1994 Following nearly four years of recording and touring together, the band Uncle Tupelo (and, notably, the songwriting team of Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy—a scruffy, midwestern Lennon and McCartney) disbands. Farrar forms Son Volt; Tweedy and the rest, including bassist John Stirratt, form Wilco. Key track: "Acuff-Rose," a fiddle-driven tune that puts the "country" […]
1994 Following nearly four years of recording and touring together, the band Uncle Tupelo (and, notably, the songwriting team of Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy—a scruffy, midwestern Lennon and McCartney) disbands. Farrar forms Son Volt; Tweedy and the rest, including bassist John Stirratt, form Wilco. Key track: "Acuff-Rose," a fiddle-driven tune that puts the "country" […]
According to the "values" listed on their website, Wilco takes care of fans and respects one another. Wilco emphasizes that teamwork is the path to success. Wilco champions integrity. Wilco, dear readers, is a gas station. And, unfortunately, not the basis for the midwestern rock band’s name. They don’t even have Wilco (now WilcoHess) gas […]
Sure, it seemed like an innocent mistake at the time (and Lord knows the Virginia Tourism Corporation tried to spin it that way), but the more we consider the recent "Live Passionately" ad imbroglio, the more we think that these Commonwealth-championing flacks might just be onto something. In case you missed it, here’s how it […]
Ace, I’ve been driving around outside Charlottesville and have noticed some crazy town names. Where do they all come from? Oilville? Dooms?—N. Owta-Towna N.: First, Ace has a question for you: What is this "outside Charlottesville" of which you speak? You mean there are other places beyond our fair city? Ah, he kids, he kids. […]
Due to reporting errors, in the story "Traveling fans look for comfort of home" [UVA News, September 18, 2007], there are—regretably—three instances where we need to set the record straight: Gordon Sutton started collegeweekends.com three years after graduating from UVA, not when he was a junior; Oxford Mississippi, and Blacksburg, Virginia, are the towns that […]
stage It starts like a pot of water placed across the warming coils of an electric stove: A few basic and, here’s the key, unassuming, ingredients are put under pressure, set boiling and bouncing off one another until they erupt, each reaching up and over one another for the surface of some black, burning container […]
words While many North Americans are familiar with South America through traveling or lineage or other means, the majority, it seems, view it as nothing more than a reflection of a surface name. And it’s not only the complex history of that distant continent that feels so, well, distant. What is its current identity? What […]
In February 2006, Mitchell J. Wade pleaded guilty to influencing congressmen—most famously Randy "Duke" Cunningham—in order to procure contracts for his defense contracting firm MZM, Inc. As part of the plea, Wade also admitted to bribing Department of Defense (DoD) officials, including an employee of the local National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC). On October 9 […]
As if getting home repair work done wasn’t stressful enough, with that oh-so-ambiguous "arriving between the hours of 8 and 4" business, a recent scam makes judging the credibility of contractors another headache. A few weeks ago, police exposed a series of frauds in the city and county that targeted elderly residents. In these cases, […]
Previous coverage: Rutherford challenges abusive driver feesCharlottesville judge upheld fees, Institute will appeal As The Rutherford Institute prepares for its appeal in the Charlottesville Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of Virginia’s abusive-driver fees, other legal challenges across the state are also playing themselves out. The challenges come at a time when state lawmakers are facing […]