ARTS Pick: Lyle Lovett

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band is no small venture—the 13-piece group backs Lovett on everything from violin to guitar to trombone, swinging through jazz and pickin’ out country with a variety of crowd-pleasers. With 14 records and almost four decades of touring, the four-time Grammy winner continues to define his own musical niche. Wednesday, […]

Kishi Bashi confronts love through new sounds on Sonderlust

Kaoru Ishibashi ditched his violin for samplers, sequencers and electronics on Sonderlust, the third album released under his pseudo name Kishi Bashi. The composer—largely known for his mastery of the violin, which led him to accompanying Regina Spektor, Sondre Lerche and Of Montreal on tours—just couldn’t muster the inspiration to pick up the stringed instrument. […]

ARTS Pick: Ween

Sometime in either 1984 or 1985 two junior high school kids with no interest in friendship were seated next to each other in typing class. It turns out they had even less interest in typing, and through a bit of distracted goofiness, including fusing the words wuss and penis, Ween was formed, and history was […]

Reggae legend Culture keeps local connections strong

When a major band comes to Charlottesville, it doesn’t necessarily take the stage at the John Paul Jones arena or the Jefferson Theater. Culture, one of the most influential reggae bands of all time, returns to play The Ante Room on April 21. And while the band hails from Jamaica, its current keyboard player is […]

Infinity Downs Farm launches with Earth Day concert

In 2013, Dave Frey and his partner, fellow music promoter Peter Shapiro, started the Lockn’ Festival, a multi-genre musical blowout that takes place in late summer on the sprawling Oak Ridge Farm in the Nelson County town of Arrington. Over the past four years the event has brought an array of heavyweight acts in roots, […]

ARTS Pick: Porchella

Tom Tom Founders Festival saves one of its highlights for last in Porchella, a free music event that turns the expansive front porches of the Belmont neighborhood into stages for local players, including University of Whales, Michael Coleman and Gina Sobel. Pull up a lawn chair or stroll the streets of Goodman and Graves and […]

ARTS Pick: Charlie Worsham

If the critics are correct, Nashville’s next big thing—Charlie Worsham—won’t be playing small venues the next time around. Outlets from American Songwriter and Rolling Stone to People magazine and NPR are gushing about his new album, Beginning of Things, saying Worsham is “one of country’s most formidable dark horses” who “demonstrates this art with uncommon […]

ARTS Pick: Missy Raines

Even with seven International Bluegrass Music Awards for Bass Player of the Year, it’s not all about the bass for Missy Raines. After gigging around, the talented lead singer stepped up to the mic in 2008 to front The New Hip quartet featuring mandolin, guitars, bass, drums and percussion, and the accolades keep coming. Deep […]

Parsonsfield brings the best of the past into the present

Named after a town in Maine, folk quintet Parsonsfield formed by happenstance at the University of Connecticut around 2009. “I was beginning college and I really wanted to meet some people that had an interest in old songs like I did,” says member Chris Freeman.  “I was playing guitar and discovering music from all eras […]

Arts Pick: Lúnasa

“St. Patrick’s Day is much bigger in America than it is in Ireland,” say the members of Lúnasa, an Irish supergroup who take the stage on Wednesday, for what guitarist Ed Boyd calls “a good night’s entertainment.” The group’s 20th anniversary tour is filled with stories and music, contemporary and traditional, in perfect preparation for the stateside honoring of […]