Since 2008, Washington D.C.-based singer-songwriter Justin Trawick has brought numerous artists from across the region together to perform in his 9 Songwriter Series. To date he has featured over 30 singer-songwriters in an effort to bring audiences an intimate, dynamic, and wide-ranging listening experience with shows in Washington D.C., Baltimore, Richmond, Philadelphia, New York, and Charlottesville. Trawick himself is an accomplished artist whose music ranges from folk and bluegrass to hip hop and funk. Through his ”9″ series, he seeks to provide exposure to a wide variety of other up-and-coming artists all along the east coast.
Tonight his series will once again make its way to Charlottesville, featuring an eclectic mix of old and new, veteran and prodigy, country, rock and roll, pop, blues, and more as 9 talented songwriters take the stage. Tonight’s show will take place at the Southern Café and Music Hall downtown and will include original songs by Trawick himself as well as locals Shanna Hoar, Scott Tiernan, Carl Anderson, Evan Hansen, Brent Peterson, James Moore, Jared Jones, and Susan Munson.
Doors for this seated show are set to open at 7 pm. With nearly 30 songs planned for the set and tickets for only $9, you can’t miss this up-close-and-personal showing of some of Charlottesville’s finest singer-songwriters!
For a preview of tonight’s show, check out the video below of Justin Trawick performing with Adam Levy (known for his work with Grammy-winning artist Norah Jones) at the October 9, 2011 installment of the series at the City Winery in NYC.
If you’ve been in Charlottesville long enough, you’ve probably either visited or at least heard of Blue Mountain Brewery. Located in Nelson County on Route 151, BMB has quickly grown a reputation since 2007 as one of the go-to places for good food and excellent craft beer. If you’re a regular at Blue Mountain then you’ll already be familiar with their usual events. However, if you’re not, then it might be worth reminding you about BMB’s $1 Off Wednesday. Just as the title suggests, every Wednesday at the brewery you can get $1 off any glass of wine or beer. Even though Wednesdays may not be the best time for everyone to visit the brewery for lunch or dinner, since the special occurs every week it will at least allow everyone a chance to visit the place, whether it’s tomorrow or the third Wednesday in May.
Craving a hands-on culinary experience that will improve your skills in the kitchen? Or, like to cook and looking for a mouth-watering good time with friends? Well, look no further than The Charlottesville Cooking School.
No matter your skill set or experience in the kitchen, the Charlottesville Cooking School is “for beginners, individuals with a love of cooking, and professionals seeking to improve their skills.” From baking to cooking, kitchen skills and techniques, the cooking school calendar is always busy. And, the school accepts suggestions for future classes.
According to founder Martha Stafford, the Charlottesville Cooking School is… “warm, vibrant, informative, inspirational, practical, caring, creative, inviting and essential.”
Martha founded the Charlottesville Cooking School 4 years ago – the first class was on April 16, 2008. Classes have grown to include Everyday Cooking Skills, Knife Skills, Thai, North Indian, Italian, South American, French, and even kids programs, private parties, and Monday night skill demos.
“I am always on the look out for new teachers, and I try to ensure that our classes reflect the seasons in Virginia,” adds Martha in an email. “It is my goal that you leave here with new skills not just a set of recipes and that people respect the process of cooking.”
As a Christmas gift for my culinaryily-inclined boyfriend – and as a thank you for all of the (daily) meals he cooks for me – I took us both to a popular and consistently sold out class – The Flavors of Thailand, taught by Ashley Clarke Brooks.
Instructor Ashley Clarke Brooks prepared a four course menu for the 12-person max, 3 hour class. Ashley took the time to go through the – many! – Thai ingredients, and even shared where we can get the odd ingredients in town. All recipes are given to class participants, so all of your friends can beg you to make the dishes again, and again. Although the class was lengthy, the time flew by with smells and tastes and the many flavors and courses spaced out for nibbling and chatting while preparing for the next dish.
“The people of Charlottesville respect food and the people who prepare it, the land and the people who care for it, and the mind and the people who enrich it,” explains Martha. “My husband and I both appreciate this city and try to do our part to keep a wonderful place to live and raise a family.”
Since March of 2008, Charlottesville native Jacob Wolf has been serving up some of the best independent music out there with his one-man operation, Holy Smokes Booking. Almost solely responsible for the lineup at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar and occasionally for booking shows at Al Hamraa and the Bridge PAI, Wolf has dedicated himself to bringing new out-of-town and local bands to the stage, filling the void left when the Outback Lodge, IS, and the Satellite Ballroom closed their doors. Now Wolf is moving his base to Brooklyn to pursue a larger-scale operation, but has left a solid line-up for February and March to keep things rolling at the Tea Bazaar in his absence.
Tonight is no exception, as he brings to the stage Nashville-based garage rockers Natural Child, with local bands Red Rattles and Firetrucks to open. Natural Child is a punk rock three-piece who cites Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and Thin Lizzy as its influences. For now they’re keeping busy lighting up small stages across the U.S. with their raw, relentless, energetic, and borderline ridiculous live show, but there’s no question there are great things to come for these three. They have so far released a self-titled 7” record as well as a more recent full-length album titled 1971, which can be purchased on their Bandcamp site or tonight at the show.
Red Rattles is a two-piece hard gospel band based right here in Charlottesville. They’ll open the show along with fellow locals the Firetrucks. The show begins at 8 pm, and tickets can be purchased at the door for $7. What better way is there to wrap up your long weekend (or sucker-punch those Monday doldrums) than with the loud, in-your-face punk rock goodness of Natural Child.
