ARTS Pick: Water Liars

Some accidents seem like divine intervention, especially if they result in brilliance. When Justin Kinkel-Schuster got together with Andrew Bryant to make a casual recording (2011’s critically praised Phantom Limb), they tapped into a rare magic and Water Liars was formed. The second effort by the Missouri-based duo, Wyoming, carries on the crushingly poignant, bad ass folk-pop that put it on so many “best of” lists among indie rock tastemakers.

ARTS Pick: The Embers

Still glowing With global warming now confirmed, the weather is sure to go straight to hot, with scorching beach-worthy weather breaking out any day now. Getting ahead of that first sunburn, The Embers are headlining Surf on the Turf, an inland beach bash complete with dancing, dinner, and drinks. The quintessential band of the sand […]

ARTS Preview: 5 bands to catch at Tom Tom Fest 2013

Last year, the Tom Tom Founder’s Festival debuted with a bold music line-up. While Josh Ritter delivered a spirited performance to a full house at the Haven, scattered shows by national acts, like the Walkmen and Futurebirds, were underattended. This year Tom Tom organizers are shifting the focus to local and regional bands, and beefing […]

Tom Tom to feature two innovation contests

“It takes persistence, not necessarily any particular genius, to be an entrepreneur,” said University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce adjunct professor Brendan Richardson. A UVA graduate and startup investor himself, Richardson has spent more than 20 years working with new ideas and the people behind them. The next Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates might […]

Rolling on: Holy Smokes wraps up with a stacked Tom Tom showcase

The Tom Tom Founders Festival has a dense schedule, seeking to offer something for everyone, from concerts to street parties to symposia on innovation. A glance at the calendar can be bewildering, and it may be tough to know where to turn. Although every attendee is sure to find something to enjoy, one event in […]

ARTS Pick: Immortal Technique

Playing it forward A year behind bars during the early years was not entirely lost time for Felipe Coronel. It gave him the focus to hone his talents, and the motivation to take a few political science classes, both of which transformed him into a deeply political, determined, and charitable artist. Finding new ways to […]

ARTS Picks: Marc Broussard

Louisiana heat With musical roots in rock and the soulful blues of the deep south, Marc Broussard may be the right elixir to spark a somewhat latent spring fever. Since the spontaneous beginning of his musical career at age 5 (when he got on-stage with his father’s band), Broussard’s singing and songwriting has evolved into […]

ARTS Pick: Jessye Norman

Uber achiever The richly talented Jessye Norman is not a standard singer. To clarify, she does sing standards, as well as opera and Broadway ballads, but she refuses to align herself with any stereotype. Her set list consists of classics by Gershwin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, and Bernstein, but Norman innovates through the sheer power of […]

ARTS Pick: DJ Shadow

Press play Endtroducing… dropped all the way back in 1996, but DJ Shadow’s experiment in instrumental hip-hop brought the man unexpected acclaim, and a sound that is still influencing artists across genres. He’s retreated back to the underground in the years since his debut, but Shadow remains just as invested in perfecting and pushing the contemporary musical […]