Tag: charlottesville

BGS 5+5: David Wax Museum

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Artist: David Wax Museum
Hometown: Charlottesville, Virginia (David is originally from Columbia, Missouri, and the band formed in Boston)
Latest Album: You Must Change Your Life
Personal nicknames or rejected band names: Honestly, the name David Wax Museum started off as a tossed off joke, but it’s stuck around for 16 years. The name was suggested by a friend Anna Henchman who supposedly gave Evan Dando the band name idea Lemonheads.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?

My songs are constantly in dialogue with literature, specifically novels and poetry. I keep a stack of poetry by my side whenever I’m writing — Pablo Neruda, Denis Johnson, James Wright, to name a few — and I’m often making random word lists as I thumb through the pages. The title track of the record “You Must Change Your Life” is based on a line from Rilke. His exhortation has always moved me quite powerfully. In the poem, “Archaic Torso of Apollo,” a headless sculpture “sees” inside the poet and stirs him so deeply that he cannot go on living like he was before. While the phrase captures the change that can come through witnessing art, I realized I needed to bring this lofty idea down to earth through a specific character at a specific moment in time. Literature often serves as this type of springboard for me.

While writing the songs on You Must Change Your Life, I was deeply immersed in Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle. This Norwegian author’s six-part series explores his life (from the most mundane to the most profound aspects) with such searing honesty that it gave me the courage to write these songs, to shine such an unsparing light on my heart and the questions of desire that animate this record.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Paul Simon. He’s had the most consistently inspiring career, and his lyrics, his phrasing, and his musical curiosity have sent me down so many fruitful paths as a songwriter. Graceland remains a musical north star for me, and I return to it again and again for ideas and sustenance. He showed what was possible, as a musician unconstrained by genre and as a lover of folk music from all over the globe. There are definitely other artists (David Byrne comes to mind) who have likewise continually evolved and challenged themselves as artists, but no one else has so consistently made music that resonates for me personally. Paul Simon has masterfully explored his inner world but has done it in a way that bridges musical cultures, places his introspection within this broad, rhythmic canvas of the world, and all the while held up the artistry and craft of the song.

For me, a deep exploration of traditional Latin folk music, specifically son mexicano, has informed much of my songwriting and the development of the band’s sound. While living in Mexico studying folk music I began to write songs that used Mexican rhythms and song structures but were clearly not Mexican folk songs. I started to envision a way to bridge these two musical influences — the one of my upbringing and the one of my passion. This current doesn’t run through every song of ours, but it pulses through the records and the live shows and continues to inspire me. The instruments and rhythms are a deep well I return to time and time again. And through this exploration, I found my voice and discovered a way to be a part of a larger conversation.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

We were once invited to perform in the Czech Republic at the Colours of Ostrava festival. It’s a wild setting for an event, tucked in under the looming towers of an old steel factory. It remains one of my favorite memories from being on stage because the audience was so welcoming and emotive. The thousand or so Czechs who had gathered under the tent with us had never heard of our band, but it’s as if the whole crowd collectively decided they were going to embrace us for who we were and have a transformative, magical experience together. They learned the songs as we went and started singing along. They improvised group responses. They danced. They cheered. It felt like the perfect gig.

It was made all the more meaningful because Suz’s father was with us to take care of our 9-month-old daughter. It had been a formidable trip to get five musicians, a grandparent, and a baby to this distant town, but when Suz and I were first falling in love on tour, we imagined a future of traveling the world with a family, and it was so gratifying to be actually doing it all those years later.

And now, looking back, I can appreciate the creative moment that the show represented for us as a band. It was the last hurrah of a particular line-up, one that had been honed for years and that was communicating on such a deep musical level with one another. Suz and Greg Glassman, the bassist, had been singing together for years in bands. And my cousin Jordan Wax, who I grew up making music with, was playing accordion and keyboard with us. We’re practically brothers. Additionally, Jordan and Greg had begun a new band together in New Mexico (Lone Piñon). So there were so many deep musical ties amongst the group, and it translated into this beautiful cohesive musical family.

If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?

