It’s been more than two decades since Dave Matthews Band emerged from Charlottesville and forever altered the pop-rock landscape with rootsy jams highlighted by the juxtaposition of fiddle and sax. While small gigs at Trax and frat parties were the launch pad, the band belongs to the rest of the world now—with 37 million albums […]
It’s been more than two decades since Dave Matthews Band emerged from Charlottesville and forever altered the pop-rock landscape with rootsy jams highlighted by the juxtaposition of fiddle and sax. While small gigs at Trax and frat parties were the launch pad, the band belongs to the rest of the world now—with 37 million albums […]
(VIDEO) You might have seen the members of Les Grosses Erreurs (The Big Mistakes) on the Downtown Mall over the past few days. The Cajun musicians are in Charlottesville from Lafayette, Louisiana, after a stop in Asheville. They’ll be busking and playing house shows until Monday. Here they play “I have a broken heart.” For […]
Old-time-music enthusiasts who missed Frank Fairfield‘s appearance in town two weeks ago, as well as fans eager for a second helping, are in for a pleasant surprise. We spotted the distinctive Fairfield — hard to miss, with his vintage suite, pomade-ed hair, and a mustache worthy of Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood — […]
Award-winning vocalist Natalie Cole has refreshed standards out of the Great American Songbook from Sinatra and her own father, Nat King Cole. With boundless vocal dexterity and a wealth of soulful emotion behind her lyrics, Cole is on tour supporting 2009’s Still Unforgettable, which harkens back to her ’91 Grammy Award for Album of the […]
Country megastar Eric Church operates in threes. Hat, sunglasses, and stubble are his distinctive on-stage accoutrements. Blood, sweat, and beers are not only a lifestyle for the devout Church-goers who come to his concerts, but the name of his record-breaking arena tour. Chief, his recent platinum album, is his third studio output. Church seamlessly weaves […]
Milo Greene is not a real person—it’s the result of some friends who decided to throw together a band and then created a fictitious agent (Milo Greene) to help land gigs. These are humble beginnings, but with a debut album issued in July, an ongoing headlining tour, and last month’s “Conan” performance all on the […]
Easy Star All-Stars are a cover band of Jah-normous proportions, but instead of playing another act’s songs, it translates landmarks of pop music history. Over the last 10 years, Easy Star has aimed its roots-reggae lens at Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and The Beatles, releasing Dub Side Of The Moon, Radiodread (based on Radiohead’s OK Computer), […]
Jason Pollock (former guitarist for grunge hitmakers Seven Mary Three) and his eponymous band of Albemarle-area musicians, carve out songs that sound like Tom Petty got his chocolate in The Smithereens’ peanut butter—resulting in familiar, flavorful tunes. The Pollocks roll out a new album, Life Of The Stars, and it crackles with the energy of […]
Raid your closet for those acid wash jeans and feather your hair back because the pop culture of the ’80s has come full circle. Naturally this requires a soundtrack, so Gordon Gartrell and Cru Jones, after hearing one too many bogus covers of their favorite decade, decided they weren’t gonna take it, gathered four similarly-minded […]
The Festy Experience in Nelson County is a three-day musical gathering curated by The Infamous Stringdusters. Two members of the band live here in Charlottesville, guitarist Andy Falco and banjo player Chris Pandolfi, and I’m happy to call them friends. Before The Festy last week, I listened to Chris and Andy rehearse in the Pink Warehouse, Downtown, where […]