Sol Driven Train’s musical psyche has been self-diagnosed with “sonic schizophrenia.” Citing influences from Paul Simon and John Prine, to New Orleans jazz, Caribbean island-rock and Afro-beat, the group has amassed a loyal fan base through its musical diversity. The band members first jammed together in their middle school music room, and formed a strong […]
Sol Driven Train’s musical psyche has been self-diagnosed with “sonic schizophrenia.” Citing influences from Paul Simon and John Prine, to New Orleans jazz, Caribbean island-rock and Afro-beat, the group has amassed a loyal fan base through its musical diversity. The band members first jammed together in their middle school music room, and formed a strong […]
Founded in 2013 by Jason Burke, the quarterly Six Pack Songwriter Series hosts a lineup of native Virginia musicians with diverse acoustic styles and subject matter. This time around, the series takes the stage in a bigger venue and places past participants John Kelly, Justin Storer, Michael Coleman, Sue Harlow, Susan Munson and Thomas Gunn […]
After spending several years reviving the time-tested tradition of the African-American string band with the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, vocalist, violinist and banjo player Rhiannon Giddens is breathing new life into early ’60s folk with her first solo effort. Her debut album, Tomorrow is My Turn, dropped this past February and showcases Giddens’ R&B-influenced interpretations of classics […]
Grant Kwiecinski aka GRiZ is only going to get bigger. At age 23, the multi-talented artist has carved out a unique musical niche that’s a little bit of funk, a little bit of rap, a little bit of soulful sax, and it’s all GRiZ’s eclectic sound. His rising popularity landed him on festival stages from Coachella to Red […]
Traditional folk duo Eamon O’Leary and Jefferson Hamer (above) sing and play the guitar, bouzouki and mandolin as The Murphy Beds. They draw on experience from Irish and American traditions (O’Leary grew up in Dublin and Hamer has roots in the New York music scene) on numbers like “Rise Up, My Darling,” a folk song […]
Although acclaimed singer-songwriter Danny Schmidt is currently based out of Austin, Texas, his musical career began in Charlottesville. A contemporary of Devon Sproule and Paul Curreri, Schmidt got his start playing The Prism Coffeehouse and The Gravity Lounge, and was named oneof “the 50 most significant songwriters of folk in the last 50 years” by “The Midnight […]
Lauren Hoffman had never heard of Paste Magazine. But in 2006, soon after the release of her most acclaimed record Choreography, the LP’s lead single was included on one of the national magazine’s music samplers alongside the likes of The Hold Steady, Bright Eyes and The Shins. It wasn’t the only reach enjoyed by “Broken,” […]
Derisive punk pranksters ONWE make their second local appearance this month at the end of a tour that has booked up and down the East Coast as well as four shows at Austin, Texas’ South by Southwest Festival. Since the 2014 release of the single “Unpaid Internship,” the trio has risen to the summit of […]
If you are a parent of a millennial there’s a good chance you can sing along to the tunes of “kindie rock” songstress Laurie Berkner. Her hits “We Are The Dinosaurs,” “Bumblebee (Buzz Buzz)” and “Victor Vito” (made popular on Nick Jr. TV channel) offered a welcome alternative to the catchy banality of Barney and The […]
Virginia-born and Nashville-based, Nora Jane Struthers makes her country roots come alive on the energetic new album, Wake. The former high school teacher’s first self-produced record crosses Emmylou Harris with Pearl Jam in a collection of percussive panoramas and Southern-fried slide guitar. Struthers and her backing band, The Party Line, strip away the safety net […]