ARTS Pick: Charlottesville Symphony

Indulge in the food of love with your sweetheart at the Charlottesville Symphony’s tribute to the romance of Shakespeare. Kate Tamarkin conducts a program chock full of starry-eyed, heartwarming works, including Mendelssohn’s “Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Prokofiev’s “Suites No. 1 and 2 from Romeo and Juliet” and the score to Oscar-winning film Shakespeare […]

ARTS Pick: Unlucky in Love

Sing and dance your Valentine’s blues away at the theme night Unlucky in Love: A Night of Outlaw Country with a Side of Garage with four of central Virginia’s rowdiest honky-tonk acts. Drunk Luke & The Broken Bottles bring some raucous country sing-alongs about frolicking, fighting, and fornicating after sets by The Upper Deckers, Paul […]

ARTS Pick: The Saturday Giant

In the vein of Keller Williams and other one-man bands, Philip Cogley, a.k.a. The Saturday Giant, produces three, four, sometimes five separate tracks at a time during live performances using a guitar, a drum machine, keyboards, and a loop machine. Atop all of his instruments, he adds warm vocals that overlap as harmonies above the […]

ARTS Pick: Nettles

The Kickstarter funded album Locust Avenue, by local folk group Nettles, is a rural Virginia creation through and through. The record was made in a farmhouse in Waynesboro that the band rented in exchange for a six-pack of Heineken. Led by Guion Pratt on acoustic guitar and vocals, Nettles went into seclusion for four days […]

ARTS Pick: Diana Ross

After leading the Supremes to 12 No. 1 singles in the 1960s, Diana Ross began a solo career that has spanned five decades, piling up dozens of hit songs that are still dance floor anthems and soft rock inspirations including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Touch Me in the Morning,” “I’m Coming Out” and “Endless […]

Not just another band: Pat McGee on the Trax days and Dave comparisons

For those yearning for the days of yore, when C’ville was an unknown but up-and-coming music town, yearn no further than February 7 at The Southern Café and Music Hall. That’s the night Pat McGee will reconvene his band in Charlottesville for the first time since the venerable Trax nightclub was torn down in 2002. […]

The art of Pollock: One-time national songwriter goes local

Jason Pollock has achieved more fame making music than most people ever dream of. As a member of ’90s post-grunge rock band Seven Mary Three, he toured the world and played to tens of thousands. He co-wrote the band’s 1997 Billboard Top 100 No. 1 hit “Cumbersome,” as well as its No. 7 hit that […]

ARTS Pick: Corey Smith

In a culture of designer cowboy boots and custom fitted blue jeans, Corey Smith breaks the mold and brings some grit and authenticity back to the country scene. Raised in the rolling hills of Jefferson, Georgia, Smith sings about experiences from rural Southern life. With nine albums to his credit, the country star has amassed […]

Traveling alone: A clear-headed Jason Isbell talks solo success

Jason Isbell is enjoying the afterglow of redemption. The lauded country-rock tunesmith is still touring behind his career-defining 2013 album Southeastern, an effort that earned overdue recognition for an artist who turned his demons into a poignantly captivating sonic statement. Ubiquitously praised by critics, the album led to Isbell taking top honors at the Americana […]