To carve an authentic path with integrity and vitality. When we got started as a band, it seemed like there were these very clear steps to take to become serious, professional musicians. And, to a degree, that felt true for the first five years as a band. But at a certain point, there stops being a template or a model to copy. At least for a band like us, it became apparent that we needed to create our own version of a successful career that was true to ourselves. Initially that meant figuring out a way to tour sustainably as a family. We needed to build and nurture a wide community of support to pull this off.

As hard and disheartening as it can be at times, we’ve created our own model for DIY, family-oriented touring that we can do between record cycles. And the relationships we’ve cultivated with our fans by doing it this way eventually enabled us to raise the money to build this unbelievable music studio in our backyard (read more). This unique path has also led to creative projects that don’t fit within the traditional music industry. One of our favorites is a blindfolded, meditative concert experience called Golden Hour that we’ve created with our dear friends Lowland Hum.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

I would love to share an Ethiopian meal with Jeff Tweedy. I don’t know if he even likes Ethiopian food, but it’s our go-to meal on tour. We usually order a large vegetarian combo plate to share with our kids and bandmates. And if anything is left over, it even tastes great as a cold, post-show snack. As for the company, Jeff Tweedy is one of my musical heroes. I first started listening to his first band Uncle Tupelo in junior high when someone gave me a cassette tape at jazz camp. It blew my mind, particularly hearing someone from my part of the world (just outside the St. Louis orbit) making a gritty, earnest Midwestern sound, steeped in country, punk, and rock ‘n’ roll. It helped me find my own voice and validated my own instincts and intuitions. My dream is to make a record with Jeff in Wilco’s Loft, so I like to imagine this meal would be a pre-production meeting over Ethiopian food, discussing songs and sounds and instruments.

Photo Credit: Tristan Williams

Can Banjo Transcend Cultural Divisions? Bill Evans’ New Album Makes the Case

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As a scholar and a musician, Bill Evans is deeply committed to sharing the complex historical context of the banjo while maintaining a musical style all his own. As a professional player, he specializes in bluegrass music; but one need only talk to him for a few minutes to understand that his influences stretch far and wide, encompassing everything from The Beatles to composer Frank B. Converse.

What started out as the concept for a dissertation became an ever-evolving musical show centered around the five-string banjo as a tool of what he describes as “African- and Anglo-American musical and cultural exchange.” When Evans began working with Tiki Parlour Recordings, this project took on a new form. His Banjo in America project covers more than 200 years of banjo history. Every element of this DVD & CD set honors the complexity of this history. The richly detailed liner notes, the graphic design, the photographs, the wide variety of instruments used, and the track list together form a cohesive package that is a righteous testament to the multifaceted history of the banjo. BGS was honored to talk with Evans about the conversations happening in the roots-music community regarding this instrument.

BGS: When did you start playing music?

Evans: I grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. I had piano lessons from a woman who played organ at the local church, and that laid the groundwork for my understanding of the basic concepts of music. But I usually tell people that the event that changed my life was the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. I was only 8 years old, but I have this vivid memory of the entire world looking different after that, and I was intensely interested in music from that point on. I started looking at acoustic guitars, and back then you could go down to the local music store and get a Peter, Paul and Mary book with guitar tablature. I started that in the fifth grade, and if the chord was too hard for my hands to wrap around, I just didn’t play that chord.

I learned fingerpicking, and then, when I was in high school, a music store opened in Norfolk called Ramblin’ Conrad’s Guitar Shop & Folklore Center. I started hanging out there. You could listen to records, and you could play instruments, and I ended up being mentored by musicians who were all older than me. I had albums to listen to and supportive people and a coffee house on Friday nights where we could go and perform. I was fortunate to have, at a crucial point in my life, a nurturing environment that directed my learning. I was already into bluegrass banjo, and at every folk festival I got exposed to lots of different music. John Jackson. Tracy Schwartz. Mike Seeger. Libba Cotten.

Did you come from a musical family?

No. What got me interested in the banjo was a television show called Hee Haw. It was hosted by Roy Clark and Buck Owens. They had a routine every week where Roy and Buck would play “Cripple Creek” and tell jokes, and they also had a banjo segment. I could see Roy Clark picking, and I could visualize and hear the relationship between what I was doing to what I needed to do. I’ve heard from other banjo players that it was the sound of the instrument that got them; that’s true for me, too.

