Emerging voices fill a DIY bill at the Jefferson

There’s no disputing that digital music and online platforms have radically changed how we listen to and discover music. The DIY scene has aced this technological inroad, benefiting from the access and control it gives to up-and-coming artists. Today’s unsigned musicians release their own music, book their own shows, eschew mainstream media and feel a […]

ARTS Pick: COIN

COIN makes the kind of sweet indie pop perfect for blasting on Indian summer drives with the car windows rolled down. This energy translates to the stage, where lead singer Chase Lawrence spends performances whipping his hair, jumping off amps and hyping up the crowd until it’s having as good a time as he is. […]

ARTS Pick: Miss Gay Charlottesville Pride Pageant

Don your best duds and get in the spirit as Miss Dreama Belle and Bunny Nicole host the Miss Gay Charlottesville Pride Pageant as part of C’ville Pride Week. An all-ages crowd will witness the standout styles, cutting-edge cutouts and classic looks as female impersonators and transgender male-to-female contestants compete in several categories: creative pride […]

ARTS Pick: The Chris Robinson Brotherhood

The Chris Robinson Brotherhood began as a Los Angeles band that just wanted, in Robinson’s words, to “have a good time.” All in the name of having fun, the former Black Crowes frontman created a bluesy, quintessentially Californian psychedelic jam sound that central Virginia can’t get enough of. Five albums in, the Brotherhood stops by […]

ARTS Pick: Lucero

When Lucero formed in 1998, the band knew it wanted to redefine the metal and punk landscape its members had been working in their Tennessee hometown. With a heart for country music, they hunkered down to chart a new direction, with one setback: “The trick there was that we couldn’t really play our instruments,” says […]

ARTS Pick: The Legwarmers

There’s no lack of love for ’80s pop culture these days, and no one covers it better live than The Legwarmers. Chet Reno, Lavaar Huxtable, Roxanne Rio, Captain Morgan Pondo and Clarence McFly proudly champion the top hits from a decade that’s grown more rad through romantic nostalgia. Still, nobody can defend the shoulder pads […]

ARTS Pick: James Vincent McMorrow

James Vincent McMorrow’s True Care could be named True Confessions, judging by a statement the Irishman posted on his website about crafting the new album. “Lot of one takes with no click tracks, in a room moving from sound to sound, idea to idea,” McMorrow writes. “I wasn’t doing any of that because I was […]

Animal Collective is ‘Kinda Bonkers’ in the best way

As one-fourth of experimental pop band Animal Collective and a solo artist in his own right, Noah Lennox (who creates under the moniker Panda Bear) has been making music professionally for nearly 20 years. Along with Dave Portner (Avey Tare), Brian Weitz (Geologist) and Josh Dibb (Deakin), Lennox and the Collective made their mainstream crossover […]

ARTS Pick: 9th Wonder

9th Wonder’s fingerprints are all over hip-hop music. Not only has he released a series of acclaimed albums with trio Little Brother, he’s produced tracks for some of the biggest names in the game—Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, Jay Z, Destiny’s Child, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Jill Scott, Ludacris, Big Boi and Anderson .Paak, to name […]

Musician Lauren Hoffman shares her eating disorder struggle

In 1997, local musician Lauren Hoffman almost had the world in her hands. A three-album deal with Virgin, rave reviews from music magazines, and a growing audience in Europe. Then something went wrong. And when she launched other albums, something went wrong again, despite packed shows on several continents. Now she’s ready to talk about […]