Gabe Silver in the HotSeat

When you read this week’s summer guide (p. 26), you’ll see that floating down the Rivanna River is among our favorite warm-weather activities. Whether you want to paddle, float, or take a guided tour, the Rivanna River Company is there to help. Gabe and Sonya Silver founded RRC to help connect locals with the beautiful […]

Exit music

Kirby Hutto has been involved with the Ting Pavilion since ground was broken for the downtown venue in 2004. Together with his crew, he’s hosted James Brown, Loretta Lynn, Bruce Springsteen, former President Barack Obama, and the Dalai Lama, to name just a few. Now, the Pavilion’s general manager is passing the torch and stepping […]

Record breaking 

Avery Fogarty grew up in Midlothian playing piano, singing in choir, and taking vocal lessons. When they picked up the guitar in high school, their musical world was transformed. “When I started listening to Angel Olsen, Big Thief, and Snail Mail, that’s when I finally found a voice and I was like ‘I know what […]

3 to see

Entertainment time is precious, and venue calendars are stacked with options. Music writer and on-air radio pro Samantha Federico says these bands are on their way up. You should see them live, and here’s why: Shagwüf  Latest release: Trendy Weapon EP, 2020  Staunton’s Shagwüf will make you howl, just like the band’s singer and bassist, […]

Two directions

Folk troubadour and 10-year Charlottesville resident David Wax befriended a fellow aspiring musician while studying at Harvard University. The students had a lot in common, Wax recalls, also having met briefly during high school trips to Washington, D.C., where they pursued their passion for politics. The two friends did not go on to found the […]

A signature scent

In the opening pages of the new zine, Under the Table and Screaming: Volume 1, musician Gina Sobel says, “If you run into a friend who just left the Tea Bazaar, you ask them, ‘Oh, were you just at the Tea Bazaar?’” This is a reference to the distinctive smell of the Twisted Branch Tea […]

Dürty work

The weather was clear, and the pickup truck show was a go. Koda Kerl brought the idea to Dürty Nelly’s when he started managing the local bar’s music booking in spring of 2021. Nelly’s owner Jordan Brunk had hired Kerl to kickstart his sound coming out of lockdown, and one idea was to formalize “the […]

James Fernando

Pianist James Fernando gives a matinée performance as part of the Charlottesville Jazz Society/WTJU Jazz Concert Series. The virtuoso composer and musician merges influences from jazz, classical, and electronic into thought-provoking, genre-expanding original compositions on albums such as The Lonely Sailor and Piano Poetry. Fernando is joined by area vocalist Moji for select arrangements. Sunday […]

Scivic Rivers

On his eponymously titled new album, Scivic Rivers, the nom de plume of singer-songwriter and UVA alum Randy Bickford, explores the labor of starting a family within the context of modern society. The record pulls together harmonica, pedal steel, and pointillistic arrangements in songs like “Shenandoah Granite,” on which Bickford sings about climate grief as […]

Jacob Paul Allen

After a two-year stay in Nashville, Jacob Paul Allen returns to his Blue Ridge Mountain roots for an evening of his self-described “Appalachian red dirt” sound. The singer-songwriter flirts with outlaw country and dances with bluegrass, while leaning into ’90s and Americana sounds. Whether performing solo, or with his backing band The Flood, Allen is […]