Having a supportive community to help me to funnel my learning was very helpful. By the time I got to college at the University of Virginia in 1974, I was well on the way and was consumed by it. By then I had a sense of how to seek out sources and make musical connections, both with other students and with the local pickers. There was a coffeehouse in Charlottesville called the Prism. My suitemates were all doing rush for fraternities, but I was hanging out at the Prism, getting to hear all these performers, and working on banjo.

I would spend hours and hours practicing, and then I started working at theme parks. A lot of young players got their first professional experience through those venues. I was pretty much set to be a professional musician. I graduated in 1978 with a degree in anthropology and religion. I played the whole summer with a band based out of Louisville, Kentucky, called the Fall City Ramblers. I was on my way and I’ve never looked back. I’ve made my living and raised my kids by being a professional musician all these years, and I’m almost 66 now, so I feel blessed.

How did the Banjo in America project start congealing into a cohesive form?

I’ve been interested in banjo history for a long time. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, three events were held by the Tennessee Banjo Institute. There have always been specialists in these styles that I’m exploring. There are folks who specialize in “minstrel banjo,” mid-19th-century banjo. Other folks specialize in what we call “classic banjo,” which encompasses the music of the ragtime era. The Institute brought in the experts in those styles. Pete Seeger, Béla Fleck, musicians brought from Africa. A lot of us got exposed to these historic styles and made these connections through the sound of the instruments and the knowledge that these incredible musicians brought to the events.

Early on in graduate school, I was thinking about writing a dissertation on…I’ll use the word “Africanisms.” That dissertation that never got written was on the continuing African influence in all of these banjo styles. There are a lot of things going on with a project like this, but I want to be clear that I’m always recognizing the African and African American influence. This project is coming out at a time when we’ve been talking about this process of appropriation and revitalization for several years, and we’ve got great Black performers playing the banjo and spreading the word about this history.

In the mid-1990s, as a result of the Tennessee Banjo Institute, I bought a mid-19th-century banjo replica. Then I bought an open-back banjo and I started digging into these manuals. And I started accumulating more instruments as I went. It was a continual process of getting instruments, exploring the styles, coming into contact with people at banjo workshops, and continuing to learn, continuing to talk to folks who had written about all this. As time went by, I realized that I needed to make the show more entertaining. I wanted to make it appropriate for a general audience. I try to make it an entertaining show where people can come out having gained an understanding of the complexity of the cultural exchange over hundreds and hundreds of years. In some ways, the story of the banjo is the story of America.

What was your process for contextualizing these tunes and this project?

It’s a wonderful moment right now, the way the younger people who are playing old-time music are looking at this whole process of African and African American and Anglo-American exchange. I think of this as an ongoing dialogue in which we’re all hopefully learning from each other, gaining strength from one another, and being inspired by one another. I’m hoping that this project is a contribution to the dialogue. The more that we can hear these historic styles, the richer our comprehension can be of the nature of the cultural exchange. The more we can understand the history of the banjo and carry that to a broader vision of all of us playing the banjo, all of us celebrating the banjo, and using it to transcend some of our cultural divisions.

In addition to presenting all these historical styles, I play things the way that I play them. Many of the pieces on this recording I’ve been playing for over 30 years, and the whole project is the result of my involvement of over 50 years with this community. If this project can contribute in some way to the dialogue that’s going on about white appropriation of what’s essentially Black music, I will be very happy.

How do the graphic design and visual elements of the album fit in, and how did this aesthetic element come into being?

I let Howard [Rains, the graphic designer] and David [Bragger, co-founder of Tiki Parlour] run with it. There was a tradition in the 1800s of creating a “toy theater” – a very elaborate miniature stage cut out of paper. It’s three-dimensional, and you put actors on the stage, so we started off with that idea. I didn’t have a whole lot of input. I did choose the photographs. They got very excited about it, and I did, too. It’s this blending of sensibilities that is kind of remarkable.

That leads perfectly into my last two questions. First, how many instruments do you play on this project?

