Genre smashing: Richmond-based Butcher Brown is breaking the rules in the best way possible. The band’s upcoming album, Butcher Brown Presents Triple Trey featuring Tennishu and R4ND4ZZO BIGB4ND, deconstructs big-band jazz and reshapes it into “solar music,” a term coined to describe Butcher Brown’s Southern-leaning, sometimes psychedelic fusion. “We get daps from the jazz cats, […]
Genre smashing: Richmond-based Butcher Brown is breaking the rules in the best way possible. The band’s upcoming album, Butcher Brown Presents Triple Trey featuring Tennishu and R4ND4ZZO BIGB4ND, deconstructs big-band jazz and reshapes it into “solar music,” a term coined to describe Butcher Brown’s Southern-leaning, sometimes psychedelic fusion. “We get daps from the jazz cats, […]
Baked grooves: Formed in a college dorm in Boone, North Carolina, The Nude Party got its start at a regular gig as a house band, where performing in the buff earned the group a reputation as “the naked party band.” Nude Party’s sophomore album, Midnight Manor, harkens back to those house party days with a […]
September reveries: There’s nothing like listening to the strumming of an acoustic guitar on a warm, late-summer evening. But fingerstyle guitarist Tyler Burkhardt does more than just strum—he creates the sound of an entire band by hitting, tapping, slapping, and thumping the body and strings of his guitar. A Chesterfield native who now lives in […]
Take it like Amanda: Award-winning singer-songwriter Amanda Shires is doing things her own way. Take It Like A Man, her seventh studio album, is a fearless confessional in the form of 10 intimate songs that offer musings on what it’s really like to turn 40. Grounded by Shires’ sultry voice and virtuoso fiddling, something she’s […]
Taking the reins: Jason Isbell is often called the best singer-songwriter of his generation. His lyrics conjure ghosts, beckon brighter futures, and offer an intimate look at the human condition that comes from time spent successfully battling his own demons. After six years with rock band Drive-By Truckers, Isbell went solo, making his own blend […]
Hear it to see it: Music is multidimensional at Mozart in Virtual Reality: Music as Immersive Experience, a special presentation as part of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival. Following a demonstration from festival artistic director Timothy Summers, a randomly selected group of volunteers will have the opportunity to feel how music is made and heard […]
Coast to coast: Los Angeles-based duo LANY makes dreamy, atmospheric pop with a ’90s R&B spirit. Originally formed as a trio in 2014 with Paul Jason Klein, Jake Goss, and Les Priest (who recently parted from the group), the band’s name refers to its desire to break nationwide—from L.A. to New York. After a pandemic-forced […]
Shake it up: Joslyn Hampton developed her dynamic, powerhouse vocals by performing in stage plays, singing in church, and playing covers at weddings and clubs. When she was ready to create a new act, she teamed with her stepfather, touring guitarist Marty Chambers, to form Joslyn & The Sweet Compression, and in 2019 the band […]
By Samantha Federico When the coronavirus halted live music in spring of 2020, and stopped most recording studios and radio stations from operating normally, Jeff Sweatman’s career suffered a familiar fate—he lost his job as the program director for Charlottesville’s WCNR 106.1 The Corner in a round of pandemic-related layoffs. In the same month, Grammy-winning […]
Can you dig it?: The party never stops for Magic City Hippies (above), the Miami-based alt-pop group composed of Robby Hunter, Pat Howard, and John Coughlin. The trio embraces everything from AM radio rock and poolside pop to nimble raps and salsa—all layered over a current of psychedelic funk. Quarantine didn’t stop the boys from […]