ARTS Pick: Wilco

Been there: Regardless of which collaborative era in Jeff Tweedy’s career got you on board—Jay Farrar, Jay Bennett, Billy Bragg, Nels Cline—you’ve likely heard the frontman of the revered alt-country, punk-leaning, folk-forward, American rock band Wilco at his best—because Tweedy does not disappoint. Twenty-five years after the band’s formation, Wilco’s poetic authenticity continues to thrive […]

ARTS Pick: WALE

Way to go-go: Grammy-winning, roof-shaking, innovating rapper WALE grew up in Northwest Washington, D.C., in the 1980s, in the heart of the go-go music scene. WALE says go-go “made me the man that I am today, and I will never let it go.” You can hear it in his platinum-selling records, like 2011’s Lotus Flower […]

Keeping on: Umphrey’s McGee are still playing the long game

The first time Umphrey’s McGee played in Charlottesville—in 2002, upstairs at the old Starr Hill brewery on West Main Street—a few dozen people showed up. The band was in its barnstorming phase, with its six members, fresh out of college, charging around the country in a crowded van. The Starr Hill show was one of […]

ARTS Pick: Dwight Yoakam

Hollywood hillbilly: Americana superstar, SiriusXM disc jockey, and accomplished actor Dwight Yoakam tours the songs that have earned him nine platinum albums and 14 Billboard top-10 hits. On his 2016 album, Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…, he dug into the bluegrass he listened to as a child in Kentucky and applied it to songs from his […]

ARTS Pick: Kendall Street Company

Happy at home: A rhythm guitar-centric band with a monster sax player that formed through late-night sessions at the University of Virginia might sound like a familiar backstory, but this six-piece rock act founded in 2013 relies on original, epic jams to cut its own swath through the East Coast venue map. Kendall Street Company […]

ARTS Pick: Rodrigo y Gabriela

Acoustic ascent: The 20-year career of Rodrigo y Gabriela has played out as deftly as the acoustic rock duo’s music. Meeting in Mexico as teenagers, Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero became a couple and formed a rock band. After growing frustrated with local opportunities, they took up residency in Dublin, Ireland, where they perfected their […]