ARTS Pick: Positive Collective

Positive Collective formed, in part, due to a chance encounter at Walnut Creek Park between Greg Ward and Chris Leva that resulted in a few jam sessions and the discovery of a mutual love of good-time, get movin’ tunes. The band is currently made up of seasoned musicians (whose combined musical experience totals more than […]

ARTS Pick: Taarka

Prism Coffeehouse presents Taarka, a husband-and-wife-led team formed in 2001 in Portland, Oregon, by David and Enion Pelta-Tiller. The band, whose name is derived from a term in Indian cooking used to describe the sound of spices roasting, blends Virginia-rooted bluegrass and jazz with classical elements to form an eclectic and energetic gypsy-jazz. Sunday 1/10. $15-17, […]

ARTS Pick: Marian McLaughlin

Experimental folk musician Marian McLaughlin has a trance-like effect on her audiences thanks to her stream-of-consciousness delivery that is at once delicate and multilayered. Her exploratory approach to music is inspired by French social revolutionary Guy Debord’s concept of dérive (also the name of her first release), where an individual sets out on a spontaneous […]

ARTS Pick: Donna the Buffalo

For the past 20 years, Donna the Buffalo has been uniting audiences with its rhythmic and groove-heavy tunes. Self-described as a band “for the people,” this New York-based group incorporates elements of Cajun, rock, folk, country and a bit of a moral message to create meaningful music you can dance to. The band partnered with […]

Fruitful endeavors: Michael Clem issues second solo album a decade later

Since moving to Charlottesville from Northern Virginia in 2008, Michael Clem has become a staple of the city’s music scene. Having played bass and sung harmony and lead vocals for nearly two decades for the nationally acclaimed Washington, D.C.,-based quintet Eddie from Ohio, whose shows and records frequently featured world-class players such as Béla Fleck, […]

Dynamic Duo: MoJa embraces lifelong musical lessons

It isn’t the quest for red-carpet accolades, social media props, YouTube views or Spotify listens that drives MoJa. The Charlottesville-based quartet, co-fronted by violinist Morwenna Lasko and guitarist Jay Pun, wants to make better art. “We don’t view making music as a commercial enterprise,” says Pun. “Rather, we think of it as a continual process […]

What we want: WarHen Records keeps going for local music

Last October, Warren Parker sat at his dining room table with a set of alphabet rubber stamps, a blue ink pad and a few dozen 7″ vinyl records with blank white labels laid out edge to edge. Letter by letter, he stamped the labels: Beams, A, WarHen. Once the ink dried, he flipped the records […]

ARTS Pick: New Year’s Eve

First Night Virginia $6-38, 3pm-midnight. Downtown Mall, locations vary. New Year’s in Ireland 7pm. Tin Whistle Irish Pub, 609 E. Market St. 202-8387. Rising Appalachia’s New Year’s Eve Gala $37-65, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4980. New Year’s Eve with Elby Brass and Grits and Gravy $10-15, 9pm. 21-plus. The Southern […]

ARTS Picks: Eddie from Ohio

In 2016, the genre-defying Eddie from Ohio will celebrate 25 years of winning fans through a tight, balanced blend of four-part harmonies and instrumentation that includes guitar, bass and harmonica as well as hand and stick percussion. Internationally renowned, local folk singer-songwriter Ellis Paul opens. Friday 12/18. $27-30, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E Main St., […]

ARTS Pick: A Very Woolen Holiday

Grammy-nominated former “American Idol” contestant Chris Daughtry headlines A Very Woolen Holiday, a benefit event for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a nonprofit that funds research for less toxic treatment options. Presented for the first time by Woolen Writers’ Revival and hosted by local musicians Will Thomas Reed and Brian Craddock, the lineup also includes Keith […]