The programming of the annual Virginia Festival of the Book—now in its 23rd year—always seems to strike a beautiful balance of gravity and levity, tragedy and comedy, difficult reality and the dream of a better future. The organizers draw from a vast array of writers with different lived experiences and this year is no exception. […]
Talk about Bryan Cranston and the conversation inevitably turns to his leading role in “Breaking Bad” as the high school chemistry teacher-turned-drug-lord Walter White. But Cranston’s career has many layers, as detailed in A Life in Parts, his autobiography published in 2016. Many of his early gigs were comedic roles, as on “Seinfeld” and “Malcolm […]
Novella Change of State (Sinderlyn) Perilous are the genres doggedly loyal to form in some way, like the blues or reggae. Just follow the chord progression, or chunk the guitar in a characteristic rhythm—and voilà: doing it. But what percentage of overall attempts to make reggae music have been horrific? Ninety? Novella courts disaster on […]
Escape to the theater with Charlottesville Ballet as the company presents the airy, romantic Chopiniana, along with new works by Julia Mitchell, R. Colby Damon, Ty Cooper and Maggie Small. Presented in several variations over the past century tracing back to 1892, Chopiniana is revered as one of the earliest ballets to convey just mood […]
Nelson County’s Chamomile and Whiskey drove its inaugural release, 2007’s Wandering Boots, around the U.S. festival circuit to build a fanbase and define itself in the massive genre of Americana, leading to its current pace of more than 150 live shows per year. The band throws some extra Irish passion on its musical fire with […]
Personal stories about fellow Jersey boys and Brooklyn hipsters color the dark wit of comedian Mike Recine, who got his start performing open mic standup at Panera Bread. Recine pokes fun at everyday people, but shows a softer side when he hands out jars of his homemade pasta sauce at shows. Saturday, March 18. $20, […]
High-energy Richmond hip-hop coalition Gritty City Records featuring nearly a dozen emcees and producers gets real and raw, spitting fiery verse influenced by ’90s artists such as Nas, Mobb Deep and Wu-Tang Clan. The group is joined by socially conscious lyrical mastermind Keese, Alex Brown of extraterrestrial-seeking Friends From Earth and spiritual hip-hop duo Lo$tnFound. […]
If you thought the only thing missing from Apocalypse Now was literal monsters, not just metaphorical ones, Kong: Skull Island is the movie you’ve been waiting for. To everyone else, it’s a flick with neat effects and lots of great creature design, spectacular visuals and a bevy of utterly forgettable, interchangeable characters who die with […]
In a new book due out in August, In Search of Stardust: Amazing Micro-Meteorites and Their Terrestrial Imposters, Norwegian musician and amateur scientist Jon Larsen explains how it’s possible for anyone with a microscope to find cosmic debris. He estimates that more than 100 metric tons of alien objects hit our planet every day—and thanks […]
We talk a whole lot about people who make music in this town, and rightfully so—Charlottesville has a robust music scene. Less visible are the people who help musicians make a record of their craft and send it out into the world. There are a number of small and do-it-yourself music labels here that do […]