If you’re staying in town for the extra- long July 4 weekend, you won’t be able to wave a sparkler without hitting a parade, concert or fireworks display. Here’s a list of some our favorite Independence Day happenings. June 30-July 3 July 4th Jubilee: The United States is having a birthday, and Wintergreen Resort is hosting a […]
Dan Auerbach Waiting on a Song (Nonesuch) Gotta confess, The Black Keys always felt like a put-on, but Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach is starting to win me over. Last year he produced The Pretenders’ Alone, which was a pleasant surprise, and it’s possible that Auerbach’s other production gigs (Dr. John, Lana Del Rey, Ray LaMontagne) […]
Ayanna Dookie got her start in comedy by talking shit in the Black Engineers Society student lounge at the University of Maryland. She’d sit around at lunch, telling jokes and poking fun at fellow students who found her so entertaining they’d come to the lounge, sometimes bringing friends from other departments, hoping to catch her […]
Forty bands. Two stages. 23 hours of music. Lovefest is a response through art to the civil rights struggles shaking the community. From early-morning meditation to midday belly dancing to late-night gypsy punk, the festival offers a weekend of immersion in the love and passion of local artists. The lineup features well-known community musicians including […]
The story of Rough Night centers around a disastrous bachelorette weekend organized by an old friend who doesn’t know the difference between entertaining someone and monopolizing her time—which is a distinction the movie itself also has difficulty making. Featuring a terrific cast with great chemistry, a mix of A-listers and promising up-and-comers, and written and […]
A Mexican bass player, a French guitarist, a keyboardist from Philadelphia and a drummer from Miami walk into a bar—and take the stage. Hopefully you’re in the audience to witness the cool vibes and easy grooves of Electric Kif’s blend of funk, soul and jazz. Originally hailing from Florida, the band is in the midst […]
It’s a warm June afternoon in Richmond, and Sarah White relaxes onto a wooden bench underneath a verdant tree in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts garden. A slow breeze rustles garden life and pushes lethargic cotton candy clouds through the cerulean sky. “Isn’t she amazing?,” White asks, tucking a wisp of hair behind her […]
BeCville, a community arts project centered on the city’s Strategic Investment Area (the intersection of Ridge Street, Belmont and Fifeville), has been more than a year in the making, led by Matt Slaats, executive director of PauseLab. Slaat’s premise for BeCville, funded by an NEA Our Town Grant called Play the City, is to use […]
Short films pack a long-lasting punch at the Black Maria Film Festival, where a five-minute movie can leave you pondering for days. Returning for its 36th year, the festival showcases a dynamic selection of international filmmakers, including Richmond’s Ying-Fang Shen with In The Waves, which was inspired by her 2014 pregnancy. The longest movie in […]
There’s a valuable lesson to learn from the music of Nora Jane Struthers—and it’s that showing vulnerability takes a gritty kind of personal strength. Struthers wears her heart on her sleeve on her most recent album, Wake, which is powered by her signature bluegrass-tinged rock, and tells a powerful story of falling in love. Backed […]