As for the Tea Bazaar’s future, if we’ve learned anything about Jacob Wolf it’s that he doesn’t mess around when it comes to bringing consistent, fresh talent to our town. Word on the street is he has a protege or two to carry on his legacy. Even so, no void in this town goes unfilled for long, so we can count on many more years of great music from the Tea Bazaar. See you tonight!
Don your angel wings, or your devil horns, for the “be bad. do good.” charity event.
Tonight, Commonwealth Restaurant & Skybar is hosting a trifecta event – a dance party, discounted food, and charity. All ticket proceeds will be donated to Sanejo.
Sanejo’s mission “aims to support communities transiting from war to peace or facing abject poverty” One of the ways Sanejo contributes to this mission is by building schools to ensure that children in these areas have a safe and happy place to learn.
Christine Mahoney, an organizer of be bad. do good., wanted to put on the fundraiser to support the consistent improvements that Sanejo makes in Rwanda each year. By teaming up with Commonwealth’s Executive Chef Alex George and many other dedicated Charlottesvillians to put on tonight’s event, the fundraiser will make a large impact and a big step towards building a new classroom.
Ticket prices for be bad. do good are $30 in advance and $35 at the door, and include admission to the dance party at Skybar, featuring local hit DJ Western Front, as well as 20% off dinner at Commonwealth. Tickets are going fast with 123 already sold in advance. With Skybar’s capacity at 150, don’t wait until last minute to purchase yours!
With 100% of ticket proceeds going directly to building an entire classroom in Rwanda, there’s no excuse not to dance the night away for this good cause. The party starts at 10:30p.
Being bad has never felt so good.
Come out to the Grits ‘n Gravy Soul and Funk Party at one of Cville’s newest off-the-beaten-path restaurants and party venues: the Black Market Moto Saloon.
Every third Friday of the month, Grits ‘n Gravy will welcome a new special guest. This month: Blair Amberly of Speakertree Records.
Bring your dancin’ shoes!
Tonight, 10pm.
{Black Market Moto Saloon is located at 1304 E. Market, at the corner of Market and Meade.}
Click to see what’s going on in Cville this week! And subscribe here to get next week’s in your inbox!
What if you could improve your posture and alignment, build long, lean muscles, and get expert fitness advice every week for just $5? You can! At Faith Levine’s Gracefulfitness studio located on Carlton Road right here in Charlottesville.
Faith Levine holds $5 mat Pilates sessions Wednesdays from 5:30-6:15p at her studio on Carlton Road.
Faith has a BFA in modern dance and is a certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor. She’s been practicing Pilates for over a decade and is passionate about sharing her knowledge of strength, stability, and flexibility with others.
“I grew up in a modern dance studio, and by the time I was in high school I realized that it was something more than a hobby to me,” Faith says. “Dancing naturally led me to running, yoga, strength training and Pilates. I’ve always craved the endorphins of exercise, and from an early age I felt that there are few things in life as important as taking care of yourself through eating well and moving.”
Faith’s Wednesday evening $5 mat Pilates classes provide an intimate and supportive environment where students can learn how to improve their fitness and flexibility by focusing on proper form. Keeping a close eye on students’ form, Faith offers advice when she sees room for improvement.
“To do Pilates correctly you must really slow down and tune into your body, which helps reveal strengths, weaknesses and imbalances that may otherwise be ignored.”
“I love empowering students through education about how their body works. I want students to leave class with an understanding of why we did what we did, not just how to do an exercise.”
Faith’s $5 Pilates sessions are held Wednesday evenings from 5:30-6:15 p.m. at 224 Carlton Road. Also, starting on Tuesday, Feb. 14, she’ll be offering a four-week class called Introduction to Mat Pilates Fundamentals for just $30. She’ll be accepting registrations through Feb. 13 at gracefulfitness@live.com. Learn more about Faith by checking out her blog here.
5)Use the code BEOURVALENTINE and get 10% off a 16-piece assortment of Gearharts chocolates at relayfoods.com.
—
6) Commonwealth Restaurant and Skybar has a Vday for everyone: Couples dinner at Commonwealth and Singles Party at The Skybar. Couples: Reservations required, but enjoy a 3 course dinner and specialty cocktails in the cozy ambiance of the dining room. Single people: Party at the Skybar with DJ Stroud, let loose and have fun — because you never know who you’ll meet!
—
Immediately immersed, transported, and transformed into another world – a timeless and placeless world. Walking into The Unearthing, passport in hand, the audience becomes a group of travelers, passing through valleys, being guided through the intricate and swiftly moving sets, like borders shifting around them… Vignettes of visual intensity, love, black humor, detachment, amazement, fear, family, exploration, control, abandon, unity, and death. It is a beautiful journey, filled with personal revelations and questing, if you just let yourself discover and search with the performers. So let yourself. Who knows what you will unearth in yourself.
—
After a two week run and months of preparation, The Unearthing closed last night. However, do not fret. The Unearthing is offering one more showing!
Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 14th, come out for an encore performance of The Unearthing, another unlike-anything-you’ve-ever-seen production from the vision of artistic director, Zap McConnell.
“Due to an outcry from folks to have more time to see the art/installation of The Unearthing, we are making a Valentine’s Day super special late nite Salon Saloon from 10:30p-midnight (after the show is over), free and open to the public,” explained organizer and performer Jennifer Hoyt Tidwell in an email.
“During this time everyone is free to wander around through the space… buy a drink, buy art. Performers will dot the landscape with impromptu micro performances. Folks can spend as as much time as they want with each piece of art. It is your last chance to come see the work before we take it all down!!“
Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Live Arts Box Office, or at the door, if it is not yet sold out.