Eight bucks can’t buy a whole lot these days.  Two gallons of gas.  A couple packs of smokes.  A beer or two, depending on your tastes.  But if you happen to be on the Downtown Mall this evening and looking for some live music, eight bucks sure will go a long way.  That’s exactly how much it will cost you to see 19 bands at five different venues in Charlottesville tonight and all of them are seperated by only a few blocks.  I swear I am not making this up. 

The wealth of musical talent on display tonight is such that in some ways it’s almost going to feel like a musical festival in that you can literally move from show to show as you would from stage to stage, and you’ll have to be ever mindful of who’s playing where so that you don’t miss some of your personal favorites.  And here’s the real clincher, every act on every stage has at least one connection to Charlottesville.  The details on a jam-packed night of music after the break.

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Popularity: 28% [?]

Previous Episodes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

Sorry this was late. My dog ate my homework. Er, I left it on the bus? My grandfather died, and all that. Anyway, here goes part 16.

I was just, this past weekend, the Best Man (by title only) in a wedding. It made me a little nostalgic for my own wedding, so i figured I’d post this story.

Approximately 9 months ago, I married my wife. We had a beautiful ceremony outside of Reveille Church in Richmond. There were many people who had responsibilities to take care of that day, including myself. Someone was in charge of flowers. Someone was in charge of parking. Someone was in charge of making sure the groomsmen didn’t smell like booze. Everybody came through with their responsibilities flawlessly… almost. »Read More

Popularity: 40% [?]

I was sitting on my ass, looking out at the sunset west of town last night and I was thinking about hating. Yea, hating. I’m guilty of it - maybe too often - and a lot of times it is well deserved because lets face it there are a lot of things in this town to hate on. I mean there’s that abomination of terrible sound eminating from Coupe de Villes every weekend night during the school year and that terrible band that… OK .. breathing deeply…

There are also a lot of things about the music and arts scene here that I love. I’m really a lover at heart, and not a fighter. The heart of squidtank is only partially black and opaque, even though all of me loves the Cure.
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Popularity: 44% [?]

 
The Awesome Few at Satellite Ballroom [photo credit  Tom Daly]

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CVSestival.  I didn’t come up with it.  To my knowledge Truman Sparks did.  But it sums it all up in many ways.  A music gathering that was part protest, but at its heart was still about the music.  And in the end, music will live longer than a big box retailer and it will live longer than whatever happens to come after that as well.  So as the crowd filed in to the Satellite Ballroom last night for one of the venue’s final shows, you couldn’t ignore the fact that soon a CVS will occupy the space where so many folks have seen so many great bands.  But you also couldn’t ignore the string of talented musicians that filled the stage and the Satellite Ballroom with three chords, the truth, and a raised fist for rock n roll.  A CVSestival indeed! »Read More

Popularity: 34% [?]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

After both bands split up, the guitar player (that I had all that chemistry with - remember?) and the bass player from BTJ picked up the keyboard player, from Newman.   They wrote a few songs together and asked me to come play with them.  Shortly thereafter, we added a new drummer into the mix.  He could write and sing, and was the perfect addition.

We called the band “thred” (not to be confused with the currently existing thred band), because we all sucked at coming up with band names.  We had been playing around town for almost a year, when we decided that it might be time to go on tour.  Finally, everyone was into the idea.  So, we decided that we might need a manager.  Enter “Missy”.  She, quite literally, dropped into my lap at a bar one night.    Thoughout our discussions, I found out that Missy had previously managed a band that toured around the country for several years.  She had all kinds of contacts and would love to check us out… “if we were serious”.  So, I gave her my card, got her number, and went to tell the guys…. »Read More

Popularity: 36% [?]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

After college I got a good job in Richmond designing and selling radiator coils-real engineering dork work. I got myself an apartment in the fan and a nice used Infinity. I started living the life of regular yuppie. I got up every morning, took a shower, turned on the Today show, sorted through the spectrum of polo shirts in my closet, choosing one that I hadn’t worn in the past two days, and ate a breakfast bar on my way to work. After work, I’d meet one of my buddies at Buddy’s and get shot down by the local ladies. And do it all over again the next day. »Read More

Popularity: 37% [?]

The My Morning Jacket Lobbying Committee.

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With the exception of the recently announced additions of Kenny Rogers and the George Thorogood and Buddy Guy show to the Charlottesville Pavilion’s concert line-up, things have been pretty quiet on the ‘who’s coming to town’ front.  So as a subtle and subliminal reminder, I thought I would call to order another meeting of our little My Morning Jacket Lobbying Committee.  It can’t hurt to gently nudge the folks making the decisions a little bit can it?  So with a tip of the cap to SNL’s Kevin Nealon (My Morning Jacket), away we go…

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Popularity: 26% [?]

Part 1

In the beginning there was nothing.  Then there was light.  Eventually, there were some planets.  Some other stuff happened, and there were humans.  In the process of destroying their planet, they discovered music.  They didn’t invent it, but they learned to harness it, to control it, and to love it, and eventually (like everything else) to exploit it.  As people found new uses for music, they began to make it easier and easier to create and to listen to.  Today in our society, it’s everywhere.  Almost every inch of the habitable planet is covered in electromagnetic waves carrying signals that can be translated into hundreds of kinds of music.  Music is a huge business.  Music can bring one power and money and, don’t forget… “chicks dig it”.

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Popularity: 35% [?]

I just returned from a little pow wow of a press conference at the Pavilion, where they just announced the first round of shows for their upcoming season. While they appear to be appealing to an older demographic (translation high cost of tickets), there are a few gems throughout the list. You be the judge.

April 26 Feist
April 27 Switchfoot
May 8 Gary Allen w/Sons of Bill
June 23 Emmylou Harris
June 28 Gladys Knight
July 26 Really Live from the Hook - Festival of local artists from the film including Skip Castro Band and The Casuals
July 29 Willie Nelson
July 31 Crosby, Stills, and Nash (No Young not worth it)
August 6 B.B. King
TBA Black Crowes
TBA Phil Lesh and Friends

Fridays After 5 (First Half)
April 18 Sons of Bill
April 25 Kings of Belmont/Six Day Bender
May 2 Eli Cook
May 9 Trees on Fire/Need to Breathe
May 16 Abbey Road
May 23 The Groove Train
May 30 Lee Boys
June 6 Original Charlottesville Allstars
June 13 Inner Rhythm with Heather Maxwell
June 20 TBA
June 27 Peyton Tochterman and High Society
July 4 Chickenhead Blues Band

Popularity: 45% [?]