Practicing
(Tom Robotham -- on the left -- has been perfecting his French with Duolingo so he can better converse in the future with local Parisians like this street vendor selling books and art along the River Seine) By Tom Robotham J’apprends Français. Well, a little bit each...
Marine Corps Veteran Recalls V-J Day
(NOW & THEN: 95-year-old Gary Crane with his 1943 Marine Corps portrait) By Jeff Maisey September 2 of this year commemorated the 75th Anniversary of V-J Day — Victory over Japan — marking the end to the Pacific theater of war and effectively bringing the horrors...
Producing A Christmas Carol in COVID Times
(The Virginia Stage Company set begins to take shape.) By Jeff Maisey Sorry, Mr. Scrooge, but humbuggery won’t entirely dampen Christmas this year if the Virginia Stage Company has a say in the matter. And it seems they do. From December 16-24, the professional...
Big Ugly Brewing Wins Golden Tap Award
(Big Ugly Brewing stacked up well against the competition in 2020) By Jeff Maisey Chesapeake’s Big Ugly Brewing edged-out two-time defending champion Benchtop Brewing Company to take home Veer Magazine’s 2020 Golden Tap Award. Breweries from across the 757 region were...
Williamsburg Christmas Market is Taste of Europe
BY JEFF MAISEY If you've traveled to Europe in late November through the New Year you know one of the best experiences to have is at a Christmas Market. Christmas markets are set up in the open air in town squares or city centers throughout the Olde World, ranging...
Thoughtful Change Amid a Whirlwind at Virginia Opera
(HIGH NOTE: Peggy Kriha Dye is Virginia Opera’s new CEO) By Montague Gammon III It’s a new dawn at the venerable Virginia Opera, as former international soprano and notably successful opera administrator Peggy Kriha Dye takes its reins. Trailing 25 years of acclaim...
ARTfull Pops Up for the Holidays
(Gail Juren returns to the Ghent retail scene with ARTfull exclusively for the holiday season.) By Jeff Maisey One of the unexpected gifts of the 2020 holiday season is the return of retailer Gail Juren. In late October, Juren popped-up with ARTfull in a familiar...
BONKO: And This Just In….
(WEATHER REPORT: Meteorologist Steve Fundaro joins WAVY 10. Photo courtesy of WAVY 10) By Larry Bonko Hello, Steve Fundaro. Welcome to our world of tolls and tunnels. And hello to you, too, Alex Littlehales and to you, too, Eugene Daniel. They are the three...
Now What?
BY TOM ROBOTHAM On the morning of Nov. 7, I was watching CNN, fervently hoping that they would finally call the election in Joe Biden’s favor. When they did, at 11:26 a.m., I let out a whoop that was likely heard throughout West Ghent. Van Jones—a CNN commentator whom...
Wasserhund to Open Chesapeake Location
BY CINDY MACKEY Wasserhund Brewing Company has leased 4,000 square feet of prime, street-level space at Summit Pointe, in Chesapeake’s Central Business District. The second location for the brewery, located at 510 Belaire Avenue, is scheduled to open in June 2021....
Art & Heart of the ViBe
Poetry Jackson, Blooming (Inner Garden Series), 2022. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Fresh Look Photography. By Betsy DiJulio For a quick, upbeat video preview of The Art of the ViBe 3, I encourage you to follow this link:...
Joyous Sounds of The War & Treaty
By Jim Morrison Death gave birth to Michael Trotter's songwriting. Trotter, one half of the husband and wife duo The War and Treaty, was serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003. An IED killed his captain, a man he describes as the best of us. ...
In the Round with Every Brilliant Thing
(Kathryn Hunter-Williams) By Jerome Langston “Coming out of this pandemic, where it has been such an anxious, grinding two seasons, seemed like—that’s the piece I want to visit, as we are coming back together,” says Tom Quaintance, the Producing Artistic Director of...
Resilient Zydeco
(Terrance Simien will be a Bayou Bon Vivant highlight) By Jeff Maisey Earlier this year, Zydeco music great Terrance Simien and his band were in Henderson, Nevada for an educational engagement with his Creole4Kidz program that brings the sounds and instruments...
That Latin Jazz Groove Lives On
By Jerome Langston “Besides being influenced by his artistry, the thing I inherited from my father, and what I think my sons have inherited from me, is dissatisfaction,” says Arturo O’Farrill, acclaimed leader of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, about his father, the...
