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 […]
John McCutcheon is equal parts musician and storyteller, skilled with a variety of instruments but also engaging when telling tales between tunes. He is a Wisconsin native who called Charlottesville home for years before moving to Smoke Rise, Georgia. He is also an avid community organizer and political figure in folk music. Given this multifaceted […]
Blue Note recording artist and composer Wayne Shorter has been a preeminent jazz saxophonist since the 1960s when he performed with Miles Davis and his Second Great Quintet. The 10-time Grammy-winner is joined onstage by Esperanza Spalding, the young double bass phenom who’s garnered four Grammys herself, including the award for Best New Artist in […]
Caroline Spence has taken Nashville by storm over the past two years, winning songwriting competitions at the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest, Kerrville Folk Festival and taking American Songwriter Magazine’s 2013 grand prize. The momentum encouraged Spence to crowdsource funding for the full-length album, Somehow, paving the way for the Charlottesville native to take her music […]
Up-and-coming Southern rockers J. Roddy Walston & The Business are on tour in support of Essential Tremors, an album that borrows its name from a nervous system disorder that’s plagued the band’s frontman throughout his career. Walston said that it makes sense to be more open about his ailment on this record because the album […]