Half an hour before taking the stage in No Fear and Blues Long Gone: Nina Simone, actress and lawyer Yolanda Rabun sits in her dressing room listening to Bach. The room is filled with the music Nina Simone’s grandfather played for her as a young girl, which later inspired the compositions on Rabun’s desk. Even […]
Half an hour before taking the stage in No Fear and Blues Long Gone: Nina Simone, actress and lawyer Yolanda Rabun sits in her dressing room listening to Bach. The room is filled with the music Nina Simone’s grandfather played for her as a young girl, which later inspired the compositions on Rabun’s desk. Even […]
Michael Pollan’s 2018 bestseller How to Change Your Mind expounded on psychedelic drugs’ medical benefits and, in Pollan’s view, their unfair stigmatization. Now, Netflix has adapted his book into a four-part docuseries, hosted by Pollan, that is at times gripping and wholly convincing, and, at others, plays like a lame infomercial. Each episode focuses on […]
August Exhibitions Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library 170 McCormick Rd., UVA Grounds. “No Unity Without Justice” centers around the work of UVA students and Charlottesville community racial justice activists who organized demonstrations and events that resulted in significant anti-fascist victories in response to Charlottesville’s 2017 Summer of Hate. Curated by Kendall King, Jalane […]
Rock around: When creating its 2022 EP Born at the Right Time (Exquisite Corpse), experimental pop collective The North Country had one rule—don’t be afraid to get weird. The group, led by frontman Andrew Grossman, is known for its colorful, raucous shows and compelling, collaborative songwriting, which it took to new heights during COVID-forced separation. […]
Tale wagon: Shenandoah Valley natives Benjamin Ryan and Kyle Grim originally formed Dogwood Tales as a duo, but over time the roots band blossomed into a full ensemble. As the band grew, so did its music—going from acoustic, ghostly sparseness to robust harmonies and arrangements laden with pocket grooves, pedal steel, and Wurlitzer keys. Inspired […]
Taste test: Get to know an up-and-coming local brewery at From the Jump, a block party fundraiser for Neon Culture Brewing. Brew leader Corey Hoffman builds inclusion through craft beer, and is looking to be the first Black and minority-owned brewery in Charlottesville. Hoffman will be pouring up three brews, created in partnership with Decipher […]
By Matt Dhillon Water surrounds us. It’s in the sky, on the earth, and underground. About 60 percent of the human body is water and about 70 percent of the surface of the globe is water. On the bottom of the ocean, life can exist without air or light—but not without water. On land too, […]
Erin & The Wildfire Touchy Feely (self-released) It’s been five years since the Charlottesville-formed and now Richmond-based Erin & The Wildfire released a new album, and 2022 finds the group exploring the past through a new sound glittering with ’80s glam. As many pandemic era albums go, songwriting and collaborating for Touchy Feely was done […]
Ruin(s) your evening: Song, comedy, and theater make a magical midsummer evening at Shakespeare at the Ruins. Four County Players, central Virginia’s longest continuously operating community theater, returns to the historic Barboursville ruins to open its 50th anniversary season with As You Like It. Katie Rogers, Kate Johnson, Robert Wray, and Robert Eversberg star in […]
Secret session: After 18 years together as musical and life partners, Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz have unlocked the formula to making remarkable jazz. Influenced by Celtic, Brazilian, and Indian music, as well as the New York jazz scene, McGarry’s luminous, seductive voice and Ganz’s expansive arrangements have earned the pair three Grammy nominations. In […]