Ten, and among the oldest banjos is the zither banjo from England, on track number nine. And the Vega White Lady, which is from 1917. The gourd banjo that starts the project is a modern-day interpretation made by Pete Ross, and the three instruments that I’m using for the mid-19th-century portion of the program are made by Jim Hartwell. So, these aren’t the real deal, but they’re really close in specs and sound to instruments that exist in archives.

Second, what’s your favorite track on the set, if you have a favorite? And why?

“Home Sweet Home,” the sixth track. This is an 1871 arrangement. It’s astounding, the degree of technical expertise that was written into this piece at such an early date. The composer, Frank B. Converse, was partly responsible for bringing fingerstyle playing to banjo music. Louis Gottschalk arranged “Home Sweet Home” and Converse lifted the arrangement. I have added to it as I’ve gotten to be at home with the piece, which is definitely technically demanding. So that’s the piece that I like the most because it encapsulates a lot of things for me…and it’s fun to play.

Photo Credit: David Bragger

LISTEN: Liz Vice, “This Land Is Your Land”

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Artist: Liz Vice
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Song: “This Land Is Your Land”
Release Date: July 2, 2021

In Their Words: “Every time I sit to write a song, specifically on the themes of justice, maybe it’s a romantic idea, but I always think that the song will be outdated by the time it’s released, as if world peace is gonna show up before a battle cry is needed. ‘This Land Is Your Land’ was written with new lyrics with my friends Paul Zach, Orlando Palmer, and Isaac Wardell one day shy of the one-year anniversary of the white nationalist ‘unite the right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia; that was nearly four years ago. We wanted to rewrite a popular “American” song to reflect what’s happening now in our nation and tell the story of how America became America: immigration and asylum seekers, the mass incarceration of black people, and the mass genocide of the indigenous people of this land. After much rest and reflection in 2020 and focusing on my mental health, I decided to give these new lyrics breath and now it’s time to release it out into the world.” — Liz Vice

Photo credit: Chimera Rene

LISTEN: Lowland Hum, “This Will Be Our Year” (The Zombies Cover)

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Artist: Lowland Hum
Hometown: Charlottesville, Virginia
Song: “This Will Be Our Year” (The Zombies cover)
Album: Singing Other People’s Love Songs
Release Date: June 5, 2020

In Their Words: “‘This Will Be Our Year’ by the Zombies grabbed us immediately with its simplicity and unfettered sweetness, not to mention its intuitive melodies and positive energy. We chose to record our version as simply as possible, with closely mic’d, bare vocals and simple nylon string guitar. At the time when we recorded it, we were feeling all kinds of optimism and excitement about what the year might hold for us, having just put the finishing touches on our recording studio, and feeling more adjusted than ever to life out in the countryside.

“Obviously there have been some unexpected turns since then. When we scheduled the release of this song, we had no idea the entire world would be in the midst of a pandemic, and all of the fear, financial strain and pain of isolation that has ensued. We had no idea our nation would be reeling from yet another wave of murders, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and now David McAtee and others as police continue to employ the use of military weapons on protestors. To release a song entitled ‘This Will Be Our Year’ at such a time as this feels perilously incongruous at best with where the nation is at, where we are at personally, and offensive at worst.

“Before the past few weeks we thought to ourselves, ‘Well, this is not the year we imagined when we recorded this song, but maybe there are things in store for us and others who are suffering, which we couldn’t have chosen or anticipated had all gone according to our ideal plans.’ At this point we hope that this is a year when things really begin to change. Perhaps this will be the year when people like ourselves, who have long been sympathetic to the cause of justice for black and brown people in America but haven’t taken the time to learn how to properly engage and act toward a better future, might finally buckle down and discern how to step up as allies. Perhaps this year will mark a turning point for many, that will start our nation down a road resulting in lasting and true change. We hope. — Lauren and Daniel Goans, Lowland Hum

Lowland Hum · This Will Be Our Year [Zombies cover]

Photo credit: Tristan Williams

LISTEN: The Mammals, “Radio Signal”

