Author: Sean Goggin

The light side

We are all familiar with reflection, but how about re-reflection? Will May has compressed and stored reflected light from Paris, France and carried it back to Charlottesville with plans to reconstitute it in water during PVCC’s Let There Be Light event. The annual evening of light-based artwork and amazement is held in reverence of the winter solstice. The spectacle is revealed through illusion as a Ford Mercury converts into a luminescent boat, surreal messages illuminate the trees, and objects appear crafted from pure light. Bring a flashlight and don’t be afraid of the dark.

Friday 12/14 Free, 6pm. PVCC Grounds, 501 College Dr. 977-6918.

Killing it softly

Singer/songwriter Sarah Siskind has made a subtle, yet significant, impression on the music world in recent years. Bonnie Raitt called her Say It Loud album a masterpiece, and seemingly every branch of NPR’s music programming has featured her. Despite this, she remains under the radar, which is part of Siskind’s allure. She will be joined by Charlottesville’s own Travis Book, who is best known for his work as the bassist for the The Infamous Stringdusters.

Friday 12/7 $14-17, 8pm. Mockingbird Roots Music Hall, 123 W. Beverley St., Staunton. (540) 213-8777.

Holiday hallmark

The Santaland Diaries is based on National Public Radio funnyman David Sedaris’ story of the same name. The comedic, one-act play recounts the experiences of a struggling writer, working as an elf in a Macy’s Santaland. The touching-by-way-of-sardonic tale (a Sedaris hallmark) inspects the holiday season—down to every last scrap of tinsel—from a peculiar inside perspective, and holds a hilarious light to the best, and the worst, inside us all.

Through 12/16 $12, 7:30pm. Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. (540)-885-5588.

Long legacy

“I Hope I Get It,” “What I Did For Love,” “I Can Do That,” “Sing!,” and “One” are all monumental show tunes replayed so often in the popular consciousness that it’s easy to forget they all have a common origin—1975’s monster musical, A Chorus Line. The production won nine Tony Awards (including Best Musical and Best Choreography), as well as the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and by the time it closed in 1984, it was the longest-running Broadway show ever. An exploration of colorful personalities thrown into the crockpot of a Broadway audition, A Chorus Line remains a towering figure in the rich canon of musical classics.

Opening 12/7

Through 1/12 $25,8pm. Live Arts, 123 E. Water St. 977-4177.

Charlottesville native, Carl Anderson packs an acoustic guitar and an emotional wallop on his debut album, 2011’s Wolftown. His laid-back Americana style allows his songs and his perfect/imperfect vocals to be the main attraction. Anderson’s award-winning songwriting has featured prominently on many Virginia festival stages, including The Festy Experience, Campout East, and the Misty Mountain Music Fest. Expect only bigger and better things from the wise-beyond-his-years twentysomething.

Friday, 12/ 7. $8-10. 7:30 PM. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 South First St. 977-5590.

In the cloud

Former Ween frontman Aaron Freeman’s first solo release, Marvelous Clouds, is comprised of songs originally penned by singer-songwriter/poet Rod McKuen. McKuen’s songs, once popularized by artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash, get a contemporary shot in the arm with everything from tonal experiments from the Ween days to quieter, acoustic treatments. His live shows incorporate classic numbers from the Ween discography alongside cuts from the new record, which he frequently plays in its entirety.

Saturday 12/1 $17, 9pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. 977-5590.

Pre-bird

The party pours in to the Jefferson on Thanksgiving Eve when Love Canon gets cookin.’ The band is celebrating the new release of Greatest Hits Vol. 2 Mixtape, and revelers can burn the dinner rolls early with hot harmonizin’, mandolin shreddin’, banjo rollin’, speed pickin’ interpretations of ZZ Top, Loverboy and other early ’80s MTV staples. With the virtuosic chops offered by this quartet of conservatory-class musicians, you can have it your way: slow-roasted, smoked, or fried.

Wednesday 11/21 $10, 8:30pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 East Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4980.

B.M.O.C.

Big man of the rap game and Maybach Music Group founder, Rick Ross (Rick Ro$$ or Ricky Rozay, to the overly-colloquial), brings a Cerberus act rounded out by fellow Maybach artists Wale and Meek Mill to town. Ross’ recent album God Forgives, I Don’t is critically lauded as a work of immense impact, exudes a powerful awareness of the influence of the inner being on the external world and vice versa. His lyrics are typically characterized by allusion and a non-haughty confidence that skirts the walk-the-walk end of the braggadocio spectrum.

Wednesday 11/14 $49.75-59.75, 7:30pm. John Paul Jones Arena, 295 Massie Rd. 243-4960.

 Wedding crashers

Throughout Kool and The Gang’s long history, one tenet of its sound remains constant: It is a band that demands to be danced to. From its origins as a jazz band through the “Jungle Boogie” days playing R&B and funk, to post-disco in the ’80s (introducing the number one song “Celebration” to the world), there’s been no shortage of groovin’ tunes or weddings to play them at.

Sunday 11/11 $10-30, 7pm. 295 Massie Rd. 243-4960.

Toy piano

Want a recipe for experimental, space-age piano rock? Start with a graduate of the Berklee School of Music, stir in masterful key playing that sounds like anything but piano, add a dash of sonic loop-de-loops, and finish with vocals whispered from beyond the ether. The tasty result is Marco Benevento’s music. Known for his original compositions, as well as reinterpretations of artists from Leonard Cohen to Pink Floyd, Benevento’s music is characterized by a polymorphous piano that garbles, buzzes, dances, glides, and plinks along in every song.

Wednesday 11/7 $12-15, 9pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. 977-5590.