ARTS Pick: Willie DE

When guitarist Willie DE walks onstage to unveil his sophomore album, Thunder Train, he will be taking another big step on a musical journey that cuts straight through Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. As a young aspiring musician, DE made his first bucks while busking on local streets, and credits his membership at the Music Resource Center […]

ARTS Pick: The Nth Power

Indebted to the legacy of soul music, The Nth Power offers a listener’s choice of “songs that will inspire audiences to dance, groove, make love or just stand there with goose bumps.” Bound by a belief in the spiritual power of music and the logical beauty of math (the group’s first EP is titled Basic […]

Lydia Loveless gets emotional on fourth album

In our hyper-connected society, amid countless forays into reality television, the championing of celebrity culture and the crafted realities presented on social media, how do we define “real”? Its meaning is oftentimes fluid. Historically, the concept of authenticity has been inherent to discussions on music and art, but that can be a slippery slope devolving […]

ARTS Pick: The Dexateens

In 2011, Alabama garage rockers The Dexateens were on the verge of a breakthrough when they broke up. The band left an entirely finished album, Teenage Hallelujah, unreleased, sitting in storage, collecting dust and tantalizing die-hard fans for the better part of five years. But Teenage Hallelujah’s moment has finally come, and the band has […]

ARTS Pick: Paulien

Dutch-born, Charlottesville-based singer Paulien brings an array of languages and talent to the stage through her French jazz interpretations of the Great American Songbook. Dubbed as a musical story, she captures everyone from Edith Piaf to Cole Porter in an afternoon performance to benefit the WTJU Jazz Marathon. Sunday, October 2. $15-17, 4pm. The Southern […]

Wild Child fights through tough times and finds magic

The sound of Wild Child is hardly categorical. With horns and strings, it’s orchestral; with tap-your-feet basslines, it’s all groove; with ukelele-based riffs, it’s easy listenin’; and with bare piano arrangements, it’s full of soul. Fronted by Kelsey Wilson (vocals, violin) and Alexander Beggins (vocals, ukelele), the Texas indie- pop outfit has honed its blend […]

ARTS Pick: Sawyer Fredericks

Unassuming upstate New York farm boy Sawyer Fredericks broke onto the national scene after winning star-maker reality TV show “The Voice,” under the guidance of coach Pharrell Williams. The contemporary folk singer won the hearts of fans with Ray LaMontagne and Neil Young tunes channeled preciously through his boyish, soulful style. Saturday, September 3. $20, […]

Steve Gunn captures the road well-traveled

The magnetism of life on the open road has a long-standing mythos in American popular culture. Wide-eyed travelers were encouraged to get their kicks on “Route 66” in the blues standard first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946. Sal and Dean’s cross-country pursuits defined a generation in Jack Kerouac’s beat manifesto while the frenetic […]