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Artist: The Mammals
Hometown: Woodstock, New York
Song: “Radio Signal”
Album: Nonet
Release Date: March 27, 2020 (single); May 22 (album)
Label: Humble Abode Music / Soundly

In Their Words: “The day of the 2017 Charlottesville riot I got a text from our friend, Vern, reading: ‘PLEASE for the song that kills fascists.’ ‘Radio Signal’ was written in the next 10 minutes. Where is the hope in our twisted culture? Bob Dylan says it’s in the wind. Daniel Quinn described a sacred ‘blaze of life’ that connects all things. Pete Seeger showed us the power of many people making small contributions: the ‘tea-spoon brigade.’ Each verse of ‘Radio Signal’ is a nod to one of those three great teachers, melodically informed by the beautiful old folk song, ‘Shenandoah,’ and transformed into the anthemic rock song we share with you today. ‘And I roll, and I roll, down the backroads of my soul. Lookin’ for light like a radio signal…'” — Mike Merenda, The Mammals

Photo credit: Tom Eberhardt-Smith

BGS 5+5: Carl Anderson

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Artist: Carl Anderson
Hometown: Charlottesville, Virginia
Latest album: You Can Call Me Carl (EP release, May 31)
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): BIG CARL

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I’m not sure I can point to any one artist as being my main influence. Growing up my mom would listen to folks like James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, and a handful of other singer-songwriters. At the same time I was also heavily influenced by what my sister was listening to and that was more along the lines of The Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against the Machine, Weird Al, The Beatles. Some of it I was really moved by, other stuff not so much, but I took it all in nonetheless.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I had the opportunity to tour around the United Kingdom and Germany this past August with my friends, Sons of Bill. I would have to say my favorite recent memory of being on stage came during a performance in Munich. I remember really connecting with the audience that night and thinking how special it was that here we were, a couple of Virginia boys far from home playing songs that at one point didn’t exist. That night we got what anyone who does this can really ask for and that is an audience’s undivided attention.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

I am influenced by all sorts of different art. I like to think of it as all being valuable source material. In the last few years I began painting on a semi-regular basic and have enjoyed learning about different painters throughout history and how they worked. I like that Mark Rothko kept traditional office hours while he worked on the Seagram Murals. I’ve taken to such a schedule with my writing and it has actually worked quite well for me.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

I remember sitting around with my mom and sister when I was in middle school and listening to the first Nickel Creek record and being moved by the songs. I think it was in that moment that I knew I wanted to try and affect people like that. I had started learning a little guitar prior but hearing that music and getting goosebumps that put fuel on the fire. I was on the path from that point forward.

If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?

I think my mission is simple. I want to try and write honest songs and be as earnest with people in my performances as I can. I am just a man who, like everyone else, is insecure and looking for love. I feel like I am able to share parts of myself with my music that are otherwise difficult to articulate.

BGS 5+5: Lowland Hum

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Artist: Lowland Hum
Hometown: Charlottesville, Virginia
Latest album: Glyphonic (out May 10, 2019)

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Last year we were opening a run of shows for The Oh Hellos and something surprising took place at the Columbus, Ohio, performance. It’s a regular part of our show to invite the audience to interact if they so choose and that particular audience was extremely participatory. Throughout our show they were super engaged and communicative and towards the end, someone yelled out, “Have you ever crowd surfed?!” I (Daniel) used to be in a rock band for a number of years so I said, “Well, yes, but not in this band,” to which he replied, “Do you want to?” We laughed and then we played our second to last song.

As the final note of that song lingered in the air, the crowd started chanting “CROWD SURF, CROWD SURF, CROWD SURF” with increasing volume. I turned to Lauren and handed her my guitar. I walked toward the crowd as they continued chanting and then stepped to the edge of the stage, turned backward and fell into their arms. The crowd went wild and began passing me around the room. Because our band is a duo and half the band was in the crowd during this, there was no music accompanying this rock and roll moment.

