local musician Jay Pun watched worldbeat band Baaba Seth take the stage decades ago, it was one of the few times he saw someone who looked like him making music that audiences loved. “Standing at the front of the … Pavilion and seeing Mike on stage, it was cool to see another Asian guy […]
Horror specialist Ben Wheatley’s Meg 2: The Trench is essentially a rehash of the giant monster shenanigans in 2018’s The Meg. It is exactly what its trailer leads you to expect: The prehistoric megalodon shark is back—along with its kinfolk—and they wreak havoc and devour a lot of people. It’s the definition of a big, […]
Get ready for a night of head-banging with indie rockers Work Wear. The three-piece makes ’80s-inflected garage rock, and is known for enmeshing poetry readings, piercing guitar solos, and psych influences on songs like “Refrigerator Eyes” and “One Day Away.” Work Wear co-headlines with acts from New York—folk-rock power trio The Big Net, and “achy […]
Delve into the life and work of Serbian conceptual and performance artist Marina Abramović at a screening of her retrospective, Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present, presented as part of The Fralin Downtown film series. Abramović uses her own body as a vehicle to challenge, shock, and move audiences in performances that incorporate sound, video, […]
With his Southern charm and edgy wit, it’s hard not to laugh along with Winston Hodges. The comedian is from a small town outside of Farmville (he would know you if you were from there), and is known for his energetic takes on everything from growing up in a Christian home to working with children […]
It’s been a busy publishing year for Ann Beattie, with her 22nd and 23rd books both coming out in 2023. Her most recent, Onlookers, is set in Charlottesville during the pandemic, and it’s chock-full of local references: The Pointe, Timberlake’s, Orzo, and of course, those statues. Onlookers is a collection of six stories, with some […]