Burnin’ bluegrass: Dry Branch Fire Squad has played at every single Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, a bi-annual gathering that will celebrate its 80th concert in 2020. That’s 40 years of performances, and it speaks to why DBFS describes itself as “aggressively traditional.” Frontman Ron Thomason has been called the “Forrest Gump of Bluegrass” because he’s so connected to the genre’s history. Known for his comedic live banter, Thomason employs social commentary and catchy lyrics to weave the band’s instrumental talent into pure entertainment.
PICK: Sweet Honey in the Rock
Solidarity in song: Raising voices and raising awareness since 1973, Sweet Honey in the Rock is an African American a cappella group with a broad range of performance credits, from “Sesame Street” to Carnegie Hall. With mesmerizing harmonies and gifted lyrical flow, the ensemble addresses civil
PICK: Jorma Kaukonen
Hot licks: It would be a disservice to call Jorma Kaukonen anything other than rock royalty. The Washington, D.C., native is on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists list. He’s a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, has performed with Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia, and still
Life after life: Some Kind of Heaven retires the notion of easy living
Whether they are willing to admit it or not, all documentaries make an argument. Michael Moore is never shy about voicing his opinions, while at the other end of the spectrum, Ken Burns frames his work as recording history. Some Kind of Heaven, the debut work from Lance Oppenheim, never shouts
History repeats: Vinegar Hill ushers in Charlottesville Players Guild’s season
Two decades ago, Terésa Dowell-Vest embarked on a research project. After attending grad school in California, the actor and playwright set out to collect the oral histories of family and community members in her hometown of Charlottesville. The product of this research was 1999’s Vinegar Hill,
PICK: The Earlysville Bluegrass Boys
Band of brothers: With a sound beyond their years, you’d never guess that the Heetderks brothers are all under age 17. Picking out traditional bluegrass and gospel as The Earlysville Bluegrass Boys, David (banjo, dobro), John (mandolin, fiddle), and Daniel (guitar, bass) have made a name for
Now a filmmaker: Stephen Canty’s long-awaited Once a Marine makes digital debut
Louisa native Stephen Canty’s documentary about adjusting to civilian life after Marine Corps deployment to Afghanistan was released in November. A lot’s changed since the UVA alum began working on the film, Once a Marine, more than seven years ago. For one thing, he is no longer a Louisa
Looking up: Laura Wooten’s ‘View from the Ridge’ offers 99 visions of hope
She paints the same view day after day, recording the subtle and great changes of hour, season, and weather. Her subject is both profoundly familiar to her and constantly changing. Laura Wooten’s “View from the Ridge” at Second Street Gallery features 90 small paintings (8 inches x 8 inches)
PICK: Fast forward
Bah humbug? We think not. This year, Dickens is going digital! Join Jacob Marley, the three ghosts, and Tiny Tim as Scrooge navigates his cranky journey and discovers the joy of Christmas—even in 2020. John Harrell stars in American Shakespeare Center’s annual adaptation of A Christmas Carol,
Listening from home
COVID-19 has taken an unfathomable amount of lives, and its reverberations have disrupted our most cherished industries—the music business included. The onset of the pandemic brought studio sessions, live performances, and large-scale concerts to a screeching halt, rendering musicians,
Rear viewings
Saying that this year has been an anomaly is a comical understatement. So much of our daily life has been uprooted and, to mirror our own bodies, movies were not immune from these changes either. Before we start writing eulogies for Cinema with a capital “C” and discussing the fall of the
PICK: Cheers all around
Staying home for the holidays doesn’t have to be boring, and a long list of local talent is out to prove it. Home for the Holidays: A Four County Players Musical Revue harkens back to a time of vintage television broadcasts that brought performers together in a variety show style. Directed by
Digging for love: Ammonite is a stratum above a bodice-ripper
Ammonites are fossils that are used to mark geologic time. Resembling the spirals that contain the golden ratio, they are ripe for parable and illustration. The film Ammonite, from writer/director Francis Lee, tries to capture that depth of meaning, but much like its namesake fossil, it is
Zooming it in: Live Arts’ holiday play keeps tradition alive—with a twist
By Julia Stumbaugh At the beginning of November, director Amalia Oswald helped commission her friend, New York playwright Matt Minnicino, to write Live Arts’ 2020 holiday play. The play had to be entertaining for adults, hilarious to children, inclusive of different holidays, and designed not
PICK: Duck Demystified
Make way: Seems that if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, many of us are afraid to cook it. In Duck Demystified, chef Ian Rynecki addresses the uncertainties around preparing this often overlooked entrée. The hands-on demo ends with participants dining together on
PICK: The Nutcracker
Sippin’ in slippers: Don’t let the coronavirus knock you off your feet this holiday season. But do feel free to stay home in your slippers to enjoy the beloved story of Clara’s Christmas journey in Charlottesville Ballet’s The Nutcracker: A Virtual Gala. The evening will be filled with special
The resilience will not be televised: Three artists dig into the psyche for Chroma’s winter solstice show
Chroma Projects Director Deborah McLeod has been keeping a unique holiday tradition for the past several years. “Every year at Christmastime, I showcase Aggie Zed’s oddly enchanting work,” says McLeod. “I think of it as a modern version of the sort of folkloric forms and superstitious practices
Songs well-traveled and universal themes
trout baseline (a)round EP, self-released Ryan Lee has been a stalwart on the commonwealth music scene for years, performing with local acts like Free Union, Will Overman, and Erin & the Wildfire, among others. The VCU graduate began crafting his solo debut, (a)round EP, in the wake of
PICK: Messiah Sing-In
Hallelujah for us: Love to sing along but don’t care for an audience? It’s your time to shine as a party of one when the UVA Department of Music moves its Messiah Sing-In online. The annual tradition began at the university in 1968 and was among the first sing-ins in the nation. The inspiring
PICK: Grand Illumination Holiday Concert
Justice fir all: It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Keep that in mind as you hold on to tradition from afar and watch Charlottesville’s Grand Illumination Holiday Concert remotely this December. Performers from around the region, including the Charlottesville High School choirs, Odyssey
Holiday in hiding: Happiest Season is a missed opportunity to kick open the closet
A new relationship during the holidays is a recipe for hilarity and high jinks. There’s meeting the family, heavily enforced traditions, and all sorts of other religious and historical wrenches to throw into the spokes of what could be cozy couple time. Happiest Season takes on all of these