Smooth sax: Tenor saxophonist Charles Owens has been performing, composing, and teaching music for over 25 years. Owens got his start in New York, where he attended The New School. He’s released nine albums and regularly performs at venues in Charlottesville and Richmond, bringing listeners peace and happiness through the rich, mellow sounds of his […]
Smooth sax: Tenor saxophonist Charles Owens has been performing, composing, and teaching music for over 25 years. Owens got his start in New York, where he attended The New School. He’s released nine albums and regularly performs at venues in Charlottesville and Richmond, bringing listeners peace and happiness through the rich, mellow sounds of his […]
Shreddin’ it forward: Growing up in Agadez, a desert village in rural Niger, Mdou Moctar built himself a guitar after seeing YouTube videos of Eddie Van Halen performing. Moctar combined Van Halen’s six-string techniques with traditional Taureg melodies to create a modern Saharan-rock sound, full of rhythmic drums, epic guitar shreds, and plenty of noise. […]
By Matt Dhillon Since The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA was built in 1935, it’s had to close its doors a few times—once during World War II and again in the ’60s when the space was requisitioned for classrooms. In 2020, the growing pandemic shut the museum down for a third time. “There’s certainly […]
Since 2019, local filmmaker Ty Cooper’ Indie Short Film Series has given aspiring Charlottesville filmmakers a valuable opportunity to showcase their work. “It’s a way for you to enter the business without having to spend a lot of money,” Cooper says. Shorts are traditionally novice directors’ best way of making a name for themselves, but […]
Local roots: Fluvanna music educator Horace Scruggs and his band, Odyssey of Soul, perform unique concert-lectures that cover topics such as the civil rights movement and African influences on American music. In 2020, Scruggs turned his attention to local history and released Resilience, Recovery, and Rebirth: Sustaining Hope in Trying Times, an emotional, humorous, and […]
No regrets: Indie-pop band Sun June makes mesmerizing music with a hint of melancholy. The quintet formed in Austin, Texas, where lead vocalist Laura Colwell and songwriter/lyricist Stephen Salisbury met while working on director Terrence Malick’s Song to Song. After adding Sarah Schultz on drums, Michael Bain on lead guitar, and Justin Harris on bass, […]
Art x cinema: Take movie night to the next level with this pairing of Wild Style and artmaking. The 1983 film follows South Bronx graffiti artist Zoro, who is commissioned to decorate a Lower East Side bandshell for an epic rap and break-dance concert. Starring greats such as Fab 5 Freddy, Lady Pink, Grandmaster Flash, […]
Into the unknown: Indie-folk band Wild Rivers’ new release is a coming-of-age album that captures all the uncertainties, longings, and struggles that young adulthood has to offer. The Canadian trio of Khalid Yassein, Devan Glover, and Andrew Oliver artfully blend pop, rock, indie, and folk on Sidelines, the 10-track record. “I got this friend I […]
Love is in the air: Looking for a perfect date night? You bring the chocolate and roses, and the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra will provide the romantic melodies. Conducted by Music Director Benjamin Rous, the string orchestra kicks things off with Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major. The four-movement homage to Mozart begins with a […]
What’s with the “company” in Kendall Street Company? If you know anything about the local band, an 8- to 9-year-old jam-rock outfit with a dedicated regional following, you know these guys are anything but stuffed shirts. Business casual for frontman Louis Smith and his colleagues doesn’t even come with socks and shoes. No, Smith says […]