Blues Explosion Returns to the Jefferson
Using Exile-era Stones as their sacred text, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion crank the knobs up to 11.
Creative SOUP: Arts leaders pair food with funding event
The creative crowd funding series Charlottesville SOUP, based on a model created by The Garage founder Kate Daughdrill, launches at The Bridge PAI.
Single vision: Steve Snider views the world through Golden Glasses
Steve Snider laughed when I asked him to list every Charlottesville band he’s played in over the years. “There’s like, more than a dozen,” he said. “I’m not totally sure I can even name them all.” Among the most memorable are the jangling indie-rock of the Fingerpainters, the yelping keyboard-punk of Cataract Camp, the anthemic [...]
Closing credits: Can the Sneak Reviews faithful revive the dying film rental business?
Sneak Reviews carries 32,000 titles, organized by country and director rather than genre, packed floor-to-ceiling on narrow shelves that have expanded to take up two floors of its Ivy Road location.
The (All New) Acorn Sisters aim to charm you through the holiday doldrums
One of Charlottesville’s finest traditions is Country Christmas, an annual concert thrown by two of the city’s finest country music acts, Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees and The(All New) Acorn Sisters, with a rotating cast of guest stars and openers. Their upcoming ninth annual event is back at the Southern Café and Music Hall, [...]
Live Music 2012: An industry-eye view of Charlottesville’s music scene
To many, Charlottesville is still best-known as the birthplace of the Dave Matthews Band, and with good reason: It would be a very different town without the group’s legacy. But our city has always hosted a wide range of musicians, from could-be stars to hometown oddities to local living legends and an impressive roster of [...]
Local musicians join the campaign to support Pussy Riot
The Moscow-based punk rock/performance art/feminist collective known as Pussy Riot gained significant international attention earlier this year when three of its members were arrested, following a filmed protest performance inside a Russian Orthodox cathedral.
Frank Fairfield makes a quiet return to the Downtown Mall
Old-time-music enthusiasts who missed Frank Fairfield‘s appearance in town two weeks ago, as well as fans eager for a second helping, are in for a pleasant surprise. We spotted the distinctive Fairfield — hard to miss, with his vintage suite, pomade-ed hair, and a mustache worthy of Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood — [...]
Charlottesville’s tiny experimental metal scene gains ground
Such concerts are infrequent in Charlottesville, but are known to draw a small crowd of impassioned devotees, and are often among the best cultural events of the year, for those willing to step off the beaten path and bring a set of earplugs.
The Central Virginia Health Alliance for Musicians targets brethren in need
The life of a musician might be interesting, exciting, and occasionally even glamorous, but it’s not the sort of career path that comes with health insurance or a dental plan. When working musicians have an illness or an injury, there isn’t always a way to pay for it.
My Fool Heart starring Jim Waive gets a long-awaited screening
“There’s been a lot of Charlottesville movies,” Jeffrey Martin said, “but this one is about Charlottesville.” He’s talking about My Fool Heart, a feature film directed by Martin and produced by his wife Lucinda Buxton, which has been in production locally for the past three years. The couple recently relocated to San Francisco, but Martin is back in town [...]
Vinegar Hill Theatre is forced to convert to digital
I don’t remember my first visit to Vinegar Hill Theatre. It was the mid-to-late ’80s, so it was probably a children’s film; a collection of cartoon shorts, or an obscure foreign import.
This year’s Virginia Film Festival shines brightly without star power
Longtime attendees may notice that this year’s Virginia Film Festival does not have the star power of recent years, but the content looks as strong as ever, with a line-up that includes several notable, well-established filmmakers, and a number of films that will be of particular interest to locals.
The Dum Dum Girls and Dinosaur Jr. remind us how it used to be
When Kristin Gundred released her first home-recorded demos as Dum Dum Girls in 2009, she was part of an ongoing (and welcome) trend of young bands combining the dreamy pop of ’60s girl groups with the fuzz and grit of ’80s underground rock.
Home Movie Day moves Downtown for its 10th anniversary
Cameras are more widely available than they have ever been. There are estimates that 10 percent of all of the photographs ever taken were shot in the last year. 16mm and Super 8 may not have been as clean-looking or as professional as the 35mm film used in feature films, but it was cheap and [...]
