July First Fridays Guide

Textile artist Tobiah Mundt captures and encases her fears and anxieties in sculpted form by exploring different methods of textiles, primarily needle felting. Her creatures, made from raw wool combined with natural and man-made objects, convey and illicit emotion. Mundt’s wool sculptures are poked thousands of times with a barbed needle, compacting the wool into […]

ARTS Pick: Cville’s Purple All Stars

When the world lost music phenom Prince on April 21, the tributes were instantaneous thanks to social media and the emotional connection he inspired in his fans. Cville’s Purple All Stars took time to contemplate the loss, brushed up on the superstar’s greatest hits and will put their reverence into a concert to benefit the […]

The imminent rise of the Will Overman Band

While playing an album release show at the Southern on June 4, the five members of local amped-up folk-rock outfit Will Overman Band stepped off the stage and into the crowd to perform an acoustic rendition of the song “Ode to Virginia.” “We plopped down in the middle of the crowd and they formed a […]

ARTS Pick: We Were Pirates

We Were Pirates brainchild Mike Boggs leaves nothing to chance when he takes the stage. The multi-instrumentalist has been known to play guitar, keys and drums, in addition to singing lead vocals during the band’s performances. Boggs’ songs are pure pop that works nicely for film soundtracks like the documentary Dear Mr. Watterson, and they’re […]

ARTS Pick: Quin Bookz

Local hip-hop artist Quin Bookz first gained traction after making the mixtape Study Hall in a dorm room closet while attending Virginia State University. His raw, lackadaisical rhymes are described as “the rebel off-spring of trap music.” With his latest release, The Corner, his YouTube views are passing the 200,000 mark and the rap music […]

Pauls Toutonghi spins a dog tale with local ties

Every good story needs an indomitable force that drives the narrative forward. In Pauls Toutonghi’s book Dog Gone, that force is a golden retriever mix named Gonker, who happens to be from this area. “I first heard the story of Gonker when I went to my in-laws’ house for the first time,” says Toutonghi, the […]

Matthew Gatto’s Parlor of Horrors seeks new home

When was the last time you fell asleep thinking about monsters in the other room? For most of us, that thought fades after childhood. But Matthew Gatto knows there are monsters just 10 feet away from where he sleeps. They reside in his living room or, as it’s more commonly known, the Parlor of Horrors. […]

ARTS Pick: Beach Blanket Bingo

The modern convenience of food trucks and a WTJU DJ accompany the Virginia Film Festival’s Moonlight Movies screening of the 1965 teen flick Beach Blanket Bingo. A singer’s agent uses publicity stunts against her will, so Frankie Avalon and his gang of beachgoers must save the day in the fifth installment of the “Frankie and […]