Author: Adam

Fridays After Five

Fridays After Five is a late spring/summer concert series hosted by the Sprint Pavilion (formerly the Charlottesville Pavilion). It’s held–you Sprint Pavilionguessed it–on Fridays at or after 5:30pm, so everyone has time to get off of work and stash that tie somewhere until Monday morning rolls around. It’s also free of charge, which makes it a popular destination for younger people. Normally, the Pavilion is a popular attraction for nationally-touring acts like the Avett Brothers, Modest Mouse, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. But on Fridays, local and regional bands ascend the stage, taking advantage of the top-notch tech crew and wide, diverse turn out to expand their listening base. There is a breadth of attendees at this event: disaffected high schoolers enjoying the weekend; middle-aged folks gettin’ down to the music, glass of wine in hand; wide-eyed toddlers soaking in their formative live music experiences; to attentive 20-somethings scoping out some local Charlottesville music. In addition to great tunes by some great regional acts, there are also several different vendors and carts. The Pie Guy serves up Australian interpretations of some of your favorite sweet and savory pies. Or grab some quick, tasty tacos from the Morsel Compass food truck…fish tacos with beer-battered cod, or Jamaican jerk chicken with mango salsa and black beans…yum. Not to mention Carpe Donut, with its potato bread doughnuts and refreshing lemonade. There is also a plethora of beer and wine vendors, most notably Starr Hill (the big local), Goose Island, and Fat Tire. This is a great way to kick off a weekend in Charlottesville. The event is on the Mall so you’ll be able to meet some friendly people and get a jump on your Friday night festivities, all while enjoying some great tunes in a breezy open-air environment.

Favorite act: Gina Sobel & the Mighty Fine
Favorite snack: Carpe Donut’s “The Frodo”: a heaping scoop of frozen yogurt sandwiched between two halves of a delicious cinnamon doughnut.

Charlottesville Farmers’ Market

No town is complete without a quality farmer’s market. And Charlottesville, with its proximity to the open pastures of central Virginia, has a fine one every Saturday morning from 7 am to noon. It’s at the right downtown, a few blocks off the mall in the Water Street parking lot. It’s a great way to start your morning, browsing crisp, ripe produce and fresh, healthy meat from around the Greater Charlottesville area. Local favorites include The Rock Barn, a butcherie located in outside Cville in Nelson County. They source their pork from Timbercreek Farm (located five miles from the Barracks Road Shopping Center in Albemarle County) which means it was raised without hormones, synthetic fertilizers, or pesticides… and you can taste it. Get you some bone-in pork belly or Mexican Chorizo fresh off the pig. Ivy Provisions serves up some of the best sandwiches around. Some of the produce offerings are unbeatable, like the wares from Bellair Farm, a sprawling 853-acre farm in Albemarle County. They have a huge collection; anything from basil and cilantro to bell peppers, heirloom tomatoes, fennel, kale, watermelon…really whatever is in season. What’s more, the farm has been around since the 17th century! Many of these vendors are pretty enthusiastic about community-supported agriculture; the Rock Barn has a pork share and Bellair has a great weekly produce pick-up that operates for at least 22 weeks out of the year and keeps locals well-stocked with fruits and veggies for well below market price. There’s a bunch more at the farmers’ market, with over a hundred different vendors. Hungry Hill’s 100% raw honey is delicious when they make the occasional appearance. Artisans bring a variety of handmade crafts; Hawksbill Pottery with their intricately embossed stoneware, is a personal favorite of this author. If you’re doing more than just visiting the area, it’s also a great way to get to know some hardworking local business people. Information from as far back as 2012 indicates that gross sales from all vendors was over 2 million dollars!

Charlottesville Music Scene


Charlottesville MusicCharlottesville is often touted for having a big city-in-a-small town vibe. That is to say it offers up metropolitan amenities without sacrificing a local atmosphere. Nothing demonstrates this duality better than the thriving music scene, in which a plethora of venues—ranging from gritty, 100 person dives to massive arenas like John Paul Jones Arena and Scott Stadium—attracts and maintains a diverse roster of young, up-and-coming musicians, seasoned veterans, and everything in between. Imagine a night on the Downtown Mall, going to see nationally touring acts like the Alabama Shakes, Beck or Snoop Dogg at the spacious, outdoor nTelos Wire Pavilion. After the show, you might hear a lumbering upright bass or the mellow croon of an alto sax and pop into the premier jazz spot, Miller’s, where Charlottesville’s own Dave Matthews used to bartend before he hit it big. Between the John Paul Jones Arena and Scott Stadium (UVA’s basketball and football venues respectively), you will be able to see a number of true legends; acts like Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac are never more than a few miles away. Cville’s location—about an hour away from Richmond and a couple hours from Washington, D.C.—affords it the luxury of attention from both big and burgeoning musical acts. You get the option to see amazing acts without compromising the ability to go to sleep before 2am.

Like folk music? Check out the soothing stylings of Devon Sproule or the relaxed thump of the Sally Rose Band. Venues like Garage across from Lee Park or the Whiskey Jar during the day are ideal venues for this type of music. For acoustic music with a harder edge, check out Hound Dog Hill, playin’ a mix of bluegrass standards, Appalachian fiddle tunes and originals or the incredible Love Canon who play all your favorite 80s tunes re-interpreted with traditional bluegrass instrumentation. If you prefer a more modern sound, stop by the Main Street Annex: bands like the Astronomers offer up searing leads and full harmonies. The jangly, reverb-laden guitar sounds of White Laces blend modern rock with 90s nostalgia, and Two Ton Trapezoid combines round, mellow trumpet, smooth electric piano, distorted, riffy guitar and earnest vocals into an extra-planetary affair. There are plenty of places that offer up straight-ahead rock and roll…pop by places like Rapture or Durty Nelly’s. The soaring vocals and intuitive songwriting of Erin Lunsford and her group Erin and the Wildfire have been a Charlottesville mainstay for years. Lunsford and her tight, bluesy rhythm section have even graced the stage of Lockn Music Festival (about half an hour away in the beautiful Nelson County). Hard rock heroes Rooster Blood pioneer the genre of psychedelic funkgrass through infectious grooves and ripping leads. And finally, Charlottesville’s jazz scene is no joke. Miller’s boasts tenorman Jeff Decker and guitarist Mike Rosensky who play their driving, straight-ahead brand of hard bop every Wednesday night and trumpeter John D’earth, whose multi-faceted group has featured just about every horn player in Charlottesville at one time or another. The drummer from this group fronts Butcher Brown, the new cats who meld jazz sensibilities with funk rhythms and open-ended improvisation. The ville truly has something for everyone.