Accomplished local jazz musician John D’earth says people get too hung up on what is music and what isn’t music. Kids, for example, don’t need to play an instrument properly to be making music. They just need to be making noise. If you’re too square for that jive, Suzanne Thorpe and Bonnie Jones are ready […]
Accomplished local jazz musician John D’earth says people get too hung up on what is music and what isn’t music. Kids, for example, don’t need to play an instrument properly to be making music. They just need to be making noise. If you’re too square for that jive, Suzanne Thorpe and Bonnie Jones are ready […]
“The Struggle” by Grizfolk Smell the roses When five musicians from different parts of the globe meet in a Southern California beach town, the serendipity results in Grizfolk, a band whose music embraces the essence of discovery. Lyrically reflecting on the spirit of travel, the band takes audiences on a journey through hardship and joy […]
Summer would be incomplete without a high-energy, foot stomping country concert, and The Whiskey Gentry is up to the task. In 2009, husband and wife duo Lauren Staley and Jason Morrow teamed up to form an innovative bluegrass band. Soulful vocals, punk-inspired beats, and lively performances define the group of talented musicians as pioneers in […]
Nothing epitomizes a longing for Old Virginia more than fine local wine combined with Blue Ridge folk music—and the songs of Devon Sproule are a perfect testimonial. The formerly local singer-songwriter pieces together elements of folk, country, pop, and jazz to create an authentic, simple sound set off by sweet, honest vocals that evoke the countryside’s pastoral […]
Tenure under the tutelage of jazz legend Anthony Braxton and a decade onstage with the Dirty Projectors has helped Nat Baldwin become a premiere player in the avant-garde jazz scene. His songwriting bears the heavy weight of melancholia—a haunting and foreboding tone that is carried by gravelly vocals over a bowed upright bass. Baldwin’s ominous timbre […]
JD McPherson may be about to piss a lot of people off. The singer-songwriter and virtuoso guitarist’s first record, Signs and Signifiers, was a faithful reproduction of old school rhythm and blues. He and his team, working with vintage equipment in a Chicago studio, knew there was an existing (mostly European) fan base just waiting to […]
Could Indecision have been DMB? Could the names Evans and Ibbeken have been synonymous with the C’ville music scene, instead of Dave Matthews? Could “Take It All In” have been “Ants Marching”? Probably not, admits Indecision’s David Ibbeken. But the band, which made its debut in Charlottesville in 1984, was by most accounts a stroke […]
Stories often become more profound when coupled with the upbeat mix of dueling guitars—at least that’s the case with the music of Rebecca Rego and The Trainmen. Borrowing from country and folk, the Wisconsin band relates unique experiences through song, sharing intimate moments. Whether it’s a ballad about the bars in Chicago or the changing […]
A friend of mine once fell asleep at an Iron and Wine show. By the time the opener had finished and Sam Beam started in with his lullaby-like tunes, my buddy found himself a comfy spot on a pool table and succumbed to a serenaded sleep. I always think of that story as a bit of […]
Fitz and the Tantrums just seem to have a way of finding the spotlight. Remember that video where they were all on those treadmills? Oh, that wasn’t them? My bad. But who could forget when they played on that one rooftop that one time? Oh, right. That was every band other than them. What about […]