The Virginia Film Festival hits the quarter-century mark
In Charlottesville, the arrival of fall means growing excitement for the Virginia Film Festival, one the finest annual events our city has to offer (Full disclosure: this writer was once an employee of the Virginia Film Festival.) This November marks the Festival’s 25th year, and as in past years, four of Charlottesville’s theaters, and many satellite locations, will dedicate four days to round-the-clock screenings and events.
Former local visual artist finds a second career in theater
On Friday, October 5th, the touring DIY Theater troupe Eternal Cult will present Rabbit: an Original Rabbit Tragedy at the Haven. Eternal Cult, based in Minneapolis, are just one of dozens of DIY theater organizations that have sprung up across the country in recent years, putting on self-penned plays with hand-made sets and costumes, touring [...]
The Melvins lighten up and break a record
For almost 30 years, The Melvins have been playing their own peculiar brand of rock ’n’ roll. While their early sound was reminiscent of contemporaries like late-period Black Flag and the Butthole Surfers, The Melvins soon found their true calling by playing their songs half as fast and twice as heavy, regressing Black Sabbath-style metal [...]
Roanoke rockers Eternal Summers return to the Tea Bazaar
The Roanoke-based band Eternal Summers haven’t been around long, but they’ve been busy, releasing two EPs, two full-length albums, and a handful of singles and compilation appearances in just over two years. Nicole Yun’s catchy, somber punk anthems are a perfect match for Daniel Cundiff’s exuberant, energetic drumming, and they’ve built a passionate fanbase both [...]
Downtown Library screens classic campaign documentary
The 1993 documentary The War Room captures a transitional moment, not only in American politics, but also in popular media. Shot during Bill Clinton’s 1992 Presidential campaign, by Chris Hedegus and legendary documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (of Bob Dylan’s Dont Look Back fame), the film is a snapshot of the US political sphere, taking place [...]
Matt Pamer design gets approved for West Main Street mural
The Charlottesville Mural Project, launched by Ross McDermott in 2011, has taken on the task of beautifying the city through a series of public murals, with the goal of producing two a year. They’ve already brightened Monticello Avenue with Avery Lawrence’s colorful mural of interlocking hands on the north face of the Ix Building, as [...]
Reclusive Erik the Red signs on for a residency
When The Whiskey Jar opened in February at the west end of the Downtown Mall, it came as something of a surprise. After all, Escafé had held down that spot for 17 years and several owners, before a recent relocation. Seven months later, The Whiskey Jar has become a reliable regular destination for many Mall-goers. [...]
The Bridge PAI explores the art of sound in Audio September
In 2008, The Bridge PAI hosted a month of sound-related programming entitled Audio January. The next year, January seemed unfeasible, so the Belmont-based arts organization followed up with Audio February. The joke amongst Bridge staff was that the annual event would cycle through the months of the year, and for three successive years (including Audio [...]
Chris Corsano blurs the borders between jazz and noise
Chris Corsano is one of most restlessly inventive of contemporary improvisers, a jazz drummer reminiscent of Max Roach, whose work is thoughtful and open-minded enough to collaborate with noise and rock musicians as well as more traditional hard bop players. Corsano made his name as part of a loose scene from Northampton, Mass, attracting notice [...]
Dan Deacon taps your inner glee through crowd participation
I can vividly remember hearing Dan Deacon for the first time. His debut full-length album, released in the spring of 2007 (with the unfortunate title of Spiderman of the Rings) begins with a dense burst of buzzing electronic harmonies and sampled Woody Woodpecker sound-effects, and I was instantly a fan. Deacon’s music is exuberant and impossible [...]
Student work shines at Light House Youth Film Festival
On Friday, September 7th, Light House Studios will present a Youth Film Festival. The festival will showcase a selection of video work made by Light House students over the past year, including the Iranian Job, the winner of last November’s Adrenaline Film Festival (in which the Light House students were the youngest participants). “I’m so [...]
WTJU’s back to school concert goes beyond UVA Grounds
In the world of radio, WTJU is something of an anomaly: a community station owned by a university, a college station whose staff includes locals, teachers, grad students, and alumni. And while WTJU can boast decades of support from the local community, it faces the challenge of attracting new listeners in the digital age. “I [...]