After a while, I cried, “To the stage” and the crowd passed me pack up toward the front of the room. Then a burly security guard grabbed me with one hand and threw me gently back on stage where I landed on my feet. Lauren informed me that I looked at her with delight on my face and said, “I feel so serene.” I think we are probably the quietest band that has ever had an experience like that. It was a glorious evening for us both. Thank you, Columbus.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

When approaching the studio, we generally designate an amount of time where we will stay in a place/mode of operating that we refer to as “yes town.” In “yes town” all ideas are explored and we don’t allow editing or assessing. This openness to any and all ideas gives even partially formed notions the space they need to come to fruition. At a certain point, we then shift into editorial mode and we are able to more clearly identify which elements of a song or arrangement belong in the final version of the recording.

Before shows we often make a cup of black tea and try to find a place to sit outside or by a window to have a bit of slow presence. We read in an essay recently that human beings are not meant to move through space at any speed other than walking and when we do, it takes time for our full selves to arrive at the place where we are physically present. This idea resonates with us and I think the tea ritual is our way of trying to allow our minds to catch up with our bodies and realize where we are on any given night of a tour.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

We can’t answer which artist has influenced us most, but we’ve been consistently inspired by Devon Sproule the last few years. Her ability to approach songwriting with a profound gravity while maintaining a sense of wonder and rigorous exploration is both refreshing and challenging. We are taken with the imagery she shares in her songs, the playful arrangements on her recordings and her unaffected, evocative vocal performances. Devon reminds us to pay close attention and to stretch out and try reaching into unknown spaces sonically and thematically.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?

Our creative process has always been inspired by literature, film and visual art ever since the early days of Lowland Hum, leading to multiple songs exploring the work and life of Toulouse Lautrec and a mildly jealous lyric about Andrew Wyeth catching Lauren’s eye, but more recently, Lauren created a music video featuring the work of an incredibly gifted dancer named Edward Villella. The video is a visual companion for our song, “Slow,” using imagery from “Reflections In Space,” and “Mystery of Space.” “Reflections In Space” is a film by Bernard Beane, Philip Courter and Harold M. Weiner, that features the interpretive dance of Edward Villella and the work of other visual artists inspired by outer space. Whenever we encounter the creative explorations of other people, we notice that new spaces in our minds open up.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

When I (Daniel) was 12 years old, my granddad took me to a local CD store in Greensboro, North Carolina, where I grew up and told me I could select any album and he’d buy it for me. For some reason, I picked out the Beatles’ White Album as my selection, probably because it included two CDs and I thought I was being clever. I became obsessed with it. As an extremely sensitive kid who felt emotions strongly. Somehow the songs made me feel empathized with and soothed, and I had never had that experience with music before. This obsession led me to begin writing songs in the weeks and months following that trip to the CD store. My mom is a fan of those early, angsty, preteen musings, but she’s the only one.

Photo credit: Serena Jae

A Minute In Charlottesville with Lowland Hum

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Welcome to “A Minute In …” — a BGS feature that turns our favorite artists into hometown reporters. In our latest column, Charlottesville, Virginia’s Lowland Hum takes us on a tour of their favorite places for donuts, bagels, and scenic strolls. The husband-and-wife duo of Daniel and Lauren Goans just released their newest album, Thin.

We moved to Charlottesville a little over two years ago after experiencing small slices of its unique creative community when passing through on tour. However, we spent the bulk of our first year based in C-ville away from home, on the road. While we have travelled a little less this year, I feel the first year of our time here has influenced the way we approach engagement with what our town has to offer. You’ll hear from everyone about the unique gourmet dining experiences and the beauty of the surrounding farmlands and wine country, and while all of that is true and worth mentioning, in our little snippets of time at home between tours, we have latched on to a handful of inexpensive or free low-key treasures that we continue to prioritize when we have time at home. 

Spudnuts: We lived in the Belmont neighborhood when we first moved to town. On morning walks, we could smell the sugar-glazed glory wafting out from two blocks away. Don’t let its sleepy looking exterior fool you: This place is the real deal. When we have to leave really early in the morning for a tour, a stop at Spudnuts on the way out of town is a mighty consolation. Every visit to Spudnuts is a trip back in time to the ’50s. They’re closed Sundays and Mondays, but all other days, the owners are there, bright and early, standing behind the counter in old-fashioned white aprons, ready to serve up hot, fresh donuts and fritters of several varieties that change with the season. Spudnuts will not try to be a trendy donut shop for you. No salvaged barn wood interior, no cutesy chalkboard signs, or ridiculous toppings. What you can count on is classic confectionary goodness, in unfussy flavors: original glaze, blueberry cake, cruller, chocolate glaze, apple fritter, and a few seasonal extras like original glaze with coconut or maple glazed. As soon as they sell out, they close up shop, so remember to bring cash and get there early to get yourself a lovely white waxed bag of treats to scarf or share, depending on your mood. 


