Playing with the art in a gallery is not always the viewer’s first instinct. “I always worry that video [art] is intimidating, but then you put on a lab coat and it changes things,” says multimedia artist Fenella Belle. In an exhibition this month with photographer Stacey Evans, Belle’s lab coat is both symbolically and […]
Take five of Virginia’s finest singer-songwriters, pair them with some of country music’s most poignant love (or lost-love) songs and put them onstage for the annual Country Sweethearts Valentine’s Day show. Be it single and looking, or fed up and freedom-bound, there’s no way to deny the pure passion that emanates from these authentic voices. […]
The Beatles taught us that “All You Need is Love,” and they’re probably right. “The tricky part is how to get it, keep it, give it, know it,” says indie-folk songwriter Devon Sproule. Learn more at Lovefest, where Sproule and her friends Mira Stanley and Chuck Costa of The Sea The Sea play sets about […]
Signature styles Cross Record Wabi-Sabi/Ba Da Bing Records Emily Cross’ sophomore release is equal parts creepy, beautiful and utterly haunting. From the unusual opener, “The Curtains Part”—with its orchestral flourishes, off-kilter jazz horn, in-and-out ambient acoustic guitar and breathy, airy vocals—to “Wasp in a Jar”—with its plodding, thick-as-molasses bass and distorted electric guitar led by […]
In the art world, every overnight success will tell you there’s no such thing as overnight success. Playwright Sharr White knows this better than most. “I’ve been very lucky that it only took me 25 years to get established as a playwright,” he says with a laugh. “When The Other Place was produced at MCC […]
Hollywood farce Hail, Caesar! is a masterstroke of screwball absurdism from the Coen brothers, as they return with the subgenre of technically impeccable yet thematically anarchic comedy they practically invented. Harkening back to their output in the 1990s, Hail, Caesar! is a satirical genre parody and period piece in the vein of The Hudsucker Proxy […]
The bio of clarinetist Ben Goldberg bounces from klezmer accolades and Thelonious Monk covers to Nels Cline and Charlie Hunter collaborations, musical interpretations of Allen Grossman’s poetry and an ode to Elliott Smith. His latest incarnation is Invisible Guy, a uniquely talented trio, formed in the San Francisco Bay area with pianist Michael Coleman and […]
On Valentine’s Day, keep an eye out for a bunch of Cupids zipping around town on bicycles. They’ll be dressed in zany costumes—pink capes and red tutus, or even in a giant diaper with wings—and delivering warm, heart-shaped chocolate-chip scones and handmade cards to doorsteps all over Charlottesville. Some of them might even sing to […]
As far as establishing a new local legend goes, jazz guitarist Randy Johnston’s recent relocation from Brooklyn to Charlottesville is notable. Having sat in or been featured on the records of, as he puts it, “every major organ player to come through New York City in the ’80s,” Johnston’s musical prowess is, at least among […]
Don’t let the name fool you. Kristine Leschper’s solo project-turned-full band isn’t composed of anyone who has given birth in the literal sense. But considering the time, energy and love that’s gone into crafting and composing songs, in addition to the band’s energetic delivery, the four-piece math-rock outfit known as Mothers seems to possess parenting […]