Author: Matthew Cawthon

Style council

If you’re rolling jazz, country, rock, and world music into improvisational and classical chamber performances, you’ve earned the right to defy categorization. Joel Harrison has made a career guitar-playing, singing, composing, arranging, and songwriting across genres. He has a stylistically diverse repertoire at his disposal from his 14 albums, and his string choir of internationally-renowned instrumentalists such as cellist Dave Eggar further add to his skill set. Who says chamber music doesn’t work equally well in a concert hall as in a dive bar?

Thursday 11/29 $10-20, 7:30pm. The Haven, 112 W. Market St. 973-1234.

Double bubble

Crush-pop Charlottesville natives Parachute received national attention through two major label albums, and non-stop touring that includes stage-sharing with the likes of Kelly Clarkson and megastar Taylor Swift. The group of five best friends has had anything but the slow descent implied by its name—it’s been a crash-landing into musical success. For its annual homecoming shows, the band is performing one album in full, each night, along with plenty of unreleased tracks. A rewarding tradition for family, fans and friends who helped them launch.

Thursday 11/29 and Friday 11/30 $18-50, 7:30pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4980.

Tea ceremony

Are you indie enough to attend church? Well, the Twisted Branch team plans to find out with a special booking of Mark Fosson, Daniel Bachman, and Nathan Bowles at Christ Episcopal’s Meade Hall. Between Fosson’s decades of songwriting, Bachman’s fingerpicking techniques, and Bowles’ old-time bluegrass, their guitars will be getting more than their fair share of celestial exercise. Energy and innovation combine to form three distinct voices with the common denominator of the guitar for a good pluckin’ time.

Saturday 11/24 $7, 8pm. Christ Episcopal Church, Meade Hall, 120 W. High St. 293-2347.

Triple shot

No holiday season is complete without traditions, and the Paramount has formed a triple-bill to launch it big on “black Friday.” The 11th Annual Holiday Spotlight kicks things off with a showcase of local performers from musical to theatrical in a six plus hour live variety show. Meanwhile, guests can shop
in the venue, but with a twist: The Alternative Gift Fair
is a chance to buy gifts in the form of donations to local non-profit organizations and charities. Top it of with a 7pm screening of the classic Miracle on 34th Street, and you’ve earned that spicy, spiked eggnog by the fire.

Friday 11/23 Free-$6, 10am. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-1333.

Daily grounds

Mistaken identity, misplaced romance, and missing laundry—these three commonplace topics typify the daily existence of the college student. UVA graduate Jason Averett’s new comedy, Chance, aims to harness the overlooked drama of an ordinary student’s day and depict it on stage, with all its relatable humor intact. A cursory glance over the various plot lines feels like a look across the Quad—a poet woos a young woman, another woman uses guile to get her way, non-descript characters become haplessly bound in other’s plots, and all the while lovers find each other (with surely a frisbee or two tossed in there somewhere).

Through 11/18 $5, times vary. Maxwell Theatre at PVCC, 501 College Drive. 961-5376.

Angel’s cry

Music critics have deemed Angel Olsen’s voice “blood-curdling” for a reason. Sliding from nearly spoken word to the theatricality of cabaret in an instant, her range makes a chilling impact on each song she records. Her debut LP Half Way Home puts these vocal skills to use, aided by adeptly personal lyrics and elegant compositions. Having recorded her first EP hastily in her kitchen, Olsen represents an artistic style that is not quite fit for a world of iPod speakers, but is deeply intimate and captivatingly ethereal nonetheless. Nettles and Generifus open.

Thursday 11/15 $7,9pm. Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, 414 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 293-9947.

Lovett everlasting

One of the most consistent names in the Americana genre, Lyle Lovett hasn’t slowed down since his 1986 country debut. With 13 albums and an impressive filmography under his belt, he’s never allowed his style to grow stale. By incorporating elements from across the musical board into his work, and tossing out highly perceptive lyrics with finesse and charisma, Lovett has proven to be less of a “Cowboy Man” and more of a Renaissance man.

Wednesday 11/14 $39.50-70, 8pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-1333.

Fall opening

Every James Bond film deserves a grand-scale debut, so pairing Skyfall with the opening of the new Regal Stonefield Stadium 14 seems fitting. The moviegoer’s nirvana formally opens with Daniel Craig’s third outing as the best spy in the business, along with stadium-style seating, automated ticket-purchasing, RealD 3D projection, and the IMAX Experience. It’s the golden anniversary of Bond and the birth of a new Charlottesville staple.

Thursday 11/8 $17, 12:01am. Regal Stonefield Stadium 14 and IMAX, 1954 Swanson Dr. 244-3213.

Theme player

Wearing your heart on your sleeve can take you pretty far with today’s music audience. For co-headlining singer-songwriters Joshua Radin and Alison Sudol (A Fine Frenzy), everything boils down to sincerity. But nothing implies a successful dose of honest emotion like T.V.’s constant use of your songs, a fact Radin learned first-hand as an artist whose tracks frequently play on “Scrubs” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” Sodol pushes her own themes of environmental activism and conservation in the new release, Pines, with a book to follow.

Monday 11/5 $27-35, 8pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St.,Downtown Mall. 979-1333.

Keyed up

Fifteen albums comprise an impressive repertoire for any musician. Make that artist a contemporary jazz pianist surrounded by critical enthusiasm and the reverence sky-rockets. Cyrus Chestnut performs with the Free Bridge Quintet in a reunion between friends (in art and otherwise)—the faculty members comprising the quintet have played together since 1997, and members Robert Jospé and John D’earth have performed alongside Chestnut in the past.

Sunday 11/4 $8-15, 3:30pm. Old Cabell Hall, University of Virginia. 924-3052.