Riverview Park: Tucked back in the Woolen Mills neighborhood is Riverview Park. It has become our go-to for a quick refresh. It consists of a playground, some picnic tables, and a couple of winding paths, one of which runs alongside the Rivanna River. Our favorite features of Riverview Park are the places along the path where, with a little care, you can make your way down the embankment to small, sandy banks for a dip in the river. We were recording our album in town this Summer and a short trip to Riverview to wade up the sandy-bottommed river did wonders for our minds when we got too inside our heads during recording sessions. We have been really thankful to have such easy access to water and natural areas, and being only a four-minute drive from downtown, Riverview Park is one of our favorite nearby places to reset.


Bodo’s Bagels: Bodo’s is an original Charlottesville favorite, with three locations in town. Our favorite is the one on Preston Avenue, where the staff is genuine and kind in a way that can’t be forced or taught. There is always a line at Bodo’s and for good reason: The New York-style water bagels are made fresh all day (I have never had one that wasn’t hot off the press), and can be made into nearly any kind of sandwich with fresh, locally sourced ingredients, cream cheese varieties made in-house, solid coffee, and great vegetarian and vegan options. Their salads and soups are just as popular as their bagels and just as fresh. Service is fast and everything is so reasonably priced that we are often astounded when we hear the total of our order. The music is always on point — a mixture of obscure hits of the ’60s, timeless jazz, and top notch Stax and Motown. Bodo’s became a regular breakfast, lunch, and coffee break stop for us this Summer when we were recording our album in a friend’s attic just down the road. 


Beer Run: Beer Run is a local beer and wine shop with a full bar and restaurant attached. It is our favorite spot for a low-key celebration and a no-brainer when we don’t have energy to prepare dinner after a long day in the studio. With a rotating list of award-winning beers on draft (and every other beer imaginable for purchase in the shop), it’s the place to go for a good brew. The restaurant serves a wide range of plates, all made with organic and locally sourced ingredients, but our favorite, by far, is the “Beer Run Nachos.” One mountain-sized order of black bean nachos is enough to fill us both to maximum capacity. Whether we are marking a milestone or passing a sunny Saturday afternoon on the patio with beers and friends, Beer Run is our favorite spot. 


The Garage: The Garage is both exactly what it sounds like and so much more. It is a prime example of the magic of Charlottesville’s creative community. The Garage is a one-car garage facing the edge of a downtown park that functions as a gallery, music venue, and community hub. This is not your garden variety, cobbled-together, volunteer-run community center. It is a small-scale, well-oiled music venue and carefully curated gallery space. At least one excellent local artist’s work is artfully displayed on the exposed brick walls under clean track lighting, with a full-scale art opening the first Friday of every month, complete with price lists, hors d’ouvres, and wine. The concert series features great acts from all over the world, multiple nights a week in the warmer months. Bands perform within the mouth of the garage, facing the park, and people gather across the street on the grassy knoll with blankets, picnics, dogs, and children. A jar is passed and all donations go to the bands. After the concert, people are encouraged to chat with the performers and come inside to view the art show of the month. It is a true community gem, offering professionally led writing and craft workshops, readings, and even a bring-your-own picnic and music lunch hour in the Summer for folks working in the downtown area. Check their schedule online to see if your visit to Charlottesville coincides with any of their many magical events. There is nothing quite like wandering up to the soft glow of the garage on a balmy evening to camp out on the hill with friends and soon-to-be friends, take in the sunset, and enjoy a night of good music. Though every event is well-planned, experiencing one first-hand feels like the definition of serendipity.

Photos by Lowland Hum, Eric Kelley, and Lisa Boggs