From Ballads to Rockers, Chicago Brings a Buffet of Styles
By Jeff Maisey Talk to anyone about the music of Chicago and you’ll hear reeled-off the song title of hit after hit — “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?,” “Saturday in the Park,” “”Call on Me,” “If You Leave Me Now,” “Wishing You were Here,” “Baby, What a Big...
An Album of Covers from Cowboys Junkies
By Jeff Maisey Cowboy Junkies have long been appreciated by fans for their version of cover songs they bring to the live concert stage. This spring, the alt-country band delivered a studio album of some of their and fans’ favorites. The record is titled “Songs of the...
Hamilton Star Celebrates Love and Dreams Come True
By Montague Gammon III She’s won awards, or been nominated for them, for Shakespeare and soap opera and songwriting and Off-Broadway, she’s been a Latina junkie stripper in the late 20th Century and the rapping socialite sister-in-law (and maybe secret love) of...
CLASSICAL: Sterling Elliott Takes Center Stage
(Cellist Sterling Elliott is from Newport News) By Montague Gammon III Hampton Roads natives who have gone on to excellence in some of the greatest musical venues of the world bring the achievements of two and a half centuries of musical innovators, rendered by the...
JAZZ: Stepping Out with Diana Krall
By Jim Morrison Diana Krall may be a marquee jazz singer today, but she grew up as a piano player, listening to her father's collection of 78s, never imagining more. “Oscar Peterson, Monty Alexander, and Bill Evans were the really important artists for me as a young...
21st Century Ironclad
By Jim Roberts Owen and Kara King delivered the first 60 cases of Ironclad Distillery Co.’s small-batch bourbon to Virginia’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in October. “As we unloaded it and took it in to their big warehouse, we’re both getting misty-eyed,”...
O’Connor Brewing wins Competitive Golden Tap Award
By Staff O’Connor Brewing Company won its second consecutive Golden Tap Award on December 13 with a total score of 23.5 points. They were followed by Smartmouth Brewing Company (19 points), Alewerks Brewing (15.5 points), Big Ugly Brewing Company (14.5 points) and...
Winter Wine Celebration from Domenick Fini
By Jeff Maisey Domenick Fini spent the past 20-some years working in various capacities to bring the general public such award-winning events as the Town Point Virginia Wine Festival, Virginia Beer Festival, Harborfest and Bayou Boogaloo & Cajun Music Festival....
The Bee & The Biscuit Deserves Great Buzz
By Marisa Marsey The Bee & The Biscuit is a honey of a place, corny as that sounds. Not just because those titular flakey, cakey quick breads are graced by butter compounded with local honey. Or because this picturesque Pungo bungalow dishing up breakfast and...
REVIEW: Rajput Indian Cuisine: Vegan and Vegetarian Buffet
By Betsy DiJulio My 1990 arrival in Virginia Beach found me Jonesin' for Indian food in the worst way. My late husband and I had moved here from Nashville where, for at least a year or two, every Sunday found me religiously slipping into the dark, exotic, and...
Green Flash Opens in Virginia Beach
By Jeff Maisey Green Flash Brewing Company’s official Virginia Beach grand opening is Sunday, November 13. The long awaited date is the day after the brewery’s breast cancer awareness event, Treasure Chest Fest, which has been held the past two years on the field...
Richmond’s Legend Brewing to Open in Olde Town Portsmouth
(Dave Gott (center) and the crew from award-winning Legend Brewing Company) By Jeff Maisey Legend Brewing Company will open a brewpub in Olde Towne Portsmouth along the waterfront in the historic, curved building that recently housed an art gallery and was the former...
BREW NEWS: Oozlefinch Opens & More
By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones Photos by Diane Catanzaro The long-awaited Oozlefinch Brewing Company has finally opened its doors to the public at historic Fort Monroe in Hampton, and it has been well worth the wait. While Wikipedia says the namesake...
Craft Beer: Aug/Sept Releases & Seasonals
Compiled by Staff Each month we’ll turn you on to the scheduled new release and seasonal beers on tap at our regional breweries. Often there is some fanfare, party atmosphere connected to release dates at the brewery. O’Connor Brewing Company:...
FOOD REVIEW: Los Cuates Taqueria & Tienda
By Joe Lowrey Luis Sanchez is an energetic fellow. He scurries through the aisles at Los Cuates Taqueria, head on a swivel, soaking in every detail and checking out the action at the tables. From across the crowded room he sees the kitchen door swing open and catches...
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