In a performance that combines elements of opera, gospel, jazz, dance, and theater, Victory Hall Opera presents Gullah Meditations—the first significant new arrangements of “unknown” Gullah Geechee spirituals in 100 years. Tenor Victor Ryan Robertson and his collaborator, pianist Adrianne Duncan, produced the new arrangements based on 19th-century spirituals born out of the distinct culture […]
In a performance that combines elements of opera, gospel, jazz, dance, and theater, Victory Hall Opera presents Gullah Meditations—the first significant new arrangements of “unknown” Gullah Geechee spirituals in 100 years. Tenor Victor Ryan Robertson and his collaborator, pianist Adrianne Duncan, produced the new arrangements based on 19th-century spirituals born out of the distinct culture […]
Honky-tonk outfit Ramona & the Holy Smokes light it up with a record-release show for a self-produced, self-titled debut album. Ramona Martinez’s emotionally evocative vocals are backed by a scorching-hot band steeped in classic country of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, with contemporary songwriting that pushes boundaries and connects cultures. Nelson County native Kai Crowe-Getty […]
According to the internet, Bob Mould performed at the Marquee in New York City on March 8, 1991, touring his second solo album, Black Sheets of Rain. As an 18-year-old, I won two tickets to the show by calling into the local Long Island alternative radio station around 2am. Because no one I knew was […]
For a classical strings-meets-hip-hop beats duo, there’s something very unexpected about what Black Violin has become: easy to listen to. That’s both good and bad. Violist/vocalist Wil Baptiste and violinist Kev Marcus have made a choice to evolve over 21 years of fusing disparate styles. But as is often the case, time and repeated exposure […]
When you’re ambitious, you do what you can to chisel out your chunk of fame. So what has Sharon Van Etten been doing? In following a singer-songwriter migration pattern that’s led her to Tennessee, New York, and California, she’s stockpiled her cred in indie circles (note her press release being penned by none other than […]
The Charlottesville Jazz Society presents an evening of bold, straight-ahead jazz with lyrical intensity from the Todd Marcus Quartet. Based in Baltimore—where he exerts considerable influence in the local music scene while also working as an activist and organizer—Marcus is one of the rare jazz artists to primarily focus on the bass clarinet. Eschewing the […]
Appalachian folk hero Tyler Childers returns with his neotraditional blend of country, bluegrass, folk, and honky-tonk. The Kentucky-born singer-songwriter has earned several Grammy Award nominations over six albums. On his seventh, Snipe Hunter, Childers rocks out, dabbles in ragtime, and connects with his interest in Hinduism. Ticket sales benefit Hickman Holler Appalachian Relief Fund, as […]
Here’s a failed movie pitch: A 1980s-era top 40 solo artist of some success finds his way into a time machine and emerges in 2025 with the songwriting and production knowledge of all the years he missed in between. Yet in spite of that new understanding, he stays comforted by the tastes that defined his […]
Some childhood interests turn out to be just a passing fancy. But that was not the case for Fiona Balestrieri when she was a young musician. “My first instrument was actually the fiddle,” she says. “I only played that for a year because I discovered the Irish flute. … The sound of the wooden flute […]
Ripley Johnson’s created such a specific body of work, his name’s been used as a song title to signify a sound. For more than two decades, the Portland guitarist has investigated various forms of psychedelia, ranging from metronomic minimalism to fuzzy freakouts. So when he started releasing country music a few years back under the […]