By Marilyn Pribus – Habitat for Humanity® of Greater Charlottesville is all about having a home. In more than 25 years of local action, this remarkable effort has constructed more than 200 dwellings, living up to Habitat’s vision of eliminating homelessness and substandard housing by making adequate, affordable shelter a matter of conscience and action. […]
John D’earth directs the UVA Jazz Ensemble in a three-way benefit for the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, the Legal Aid Justice Center and the UVA jazz program. Jazz4Justice is a statewide, college-based series that raises funds and awareness about social justice issues through community partnerships. The Charlottesville performance features vocalist Stephanie Nakasian and the […]
A dialogue of national reconciliation takes the form of a courtroom drama in Ziad Doueiri’s The Insult, one of this year’s nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. It all begins as a minor conflict between a Lebanese Christian mechanic, Tony (Adel Karam), and a Palestinian engineer living in Beirut, Yasser (Kamel El Basha). Yasser is […]
FAMILY James Madison’s birthday celebration Friday, March 16 Commemorate the 267th birthday of fourth president James Madison in an event featuring the U.S. Marine Corps Band, Honor Guard, Color Guard and the annual wreath–laying ceremony at the Madison Family Cemetery. Free, 1:30pm. Madison Family Cemetery, 11350 Constitution Hwy., Montpelier Station. montpelier.org NONPROFIT Fashion show fundraiser […]
It was a bill that had its own meme. “When Dominion writes the law: We pay twice. They get richer,” said a post that swept the web with the hashtags #HB1558 #KILLTHEBILL and #STOPTHESCAM before the House of Delegates voted to pass the bill 63-35 on February 13. The bill was a response to the […]
Thursday 2/22 MerleFest on the Road gives added exposure to the players at (the late) Doc Watson’s popular Americana music festival in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Chicago’s soulful five-piece The Way Down Wanderers, laidback Nashville bluegrass act The Barefoot Movement, and seasoned folk musician Andy May, carry the torch in an ensemble show that previews the […]
Girlpool Powerplant (Anti-) Philadelphia-by-way-of-California duo Girlpool released Powerplant in May, and it was probably a great summer heartbreak album, all intertwining guitars and fragile voices. Opener “123” comes in like a lamb and revs up to lion level at the chorus—but it’s a sweet, sad lion. The soft/loud ratio remains pretty constant throughout Powerplant, and […]
Jackie Shane Any Other Way (Numero Group) Any Other Way is an incredible soundtrack with a riveting story. Jackie Shane was assigned male at birth in 1940 Nashville, identified as female as a teenager, blew minds as a singer/stand-up drummer in various bands, moved to Toronto at the turn of the ’60s, sparked the city’s […]
It might come as a surprise to learn that alt-J members conceive of themselves as a folk band. After all, the U.K. trio’s synths, patterns and rhythms don’t conjure the same aesthetic as an acoustic guitar-wielding troubadour. The experimental art-rock does, however, evoke its own brand of folklore. Take “Adeline,” a track from the group’s […]
Downtown Boys Cost of Living (Sub Pop) “A Wall,” the opening track on Cost of Living, winds up like it could be a punk Springsteen cover—then vocalist Victoria Ruiz bursts through with the righteous, insistent bellow of Dog Faced Hermans’ Marion Coutts or holy Poly Styrene. Downtown Boys calls itself a “serious band from Providence,” […]