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, […]
Charlottesville is one hell of a music town these days. With 60-plus shows weekly, we are starting to feel on par with the heralded scenes of Athens, Asheville—and at this rate, someday…Austin! We reached out to local players in music promotion and asked them to name a show that stood out in 2012. Rodrigo y […]
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 […]
It’s been more than two decades since Dave Matthews Band emerged from Charlottesville and forever altered the pop-rock landscape with rootsy jams highlighted by the juxtaposition of fiddle and sax. While small gigs at Trax and frat parties were the launch pad, the band belongs to the rest of [...]
(VIDEO) You might have seen the members of Les Grosses Erreurs (The Big Mistakes) on the Downtown Mall over the past few days. The Cajun musicians are in Charlottesville from Lafayette, Louisiana, after a stop in Asheville. They’ll be busking and playing house shows until Monday. Here [...]
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 [...]
Award-winning vocalist Natalie Cole has refreshed standards out of the Great American Songbook from Sinatra and her own father, Nat King Cole. With boundless vocal dexterity and a wealth of soulful emotion behind her lyrics, Cole is on tour supporting 2009’s Still Unforgettable, which harkens [...]
Milo Greene is not a real person—it’s the result of some friends who decided to throw together a band and then created a fictitious agent (Milo Greene) to help land gigs. These are humble beginnings, but with a debut album issued in July, an ongoing headlining tour, and last month’s “Conan” [...]
Easy Star All-Stars are a cover band of Jah-normous proportions, but instead of playing another act’s songs, it translates landmarks of pop music history. Over the last 10 years, Easy Star has aimed its roots-reggae lens at Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and The Beatles, releasing Dub Side Of The Moon, [...]
Jason Pollock (former guitarist for grunge hitmakers Seven Mary Three) and his eponymous band of Albemarle-area musicians, carve out songs that sound like Tom Petty got his chocolate in The Smithereens’ peanut butter—resulting in familiar, flavorful tunes. The Pollocks roll out a new album, [...]
Raid your closet for those acid wash jeans and feather your hair back because the pop culture of the ’80s has come full circle. Naturally this requires a soundtrack, so Gordon Gartrell and Cru Jones, after hearing one too many bogus covers of their favorite decade, decided they weren’t gonna [...]
Charlottesville has impressive music credentials. Huge international acts squeeze themselves into our little town so often that it’s easy to become a bit blasé about it. But the savvy chamber music connoisseur clears their calendar when the Tuesday Evening Concert Series kicks off in the [...]
The once upon a time indie art rock darling MUTEMATH has moved from obscurity to hawking Hondas and iPods. Still, it remains a truly worthy band, adept at navigating occupational circumstances, from label battles to member loss, and holding the ground necessary to outlast the onslaught of [...]
It’s been a big year for Brooklyn’s Rubblebucket, with an appearance at Bonnaroo, collaborations with Foster the People, tUnE-yArDs and ?love, and the release of a new EP, Oversaturated earlier this month. The “post-genre” octet makes a stop along a comprehensive American tour to share its [...]
It’s Floydfest, June 2003. The evening is thick and balmy, draping the rolling Floyd County landscape in shimmery violets and blues. Along the festival’s arterial corridor, despite main stage bands kicking into their second sets, an exodus was underway. I remember it distinctly: the wild-eyed [...]
Every music festival has an identity of its own. Names like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Bumbershoot, and Coachella may have been head scratchers at first, but now they’re branded destination festivals where dozens of acts spread out across multiple stages and throngs flock to make the scene and [...]
It’s all about your approach. Literally. Wherever it is you may be coming from, once you hit Highway 151, master your anticipation. Ease off the gas, let the windows down, huff you some of that crisp mountain air, and scope the vibe. Check the backdrop. The rolling Blue Ridge is vibrant green, [...]
Jack White, the rock virtuoso known for his participation in more bands than a hand can hold —The Raconteurs, The White Stripes and The Dead Weather, to name a few—released his highly anticipated debut solo album Blunderbuss back in April. Last night, his tour supporting this critically [...]
The Virginia roots duo known as The Honey Dewdrops gained notoriety afterwinning A Prairie Home Companion’s “Talented People in their Twenties contest.” Four years and three albums later local residents Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish return, between U.S. tour dates, to play a benefit concert [...]
Jack White may be one of the last real rock stars on the planet. While the swaggering old guard have all but been replaced by skinny jean-clad hipsters playing banjos and Macbooks, Mr. White’s a study in musical progress. His stripped-down garage days with the White Stripes led into new bands, [...]
Cardiff, Wales native Cate Le Bon burst onto the international scene as the opener for Gruff Rhys. She has since released a pair of critically acclaimed albums, become the darling of experimental folk-pop, and is currently on a 21-date, one-month tour of Europe and the U.S. With her soft accent [...]
The college rock scene has no shortage of acoustic guitarists, so it is required of any polo-shirted crooner to bring something unique to the table—which is exactly why UVA alum Ben Arthur is getting some real buzz. His approach is two-fold: a mature process that has resulted in a poignant, [...]
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 [...]