Have We Got a Show for You!

Crosby, Stills and Nash

The Charlottesville music scene is exploding! I say this with authority as I’ve been enjoying great entertainment in this town for years. I go back to the days when you could hear the Kokomotions – a then popular regional group – for a set on a Saturday night at the C & O, and - before it was time to go home – still manage to hop over to the legendary Mine Shaft to dance to the New Orleans based Neville Brothers band. If you thought those days were fun, the scene now is incredible.  Given the time and the money, the options for entertainment in Charlottesville on almost any given weekend are endless. Never have there been so many choices of venues and of artists as there are in our small city today.

For example, let’s look at our multitude of musical opportunities this summer. At The Paramount Theater, long-time favorite Aaron Neville returns for a concert in June while Ash Lawn Opera and the Charlottesville Municipal Band give performances in July. At the nTelos Pavilion, your options – to name a few – are Crosby, Stills and Nash; Wilco; and Daughtry. Don’t forget the long-running Fridays After Five concert series including Sarah White and the Pearls, Ian Gilliam and the FireKings, and -- hey, that’s me! -- The Terri Allard Band.

The Southern Café and Music Hall hosts troubadour and former Charlottesville resident Paul Curreri this Friday, and the ever-popular Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees later this month with Nelson County artist Sally Rose.  In July, you can catch Atlanta-based Vanguard Records artist and three-time Number One hit-maker Shawn Mullins. Local singer-songwriter Holly Allen opens the show. And – here’s a special treat for those of you who have been enjoying music in this town as long as I have -- the Southern is hosting a reunion concert of Hammond Eggs --a band that existed in Charlottesville from 1975 to 1978, made up of members of several popular Charlottesville bands, including The Allstars, Skip Castro Band, and The Stoned Wheat Things.

This season, the Jefferson Theater hosts local faves Love Canon who play bluegrass/80’s mega hits, as well as renowned Americana songwriters Robert Earl Keen, Steve Earle, and Josh Ritter. The ever-popular Hogwaller Ramblers play every Sunday night at Fellini’s #9, and you can count on amazing jazz from the John D’earth Quartet every Thursday night at Miller’s.

Whether you want to be part of an audience of thousands or one in an intimate crowd of fifty, there’s a venue here for you. If you’re interested in local or national talent, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, country or the classics, there’s a good chance Charlottesville has a show for you this summer.